Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-08-14
In the Religious World
r ELL
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

flee his future for principle. Zero
boam was a shrewd politician, wht
J which has sent his name ringins
down the ages with phrase of op
J probrium attached to it. He is thG
king "who made Israel to sin"
Suppose we first of all fix the place
Of the lesson story. We all know Jeru
salem, Rehoboam's capital. which al
the time of the lesson was the cap
ital only of Judah and Benjamin
When the ten northern tribes re-
volted from Solomon's son they elected
Jeroboam, commoner, but man
of force who had been obliged TO
flee from solomon's suspicious eye to
j Egypt, where he had fine trainin :
in public affairs. One of the north
ern prophets had predicted that he
would be king of Israel.
The seceders chose Shechem as
their capital, at the foot of Mt.
Gerizim and Mt. Ebal where the
law had been read. Near Shechem
was Sychar, where Jesus talked with
the woman at the well. A touch Of
current interest is given to the local
ity by the fact that here dwell all
who remain of the ancient Samari-
tans - about three hundred persons.
During the present stress and suffer
ing in Palestine these Samaritans
are being maintained by an Amer!-
can, MI. e. K. Warren, of Michi-
gan, president of the International
Sunday School association. These
Samaritans are mixed people; 1t
will be recalled: wherefore "the
Jews have no dealings with the
Samaritans."
.hechem we'll represents the
northern kingdom, in that it was
subject to the tides of trade and
travel and war which swept over
this part of Israel. Our Lord was
reared in this liberal, cosmopolitan
part of the land. in touch with many
peoples, The situation of the seed
! ing ten tribes made for prosperity.
as well as for Observation-Disclosures
Their territory was about nine thou
sand square miles, twice as large as
Judah, and it was richer land than
that to the south. Also it was in
more advantageous position for
trade, as we'll as for culture. Zero.
boam had rare opportunity to build
up strong kingdom.
The Ties That Bind a Nation.
Fear and ayarice are the twin
demons that Turk behind every office
holders chair, be he king or consta-
BILE. From the first, Jeroboah was
afraid that he might lose his job and
his kingdom. He saw ghosts in
every patch of moonlight. His first
great fear was that the religious i'm.
pulse, which is strongest of all man
kinds sentiments, might send his
people back to Jerusalem. He knew
the power Of habit and devotion.
So he and the other politicians pit
their heads together and decided that
it would be fine thing to have
modified state religion, with con-
venient national shrines, and an cas-
Ter form of worship than rigid mono.
theism He knew that people are
susceptible to the worship of god
made in their own image. Our own
time sees plenty such: and the re-
cent return of DR.. B. Fay Mills from
the fields of New Thought" t.
evangelical Christianity is symp
tom widely commented upon. Sub.
stitute religions do not continue to
satisfy; even as. Israel never was
happy with her modified faith.
Two extremes of the pendulum
are represented by the two rivol
kings of Judah and Israel. Reho.
beam had not yielded enough TO
popular demands; Jereboam yielded !
too much. He made the politicians
mistake of cujtivating the meaner,
baser side of human nature, and OF /
failing to appeal to its nobler senti' !
ments. Jeroboam thought that all
easy debased form Of religion would
be popular, and SO he made provision
for it, thus tempting the people away
from their allegiance to Jehovah.
Satan's Nearest Kin.
The best friend of evil this side
of perdition, the man who is nearest
kin to Satan himself, is the man who |!
deliberately tempts people to do
wrong. Even the imagination Of a !,
Milton or a Dante has not devised a
torment adequate for those diabol-
ical creatures who Intentionally lead
their fellows astray. Yet the line
of tempters did not end with Zero.
boam The pitiless publicity of our
day has revealed Whole classes Of !.