{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_39727/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_39727","id":"gutenberg_39727","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39727","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Judges -- Commentaries","Bible. Ruth -- Commentaries","Category: History - Ancient","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"Produced by Colin Bell, Julia Neufeld and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This\nfile was produced from images generously made available\nby The Internet Archive)\n\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\nText enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).\n\nSmall capital text has been replaced with all capitals.\n\nVariations in spelling have been preserved except in obvious cases of\ntypographical error. Hyphenation is inconsistent.\n\nAs the oe ligature cannot be included in this format, it has been\nreplaced with the separate letters as in \"Phoenicia\".\n\n\n\n\n THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE\n\n EDITED BY THE REV.\n W. ROBERTSON NICOLL, M.A., LL.D.\n Editor of \"_The Expositor_\"\n\n AUTHORIZED EDITION, COMPLETE\n AND UNABRIDGED\n BOUND IN TWENTY-FIVE VOLUMES\n\n\n\n\n NEW YORK\n FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY\n LAFAYETTE PLACE\n 1900\n\n\n\n\n JUDGES AND RUTH.\n\n BY THE REV.\n ROBERT A. WATSON, D.D.,\n AUTHOR OF \"GOSPELS OF YESTERDAY.\"\n\n\n\n\n NEW YORK\n FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY\n LAFAYETTE PLACE\n 1900\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n _THE BOOK OF JUDGES._\n\n I. PAGE\n\n PROBLEMS OF SETTLEMENT AND WAR 3\n JUDGES I. 1-11.\n\n II.\n\n THE WAY OF THE SWORD 18\n JUDGES I. 12-26.\n\n III.\n\n AT BOCHIM: THE FIRST PROPHET VOICE 31\n JUDGES II. 1-5.\n\n IV.\n\n AMONG THE ROCKS OF PAGANISM 45\n JUDGES II. 7-23.\n\n V.\n\n THE ARM OF ARAM AND OF OTHNIEL 61\n JUDGES III. 1-11.\n\n VI.\n\n THE DAGGER AND THE OX-GOAD 77\n JUDGES III. 12-31.\n\n VII.\n\n THE SIBYL OF MOUNT EPHRAIM 91\n JUDGES IV.\n\n VIII.\n\n DEBORAH'S SONG: A DIVINE VISION 106\n JUDGES V.\n\n IX.\n\n DEBORAH'S SONG: A CHANT OF PATRIOTISM 120\n JUDGES V.\n\n X.\n\n THE DESERT HORDES; AND THE MAN AT OPHRAH 135\n JUDGES VI. 1-14.\n\n XI.\n\n GIDEON, ICONOCLAST AND REFORMER 150\n JUDGES VI. 15-32.\n\n XII.\n\n \"THE PEOPLE ARE YET TOO MANY\" 164\n JUDGES VI. 33-VII. 7.\n\n XIII.\n\n \"MIDIAN'S EVIL DAY\" 178\n JUDGES VII. 8-VIII. 21.\n\n XIV.\n\n GIDEON THE ECCLESIASTIC 195\n JUDGES VIII. 22-28.\n\n XV.\n\n ABIMELECH AND JOTHAM 209\n JUDGES VIII. 29-IX. 57.\n\n XVI.\n\n GILEAD AND ITS CHIEF 224\n JUDGES X. I-XI. 11.\n\n XVII.\n\n THE TERRIBLE VOW 239\n JUDGES XI. 12-40.\n\n XVIII.\n\n SHIBBOLETHS 254\n JUDGES XII. 1-7.\n\n XIX.\n\n THE ANGEL IN THE FIELD 266\n JUDGES. XIII. 1-18.\n\n XX.\n\n SAMSON PLUNGING INTO LIFE 279\n JUDGES XIII. 24-XIV. 20.\n\n XXI.\n\n DAUNTLESS IN BATTLE, IGNORANTLY BRAVE 293\n JUDGES XV.\n\n XXII.\n\n PLEASURE AND PERIL IN GAZA 307\n JUDGES XVI. 1-3.\n\n XXIII.\n\n THE VALLEY OF SOREK AND OF DEATH 319\n JUDGES XVI. 4-31.\n\n XXIV.\n\n THE STOLEN GODS 335\n JUDGES XVII., XVIII.\n\n XXV.\n\n FROM JUSTICE TO WILD REVENGE 348\n JUDGES XIX.-XXI.\n\n\n _THE BOOK OF RUTH._\n\n I.\n\n NAOMI'S BURDEN 363\n RUTH I. 1-13.\n\n II.\n\n THE PARTING OF THE WAYS 375\n RUTH I. 14-19.\n\n III.\n\n IN THE FIELD OF BOAZ 386\n RUTH I. 19-II. 23.\n\n IV.\n\n THE HAZARDOUS PLAN 397\n RUTH III.\n\n V.\n\n THE MARRIAGE AT THE GATE 408\n RUTH IV.\n\n INDEX 421\n\n\n\n\nTHE BOOK OF JUDGES.\n\n\n\n\nI.\n\n_PROBLEMS OF SETTLEMENT AND WAR._\n\nJUDGES i. 1-11.\n\n\nIt was a new hour in the history of Israel. To a lengthened period of\nserfdom there had succeeded a time of sojourn in tents, when the camp of\nthe tribes, half-military, half-pastoral, clustering about the\nTabernacle of Witness, moved with it from point to point through the\ndesert. Now the march was over; the nomads had to become settlers, a\nchange not easy for them as they expected it to be, full of significance\nfor the world. The Book of Judges, therefore, is a second Genesis or\nChronicle of Beginnings so far as the Hebrew commonwealth is concerned.\nWe see the birth-throes of national life, the experiments, struggles,\nerrors and disasters out of which the moral force of the people\ngradually rose, growing like a pine tree out of rocky soil.\n\nIf we begin our study of the book expecting to find clear evidence of an\nestablished Theocracy, a spiritual idea of the kingdom of God ever\npresent to the mind, ever guiding the hope and effort of the tribes, we\nshall experience that bewilderment which has not seldom fallen upon\nstudents of Old Testament history. Divide the life of man into two\nparts, the sacred and the secular; regard the latter as of no real value\ncompared to the other, as having no relation to that Divine purpose of\nwhich the Bible is the oracle; then the Book of Judges must appear out\nof place in the sacred canon, for unquestionably its main topics are\nsecular from first to last. It preserves the traditions of an age when\nspiritual ideas and aims were frequently out of sight, when a nation was\nstruggling for bare existence, or, at best, for a rude kind of unity and\nfreedom. But human life, sacred and secular, is one. A single strain of\nmoral urgency runs through the epochs of national development from\nbarbarism to Christian civilization. A single strain of urgency unites\nthe boisterous vigour of the youth and the sagacious spiritual courage\nof the man. It is on the strength first, and then on the discipline and\npurification of the will, that everything depends. There must be energy,\nor there can be no adequate faith, no earnest religion. We trace in the\nBook of Judges the springing up and growth of a collective energy which\ngives power to each separate life. To our amazement we may discover that\nthe Mosaic Law and Ordinances are neglected for a time; but there can be\nno doubt of Divine Providence, the activity of the redeeming Spirit.\nGreat ends are being served,--a development is proceeding which will\nby-and-by make religious thought strong, obedience and worship zealous.\nIt is not for us to say that spiritual evolution ought to proceed in\nthis way or that. In the study of natural and supernatural fact our\nbusiness is to observe with all possible care the goings forth of God\nand to find as far as we may their meaning and issue. Faith is a\nprofound conviction that the facts of the world justify themselves and\nthe wisdom and righteousness of the Eternal; it is the key that makes\nhistory articulate, no mere tale full of sound and fury signifying\nnothing. And the key of faith which here we are to use in the\ninterpretation of Hebrew life has yet to be applied to all peoples and\ntimes. That this may be done we firmly believe: there is needed only the\nmind broad enough in wisdom and sympathy to gather the annals of the\nworld into one great Bible or Book of God.\n\n * * * * *\n\nOpening the story of the Judges, we find ourselves in a keen atmosphere\nof warlike ardour softened by scarcely an air of spiritual grace. At\nonce we are plunged into military preparations; councils of war meet and\nthe clash of weapons is heard. Battle follows battle. Iron chariots\nhurtle along the valleys, the hillsides bristle with armed men. The\nsongs are of strife and conquest; the great heroes are those who smite\nthe uncircumcised hip and thigh. It is the story of Jehovah's people;\nbut where is Jehovah the merciful? Does He reign among them, or sanction\ntheir enterprise? Where amid this turmoil and bloodshed is the movement\ntowards the far-off Messiah and the holy mountain where nothing shall\nhurt or destroy? Does Israel prepare for blessing all nations by\ncrushing those that occupy the land he claims? Problems many meet us in\nBible history; here surely is one of the gravest. And we cannot go with\nJudah in that first expedition; we must hold back in doubt till clearly\nwe understand how these wars of conquest are necessary to the progress\nof the world. Then, even though the tribes are as yet unaware of their\ndestiny and how it is to be fulfilled, we may go up with them against\nAdoni-bezek.\n\nCanaan is to be colonised by the seed of Abraham, Canaan and no other\nland. It is not now, as it was in Abraham's time, a sparsely peopled\ncountry, with room enough for a new race. Canaanites, Hivites,\nPerizzites, Amorites cultivate the plain of Esdraelon and inhabit a\nhundred cities throughout the land. The Hittites are in considerable\nforce, a strong people with a civilization of their own. To the north\nPhoenicia is astir with a mercantile and vigorous race. The Philistines\nhave settlements southward along the coast. Had Israel sought a region\ncomparatively unoccupied, such might, perhaps, have been found on the\nnorthern coast of Africa. But Syria is the destined home of the tribes.\n\nThe old promise to Abraham has been kept before the minds of his\ndescendants. The land to which they have moved through the desert is\nthat of which he took earnest by the purchase of a grave. But the\npromise of God looks forward to the circumstances that are to accompany\nits fulfilment; and it is justified because the occupation of Canaan is\nthe means to a great development of righteousness. For, mark the\nposition which the Hebrew nation is to take. It is to be the central\nstate of the world, in verity the Mountain of God's House for the world.\nThen observe how the situation of Canaan fits it to be the seat of this\nnew progressive power. Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Greece, Rome, Carthage,\nlie in a rude circle around it. From its sea-board the way is open to\nthe west. Across the valley of Jordan goes the caravan route to the\nEast. The Nile, the Orontes, the AEgean Sea are not far off. Canaan does\nnot confine its inhabitants, scarcely separates them from other peoples.\nIt is in the midst of the old world.\n\nIs not this one reason why Israel must inhabit Palestine? Suppose the\ntribes settled in the highlands of Armenia or along the Persian Gulf;\nsuppose them to have migrated westward from Egypt instead of eastward,\nand to have found a place of habitation on towards Libya: would the\nhistory in that case have had the same movement and power? Would the\ntheatre of prophecy and the scene of the Messiah's work have set the\ngospel of the ages in the same relief, or the growing City of God on the\nsame mountain height? Not only is Canaan accessible to the emigrants\nfrom Egypt, but it is by position and configuration suited to develop\nthe genius of the race. Gennesaret and Asphaltitis; the tortuous Jordan\nand Kishon, that \"river of battles\"; the cliffs of Engedi, Gerizim and\nEbal, Carmel and Tabor, Moriah and Olivet,--these are needed as the\nscene of the great Divine revelation. No other rivers, no other lakes\nnor mountains on the surface of the earth will do.\n\nThis, however, is but part of the problem which meets us in regard to\nthe settlement in Canaan. There are the inhabitants of the land to be\nconsidered--these Amorites, Hittites, Jebusites, Hivites. How do we\njustify Israel in displacing them, slaying them, absorbing them? Here is\na question first of evolution, then of the character of God.\n\nDo we justify Saxons in their raid on Britain? History does. They become\ndominant, they rule, they slay, they assimilate; and there grows up\nBritish nationality strong and trusty, the citadel of freedom and\nreligious life. The case is similar, yet there is a difference, strongly\nin favour of Israel as an invading people. For the Israelites have been\ntried by stern discipline: they are held together by a moral law, a\nreligion divinely revealed, a faith vigorous though but in germ. The\nSaxons worshipping Thor, Frea and Woden sweep religion before them in\nthe first rush of conquest. They begin by destroying Roman civilization\nand Christian culture in the land they ravage. They appear \"dogs,\"\n\"wolves,\" \"whelps from the kennel of barbarism\" to the Britons they\novercome. But the Israelites have learned to fear Jehovah, and they bear\nwith them the ark of His covenant.\n\nAs for the Canaanitish tribes, compare them now with what they were when\nAbraham and Isaac fed their flocks in the plain of Mamre or about the\nsprings of Beersheba. Abraham found in Canaan noble courteous men. Aner,\nEshcol and Mamre, Amorites, were his trusted confederates; Ephron the\nHittite matched his magnanimity; Abimelech of Gerar \"feared the Lord.\"\nIn Salem reigned a king or royal priest, Melchizedek, unique in ancient\nhistory, a majestic unsullied figure, who enjoyed the respect and\ntribute of the Hebrew patriarch. Where are the successors of those men?\nIdolatry has corrupted Canaan. The old piety of simple races has died\naway before the hideous worship of Moloch and Ashtoreth. It is over\ndegenerate peoples that Israel is to assert its dominance; they must\nlearn the way of Jehovah or perish. This conquest is essential to the\nprogress of the world. Here in the centre of empires a stronghold of\npure ideas and commanding morality is to be established, an altar of\nwitness for the true God.\n\nSo far we move without difficulty towards a justification of the Hebrew\ndescent on Canaan. Still, however, when we survey the progress of\nconquest, the idea struggling for confirmation in our minds that God was\nKing and Guide of this people, while at the same time we know that all\nnations could equally claim Him as their Origin, marking how on field\nafter field thousands were left dying and dead, we have to find an\nanswer to the question whether the slaughter and destruction even of\nidolatrous races for the sake of Israel can be explained in harmony with\nDivine justice. And this passes into still wider inquiries. Is there\nintrinsic value in human life? Have men a proper right of existence and\nself-development? Does not Divine Providence imply that the history of\neach people, the life of each person will have its separate end and\nvindication? There is surely a reason in the righteousness and love of\nGod for every human experience, and Christian thought cannot explain the\nseverity of Old Testament ordinances by assuming that the Supreme has\nmade a new dispensation for Himself. The problem is difficult, but we\ndare not evade it nor doubt a full solution to be possible.\n\nWe pass here beyond mere \"natural evolution.\" It is not enough to say\nthat there had to be a struggle for life among races and individuals. If\nnatural forces are held to be the limit and equivalent of God, then\n\"survival of the fittest\" may become a religious doctrine, but assuredly\nit will introduce us to no God of pardon, no hope of redemption. We must\ndiscover a Divine end in the life of each person, a member it may be of\nsome doomed race, dying on a field of battle in the holocaust of its\nvalour and chivalry. Explanation is needed of all slaughtered and\n\"waste\" lives, untold myriads of lives that never tasted freedom or knew\nholiness.\n\nThe explanation we find is this: that for a human life in the present\nstage of existence the opportunity of struggle for moral ends--it may be\nends of no great dignity, yet really moral, and, as the race advances,\nreligious--this makes life worth living and brings to every one the\nmeans of true and lasting gain. \"Where ignorant armies clash by night\"\nthere may be in the opposing ranks the most various notions of religion\nand of what is morally good. The histories of the nations that meet in\nshock of battle determine largely what hopes and aims guide individual\nlives. But to the thousands who do valiantly this conflict belongs to\nthe vital struggle in which some idea of the morally good or of\nreligious duty directs and animates the soul. For hearth and home, for\nwife and children, for chief and comrades, for Jehovah or Baal, men\nfight, and around these names there cluster thoughts the sacredest\npossible to the age, dignifying life and war and death. There are better\nkinds of struggle than that which is acted on the bloody field; yet\nstruggle of one kind or other there must be. It is the law of existence\nfor the barbarian, for the Hebrew, for the Christian. Ever there is a\nnecessity for pressing towards the mark, striving to reach and enter the\ngate of higher life. No land flowing with milk and honey to be peaceably\ninherited and enjoyed rewards the generation which has fought its way\nthrough the desert. No placid possession of cities and vineyards rounds\noff the life of Canaanitish tribe. The gains of endurance are reaped,\nonly to be sown again in labour and tears for a further harvest. Here on\nearth this is the plan of God for men; and when another life crowns the\nlong effort of this world of change, may it not be with fresh calls to\nmore glorious duty and achievement?\n\nBut the golden cord of Divine Providence has more than one strand; and\nwhile the conflicts of life are appointed for the discipline of men and\nnations in moral vigour and in fidelity to such religious ideas as they\npossess, the purer and stronger faith always giving more power to those\nwho exercise it, there is also in the course of life, and especially in\nthe suffering war entails, a reference to the sins of men. Warfare is a\nsad necessity. Itself often a crime, it issues the judgment of God\nagainst folly and crime. Now Israel, now the Canaanite becomes a hammer\nof Jehovah. One people has been true to its best, and by that\nfaithfulness it gains the victory. Another has been false, cruel,\ntreacherous, and the hands of the fighters grow weak, their swords lose\nedge, their chariot-wheels roll heavily, they are swept away by the\navenging tide. Or the sincere, the good are overcome; the weak who are\nin the right sink before the wicked who are strong. Yet the moral\ntriumph is always gained. Even in defeat and death there is victory for\nthe faithful.\n\nIn these wars of Israel we find many a story of judgment as well as a\nconstant proving of the worth of man's religion and virtue. Neither was\nIsrael always in the right, nor had those races which Israel overcame\nalways a title to the power they held and the land they occupied.\nJehovah was a stern arbiter among the combatants. When His own people\nfailed in the courage and humility of faith, they were chastised. On the\nother hand, there were tyrants and tyrannous races, freebooters and\nbanditti, pagan hordes steeped in uncleanness who had to be judged and\npunished. Where we cannot trace the reason of what appears mere waste of\nlife or wanton cruelty, there lie behind, in the ken of the All-seeing,\nthe need and perfect vindication of all He suffered to be done in the\nebb and flow of battle, amid the riot of war.\n\n * * * * *\n\nBeginning now with the detailed narrative, we find first a case of\nretribution, in which the Israelites served the justice of God. As yet\nthe Canaanite power was unbroken in the central region of Western\nPalestine, where Adoni-bezek ruled over the cities of seventy chiefs. It\nbecame a question who should lead the tribes against this petty despot,\nand recourse was had to the priests at Gilgal for Divine direction. The\nanswer of the oracle was that Judah should head the campaign, the\nwarlike vigour and numerical strength of that tribe fitting it to take\nthe foremost place. Judah accepting the post of honour invited Simeon,\nclosely related by common descent from Leah, to join the expedition; and\nthus began a confederacy of these southern tribes which had the effect\nof separating them from the others throughout the whole period of the\njudges. The locality of Bezek which the king of the Canaanites held as\nhis chief fortress is not known. Probably it was near the Jordan valley,\nabout half-way between the two greater lakes. From it the tyranny of\nAdoni-bezek extended northward and southward over the cities of the\nseventy, whose submission he had cruelly ensured by rendering them unfit\nfor war. Here, in the first struggle, Judah was completely successful.\nThe rout of the Canaanites and Perizzites was decisive, and the\nslaughter so great as to send a thrill of terror through the land. And\nnow the rude judgment of men works out the decree of God. Adoni-bezek\nsuffers the same mutilation as he had inflicted on the captive chiefs\nand in Oriental manner makes acknowledgment of a just fate. There is a\ncertain religiousness in his mind, and he sincerely bows himself under\nthe judgment of a God against Whom he had tried issues in vain. Had\nthese troops of Israel come in the name of Jehovah? Then Jehovah had\nbeen watching Adoni-bezek in his pride when as he daily feasted in his\nhall the crowd of victims grovelled at his feet like dogs.\n\nThus early did ideas of righteousness and of wide authority attach\nthemselves in Canaan to the name of Israel's God. It is remarkable how\non the appearance of a new race the first collision with it on the\nbattlefield will produce an impression of its capacity and spirit and of\nunseen powers fighting along with it. Joshua's dash through Canaan\ndoubtless struck far and wide a belief that the new comers had a mighty\nGod to support them; the belief is reinforced, and there is added a\nthought of Divine justice. The retribution of Jehovah meant Godhead far\nlarger and more terrible, and at the same time more august, than the\nreligion of Baal had ever presented to the mind. From this point the\nIsraelites, if they had been true to their heavenly King, fired with the\nardour of His name, would have occupied a moral vantage ground and\nproved invincible. The fear of Jehovah would have done more for them\nthan their own valour and arms. Had the people of the land seen that a\npower was being established amongst them in the justice and benignity of\nwhich they could trust, had they learned not only to fear but to adore\nJehovah, there would have been quick fulfilment of the promise which\ngladdened the large heart of Abraham. The realization, however, had to\nwait for many a century.\n\nIt cannot be doubted that Israel had under Moses received such an\nimpulse in the direction of faith in the one God, and such a conception\nof His character and will, as declared the spiritual mission of the\ntribes. The people were not all aware of their high destiny, not\nsufficiently instructed to have a competent sense of it; but the chiefs\nof the tribes, the Levites and the heads of households, should have well\nunderstood the part that fell to Israel among the nations of the world.\nThe law in its main outlines was known, and it should have been revered\nas the charter of the commonwealth. Under the banner of Jehovah the\nnation ought to have striven not for its own position alone, the\nenjoyment of fruitful fields and fenced cities, but to raise the\nstandard of human morality and enforce the truth of Divine religion. The\ngross idolatry of the peoples around should have been continually\ntestified against; the principles of honesty, of domestic purity, of\nregard for human life, of neighbourliness and parental authority, as\nwell as the more spiritual ideas expressed in the first table of the\nDecalogue, ought to have been guarded and dispensed as the special\ntreasure of the nation. In this way Israel, as it enlarged its\nterritory, would from the first have been clearing one space of earth\nfor the good customs and holy observances that make for spiritual\ndevelopment. The greatest of all trusts is committed to a race when it\nis made capable of this; but here Israel often failed, and the\nreproaches of her prophets had to be poured out from age to age.\n\nThe ascendency which Israel secured in Canaan, or that which Britain has\nwon in India, is not, to begin with, justified by superior strength, nor\nby higher intelligence, nor even because in practice the religion of the\nconquerors is better than that of the vanquished. It is justified\nbecause, with all faults and crimes that may for long attend the rule of\nthe victorious race, there lie, unrealised at first, in conceptions of\nGod and of duty the promise and germ of a higher education of the world.\nDeveloped in the course of time, the spiritual genius of the conquerors\nvindicates their ambition and their success. The world is to become the\nheritage and domain of those who have the secret of large and ascending\nlife.\n\nJudah moving southward from Bezek took Jerusalem, not the stronghold on\nthe hill-top, but the city, and smote it with the edge of the sword. Not\nyet did that citadel which has been the scene of so many conflicts\nbecome a rallying-point for the tribes. The army, leaving Adoni-bezek\ndead in Jerusalem, with many who owned him as chief, swept southward\nstill to Hebron and Debir. At Hebron the task was not unlike that which\nhad been just accomplished. There reigned three chiefs, Sheshai, Ahiman\nand Talmai, who are mentioned again and again in the annals as if their\nnames had been deeply branded on the memory of the age. They were sons\nof Anak, bandit captains, whose rule was a terror to the country side.\nTheir power had to be assailed and overthrown, not only for the sake of\nJudah which was to inhabit their stronghold, but for the sake of\nhumanity. The law of God was to replace the fierce unregulated sway of\ninhuman violence and cruelty. So the practical duty of the hour carried\nthe tribes beyond the citadel where the best national centre would have\nbeen found to attack another where an evil power sat entrenched.\n\nOne moral lies on the surface here. We are naturally anxious to gain a\ngood position in life for ourselves, and every consideration is apt to\nbe set aside in favour of that. Now, in a sense, it is necessary, one of\nthe first duties, that we gain each a citadel for himself. Our influence\ndepends to a great extent on the standing we secure, on the courage and\ntalent we show in making good our place. Our personality must enlarge\nitself, make itself visible by the conquest we effect and the extent of\naffairs we have a right to control. Effort on this line needs not be\nselfish or egoistic in a bad sense. The higher self or spirit of a good\nman finds in chosen ranges of activity and possession its true\ndevelopment and calling. One may not be a worldling by any means while\nhe follows the bent of his genius and uses opportunity to become a\nsuccessful merchant, a public administrator, a great artist or man of\nletters. All that he adds to his native inheritance of hand, brain and\nsoul should be and often is the means of enriching the world. Against\nthe false doctrine of self-suppression, still urged on a perplexed\ngeneration, stands this true doctrine, by which the generous helper of\nmen guides his life so as to become a king and priest unto God. And when\nwe turn from persons of highest character and talent to those of smaller\ncapacity, we may not alter the principle of judgment. They, too, serve\nthe world, in so far as they have good qualities, by conquering citadels\nand reigning where they are fit to reign. If a man is to live to any\npurpose, play must be given to his original vigour, however much or\nlittle there is of it.\n\nHere, then, we find a necessity belonging to the spiritual no less than\nto the earthly life. But there lies close beside it the shadow of\ntemptation and sin. Thousands of people put forth all their strength to\ngain a fortress for themselves, leaving others to fight the sons of\nAnak--the intemperance, the unchastity, the atheism of the time. Instead\nof triumphing over the earthly, they are ensnared and enslaved. The\ntruth is, that a safe position for ourselves we cannot have while those\nsons of Anak ravage the country around. The Divine call therefore often\nrequires of us that we leave a Jerusalem unconquered for ourselves,\nwhile we pass on with the hosts of God to do battle with the public\nenemy. Time after time Israel, though successful at Hebron, missed the\nsecret and learnt in bitter sadness and loss how near is the shadow to\nthe glory.\n\nAnd for any one to-day, what profits it to be a wealthy man, living in\nstate with all the appliances of amusement and luxury, well knowing, but\nnot choosing to share the great conflicts between religion and\nungodliness, between purity and vice? If the ignorance and woe of our\nfellow-creatures do not draw our hearts, if we seek our own things as\nloving our own, if the spiritual does not command us, we shall certainly\nlose all that makes life--enthusiasm, strength, eternal joy.\n\nGive us men who fling themselves into the great struggle, doing what\nthey can with Christ-born ardour, foot soldiers if nothing else in the\narmy of the Lord of Righteousness.\n\n\n\n\nII.\n\n_THE WAY OF THE SWORD._\n\nJUDGES i. 12-26.\n\n\nThe name Kiriath-sepher, that is Book-Town, has been supposed to point\nto the existence of a semi-popular literature among the pre-Judaean\ninhabitants of Canaan. We cannot build with any certainty upon a name;\nbut there are other facts of some significance. Already the Phoenicians,\nthe merchants of the age, some of whom no doubt visited Kiriath-sepher\non their way to Arabia or settled in it, had in their dealings with\nEgypt begun to use that alphabet to which most languages, from Hebrew\nand Aramaic on through Greek and Latin to our own, are indebted for the\nidea and shapes of letters. And it is not improbable that an old-world\nPhoenician library of skins, palm-leaves or inscribed tablets had given\ndistinction to this town lying away towards the desert from Hebron.\nWritten words were held in half-superstitious veneration, and a very few\nrecords would greatly impress a district peopled chiefly by wandering\ntribes.\n\nNothing is insignificant in the pages of the Bible, nothing is to be\ndisregarded that throws the least light upon human affairs and Divine\nProvidence; and here we have a suggestion of no slight importance. Doubt\nhas been cast on the existence of a written language among the Hebrews\ntill centuries after the Exodus. It has been denied that the Law could\nhave been written out by Moses. The difficulty is now seen to be\nimaginary, like many others that have been raised. It is certain that\nthe Phoenicians trading to Egypt in the time of the Hyksos kings had\nsettlements quite contiguous to Goshen. What more likely than that the\nHebrews, who spoke a language akin to the Phoenician, should have shared\nthe discovery of letters almost from the first, and practised the art of\nwriting in the days of their favour with the monarchs of the Nile\nvalley? The oppression of the following period might prevent the spread\nof letters among the people; but a man like Moses must have seen their\nvalue and made himself familiar with their use. The importance of this\nindication in the study of Hebrew law and faith is very plain. Nor\nshould we fail to notice the interesting connection between the Divine\nlawgiving of Moses and the practical invention of a worldly race. There\nis no exclusiveness in the providence of God. The art of a people, acute\nand eager indeed, but without spirituality, is not rejected as profane\nby the inspired leader of Israel. Egyptians and Phoenicians have their\nshare in originating that culture which mingles its stream with sacred\nrevelation and religion. As, long afterwards, there came the\nprinting-press, a product of human skill and science, and by its help\nthe Reformation spread and grew and filled Europe with new thought, so\nfor the early record of God's work and will human genius furnished the\nfit instrument. Letters and religion, culture and faith must needs go\nhand in hand. The more the minds of men are trained, the more deftly\nthey can use literature and science, the more able they should be to\nreceive and convey the spiritual message which the Bible contains.\nCulture which does not have this effect betrays its own pettiness and\nparochialism; and when we are provoked to ask whether human learning is\nnot a foe to religion, the reason must be that the favourite studies of\nthe time are shallow, aimless and ignoble.