Mexico weekly ledger., 1918-10-24
ByW. A.
60 "a 80

nastsr Cent ~ Church e Csrist
Car a Fca Z e. warfare b. in =
mznas-. har-so aizcd With the teach-
and priod Fies II 0risssnity.
ms Is or q thu question mzrks
oreS,ed fcr ~ ~ the Ebsry Loaa
campaign. th-~ wh Which the Prosi-
dent appeals to an Anencsns for a
nest Nrorous p psccudoa Ct the war.
Sszsane IL 50 ns doei8edly hewia-
eiaE 70 PosscS beth nAnly muscles
that cEa III hzra and a militant mem
CRY that eoGn<eas restraint and mer-
cy.
And this Is N hour when We come
facs to face VITA the seemingly irre%
oasllhle conflict between Christian
teaching and Christian spirit. and the
destruction. the hate and the killing
of wAr. NOt a few loyal Americans
have asked. IN pslPlexed conscientious
nssx. within the List four years. @can
q GriEtiAa 20 70 war;" Others have
hansd deep and wide fer the place
where God made any distinction be-
tween murder (one man killing anoth-
srl and var Tin which thousands Of
7sn hn each other.l Stil others have
fen 30 PoignAntiy the horror Of as
sailing life that they have pleaded
thsir inability TO plunge the cold steel
home
know a splendid young American.
5 lieutenant in aviation, to whose aer-
al photography done weeks ~ is
che a measure Of the success Of the
American advance against the Hin
dsnburg line today. but when in ofic-
ers training camp he appealed to his
superiors TO be transferred because
regard for the sacredness of human
life was such that he felt he could new
er smash. cut and stab in the frenzied
clash Don TO come.
And still others have felt there was
. strange and savage ineongruity
about having pleas for the progation
Ct war voiced from the puIpits and
prayer places Of the churches. Such is
the ~quandary of the composite Ameri-
can mind
The Modern Amalek Is Germany and
Same Fate Must Be Melted Out.
To match this perplexity of our
present day experience the Bible Of
fers US an equally paradoxieal scrip
ture. Bible readers Of the centuries
have either SHE'D at. or stood aghast
before the mission which Samuel, in
the name Of the Lord, imposed upon
King Saul.
Destroy utterly; spare nothing
these were the livid words Of the i'm
perturbable prophet.
Reading that commission, many
shuddcred and said they did not I'M
derstand; others said this was at least
instance in the Bible where mans
passion and fury was substituted for
the fair and loving inspiration Of God.
But our day is vocal with questions,
and the questioner has his reward.
Who were those Amalekites? And
what could they possibly have done to
merit such a decree from God, who
here seems to have turned the venge-
ful lord high executioner?
They were a restless, predatory,
bloodthirsty tribe that rested on the
borders CT the desert and constantly
threatened and marauded old Canaan
from the southeast.
They wece the hereditary foes of
Gods people, Israel. When the tribes
under Moses marched out of Egypt the
Amalekites were the first foes; and
not only the first, but always the ma
hcious, ruthless, pitiless foes. Just
before his death, Moses exhorted the
tribes to remember what Amalek
! did,"-how he smote the 'shindmost'
1.-THE aged, the children and the non
c~ombatantsD and also "the feeble. the
faint and the weary"
And later, Samuel addressing their
captured king, Agag, whose name
, meant "the destroyer" cried out 10
/ his face that his sword was habitually
devoted to making women childless.'
Germany teaches the world TODAY
+ that there are people and nations with
d whom reason, patience, love, and re.
e minders of the obligation to show
mercy have no weight.
And who knows but that Amalel
was such a menace, and so invulnera.
bic to anything divine from above Of
to anything human from below tina
there was no other way to rid Israe
\. and the country Of them?
4 "Vengeane Is Mine, / VIII Repay
ID Saith the Lord" Is Warning.
Judgment is Gods prerogative. 1t /
his strange work in which he takes n
delight, but which he cannot fail :
n perform when necessity for it arises
TT Judgment is just as inescapably a lay
er Of the universe as gravitation. Not al
rs. together agreeable to the natura
nd heart Of man is that divine characte.
y. istie Of stern, rigorous, unbiased judg
p ment. In the vagrant moods Of GU
minds we are inclined to divest Go
wholly Of his judicial character. w
nd ere tempted to aver that Christ's mis-
i'll sion to the world was only to convinc
IN. mankind Of certain rather complacen
paternal aspects Of Gods nature, an
to rid our minds Of those conception
Of Indignation and wrath we are nat
urally apt to vote him.
II But that is only nall a gospel. w
4 instinctiyely feel that justice wi
sometime, somewhere be done an
judgment visited.
And who can do it for the years an
centuries but he who liyeth forever