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The Commoner
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10
OL. 22, NO. 1
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family namo, nor Ubaring,'1 nor? health can-In-
OUIU YTlOUUlll.
When SolomOn ontorod upon hia reign ho
prayed, "Give thoroforo they servant an under
standing heart to Judgo thy pooplo, that I .pray
discern botweon good and bad." -'But nothing
"was farther from tho son's heart than the
father's prayer. Hd came to' the throne as his
father's successor without a protest, tfhd by one
act of folly lbst ten of tho twolvo tribes over
which his father ruled.
THE SIN OP IGNORING GOOD ADVICE
HIS first error was to Ignoro good advico.
Wo road that Rohoboam "consulted with the
old men, that stood before Solomon his father
Whllo! yot ho llvdd, and said "How do ye adviso
that I may answer this people?"
Jerobqam, who represented the ton tribes of
tho children of Israel, had presented a petition
saying, "Thy father mado our yoko grievous:
now t'horbforo make thou tho grievous service of
they fhthor, and his heavy yokq which he put
upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee."
Whether the yoko was really grievous or
whether their complaint was without just
grounds is nbt tho material question. The peo
plo mM(! complaint and the old men. whom
Itohoboam consulted first, advised Rbhbboam,
saying: "If thou wilt bo a servant unto this
ppopto this t(ay', and wilt servo tliehi, ati'd, answer
them' and speak good words to:'themj then they
will be thy servants forever." . . ; ,
This was sound counsel. ;Th6'kiqg,was advfsed
to servo the pooplo and tq ppqakT gf)pd words
tq flmm'upon the assurance, thai tho people
woUlthprt be his servants. J ,; ! ;. ' ,
But such advico did iot leasb the young
king. Ho forsook tho counsel. the 'old men
and ."consulted with young men thatj wore grown
uu wjth nh' and they, influenced possibly by
the 4mpotuous spirit of youth;bufJ mire "likely
by a desire to please Reholjoam, gave him advice
just thG( opposite of that given by ,thq old men.
.. Thpy no ohly advised him to refuse the peo
ple's jtotitlon, but they suggested insolent words
which could not fail to provoke resentment, if
not jebe,Uipn, i' :. .:' ,
.- - THPITFALL OF SELFntlftPtORTANCE
Instead (Of promising relibfvor- even,, express
ing, a. willingness to investigatehe cause of com
plain tnoy advised Rehoboam to threaten
heavier .burdqns. "My littlq. finger halj: bo
thicker than my fathor's loins' was the illus
tration which was used to measure tliq increase
that he would impose upon them. Instead of
inquiring whether his, fathor's. yoko was burden-t
some, ho was told to" admit possibly without
justiflcation--that his 'father's yoke was heavy
and say that ho would1 add to. it. 1 . :.,
This was tho advice: of the young men", and
to jtiake-' Ills defiance of tho1 pooplo ' mof & con
temptuous i the young men suggested v 'another
similm uMy father hath "chastised you with'
whips, I'but I will chastise" your With scdrplbns."
How' those y6ung men advisers' " nust have
giggled and winked at each other as1 their
urged the yoiing king to impudence. Wit is
of ton more alluring than common setise; with"
some Smartness counts more than simble truth.
Rohobbam was easily led whOn the' appeal
was made to his pride and solf-importartco. He
doubtless chuckled at the brilliancy of the re
tort suggested to him and nodded his head as
if to suy, "We will nip this familiarity in the
bud; We'll teach these people hot to bother"" a
king with protests and entreaties. Any encour
agement would lead to further demands." -THE'
QhV STORY OF AUTOCRACY
It is the old story of autocracy. The methods
of arbitrary government are not now; they aro
the natural out-croppirigs -when power is not
controlled by love.
Pharaoh exercised . them when he compelled
tho children of Israel to make bricks without
straw as a punishment. When they asked for
time to sacrifice to their God, Pharaoh replied
that it waB because they were idle that they
asked for time to sacrifice, and he commanded
"Let there more work be laid upon the men."
And the. emancipation of the- children of Israel
followed.
It was in the same spirit that Rehobqam, un
mindful of the lessons of thq past, - dealt with
hte people, so that the ten tribes of Israel r.e
vPUed and made Jeroboam their. king; -and it is
interesting to note that Bismarck, in his story
of his own life, criticized the Emperor's mili
tary commander for not bping more harsh in
dealihg with an uprising in 1848. He said
"On Nov, 10, Wrange, having marched in at
the head of his troops, negotiated -.with, the civil
guards and persuaded them to withdraw volun
tarily, I considered tha a political mistake. If
there had. only been the slightest sldr'infsh Ber
lin would have been captured, not by capitula-
;
ft'ibnj but by force, 'and. then the; ppliticalpos
tibtf of (he government would hUve'been quite'
different."
