Newport daily independent., 1911-03-04
Bears as God's s
 Avengers
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EMfylHs hotly Is the story of Sss ns @NSEN killing of AZ Bethel chi,asu .us W@g by two bears because N, \ N
 children had insultea ss ss' young prophet Elisha. How cr,.,,s ,Io cry the critics; how disproportioass. ]. the penalty to the offense. WA 4Su \ bloody, unjust book is the Bibla,s - 2
 But the criticism results from ,u, apprehension. For, in the first ,laas ,,''s' we must remember that the enisoss grss' was at the very beginning of E1isha,s career. He was in difficult post,org as young man succeeding an Ss o,s2 man, a pupil succeeding a teacha, " ! man with little or no reputation tss sss ing up the work of the acknowloarss leader of the nation. In such 2 e.ssi sssl the first moments tell on all succoaa s ing days. If Elisha had allowed r,,s cule and contempt at the start h;s ,,t. work would have been ruined
 In the second place we must <. member that it was not horde of |, fants that insulted Elisha, but of bo,, old enough to know better, and ns, haps even of young men. The Vad translated children" is applied to K seph at the time when he interpre.d Pharaoh's dream, to Solomon when i. was 20 years old, to Joshua when k < was Moses chief assistant. and to Jq emiah when, in his young maDbud he was called to be a prophet. B4 sides, the boys were doubtless refeet ing the common sentiment and ven backed up by the opinion of all Bebs Term of Peculiar Reproach In the third place the cry, "Tbm bald head was peculiarly offensive since the Orientals regard baldnea as a disgrace. It is not likely tba Elisha, being a young man, was ach ally bald. The term was equivalers to Thou uncleanness, thou Ieper' In the fourth place the cry of ls boys was a direct insult to Elisha prophet and to the God whom h represented. sGo up," the meaning is, as you lyingly say Elijah went ugI and the sooner we are rid of you thG better!''
 In the fifth place 1t is not aa that the bears killed the lads ba only that they tore" them. Ths would be sufficiently punished by tic rending of their clothes and tha flesh.
 In the sixth place, the opportui intervention of the two bears is prod that God was on the side of Elshi and in criticising the event we a criticising God.
 In the seventh place, if the happs ing had not commended itself toh 1 common conscience as ust-and se 1 sciences then were much as they I Elisha's influence would hae
 been ruined; but he seems to haVf | been more beloved and honored lna
 the sterner Elijah, and the gene'
 impression we gain from the otns details of his life is of a kind, nls hammered man, all of whose mlraca ] were deeds of helpfulness, man 1 concerned with such small matters
 lost axe head, an unhealns
 spring and poisoned pottage. l Rebuke of lrreverence.
 Finally. considered from any vs'
 point, the incident was powerlnl
 buke of irreverence. It must nave s l awe through Bethel and all lsraeL
 entire nation became more tnousla
 and serious because of those Deals the punishment of those rude | dren
 Shall the lesson stop with the Y
 of Elisha? It is surely needed nos
 ever. With our new feeling Of llOe
 our new regard for children tns freedom and naturalness oi 's
 life. the fathers absorption n
 ness and the mothers devotion " | clubs, children are allowed,
 home. church, Sunday school su
 inc street. familiarity ana lnusp
 ence of manner that wouiu
 shocked our grandfathers Du
 measure. To their elders also us
 ister is no longer the great man ,s, 7,
 village and the church IS .,a 7 pisp M
 a place for reverence and the ' D'ss S
 tumbled about like any olns,
 On every hand we hear 'n0 '"
 up thou bald head" uls
 Bears are in the woods--'~0 ,n n
 bearsl Irreverence leads ,a'., Y
 great evils, inadelity ana mo-. a''l
 without hope and wlenya ,othes l Those bears tear not our ,s 1sS
 our flesh but our very sou,o, ,o,tbs
 m An let us cover our mouss' ',s
 those of our children. .,ls Lel naly <,
 to toosv remove our shoes in the asssSs n9a
 and ar to bend our stubborn Dsslr ord rl
 Let us get that fear or , ene < the tbe lg
 is at least the beginning !as,, z noiut M 4
 the Lord, and the initlai p''
 wisdom