\n\n * * * * *\n\nKiriath-sepher has to be taken. Its inhabitants, strongly entrenched,\nthreaten the people who are settling about Hebron and must be subdued;\nand Caleb, who has come to his possession, adopts a common expedient for\nrousing the ambitious young men of the tribe. He has a daughter, and\nmarriage with her shall reward the man who takes the fortress. It is not\nlikely that Achsah objected. A courageous and capable husband was, we\nmay say, a necessity, and her father's proposal offered a practical way\nof settling her in safety and comfort. Customs which appear to us\nbarbarous and almost insulting have no doubt justified themselves to the\ncommon-sense, if not fully to the desires of women, because they were\nsuited to the exigencies of life in rude and stormy times. There is this\nalso, that the conquest of Kiriath-sepher was part of the great task in\nwhich Israel was engaged, and Achsah, as a patriotic daughter of\nAbraham, would feel the pride of being able to reward a hero of the\nsacred war. To the degree in which she was a woman of character this\nwould balance other considerations. Still the custom is not an ideal\none; there is too much uncertainty. While the rivalry for her hand is\ngoing on the maiden has to wait at home, wondering what her fate shall\nbe, instead of helping to decide it by her own thought and action. The\nyoung man, again, does not commend himself by honour, but only by\ncourage and skill. Yet the test is real, so far as it goes, and fits\nthe time.\n\nAchsah, no doubt, had her preference and her hope, though she dared not\nspeak of them. As for modern feeling, it is professedly on the side of\nthe heart in such a case, and modern literature, with a thousand deft\nillustrations, proclaims the right of the heart to its choice. We call\nit a barbarous custom, the disposition of a woman by her father, apart\nfrom her preference, to one who does him or the community a service; and\nalthough Achsah consented, we feel that she was a slave. No doubt the\nHebrew wife in her home had a place of influence and power, and a woman\nmight even come to exercise authority among the tribes; but, to begin\nwith, she was under authority and had to subdue her own wishes in a\nmanner we consider quite incompatible with the rights of a human being.\nVery slowly do the customs of marriage even in Israel rise from the\nrudeness of savage life. Abraham and Sarah, long before this, lived on\nsomething like equality, he a prince, she a princess. But what can be\nsaid of Hagar, a concubine outside the home-circle, who might be sent\nany day into the wilderness? David and Solomon afterwards can marry for\nstate reasons, can take, in pure Oriental fashion, the one his tens, the\nother his hundreds of wives and concubines. Polygamy survives for many a\ncentury. When that is seen to be evil, there remains to men a freedom of\ndivorce which of necessity keeps women in a low and unhonoured state.\n\nYet, thus treated, woman has always duties of the first importance, on\nwhich the moral health and vigour of the race depend; and right nobly\nmust many a Hebrew wife and mother have fulfilled the trust. It is a\npathetic story; but now, perhaps, we are in sight of an age when the\ninjustice done to women may be replaced by an injustice they do to\nthemselves. Liberty is their right, but the old duties remain as great\nas ever. If neither patriotism, nor religion, nor the home is to be\nregarded, but mere taste; if freedom becomes license to know and enjoy,\nthere will be another slavery worse than the former. Without a very keen\nsense of Christian honour and obligation among women, their\nenfranchisement will be the loss of what has held society together and\nmade nations strong. And looking at the way in which marriage is\nfrequently arranged by the free consent and determination of women, is\nthere much advance on the old barbarism? How often do they sell\nthemselves to the fortunate, rather than reserve themselves for the fit;\nhow often do they marry not because a helpmeet of the soul has been\nfound, but because audacity has won them or jewels have dazzled; because\na fireside is offered, not because the ideal of life may be realized.\nTrue, in the worldliness there is a strain of moral effort often\npathetic enough. Women are skilful at making the best of circumstances,\nand even when the gilding fades from the life they have chosen they will\nstruggle on with wonderful resolution to maintain something like order\nand beauty. The Othniel who has gained Achsah by some feat of mercantile\nsuccess or showy talk may turn out a poor pretender to bravery or wit;\nbut she will do her best for him, cover up his faults, beg springs of\nwater or even dig them with her own hands. Let men thank God that it is\nso, and let them help her to find her right place, her proper kingdom\nand liberty.\n\nThere is another aspect of the picture, however, as it unfolds itself.\nThe success of Othniel in his attack on Kiriath-sepher gave him at once\na good place as a leader, and a wife who was ready to make his interests\nher own and help him to social position and wealth. Her first care was\nto acquire a piece of land suitable for the flocks and herds she saw in\nprospect, well watered if possible,--in short, an excellent sheep-farm.\nReturning from the bridal journey, she had her stratagem ready, and when\nshe came near her father's tent followed up her husband's request for\nthe land by lighting eagerly from her ass, taking for granted the one\ngift, and pressing a further petition--\"Give me a blessing, father. A\nsouth land thou hast bestowed, give me also wells of water.\" So, without\nmore ado, the new Kenazite homestead was secured.\n\nHow Jewish, we may be disposed to say. May we not also say, How\nthoroughly British? The virtue of Achsah, is it not the virtue of a true\nBritish wife? To urge her husband on and up in the social scale, to aid\nhim in every point of the contest for wealth and place, to raise him and\nrise with him, what can be more admirable? Are there opportunities of\ngaining the favour of the powerful who have offices to give, the liking\nof the wealthy who have fortunes to bequeath? The managing wife will use\nthese opportunities with address and courage. She will light off her ass\nand bow humbly before a flattered great man to whom she prefers a\nrequest. She can fit her words to the occasion and her smiles to the end\nin view. It is a poor spirit that is content with anything short of all\nthat may be had: thus in brief she might express her principle of duty.\nAnd so in ten thousand homes there is no question whether marriage is a\nfailure. It has succeeded. There is a combination of man's strength and\nwoman's wit for the great end of \"getting on.\" And in ten thousand\nothers there is no thought more constantly present to the minds of\nhusband and wife than that marriage is a failure. For restless ingenuity\nand many schemes have yielded nothing. The husband has been too slow or\ntoo honest, and the wife has been foiled; or, on the other hand, the\nwoman has not seconded the man, has not risen with him. She has kept him\ndown by her failings; or she is the same simple-minded, homely person he\nwedded long ago, no fit mate, of course, for one who is the companion of\nmagnates and rulers. Well may those who long for a reformation begin by\nseeking a return to simplicity of life and the relish for other kinds of\ndistinction than lavish outlay and social notoriety can give. Until\nmarried ambition is fed and hallowed at the Christian altar there will\nbe the same failures we see now, and the same successes which are worse\nthan \"failures.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nFor a moment the history gives us a glimpse of another domestic\nsettlement. \"The children of the Kenite went up from the City of Palm\nTrees with the children of Judah,\" and found a place of abode on the\nsouthern fringe of Simeon's territory, and there they seem to have\ngradually mingled with the tent-dwellers of the desert. By-and-by we\nshall find one Heber the Kenite in a different part of the land, near\nthe Sea of Galilee, still in touch with the Israelites to some extent,\nwhile his people are scattered. Heber may have felt the power of\nIsrael's mission and career and judged it wise to separate from those\nwho had no interest in the tribes of Jehovah. The Kenites of the south\nappear in the history like men upon a raft, once borne near shore, who\nfail to seize the hour of deliverance and are carried away again to the\nwastes of sea. They are part of the drifting population that surrounds\nthe Hebrew church, type of the drifting multitude who in the nomadism of\nmodern society are for a time seen in our Christian assemblies, then\npass away to mingle with the careless. An innate restlessness and a want\nof serious purpose mark the class. To settle these wanderers in orderly\nreligious life seems almost impossible; we can perhaps only expect to\nsow among them seeds of good, and to make them feel a Divine presence\nrestraining from evil. The assertion of personal independence in our day\nhas no doubt much to do with impatience of church bonds and habits of\nworship; and it must not be forgotten that this is a phase of growing\nlife needing forbearance no less than firm example.\n\n * * * * *\n\nZephath was the next fortress against which Judah and Simeon directed\ntheir arms. When the tribes were in the desert on their long and\ndifficult march they attempted first to enter Canaan from the south, and\nactually reached the neighbourhood of this town. But, as we read in the\nBook of Numbers, Arad the king of Zephath fought against them and took\nsome of them prisoners. The defeat appears to have been serious, for,\narrested and disheartened by it, Israel turned southward again, and\nafter a long _detour_ reached Canaan another way. In the passage in\nNumbers the overthrow of Zephath is described by anticipation; in Judges\nwe have the account in its proper historical place. The people whom Arad\nruled were, we may suppose, an Edomite clan living partly by\nmerchandise, mainly by foray, practised marauders, with difficulty\nguarded against, who having taken their prey disappeared swiftly amongst\nthe hills.\n\nIn the world of thought and feeling there are many Zephaths, whence\nquick outset is often made upon the faith and hope of men. We are\npressing towards some end, mastering difficulties, contending with open\nand known enemies. Only a little way remains before us. But invisible\namong the intricacies of experience is this lurking foe who suddenly\nfalls upon us. It is a settlement in the faith of God we seek. The onset\nis of doubts we had not imagined, doubts of inspiration, of immortality,\nof the incarnation, truths the most vital. We are repulsed, broken,\ndisheartened. There remains a new wilderness journey till we reach by\nthe way of Moab the fords of our Jordan and the land of our inheritance.\nYet there is a way, sure and appointed. The baffled, wounded soul is\nnever to despair. And when at length the settlement of faith is won, the\nZephath of doubt may be assailed from the other side, assailed\nsuccessfully and taken. The experience of some poor victims of what is\noddly called philosophic doubt need dismay no one. For the resolute\nseeker after God there is always a victory, which in the end may prove\nso easy, so complete, as to amaze him. The captured Zephath is not\ndestroyed nor abandoned, but is held as a fortress of faith. It becomes\nHormah--the Consecrated.\n\n * * * * *\n\nVictories were gained by Judah in the land of the Philistines, partial\nvictories, the results of which were not kept. Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron\nwere occupied for a time; but Philistine force and doggedness recovered,\napparently in a few years, the captured towns. Wherever they had their\norigin, these Philistines were a strong and stubborn race, and so\ndifferent from the Israelites in habit and language that they never\nfreely mingled nor even lived peaceably with the tribes. At this time\nthey were probably forming their settlements on the Mediterranean\nseaboard, and were scarcely able to resist the men of Judah. But ship\nafter ship from over sea, perhaps from Crete, brought new colonists; and\nduring the whole period till the Captivity they were a thorn in the side\nof the Hebrews. Beside these, there were other dwellers in the lowlands,\nwho were equipped in a way that made it difficult to meet them. The most\nvehement sally of men on foot could not break the line of iron chariots,\nthundering over the plain. It was in the hill districts that the tribes\ngained their surest footing,--a singular fact, for mountain people are\nusually hardest to defeat and dispossess; and we take it as a sign of\nremarkable vigour that the invaders so soon occupied the heights.\n\nHere the spiritual parallel is instructive. Conversion, it may be said,\ncarries the soul with a rush to the high ground of faith. The Great\nLeader has gone before preparing the way. We climb rapidly to fortresses\nfrom which the enemy has fled, and it would seem that victory is\ncomplete. But the Christian life is a constant alternation between the\njoy of the conquered height and the stern battles of the foe-infested\nplain. Worldly custom and sensuous desire, greed and envy and base\nappetite have their cities and chariots in the low ground of being. So\nlong as one of them remains the victory of faith is unfinished,\ninsecure. Piety that believes itself delivered once for all from\nconflict is ever on the verge of disaster. The peace and joy men\ncherish, while as yet the earthly nature is unsubdued, the very citadels\nof it unreconnoitred, are visionary and relaxing. For the soul and for\nsociety the only salvation lies in mortal combat--life-long, age-long\ncombat with the earthly and the false. Nooks enough may be found among\nthe hills, pleasant and calm, from which the low ground cannot be seen,\nwhere the roll of the iron chariots is scarcely heard. It may seem to\nimperil all if we descend from these retreats. But when we have gained\nstrength in the mountain air it is for the battle down below, it is that\nwe may advance the lines of redeemed life and gain new bases for sacred\nenterprise.\n\n * * * * *\n\nA mark of the humanness and, shall we not also say, the divineness of\nthis history is to be found in the frequent notices of other tribes than\nthose of Israel. To the inspired writer it is not all the same whether\nCanaanites die or live, what becomes of Phoenicians or Philistines. Of\nthis we have two examples, one the case of the Jebusites, the other of\nthe people of Luz.\n\nThe Jebusites, after the capture of the lower city already recorded,\nappear to have been left in peaceful possession of their citadel and\naccepted as neighbours by the Benjamites. When the Book of Judges was\nwritten Jebusite families still remained, and in David's time Araunah\nthe Jebusite was a conspicuous figure. A series of terrible events\nconnected with the history of Benjamin is narrated towards the end of\nthe Book. It is impossible to say whether the crime which led to these\nevents was in any way due to bad influence exercised by the Jebusites.\nWe may charitably doubt whether it was. There is no indication that they\nwere a depraved people. If they had been licentious they could scarcely\nhave retained till David's time a stronghold so central and of so much\nconsequence in the land. They were a mountain clan, and Araunah shows\nhimself in contact with David a reverend and kingly person.\n\nAs for Bethel or Luz, around which gathered notable associations of\nJacob's life, Ephraim, in whose territory it lay, adopted a stratagem\nin order to master it, and smote the city. One family alone, the head of\nwhich had betrayed the place, was allowed to depart in peace, and a new\nLuz was founded \"in the land of the Hittites.\" We are inclined to regard\nthe traitor as deserving of death, and Ephraim appears to us disgraced,\nnot honoured, by its exploit. There is a fair, straightforward way of\nfighting; but this tribe, one of the strongest, chooses a mean and\ntreacherous method of gaining its end. Are we mistaken in thinking that\nthe care with which the founding of the new city is described shows the\nwriter's sympathy with the Luzzites? At any rate, he does not by one\nword justify Ephraim; and we do not feel called on to restrain our\nindignation.\n\nThe high ideal of life, how often it fades from our view! There are\ntimes when we realize our Divine calling, when the strain of it is felt\nand the soul is on fire with sacred zeal. We press on, fight on, true to\nthe highest we know at every step. We are chivalrous, for we see the\nchivalry of Christ; we are tender and faithful, for we see His\ntenderness and faithfulness. Then we make progress; the goal can almost\nbe touched. We love, and love bears us on. We aspire, and the world\nglows with light. But there comes a change. The thought of\nself-preservation, of selfish gain, has intruded. On pretext of serving\nGod we are hard to man, we keep back the truth, we use compromises, we\ndescend even to treachery and do things which in another are abominable\nto us. So the fervour departs, the light fades from the world, the goal\nrecedes, becomes invisible. Most strange of all is it that side by side\nwith cultured religion there can be proud sophistry and ignorant scorn,\nthe very treachery of the intellect towards man. Far away in the\ndimness of Israel's early days we see the beginnings of a pious\ninhumanity, that may well make us stay to fear lest the like should be\ngrowing among ourselves. It is not what men claim, much less what they\nseize and hold, that does them honour. Here and there a march may be\nstolen on rivals by those who firmly believe they are serving God. But\nthe rights of a man, a tribe, a church lie side by side with duties; and\nneglect of duty destroys the claim to what otherwise would be a right.\nLet there be no mistake: power and gain are not allowed in the\nprovidence of God to anyone that he may grasp them in despite of justice\nor charity.\n\nOne thought may link the various episodes we have considered. It is that\nof the end for which individuality exists. The home has its development\nof personality--for service. The peace and joy of religion nourish the\nsoul--for service. Life may be conquered in various regions, and a man\ngrow fit for ever greater victories, ever nobler service. But with the\nend the means and spirit of each effort are so interwoven that alike in\nhome, and church, and society the human soul must move in uttermost\nfaithfulness and simplicity or fail from the Divine victory that wins\nthe prize.\n\n\n\n\nIII.\n\n_AT BOCHIM; THE FIRST PROPHET VOICE._\n\nJUDGES ii. 1-5.\n\n\nFrom the time of Abraham on to the settlement in Canaan the Israelites\nhad kept the faith of the one God. They had their origin as a people in\na decisive revolt against polytheism. Of the great Semite forefather of\nthe Jewish people, it has been finely said, \"He bore upon his forehead\nthe seal of the Absolute God, upon which was written, This race will rid\nthe earth of superstition.\" The character and structure of the Hebrew\ntongue resisted idolatry. It was not an imaginative language; it had no\nmythological colour. We who have inherited an ancient culture of quite\nanother kind do not think it strange to read or sing:\n\n \"Hail, smiling morn, that tip'st the hills with gold,\n Whose rosy fingers ope the gates of day,\n Who the gay face of nature dost unfold,\n At whose bright presence darkness flies away.\"\n\nThese lines, however, are full of latent mythology. The \"smiling morn\"\nis Aurora, the darkness that flies away before the dawn is the Erebus of\nthe Greeks. Nothing of this sort was possible in Hebrew literature. In\nit all change, all life, every natural incident are ascribed to the will\nand power of one Supreme Being. \"Jehovah thundered in the heavens and\nthe Highest gave His voice, hailstones and coals of fire.\" \"By the\nbreath of God ice is given, and the breadth of the waters is\nstraitened.\" \"Behold, He spreadeth His light around Him; ... He covereth\nHis hands with the lightning.\" \"Thou makest darkness and it is night.\"\nAlways in forms like these Hebrew poetry sets forth the control of\nnature by its invisible King. The pious word of Fenelon, \"What do I see\nin nature? God; God everywhere; God alone,\" had its germ, its very\nsubstance, in the faith and language of patriarchal times.\n\nThere are some who allege that this simple faith in one God, sole Origin\nand Ruler of nature and life, impoverished the thought and speech of the\nHebrews. It was in reality the spring and safeguard of their spiritual\ndestiny. Their very language was a sacred inheritance and preparation.\nFrom age to age it served a Divine purpose in maintaining the idea of\nthe unity of God; and the power of that idea never failed their prophets\nnor passed from the soul of the race. The whole of Israel's literature\nsets forth the universal sway and eternal righteousness of Him who\ndwells in the high and lofty place, Whose name is Holy. In canto and\nstrophe of the great Divine Poem, the glory of the One Supreme burns\nwith increasing clearness, till in Christ its finest radiance flashes\nupon the world.\n\nWhile the Hebrews were in Egypt, the faith inherited from patriarchal\ntimes must have been sorely tried, and, all circumstances considered, it\ncame forth wonderfully pure. \"The Israelites saw Egypt as the Mussulman\nArab sees pagan countries, entirely from the outside, perceiving only\nthe surface and external things.\" They indeed carried with them into the\ndesert the recollection of the sacred bulls or calves of which they had\nseen images at Hathor and Memphis. But the idol they made at Horeb was\nintended to represent their Deliverer, the true God, and the swift and\nstern repression by Moses of that symbolism and its pagan incidents\nappears to have been effectual. The tribes reached Canaan substantially\nfree from idolatry, though teraphim or fetishes may have been used in\nsecret with magical ceremonies. The religion of the people generally was\nfar from spiritual, yet there was a real faith in Jehovah as the\nprotector of the national life, the guardian of justice and truth. From\nthis there was no falling away when the Reubenites and Gadites on the\neast of Jordan erected an altar for themselves. \"The Lord God of gods,\"\nthey said, \"He knoweth, and Israel he shall know if it be in rebellion,\nor if in transgression against the Lord.\" The altar was called _Ed_, a\nwitness between east and west that the faith of the one Living God was\nstill to unite the tribes.\n\nBut the danger to Israel's fidelity came when there began to be\nintercourse with the people of Canaan, now sunk from the purer thought\nof early times. Everywhere in the land of the Hittites and Amorites,\nHivites and Jebusites, there were altars and sacred trees, pillars and\nimages used in idolatrous worship. The ark and the altar of Divine\nreligion, established first at Gilgal near Jericho, afterwards at Bethel\nand then at Shiloh, could not be frequently visited, especially by those\nwho settled towards the southern desert and in the far north. Yet the\nnecessity for religious worship of some kind was constantly felt; and as\nafterwards the synagogues gave opportunity for devotional gatherings\nwhen the Temple could not be reached, so in the earlier time there came\nto be sacred observances on elevated places, a windy threshing-floor,\nor a hill-top already used for heathen sacrifice. Hence, on the one\nhand, there was the danger that worship might be entirely neglected, on\nthe other hand the grave risk that the use of heathen occasions and\nmeeting-places should lead to heathen ritual, and those who came\ntogether on the hill of Baal should forget Jehovah. It was the latter\nevil that grew; and while as yet only a few Hebrews easily led astray\nhad approached with kid or lamb a pagan altar, the alarm was raised. At\nBochim a Divine warning was uttered which found echo in the hearts of\nthe people.\n\nThere appears to have been a great gathering of the tribes at some spot\nnear Bethel. We see the elders and heads of families holding council of\nwar and administration, the thoughts of all bent on conquest and family\nsettlement. Religion, the purity of Jehovah's worship, are forgotten in\nthe business of the hour. How shall the tribes best help each other in\nthe struggle that is already proving more arduous than they expected?\nDan is sorely pressed by the Amorites. The chiefs of the tribe are here\ntelling their story of hardship among the mountains. The Asherites have\nfailed in their attack upon the sea-board towns Accho and Achzib; in\nvain have they pressed towards Zidon. They are dwelling among the\nCanaanites and may soon be reduced to slavery. The reports from other\ntribes are more hopeful; but everywhere the people of the land are hard\nto overcome. Should Israel not remain content for a time, make the best\nof circumstances, cultivate friendly intercourse with the population it\ncannot dispossess? Such a policy often commends itself to those who\nwould be thought prudent; it is apt to prove a fatal policy.\n\nSuddenly a spiritual voice is heard, clear and intense, and all others\nare silent. From the sanctuary of God at Gilgal one comes whom the\npeople have not expected; he comes with a message they cannot choose but\nhear. It is a prophet with the burden of reproof and warning. Jehovah's\ngoodness, Jehovah's claim are declared with Divine ardour; with Divine\nseverity the neglect of the covenant is condemned. Have the tribes of\nGod begun to consort with the people of the land? Are they already\ndwelling content under the shadow of idolatrous groves, in sight of the\nsymbols of Ashtoreth? Are they learning to swear by Baal and Melcarth\nand looking on while sacrifices are offered to these vile masters? Then\nthey can no longer hope that Jehovah will give them the country to\nenjoy; the heathen shall remain as thorns in the side of Israel and\ntheir gods shall be a snare. It is a message of startling power. From\nthe hopes of dominion and the plans of worldly gain the people pass to\nspiritual concern. They have offended their Lord; His countenance is\nturned from them. A feeling of guilt falls on the assembly. \"It came to\npass that the people lifted up their voice and wept.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nThis lamentation at Bochim is the second note of religious feeling and\nfaith in the Book of Judges. The first is the consultation of the\npriests and the oracle referred to in the opening sentence of the book.\nJehovah Who had led them through the wilderness was their King, and\nunless He went forth as the unseen Captain of the host no success could\nbe looked for. \"They asked of Jehovah, saying, Who shall go up for us\nfirst against the Canaanites, to fight against them?\" In this appeal\nthere was a measure of faith which is neither to be scorned nor\nsuspected. The question indeed was not whether they should fight at\nall, but how they should fight so as to succeed, and their trust was in\na God thought of as pledged to them, solely concerned for them. So far\naccordingly there is nothing exemplary in the circumstances. Yet we find\na lesson for Christian nations. There are many in our modern parliaments\nwho are quite ready to vote national prayer in war-time and thanksgiving\nfor victories, who yet would never think, before undertaking a war, of\nconsulting those best qualified to interpret the Divine will. The\nrelation between religion and the state has this fatal hitch, that\nhowever Christian our governments profess to be, the Christian thinkers\nof the country are not consulted on moral questions, not even on a\nquestion so momentous as that of war. It is passion, pride, or\ndiplomacy, never the wisdom of Christ, that leads nations in the\ncritical moments of their history. Who then scorn, who suspect the early\nHebrew belief? Those only who have no right; those who as they laugh at\nGod and faith shut themselves from the knowledge by which alone his can\nbe understood; and, again, those who in their own ignorance and pride\nunsheathe the sword without reference to Him in Whom they profess to\nbelieve. We admit none of these to criticise Israel and its faith.\n\nAt Bochim, where the second note of religious feeling is struck, a\ndeeper and clearer note, we find the prophet listened to. He revives the\nsense of duty, he kindles a Divine sorrow in the hearts of the people.\nThe national assembly is conscience-stricken. Let us allow this quick\ncontrition to be the result, in part, of superstitious fear. Very rarely\nis spiritual concern quite pure. In general it is the consequences of\ntransgression rather than the evil of it that press on the minds of\nmen. Forebodings of trouble and calamity are more commonly causes of\nsorrow than the loss of fellowship with God; and if we know this to be\nthe case with many who are convicted of sin under the preaching of the\ngospel, we cannot wonder to find the penitence of old Hebrew times\nmingled with superstition. Nevertheless, the people are aware of the\nbroken covenant, burdened with a sense that they have lost the favour of\ntheir unseen Guide. There can be no doubt that the realization of sin\nand of justice turned against them is one cause of their tears.\n\nHere, again, if there is a difference between Israel and Christian\nnations, it is not in favour of the latter. Are modern senates ever\novercome by conviction of sin? Those who are in power seem to have no\nfear that they may do wrong. Glorifying their blunders and forgetting\ntheir errors, they find no occasion for self-reproach, no need to sit in\nsackcloth and ashes. Now and then, indeed, a day of fasting and\nhumiliation is ordered and observed in state; the sincere Christian for\nhis part feeling how miserably formal it is, how far from the\nspontaneous expression of abasement and remorse. God is called upon to\nhelp a people who have not considered their ways, who design no\namendment, who have not even suspected that the Divine blessing may come\nin still further humbling. And turning to private life, is there not as\nmuch of self-justification, as little of real humility and faith? The\nshallow nature of popular Christianity is seen here, that so few can\nread in disappointment and privation anything but disaster, or submit\nwithout disgust and rebellion to take a lower place at the table of\nProvidence. Our weeping is so often for what we longed to gain or wished\nto keep in the earthly and temporal region, so seldom for what we have\nlost or should fear to lose in the spiritual. We grieve when we should\nrather rejoice that God has made us feel our need of Him, and called us\nagain to our true blessedness.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe scene at Bochim connects itself very notably with one nine hundred\nand fifty years later. The poor fragments of the exiled tribes have been\ngathered again in the land of their fathers. They are rebuilding\nJerusalem and the Temple. Ezra has led back a company from Babylon and\nhas brought with him, by the favour of Artaxerxes, no small treasure of\nsilver and gold for the house of God. To his astonishment and grief he\nhears the old tale of alliance with the inhabitants of the land,\nintermarriage even of Levites, priests and princes of Israel with women\nof the Canaanite races. In the new settlement of Palestine the error of\nthe first is repeated. Ezra calls a solemn assembly in the Temple\ncourt--\"every one that trembles at the words of the God of Israel.\" Till\nthe evening sacrifice he sits prostrate with grief, his garment rent,\nhis hair torn and dishevelled. Then on his knees before the Lord he\nspreads forth his hands in prayer. The trespasses of a thousand years\nafflict him, afflict the faithful. \"After all that is come upon us for\nour evil deeds, shall we again break Thy commandments, and join in\naffinity with the peoples that do these abominations? wouldest not Thou\nbe angry with us till Thou hadst consumed us so that there should be no\nremnant nor any to escape?... Behold we are before Thee in our\nguiltiness; for none can stand before Thee because of this.\" The\nimpressive lament of Ezra and those who join in his confessions draws\ntogether a great congregation, and the people weep very sore.\n\nNine centuries and a half appear a long time in the history of a nation.