The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-06-27
IN THE RELIGIOUS WORLD
THE MYSTERIOUS BATTLE.
Tho International sunday SchOOi les
sen For july > i, "ISaiah's p
S~enna1slerib i>aitn


iFnp o the lOtdo JIG DOoh@ 49,
leon calls him a phase. 80 we per
ceive Sennacherib to have been ohis
an episode. He did not thlnk 80,
nor did any one else in the World d
the time. To all his contemporaries
he wss IT. All that Napoleon meant
to Europe. and more S55"' ia
meant to the ancient world. ffau
there been WspaDer in his tune ne
would have got more headlines thdn
hal . dozen Emperor Williams y
Theodore RooseNelts combined. not
one person out Of a thousand VINO
studies the lesson in sunday schoOl
today has any adequate conception
oft he overwhelming Importance oil
the Assyrian power at its height. mere
is nothing analogous to II today II
dominated the whole known world.
Yet one who goes today to the capi-
tai of Sennachcrib Will find only
plowed land. NineVeh is but an ex-
crescence on the earth; a mound Of
dirt in the openings of which the
owls make their homes. / have seen
NineVeh-only there is nothing to see
above ground. For two thousand
years the very site Of this world cap
ital was lost from the memory Of
man. Sennacherib's palace and the
glorie3 Of his capital were wiped
out Of the book of human remem-
brance. Ny own photographs OF
NineVeh. taken from the Iigris river,
show only a barren shore line, where
Arab women from Mosul go to wash
clothes. The completeness of the fall
Of Nineveh and Babylon is beyond
the comprehension of all who have
not visited the desert wastes where
once they fiourished in arrogant pride
and power.
The Moral Of the Jew.
The persisting of Jehovah
still live and work and are manifest
amid tho pnJnc of thaSa ancient
worldly splendors. The lesson Of
this present study is recorded else
where than in Holy Writ: when world
~ might enters into combat with the
Lord of Hosts. the issue is newt
able. Jehovah uses the weak things
to confound the mighty. The sore
eyed and furtive Jews whom one
meets shutting along the narrow
streets Of Eagdad are a mockery to
old Babylon and Nineveh. They have
lived and these capitals have died.
Nobody d find a single Assyrian or
Babyionian IN MeSOnotamia today: but
the captive Jews are still there, and
apparently entering upon a new era
Of prosperity.
Scared and pent-up Hezekiah is
really a victor, VINO helps preserve
the name Of the mighty S~ennacherib.
That king left many inscriptions,
some Of which [ have seen, recount
Ills his w L i nave INK "
his bricks. wherein he proclaims
himself king of the universe. But
it took the scholars from a Chris
tan nation to Uncover and decipher
these boastful records which else
would nave been lost to the world. If
it were not for the scientific research
which is a product Of Christian civili-
cation. we would have no records
of this past era, except such as the
Old Testament preserves to us. At
Asshu the old capital of Assyria, I
saw q line Of old monoliths
Grating the greatness of kings, but
the very names of them are now I'M
known. Is it any wonder that the
archaelogists make cynical remarks
concerning the Wanting pride Of these
monarchS?
The utter deafness of these once
mighty heather powers. while the
kingdom of God grows daily greater,
to all young people who study this
story. Mrs. BroWning's Pan Is Dead"
dramatically represents the downfall
of the heathern deities.
n Duel of GOdS.
IT was a duel OF gods hat was be-
Ing Waged W ASSyria and Ju-
dab. With true literary instinct the
Old Testament writers set forth the
power and greatness and pride of AS
syria. They wrote in the presence
OF its actual might. To them it was
the incarnation of terror. Worldly
force and ruthlessness were repre-
scented by it. Also it stood for the
embodiment OF idolatry. The cause
OF Assyria was the cause of heathen-
dom. It's ~conquests had filled many
minds with doubts of the power Of
the true God. SO war with Assyria
was a war between Jehovah-an the
idols.
Hezekiah, hing OF Judah, had made
all possible preparations to withstand
the enemy. But the arm of flesh was
unequal 10 that defense. So the king
took his troubles TO the Lord-the
best possible thing TO do With trou-
bieS, big or little. There is no place
where earth's sorrow arc more felt
than I'D in heaven" Ms habit Of talk
ing counse With God steadias the