Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-12-25
Sunday School Lesson

ability that the undisciplined mass
was whipped into conquering band.
| He inspired them with his faith and
enthusiasm to cross the Jordan, take
| Jericho and conquer Palestine. In as,
| signing the country to the tribes,
| Caleb's faith was recognized and the
! promise made him by Moses over 40
years previous was kept by assign
| ing him the difficult field OF Hebron
| Previous to his departure, Joshua
summed up all that God had done for
| the nation in his farewell address
| In this he followed the example of
Moses. He reafflrmed the covenant
made by the Lord and the nation.
Stormy Season.
The period of the Judges records
the dark days filed with struggle,
suffering and storm that followed
their breaking faith with jehovah It
was time when every man did what
he considered right in his own eyes.
Whenever the people returned 20 God
! lie raised up for them military lead
crs who checked the depreda tons of
their enemies and preserved Israel
Among the heroes of that age Gideon
achieved Immortality by reducing a
great army until he had 800 picked
men, whom he armed with a trum-
pet, lamp and empty pitcher. His
battle cry, THE sword of the Lord
and of Gideon" which they shouted in
unison when they blew upon the trum-
pets. broke the pitchers and held high
their lights, created panic among the
Midianites. who fled in all directions
and were overwhelmingly defeated.
lie drove them out of the country and
exterminated them among their own
hills.
Darkness, despair and division, due
TO the sinful practices of the sons of
Eli, the high priest, and their own in
iquity dema nded a religious reformer
that would unite the nation and re
store the worship of Jehovah. God
raised up for that difficult task Sam
uel. He is zone of the purest and
most patriotic figures in Hebrew his
tory" From his early childhood.
when he answered the. call of God, the
son of the praying Hannah served the
Lord and Israel in q manner that
united them, through his work as q
prophet and priest of God He guided
them by his craftsmanship in the
erecting of a constitutional monarchy
when he placed Saul and then David
upon the throne. He introduced the
use of songs of praise into the divine
worship, which helped to mold the
proper channels. In doing his work
of reforming the spiritual life of the
nation, Samuel was aided by Judah.
whose purity of religious life helped
the prophet put through his religious
reforms. During the two centuries
that they lad taken no part in the
affairs of the tribes Judah had kept
herself free from the sinful influence
of the cities and large communities.
They lived the simple life of the shep.
herds and preserved by their seclusion
the austere faith of the desert. II
was from their ranks that he had
taken David and made him king in
place of Saul, This gave to Christ a
royal ancestry.
Bethlehem's Love Stories.
Three OF the prominent personal
tiles mentioned in the lessons were
not Of Hebrew birth, Hobab Caleb
and Ruth. Each came from a diff
ferent stock but my their own decision
cast their lot with Gods people Ruth
made the great decision of the three
1t cost her more to leave Moab with
her poor mother-in-law, Naomi. but
the love that she won in the field of
Boaz gave her a place in the lineage
of the Lord. The part that these
three foreigners took in the develop