\nWhat has been gained during the period? Is the weeping at Jerusalem in\nEzra's time, like the weeping at Bochim, a mark of no deeper feeling, no\nkeener penitence? Has there been religious advance commensurate with the\ndiscipline of suffering, defeat, slaughter and exile, dishonoured kings,\na wasted land? Have the prophets not achieved anything? Has not the\nTemple in its glory, in its desolation, spoken of a Heavenly power, a\nDivine rule, the sense of which entering the souls of the people has\nestablished piety, or at least a habit of separateness from heathen\nmanners and life? It may be hard to distinguish and set forth the gain\nof those centuries. But it is certain that while the weeping at Bochim\nwas the sign of a fear that soon passed away, the weeping in the Temple\ncourt marked a new beginning in Hebrew history. By the strong action of\nEzra and Nehemiah the mixed marriages were dissolved, and from that time\nthe Jewish people became, as they never were before, exclusive and\nseparate. Where nature would have led the nation ceased to go. More and\nmore strictly the law was enforced; the age of puritanism began. So, let\nus say, the sore discipline had its fruit.\n\nAnd yet it is with a reservation only we can enjoy the success of those\nreformers who drew the sharp line between Israel and his heathen\nneighbours, between Jew and Gentile. The vehemence of reaction urged the\nnation towards another error--Pharisaism. Nothing could be purer,\nnothing nobler than the desire to make Israel a holy people. But to\ninspire men with religious zeal and yet preserve them from spiritual\npride is always difficult, and in truth those Hebrew reformers did not\nsee the danger. There came to be, in the new development of faith, zeal\nenough, jealousy enough, for the purity of religion and life, but along\nwith these a contempt for the heathen, a fierce enmity towards the\nuncircumcised, which made the interval till Christ appeared a time of\nstrife and bloodshed worse than any that had been before. From the\nbeginning the Hebrews were called with a holy calling, and their future\nwas bound up with their faithfulness to it. Their ideal was to be\nearnest and pure, without bitterness or vainglory; and that is still the\nideal of faith. But the Jewish people like ourselves, weak through the\nflesh, came short of the mark on one side or passed beyond it on the\nother. During the long period from Joshua to Nehemiah there was too\nlittle heat, and then a fire was kindled which burned a sharp narrow\npath, along which the life of Israel has gone with ever-lessening\nspiritual force. The unfulfilled ideal still waits, the unique destiny\nof this people of God still bears them on.\n\nBochim is a symbol. There the people wept for a transgression but half\nunderstood and a peril they could not rightly dread. There was genuine\nsorrow, there was genuine alarm. But it was the prophetic word, not\npersonal experience, that moved the assembly. And as at Florence, when\nSavonarola's word, shaking with alarm a people who had no vision of\nholiness, left them morally weaker as it fell into silence, so the\nweeping at Bochim passed like a tempest that has bowed and broken the\nforest trees. The chiefs of Israel returned to their settlements with a\nnew sense of duty and peril; but Canaanite civilization had attractions,\nCanaanite women a refinement which captivated the heart. And the\ncivilization, the refinement, were associated with idolatry. The myths\nof Canaan, the poetry of Tammuz and Astarte, were fascinating and\nseductive. We wonder not that the pure faith of God was corrupted, but\nthat it survived. In Egypt the heathen worship was in a foreign tongue,\nbut in Canaan the stories of the gods were whispered to Israelites in a\nlanguage they knew, by their own kith and kin. In many a home among the\nmountains of Ephraim or the skirts of Lebanon the pagan wife, with her\nsuperstitious fears, her dread of the anger of this god or that goddess,\nwrought so on the mind of the Jewish husband that he began to feel her\ndread and then to permit and share her sacrifices. Thus idolatry invaded\nIsrael, and the long and weary struggle between truth and falsehood\nbegan.\n\nWe have spoken of Bochim as a symbol, and to us it may be the symbol of\nthis, that the very thing which men put from them in horror and with\ntears, seeing the evil, the danger of it, does often insinuate itself\ninto their lives. The messenger is heard, and while he speaks how near\nGod is, how awful is the sense of His being! A thrill of keen feeling\npasses from soul to soul. There are some in the gathering who have more\nspiritual insight than the rest, and their presence raises the heat of\nemotion. But the moment of revelation and of fervour passes, the company\nbreaks up, and very soon those who have won no vision of holiness, who\nhave only feared as they entered into the cloud, are in the common world\nagain. The finer strings of the soul were made to thrill, the conscience\nwas touched; but if the will has not been braced, if the man's reason\nand resoluteness are not engaged by a new conception of life, the\nearthly will resume control and God will be less known than before. So\nthere are many cast down to-day, crying to God in trouble of soul for\nevil done or evil which they are tempted to do, who to-morrow among the\nCanaanites will see things in another light. A man cannot be a recluse.\nHe must mingle in business and in society with those who deride the\nthoughts that have moved him and laugh at his seriousness. The impulse\nto something better soon exhausts itself in this cold atmosphere. He\nturns upon his own emotion with contempt. The words that came with\nDivine urgency, the man whose face was like that of an angel of God, are\nalready subjects of uneasy jesting, will soon be thrust from memory.\nOver the interlude of superficial anxiety the mind goes back to its old\nhaunts, its old plans and cravings. The religious teacher, while he is\noften in no way responsible for this sad recoil, should yet be ever on\nhis guard against the risk of weakening the moral fibre, of leaving men\nas Christ never left them, flaccid and infirm.\n\nAgain, there are cases that belong not to the history of a day, but to\nthe history of a life. One may say, when he hears the strangely tempting\nvoices that whisper in the twilight streets, \"Am I a dog that from the\nholy traditions of my people and country I should fall away to these?\"\nAt first he flies the distasteful entreaty of the new nature-cult, its\nfleshly art and song, its nefarious science. But the voices are\npersistent. It is the perfecting of man and woman to which they invite.\nIt is not vice but freedom, brightness, life and the courage to enjoy it\nthey cunningly propose. There is not much of sweetness; the voices rise,\nthey become stringent and overbearing. If the man would not be a fool,\nwould not lose the good of the age into which he is born, he will be\ndone with unnatural restraints, the bondage of purity. Thus entreaty\npasses into mastery. Here is truth; there also seems to be fact. Little\nby little the subtle argument is so advanced that the degradation once\nfeared is no longer to be seen. It is progress now; it is full\ndevelopment, the assertion of power and privilege, that the soul\nanticipates. How fatal is the lure, how treacherous the vision, the man\ndiscovers when he has parted with that which even through deepest\npenitence he may never regain. People are denying, and it has to be\nreasserted that there is a covenant which the soul of man has to keep\nwith God. The thought is \"archaic,\" and they would banish it. But it\nstands the great reality for man; and to keep that covenant in the grace\nof the Divine Spirit, in the love of the holiest, in the sacred\nmanliness learned of Christ, is the only way to the broad daylight and\nthe free summits of life. How can nature be a saviour? The suggestion is\nchildish. Nature, as we all know, allows the hypocrite, the swindler,\nthe traitor, as well as the brave, honest man, the pure, sweet woman. Is\nit said that man has a covenant with nature? On the temporal and\nprudential side of his activities that is true. He has relations with\nnature which must be apprehended, must be wisely realised. But the\nspiritual kingdom to which he belongs requires a wider outlook, loftier\naims and hopes. The efforts demanded by nature have to be brought into\nharmony with those diviner aspirations. Man is bound to be prudent,\nbrave, wise for eternity. He is warned of his own sin and urged to fly\nfrom it. This is the covenant with God which is wrought into the very\nconstitution of his moral being.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIt would be a mistake to suppose that the scene at Bochim and the words\nwhich moved the assembly to tears had no lasting effect whatever. The\nhistory deals with outstanding facts of the national development. We\nhear chiefly of heroes and their deeds, but we shall not doubt that\nthere were minds which kept the glow of truth and the consecration of\npenitential tears. The best lives of the people moved quietly on, apart\nfrom the commotions and strifes of the time. Rarely are the great\npolitical names even of a religious community those of holy and devout\nmen, and, undoubtedly, this was true of Israel in the time of the\njudges. If we were to reckon only by those who appear conspicuously in\nthese pages, we should have to wonder how the spiritual strain of\nthought and feeling survived. But it did survive; it gained in clearness\nand force. There were those in every tribe who kept alive the sacred\ntraditions of Sinai and the desert, and Levites throughout the land did\nmuch to maintain among the people the worship of God. The great names of\nAbraham and Moses, the story of their faith and deeds, were the text of\nmany an impressive lesson. So the light of piety did not go out; Jehovah\nwas ever the Friend of Israel, even in its darkest day, for in the heart\nof the nation there never ceased to be a faithful remnant maintaining\nthe fear and obedience of the Holy Name.\n\n\n\n\nIV.\n\n_AMONG THE ROCKS OF PAGANISM._\n\nJUDGES ii. 7-23.\n\n\n\"And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an\nhundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the border of his\ninheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, on the\nnorth of the mountain of Gaash.\" So, long after the age of Joshua, the\nhistorian tells again how Israel lamented its great chief, and he seems\nto feel even more than did the people of the time the pathos and\nsignificance of the event. How much a man of God has been to his\ngeneration those rarely know who stand beside his grave. Through faith\nin him faith in the Eternal has been sustained, many who have a certain\npiety of their own depending, more than they have been aware, upon their\ncontact with him. A glow went from him which insensibly raised to\nsomething like religious warmth souls that apart from such an influence\nwould have been of the world worldly. Joshua succeeded Moses as the\nmediator of the covenant. He was the living witness of all that had been\ndone in the Exodus and at Sinai. So long as he continued with Israel,\neven in the feebleness of old age, appearing, and no more, a venerable\nfigure in the council of the tribes, there was a representative of\nDivine order, one who testified to the promises of God and the duty of\nHis people. The elders who outlived him were not men like himself, for\nthey added nothing to faith; yet they preserved the idea at least of the\ntheocracy, and when they passed away the period of Israel's robust youth\nwas at an end. It is this the historian perceives, and his review of the\nfollowing age in the passage we are now to consider is darkened\nthroughout by the cloudy and troubled atmosphere that overcame the fresh\nmorning of faith.\n\nWe know the great design that should have made Israel a singular and\ntriumphant example to the nations of the world. The body politic was to\nhave its unity in no elected government, in no hereditary ruler, but in\nthe law and worship of its Divine King, sustained by the ministry of\npriest and prophet. Every tribe, every family, every soul was to be\nequally and directly subject to the Holy Will as expressed in the law\nand by the oracles of the sanctuary. The idea was that order should be\nmaintained and the life of the tribes should go on under the pressure of\nthe unseen Hand, never resisted, never shaken off, and full of bounty\nalways to a trustful and obedient people. There might be times when the\nhead men of tribes and families should have to come together in council,\nbut it would be only to discover speedily and carry out with one accord\nthe purpose of Jehovah. Rightly do we regard this as an inspired vision;\nit is at once simple and majestic. When a nation can so live and order\nits affairs it will have solved the great problem of government still\nexercising every civilized community. The Hebrews never realized the\ntheocracy, and at the time of the settlement in Canaan they came far\nshort of understanding it. \"Israel had as yet scarcely found time to\nimbue its spirit deeply with the great truths which had been awakened\ninto life in it, and thus to appropriate them as an invaluable\npossession: the vital principle of that religion and nationality by\nwhich it had so wondrously triumphed was still scarcely understood when\nit was led into manifold severe trials.\"[1] Thus, while Hebrew history\npresents for the most part the aspect of an impetuous river broken and\njarred by rocks and boulders, rarely settling into a calm expanse of\nmirror-like water, during the period of the judges the stream is seen\nalmost arrested in the difficult country through which it has to force\nits way. It is divided by many a crag and often hidden for considerable\nstretches by overhanging cliffs. It plunges in cataracts and foams hotly\nin cauldrons of hollowed rock. Not till Samuel appears is there anything\nlike success for this nation, which is of no account if not earnestly\nreligious, and never is religious without a stern and capable chief, at\nonce prophet and judge, a leader in worship and a restorer of order and\nunity among the tribes.\n\n [1] Ewald.\n\nThe general survey or preface which we have before us gives but one\naccount of the disasters that befell the Hebrew people--they \"followed\nother gods, and provoked the Lord to anger.\" And the reason of this has\nto be considered. Taking a natural view of the circumstances we might\npronounce it almost impossible for the tribes to maintain their unity\nwhen they were fighting, each in its own district, against powerful\nenemies. It seems by no means wonderful that nature had its way, and\nthat, weary of war, the people tended to seek rest in friendly\nintercourse and alliance with their neighbours. Were Judah and Simeon\nalways to fight, though their own territory was secure? Was Ephraim to\nbe the constant champion of the weaker tribes and never settle down to\ntill the land? It was almost more than could be expected of men who had\nthe common amount of selfishness. Occasionally, when all were\nthreatened, there was a combination of the scattered clans, but for the\nmost part each had to fight its own battle, and so the unity of life and\nfaith was broken. Nor can we marvel at the neglect of worship and the\nfalling away from Jehovah when we find so many who have been always\nsurrounded by Christian influences drifting into a strange unconcern as\nto religious obligation and privilege. The writer of the Book of Judges,\nhowever, regards things from the standpoint of a high Divine ideal--the\ncalling and duty of a God-made nation. Men are apt to frame excuses for\nthemselves and each other; this historian makes no excuses. Where we\nmight speak compassionately he speaks in sternness. He is bound to tell\nthe story from God's side, and from God's side he tells it with puritan\ndirectness. In a sense it might go sorely against the grain to speak of\nhis ancestors as sinning grievously and meriting condign punishment. But\nlater generations needed to hear the truth, and he would utter it\nwithout evasion. It is surely Nathan, or some other prophet of Samuel's\nline, who lays bare with such faithfulness the infidelity of Israel. He\nis writing for the men of his own time and also for men who are to come;\nhe is writing for us, and his main theme is the stern justice of\nJehovah's government. God bestows privileges which men must value and\nuse, or they shall suffer. When He declares Himself and gives His law,\nlet the people see to it; let them encourage and constrain each other to\nobey. Disobedience brings unfailing penalty. This is the spirit of the\npassage we are considering. Israel is God's possession, and is bound to\nbe faithful. There is no Lord but Jehovah, and it is unpardonable for\nany Israelite to turn aside and worship a false God. The pressure of\ncircumstances, often made much of, is not considered for a moment. The\nweakness of human nature, the temptations to which men and women are\nexposed, are not taken into account. Was there little faith, little\nspirituality? Every soul had its own responsibility for the decay, since\nto every Israelite Jehovah had revealed His love and addressed His call.\nInexorable therefore was the demand for obedience. Religion is stern\nbecause reasonable, not an impossible service as easy human nature would\nfain prove it. If men disbelieve they incur doom, and it must fall upon\nthem.\n\n * * * * *\n\nJoshua and his generation having been gathered unto their fathers,\n\"there arose another generation which knew not the Lord, nor yet the\nwork which He had wrought for Israel. And the children of Israel did\nthat which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baalim.\"\nHow common is the fall traced in these brief, stern words, the wasting\nof a sacred testimony that seemed to be deeply graven upon the heart of\na race! The fathers felt and knew; the sons have only traditional\nknowledge and it never takes hold of them. The link of faith between one\ngeneration and another is not strongly forged; the most convincing\nproofs of God are not recounted. Here is a man who has learned his own\nweakness, who has drained a bitter cup of discipline--how can he better\nserve his sons than by telling them the story of his own mistakes and\nsins, his own suffering and repentance? Here is one who in dark and\ntrying times has found solace and strength and has been lifted out of\nhorror and despair by the merciful hand of God--how can he do a father's\npart without telling his children of his defeats and deliverance, the\nextremity to which he was reduced and the restoring grace of Christ? But\nmen hide their weaknesses, and are ashamed to confess that they ever\npassed through the Valley of Humiliation. They leave their own children\nunwarned to fall into the sloughs in which themselves were well-nigh\nswallowed up. Even when they have erected some Ebenezer, some monument\nof Divine succour, they often fail to bring their children to the spot,\nand speak to them there with fervent recollection of the goodness of the\nLord. Was Solomon when a boy led by David to the town of Gath, and told\nby him the story of his cowardly fear, and how he fled from the face of\nSaul to seek refuge among Philistines? Was Absalom in his youth ever\ntaken to the plains of Bethlehem and shown where his father fed the\nflocks, a poor shepherd lad, when the prophet sent for him to be\nanointed the coming King of Israel? Had these young princes learned in\nfrank conversation with their father all he had to tell of temptation\nand transgression, of danger and redemption, perhaps the one would never\nhave gone astray in his pride nor the other died a rebel in that wood of\nEphraim. The Israelitish fathers were like many fathers still, they left\nthe minds of their boys and girls uninstructed in life, uninstructed in\nthe providence of God, and this in open neglect of the law which marked\nout their duty for them with clear injunction, recalling the themes and\nincidents on which they were to dwell.\n\nOne passage in the history of the past must have been vividly before\nthe minds of those who crossed the Jordan under Joshua, and should have\nstood a protest and warning against the idolatry into which families so\neasily lapsed throughout the land. Over at Shittim, when Israel lay\nencamped on the skirts of the mountains of Moab, a terrible sentence of\nMoses had fallen like a thunderbolt. On some high place near the camp a\nfestival of Midianitish idolatry, licentious in the extreme, attracted\ngreat numbers of Hebrews; they went astray after the worst fashion of\npaganism, and the nation was polluted in the idolatrous orgies. Then\nMoses gave judgment--\"Take the heads of the people and hang them up\nbefore the Lord, against the sun.\" And while that hideous row of stakes,\neach bearing the transfixed body of a guilty chief, witnessed in the\nface of the sun for the Divine ordinance of purity, there fell a plague\nthat carried off twenty-four thousand of the transgressors. Was that\nforgotten? Did the terrible punishment of those who sinned in the matter\nof Baal-peor not haunt the memories of men when they entered the land of\nBaal-worship? No: like others, they were able to forget. Human nature is\nfacile, and from a great horror of judgment can turn in quick recovery\nof the usual ease and confidence. Men have been in the valley of the\nshadow of death, where the mouth of hell is; they have barely escaped;\nbut when they return upon it from another side they do not recognize the\nlandmarks nor feel the need of being on their guard. They teach their\nchildren many things, but neglect to make them aware of that\nright-seeming way the end whereof are the ways of death.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe worship of the Baalim and Ashtaroth and the place which this came to\nhave in Hebrew life require our attention here. Canaan had for long\nbeen more or less subject to the influence of Chaldea and Egypt, and\n\"had received the imprint of their religious ideas. The fish-god of\nBabylon reappears at Ascalon in the form of Dagon, the name of the\ngoddess Astarte and her character seem to be adapted from the Babylonian\nIshtar. Perhaps these divinities were introduced at a time when part of\nthe Canaanite tribes lived on the borders of the Persian Gulf, in daily\ncontact with the inhabitants of Chaldea.\"[2] The Egyptian Isis and\nOsiris, again, are closely connected with the Tammuz and Astarte\nworshipped in Phoenicia. In a general way it may be said that all the\nraces inhabiting Syria had the same religion, but \"each tribe, each\npeople, each town had its Lord, its Master, its Baal, designated by a\nparticular title for distinction from the masters or Baals of\nneighbouring cities. The gods adored at Tyre and Sidon were called\nBaal-Sur, the Master of Tyre; Baal-Sidon, the Master of Sidon. The\nhighest among them, those that impersonated in its purity the conception\nof heavenly fire, were called kings of the gods. El or Kronos reigned at\nByblos; Chemosh among the Moabites; Amman among the children of Ammon;\nSoutkhu among the Hittites.\" Melcarth, the Baal of the world of death,\nwas the Master of Tyre. Each Baal was associated with a female divinity,\nwho was the mistress of the town, the queen of the heavens. The common\nname of these goddesses was Astarte. There was an Ashtoreth of Chemosh\namong the Moabites. The Ashtoreth of the Hittites was called Tanit.\nThere was an Ashtoreth Karnaim or Horned, so called with reference to\nthe crescent moon; and another was Ashtoreth Naamah, the good Astarte.\nIn short, a special Astarte could be created by any town and named by\nany fancy, and Baals were multiplied in the same way. It is, therefore,\nimpossible to assign any distinct character to these inventions. The\nBaalim mostly represented forces of nature--the sun, the stars. The\nAstartes presided over love, birth, the different seasons of the year,\nand--war. \"The multitude of secondary Baalim and Ashtaroth tended to\nresolve themselves into a single supreme pair, in comparison with whom\nthe others had little more than a shadowy existence.\" As the sun and\nmoon outshine all the other heavenly bodies, so two principal deities\nrepresenting them were supreme.\n\n [2] Maspero.\n\nThe worship connected with this horde of fanciful beings is well known\nto have merited the strongest language of detestation applied to it by\nthe Hebrew prophets. The ceremonies were a strange and degrading blend\nof the licentious and the cruel, notorious even in a time of gross and\nhideous rites. The Baalim were supposed to have a fierce and envious\ndisposition, imperiously demanding the torture and death not only of\nanimals but of men. The horrible notion had taken root that in times of\npublic danger king and nobles must sacrifice their children in fire for\nthe pleasure of the god. And while nothing of this sort was done for the\nAshtaroth their demands were in one aspect even more vile.\nSelf-mutilation, self-defilement were acts of worship, and in the great\nfestivals men and women gave themselves up to debauchery which cannot be\ndescribed. No doubt some of the observances of this paganism were mild\nand simple. Feasts there were at the seasons of reaping and vintage\nwhich were of a bright and comparatively harmless character; and it was\nby taking part in these that Hebrew families began their acquaintance\nwith the heathenism of the country. But the tendency of polytheism is\never downward. It springs from a curious and ignorant dwelling on the\nmysterious processes of nature, untamed fancy personifying the causes of\nall that is strange and horrible, constantly wandering therefore into\nmore grotesque and lawless dreams of unseen powers and their claims on\nman. The imagination of the worshipper, which passes beyond his power of\naction, attributes to the gods energy more vehement, desires more\nsweeping, anger more dreadful than he finds in himself. He thinks of\nbeings who are strong in appetite and will and yet under no restraint or\nresponsibility. In the beginning polytheism is not necessarily vile and\ncruel; but it must become so as it develops. The minds by whose fancies\nthe gods are created and furnished with adventures are able to conceive\ncharacters vehemently cruel, wildly capricious and impure. But how can\nthey imagine a character great in wisdom, holiness and justice? The\nadditions of fable and belief made from age to age may hold in solution\nsome elements that are good, some of man's yearning for the noble and\ntrue beyond him. The better strain, however, is overborne in popular\ntalk and custom by the tendency to fear rather than to hope in presence\nof unknown powers, the necessity which is felt to avert possible anger\nof the gods or make sure of their patronage. Sacrifices are multiplied,\nthe offerer exerting himself more and more to gain his main point at\nwhatever expense; while he thinks of the world of gods as a region in\nwhich there is jealousy of man's respect and a multitude of rival claims\nall of which must be met. Thus the whole moral atmosphere is thrown into\nconfusion.\n\nInto a polytheism of this kind came Israel, to whom had been committed a\nrevelation of the one true God, and in the first moment of homage at\nheathen altars the people lost the secret of its strength. Certainly\nJehovah was not abandoned; He was thought of still as the Lord of\nIsrael. But He was now one among many who had their rights and could\nrepay the fervent worshipper. At one high-place it was Jehovah men\nsought, at another the Baal of the hill and his Ashtoreth. Yet Jehovah\nwas still the special patron of the Hebrew tribes and of no others, and\nin trouble they turned to Him for relief. So in the midst of mythology\nDivine faith had to struggle for existence. The stone pillars which the\nIsraelites erected were mostly to the name of God, but Hebrews danced\nwith Hittite and Jebusite around the poles of Astarte, and in revels of\nnature-worship they forgot their holy traditions, lost their vigour of\nbody and soul. The doom of apostasy fulfilled itself. They were unable\nto stand before their enemies. \"The hand of the Lord was against them\nfor evil, and they were greatly distressed.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nAnd why could not Israel rest in the debasement of idolatry? Why did not\nthe Hebrews abandon their distinct mission as a nation and mingle with\nthe races they came to convert or drive away? They could not rest; they\ncould not mingle and forget. Is there ever peace in the soul of a man\nwho falls from early impressions of good to join the licentious and the\nprofane? He has still his own personality, shot through with\nrecollections of youth and traits inherited from godly ancestors. It is\nimpossible for him to be at one with his new companions in their revelry\nand vice. He finds that from which his souls revolts, he feels disgust\nwhich he has to overcome by a strong effort of perverted will. He\ndespises his associates and knows in his inmost heart that he is of a\ndifferent race. Worse he may become than they, but he is never the same.\nSo was it in the degradation of the Israelites, both individually and as\na nation. From complete absorption among the peoples of Canaan they were\npreserved by hereditary influences which were part of their very life,\nby holy thoughts and hopes embodied in their national history, by the\nrags of that conscience which remained from the law-giving of Moses and\nthe discipline of the wilderness. Moreover, akin as they were to the\nidolatrous races, they had a feeling of closer kinship with each other,\ntribe with tribe, family with family; and the worship of God at the\nlittle-frequented shrine still maintained the shadow at least of the\nnational consecration. They were a people apart, these Beni-Israel, a\npeople of higher rank than Amorites or Perizzites, Hittites or\nPhoenicians. Even when least alive to their destiny they were still held\nby it, led on secretly by that heavenly hand which never let them go.\nFrom time to time souls were born among them aglow with devout\neagerness, confident in the faith of God. The tribes were roused out of\nlethargy by voices that woke many recollections of half-forgotten\npurpose and hope. Now from Judah in the south, now from Ephraim in the\ncentre, now from Dan or Gilead a cry was raised. For a time at least\nmanhood was quickened, national feeling became keen, the old faith was\npartly revived, and God had again a witness in His people.\n\nWe have found the writer of the Book of Judges consistent and\nunfaltering in his condemnation of Israel; he is equally consistent and\neager in his vindication of God. It is to him no doubtful thing, but an\nassured fact, that the Holy One came with Israel from Paran and marched\nwith the people from Seir. He has no hesitation in ascribing to Divine\nprovidence and grace the deeds of those men who go by the name of\njudges. It startles and even confounds some to note the plain direct\nterms in which God is made, so to speak, responsible for those rude\nwarriors whose exploits we are to review,--for Ehud, for Jephthah, for\nSamson. The men are children of their age, vehement, often reckless, not\nanswering to the Christian ideal of heroism. They do rough work in a\nrough way. If we found their history elsewhere than in the Bible we\nshould be disposed to class them with the Roman Horatius, the Saxon\nHereward, the Jutes Hengest and Horsa and hardly dare to call them men\nof God's hand. But here they are presented bearing the stamp of a Divine\nvocation; and in the New Testament it is emphatically reaffirmed. \"What\nshall I more say? for the time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak,\nSamson, Jephthah; ... who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought\nrighteousness, obtained promises, ... waxed mighty in war, turned to\nflight armies of aliens.\"\n\nThere is a crude religious sentimentalism to which the Bible gives no\ncountenance. Where we, mistaking the meaning of providence because we do\nnot rightly believe in immortality, are apt to think with horror of the\nmiseries of men, the vigorous veracity of sacred writers directs our\nthought to the moral issues of life and the vast movements of God's\npurifying design. Where we, ignorant of much that goes to the making of\na world, lament the seeming confusion and the errors, the Bible seer\ndiscerns that the cup of red wine poured out is in the hand of Almighty\nJustice and Wisdom. It is of a piece with the superficial feeling of\nmodern society to doubt whether God could have any share in the deeds of\nJephthah and the career of Samson, whether these could have any place in\nthe Divine order. Look at Christ and His infinite compassion, it is\nsaid; read that God is love, and then reconcile if you can this view of\nHis character with the idea which makes Barak and Gideon His ministers.