Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-10-23
WHEN THE ~" GETS TOO BIG.
The International Sunday School Les.
son for October Is, Is "The Sin Of
Moses and Aaron" Numbers co.: 1-13
BY William T. ELLIS.

| =
Another case of swelled head" That
is the coI!oeuial epitaph which the
/ world writes above many a mans fail
, ure. Despite the experience OF i've
! thousand years Of history, all OF which
! chorus to us to be humble and to walk
softly we go strutting our peacock
way through life, as though we alone
were great The incurable egotism
Of mankind has in it some wisdom,
but much folly. Self-inf1ation is the
+! first step toward collapse. The men
who think more highly of themselves
than, they ought to think. often are
thought less highly Of by other men
than they really deserve. IL
! The great old lawgiver Moses, one
Of the crowning figures of time, miss
eel The mark for this most human Of
rass sons. This Sunday school lesson
| deals with the sin which shut the lead
or from the Promised land to which
| he had led the people. 1t seems such
little sin, such a pardopable natural
weakness, such an abundan.ly provok-
ed offence, that at first we are inclined
to question whether the punishment is
not too great for the crime. Shut out
Of Canaan because he got mad" and
Ashamelessly displayed his egotism--
that is the tragedy of the life of Moses.
Failing on the Home Stretch.
The setting of the event is dramatic.
The children Of Israel had finished the
greater part OF their journey from
Egypt to Palestine. For thirty-eighr
years they had camped at Kadesh-Bar-
nea. waiting for the faint-hearted and
unbclieving to pass away. All the old
leaders were gone. except Moses,
Aaron. Joshua and Caleb. At last the
waiting period had drawn to a close
Moses was an old. old man., and his
eyes were hungry for the Land Of
Promise. - <
Then. 'an@ontbreak Of impatience on
the part Of the people because the
water supply was short, led the leader.
Of the, host into display of temner
end bride paralIeling that, of the
ncople--and 10. of an instant. the
the ground. The word 1of Jehovah
ter:t Promised Land Zip to which he
had guided the people. He had lost
the race on the homestretch. >,#
= Such things are possible. That is
why, q tanny world objects to bio
eraphies of living men: they may, in
the end Of thnir lives, nullify and dis
horor all their. shining past. There.
fore. the Christian is Ridden to watch.
and lrav," atest be be led in to temnta-:
ton. Even the stalwart Apostle Paul
fearod-lest he himself should be a cast
away There is no room for pride or
nhafasaism in even the rpests saints
life: We have too NAM Illustrations
o. the grim possibility Of a holy life
slinlting into Unholy deeds il its sunset
hour. The hest Of us never get beyond
ih,>nned OF dependence uponsthe grace
o.. God, or the hourly support OF his
Spirit The mes sage Of Moses is one
Of humility and reversnt trust. -"
When -"yox Populi'' Grows Noisy. T.
Popular clamor is often the voice
Of God: and sometimes it is only the
taste for free. dread and circuses.' At
times the call of the people is TO be
oheved, and O.: other fines it is to be
disregarded Always the really great
leader will look uDon. popular out
hursts with the indulgence Of a, father
toward" clrilrron, knowing that these
are their way" III. ~"
The bringing together Of all the
people at one spot, preparatory to the
niAich into Canaan. and the coinci-
depca Of a. dry season. caused>a short
age Of water. There is nothing very
remarkable about this. During the
Sranish-American war the American
mi'i'a"y concentration camp suffered
such dro,,ght, and the murmuring
filed the lend The children Of Israel
were chronic grumblers. They had not
learned salf-restraint. Even this
second end better crop were prone to
FORGET what God had done for them.
So they blamed Moses for their
trouble. And it was his business to
take the blame, however unjust it
might be. That goes with the position
of leadership. Moses was quick to
claim credit for himself therefore he
should not shirk the responsibility. He
and his brother very sensibly took
their trouble to Jehovah-the very best
place to take trouble. There he learn