The Williamson enterprise. [volume] (Williamson, W. Va.) 1907-1911, 1911-03-23

The object OF the first century OF the
divided kingdom and its lessons was
to develop and train a people of God
through whom to make the whole
world people of God Salvation for
the Individual and for the human race
The united kingdom did q 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
1 kingdom of God.
| The period covered was about 90 years
B. c., 982 to 500. 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. It's capital was Je-
rusalem, and the temple was the re-
ligious center. Large numbers Of the
more religious people came to judah
from attack on the north by IsraePs
being between them and the nearest
and most dangerous enemies, while a
desert was a 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, 25 years. Under Asa
and Jehoshaphat there were great
! religious REVEALS and religious
reforms, alternating with declines.
Here was 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-a 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. It 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 beneficent 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.
yentiveness, very much to the climatic
conditions under which he lives. He
ls forced to activity. and SO he quickly
outstrips bis languid neighbor OF the
I tropics.
It Is only when a man or a nation,
or an ideal is opposed that we dis,
cover its real worth. Truth can only
be won by freedom and the uses OF
freedom. Truth is to be found by
approaching 1t from all sides, by gen.
erous rivalries, by the Christian con
dict of differently constituted minds
II life were all smooth road, would
we not all grow sleepy? People who
take passage through the world in easy
chairs. II they avoid some OF the trou
bles, miss also most OF the joys OF
4 living.
I. The kingdom of Israel contained
e,400 square miles. 1t was a much
more fertile country than Judah. Itl
territory lay between judah and Syria
so that 1t was in close contact or
three sides with heather nations, who
had the activity and physical qualities
of tribes which loved excursions into
other countries for booty. OF the nine
kings parallel with the four kings o.
Judah, 1t is worth while to remember
Jeroboam, 20 years; omri, IL; Ahab
%. Jezebel. Ahab's heather queen
| was the most influential factor In thu
| religious decline. The kingdom wa.
subject to revolutions, and the nint
kings Of this period belong to Eve dy
nasties.
The stories OF these hero-prophet,
should become familiar in their MAR
incidents to ali the children, who car
seq what brave; heroic men can do
when they are In earnest for the right
Elijah preached God Almighty, hi
truth, Ills laws, his power to help. and
the absolute necessity Of being loya
| to him, IL the individual or the nation
would prosper by life worth the liv
ing.
For all the children the teacher cal
make most profitable review By
plan used by successful friend. H,
took a large sheet Of heavy paper, sa,
| IL by 15 inches. and drawing a lin,
down the center, on the left hand sid,
wrote a series Of questions In letter.
| so large as to be easily seen by all tn,
class. On the right side of the line b,
wrote the answers. These question:
were given to the class. and they reat
the answers two or three times. Then tn,
paper was folded In the middle, so tina
the answers were out of sight, Will,
/ the questions were still before tn,
| Ia 81 @t.o H. -