\nOut of all such perplexities there is a straight way. You make light of\nmoral evil and individual responsibility when you say that this war or\nthat pestilence has no Divine mission. You deny eternal righteousness\nwhen you question whether a man, vindicating it in the time-sphere, can\nhave a Divine vocation. The man is but a human instrument. True. He is\nnot perfect, he is not even spiritual. True. Yet if there is in him a\ngleam of right and earnest purpose, if he stands above his time in\nvirtue of an inward light which shows him but a single truth, and in the\nspirit of that strikes his blow--is it to be denied that within his\nlimits he is a weapon of the holiest Providence, a helper of eternal\ngrace?\n\nThe storm, the pestilence have a providential errand. They urge men to\nprudence and effort; they prevent communities from settling on their\nlees. But the hero has a higher range of usefulness. It is not mere\nprudence he represents, but the passion for justice. For right against\nmight, for liberty against oppression he contends, and in striking his\nblow he compels his generation to take into account morality and the\nwill of God. He may not see far, but at least he stirs inquiry as to the\nright way, and though thousands die in the conflict he awakens there is\na real gain which the coming age inherits. Such a one, however faulty\nhowever, as we may say, earthly, is yet far above mere earthly levels.\nHis moral concepts may be poor and low compared with ours; but the heat\nthat moves him is not of sense, not of clay. Obstructed it is by the\nignorance and sin of our human estate, nevertheless it is a supernatural\npower, and so far as it works in any degree for righteousness, freedom,\nthe realization of God, the man is a hero of faith.\n\nWe do not affirm here that God approves or inspires all that is done by\nthe leaders of a suffering people in the way of vindicating what they\ndeem their rights. Moreover, there are claims and rights so-called for\nwhich it is impious to shed a drop of blood. But if the state of\nhumanity is such that the Son of God must die for it, is there any room\nto wonder that men have to die for it? Given a cause like that of\nIsrael, a need of the whole world which Israel only could meet, and the\nmen who unselfishly, at the risk of death, did their part in the front\nof the struggle which that cause and that need demanded, though they\nslew their thousands, were not men of whom the Christian teacher needs\nbe afraid to speak. And there have been many such in all nations, for\nthe principle by which we judge is of the broadest application,--men who\nhave led the forlorn hopes of nations, driven back the march of tyrants,\ngiven law and order to an unsettled land.\n\nJudge after judge was \"raised up\"--the word is true--and rallied the\ntribes of Israel, and while each lived there were renewed energy and\nprosperity. But the moral revival was never in the deeps of life and no\ndeliverance was permanent. It is only a faithful nation that can use\nfreedom. Neither trouble nor release from trouble will certainly make\neither a man or a people steadily true to the best. Unless there is\nalong with trouble a conviction of spiritual need and failure, men will\nforget the prayers and vows they made in their extremity. Thus in the\nhistory of Israel, as in the history of many a soul, periods of\nsuffering and of prosperity succeed each other and there is no distinct\ngrowth of the religious life. All these experiences are meant to throw\nmen back upon the seriousness of duty, and the great purpose God has in\ntheir existence. We must repent not because we are in pain or grief, but\nbecause we are estranged from the Holy One and have denied the God of\nSalvation. Until the soul comes to this it only struggles out of one pit\nto fall into another.\n\n\n\n\nV.\n\n_THE ARM OF ARAM AND OF OTHNIEL._\n\nJUDGES iii. 1-11.\n\n\nWe come now to a statement of no small importance, which may be the\ncause of some perplexity. It is emphatically affirmed that God fulfilled\nHis design for Israel by leaving around it in Canaan a circle of\nvigorous tribes very unlike each other, but alike in this, that each\npresented to the Hebrews a civilisation from which something might be\nlearned but much had to be dreaded, a seductive form of paganism which\nought to have been entirely resisted, an aggressive energy fitted to\nrouse their national feeling. We learn that Israel was led along a\ncourse of development resembling that by which other nations have\nadvanced to unity and strength. As the Divine plan is unfolded, it is\nseen that not by undivided possession of the Promised Land, not by swift\nand fierce clearing away of opponents, was Israel to reach its glory and\nbecome Jehovah's witness, but in the way of patient fidelity amidst\ntemptations, by long struggle and arduous discipline. And why should\nthis cause perplexity? If moral education did not move on the same line\nfor all peoples in every age, then indeed mankind would be put to\nintellectual confusion. There was never any other way for Israel than\nfor the rest of the world.\n\n\"These are the nations which the Lord left to prove Israel by them, to\nknow whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the Lord.\" The\nfirst-named are the Philistines, whose settlements on the coast-plain\ntoward Egypt were growing in power. They were a maritime race,\napparently much like the Danish invaders of Saxon England, sea-rovers or\npirates, ready for any fray that promised spoil. In the great coalition\nof peoples that fell on Egypt during the reign of Ramses III., about the\nyear 1260 B.C., Philistines were conspicuous, and after the crushing\ndefeat of the expedition they appear in larger numbers on the coast of\nCanaan. Their cities were military republics skilfully organized, each\nwith a _seren_ or war-chief, the chiefs of the hundred cities forming a\ncouncil of federation. Their origin is not known; but we may suppose\nthem to have been a branch of the Amorite family, who after a time of\nadventure were returning to their early haunts. It may be reckoned\ncertain that in wealth and civilization they presented a marked contrast\nto the Israelites, and their equipments of all kinds gave them great\nadvantage in the arts of war and peace. Even in the period of the Judges\nthere were imposing temples in the Philistine cities and the worship\nmust have been carefully ordered. How they compared with the Hebrews in\ndomestic life we have no means of judging, but there was certainly some\nbarrier of race, language, or custom between the peoples which made\nintermarriage very rare. We can suppose that they looked upon the\nHebrews from their higher worldly level as rude and slavish. Military\nadventurers not unwilling to sell their services for gold would be apt\nto despise a race half-nomad, half-rural. It was in war, not in peace,\nthat Philistine and Hebrew met, contempt on either side gradually\nchanging into keenest hatred as century after century the issue of\nbattle was tried with varying success. And it must be said that it was\nwell for the tribes of Jehovah rather to be in occasional subjection to\nthe Philistines, and so learn to dread them, than to mix freely with\nthose by whom the great ideas of Hebrew life were despised.\n\nOn the northward sea-board a quite different race, the Zidonians, or\nPhoenicians, were in one sense better neighbours to the Israelites, in\nanother sense no better friends. While the Philistines were haughty,\naristocratic, military, the Phoenicians were the great _bourgeoisie_ of\nthe period, clever, enterprising, eminently successful in trade. Like\nthe other Canaanites and the ancestors of the Jews, they were probably\nimmigrants from the lower Euphrates valley; unlike the others, they\nbrought with them habits of commerce and skill in manufacture, for which\nthey became famous along the Mediterranean shores and beyond the Pillars\nof Hercules. Between Philistine and Phoenician the Hebrew was mercifully\nprotected from the absorbing interests of commercial life and the\ndisgrace of prosperous piracy. The conscious superiority of the coast\npeoples in wealth and influence and the material elements of\ncivilisation was itself a guard to the Jews, who had their own sense of\ndignity, their own claim to assert. The configuration of the country\nhelped the separateness of Israel, especially so far as Phoenicia was\nconcerned, which lay mainly beyond the rampart of Lebanon and the gorge\nof the Litany; while with the fortress of Tyre on the hither side of the\nnatural frontier there appears to have been for a long time no\nintercourse, probably on account of its peculiar position. But the\nspirit of Phoenicia was the great barrier. Along the crowded wharves of\nTyre and Zidon, in warehouses and markets, factories and workshops, a\nhundred industries were in full play, and in their luxurious dwellings\nthe busy prosperous traders, with their silk-clad wives, enjoyed the\npleasures of the age. From all this the Hebrew, rough and unkempt, felt\nhimself shut out, perhaps with a touch of regret, perhaps with scorn\nequal to that on the other side. He had to live his life apart from that\nbusy race, apart from its vivacity and enterprise, apart from its\nlubricity and worldliness. The contempt of the world is ill to bear, and\nthe Jew no doubt found it so. But it was good for him. The tribes had\ntime to consolidate, the religion of Jehovah became established before\nPhoenicia thought it worth while to court her neighbour. Early indeed\nthe idolatry of the one people infected the other and there were the\nbeginnings of trade, yet on the whole for many centuries they kept\napart. Not till a king throned in Jerusalem could enter into alliance\nwith a king of Tyre, crown with crown, did there come to be that\nintimacy which had so much risk for the Hebrew. The humbleness and\npoverty of Israel during the early centuries of its history in Canaan\nwas a providential safeguard. God would not lose His people, nor suffer\nit to forget its mission.\n\nAmong the inland races with whom the Israelites are said to have dwelt,\nthe Amorites, though mentioned along with Perizzites and Hivites, had\nvery distinct characteristics. They were a mountain people like the\nScottish Highlanders, even in physiognomy much resembling them, a tall,\nwhite-skinned, blue-eyed race. Warlike we know they were, and the\nEgyptian representation of the siege of Dapur by Ramses II. shows what\nis supposed to be the standard of the Amorites on the highest tower, a\nshield pierced by three arrows surmounted by another arrow fastened\nacross the top of the staff. On the east of Jordan they were defeated by\nthe Israelites and their land between Arnon and Jabbok was allotted to\nReuben and Gad. In the west they seem to have held their ground in\nisolated fortresses or small clans, so energetic and troublesome that it\nis specially noted in Samuel's time that a great defeat of the\nPhilistines brought peace between Israel and the Amorites. A significant\nreference in the description of Ahab's idolatry--\"he did very abominably\nin following idols according to all things as did the Amorites\"--shows\nthe religion of these people to have been Baal-worship of the grossest\nkind; and we may well suppose that by intermixture with them especially\nthe faith of Israel was debased. Even now, it may be said, the Amorite\nis still in the land; a blue-eyed, fair-complexioned type survives,\nrepresenting that ancient stock.\n\nPassing some tribes whose names imply rather geographical than ethnical\ndistinctions, we come to the Hittites, the powerful people of whom in\nrecent years we have learned something. At one time these Hittites were\npractically masters of the wide region from Ephesus in the west of Asia\nMinor to Carchemish on the Euphrates, and from the shores of the Black\nSea to the south of Palestine. They appear to us in the archives of\nThebes and the poem of the Laureate, Pentaur, as the great adversaries\nof Egypt in the days of Ramses I. and his successors; and one of the\nmost interesting records is of the battle fought about 1383 B.C. at\nKadesh on the Orontes, between the immense armies of the two nations,\nthe Egyptians being led by Ramses II. Amazing feats were attributed to\nRamses, but he was compelled to treat on equal terms with the \"great\nking of Kheta,\" and the war was followed by a marriage between the\nPharaoh and the daughter of the Hittite prince. Syria too was given up\nto the latter as his legitimate possession. The treaty of peace drawn up\non the occasion, in the name of the chief gods of Egypt and of the\nHittites, included a compact of offensive and defensive alliance and\ncareful provisions for extradition of fugitives and criminals.\nThroughout it there is evident a great dependence upon the company of\ngods of either land, who are largely invoked to punish those who break\nand reward those who keep its terms. \"He who shall observe these\ncommandments which the silver tablet contains, whether he be of the\npeople of Kheta or of the people of Egypt, because he has not neglected\nthem, the company of the gods of the land of Kheta and the company of\nthe gods of the land of Egypt shall secure his reward and preserve life\nfor him and his servants.\"[3] From this time the Amorites of southern\nPalestine and the minor Canaanite peoples submitted to the Hittite\ndominion, and it was while this subjection lasted that the Israelites\nunder Joshua appeared on the scene. There can be no doubt that the\ntremendous conflict with Egypt had exhausted the population of Canaan\nand wasted the country, and so prepared the way for the success of\nIsrael. The Hittites indeed were strong enough had they seen fit to\noppose with great armies the new comers into Syria. But the centre of\ntheir power lay far to the north, perhaps in Cappadocia; and on the\nfrontier towards Nineveh they were engaged with more formidable\nopponents. We may also surmise that the Hittites, whose alliance with\nEgypt was by Joshua's time somewhat decayed, would look upon the\nHebrews, to begin with, as fugitives from the misrule of the Pharaoh who\nmight be counted upon to take arms against their former oppressors. This\nwould account, in part at least, for the indifference with which the\nIsraelite settlement in Canaan was regarded; it explains why no vigorous\nattempt was made to drive back the tribes.\n\n [3] \"The Hittites,\" by A. H. Sayce, LL.D., p. 36.\n\nFor the characteristics of the Hittites, whose appearance and dress\nconstantly suggest a Mongolian origin, we can now consult their\nmonuments. A vigorous people they must have been, capable of government,\nof extensive organization, concerned to perfect their arts as well as to\nincrease their power. Original contributors to civilization they\nprobably were not, but they had skill to use what they found and spread\nit widely. Their worship of Sutekh or Soutkhu, and especially of Astarte\nunder the name of Ma, who reappears in the Great Diana of Ephesus, must\nhave been very elaborate. A single Cappadocian city is reported to have\nhad at one time six thousand armed priestesses and eunuchs of that\ngoddess. In Palestine there were not many of this distinct and energetic\npeople when the Hebrews crossed the Jordan. A settlement seems to have\nremained about Hebron, but the armies had withdrawn; Kadesh on the\nOrontes was the nearest garrison. One peculiar institution of Hittite\nreligion was the holy city, which afforded sanctuary to fugitives; and\nit is notable that some of these cities in Canaan, such as\nKadesh-Naphtali and Hebron, are found among the Hebrew cities of refuge.\n\nIt was as a people at once enticed and threatened, invited to peace and\nconstantly provoked to war, that Israel settled in the circle of Syrian\nnations. After the first conflicts, ending in the defeat of Adoni-bezek\nand the capture of Hebron and Kiriath-sepher, the Hebrews had an\nacknowledged place, partly won by their prowess, partly by the terror of\nJehovah which accompanied their arms. To Philistines, Phoenicians and\nHittites, as we have seen, their coming mattered little, and the other\nraces had to make the best of affairs, sometimes able to hold their\nground, sometimes forced to give way. The Hebrew tribes, for their part,\nwere, on the whole, too ready to live at peace and to yield not a little\nfor the sake of peace. Intermarriages made their position safer, and\nthey intermarried with Amorites, Hivites, Perizzites. Interchange of\ngoods was profitable, and they engaged in barter. The observance of\nfrontiers and covenants helped to make things smooth, and they agreed on\nboundary lines of territory and terms of fraternal intercourse. The\nacknowledgment of their neighbours' religion was the next thing, and\nfrom that they did not shrink. The new neighbours were practically\nsuperior to themselves in many ways, well-informed as to the soil, the\nclimate, the methods of tillage necessary in the land, well able to\nteach useful arts and simple manufactures. Little by little the debasing\nnotions and bad customs that infest pagan society entered Hebrew homes.\nComfort and prosperity came; but comfort was dearly bought with loss of\npureness, and prosperity with loss of faith. The watchwords of unity\nwere forgotten by many. But for the sore oppressions of which the\nMesopotamian was the first the tribes would have gradually lost all\ncoherence and vigour and become like those poor tatters of races that\ndragged out an inglorious existence between Jordan and the Mediterranean\nplain.\n\nYet it is with nations as with men; those that have a reason of\nexistence and the desire to realize it, even at intervals, may fall away\ninto pitiful languor if corrupted by prosperity, but when the need comes\ntheir spirit will be renewed. While Hivites, Perizzites and even\nAmorites had practically nothing to live for, but only cared to live,\nthe Hebrews felt oppression and restraint in their inmost marrow. What\nthe faithful servants of God among them urged in vain the iron heel of\nCushan-rishathaim made them remember and realize that they had a God\nfrom Whom they were basely departing, a birthright they were selling for\npottage. In Doubting Castle, under the chains of Despair, they bethought\nthem of the Almighty and His ancient promises, they cried unto the Lord.\nAnd it was not the cry of an afflicted church; Israel was far from\ndeserving that name. Rather was it the cry of a prodigal people scarcely\ndaring to hope that the Father would forgive and save.\n\nNothing yet found in the records of Babylon or Assyria throws any light\non the invasion of Cushan-rishathaim, whose name, which seems to mean\nCushan of the Two Evil Deeds, may be taken to represent his character as\nthe Hebrews viewed it. He was a king one of whose predecessors a few\ncenturies before had given a daughter in marriage to the third Amenophis\nof Egypt, and with her the Aramaean religion to the Nile valley. At that\ntime Mesopotamia, or Aram-Naharaim, was one of the greatest monarchies\nof western Asia. Stretching along the Euphrates from the Khabour river\ntowards Carchemish and away to the highlands of Armenia, it embraced the\ndistrict in which Terah and Abram first settled when the family migrated\nfrom Ur of the Chaldees. In the days of the judges of Israel, however,\nthe glory of Aram had faded. The Assyrians threatened its eastern\nfrontier, and about 1325 B.C., the date at which we have now arrived,\nthey laid waste the valley of the Khabour. We can suppose that the\npressure of this rising empire was one cause of the expedition of Cushan\ntowards the western sea.\n\nIt remains a question, however, why the Mesopotamian king should have\nbeen allowed to traverse the land of the Hittites, either by way of\nDamascus or the desert route that led past Tadmor, in order to fall on\nthe Israelites; and there is this other question, What led him to think\nof attacking Israel especially among the dwellers in Canaan? In pursuing\nthese inquiries we have at least presumption to guide us. Carchemish on\nthe Euphrates was a great Hittite fortress commanding the fords of that\ndeep and treacherous river. Not far from it, within the Mesopotamian\ncountry, was Pethor, which was at once a Hittite and an Aramaean\ntown--Pethor the city of Balaam with whom the Hebrews had had to reckon\nshortly before they entered Canaan. Now Cushan-rishathaim, reigning in\nthis region, occupied the middle ground between the Hittites and Assyria\non the east, also between them and Babylon on the south-east; and it is\nprobable that he was in close alliance with the Hittites. Suppose then\nthat the Hittite king, who at first regarded the Hebrews with\nindifference, was now beginning to view them with distrust or to fear\nthem as a people bent on their own ends, not to be reckoned on for help\nagainst Egypt, and we can easily see that he might be more than ready to\nassist the Mesopotamians in their attack on the tribes. To this we may\nadd a hint which is derived from Balaam's connection with Pethor, and\nthe kind of advice he was in the way of giving to those who consulted\nhim. Does it not seem probable enough that some counsel of his survived\nhis death and now guided the action of the king of Aram? Balaam, by\nprofession a soothsayer, was evidently a great political personage of\nhis time, foreseeing, crafty and vindictive. Methods of his for\nsuppressing Israel, the force of whose genius he fully recognised, were\nperhaps sold to more than one kingly employer. \"The land of the children\nof his people\" would almost certainly keep his counsel in mind and seek\nto avenge his death. Thus against Israel particularly among the dwellers\nin Canaan the arms of Cushan-rishathaim would be directed, and the\nHittites, who scarcely found it needful to attack Israel for their own\nsafety, would facilitate his march.\n\nHere then we may trace the revival of a feud which seemed to have died\naway fifty years before. Neither nations nor men can easily escape from\nthe enmity they have incurred and the entanglements of their history.\nWhen years have elapsed and strifes appear to have been buried in\noblivion, suddenly, as if out of the grave, the past is apt to arise and\nconfront us, sternly demanding the payment of its reckoning. We once did\nanother grievous wrong, and now our fondly cherished belief that the man\nwe injured had forgotten our injustice is completely dispelled. The old\nanxiety, the old terror breaks in afresh upon our lives. Or it was in\ndoing our duty that we braved the enmity of evil-minded men and punished\ntheir crimes. But though they have passed away their bitter hatred\nbequeathed to others still survives. Now the battle of justice and\nfidelity has to be fought over again, and well is it for us if we are\nfound ready in the strength of God.\n\nAnd, in another aspect, how futile is the dream some indulge of getting\nrid of their history, passing beyond the memory or resurrection of what\nhas been. Shall Divine forgiveness obliterate those deeds of which we\nhave repented? Then the deeds being forgotten the forgiveness too would\npass into oblivion and all the gain of faith and gratitude it brought\nwould be lost. Do we expect never to retrace in memory the way we have\ntravelled? As well might we hope, retaining our personality, to become\nother men than we are. The past, good and evil, remains and will remain,\nthat we may be kept humble and moved to ever-increasing thankfulness and\nfervour of soul. We rise \"on stepping-stones of our dead selves to\nhigher things,\" and every forgotten incident by which moral education\nhas been provided for must return to light. The heaven we hope for is\nnot to be one of forgetfulness, but a state bright and free through\nremembrance of the grace that saved us at every stage and the\ncircumstances of our salvation. As yet we do not half know what God has\ndone for us, what His providence has been. There must be a resurrection\nof old conflicts, strifes, defeats and victories in order that we may\nunderstand the grace which is to keep us safe for ever.\n\nAttacked by Cushan of the Two Crimes the Israelites were in evil case.\nThey had not the consciousness of Divine support which sustained them\nonce. They had forsaken Him whose presence in the camp made their arms\nvictorious. Now they must face the consequences of their fathers' deeds\nwithout their fathers' heavenly courage. Had they still been a united\nnation full of faith and hope, the armies of Aram would have assailed\nthem in vain. But they were without the spirit which the crisis\nrequired. For eight years the northern tribes had to bear a sore\noppression, soldiers quartered in their cities, tribute exacted at the\npoint of the sword, their harvests enjoyed by others. The stern lesson\nwas taught them that Canaan was to be no peaceful habitation for a\npeople that renounced the purpose of its existence. The struggle became\nmore hopeless year by year, the state of affairs more wretched. So at\nlast the tribes were driven by stress of persecution and calamity to\ncall again on the name of God, and some faint hope of succour broke like\na misty morning over the land.\n\nIt was from the far south that help came in response to the piteous cry\nof the oppressed in the north; the deliverer was Othniel, who has\nalready appeared in the history. After his marriage with Achsah,\ndaughter of Caleb, we must suppose him living as quietly as possible in\nhis south-lying farm, there increasing in importance year by year till\nnow he is a respected chief of the tribe of Judah. In frequent\nskirmishes with Arab marauders from the wilderness he has distinguished\nhimself, maintaining the fame of his early exploit. Better still, he is\none of those who have kept the great traditions of the nation, a man\nmindful of the law of God, deriving strength of character from\nfellowship with the Almighty. \"The Spirit of Jehovah came upon him and\nhe judged Israel; and he went out to war, and Jehovah delivered\nCushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand.\"\n\n\"He judged Israel and went out to war.\" Significant is the order of\nthese statements. The judging of Israel by this man, on whom the Spirit\nof Jehovah was, meant no doubt inquisition into the religious and moral\nstate, condemnation of the idolatry of the tribes and a restoration to\nsome extent of the worship of God. In no other way could the strength of\nIsrael be revived. The people had to be healed before they could fight,\nand the needed cure was spiritual. Hopeless invariably have been the\nefforts of oppressed peoples to deliver themselves unless some trust in\na divine power has given them heart for the struggle. When we see an\narmy bow in prayer as one man before joining battle, as the Swiss did at\nMorat and the Scots at Bannockburn, we have faith in their spirit and\ncourage, for they are feeling their dependence in the Supernatural.\nOthniel's first care was to suppress idolatry, to teach Israelites anew\nthe forgotten name and law of God and their destiny as a nation. Well\ndid he know that this alone would prepare the way for success. Then,\nhaving gathered an army fit for his purpose, he was not long in sweeping\nthe garrisons of Cushan out of the land.\n\nJudgment and then deliverance; judgment of the mistakes and sins men\nhave committed, thereby bringing themselves into trouble; conviction of\nsin and righteousness; thereafter guidance and help that their feet may\nbe set on a rock and their goings established--this is the right\nsequence. That God should help the proud, the self-sufficient out of\ntheir troubles in order that they may go on in pride and vainglory, or\nthat He should save the vicious from the consequences of their vice and\nleave them to persist in their iniquity, would be no Divine work. The\nnew mind and the right spirit must be put in men, they must hear their\ncondemnation, lay it to heart and repent, there must be a revival of\nholy purpose and aspiration first. Then the oppressors will be driven\nfrom the land, the weight of trouble lifted from the soul.\n\nOthniel the first of the judges seems one of the best. He is not a man\nof mere rude strength and dashing enterprise. Nor is he one who runs the\nrisk of sudden elevation to power, which few can stand. A person of\nacknowledged honour and sagacity, he sees the problem of the time and\ndoes his best to solve it. He is almost unique in this, that he appears\nwithout offence, without shame. And his judgeship is honourable to\nIsrael. It points to a higher level of thought and greater seriousness\namong the tribes than in the century when Jephthah and Samson were the\nacknowledged heroes. The nation had not lost its reverence for the great\nnames and hopes of the exodus when it obeyed Othniel and followed him to\nbattle.\n\nIn modern times there would seem to be scarcely any understanding of the\nfact that no man can do real service as a political leader unless he is\na fearer of God, one who loves righteousness more than country, and\nserves the Eternal before any constituency. Sometimes a nation low\nenough in morality has been so far awake to its need and danger as to\ngive the helm, at least for a time, to a servant of truth and\nrighteousness and to follow where he leads. But more commonly is it the\ncase that political leaders are chosen anywhere rather than from the\nranks of the spiritually earnest. It is oratorical dash now, and now the\ncleverness of the intriguer, or the power of rank and wealth, that\ncatches popular favour and exalts a man in the state. Members of\nparliament, cabinet ministers, high officials need have no devoutness,\nno spiritual seriousness or insight. A nation generally seeks no such\ncharacter in its legislators and is often content with less than decent\nmorality. Is it then any wonder that politics are arid and government a\nseries of errors? We need men who have the true idea of liberty and will\nset nations nominally Christian on the way of fulfilling their mission\nto the world. When the people want a spiritual leader he will appear;\nwhen they are ready to follow one of high and pure temper he will arise\nand show the way. But the plain truth is that our chiefs in the state,\nin society and business must be the men who represent the general\nopinion, the general aim. While we are in the main a worldly people, the\nbest guides, those of spiritual mind, will never be allowed to carry\ntheir plans. And so we come back to the main lesson of the whole\nhistory, that only as each citizen is thoughtful of God and of duty,\nredeemed from selfishness and the world, can there be a true\ncommonwealth, honourable government, beneficent civilization.\n\n\n\n\nVI.\n\n_THE DAGGER AND THE OX-GOAD._\n\nJUDGES iii. 12-31.\n\n\nThe world is served by men of very diverse kinds, and we pass now to one\nwho is in strong contrast to Israel's first deliverer. Othniel the judge\nwithout reproach is followed by Ehud the regicide. The long peace which\nthe country enjoyed after the Mesopotamian army was driven out allowed a\nreturn of prosperity and with it a relaxing of spiritual tone. Again\nthere was disorganization; again the Hebrew strength decayed and\nwatchful enemies found an opportunity. The Moabites led the attack, and\ntheir king was at the head of a federation including the Ammonites and\nthe Amalekites. It was this coalition the power of which Ehud had to\nbreak.\n\nWe can only surmise the causes of the assault made on the Hebrews west\nof Jordan by those peoples on the east. When the Israelites first\nappeared on the plains of the Jordan under the shadow of the mountains\nof Moab, before crossing into Palestine proper, Balak king of Moab\nviewed with alarm this new nation which was advancing to seek a\nsettlement so near his territory. It was then he sent to Pethor for\nBalaam, in the hope that by a powerful incantation or curse the great\ndiviner would blight the Hebrew armies and make them an easy prey.