The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-01-10
iBy WILLIAM T. ELLIS.)

rare IoI IL IdL1cI - w ~
has lately done-get rid Of an in
competent king and substitute a pop
nlar government. The more usual
way is tina of Greece; with a king
unequal to the national emergencies
the people run hither and thlthef,
bleating %piteously like a flock OF sheep
without a shepherd. National cad
ers have a grave responsibility. In
the II downs Of the history OF
the Chosen People we see that sood
kings led the nation into righteous
ness, and lax or evil kings corrupted
it.
Certain eternal principles run
through the record Of h life OF the
Jews. That is one reason why mil
lions of persons study the Cld Iesta-
ment history who know little or noth-
ing of the contemporary Greeks ana
Assyrians and B~abylonians and Phoe-
nicianS and SyrianS. In the lite or
Judah and Israel we learn Gods ways
with nations in their collective cap
acity. Broadly viewed, we see that
he was rying Ito make them a clean
and righteous people, and a people
freed from the ain of idolajry, and
steadfast in the worship of Jehovah.
What was true of these ancient king
t1oms, nearly three Thousand years
ago, is true Of the Christian nations
today.
A Good Sons Poor Parents.
When Asa came to the throne of
Israel he a nc moral inheritance
to speak Of. Apparently his father.
Abijah, while calling on Jehovah
when sore pressed in war, walked IL
the sins of his father Rehoboa1n.
He left the land to his son filled with
the denominations Of the neighbor-
ing heather. Ever Asa's mother,
Maacah, was an .idolater; and we
may pity the son who has not a good
mother he is worse off than the man
with a foolish or wicked wife.
Real mettle is shown by the way
q person deals with the natural con
ditions that surround him. Man
right is greater than birth-right. One
may be born bad and become good,
else is our religion vain. If children
may be doomed by parents, then
have we the nerveless and fatalistic
East. Happily, nobody is doomed to
walk in the way Of anybody else.
Asas may break loose from the ex-
ample and traditions Of the Rehobo-
ans and Abiias n Maacahs.
Asa even dared remove his mother
from her office as uueen-nother. He
destroyed the idol she had built and
ents is one thing. but loyalty to
God is another. There are no ties
SO sacred as those which bind the
soul to Jehovah. The choice must
sometimes still be made between
those dear In the flesh and allegiance
Or spirit-prosperity for the life tina
does not put God first.
The Hurt Of Bad NeighborS.
A person needs a knowledge of
III usic in order to enjoy to the full a
fine orchestral; one must know his
tory in order to get h full benefit
Of travel; and to understand the story
Of the life of the ancient Jews it is
necessary to remember the con-
ditions which surrounded them. They
were Strung from the lofns Of an
~1dol-Tlaker. Their earliest conception
Of Jehovah was that of a tribal or
family god, quite on the order Of the
other local gods Of their neighbors.
They had been schooled in idolatrous
Egypt. The peoples who dwelt near
them all worshipped idols. They them
selves had not got a good hold Of the
truth that there Is but one God, uni |
versal and supreme.
Moreover-and this is important TO
bear in mind-the requirements Of
their God were more rigid than those
to which their neighbors were sub |
5ecI in the worship Of idols. The
stern morality Of monotheism did
not sit comfortably upon them. All
sorts Of lavities and i~ndulgences We're
not only permitted to the idolaters.
but were q required part Of their wor-
ship. Here we impinge upon the huge
and hideous subject of the immorali-
ties associated with idolatry. The
Jews did not turn so often and so
readily to the worship Of trees and
stones and high places and images.
eau they cared for these things
in themselves, but because their low
er natures craved the practices as
ISOLATED with them. immortality was
the fashion among the neighbors. and
the fashion easily spread to the Jews.
a Reform Administration.
Asa started out to clean up his
country He began and ended with
its religion. For the only reform that
counts is that which deals with the
deepest motor forces Of individual
life. The zeal refnruar iS Tho 80