Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1909-09-02

speaker. Once such a departure from
Jewish Law and ordinances 10 begun
and there Is no telling { what lengths
Il will 60 You all know that already
there are some OF our brethren who
have been to the king and secured
license to do after the ordinances OF
the heather as though they vers
Gentiles indeed. And thou knovsst
how they have built places Of wor.
ship in our holy city Jerusalem &C.
cording to all the manner and custom
OF the heather. and have made them
selves uncircumcised and have for.
saken the holy covenan Yea. they
have sold themselves to do mischief
This earnest plea had It's effect and
Il vas plain to see ere be had finished
speaking that all were determined &c
stand against the enticemen,s Of the
Gentiles except the one Who had
brought the message. II vas evident
that he appreciated that further ar
sameBt vas Of 10 avail. for be turned
and as be stepped through the door
he turned and with q sheer on his
face he said:
You are foolish. indeed. Trouble
viii surely come to you
Not long after this the king Antf
ochus returned in triumph from Egypt
where he had been vsginr var. and
came down upon jerusalem with q
great army. And when he had taken
the city be uttered proudly into the
sanctuary Of the temple and took
away the golden altar and the candle
stick OF gold and all the vessels there
OF And the table Of sh.v bread. and
the pouring vessels. and the walls. and
the censers Of gold. and the precious
vesssls. and all the gold and silver.
and much hid treasure. And he caused
all kinds OF indiEnitiss to be prac-
;iced upon those OF the Jews vlo re
fused 20 conform TO all the customs
OF the heather. Those we're terrible
days in Jerusalem. for the strength Of
the young men and the young women
~as taken. and the beauty Of women
was changed. Thsu matters continued
Tor two years and then the king sent
his chief collector to gather tribute
from jerusalem and the cities OF Juda.
This collector spake ~peaceable
words unto the Jews. but all vas de-
eeit. for when they had paid him all
his demands be fell suddenly upon the
city for loot and destroyed much
people. Having done this. he brought
In great companies OF heather. and
they ErrarR1-al 49, -.n -
city and brought in armor and vietuals.
And whenever any heather coveted
aught which was a Jews he ruthless
ly slew the Jew and toook his all.
Now the king. A~ntiochus. was not q
little annoyed because OF the obsti
macy OF some few Of the Jews. and b.
sent a decree into the land Of Israel
that every q should leave his laws
and obey only those laws which the
king himself had made.
Ard very many of the Jews we're
c~onsenting 10 this thing. priring their
lives higher than obedience to Gods
law and aeceptaoility with Him. and
they sacrificed unto the stranx IDOLS
with which the city became FLIED and
they profaned the Sabbath DAYS.
Now among the fe~ Who refused 10
obey the commands Of the king vas
that faithful Jew Who had kept that
little company from eonprouisins
With evil some two years before. And
no; one OF that group had proved
faithiess TO the stand taken that
night. Some had been put to death
and others had fed into the Businesses
OF the mountains But their leader
still remained in Jerusalem. and nov
II became evident that he wa the one
upon whom the wrath and enufty os
the officials Of the city vas eentsr1rs.
that they might cause him all the
suffering possible Nfore putting him
10 death. they seized his wife and his
infant son and put them both to death
before one Of the affairs erected TO
the idols. All OF which they forced
this devout Jew TO witness. There
lay his wife in the awful axories of
the slow and torturing execution.
while their little son vas strung By
the neck along the street with other
infants much as bead pendants might
be hung from a string.
Wilt thou o yield now, seeing
the sure fate which awaits you II you
do not7" demanded the oficiai. He
vas hoping that he would be able to
get a recantation from the man. for
he knew that IL he did. this mans In
fuence was so great that many others
too would bow before the idols and
conform TO the requirements Of the
king
But no. he would not. exelAimins
with a voice which sounded above the
groans of the dying and the shrfll.
bloodthirsty cries Of the gathered muL-
titudes:
Death Is sweet when IL comes
because OF obedience TO Gods law. for
every stroke OF the executioner In but
the added blow which opens vide the
gates OF heaven and gives entrance
10 the presence Of God"
Would you get others . stand
with thee exclaimed the -exscu.ioo-
er. angrily Thy bold tongue sound,
queer in the presence OF death ana
with that he made ore clean sv~ep
with his sword and cut OF, the man's
head. And the echo of the word.
came back as the ma sank a IifeIs~.
heap upon the ground:
Death Is sweet when il comes h.
cause OF obedience 20 God's law