\nNotwithstanding this scheme, which even to the Israelites did not appear\ncontemptible, Moses so far respected the relationship between Moab and\nIsrael that he did not attack Balak's kingdom, although at the time it\nhad been weakened by an unsuccessful contest with the Amorites from\nGilead. Moab to the south and Ammon to the north were both left\nunharmed.\n\nBut to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh was allotted the land\nfrom which the Amorites had been completely driven, a region extending\nfrom the frontier of Moab on the south away towards Hermon and the\nArgob; and these tribes entering vigorously on their possession could\nnot long remain at peace with the bordering races. We can easily see how\ntheir encroachments, their growing strength would vex Moab and Ammon and\ndrive them to plans of retaliation. Balaam had not cursed Israel; he had\nblessed it, and the blessing was being fulfilled. It seemed to be\ndecreed that all other peoples east of Jordan were to be overborne by\nthe descendants of Abraham; yet one fear wrought against another, and\nthe hour of Israel's security was seized as a fit occasion for a\nvigorous sally across the river. A desperate effort was made to strike\nat the heart of the Hebrew power and assert the claims of Chemosh to be\na greater god than He Who was reverenced at the sanctuary of the ark.\n\nOr Amalek may have instigated the attack. Away in the Sinaitic\nwilderness there stood an altar which Moses had named Jehovah-Nissi,\nJehovah is my banner, and that altar commemorated a great victory gained\nby Israel over the Amalekites. The greater part of a century had gone by\nsince the battle, but the memory of defeat lingers long with the\nArab--and these Amalekites were pure Arabs, savage, vindictive,\ncherishing their cause of war, waiting their revenge. We know the\ncommand in Deuteronomy, \"Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way,\nwhen ye were come forth out of Egypt. How he met thee by the way and\nsmote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee. Thou\nshalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. Thou shalt\nnot forget it.\" We may be sure that Reuben and Gad did not forget the\ndastardly attack; we may be sure that Amalek did not forget the day of\nRephidim. If Moab was not of itself disposed to cross the Jordan and\nfall on Benjamin and Ephraim, there was the urgency of Amalek, the\nproffered help of that fiery people to ripen decision. The ferment of\nwar rose. Moab, having walled cities to form a basis of operations, took\nthe lead. The confederates marched northward along the Dead Sea, seized\nthe ford near Gilgal and mastering the plain of Jericho pushed their\nconquest beyond the hills. Nor was it a temporary advance. They\nestablished themselves. Eighteen years afterwards we find Eglon, in his\npalace or castle near the City of Palm Trees, claiming authority over\nall Israel.\n\nSo the Hebrew tribes, partly by reason of an old strife not forgotten,\npartly because they have gone on vigorously adding to their territory,\nagain suffer assault and are brought under oppression, and the coalition\nagainst them reminds us of confederacies that are in full force to-day.\nAmmon and Moab are united against the church of Christ, and Amalek joins\nin the attack. The parable is one, we shall say, of the opposition the\nchurch is constantly provoking, constantly experiencing, not entirely to\nits own credit. Allowing that, in the main, Christianity is truly and\nhonestly aggressive, that on its march to the heights it does straight\nbattle with the enemies of mankind and thus awakens the hatred of bandit\nAmaleks, yet this is not a complete account of the assaults which are\nrenewed century after century. Must it not be owned that those who pass\nfor Christians often go beyond the lines and methods of their proper\nwarfare and are found on fields where the weapons are carnal and the\nfight is not \"the good fight of faith\"? There is a strain of modern talk\nwhich defends the worldly ambition of Christian men, sounding very\nhollow and insincere to all excepting those whose interest and illusion\nit is to think it heavenly. We hear from a thousand tongues the gospel\nof Christianized commerce, of sanctified success, of making business a\nreligion. In the press and hurry of competition there is a less and a\ngreater conscientiousness. Let men have it in the greater degree, let\nthem be less anxious for speedy success than some they know, not quite\nso eager to add factory to factory and field to field, more careful to\ninterpret bargains fairly and do good work; let them figure often as\nbenefactors and be free with their money to the church, and the residue\nof worldly ambition is glorified, being sufficient, perhaps, to develop\na merchant prince, a railway king, a \"millionaire\" of the kind the age\nadores. Thus it comes to pass that the domain which appeared safe enough\nfrom the followers of Him who sought no power in the earthly range is\ninvaded by men who reckon all their business efforts privileged under\nthe laws of heaven, and every advantage they win a Divine plan for\nwresting money from the hands of the devil.\n\nNow it is upon Christianity as approving all this that the Moabites and\nAmmonites of our day are falling. They are frankly worshippers of\nChemosh and Milcom, not of Jehovah; they believe in wealth, their all\nis staked on the earthly prosperity and enjoyment for which they strive.\nIt is too bad, they feel, to have their sphere and hopes curtailed by\nmen who profess no respect for the world, no desire for its glory but a\nconstant preference for things unseen; they writhe when they consider\nthe triumphs wrested from them by rivals who count success an answer to\nprayer and believe themselves favourites of God. Or the frank heathen\nfinds that in business a man professing Christianity in the customary\nway is as little cumbered as himself by any disdain of tarnished profits\nand \"smart\" devices. What else can be expected but that, driven back and\nback by the energy of Christians so called, the others shall begin to\nthink Christianity itself largely a pretence? Do we wonder to see the\nrevolution in France hurling its forces not only against wealth and\nrank, but also against the religion identified with wealth and rank? Do\nwe wonder to see in our day socialism, which girds at great fortunes as\nan insult to humanity, joining hands with agnosticism and secularism to\nmake assault on the church? It is precisely what might be looked for;\nnay, more, the opposition will go on till Christian profession is purged\nof hypocrisy and Christian practice is harmonized with the law of\nChrist. Not the push, not the equivocal success of one person here and\nthere is it that creates doubt of Christianity and provokes antagonism,\nbut the whole systems of society and business in so-called Christian\nlands, and even the conduct of affairs within the church, the strain of\nfeeling there. For in the church as without it wealth and rank are\nimportant in themselves, and make some important who have little or no\nother claim to respect. In the church as without it methods are adopted\nthat involve large outlay and a constant need for the support of the\nwealthy; in the church as without it life depends too much on the\nabundance of the things that are possessed. And, in the not unfair\njudgment of those who stand outside, all this proceeds from a secret\ndoubt of Christ's law and authority, which more than excuses their own\ndenial. The strifes of the day, even those that turn on the Godhead of\nChrist and the inspiration of the Bible, as well as on the divine claim\nof the church, are not due solely to hatred of truth and the depravity\nof the human heart. They have more reason than the church has yet\nconfessed. Christianity in its practical and speculative aspects is one;\nit cannot be a creed unless it is a life. It is essentially a life not\nconformed to this world, but transformed, redeemed. Our faith will stand\nsecure from all attacks, vindicated as a supernatural revelation and\ninspiration, when the whole of church life and Christian endeavour shall\nrise above the earthly and be manifest everywhere as a fervent striving\nfor the spiritual and eternal.\n\nWe have been assuming the unfaithfulness of Israel to its duty and\nvocation. The people of God, instead of commending His faith by their\nneighbourliness and generosity, were, we fear, too often proud and\nselfish, seeking their own things not the well-being of others, sending\nno attractive light into the heathenism around. Moab was akin to the\nHebrews and in many respects similar in character. When we come to the\nBook of Ruth we find a certain intercourse between the two. Ammon, more\nunsettled and barbarous, was of the same stock. Israel, giving nothing\nto these peoples, but taking all she could from them, provoked\nantagonism all the more bitter that they were of kin to her, and they\nfelt no scruple when their opportunity came. Not only had the\nIsraelites to suffer for their failure, but Moab and Ammon also. The\nwrong beginning of the relations between them was never undone. Moab and\nAmmon went on worshipping their own gods, enemies of Israel to the last.\n\nEhud appears a deliverer. He was a Benjamite, a man left-handed; he\nchose his own method of action, and it was to strike directly at the\nMoabite king. Eager words regarding the shamefulness of Israel's\nsubjection had perhaps already marked him as a leader, and it may have\nbeen with the expectation that he would do a bold deed that he was\nchosen to bear the periodical tribute on this occasion to Eglon's\npalace. Girding a long dagger under his garment on his right thigh,\nwhere if found it might appear to be worn without evil intent, he set\nout with some attendants to the Moabite head-quarters. The narrative is\nso vivid that we seem able to follow Ehud step by step. He has gone from\nthe neighbourhood of Jebus to Jericho, perhaps by the road in which the\nscene of our Lord's parable of the Good Samaritan was long afterwards\nlaid. Having delivered the tribute into the hands of Eglon he goes\nsouthward a few miles to the sculptured stones at Gilgal, where possibly\nsome outpost of the Moabites kept guard. There he leaves his attendants,\nand swiftly retracing his steps to the palace craves a private interview\nwith the king and announces a message from God, at Whose name Eglon\nrespectfully rises from his seat. One flash of the dagger and the bloody\ndeed is done. Leaving the king's dead body there in the chamber, Ehud\nbolts the door and boldly passes the attendants, then quickening his\npace is soon beyond Gilgal and away by another route through the steep\nhills to the mountains of Ephraim. Meanwhile the murder is discovered\nand there is confusion at the palace. No one being at hand to give\norders, the garrison is unprepared to act, and as Ehud loses no time in\ngathering a band and returning to finish his work, the fords of Jordan\nare taken before the Moabites can cross to the eastern side. They are\ncaught, and the defeat is so decisive that Israel is free again for\nfourscore years.\n\nNow this deed of Ehud's was clearly a case of assassination, and as such\nwe have to consider it. The crime is one which stinks in our nostrils\nbecause it is associated with treachery and cowardice, the basest\nrevenge or the most undisciplined passion. But if we go back to times of\nruder morality and regard the circumstances of such a people as Israel,\nscattered and oppressed, waiting for a sign of bold energy that may give\nit new heart, we can easily see that one who chose to act as Ehud did\nwould by no means incur the reprobation we now attach to the assassin.\nTo go no farther back than the French Revolution and the deed of\nCharlotte Corday, we cannot reckon her among the basest--that woman of\n\"the beautiful still countenance\" who believed her task to be the duty\nof a patriot. Nevertheless, it is not possible to make a complete\ndefence of Ehud. His act was treacherous. The man he slew was a\nlegitimate king, and is not said to have done his ruling ill. Even\nallowing for the period, there was something peculiarly detestable in\nstriking one to death who stood up reverently expecting a message from\nGod. Yet Ehud may have thoroughly believed himself to be a Divine\ninstrument.\n\nThis too we see, that the great just providence of the Almighty is not\nimpeached by such an act. No word in the narrative justifies\nassassination; but, being done, place is found for it as a thing\noverruled for good in the development of Israel's history. Man has no\ndefence for his treachery and violence, yet in the process of events the\nbarbarous deed, the fierce crime, are shown to be under the control of\nthe Wisdom that guides all men and things. And here the issue which\njustifies Divine providence, though it does not purge the criminal, is\nclear. For through Ehud a genuine deliverance was wrought for Israel.\nThe nation, curbed by aliens, overborne by an idolatrous power, was free\nonce more to move toward the great spiritual end for which it had been\ncreated. We might be disposed to say that on the whole Israel made\nnothing of freedom, that the faith of God revived and the heart of the\npeople became devout in times of oppression rather than of liberty. In a\nsense it was so, and the story of this people is the story of all, for\nmen go to sleep over their best, they misuse freedom, they forget why\nthey are free. Yet every eulogy of freedom is true. Man must even have\nthe power of misusing it if he is to arrive at the best. It is in\nliberty that manhood is nursed, and therefore in liberty that religion\nmatures. Autocratic laws mean tyranny, and tyranny denies the soul its\nresponsibility to justice, truth, and God. Mind and conscience held from\ntheir high office, responsibility to the greatest overborne by some\ntyrant hand that may seem beneficent, the soul has no space, faith no\nroom to breathe; man is kept from the spontaneity and gladness of his\nproper life. So we have to win liberty in hard struggle and know\nourselves free in order that we may belong completely to God.\n\nSee how life advances! God deals with the human race according to a vast\nplan of discipline leading to heights which at first appear\ninaccessible. Freedom is one of the first of these, and only by way of\nit are the higher summits reached. During the long ages of dark and\nweary struggle, which seem to many but a fruitless martyrdom, the Divine\nidea was interfused with all the strife. Not one blind stroke, not one\nagony of the craving soul was wasted. In all the wisdom of God wrought\nfor man, through man's pathetic feebleness or most daring achievement.\nSo out of the chaos of the gloomy valleys a highway of order was raised\nby which the race should mount to Freedom and thence to Faith.\n\nWe see it in the history of nations, those that have led the way and\nthose that are following. The possessors of clear faith have won it in\nliberty. In Switzerland, in Scotland, in England, the order has been,\nfirst civil freedom, then Christian thought and vigour. Wallace and\nBruce prepare the way for Knox; Boadicea, Hereward, the Barons of Magna\nCharta for Wycliffe and the Reformation; the men of the Swiss Cantons\nwho won Morgarten and routed Charles the Bold were the forerunners of\nZwingli and Farel. Israel, too, had its heroes of freedom; and even\nthose who, like Ehud and Samson, did little or nothing for faith and\nstruck wildly, wrongly for their country, did yet choose consciously to\nserve their people and were helpers of a righteousness and a holy\npurpose they did not know. When all has been said against them it\nremains true that the freedom they brought to Israel was a Divine gift.\n\nIt is to be remarked that Ehud did not judge Israel. He was a deliverer,\nbut nowise fitted to exercise high office in the name of God. In some\nway not made clear in the narrative he had become the centre of the\nresolute spirits of Benjamin and was looked to by them to find an\nopportunity of striking at the oppressors. His calling, we may say, was\nhuman, not Divine; it was limited, not national; and he was not a man\nwho could rise to any high thought of leadership. The heads of tribes,\ningloriously paying tribute to the Moabites, may have scoffed at him as\nof no account. Yet he did what they supposed impossible. The little\nrising grew with the rapidity of a thunder-cloud, and, when it passed,\nMoab, smitten as by a lightning flash, no longer overshadowed Israel. As\nfor the deliverer, his work having been done apparently in the course of\na few days, he is seen no more in the history. While he lived, however,\nhis name was a terror to the enemies of Israel, for what he had effected\nonce he might be depended upon to do again if necessity arose. And the\nland had rest.\n\nHere is an example of what is possible to the obscure whose\nqualifications are not great, but who have spirit and firmness, who are\nnot afraid of dangers and privations on the way to an end worth gaining,\nbe it the deliverance of their country, the freedom or purity of their\nchurch, or the rousing of society against a flagrant wrong. Do the rich\nand powerful angrily refuse their patronage? Do they find much to say\nabout the impossibility of doing anything, the evil of disturbing\npeople's minds, the duty of submission to Providence and to the advice\nof wise and learned persons? Those who see the time and place for\nacting, who hear the clarion-call of duty, will not be deterred. Armed\nfor their task with fit weapons--the two-edged dagger of truth for the\ncorpulent lie, the penetrating stone of a just scorn for the forehead of\narrogance, they have the right to go forth, the right to succeed, though\nprobably when the stroke has told many will be heard lamenting its\nuntimeliness and proving the dangerous indiscretion of Ehud and all who\nfollowed him.\n\nIn the same line another type is represented by Shamgar, son of Anath,\nthe man of the ox-goad, who considered not whether he was equipped for\nattacking Philistines, but turned on them from the plough, his blood\nleaping in him with swift indignation. The instrument of his assault was\nnot made for the use to which it was put: the power lay in the arm that\nwielded the goad and the fearless will of the man who struck for his own\nbirthright, freedom,--for Israel's birthright, to be the servant of no\nother race. Undoubtedly it is well that, in any efforts made for the\nchurch or for society, men should consider how they are to act and\nshould furnish themselves in the best manner for the work that is to be\ndone. No outfit of knowledge, skill, experience is to be despised. A man\ndoes not serve the world better in ignorance than in learning, in\nbluntness than in refinement. But the serious danger for such an age as\nour own is that strength may be frittered away and zeal expended in the\nmere preparation of weapons, in the mere exercise before the war begins.\nThe important points at issue are apt to be lost sight of, and the vital\ndistinctions on which the whole battle turns to fade away in an\natmosphere of compromise. There are those who, to begin, are Israelites\nindeed, with a keen sense of their nationality, of the urgency of\ncertain great thoughts and the example of heroes. Their nationality\nbecomes less and less to them as they touch the world; the great\nthoughts begin to seem parochial and antiquated; the heroes are found to\nhave been mistaken, their names cease to thrill. The man now sees\nnothing to fight for, he cares only to go on perfecting his equipment.\nLet us do him justice. It is not the toil of the conflict he shrinks\nfrom, but the rudeness of it, the dust and heat of warfare. He is no\nvoluntary now, for he values the dignity of a State Church and feels the\ncharm of ancient traditions. He is not a good churchman, for he will not\nbe pledged to any creed or opposed to any school. He is rarely seen on\nany political platform, for he hates the watchwords of party. And this\nis the least of it. He is a man without a cause, a believer without a\nfaith, a Christian without a stroke of brave work to do in the world. We\nlove his mildness; we admire his mental possessions, his broad\nsympathies. But when we are throbbing with indignation he is too calm;\nwhen we catch at the ox-goad and fly at the enemy we know that he\ndisdains our weapon and is affronted by our fire. Better, if it must be\nso, the rustic from the plough, the herdsman from the hill-side; better\nfar he of the camel's hair garment and the keen cry, Repent, repent!\n\nIsrael, then, appears in these stories of her iron age as the cradle of\nthe manhood of the modern world; in Israel the true standard was lifted\nup for the people. It is liberty put to a noble use that is the mark of\nmanhood, and in Israel's history the idea of responsibility to the one\nliving and true God takes form and clearness as that alone which fulfils\nand justifies liberty. Israel has a God Whose will man must do, and for\nthe doing of it he is free. If at the outset the vigour which this\nthought of God infused into the Hebrew struggle for independence was\ntempestuous; if Jehovah was seen not in the majesty of eternal justice\nand sublime magnanimity, not as the Friend of all, but as the unseen\nKing of a favoured people,--still, as freedom came, there came with it\nalways, in some prophetic word, some Divine psalm, a more living\nconception of God as gracious, merciful, holy, unchangeable; and\nnotwithstanding all lapses the Hebrew was a man of higher quality than\nthose about him. You stand by the cradle and see no promise, nothing to\nattract. But give the faith which is here in infancy time to assert\nitself, give time for the vision of God to enlarge, and the finest type\nof human life will arise and establish itself, a type possible in no\nother way. Egypt with its long and wonderful history gives nothing to\nthe moral life of the new world, for it produces no men. Its kings are\ndespots, tomb-builders, its people contented or discontented slaves.\nBabylon and Nineveh are names that dwarf Israel's into insignificance,\nbut their power passes and leaves only some monuments for the\nantiquarian, some corroborations of a Hebrew record. Egypt and Chaldea,\nAssyria and Persia never reached through freedom the idea of man's\nproper life, never rose to the sense of that sublime calling or bowed in\nthat profound adoration of the Holy One which made the Israelite, rude\nfanatic as he often was, a man and a father of men. From Egypt, from\nBabylon,--yea, from Greece and Rome came no redeemer of mankind, for\nthey grew bewildered in the search after the chief end of existence and\nfell before they found it. In the prepared people it was, the people\ncramped in the narrow land between the Syrian desert and the sea, that\nthe form of the future Man was seen, and there, where the human spirit\nfelt at least, if it did not realise its dignity and place, the Messiah\nwas born.\n\n\n\n\nVII.\n\n_THE SIBYL OF MOUNT EPHRAIM._\n\nJUDGES iv.\n\n\nThere arises now in Israel a prophetess, one of those rare women whose\nsouls burn with enthusiasm and holy purpose when the hearts of men are\nabject and despondent; and to Deborah it is given to make a nation hear\nher call. Of prophetesses the world has seen but few; generally the\nwoman has her work of teaching and administering justice in the name of\nGod within a domestic circle and finds all her energy needed there. But\nqueens have reigned with firm nerve and clear sagacity in many a land,\nand now and again a woman's voice has struck the deep note which has\nroused a nation to its duty. Such in the old Hebrew days was Deborah,\nwife of Lappidoth.\n\nIt was a time of miserable thraldom in Israel when she became aware of\nher destiny and began the sacred enterprise of her life. From Hazor in\nthe north near the waters of Merom Israel was ruled by Jabin, king of\nthe Canaanites--not the first of the name, for Joshua had before\ndefeated one Jabin king of Hazor, and slain him. During the peace that\nfollowed Ehud's triumph over Moab the Hebrews, busy with worldly\naffairs, failed to estimate a danger which year by year became more\ndefinite and pressing--the rise of the ancient strongholds of Canaan\nand their chiefs to new activity and power. Little by little the cities\nJoshua destroyed were rebuilt, re-fortified and made centres of warlike\npreparation. The old inhabitants of the land recovered spirit, while\nIsrael lapsed into foolish confidence. At Harosheth of the Gentiles,\nunder the shadow of Carmel, near the mouth of the Kishon, armourers were\nbusy forging weapons and building chariots of iron. The Hebrews did not\nknow what was going on, or missed the purpose that should have thrust\nitself on their notice. Then came the sudden rush of the chariots and\nthe onset of the Canaanite troops, fierce, irresistible. Israel was\nsubdued and bowed to a yoke all the more galling that it was a people\nthey had conquered and perhaps despised that now rode over them. In the\nnorth at least the Hebrews were kept in servitude for twenty years,\nsuffered to remain in the land but compelled to pay heavy tribute, many\nof them, it is likely, enslaved or allowed but a nominal independence.\nDeborah's song vividly describes the condition of things in her country.\nShamgar had made a clearance on the Philistine border and kept his\nfooting as a leader, but elsewhere the land was so swept by Canaanite\nspoilers that the highways were unused and Hebrew travellers kept to the\ntortuous and difficult by-paths down in the glens or among the\nmountains. There was war in all the gates, but in Israelite dwellings\nneither shield nor spear. Defenceless and crushed the people lay crying\nto gods that could not save, turning ever to new gods in strange\ndespair, the national state far worse than when Cushan's army held the\nland or when Eglon ruled from the City of Palm Trees.\n\nBorn before this time of oppression Deborah spent her childhood and\nyouth in some village of Issachar, her home a rude hut covered with\nbrushwood and clay, like those which are still seen by travellers. Her\nparents, we must believe, had more religious feeling than was common\namong Hebrews of the time. They would speak to her of the name and law\nof Jehovah, and she, we doubt not, loved to hear. But with the exception\nof brief oral traditions fitfully repeated and an example of reverence\nfor sacred times and duties, a mere girl would have no advantages. Even\nif her father was chief of a village her lot would be hard and\nmonotonous, as she aided in the work of the household and went morning\nand evening to fetch water from the spring or tended a few sheep on the\nhill-side. While she was yet young the Canaanite oppression began, and\nshe with others felt the tyranny and the shame. The soldiers of Jabin\ncame and lived at free quarters among the villagers, wasting their\nproperty. The crops were perhaps assessed, as they are at the present\nday in Syria, before they were reaped, and sometimes half or even more\nwould be swept away by the remorseless collector of tribute. The people\nturned thriftless and sullen. They had nothing to gain by exerting\nthemselves when the soldiers and the tax-gatherer were ready to exact so\nmuch the more, leaving them still in poverty. Now and again there might\nbe a riot. Maddened by insults and extortion the men of the village\nwould make a stand. But without weapons, without a leader, what could\nthey effect? The Canaanite troops were upon them; some were killed,\nothers carried away, and things became worse than before.\n\nThere was not much prospect at such a time for a Hebrew maiden whose lot\nit seemed to be, while yet scarcely out of her childhood, to be married\nlike the rest and sink into a household drudge, toiling for a husband\nwho in his turn laboured for the oppressor. But there was a way then, as\nthere is always a way for the high-spirited to save life from bareness\nand desolation; and Deborah found her path. Her soul went forth to her\npeople, and their sad state moved her to something more than a woman's\ngrief and rebellion. As years went by the traditions of the past\nrevealed their meaning to her, deeper and larger thoughts came, a\nbeginning of hope for the tribes so downcast and weary. Once they had\nswept victoriously through the land and smitten that very fortress which\nagain overshadowed all the north. It was in the name of Jehovah and by\nHis help that Israel then triumphed. Clearly the need was for a new\ncovenant with Him; the people must repent and return to the Lord. Did\nDeborah put this before her parents, her husband? Doubtless they agreed\nwith her, but could see no way of action, no opportunity for such as\nthey. As she spoke more and more eagerly, as she ventured to urge the\nmen of her village to bestir themselves, perhaps a few were moved, but\nthe rest heard carelessly or derided her. We can imagine Deborah in that\ntime of trial growing up into tall and striking womanhood, watching with\nindignation many a scene in which her people showed a craven fear or\njoined slavishly in heathen revels. As she spoke and saw her words burn\nthe hearts of some to whom they were spoken, the sense of power and duty\ncame. In vain she looked for a prophet, a leader, a man of Jehovah to\nrekindle a flame in the nation's heart. A flame! It was in her own soul,\nshe might wake it in other souls; Jehovah helping her she would.\n\nBut when in her native tribe the brave woman began to urge with\nprophetic eloquence the return to God and to preach a holy war her time\nof peril came. Issachar lay completely under the survey of Jabin's\nofficers, overawed by his chariots. And one who would deliver a servile\npeople had need to fear treachery. Issachar was \"a strong ass couching\ndown between the sheepfolds\"; he had \"bowed his shoulder to bear\" and\nbecome \"a servant under task-work.\" As her purpose matured she had to\nseek a place of safety and influence, and passing southward she found it\nin some retired spot among the hills between Bethel and Ramah, some nook\nof that valley which, beginning near Ai, curves eastward and narrows at\nGeba to a rocky gorge with precipices eight hundred feet high,--the\nValley of Achor, of which Hosea long afterwards said that it should be a\ndoor of hope. Here, under a palm tree, the landmark of her tent, she\nbegan to prophesy and judge and grow to spiritual power among the\ntribes. It was a new thing in Israel for a woman to speak in the name of\nGod. Her utterances had no doubt something of a sibyllic strain, and the\ndeep or wild notes of her voice pleading for Jehovah or raised in\npassionate warning against idolatry touched the finest chords of the\nHebrew soul. In her rapture she saw the Holy One coming in majesty from\nthe southern desert where Horeb reared its sacred peak; or again,\nlooking into the future, foretold His exaltation in proud triumph over\nthe gods of Canaan, His people free once more, their land purged of\nevery heathen taint. So gradually her place of abode became a rendezvous\nof the tribes, a seat of justice, a shrine of reviving hope. Those who\nlonged for righteous administration came to her; those who were fearers\nof Jehovah gathered about her. Gaining wisdom she was able to represent\nto a rude age the majesty as well as the purity of Divine law, to\nestablish order as well as to communicate enthusiasm. The people felt\nthat sagacity like hers and a spirit so sanguine and fearless must be\nthe gift of Jehovah; it was the inspiration of the Almighty that gave\nher understanding.\n\nDeborah's prophetical utterances are not to be tried by the standard of\nthe Isaian age. So tested some of her judgments might fail, some of her\nvisions lose their charm. She had no clear outlook to those great\nprinciples which the later prophets more or less fully proclaimed. Her\neducation and circumstances and her intellectual power determined the\ndegree in which she could receive Divine illumination. One woman before\nher is honoured with the name of prophetess, Miriam, the sister of Moses\nand Aaron, who led the refrain of the song of triumph at the Red Sea.