The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-01-28
BY WILLIAM IT ELLIS.


BY WILLIAM IT ELLIS.
FN ATIONAL problems are get
NGl ting an unusual share of at
ANH tention all around the world
these days. The question OF
what constitutes success for
nation is a very living one.
The past is the teacher of the present
and as the real essentials of life never
change we may learn from the little
old nation Of the Jews something
about national problems for present
use.
the question of king. The southern
kingdom had been blessed with a
good leader in Asa; now we ind his
son Jehoshaphat on the throne to
carry on and strengthen the noble
ways of his father. Good leaders are
a first essential of success in organized
society. No scheme of government
has yet been devised that can work
without strong men at its head. Even
q weak and ignorant people may pros
per If the leaders are great. Travel
ing over Mount Carmel 1 came to
the little Druse village of Daliyet on
the summit. 1t was the cleanest and
most PROSPEROUS village l had seen In
ali Turkey, Upon inquiring the rea-
son was shown the house or Mr.. ana
Mrs. Laurence Oliphant, the writer's
who had lived here many years. and
had shown their native neighbors
many missionaries are Transforming
their neighborhood. It Is the per-
sonai element that counts for most
always. A community's character is
fixed by its strong personalities. me
Jehoshaphats make the strong nations;
therefore the importance of choosing
leaders wisely. 81
Religion and Politics.
Some stupid persons, who know lit
tie of history, past or contemporan-
eous, say that religion has nothing 10
do with politics. If political creeds
are not an outcome of religious fa1tn'
then the nation is on very shallow
foundation indeed. In the turkish
empire today, as in the time OF Israel,
politics is but another name for re-
ligion. The highest and deepest as
pects of Turkeys problems, as I have
Investigated them, are wholly re-
Hgious The secret of the unrest In the
Moslem world was given to me last
night by distinguished Syrian pup
ucist: 1.-THE Moslems are Jealous OF
Christians, whom they see to have all
the power in the world. while every
where the Moslems are backward"
So it is not merely matter an
cient history that prosperity IN the
long run, attends the nations that wor-
ship Jehovah. There is nothing &C
cidental in the fact that the earth's
surface is aim st wholly divided up
amongst the Christian nations. The
God VINO gave prosperity " JAOoh
when it was true to him is still or
dering the affairs of mankind. Godn-
ness is gain for this pre5ent world.
Instead of petty political contentious,
citizens would do well to cry, In true
eontrition of heart:
1.-THE tumult and the shouting dies;
The captains and the kings depart;
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
- or has-
Lest we forget-lest we eorget!"
A Glimpse of Heathenism.
Big political problems Jehoshaphat
had in plenty; but his chief dlhculty
was religious. The Jews had not
advanced very far beyond the tribal
conception of God. Sometimes, chief
" from base motives, they were tempt
ed to change the fashions in gods, and
follow the one most in vogue among
of it, is to this day the most prevalent
form of idolatry. The name for a god
among the neighboring nations was
baal; this is not distinctive name.
but rather a general title, like ''lord."
There were many baal in and about
the borders of Judah. They were IN
constant competition with JehoVah;
they were the chief obstacle to the
reforms Of Jehoshaphat and the other
pious leaders.
The ashcroft were another form OF
idolatry. They were sacred trees,
or sacred poles planted alongside the
affairs. Tree worship and stone Wor-
ship exist in the East to this day; the
former especially in Korea. On the
road between Jericho and Jerusalem
there is 6 boulder which is believed
OF have magical powers. and it is heap
ed up with small votive stones.
The high places" of the Old Tes-
lament are incomprehensible to many
readers of the Bible. The first I saw
was a square structure of huge stones,
on the crest of hill in the uplands
of Moab. Later, at the mysterious
city of Petra, in Edom, 1 saw them
GROWING almost every summit There
they are cut out of the solid rock,
and still survive as squared platforms
or affairs. with channels for the blood
OF the sacrificed victims. The pillars
that stood by them have gone; the
very names of the gods for whom they
were erected are unknown. Time
has vindicated Jehoshaphat and the
other friends of Jehovah who had
such sore struggles against the high
places, the ashcroft and the baalim
The Conqueror With Book.
The shrewdness of Jehoshaphat
armed his goodness. He had the rare
gift Of knowing how to turn his reso-
buttons into revolutions. He exhorted
his people to turn to Jehovah-and
then he sent teachers through the
land to show them how. No reform
can be permanently assured unless il
is built upon the sure foundation Of
the peoples intelligent conviction. A
hortatory revival of religion mean:
little more than so much wasted nerve
tissue and vocal power. 1t is a mere
strain upon the emotions, predisposinl
them to emotional ossification. Blu
q Bible studying revival insures trans
formation of character. Turn PEG
pie to the Book and you turn then
to God of a surety. The most poten
force now at work in the near Eas
for the prestige of the Anglo-Saxol
race is not the warships or the diplo
mats of Great Britain or the United
States, but the schools maintained b!
the American missionaries. A deepe
and more pertinent illustration Of Je
hoshaphat's reform by the Book is af
- ~. ia. "a