The Raymer enterprise., 1911-03-16

Inc object OF the first century OF the
divided kingdom and its lessons was
to develop and train people Of God,
through whom to make the whole
world a people Of God. Salvation for
the Individual and for the human race.
The united kingdom did great work
in this direction. But the time came
when there was danger Of its failure.
Hence came the divided kingdom,
through which there was double ex-
pertinent In the development Of the
kingdom Of God.
The period covered was about 80 years
B. c., sS2 to s93. Thecountry was Pales-
tine. within its usual boundaries. The
course of development runs in two
lines: The royal, the course as repre-
sented by the kings. the civil history.
and the religious development. repre-
sented largely by the prophets.
The kingdom Of Judah was about half
as large as Israel Its capital was Je-
rusalem, and the temple was the re-
ligious center. Large numbers of the
more religious people came to Judah
from Israel. Judah was sheltered
from attack on the north by Israel's
being between them and the nearest
and most dangerous enemies. while
desert was great defense on the
south. This position also saved them
from close contact with heathenism
and its degredations.
The leading kings were Rehaboam.
II years; Asa, 40 years; Je-
hoshaphat, rs years. Under Asa
and Jehoshaphat there were great
religious revivals and religious
reforms, alternating with declines.
Here was a great struggle between
good and evil. and the good seems to
have gained. In few cases there
were revelations from God. He did
everything he could to keep the people
obedient to his laws, and train them
in the religious life. that they might
be the kingdom Of God to bless the
world. There were few prophets
Of whom little is known save their
names. The conflict Of religion with
evil in Judah, though not ending in
complete victory. made decided gain
for the right.
Why do we celebrate and praise our
forefathers? Not simply because they
were stout. hearted. Many freeboot-
er and many soldier Of fortune has
been that. 1t is because they were
stout hearted for an ideal, their ideal
and ours, civil and religious liberty:
and whenever and wherever men
and women thus devoted them.
selves to ideal and not ma
terial things. there the worlds heroes
are born. and born to be free.
Some blessings come to us. not in
spite Of, but just because Of, our hos.
tile environment. The stimulus of
hostile climate produces the robust
race. Where nature always smiles and
everything is friendly there is no such
thing as benehcent discipline, and a
soft. languid race is perpetuated. The
man Of the temperate zone owes his
superior physical vigor, his keener
mental capacity, his alertness. his in.
ventiveness, very much to the climatic
conditions under which he lives. He
is forced to activity. and SO he quickly
outstrips his languid neighbor of the
tropics.
The kingdom Of Israel contained
9,400 square miles. 1t was much
more fertile country than Judah. Its
territory lay between Judah and Syria,
30 that 1t was In close contact on
three sides with heather nations, who
had the activity and physical qualities
Of tribes which loved excursions into
other countries for booty. or the nine
kings parallel with the four kings OF
Judah, 1t is worth while to remember
Jeroboam. % years; Omri. IL; Ahab,
20. Jezebel. Ahab's heather queen,
was the most influential factor in the
religious decline The kingdom was
subject to revolutions, and the nine
kings Of this period belong to five dy.
nasties.
The stories Of these hero. prophets
should become familiar In their main
incidents to all the children, who can
see what brave, heroic men can do,
when they are In earnest for the right.
Elijah preached God Almighty, his
truth, his laws. his power to help, and
the absolute necessity Of being loyal
to him, II the Individual or the nation
would prosper by a life worth the liv.
Ing.
For all the children the teacher can
make most profitable review by
plan used by a successful friend. He
took a large sheet Of heavy paper, say
IL by Is inches. and drawing line
down the CENTER on the left hand side
wrote series Of questions In letters
80 large as to be easily seen by all the
class. On the right side Of the line he
wrote the answers. These questions
were given to the class, and they read
the eanswerstwoor or three times. Then the
paper was folded In the middle. so that
the answers were out Of sight, while
the questions were still before the
class. and they were to show how well
they had learned the lesson. Such
review can be made very effective.
From the first there was religious