\nMiriam's gift appears limited to the gratitude and ecstasy of one day of\ndeliverance; and when afterwards on the strength of her share in the\nenthusiasm of the Exodus she ventured along with Aaron to claim equality\nwith Moses, a terrible rebuke checked her presumption. Comparing Miriam\nand Deborah, we find as great an advance from the one to the other as\nfrom Deborah to Amos or Hosea. But this only shows that the inspiration\nof one mind, intense and ample for that mind, may come far short of the\ninspiration of another. God does not give every prophet the same insight\nas Moses, for the rare and splendid genius of Moses was capable of an\nillumination which very few in any following age have been able to\nreceive. Even as among the Apostles of Christ St. Peter shows\noccasionally a lapse from the highest Christian judgment for which St.\nPaul has to take him to task, and yet does not cease to be inspired, so\nDeborah is not to be denied the Divine gift though her song is coloured\nby an all too human exultation over a fallen enemy.\n\nIt is simply impossible to account for this new beginning in Israel's\nhistory without a heavenly impulse; and through Deborah unquestionably\nthat impulse came. Others were turning to God, but she broke the dark\nspell which held the tribes and taught them afresh how to believe and\npray. Under her palm tree there were solemn searchings of heart, and\nwhen the head men of the clans gathered there, travelling across the\nmountains of Ephraim or up the wadies from the fords of Jordan, it was\nfirst to humble themselves for the sin of idolatry, and then to\nundertake with sacred oaths and vows the serious work which fell to them\nin Israel's time of need. Not all came to that solemn rendezvous. When\nis such a gathering completely representative? Of Judah and Simeon we\nhear nothing. Perhaps they had their own troubles with the wandering\ntribes of the desert; perhaps they did not suffer as the others from\nCanaanite tyranny and therefore kept aloof. Reuben on the other side\nJordan wavered, Manasseh made no sign of sympathy; Asher, held in check\nby the fortress of Hazor and the garrison of Harosheth, chose the safe\npart of inaction. Dan was busy trying to establish a maritime trade. But\nEphraim and Benjamin, Zebulun and Naphtali were forward in the revival,\nand proudly the record is made on behalf of her native tribe, \"the\nprinces of Issachar were with Deborah.\" Months passed; the movement grew\nsteadily, there was a stirring among the dry bones, a resurrection of\nhope and purpose.\n\nAnd with all the care used this could not be hid from the Canaanites.\nFor doubtless in not a few Israelite homes heathen wives and\nhalf-heathen children would be apt to spy and betray. It goes hardly\nwith men if they have bound themselves by any tie to those who will not\nonly fail in sympathy when religion makes demands, but will do their\nutmost to thwart serious ambitions and resolves. A man is terribly\ncompromised who has pledged himself to a woman of earthly mind, ruled by\nidolatries of time and sense. He has undertaken duties to her which a\nquickened sense of Divine law will make him feel the more; she has her\nclaim upon his life, and there is nothing to wonder at if she insists\nupon her view, to his spiritual disadvantage and peril. In the time of\nnational quickening and renewed thoughtfulness many a Hebrew discovered\nthe folly of which he had been guilty in joining hands with women who\nwere on the side of the Baalim and resented any sacrifice made for\nJehovah. Here we find the explanation of much lukewarmness, indifference\nto the great enterprises of the church and withholding of service by\nthose who make some profession of being on the Lord's side. The\nentanglements of domestic relationship have far more to do with failure\nin religious duty than is commonly supposed.\n\nAmid difficulty and discouragement enough, with slender resources, the\nhope of Israel resting upon her, Deborah's heart did not fail nor her\nhead for affairs. When the critical point was reached of requiring a\ngeneral for the war she had already fixed upon the man. At\nKadesh-Naphtali, almost in sight of Jabin's fortress, on a hill\noverlooking the waters of Merom, ninety miles to the north, dwelt Barak\nthe son of Abinoam. The neighbourhood of the Canaanite capital and daily\nevidence of its growing power made Barak ready for any enterprise which\nhad in it good promise of success, and he had better qualifications\nthan mere resentment against injustice and eager hatred of the Canaanite\noppression. Already known in Zebulun and Naphtali as a man of bold\ntemper and sagacity, he was in a position to gather an army corps out of\nthose tribes--the main strength of the force on which Deborah relied for\nthe approaching struggle. Better still, he was a fearer of God. To\nKadesh-Naphtali the prophetess sent for the chosen leader of the troops\nof Israel, addressing to him the call of Jehovah: \"Hath not the Lord\ncommanded thee saying, Go and draw towards Mount Tabor\"--that is, Bring\nby detachments quietly from the different cities towards Mount\nTabor--\"ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun?\" The rendezvous of\nSisera's host was Harosheth of the Gentiles, in the defile at the\nwestern extremity of the valley of Megiddo, where Kishon breaks through\nto the plain of Acre. Tabor overlooked from the north-east the same wide\nstrath which was to be the field where the chariots and the multitude\nshould be delivered into Barak's hand.\n\nNot doubting the word of God, Barak sees a difficulty. For himself he\nhas no prophetic gift; he is ready to fight, but this is to be a sacred\nwar. From the very first he would have the men gather with the clear\nunderstanding that it is for religion as much as for freedom they are\ntaking arms; and how may this be secured? Only if Deborah will go with\nhim through the country proclaiming the Divine summons and promise of\nvictory. He is very decided on the point. \"If thou wilt go with me, then\nI will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, I will not go.\" Deborah\nagrees, though she would fain have left this matter entirely to men. She\nwarns him that the expedition will not be to his honour, since Jehovah\nwill give Sisera into the hand of a woman. Against her will she takes\npart in the military preparations. There is no need to find in Deborah's\nwords a prophecy of the deed of Jael. It is a grossly untrue taunt that\nthe murder of Sisera is the central point of the whole narrative. When\nDeborah says, \"The Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman,\" the\nreference plainly is, as Josephus makes it, to the position into which\nDeborah herself was forced as the chief person in the campaign. With\ngreat wisdom and the truest courage she would have limited her own\nsphere. With equal wisdom and equal courage Barak understood how the\nzeal of the people was to be maintained. There was a friendly contest,\nand in the end the right way was found, for unquestionably Deborah was\nthe genius of the movement. Together they went to Kedesh,--not\nKadesh-Naphtali in the far north, but Kedesh on the shore of the Sea of\nGalilee, some twelve miles from Tabor.[4] From that as a centre,\njourneying by secluded ways through the northern districts, often\nperhaps by night, Deborah and Barak went together rousing the enthusiasm\nof the people, until the shores of the lake and the valleys running down\nto it were quietly occupied by thousands of armed men.\n\n [4] See Conder's _Tent Work in Palestine_.\n\nThe clans are at length gathered; the whole force marches from Kedesh to\nthe foot of Tabor to give battle. And now Sisera, fully equipped, moves\nout of Harosheth along the course of the Kishon, marching well beneath\nthe ridge of Carmel, his chariots thundering in the van. Near Taanach he\norders his front to be formed to the north, crosses the Kishon and\nadvances on the Hebrews who by this time are visible beyond the slope\nof Moreh. The tremendous moment has come. \"Up,\" cries Deborah, \"for this\nis the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand. Is\nnot the Lord gone out before thee?\" She has waited till the troops of\nSisera are entangled among the streams which here, from various\ndirections, converge to the river Kishon, now swollen with rain and\ndifficult to cross. Barak, the Lightning Chief, leads his men\nimpetuously down into the plain, keeping near the shoulder of Moreh\nwhere the ground is not broken by the streams; and with the fall of\nevening he begins the attack. The chariots have crossed the Kishon but\nare still struggling in the swamps and marshes. They are assailed with\nvehemence and forced back, and in the waning light all is confusion. The\nKishon sweeps away many of the Canaanite host, the rest make a stand by\nTaanach and further on by the waters of Megiddo. The Hebrews find a\nhigher ford and following the south bank of the river are upon the foe\nagain. It is a November night and meteors are flashing through the sky.\nThey are an omen of evil to the disheartened half-defeated army. Do not\nthe stars in their courses fight against Sisera? The rout becomes\ncomplete; Barak pursues the scattered force towards Harosheth, and at\nthe ford near the city there is terrible loss. Only the fragments of a\nruined army find shelter within the gates.\n\nMeanwhile Sisera, a coward at heart, more familiar with the parade\nground than fit for the stern necessities of war, leaves his chariot and\nabandons his men to their fate, his own safety all his care. Seeking\nthat, it is not to Harosheth he turns. He takes his way across Gilboa\ntoward the very region which Barak has left. On a little plateau\noverlooking the Sea of Galilee, near Kedesh, there is a settlement of\nKenites whom Sisera thinks he can trust. Like a hunted animal he presses\non over ridge and through defile till he reaches the black tents and\nreceives from Jael the treacherous welcome, \"Turn in, my lord, turn in\nto me; fear not.\" The pitiful tragedy follows. The coward meets at the\nhand of a woman the death from which he has fled. Jael gives him\nfermented milk to drink which, exhausted as he is, sends him into a deep\nsleep. Then, as he lies helpless, she smites the tent-pin through his\ntemples.\n\nIn her song Deborah describes and glories over the execution of her\ncountry's enemy. \"Blessed among women shall Jael, the wife of Heber be;\nwith the hammer she smote Sisera; at her feet he curled up, he fell.\"\nExulting in every circumstance of the tragedy, she adds a description of\nSisera's mother and her ladies expecting his return as a victor laden\nwith spoil, and listening eagerly for the wheels of that chariot which\nnever again should roll through the streets of Harosheth. As to the\nwhole of this passage, our estimate of Deborah's knowledge and spiritual\ninsight does not require us to regard her praise and her judgment as\nabsolute. She rejoices in a deed which has crowned the great victory\nover the master of nine hundred chariots, the terror of Israel; she\nglories in the courage of another woman, who single-handed finished that\ntyrant's career; she does not make God responsible for the deed. Let the\noutburst of her enthusiastic relief stand as the expression of intense\nfeeling, the rebound from fear and anxiety of the patriotic heart. We\nneed not weight ourselves with the suspicion that the prophetess\nreckoned Jael's deed the outcome of a Divine thought. No: but we may\nbelieve this of Jael, that she is on the side of Israel, her sympathy\nso far repressed by the league of her people with Jabin, yet prompting\nher to use every opportunity of serving the Hebrew cause. It is clear\nthat if the Kenite treaty had meant very much and Jael had felt herself\nbound by it, her tent would have been an asylum for the fugitive. But\nshe is against the enemies of Israel; her heart is with the people of\nJehovah in the battle and she is watching eagerly for signs of the\nvictory she desires them to win. Unexpected, startling, the sign appears\nin the fleeing captain of Jabin's host, alone, looking wildly for\nshelter. \"Turn in, my lord; turn in.\" Will he enter? Will he hide\nhimself in a woman's tent? Then to her will be committed vengeance. It\nwill be an omen that the hour of Sisera's fate has come. Hospitality\nitself must yield; she will break even that sacred law to do stern\njustice on a coward, a tyrant, and an enemy of God.\n\nA line of thought like this is entirely in harmony with the Arab\ncharacter. The moral ideas of the desert are rigorous, and contempt\nrapidly becomes cruel. A tent woman has few elements of judgment, and,\nthe balance turning, her conclusion will be quick, remorseless. Jael is\nno blameless heroine; neither is she a demon. Deborah, who understands\nher, reads clearly the rapid thoughts, the swift decision, the\nunscrupulous act and sees, behind all, the purpose of serving Israel.\nHer praise of Jael is therefore with knowledge; but she herself would\nnot have done the thing she praises. All possible explanations made, it\nremains a murder, a wild savage thing for a woman to do, and we may ask\nwhether among the tents of Zaanannim Jael was not looked on from that\nday as a woman stained and shadowed,--one who had been treacherous to a\nguest.\n\nNot here can the moral be found that the end justifies the means, or\nthat we may do evil with good intent; which never was a Bible doctrine\nand never can be. On the contrary, we find it written clear that the end\ndoes not justify the means. Sisera must live on and do the worst he may\nrather than any soul should be soiled with treachery or any hand defiled\nby murder. There are human vermin, human scorpions and vipers. Is\nChristian society to regard them, to care for them? The answer is that\nProvidence regards them and cares for them. They are human after all,\nmen whom God has made, for whom there are yet hopes, who are no worse\nthan others would be if Divine grace did not guard and deliver. Rightly\ndoes Christian society affirm that a human being in peril, in suffering,\nin any extremity common to men is to be succoured as a man, without\ninquiry whether he is good or vile. What then of justice and man's\nadministration of justice? This, that they demand a sacred calm,\nelevation above the levels of personal feeling, mortal passion and\nignorance. Law is to be of no private, sudden, unconsidered\nadministration. Only in the most solemn and orderly way is the trial of\nthe worst malefactor to be gone about, sentence passed, justice\nexecuted. To have reached this understanding of law with regard to all\naccused and suspected persons and all evildoers is one of the great\ngains of the Christian period. We need not look for anything like the\nideal of justice in the age of the judges; deeds were done then and\nzealously and honestly praised which we must condemn. They were meant to\nbring about good, but the sum of human violence was increased by them\nand more work made for the moral reformer of after times. And going back\nto Jael's deed we see that it gave Israel little more than vengeance.\nIn point of fact the crushing defeat of the army left Sisera powerless,\ndiscredited, open to the displeasure of his master. He could have done\nIsrael no more harm.\n\nOne point remains. Emphatically are we reminded that life continually\nbrings us to sudden moments in which we must act without time for\ncareful reflection, the spirit of our past flashing out in some quick\ndeed or word of fate. Sisera's past drove him in panic over the hills to\nZaanannim. Jael's past came with her to the door of the tent; and the\ntwo as they looked at each other in that tragic moment were at once,\nwithout warning, in a crisis for which every thought and passion of\nyears had made a way. Here the self-pampering of a vain man had its\nissue. Here the woman, undisciplined, impetuous, catching sight of the\nmeans to do a deed, moves to the fatal stroke like one possessed. It is\nthe sort of thing we often call madness, and yet such insanity is but\nthe expression of what men and women choose to be capable of. The casual\nallowance of an impulse here, a craving there, seems to mean little\nuntil the occasion comes when their accumulated force is sharply or\nterribly revealed. The laxity of the past thus declares itself; and on\nthe other hand there is often a gathering of good to a moment of\nrevelation. The soul that has for long years fortified itself in pious\ncourage, in patient well-doing, in high and noble thought, leaps one\nday, to its own surprise, to the height of generous daring or heroic\ntruth. We determine the issue of crises which we cannot foresee.\n\n\n\n\nVIII.\n\n_DEBORAH'S SONG: A DIVINE VISION._\n\nJUDGES v.\n\n\nThe song of Deborah and Barak is twofold, the first portion, ending with\nthe eleventh verse, a chant of rising hope and pious encouragement\nduring the time of preparation and revival, the other a song of battle\nand victory throbbing with eager patriotism and the hot breath of\nmartial excitement. In the former part God is celebrated as the Helper\nof Israel from of old and from afar; He is the spring of the movement in\nwhich the singer rejoices, and in His praise the strophes culminate. But\nhuman nature asserts itself after the great and decisive triumph in the\nvivid touches of the latter canto. In it more is told of the doings of\nmen, and there is picturesque fiery exultation over the fallen. One\nmight almost think that Deborah, herself childless, glories over the\nmother of Sisera in the utter desolation which falls on her when she\nhears the tidings of her son's defeat and death. Yet this mood ceases\nabruptly, and the song returns to Jehovah, Whose friends are lifted up\nto joy and strength by His availing help.\n\nThe main interest of the twofold song lies in its religious colour, for\nhere the pious ardour of the Israel of the judges comes to finest\nexpression. As a whole it is more patriotic than moral, more warlike\nthan religious, and thus unquestionably reflects the temper of the time.\nWhat ideas do we find in it of the relation of Israel to God and of God\nto Israel, what conceptions of the Divine character? Jehovah is invoked\nand praised as the God of the Hebrews alone. He seems to have no\ninterest in the Canaanites, nor compassion towards them. Yet the\ngrandeur of the Divine forthgoing is declared in bold and striking\nimagery, and the high resolves of men are clearly traced to the Spirit\nof the Almighty. Duty to God is linked with duty to country, and it is\nat least suggested that Israel without Jehovah is nothing and has no\nright to a place among the peoples. The nation exists for the glory of\nits Heavenly King, to make known His power and His righteous acts. A\nstrain like this in a war-song belonging to the time of Israel's\nsemi-barbarism bears no uncertain promise. From the well-spring out of\nwhich it flows clear and sparkling there will come other songs, with\ntenderer music and holier longing,--songs of spiritual hope and generous\ndesire for Messianic peace.\n\n * * * * *\n\n1. The first religious note is struck in what may be called the opening\nHallelujah, although the ejaculation, \"Bless the Lord,\" is not, in\nHebrew, that which afterwards became the great refrain of sacred song.\n\n \"For that leaders led in Israel,\n For that the people offered themselves willingly:\n Bless ye Jehovah.\"\n\nHere is more than belief in Providence. It is faith in the spiritual\npresence and power of God swaying the souls of men. Has Deborah seen at\nlast, after long efforts to rouse the careless people, one and another\nresponding to her appeals and seeking her tent among the hills? Has she\nwitnessed the vows of the chiefs of Issachar and Zebulun that they would\nnot be wanting in the day of battle? Not to herself but to the God of\nIsrael is the new temper ascribed. Jehovah, Who touched her own heart,\nhas now touched many another. For years she had been aware of holier\ninfluences than came to her from the people among whom she lived. In\nsecret, in the silence of the heart, she had found herself mastered by\nthoughts that none around her shared. She has well accounted for them.\nJehovah has spoken to her, Jehovah caring still for His people, waiting\nto redeem them from bondage. And now, when her prophetic cry finds echo\nin other souls, when men who were asleep rise up and declare their\npurpose, especially when from this side and that companies of brave\nyouths and resolute elders come to her--from the slopes of Carmel, from\nthe hills of Gilead--the fire of hope in their eyes, how otherwise\nexplain the upspringing of energy and devotion than as the work of the\nSpirit that has moved her own soul? To Jehovah is all the praise.\n\nCommon enough in our day is a profession of belief in God as the source\nof every good desire and right effort, as inspiring the charity of the\ngenerous, the affection of the loving, the fidelity of the true. But if\nour faith is deep and real it brings us much nearer than we usually feel\nourselves to be to Him Who is the Life indeed. The existence and energy\nof God are assured to those who have this insight. Every kindness done\nby man to man is a testimony against which denial of the Divine life has\nno power. Though the intellect searching far afield makes out only as\nit were some few dim and indistinct footprints of a Mighty Being Who has\npassed by, seen at intervals on the plains of history, then lost in the\nmorasses or on the rocky ground, there ought to be found in every human\nlife daily evidence of Divine grace and wisdom. The good, the true, the\nnoble constantly appeal to men, find men; and through these God finds\nthem. When a magnanimous word is spoken, God is heard. When a deed is\ndone in love, in purity, in courage or pity, God is seen. When out of\nlanguor and corruption and self-indulgence men arise and set their faces\nto the steep of duty, God is revealed. He in Whom we trust for the\nredemption of the world never leaves Himself without a witness, whether\nfaith perceives or unbelief denies. The human story unfolds a Divine\nurgency by which the progress, the evolution of all that is good proceed\nfrom age to age. Man has never been left to nature alone nor to himself\nalone. The supernatural has always mingled with his life. He has\nresisted often, he has rebelled; yet conscience has not ceased, God has\nnot withdrawn. This living energy of Jehovah, not only as belonging to\nthe past but discovered in the new zeal of Israel, Deborah saw, and in\nvirtue of the revelation she was far before her time. For the fresh life\nof the people, for the willing self-devotion of so many to the great\ncause, she lifted her voice in praise to Israel's Eternal Friend.\n\n2. The next passage may be called a prologue in the heavens. Partly\nhistorical, it is chiefly a vision of Jehovah's age-long work for His\npeople. In words that flash and roll the song describes the glorious\nadvent of the Most High, nature astir with His presence, the mountains\nshaking under His tread.\n\nThe seat of the Divine Majesty appears to the prophetess to be in Seir.\nShe looks across the hills of the south and passes beyond the desert to\nthat place of mystery where God spoke in thunder and proclaimed Himself\nin the Law. The imagery points to the phenomena of earthquake and a\nfearful lightning storm accompanied with heavy rain. These, the most\nstriking natural symbols of the supernatural, form the materials of the\nstrophe. Perhaps even as the song is chanted the thunders of Sinai are\nechoed in a great storm that shakes the sky and rolls among the hills.\nThe outward signs represent the new impressions of Divine power and\nauthority which are startling and rousing the tribes. They have heard no\nvoices, seen no tokens of God for many a year. He Who led their fathers\nout of bondage, He Who marched with them through the desert, has been\nforgotten; but He returns, He is with them again. The office of the\nprophetess is to celebrate God's presence and excite in the dull souls\nof men some feeling of His majesty. Sinai once trembled and was dismayed\nbefore God. The great peak beside which Tabor is but a mound flowed down\nin volcanic glow and rush. It is He Whose coming Deborah hears in the\nbeating storm, He Whose victorious feet shake the hills of Ephraim. Have\nthe people forsaken their King? Let them seek Him, trust Him now. Under\nthe shadow of His wings there is refuge; before His arrows and the\nfierce floods He pours from heaven who can stand?\n\nIt has been well said that for the Israel of ancient times all natural\nphenomena--a storm, a hurricane or a flood--had more than ordinary\nimport. \"Forbidden to recognise and, as it were, grasp the God of heaven\nin any material form, or to adore even in the heavens themselves any\nconstant symbols of His being and His power, yet yearning more in\nspirit for manifestations of His invisible existence, Israel's mind was\never on the stretch for any hint in nature of the unseen Celestial\nBeing, for any glimpse of His mysterious ways, and its courage rose to a\nfar higher pitch when Divine encouragement and impulse seemed to come\nfrom the material world.\"[5] From the images of Baal and the Ashtaroth\nIsrael had turned; but where was their Heavenly King? The answer came\nwith marvellous power when Deborah in the midst of the rolling thunder\ncould say, \"Lord, when Thou wentest forth out of Seir, when Thou\nmarchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens also\ndropped. The mountains flowed down at the presence of Jehovah.\" If the\npeople bethought themselves of the clear demonstration of Divine majesty\nmade to their fathers, they would realize God once more as the Ruler in\nheaven and earth. Then would courage revive, and in the faith of the\nAlmighty they would go forth to victory.\n\n [5] Ewald.\n\nNow was there in this faith an element of reason, a correspondence with\nfact? Is it fancy and nothing else, the poetic flight of an ardent soul\neager to rouse a nation? Have we here an arbitrary connection made\nbetween striking natural events and a Divine Person throned in the\nheavens Whose existence the prophetess assumes, Whose supposed claim to\nobedience haunts her mind? In such a question our age utters its\nscepticism.\n\nAn age it is of science, of positive science. Toiling for centuries at\nthe task of understanding the phenomenal, research has at length assumed\nthe right to tell us what we must believe concerning the world--what we\nare to _believe_, observe, for it is a new creed and nothing else that\nconfronts us here. \"The government of the world,\" says one, \"must not be\nconsidered as determined by an extramundane intelligence, but by one\nimmanent in the cosmical forces and their relations.\" Another says: \"The\nworld or matter with its properties which we term forces must have\nexisted from eternity and must last for ever--in one word, the world\ncannot have been created.... The ever-changing action of the natural\nforces is the fundamental cause of all that arises and perishes.\" Or\nagain, not most recent in time but entirely modern in temper, we have\nthe following: \"Science has gradually taken all the positions of the\nchildish belief of the peoples; it has snatched thunder and lightning\nfrom the hands of the gods. The stupendous powers of the Titans of the\nolden time have been grasped by the fingers of man. That which appeared\ninexplicable, miraculous and the work of a supernatural power has by the\ntouch of science proved to be the effect of hitherto unknown natural\nforces. Everything that happens does so in a natural way, _i.e._, in a\nmode determined only by accidental or necessary coalition of existing\nmaterials and their immanent natural forces.\" Here is dogma forced on\nfaith with fine energy; and what more is to be said when judgment is\ngiven--\"I have searched the heavens, but have nowhere found the traces\nof a God\"?\n\nWe hear the boast that no song of Hebrew seer can withstand this modern\nwisdom, that the superstition of Bible faith shall vanish like starlight\nbefore the rising sun. To science every opinion shall submit. But wait.\nIt is dogmatism against belief after all, authority against authority,\nand the one in a lower region than the other, with vastly inferior\nsanctions. Natural science declares the present result of its\nobservation of the universe, investigation brief, superficial, and\nlimited to one small corner of the whole. Yet these deliverances are to\nbe set above the science which deals with existence on the highest\nplane, the spiritual, solving deepest problems of life and conscience,\nfinding perpetual support in the experience of men. The claim is\nsomewhat large; it lacks the proof of service; it lacks verification.\nScience boasts greatly, as is natural to its adolescence. But at what\npoint can it dare to say, Here is final truth, here is certainty? We do\nnot repel our debt to the discoverer when we maintain that natural\nscience is only watching the surface of a stream for a few miles along\nits course, while the springs far away among the eternal hills and the\noutflow into the infinite ocean are never viewed. Are we taunted with\nbelieving? Those who taunt us must supply for their part something more\nthan inference ere we trust all to their wisdom. The \"Force\" that is so\nmuch invoked, what is it so far as the definitions of science go?\nEffects we see; Force never. All statements as to the nature of force\nare pure dogma. It is declared that there are necessary and eternal laws\nof matter. What makes them necessary, and who can prove their\neverlastingness? Using such words men pass infinitely beyond material\nresearch--they infer--they assert. In the region of natural science we\ncan affirm nothing to be eternal, and even _necessity_ is a word that\nhas no warrant. It is only in the soul, in the region of moral ideas, we\ncome on that which endures, which is necessary, which has constant\nreality. And it is here that our belief in God as universal Creator, the\nSource of power and life, the One Agent, the King eternal, immortal and\ninvisible, finds root and strength.\n\nThe battle between materialism and religious faith is not a battle in\nwhich facts are arrayed on one side and inferences and dreams on the\nother. The array is of facts against facts, as we have said, and with an\nimmense difference of value. Is it an established sequence that when the\nelectricity in the clouds is not in equipoise with that of the earth,\nunder certain conditions there is a thunderstorm? It is surely a\nsequence of higher moment that when the sense of righteousness seizes\nthe minds of men they rise against iniquity and there is a revolution.\nThere natural forces operate, here spiritual. But on which side is the\nindication of eternity? Which of these sequences can better claim to\ngive a key to the order of the universe? Surely if the evolution of the\nages, so far, has culminated in man with his capability of knowing and\nserving the true, the just, the good, these facts of his mind and life\nare the highest of which we can take cognizance, and in them, if\nanywhere, we must find the key to all knowledge, the reason of all\nphenomena. Evolutionary science itself must agree to this. In the\nmovements of nature we find no advance to fixity and finality. Nature\nlabours, men labour with or against nature; but the flux of things is\nperpetual; there is no escape from change. In the efforts of the\nspiritual life it is not so. When we strive for equalness, for verity,\nfor purity, we have glimpses then of the changeless order which we must\nneeds call Divine. Here is the indication of eternity; and as we\ninvestigate, as we experience, we come to certitude, we reach larger\nvision, larger faith. That which endures rises clear above that which\nappears and passes.\n\nReturning to Deborah's song and her vision of the coming of God in the\nimpetuous storm, we see the practical value of Theism. One great idea,\ncomprehensive and majestic, leads thought beyond symbol and change to\nthe All-righteous Lord. To attribute phenomena to \"Nature\" is a sterile\nmode of thought; nothing is done for life. To attribute phenomena to a\nvariety of superhuman persons limits and weakens the religious idea\nsought after; still one is lost in the changeable. Theism delivers the\nsoul from both evils and sets it on a free upward path, stern yet\nalluring. By this path the Hebrew prophet rose to the high and fruitful\nconceptions which draw men together in responsibility and worship. The\neternal governs all, rules every change; and that eternal is the holy\nwill of God. The omnipotence nature obeys is the omnipotence of right.