THE MORAL FOR 1'HE" NEW YEAR '
The moral that we draw from this tho first ,
iessOn of the new year comes at a, very appro
priate time. Tho spirit of Pharaoh and Rehb
. briani has too often been tho spirit of the world
not only the spirit of those in control of gov
ernments but the spirit of those who have dom
inated in all walks of life.
One cannot travel through tbe lands where
: so-called inferior people are hold as subjects
by a superior force without hearing echoes of
this autocratic philosophy. "Th'o people will
not appreciate any favors shown them." "They
will construe kindness as weakness." "They
must bo controlled by fear." Peace by terrorism
has been a costly fallacy from which the world
is now turning.
Rehoboam gives us the antithesis of the spirit
lof brotherhood, and his failure1 can be cited to
day in support of thq wisdom of the opposite
policy tho brotherhood which Christ taught.
"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" is thes
remedy the only remedy for all the ills which
afflict society, whether they come from misgov-
ernmerit or from friction between different ele
ments of society.
As war, like a';boil, indicates poison in. the
blood, so the 'domPstic bolls that appear on the
body pplitiq indicate a poison thatfmust be era
dicated'.". . Chrjst is tho Great Physician4: He puri
fies thq.blQd.tl and brings to. individual, to com
munity, to State, to nation, arid' to ',tho world
that peace for which all hearts 'yearn."
HTtfMAN BEINGS AS 'QQD'S
t MESSENGERS :
fey WILLIAM JENNINGS jBRAN
-BIBliiE TEXTLESSON . FJOR ' jXn. y 8
..;. (King 17:1-16.-) '.,'; " .!
And 'BUjah, -tho Tlshblte, whoCAvas qf.the In
habJtantR of CJIleail. said unto Xbal). As tho Lord
G,0(V,of1?Krael Ilveth. before -rtrhom1 U 'stand", there
shall jiot bo dew nor rain these ye;ars, but-accord-infr
;to. my word.- : ,
And the ,w:drd of the Lord cam'e' unjo'hith, say-
Get thee henco, and turn thee eastward,, and bide
thyself by the book Oherlth, which, Is beforo Jor
dan. ' ' '-.. . .
And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of tho
tirp tl JLn commanded, ,t.HQra,ven.s.t9 feed.
n0T1,e went aP(1 d,d according unto the word of
J K Jn,rl:i J?Vh? wtjand dwells by the brook
Ghorlth. that is beforo,. Jordan. ..
And tho ravens broUcrht him 'br.ea'il and flesh In
the morning, antt bre'.ld and flesh' In tho evenlns:
and he, drank, of the ft rook, . , , . '
M,fn(3T 'f Ciamo tg-Pttss after a while, that the' brook,
thSSa?a "P. because there had Tiecn no faibln
And the word of tho Lord came unto him, saylntr.
rtAeBet hc, to.Zarephath. which belonge'tii
W. Zldon, and dwell there; behold. I have com
landed a widow Woman there to sustain thee
So he arose and went to Zarephath. And' when
lie, came to the pate of the city, behold, the widow
woman was there giithorlnff of sticks: and -he
called to her,, and said. Fetch me, I pray thee, a
little water In a vessel, that I may drink.
An,d as she "was grolne to fetch it, ho called to
isart ,!LBs1ansamc' J ,,ray '"-
And she said, As tho Lord thy God ltveth. I
have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel
and a little oil in a cU4e: and. behold. I am gather
ing two sticks that I may pro in and dress It for mo
and my nn. that wp may eat It. and die.
And Elijah said unto her. Fear not tso an do
ftfl-thou hast sald but make me thereof 'a little
fpkethflereStandn?orbrs,otnUntp '
ref 5? SlSi-SSffl nof aSelth1! 3SeoS
Spn0! t'eSJth! Ul daY th thrd BeUethrSin
And she went ai)d did accordinp; to the savlnp; of
day? an S ana h0r hUS0' dld eat many
And the barrel of meal wastoth not. neither did
the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the
Lord, which ho spako by Elijah. e
Elijah, the Tishblte. one of the greatest of
the characters of the Old Testament, appears un
on the scene unannounced. We have no informa
tion as to his early life. His family hlstorv is
not known, neither is any light thrown upon his
training for his work. Simply, he "was of thl
inhabitants of Gilead." e
Like a clap of thunder out of a clear slcv
or, since he is sometimes called "the nronhar
fikhhS aw9. mors apwwtapspJS
like a bolt of lightning ho stands before the
wicked king Ahab and warns him of a coming
drought as punishment for Israel's sins of idol
worship. ' ia01
. A word about tho king. He was eighth in
the sucqesslon of the, house of Israel, a man at
considerable strength, weddedr to a Wife ho
was stronger than himself. 7n
Possibly, expediency may have had some part
in bia"fleiectibn,lof hr tft hi& w--. .'.. ...
of Israel wore surrotthded byCwSl ldrei1
Baal and the father of Jezebel stood high S5
tho worshippers-, of that .heathen If 5s
Ahab's wife, she proceeded to introduce the wn?
