The Lexington advertiser. [volume] (Lexington, Miss.) 1904-1985, 1951-05-10

man Empire or &
Spengler's pessi-
mistic Decline Of
the Vest, or Toyn-
bees more optimis-
tic six-v o l
Study of History" DR.. Foreman
But when the juice has beer
squeezed out Of these learned and
interesting volumes, the Truths es'
sence turns out to be much the
same as what we can find by read.
ing the Old Testament. True, the
nations under the Old Testament
lens are not big empires like Rome,
still less like the British Empire;
the kingdom of Israel was only
about 100 miles long and go miles
wide, while the kingdom of Judah
was smaller than many an Ameri.
can county.
Promise
yK7HEN Solomon died, the king
w dom he had inherited from
David had already shrunk. After
his death, what was left immedi.
ately split into two kingdoms, the
one on the south called Judah and
the in the north called Israel.
The nation Of Israel, which
lasted more than 200 years, be-
gan with great promise. Indeed,
one Of Gods prophets Il Kings
III had given to Jeroboam, the
first king, the same promise
which had been given David, of
an enduring kingdom on con-
dition Of obedience to God.
Everything seemed to be favor.
able. Israel had more territory than
most Of her neighbors had, a far
more productive soil, and easy &C.
cess to transportation.
Crash
ISRAEL should have succeeded;
! but 1t failed. Only a little more
than 200 years afterwards, no very
great age as nations 60, it crashed
completely. never to rise again,
When the walls Of its ''impregna'
BILE" capital city of Samaria, after
a two-year siege, fell to the batter
ing-rams of the Assyrian army, ano
over $1,000 leading citizens were
deported, that was the end of Is
rael for good and all,
How did this happen?
The Hebrew historian ties
everything into a few words
when he says that they wrought
wicked things 49,. they rejected
Gods statutes -. they served
idols.
But what were the details? What,
In particular, did the nation of Is
rael do that was wicked?
Reading the prophet Amos viii
give many of the answers. At the
time he preached, by all chamber
of-commerce standards Israel was
at the peak of production and pros
perity. But he foresaw doom around
the corner, and he gave reasons
He called a spade a spade. Read
ing him, or even reading the bald
er accounts in Kings, we can SEE
the collapse was no mystery.
Other Gods
@NE thing fundamentally wronl
~ with Israel was idolatry. Thil
was not the simple matter O
making carved images; 1t mean
taking some other god to be tn
true God.
We know what the religions
Of Chemish and Molech and
Baal were like; they were thor
oughly bad. In the law Of the
true God, life and purity yer
regarded as sacred; life and
purity under these other gods
rel held cheap. But ONE can
Q from reading Amos that
what the people Of Israel real
ly ~worshipped was still another
idol to whom no statue was
erected: their own pleasures.
Too many citizens . didn't car
what happened to the country. S
long as they could get their liquor
Well, let us not read the Old Tests
ment from mere curiosity. Whs
! about I'll W nation, our own pee
pie and times? The United Steward
ship Council (now the Joint D.
partrnsnt Of Stewardship Of the N,
tionai Council Of the Churches {
Christ In the U. s. A. reports thi
every year since 1884, sxcsptn
1888. has shown IN increase l
giving through the churches.
Dut-the percent Of this incrsas
d not 20 large ag the increase
annual income. The increase fc
/ contributions through the church ,
God La less, far less. than the il
crease In spending for alcohol
liquors, soft drinks, candy, footba
games, jewelry, and a multitude
other things. We, like Israel, ar
putting God lastl
Copyright 1881 by the Division OF
Christian Education, National Council
Of che Churches Of Christ In the United
States OF America. Released by wNu