\nIsrael returning to God will find Him coming to the help of His people\nin the awful or kindly movements of the natural world. Our view in one\nsense extends beyond that of the Hebrew seer. We find the purpose\ndisclosed in natural phenomena to be somewhat different. Not the\nprotection of a favoured race, but the discipline of humanity is what we\nperceive. Ours is an expansion of the Hebrew faith, revealing the same\nDivine goodness engaged in a redeeming work of wider scope and longer\nduration.\n\nThe point is still in doubt among us whether the good, the true, the\nright, are invincible. Those who go forth in the service of God are\noften borne down by the graceless multitude. From age to age the problem\nof God's supremacy seems to remain in suspense, and men are not afraid,\nin the name of foulest iniquity, to try issues with the best. Be it so.\nThe Divine work is slow. Even the best need discipline that they may\nhave strength, and God is in no haste to carry His argument against\natheism. There is abundance of time. Those bent on evil or misled by\nfalsehood, those who are on the wrong side though they consider\nthemselves soldiers of a good cause may gain on many a field, yet their\ngain will turn out in the long run to be loss, and they who lose and\nfall are really the victors. There is defeat that is better than\nsuccess. Other ages than belong to this world's history are yet to dawn,\nand the discovery will come to every intelligence that he alone triumphs\nwhose life is spent for righteousness and love, in fidelity to God and\nman.\n\n3. Let it be allowed that we find the latter canto of Deborah's song\nexpressive of faith rather than of clear morality, pointing to a\nspiritual future rather than exhibiting actual knowledge of the Divine\ncharacter. We hear of the righteous acts of the Lord, and the note is\nwelcome, yet most likely the thought is of retributive justice and\npunishment that overtakes the enemies of Israel. When the remnant of the\nnobles and the people come down--that remnant of brave and faithful men\nnever wanting to Israel--the Lord comes down with them, their Guide and\nStrength. Meroz is cursed because the inhabitants do not go forth to the\nhelp of Jehovah. And finally there is glorying over Sisera because he is\nan enemy of Israel's Unseen King. There is trust, there is devotion, but\nno largeness of spiritual view.\n\nWe must, however, remember that a song full of the spirit of battle and\nthe gladness of victory cannot be expected to breathe the ideal of\nreligion. The mind of the singer is too excited by the circumstances of\nthe time, the bustle, the triumph, to dwell on higher themes. When\nfighting has to be done it is the main business of the hour, cannot be\naught else to those who are engaged. A woman especially, strung to an\nunusual pitch of nervous endurance, would be absorbed in the events and\nher own new and strange position; and she would pass rapidly from the\ntension of anxiety to a keen passionate exultation in which everything\nwas lost except the sense of deliverance and of personal vindication.\nWhen that is past which was an issue of life or death, freedom or\ndestruction, joy rises in a sudden spring, joy in the prowess of men,\nthe fulness of Divine succour; neither the prophetess nor the fighters\nare indifferent to justice and mercy, though they do not name them here.\nDeborah, a woman of intense patriotism and piety, dared greatly for God\nand her country; of a base thing she was incapable. The men who fought\nby the waters of Megiddo and slew their enemies ruthlessly in the heat\nof battle knew in the time of peace the duties of humanity and no doubt\nshowed kindness when the war was over to the widows and orphans of the\nslain. To know and serve Jehovah was a guarantee of moral culture in a\nrude age; and the Israelites when they returned to Him must have\ncontrasted very favourably in respect of conduct with the devotees of\nBaal and Astarte.\n\nFor a parallel case we may turn to Oliver Cromwell. In his letter after\nthe storming of Bristol, a bloody piece of work in which the mettle of\nthe Parliamentary force was put keenly to proof, Cromwell ascribes the\nvictory to God in these terms:--\"They that have been employed in this\nservice know that faith and prayer obtained this city for you. God hath\nput the sword in the Parliament's hands for the terror of evil-doers and\nthe praise of them that do well.\" Of victory after victory which left\nmany a home desolate he speaks as mercies to be acknowledged with all\nthankfulness. \"God exceedingly abounds in His goodness to us, and will\nnot be weary until righteousness and peace meet, and until He hath\nbrought forth a glorious work for the happiness of this poor kingdom.\"\nRead his dispatches and you find that though the man had a generous\nheart and was a sworn servant of Christ the merciful, yet he breathes no\ncompassion for the royal troops. These are the enemy against whom a\npious man is bound to fight; the slaughter of them is a terrible\nnecessity.\n\nJust now it is the fashion to depreciate as much as possible the moral\nvalue of the old Hebrew faith. We are assured in a tone of authority\nthat Israel's Jehovah was only another Chemosh, or, say, a respectable\nBaal, a being without moral worth,--in fact, a mere name of might\nworshipped by Israelites as their protector. The history of the people\nsettles this uncritical theory. If the religion of Israel did not\nsustain a higher morality, if the faith of Jehovah was purely secular,\nhow came Israel to emerge as a nation from the long conflict with\nMoabites, Canaanites, Midianites and Philistines? The Hebrews were not\nsuperior in point of numbers, unity or military skill to the nations\nwhose interest it was to subdue or expel them. Some vantage ground the\nIsraelites must have had. What was it? Justice between man and man,\ndomestic honour, care for human life, a measure of unselfishness,--these\nat least, as well as the entire purity of their religious rites, were\ntheir inheritance; through these the blessing of the Eternal rested upon\nthem. There could never be a return to Him in penitence and hope without\na return to the duties and the faith of the sacred covenant. We know\ntherefore that while Deborah sings her song of battle and exults over\nfallen Sisera there is latent in her mind and the minds of her people a\nwarmth of moral purpose justifying their new liberty. This nation is\nagain a militant church. The hearts of men enlarge that God may dwell in\nthem. Israel's triumph, shall it not be for the good of those who are\novercome? Shall not the people of Jehovah, going forth as the sun in his\nmight, shed a kindly radiance over the lands around? So fine a\nconception of duty is scarcely to be found in Deborah's song, but,\nrealized or not in Old Testament times, it was the revelation of God\nthrough Israel to the world.\n\n\n\n\nIX.\n\n_DEBORAH'S SONG: A CHANT OF PATRIOTISM._\n\nJUDGES v.\n\n\nWe have already considered the song of Deborah as a declaration of God's\nworking more broad and spiritual than might be looked for in that age.\nWe now regard it as exhibiting different relations of men to the Divine\npurpose. There is a religious spirit in the whole movement here\ndescribed. It begins in a revival of faith and obedience, prospers\ndespite the coldness and opposition of many, grows in force and\nenthusiasm as it proceeds and finally is crowned with success. The\nchurch is militant in a literal sense; yet, fighting with carnal\nweapons, it is really contending for the glory of the Unseen King. There\nis a close parallel between the enterprise of Deborah and Barak and that\nwhich opens before the church of the present time. No forced\naccommodation is needed to gather from the song lessons of different\nkinds for our guidance and warning in the campaign of Christianity.\n\nHere are Deborah herself, a mother in Israel, and the leaders who take\ntheir places at the head of the armies of God. Here also are the people\nwillingly offering themselves, imperilling their lives for religion and\nfreedom. The history of the past and the vision of Jehovah as sole Ruler\nof nature and providence encourage the faithful, who rise out of\nlethargy and leave the by-ways of life to take the field in battle\narray. The levies of Ephraim, Benjamin, Zebulun, Issachar and Naphtali\nrepresent those who are decisively Christian, ready to hazard all for\nthe gospel's sake. But Reuben sits among the sheepfolds and listens to\nthe pipings for the flocks, Dan remains in ships, Asher at the haven of\nthe sea; and these may stand for the self-cultivating self-serving\nprofessors of religion. Jabin and Sisera again are established opponents\nof the right cause; they are brave in their own defence; their positions\nlook most formidable, their battalions shake the ground. But the stars\nfrom heaven, the floods of Kishon, are only a small part of the forces\nof the King of heaven; and the soul of Israel marches on in strength\ntill the enemy is routed. Meroz practically helps the foe. Those who\ndwell within its walls are doubtful of the issue and will not risk their\nlives; the curse of sullen apostasy falls upon them. Jael is a vivid\ntype of the unscrupulous helpers of a good cause, those who employing\nthe weapons and methods of the world would fain be servants of that\nkingdom in which nothing base, nothing earthly can have place. And there\nare the children of the hour, the fine ladies of Harosheth whose\npleasure and pride are bound up with oppression, who look through the\nlattices and listen in vain for the returning chariots laden with spoil.\n\n1. The leaders and head men of the tribes under Deborah and Barak,\nDeborah foremost in the great enterprise, her soul on fire with zeal for\nIsrael and for God.\n\nDeborah and Barak show throughout that spirit of cordial agreement, that\nfrank support of each other which at all times are so much to be\ndesired in religious leaders. There is no jealousy, no striving for\npre-eminence. Barak is a brave man, but he will not stir without the\nprophetess; he is quite content to give her the place of honour while he\ndoes the martial work. Deborah again would commit the task to Barak's\nhands in complete reliance on his wisdom and valour; yet she is ready to\nappear along with him, and in her song, while she claims the prophetic\noffice, it is to Barak she renders the honours of victory--\"Lead thy\nthraldom in thrall, thou son of Abinoam.\"\n\nRarely, it must be confessed, is there entire harmony among the leaders\nof affairs. Jealousy is too often with them from the first. Suspicion\nlurks under the council table, private ambitions and unworthy fears make\nconfusion when each should trust and encourage another. The fine\nenthusiasm of a great cause does not overcome as it ought the\nselfishness of human nature. Moreover, varieties in disposition as\nbetween the cautious and the impetuous, the more and the less of\nsagacity or of faith, a failure in sincerity here, in justice there, are\nseparating influences constantly at work. But when the pressing\nimportance of the duties entrusted to men by God governs every will,\nthese elements of division cease; leaders who differ in temperament are\nloyal to each other then, each jealous of the others' honour as servants\nof truth. In the Reformation, for example, prosperity was largely due to\nthe fact that two such men as Luther and Melanchthon, very different yet\nthoroughly united, stood side by side in the thick of the conflict,\nLuther's impetuosity moderated by the calmer spirit of the other,\nMelanchthon's craving for peace kept from dangerous concession by the\nboldness of his friend. Their mutual love and fidelity showed the\nnobleness of both, showed also what the Protestant Gospel was. Their\ndifferences melted away in enthusiasm for the Word of God, which one\nthought of as a celestial ambrosia, the other as a sword, a war, a\ndestruction springing upon the children of Ephraim like a lioness in the\nforest. The Divine work was the life of each; each in his own way sought\nwith splendid earnestness to forward the truth of Christ.\n\nChurch leaders are responsible for not a little which they themselves\ncondemn. Differences do not quickly arise among disciples when the\nteachers are modest, honourable, and brotherly. Paul cries, \"Is Christ\ndivided? Were ye baptized into the name of Paul? What is Apollos? What\nis Paul? Ministers by whom ye believed.\" When our leaders speak and feel\nin like manner there will be peace, not uniformity but something better.\nGod's husbandry, God's building will prosper.\n\nBut it is declared to be jealousy for religion that divides--jealousy\nfor the pure doctrine of Christ--jealousy for the true church. We try to\nbelieve it. But then why are not all in that spirit of holy jealousy\nfound side by side as comrades, eagerly yet in cordial brotherhood\ndiscussing points of difference, determined that they will search\ntogether and help each other until they find principles in which they\ncan all rest? The leaders of different Christian bodies do not appear\nlike Deborah and Barak engaged in a common enterprise, but as chiefs of\nrival or even opposing armies. The reason is that in this church and the\nother there has been a foreclosing of questions, and the elected leaders\nare almost all men who are pledged to the tribal decrees. In the\ndecisions of councils and synods, and not less in the deliverances of\nlearned doctors apologising each for his own sect and marking out the\npath his party must travel, there has been ever since the days of the\napostles a hardening and limiting of opinion. Thought has been\nprematurely crystallized and each church prides itself on its own\nspecial deposit. The true church leader should understand that a course\nwhich may have been inevitable in the past is not the virtue of to-day\nand that those are simply adhering to an antiquated position who affirm\none church to be the sole possessor of truth, the only centre of\nauthority. It may seem strange to advise the churches to reconsider many\nof the ideas built into creed and constitution and to reject all leaders\nwho are such by credit of sitting immovable in the seats of the rabbis,\nbut the progress of Christianity in power and assurance waits upon a new\nbrotherliness which will bring about a new catholicity. Under guides of\nthe right kind the churches will have qualities and distinctions as\nheretofore, each will be a rendezvous for spirits of a certain order,\nbut frankly confessing each other's right and honour they will press on\nabreast to scale and possess the uplands of truth.\n\nTo be sure something is said of tolerance. But that is a purely\npolitical idea. Let it not be so much as named in the assembly of God's\npeople. Does Barak tolerate Deborah? Does Moses tolerate Aaron? Does St.\nPeter tolerate St. Paul? The disciples of Christ _tolerate_ each other,\ndo they? What marvellous largeness of soul! One or two, it appears, have\nbeen made sole keepers of the ark but are prepared to tolerate the\nembarrassing help of well-meaning auxiliaries. Neither charity of that\nsort nor flabbiness of belief is asked. Let each be strongly persuaded\nin his own mind of that which he has learned from Christ. But where\nChrist has not foreclosed inquiry and where sincere and thoughtful\nbelievers differ there is no place for what is called tolerance; the\ndemand is for brotherly fellowship in thought and labour.\n\nDeborah was a mother in Israel, a nursing mother of the people in their\nspiritual childhood, with a mother's warm heart for the oppressed and\nweary flock. The nation needed a new birth, and that, by the grace of\nGod, Deborah gave it in the sore travail of her soul. For many a year\nshe suffered, prayed and entreated. Israel had chosen new gods and in\nserving them was dying to righteousness, dying to Jehovah. Deborah had\nto pour her own life into the half-dead, and compared to this effort the\nbattle with the Canaanites was but a secondary matter. So is it always.\nThe Divine task is that of the mother-like souls that labour for the\nquickening of faith and holy service. Great victories of Christian\nvalour, patience and love are never won without that renewal of\nhumanity; and everything is due to those who have guided the ignorant\ninto knowledge, the careless to thought and the weak to strength through\nyears of patient toil. They are not all prophets, not all known to the\ntribes: of many such the record waits hidden with their God until the\nday of revealing and rejoicing.\n\nYet Barak also, the Lightning Chief, has honourable part. When the men\nare collected, men new-born into life, he can lead them. They are\nIronsides under him. He rushes down from Tabor and they at his feet with\na vigour nothing can resist. If we have Deborah we shall also have\nBarak, his army and his victory. The promise is not for women only but\nfor all in the private ways and obscure settlements of life who labour\nat the making of men. Every Christian has the responsibility and joy of\nhelping to prepare a way for the coming of Jehovah in some great\noutburst of faith and righteousness.\n\n2. We contrast next the people who offered themselves willingly, who\n\"jeoparded their lives unto the death upon the high places of the\nfield,\" and those who for one reason or another held aloof.\n\nWith united leaders there is a measure of unity among the tribes. Barak\nand Deborah summon all who are ready to strike for liberty, and there is\na great muster. Yet there might be double the number. Those who refuse\nto take arms have many pretexts, but the real cause is want of heart.\nThe oppression of Jabin does not much affect some Israelites, and so far\nas it does they would rather go on paying tribute than risk their lives,\nrather bear the ills they have than hazard anything in joining Barak.\nThese holding back, the work has to be done by a comparatively small\nnumber, a remnant of the nobles and the people.\n\nBut a remnant is always found; there are men and women who do not bow\nthe knee to the Baal of worldly fashion, who do not content their souls\namid the fleshpots of low servitude. They have to venture and sacrifice\nmuch in a long and varying war, and oftentimes their flesh and heart may\nalmost fail. But a great reward is theirs. While others are spiritless\nand hopeless they know the zest of life, its real power and joy. They\nknow what believing means, how strong it makes the soul. Their all is in\nthe spiritual kingdom which cannot be moved. God is the portion of their\nsouls, their gladness and glory. Those who stand by and look on while\nthe conflict rages may share to a certain extent in the liberty that is\nwon, for the gains of Christian warfare are not limited, they are for\nall mankind. There is a wider and better ordered life for all when this\nevil custom and that have been overcome, when one Jabin after another\nceases to oppress. Yet what is it after all to touch the border of\nChristian liberty? To the fighters belongs the inheritance itself, an\never-extending conquest, a land of olives and vineyards and streams of\nliving water.\n\nDifferent tribes are named that sent contingents to the army of Barak.\nThey are typical of different churches, different orders of society that\nare forward in the campaign of faith. The Hebrews who came most readily\nat the battle call appear to have belonged to districts where the\nCanaanite oppression was heavy, the country that lay between Harosheth,\nthe head-quarters of Sisera, and Hazor the city of Jabin. So in the\nChristian struggle of the ages the strenuous part falls to those who\nsuffer from the tyranny of the temporal and see clearly the hopelessness\nof life without religion. The gospel of Christ is peculiarly precious to\nmen and women whose lot is hard, whose earthly future is clouded.\nSacrifices for God's cause are made as a rule by these. In His great\npurpose, in His deep knowledge of the facts of life, our Lord joined\nHimself to the poor and left with them a special blessing. It is not\nthat men who dwell in comfort are independent of the gospel, but they\nare tempted to think themselves so. In proportion as they are fenced in\namongst possessions and social claims they are apt, though devout, to\nmiss that very call which is the message of the gospel to them.\nWell-meaning but absorbed, they can rarely bestir themselves to hear and\ndo until some personal calamity or public disaster awakens them to the\ntruth of things. The steady support of Christian ordinances and work in\nour day is largely the honour of people who have their full share in\nthe struggle for earthly necessaries or a humble standing in the ranks\nof the independent. The paradox is real and striking; it claims the\nattention of those who vainly dream that a comfortable society would\ncertainly become Christian, as effect follows cause. While the religion\nof Christ makes for justice and temporal well-being, blessing even the\nunbeliever, while it leads the way to a high standard of social order,\nthese things remain of no value in themselves to men unspiritual: it\nholds true that man can never live by bread alone, but by the words\nwhich proceed out of the mouth of God. And there are forces at work\namong us on behalf of the Divine counsel that shall not fail to maintain\nthe struggle necessary to the discipline and growth of souls.\n\nThe real army of faith is largely drawn from the ranks of the toilers\nand the heavy laden. Yet not entirely. We reckon many and fine\nexceptions. There are rich who are less worldly than those who have\nlittle. Many whose lot lies far from the shadow of tyranny in green and\npleasant valleys are first to hear and quickest to answer every call\nfrom the Captain of the Lord's host. Their possessions are nothing to\nthem. In the spiritual battle all is spent, knowledge, influence,\nwealth, life. And if you look for the highest examples of Christianity,\na faith pure, keen and lovely, a generosity that most clearly reveals\nthe Master, a passion for truth consuming all lower regards, you will\nfind them where culture has done its best for the mind and the bounty of\nprovidence has kindled a gracious humility and an abounding gentleness\nof heart. The tawdry vanities of their fellows in rank and wealth seem\nwhat they are to these, the gaudy toys of children who have not yet seen\nthe glory and the goal of life. And how can men and women hear the\nclarion of the Christian war ringing over the valleys of degradation and\nfear, see the Divine contest surging through the land, and not perceive\nthat here and here only is life? Men play at statecraft and grow cold as\nthey intrigue; they play at financing and become ciphers in a monstrous\nsum; they toil at pleasure till Satan himself might pity them, for at\nleast he has a purpose to serve. All the while there is offered to them\nthe vigour, the buoyancy, the glow of an ambition and a service in which\nno spirit tires and no heart withers. Passing strange it is that so few\nnoble, so few mighty, so few wise hear the keen cry from the cross as\none of life and power.\n\nAmong the tribes that held aloof from the great conflict several are\nspecially named. Messengers have gone to the land of Reuben beyond\nJordan, and carried the fiery cross through Bashan. Dan has been\nsummoned and Asher from the haven of the sea. But these have not\nresponded. Reuben indeed has searchings of heart. Some of the people\nremember the old promise made at Shittim in the plain of Moab, that they\nwould help their brethren who crossed into Canaan, never refusing\nassistance till the land was fully possessed. Moses had solemnly charged\nthem with that duty, and they had bound themselves in covenant: \"As the\nLord hath said unto thy servants, so will we do.\" Could anything have\nbeen more seriously, more decisively undertaken? Yet, when this hour of\nneed came, though the duty lay upon the conscience nothing was done.\nAlong the watercourses of Gilead and Bashan there were flocks to tend,\nto protect from the Amalekites and Midianites of the desert who would be\nsure to make a raid in the absence of the fighting men. To Asher and\nDan the reference is perhaps somewhat ironical. The \"ships\" for trade,\nthe \"haven of the sea,\" were never much to these tribes, and their\nmaritime ambition made an unworthy excuse. They had perhaps a little\nfishing, some small trade on the coast, and petty as the gain was it\nfilled their hearts. Asher \"abode by his creeks.\"\n\nIt is not to a religious festival that Deborah and Barak have called the\ntribes. It is to serious and dangerous duty. Yet the call of duty should\ncome with more power than any invitation even to spiritual enjoyment.\nThe great religious gathering has its use, its charm. We know the\nattraction of the crowded convocation in which Christian hope and\nenthusiasm are re-kindled by stirring words and striking instances,\nfaith rising high as it views the wide mission of gospel truth and hears\nfrom eloquent lips the story of a modern day of Pentecost. To many,\nbecause their own spiritual life burns dull, the daily and weekly\nroutine of things becomes empty, vain, unsatisfying. In the common round\neven of valued religious exercise the heat and promise of Christianity\nseem to be lacking. In the convention they appear to be realized as\nnowhere else, and the persuasion that God may be felt there in a special\nmanner is laying hold of Christian people. They are right in their eager\ndesire to be borne along with the flood of redeeming grace; but we have\nneed to ask what the life of faith is, how it is best nourished. To have\na personal share in God's controversy with evil, to have a place however\nobscure in the actual struggle of truth with falsehood,--this alone\ngives confidence in the result and power in believing. Those who are in\ncontact with spiritual reality because they have their own testimony to\nbear, their own watch to keep at some outpost, find stimulus in the\nurgency of duty and exultation in the consciousness of service. Men\noften seek in public gatherings what they can only find in the private\nways of effort and endurance; they seek the joy of harvest when they\nshould be at the labour of sowing; they would fain be cheered by the\nsong of victory when they should be roused by the trumpet of battle.\n\nAnd the result is that where spiritual work waits to be done there are\nbut few to do it. Examine the state of any Christian church, reckon up\nthose who are deeply interested in its efficiency, who make sacrifices\nof time and means, and set against these the half-hearted, who ignobly\naccept the religious provision made for them and perhaps complain that\nit is not so good as they would like, that progress is not so rapid as\nthey think it might be,--the one class far outnumbers the other. As in\nIsrael twice or three times as many might have responded to Barak's\ncall, so in every church the resolute, the energetic and devoted are few\ncompared with those who are capable of energy and devotion. It is\nsometimes maintained that the worship of goodness and the Christian\nideal command the minds of men more to-day than ever they did, and proof\nseems ready to hand. But, after all, is it not religious taste rather\nthan reverence that grows? Self-culture leads many to a certain\nadmiration of Christ and a form of discipleship. Christian worship is\nenjoyed and Christian philanthropy also, but when the spiritual freedom\nof mankind calls for some effort of the soul and life, we see what\nreligion means--a wave of the hand instead of enthusiasm, a guinea\nsubscription instead of thoughtful service. Is it a Christian or a\nselfish culture which is content with fragmentary concessions and\ncomplacent patronage where the claims of social \"inferiors\" are\nconcerned? That there is a wide diffusion of religious feeling is clear\nenough; but in many respects it is mere dilettantism.\n\nNotice the history of the tribes that lag behind in the day of the\nLord's summons. What do we hear of Reuben after this? \"Unstable as water\nthou shalt not excel.\" Along with Gad Reuben possessed a splendid\ncountry, but these two faded away into a sort of barbarism, scarcely\nmaintaining their separateness from the wild races of the desert. Asher\nin like manner suffered from the contact with Phoenicia and lost touch\nwith the more faithful tribes. So it is always. Those who shirk\nreligious duty lose the strength and dignity of religion. Though greatly\nfavoured in place and gifts they fall into that spiritual impotence\nwhich means defeat and extinction.\n\n\"Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the\ninhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord\nagainst the mighty.\" It is a stern judgment upon those whose active\nassistance was humanly speaking necessary in the day of battle. The men\nonly held back, held back in doubt, supposing that it was vain for\nHebrews to fling themselves against the iron chariots of Sisera. Were\nthey not prudent, looking at the matter all round? Why should a curse so\nheavy be pronounced on men who only sought to save their lives? The\nreply is that secular history curses such men, those of Sparta for\nexample to whom Athens sent in vain when the battle of Marathon was\nimpending; and further that Christ has declared the truth which is for\nall time, \"Whosoever will save his life shall lose it.\" Erasmus was a\nwise man; yet he made the great blunder. He saw clearly the errors of\nRomanism and the miserable bondage in which it kept the souls of men,\nand if he had joined the reformers his judgment and learning would have\nbecome part of the world's progressive life. But he held back doubting,\ncriticising, a friend to the Reformation but not an apostle of it.\nAdmire as we may the wit, the reasoner, the philosopher, there must\nalways be severe judgment of one who professing to love truth declared\nthat he had no inclination to die for it. There are many who without the\nintellect of Erasmus would fain be thought catholic in his company.\nLarge is the family of Meroz, and little thought have they of any ban\nlying upon them. Is it a fanciful danger, a mere error of opinion\nwithout any peril in it, to which we point here? People think so; young\nmen especially think so and drift on until the day of service is past\nand they find themselves under the contempt of man and the judgment of\nChrist. \"Lord, when saw we Thee a stranger or in prison and did not\nminister unto Thee?\" \"Depart from Me, I never knew you.\"\n\n3. Jael, a type of the unscrupulous helpers of a good cause.\n\nLong has the error prevailed that religion can be helped by using the\nworld's weapons, by acting in the temper and spirit of the world. Of\nthat mischievous falsehood have been born all the pride and vainglory,\nthe rivalries and persecutions that darken the past of Christendom,\nsurviving in strange and pitiful forms to the present day. If we shudder\nat the treachery in the deed of Jael, what shall we say of that which\nthrough many a year sent victims to inquisition-dungeons and to the\nstake in the name of Christ? And what shall we say now of that moral\nassassination which in one tent and another is thought no sin against\nhumanity, but a service of God? Among us are too many who suffer wounds\nkeen and festering that have been given in the house of their friends,\nyea, in the name of the one Lord and Master. The battle of truth is a\nfrank and honourable fight, served at no point by what is false or proud\nor low. To an enemy a Christian should be chivalrous and surely no less\nto a brother. Granting that a man is in error, he needs a physician not\nan executioner; he needs an example not a dagger. How much farther do we\nget by the methods of opprobrium and cruelty, the innuendo and the\nwhisper of suspicion? Besides, it is not the Siseras to-day who are\ndealt with after this manner. It is the \"schismatic\" within the camp on\nwhom some Jael falls with a hammer and a nail. If a church cannot stand\nby itself, approved to the consciences of men, it certainly will not be\nhelped by a return to the temper of barbarism and the craft of the\nworld. \"The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through\nGod to the casting down of strongholds.