Bhip of -iier -people's god among the chihirn
pf Israel, and the sins of Ahab are TrEew
charged to her account. "-buy
The story of our talk is a brief one. One vera
tells of Elijah's appearance before Ahab ami
the warning of punishment that ho uttered- th
next verse tells of his being, sent to the br2
Cherlth, "which is before Jordan," to bo fS
by the ravens. Then follows one of the mnS
, familiar and oft quoted passages of tho Bible
"And the ravens brought him bread and fieii
. in the morning, and bread and flesh in the even
ing; and he drank of the brook."
CAN iGOD PERFORM A MIRACLE?
"Fed by tho ravens" has come to be a popular
description of help from an unexpected sound
and literature teems with illustrations that are
almost as conclusively proof of providential
care as that presented by this incident in thn
life of Elijah. Those who dny the miraculous
1 haye devoted a great deal of attention to this
account of nourishment furnished by tho fowls
of the a'r. Some try to twist the language so
as to have Elijah fed by Arabs, but it is a waste
of time andenergy unless one rejects the miracle
entirely. .
We may as well consider the miracle now as
later,- because it reappears continually in both
the Old and New Testaments.
Is there such a tiling as a miracle? To those
who accept the Biblo as it was written and con
strue it according to the rules which they apply
to every day life, the miracle presents no diffi
culty. Can God-perform a miracle? Yes, a God who
can mako a World can do anything He wants
to with it.
To deny that God can performs miracle is
to deny that God 1s God. A God who can make
a man and provide ordinary food for him can
also provide extraordinary food. A God who
can make a raven can direct it in its flight. If
the power exists, means can easily be found. The
use of unusual means raises no doubts.
But the second question is-the one that has
.given most trouble. Would God want to per
form a miracle?
To answer that in the negative one must as
sume a larger knowledge of God than any one
has yet been able to claim. Modesty, if nothing
else, would keep a finite mind from assuming
thorough1 acquaintance with all the purposes,
plans arid methods of Infinite Intelligence.
When we remember that we do n,ot know the
mystery of our o,vh lives," cannot understand the
mystery of love-that jhakes life worth living,
and cannot solve the -mystery wrapped up in
everything that we eat and involved in every
thing that we do, 'does It not seem presumptuous
to attempt to limit' the power of tho Almighty?
i t?n.e decide Without possibility of a mis
take what God would desire to do? If God can
perform a miracle and might desire to do so, it
becomes merely a matter of evidence, and the
Jilble evidence is sufficient for those who accept
the Bible as the word of God. Our .difficulty is
cniefly with those who. declare that God can
not or will not perform a miracle.
THE BOAST OP MATERIALISM
Materialism is the source of most of the doubt
entertained by this generation on the subject
ol miracles. Its attractiveness lies largely in
tne ooast that it brings nature within the limits
or human reason by eliminating all that is
mysterious. It is built upon the idea of unity,
an unbroken chain of cause and effect. It flat
ters the mind to be told that there is nothing
tnat it cannot understand.
Materialism cannot explain why a raven would
SSnJX ?iV a, man' therefore, the materialist
denies that it did. Neither can materialism ex
plain why a man would travel a long way to a
orooJc and expect ravens to feed nim; therefore,
the materialist denies that he did. And, going
SS0? ?n?ther ,steP, materialism cannot explain
a 50d would teU Elijah to go to the brook
ana then send the ravens to feed him; there
fore the materialist denies that He did.
ia Z Se fame Process of reasoning materialism
VLm , e t0w exDlain why Elijah appeared at this
oLJ T&r V,1116 and why ae expressed himself
??, ?Ci.aliy on tbe weather; therefore, tho
materialist denies that he jiid.
mSJ?Ja k1nowledge of the weather Is one of the
most difficult subjects that the materialist has
tnialwit?' for a haa not evolved much
SJ eidge In rgard to the weather.
wJXS uave.weather stations scattered over the
World, connected by wire and wireless, so that
notice can be given of the coming of a storm,
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