The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-01-17
(Ry William T. Eli

bv the Sunday Schools OF the "oilu,
Last week we observed Asa, We 6ooo
king of Judah; this week we Jun ~
he northern kingdom of Israel. bo'n
nations had their ups and downs, but
Israel was more down than up, until
finally il was wiped off the record anu
the map by the wrath OF JehoFan'
Big. bad men seemed to get the neini
of the ten tribes that reVolted from
Solomon's SON. There was ~JeroDoaIn,
the shrewd politician. who has come
down through the ages, tagged Win
the appellatlon, Jehovah, who maoe
Israel to sin" What an end for great
talents and vaulting ambition.
Oriental Palace Politics
A few contentious little kings toll
lowed Jeroboam, making sIgnt lm-'
pressions upon the record. There was
his son. Nadab. against whom Baasha,
in the cruel fashion OF oriental mon
archs. destroyed Jeroboam's family,
root and branch, thus quickly ending
the royal line, which that
had fondly hoped to establish.
Baasha left not to Jeroboam any
that breathed."
There is a Nemesis that follows
murder. Baasha's son Elah succeeded
/. the throne, but while he was igno-
bly, drunk he was slain ~ Zlmrl, who
treated the family Of Baasha even as
the latter had treated the house or
Jeroboam.
Short was the triumph OF this usurp-
er. He was only seven days king,
when the army elected it's captain,
Omri, king OF Israel. Poor. plotting,
~faint-hearted Zimri burned his palace
over his own head, thus dying as cow
ards die. The ugly record does not
end here, for one Tibni disputed the
election of Omri to the throne. There
was a division of the people, but the
pretender and his followers were de-
feated by the warrior mmri.
A Strong Man to the Fore.
The foregoing record OF sWift-pass-
ings kings of Israel is tedious. No
body remembers their names. They
were wicked weaklings. But with the
accession of Omri a personality appears
on the scene. His Is the first name to
be recalled after that Of Jeroboam.
Both were a but strong.
Travel through Palestine today and
you will be shown a mud village on a
hill which is all that remains Of Sa-
maria, a city with a great history.
The archae biologists are now digging
into the debris and finding many re-
mains Of value. This is the city that
was made such by Omri. He found it
a field and left it q capital of kings.
His name IS forever associated with
this northern capital, for he was a
builder.
What shall we say about the strong
men who are bad? h Omri type is
found everywhere. He was worse
than any Of his predecessors and did
evil in proportion to his strength. He
may stand as the extreme type of the
wicked man In politics. Parties and
cities and States are debauched today,
Parties and cities and States are de-
Dauched today even as he further de-
bauched Israel. The corruption in
the politics of the United States may be
+rS nn1 01r1npS 6ipnaf1v RI fha rnnIirp
Influence Of a few strong men. whom
one is tempted to name.
Why should the evil SO often be
strong and the good SO often be weak?
How are WI to explain the freQeutn
spinelessness of the pious. and that
the good are SO often only little fell
lows? The fault is not with Chris
tianity. but with the Interpretation OF
it,. The passive aspects of the teach
fngs Of the strong Son Of God are
. overstressed. Men pass over the
scourge Of cords, and the WOE unto
you.' The manliness Of Jesus is al
most a new idea to many. Uncon-
sciously the church is trying to be su-
gar when GOD meant her to be salt.
The pitiful pettiness Of many ~so-called
rel gious leaders," the frightened
"c~onservatism" OF ecclesiastical Off
curing a~nybody's ill-will which seems
TO possess SO many Christians. all tend
to promote the lack of strength in
those whose gospel bids them, over
and over again, BE strong:"
a Worse Son of a IA Father.
If things do not get better they
surely grow worse. Either the chill
dren must be an Improvement upon
their parents. as in the case of Asa, or
else they will drag the family name
still lower down. One generation NAV
be merely lax in the affairs of religion;
Tx nV i ~ ~ 70 no
ters of morals. A father swears wher
he IS provoked; his son becomes pro
fame by habit. Parents make light OF
the church and preachers: sons be.
come open scoffers at religion.
onri WAS strongly evil. He set ?
neT mark for W~ickedness in Israel H
"1t-Jerohamed ~Jeroboam. Now !,
las stead comes his son Ahab for =
t"ilS reign 81 twenty-five years. and he
cts his father several degrees v,n,sa