Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-04-29

At the present moment The British
troops are approaching Jerusalem. appar-
entity in two columns, one from GAIA and
Hebron-to mention the two Bible towns
at which they were last reported-the
ancient city Of Jerusalem: and a new trt-
umphal entry into the city is imminent.
Until now the Turks have been in COM
mand. as for centuries past. The holy
city Is a garrison town.
Now we may imagine the panic that
prevails AS always in war. the coun-
try folk have thronged to the city.
Jerusalem almost resembles the old
Passover throngs. Rumors are rife in
every bazaar and at the sheep markets
by the Jaffa and Damascus gates.
"Will they Gomez" is the cy on every
lip, as men climb onto the walls and
other: high places to look LOT me az.
vancing Christian army. Dead bodies
of the starved litter the streets or Je-
rusalem today. but nobody has time TO
pay any attention to them. Inc wall
ing of the mourners Is heard from
many homes The faces of the people
are emaciated with hunger. Furtiveiy
they tell one another tales of the OPP
preston of the Turkish troops. Most
of the present jewellers in the ancient
City of David long for the arrival OF
of their prayer. day by day.
Surely the spectacle is one TO Sur the
Ina young men OF Can :
ada and Australia and New Zealand and
South Africa and Great Britain march
ing over the stored soil of the Land OF
Promise. TO make triumphal entry
into the city of the great King ORA
matically. the new is penetrating inc
old: the west is winning the east. Ana
beneath the banner OF the cross of St
George (who himself. it may be re-
called was Palestinian fgurc). there
is carried the spirit and gospel OF the
cross of the Son of Man, whose entry
into this same old city nineteen CEN
turtles ago is the theme of study today
by millions of Sunday school members
We recall the entrance OF the cru
saders. with all that lies behind that
romantic enterprise. Omar's capture
of the city is its high date In the
minds of the Moslems We cannot for
get the destruction of Jerusalem by IL
tus. only forty years after our Lord
trod the city's streets. Passing ever
the return of the Hebrew exiles from
captivity to the city they loved, we
have in mind the terrible tale of its fall
to Babylon. Before that. and the great
est date of all, next to the one we are
studying today, was the capture of the
city by King David from the Jebusites
he having gone northward from his
old capital at Hebron, where the Brit
ish now are.
rusalem were unearthed in the Tell ell
Amarna tablets. of the date of 1850,
b. C. Always the city has been high
place of strategy. And throughout its
various epochs-Amorite, Jebusite. He
brew, Jewish. Roman, Byzantine. Arab,
Moslem. Crusader and Turkish-it has
been first of all a religious center.
One of the most interesting of the
superstitions of the Jerusalem Moslems
is the belief that when the so-called
Golden Gate" of the city, sealed for
centuries. is opened che Christians will
retake Jerusalem. This is the gate in
the center of the eastern wall. right at
the Temple Area.
One unforgettable night. in the full eff
fulgence of the passover moon, l stood on
the slope of Olivet, looking over toward
the city. / had crossed the Brook ked-
ron. and passed up beyond Gethsemane.
Just below the rival German and Russian
churches which crown the crest of this
mount of memories l tarried to look upon
the city over which Jesus brooded and
wept From Nebo's height l had once
looked toward Mount Olivet. and knew
the prominent place it occupies in the to-
biography of the country. even as it does