\"\n\n\n\n\nX.\n\n_THE DESERT HORDES; AND THE MAN AT OPHRAH._\n\nJUDGES vi. 1-14.\n\n\nJabin king of Canaan defeated and his nine hundred chariots turned into\nploughshares we might expect Israel to make at last a start in its true\ncareer. The tribes have had their third lesson and should know the peril\nof infidelity. Without God they are weak as water. Will they not bind\nthemselves now in a confederacy of faith, suppress Baal and Astarte\nworship by stringent laws and turn their hearts to God and duty? Not\nyet: not for more than a century. The true reformer has yet to come.\nDeborah's work is certainly not in vain. She passes through the land\nadministering justice, commanding the destruction of heathen altars. The\npeople leave their occupations and gather in crowds to hear her; they\nshout, in answer to her appeals, Jehovah is our King. The Levites are\ncalled to minister at the shrines. For a time there is something like\nreligion along with improving circumstances. But the tide does not rise\nlong nor far.\n\nSome twenty years have passed, and what is to be seen going on\nthroughout the land? The Hebrews have addressed themselves vigorously to\ntheir work in field and town. Everywhere they are breaking up new\nground, building houses, repairing roads, organising traffic. But they\nare also falling into the old habit of friendly intercourse with\nCanaanites, talking with them over the prospects of the crops, joining\nin their festivals of new moon and harvest. In their own cities the old\ninhabitants of the land sacrifice to Baal and gather about the Asherim.\nEarnest Israelites are indignant and call for action, but the mass of\nthe people are so taken up with their prosperity that they cannot be\nroused. Peace and comfort in the lower region seem better than\ncontention for anything higher. In the centre of Palestine there is a\ncoalition of Hebrew and Canaanite cities, with Shechem at their head,\nwhich recognize Baal as their patron and worship him as the master of\ntheir league. And in the northern tribes generally Jehovah has scant\nacknowledgment; the people see no great task He has given them to do. If\nthey live and multiply and inherit the land they reckon their function\nas His nation to be fulfilled.\n\nIt is a temptation common to men to consider their own existence and\nsuccess a sort of Divine end in serving which they do all that God\nrequires of them. The business of mere living and making life\ncomfortable absorbs them so that even faith finds its only use in\npromoting their own happiness. The circle of the year is filled with\noccupations. When the labour of the field is over there are the houses\nand cities to enlarge, to improve and furnish with means of safety and\nenjoyment. One task done and the advantage of it felt, another presents\nitself. Industry takes new forms and burdens still more the energies of\nmen. Education, art, science become possible and in turn make their\ndemands. But all may be for self, and God may be thought of merely as\nthe great Patron satisfied with His tithes. In this way the impulses\nand hopes of faith are made the ministers of egoism, and as a national\nthing the maintenance of law, goodwill, and a measure of purity may seem\nto furnish religion with a sufficient object. But this is far from\nenough. Let worship be refined and elaborated, let great temples be\nbuilt and thronged, let the arts of music and painting be employed in\nraising devotion to its highest pitch--still if nothing beyond self is\nseen as the aim of existence, if national Christianity realizes no duty\nto the world outside, religion must decay. Neither a man nor a people\ncan be truly religious without the missionary spirit, and that spirit\nmust constantly shape individual and collective life. Among ourselves\nworship would petrify and faith wither were it not for the tasks the\nchurch has undertaken at home and abroad. But half-understood,\nhalf-discharged, these duties keep us alive. And it is because the great\nmission of Christians to the world is not even yet comprehended that we\nhave so much practical atheism. When less care and thought are expended\non the forms of worship and the churches address themselves to the true\nritual of our religion, carrying out the redeeming work of our Saviour,\nthere will be new fervour; unbelief will be swept away.\n\nIsrael losing sight of its mission and its destiny felt no need of faith\nand lost it; and with the loss of faith came loss of vigour and\nalertness as on other occasions. Having no sense of a common purpose\ngreat enough to demand their unity the Hebrews were again unable to\nresist enemies, and this time the Midianites and other wild tribes of\nthe eastern desert found their opportunity. First some bands of them\ncame at the time of harvest and made raids on the cultivated districts.\nBut year by year they ventured farther in increasing numbers. Finally\nthey brought their tents and families, their flocks and herds, and took\npossession.\n\nIn the case of all who fall away from the purpose of life the means of\nbringing failure home to them and restoring the balance of justice are\nalways at hand. Let a man neglect his fields and nature is upon him;\nweeds choke his crops, his harvests diminish, poverty comes like an\narmed man. In trade likewise carelessness brings retribution. So in the\ncase of Israel: although the Canaanites had been subdued other foes were\nnot far away. And the business of this nation was of so sacred a kind\nthat neglect of it meant great moral fault and every fresh relapse into\nearthliness and sensuality after a revival of religion implied more\nserious guilt. We find accordingly a proportionate severity in the\npunishment. Now the nation is chastised with whips, but next time it is\nwith scorpions. Now the iron chariots of Sisera hold the land in terror;\nthen hosts of marauders spread like locusts over the country,\ninsatiable, all-devouring. Do the Hebrews think that careful tilling of\ntheir fields and the making of wine and oil are their chief concern? In\nthat they shall be undeceived. Not mainly to be good husbandmen and\nvine-dressers are they set here, but to be a light in the midst of the\nnations. If they cease to shine they shall no longer enjoy.\n\nIt was by the higher fords of Jordan, perhaps north of the Sea of\nGalilee, that the Midianites fell on western Canaan. Under their two\ngreat emirs Zebah and Zalmunna, who seem to have held a kind of barbaric\nstate, troops of riders on swift horses and dromedaries swept the shore\nof the lake and burst into the plain of Jezreel. There were no doubt\nmany skirmishes between their squadrons and the men of Naphtali and\nManasseh. But one horde of the invaders followed another so quickly and\ntheir attacks were so sudden and fierce that at length resistance became\nimpossible, the Hebrews had to betake themselves to the heights and\ndwell in the caves and rocks. Once in the desert under Moses they had\nbeen more than a match for these Arabs. Now, although on vantage ground\nmoral and natural, fighting for their hearths and homes behind the\nbreastwork of lake, river and mountain, they are completely routed.\n\nBetween the circumstances of this oppressed nation and the present state\nof the church there is a wide interval, and in a sense the contrast is\nstriking. Is not the Christianity of our time strong and able to hold\nits own? Is not the mood of many churches of the present day properly\nthat of elation? As year after year reports of numerical increase and\nlarger contributions are made, as finer buildings are raised for the\npurposes of worship and work at home and abroad is carried on more\nefficiently, is it not impossible to trace any resemblance between the\nstate of Israel during the Midianite oppression and the state of\nreligion now? Why should there be any fear that Baal-worship or other\nidolatry should weaken the tribes, or that marauders from the desert\nshould settle in their land?\n\nAnd yet the condition of things to-day is not quite unlike that of\nIsrael at the time we are considering. There are Canaanites who dwell in\nthe land and carry on their debasing worship. These too are days when\nguerilla troops of naturalism, nomads of the primaeval desert, are\nsweeping the region of faith. Reckless and irresponsible talk in\nperiodicals and on platforms; novels, plays and verses often as clever\nas they are unscrupulous are incidents of the invasion, and it is well\nadvanced. Not for the first time is a raid of this kind made on the\nterritory of faith, but the serious thing now is the readiness to give\nway, the want of heart and power to resist that we observe in family\nlife and in society as well as in literature. Where resistance ought to\nbe eager and firm it is often ignorant, hesitating, lukewarm. Perhaps\nthe invasion must become more confident and more injurious before it\nrouses the people of God to earnest and united action. Perhaps those who\nwill not submit may have to betake themselves to the caves of the\nmountains while the new barbarism establishes itself in the rich plain.\nIt has almost come to this in some countries; and it may be that the\npride of those who have been content to cultivate their vineyards for\nthemselves alone, the security of those who have too easily concluded\nthat fighting was over shall yet be startled by some great disaster.\n\n\"Israel was brought very low because of Midian.\" A traveller's picture\nof the present state of things on the eastern frontier of Bashan enables\nus to understand the misery to which the tribes were reduced by seven\nyears of rapine. \"Not only is the country--plain and hill-side\nalike--chequered with fenced fields, but groves of fig-trees are here\nand there seen and terraced vineyards still clothe the sides of some of\nthe hills. These are neglected and wild but not fruitless. They produce\ngreat quantities of figs and grapes which are rifled year after year by\nthe Bedawin in their periodical raids. Nowhere on earth is there such a\nmelancholy example of tyranny, rapacity and misrule as here. Fields,\npastures, vineyards, houses, villages, cities are all alike deserted and\nwaste. Even the few inhabitants that have hid themselves among the\nrocky fastnesses and mountain defiles drag out a miserable existence,\noppressed by robbers of the desert on the one hand and robbers of the\ngovernment on the other.\" The Midianites of Gideon's time acted the part\nboth of tyrants and depredators. They \"left no sustenance for Israel,\nneither sheep nor ox nor ass. They entered into the land for to destroy\nit.\"\n\n\"And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord\"; the prodigals\nbethought them of their Father. Having come to the husks they remembered\nHim who fed His people in the desert. Again the wheel has revolved and\nfrom the lowest point there is an upward movement. The tribes of God\nlook once more towards the hills from whence their help cometh. And here\nis seen the importance of that faith which had passed into the nation's\nlife. Although it was not of a very spiritual kind, yet it preserved in\nthe heart of the people a recuperative power. The majority knew little\nmore of Jehovah than His name. But the name suggested availing succour.\nThey turned to the Awful Name, repeated it and urged their need. Here\nand there one saw God as the infinitely righteous and holy and added to\nthe wail of the ignorant a more devout appeal, recognizing the evils\nunder which the people groaned as punitive and knowing that the very God\nto Whom they cried had brought the Midianites upon them. In the prayer\nof such a one there was an outlook towards holier and nobler life. But\neven in the case of the ignorant the cry to One higher than the highest\nhad help in it. For when that bitter cry was raised self-glorifying had\nceased and piety begun.\n\nIgnorant indeed is much of the faith that still expresses itself in\nso-called Christian prayer, almost as ignorant as that of the\ndisconsolate Hebrew tribes. The moral purpose of discipline, the Divine\nordinances of defeat and pain and affliction are a mystery unread. The\nman in extremity does not know why his hour of abject fear has come, nor\nsee that one by one all the stays of his selfish life have been removed\nby a Divine hand. His cry is that of a foolish child. Yet is it not true\nthat such a prayer revives hope and gives new energy to the languid\nlife? It may be many years since prayer was tried, not perhaps since he\nwho is now past his meridian knelt at a mother's knee. Still as he names\nthe name of God, as he looks upward, there comes with the dim vision of\nan Omnipotent Helper within reach of his cry the sense of new\npossibilities, the feeling that amidst the miry clay or the heaving\nwaves there is something firm and friendly on which he may yet stand. It\nis a striking fact as to any kind of religious belief, even the most\nmeagre, that it does for man what nothing else can do. Prayer must\ncease, we are told, for it is mere superstition. Without denying that\nmuch of what is called prayer is an expression of egotism, we must\ndemand an explanation of the unique value it has in human life and a\nsufficient substitute for the habit of appeal to God. Those who would\ndeprive us of prayer must first re-make man, for to the strong and\nenlightened prayer is necessary as well as to the weak and ignorant. The\nHeavenly is the only hope of the earthly. That we understand God is,\nafter all, not the chief thing: but does He know us? Is He there, above\nyet beside us, for ever?\n\nThe first answer to the cry of Israel came in the message of a prophet,\none who would have been despised by the nation in its self-sufficient\nmood but now obtained a hearing. His words brought instruction and made\nit possible for faith to move and work along a definite line. Through\nman's struggle God helps him; through man's thought and resolve God\nspeaks to him. He is already converted when he believes enough to pray,\nand from this point faith saves by animating and guiding the strenuous\nwill. The ignorant abject people of God learns from the prophet that\nsomething is to be done. There is a command, repeated from Sinai,\nagainst the worship of heathen gods, then a call to love the true God\nthe Deliverer of Israel. Faith is to become life, and life faith. The\nname of Jehovah which has stood for one power among others is clearly\nre-affirmed as that of the One Divine Being, the only Object of\nadoration. Israel is convicted of sin and set on the way of obedience.\n\nThe answer to prayer lies very near to him who cries for salvation. He\nhas not to move a step. He has but to hear the inner voice of\nconscience. Is there a sense of neglect of duty, a sense of\ndisobedience, of faults committed? The first movement towards salvation\nis set up in that conviction and in the hope that the evil now seen may\nbe remedied. Forgiveness is implied in this hope, and it will become\nassured as the hope grows strong. The mistake is often made of supposing\nthat answer to prayer does not come till peace is found. In reality the\nanswer begins when the will is bent towards a better life, though that\nchange may be accompanied by the deepest sorrow and self-humiliation. A\nman who earnestly reproaches himself for despising and disobeying God\nhas already received the grace of the redeeming Spirit.\n\nBut to Israel's cry there was another answer. When repentance was well\nbegun and the tribes turned from the heathen rites which separated them\nfrom each other and from Divine thoughts, freedom again became possible\nand God raised up a liberator. Repentance indeed was not thorough;\ntherefore a complete national reformation was not accomplished. Yet as\nagainst Midian, a mere horde of marauders, the balance of righteousness\nand power inclined now in behalf of Israel. The time was ripe and in the\nprovidence of God the fit man received his call.\n\nSouth-west from Shechem, among the hills of Manasseh at Ophrah of the\nAbiezrites, lived a family that had suffered keenly at the hands of\nMidian. Some members of the family had been slain near Tabor, and the\nrest had as a cause of war not only the constant robberies from field\nand homestead but also the duty of blood-revenge. The deepest sense of\ninjury, the keenest resentment fell to the share of one Gideon, son of\nJoash, a young man of nobler temper than most Hebrews of the time. His\nfather was head of a Thousand; and as he was an idolater the whole clan\njoined him in sacrificing to the Baal whose altar stood within the\nboundary of his farm. Already Gideon appears to have turned with\nloathing from that base worship; and he was pondering earnestly the\ncause of the pitiful state into which Israel had fallen. But the\ncircumstances perplexed him. He was not able to account for facts in\naccordance with faith.\n\nIn a retired place on the hillside where a winepress has been fashioned\nin a hollow of the rocks we first see the future deliverer of Israel.\nHis task for the day is that of threshing out some wheat so that, as\nsoon as possible, the grain may be hid from the Midianites; and he is\nbusy with the flail, thinking deeply, watching carefully as he plies\nthe instrument with a sense of irksome restraint. Look at him and you\nare struck with his stalwart proportions and his bearing: he is \"like\nthe son of a king.\" Observe more closely and the fire of a troubled yet\nresolute soul will be seen in his eye. He represents the best Hebrew\nblood, the finest spirit and intelligence of the nation; but as yet he\nis a strong man bound. He would fain do something to deliver Israel; he\nwould fain trust Jehovah to sustain him in striking a blow for liberty;\nbut the way is not clear. Indignation and hope are baffled.\n\nIn a pause of his work, as he glances across the valley with anxious\neye, suddenly he sees under an oak a stranger sitting staff in hand, as\nif he had sought rest for a little in the shade. Gideon scans the\nvisitor keenly, but finding no cause for alarm bends again to his\nlabour. The next time he looks up the stranger is beside him and words\nof salutation are falling from his lips--\"Jehovah is with thee, thou\nmighty man of valour.\" To Gideon the words did not seem so strange as\nthey would have seemed to some. Yet what did they mean? Jehovah with\nhim? Strength and courage he is aware of. Sympathy with his\nfellow-Israelites and the desire to help them he feels. But these do not\nseem to him proofs of Jehovah's presence. And as for his father's house\nand the Hebrew people, God seems far from them. Harried and oppressed\nthey are surely God-forsaken. Gideon can only wonder at the unseasonable\ngreeting and ask what it means.\n\nUnconsciousness of God is not rare. Men do not attribute their regret\nover wrong, their faint longing for the right to a spiritual presence\nwithin them and a Divine working. The Unseen appears so remote, man\nappears so shut off from intercourse with any supernatural Cause or\nSource that he fails to link his own strain of thought with the Eternal.\nThe word of God is nigh him even in his heart, God is \"closer to him\nthan breathing, nearer than hands and feet.\" Hope, courage, will,\nlife--these are Divine gifts, but he does not know it. Even in our\nChristian times the old error which makes God external, remote, entirely\naloof from human experience survives and is more common than true faith.\nWe conceive ourselves separated from the Divine, with springs of\nthought, purpose and power in our own being, whereas there is in us no\nabsolute origin of power moral intellectual or physical. We live and\nmove in God: He is our Source and our Stay, and our being is shot\nthrough and through with rays of the Eternal. The prophetic word spoken\nin our ear is not more assuredly from God than the pure wish or\nunselfish hope that frames itself in our minds or the stern voice of\nconscience heard in the soul. As for the trouble into which we fall,\nthat too, did we understand aright, is a mark of God's providential\ncare. Would we err without discipline? Would we be ineffective and have\nno bracing? Would we follow lies and enjoy a false peace? Would we\nrefuse the Divine path to strength yet never feel the sorrow of the\nweak? Are these the proofs of God's presence our ignorance would desire?\nThen indeed we imagine an unholy one, an unfaithful one upon the throne\nof the universe. But God has no favourites; He does not rule like a\ndespot of earth for courtiers and an aristocracy. In righteousness and\nfor righteousness, for eternal truth He works, and for that His people\nmust endure.\n\n\"Jehovah is with thee:\" so ran the salutation. Gideon thinking of\nJehovah does not wonder to hear His name. But full of doubts natural to\none so little instructed he feels himself bound to express them: \"Why is\nall this evil befallen us? Hath not Jehovah cast us off and delivered us\ninto the hand of Midian?\" Unconstrainedly, plainly as man to man Gideon\nspeaks, the burdensome thought of his people's misery overcoming the\nstrangeness of the fact that in a God-forsaken land any one should care\nto speak of things like these. Yet momentarily as the conversation\nproceeds there grows in Gideon's soul a feeling of awe, a new and\npenetrating idea. The look fastened upon him conveys beside the human\nstrain of will a suggestion of highest authority; the words, \"Go in this\nthy might and save Israel, have not I sent thee?\" kindle in his heart a\nvivid faith. Laid hold of, lifted above himself, the young man is made\naware at last of the Living God, His presence, His will. Jehovah's\nrepresentative has done his mediatorial work. Gideon desires a sign; but\nhis wish is a note of habitual caution, not of disbelief, and in the\nsacrifice he finds what he needs.\n\nNow, why insist as some do on that which is not affirmed in the text?\nThe form of the narrative must be interpreted: and it does not require\nus to suppose that Jehovah Himself, incarnate, speaking human words, is\nupon the scene. The call is from Him, and indeed Gideon has already a\nprepared heart, or he would not listen to the messenger. But seven times\nin the brief story the word _Malakh_ marks a commissioned servant as\nclearly as the other word Jehovah marks the Divine will and revelation.\nAfter the man of God has vanished from the hill swiftly, strangely,\nin the manner of his coming, Gideon remains alive to Jehovah's\nimmediate presence and voice as he never was before. Humble and\nshrinking--\"forasmuch as I have seen the angel of the Lord face to\nface\"--he yet hears the Divine benediction fall from the sky, and\nfollowing that a fresh and immediate summons. Whether from the\ntabernacle at Shiloh an acknowledged prophet came to the brooding\nAbiezrite, or the visitor was one who concealed his own name and haunt\nthat Jehovah might be the more impressively recognised, it matters not.\nThe angel of the Lord made Gideon thrill with a call to highest duty,\nopened his ears to heavenly voices and then left him. After this he felt\nGod to be with himself.\n\n\"The Lord looked upon Gideon and said, Go in this thy might and save\nIsrael from the hand of Midian: have not I sent thee?\" It was a summons\nto stern and anxious work, and the young man could not be sanguine. He\nhad considered and re-considered the state of things so long, he had so\noften sought a way of liberating his people and found none that he\nneeded a clear indication how the effort was to be made. Would the\ntribes follow him, the youngest of an obscure family in Manasseh? And\nhow was he to stir, how to gather the people? He builds an altar,\nJehovah-shalom; he enters into covenant with the Eternal in high and\nearnest resolution, and with a sudden flash of prophet sight he sees the\nfirst thing to do. Baal's altar in the high place of Ophrah must be\noverthrown. Thereafter it will be known what faith and courage are to be\nfound in Israel.\n\nIt is the call of God that ripens a life into power, resolve,\nfruitfulness--the call and the response to it. Continually the Bible\nurges upon us this great truth, that through the keen sense of a close\npersonal relation to God and of duty owing to Him the soul grows and\ncomes to its own. Our human personality is created in that way and in no\nother. There are indeed lives which are not so inspired and yet appear\nstrong; an ingenious resolute selfishness gives them momentum. But this\nindividuality is akin to that of ape or tiger; it is a part of the\nearth-force in yielding to which a man forfeits his proper being and\ndignity. Look at Napoleon, the supreme example in history of this\nfailure. A great genius, a striking character? Only in the carnal\nregion, for human personality is moral, spiritual, and the most\ntriumphant cunning does not make a man; while on the other hand from a\nvery moderate endowment put to the glorious usury of God's service will\ngrow a soul clear, brave and firm, precious in the ranks of life. Let a\nhuman being, however ignorant and low, hear and answer the Divine\nsummons and in that place a man appears, one who stands related to the\nsource of strength and light. And when a man roused by such a call feels\nresponsibility for his country, for religion, the hero is astir.\nSomething will be done for which mankind waits.\n\nBut heroism is rare. We do not often commune with God nor listen with\neager souls for His word. The world is always in need of men, but few\nappear. The usual is worshipped; the pleasure and profit of the day\noccupy us; even the sight of the cross does not rouse the heart. Speak,\nHeavenly Word! and quicken our clay. Let the thunders of Sinai be heard\nagain, and then the still small voice that penetrates the soul. So shall\nheroism be born and duty done, and the dead shall live.\n\n\n\n\nXI.\n\n_GIDEON, ICONOCLAST AND REFORMER._\n\nJUDGES vi. 15-32.\n\n\n\"The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour:\"--so has the\nprophetic salutation come to the young man at the threshing-floor of\nOphrah. It is a personal greeting and call--\"with thee\"--just what a man\nneeds in the circumstances of Gideon. There is a nation to be saved, and\na human leader must act for Jehovah. Is Gideon fit for so great a task?\nA wise humility, a natural fear have held him under the yoke of daily\ntoil until this hour. Now the needed signs are given; his heart leaps up\nin the pulses of a longing which God approves and blesses. The criticism\nof kinsfolk, the suspicious carping of neighbours, the easily affronted\npride of greater families no longer crush patriotic desire and overbear\nyearning faith. The Lord is with thee, Gideon, youngest son of Joash,\nthe toiler in obscure fields. Go in this thy might; be strong in\nJehovah.\n\nBut the assurance must widen if it is to satisfy. With me--that is a\ngreat thing for Gideon; that gives him free air to breathe and strength\nto use the sword. But can it be true? Can God be with one only in the\nland? He seems to have forsaken Israel and sold His people to the\noppressor. Unless He returns to all in forgiveness and grace nothing\ncan be done; a renewal of the nation is the first thing, and this Gideon\ndesires. Comfort for himself, freedom from Midianite vexation for\nhimself and his father's house would be no satisfaction if, all around,\nhe saw Israel still crushed under heathen hordes. To have a hand in\ndelivering his people from danger and sorrow is Gideon's craving. The\nassurance given to himself personally is welcome because in it there is\na sound as of the beginning of Israel's redemption. Yet \"if the LORD be\nwith us, why then is all this befallen us?\" God cannot be with the\ntribes, for they are harassed and spoiled by enemies, they lie prone\nbefore the altars of Baal.\n\nThere is here an example of largeness in heart and mind which we ought\nnot to miss, especially because it sets before us a principle often\nunrecognised. It is clear enough that Gideon could not enjoy freedom\nunless his country was free, for no man can be safe in an enslaved land;\nbut many fail to see that spiritual redemption in like manner cannot be\nenjoyed by one unless others are moving towards the light. Truly\nsalvation is personal at first and personal at last; but it is never an\nindividual affair only. Each for himself must hear and answer the Divine\ncall to repentance; each as a moral unit must enter the strait gate,\npress along the narrow way of life, agonize and overcome. But the\nredemption of one soul is part of a vast redeeming purpose, and the\nfibres of each life are interwoven with those of other lives far and\nwide. Spiritual brotherhood is a fact but faintly typified by the\nbrotherhood of the Hebrews, and the struggling soul to-day, like\nGideon's long ago, must know God as the Saviour of all men before a\npersonal hope can be enjoyed worth the having. As Gideon showed himself\nto have the Lord with him by a question charged not with individual\nanxiety but with keen interest in the nation, so a man now is seen to\nhave the Spirit of God as he exhibits a passion for the regeneration of\nthe world. Salvation is enlargement of soul, devotion to God and to man\nfor the sake of God. If anyone thinks he is saved while he bears no\nburdens for others, makes no steady effort to liberate souls from the\ntyranny of the false and the vile, he is in fatal error. The salvation\nof Christ plants always in men and women His mind, His law of life, Who\nis the Brother and Friend of all.\n\nAnd the church of Christ must be filled with His Spirit, animated by His\nlaw of life, or be unworthy the name. It exists to unite men in the\nquest and realization of highest thought and purest activity. The church\ntruly exists for all men, not simply for those who appear to compose it.\nSalvation and peace are with the church as with the individual believer,\nbut only as her heart is generous, her spirit simple and unselfish.\nDoubtful and distressed as Gideon was the church of Christ should never\nbe, for to her has been whispered the secret that the Abiezrite had not\nread, how the Lord is in the oppression and pain of the people, in the\nsorrow and the cloud. Nor is a church to suppose that salvation can be\nhers while she thinks of any outside with the least touch of Pharisaism,\ndenying their share in Christ. Better no visible church than one\nclaiming exclusive possession of truth and grace; better no church at\nall than one using the name of Christ for privilege and excommunication,\nrestricting the fellowship of life to its own enclosure.\n\nBut with utmost generosity and humaneness goes the clear perception that\nGod's service is the sternest of campaigns, beginning with resolute\nprotest and decisive deed, and Gideon must rouse himself to strike for\nIsrael's liberty first against the idol-worship of his own village.\nThere stands the altar of Baal, the symbol of Israel's infidelity; there\nbeside it the abominable Asherah, the sign of Israel's degradation.\nAlready he has thought of demolishing these, but has never summoned\ncourage, never seen that the result would justify him. For such a deed\nthere is a time, and before the time comes the bravest man can only reap\ndiscomfiture. Now, with the warrant in his soul, the duty on his\nconscience, Gideon can make assault on a hateful superstition.\n\nThe idolatrous altar and false worship of one's own clan, of one's own\nfamily--these need courage to overturn and, more than courage, a\nripeness of time and a Divine call. A man must be sure of himself and\nhis motives, for one thing, before he takes upon him to be the corrector\nof errors that have seemed truth to his fathers and are maintained by\nhis friends. Suppose people are actually worshipping a false god, a\nworld-power which has long held rule among them. If one would act the\npart of iconoclast the question is, By what right? Is he himself clear\nof illusion and idolatry? Has he a better system to put in place of the\nold? He may be acting in mere bravado and self-display, flourishing\nopinions which have less sincerity than those which he assails. There\nwere men in Israel who had no commission and could have claimed no right\nto throw down Baal's altar, and taking upon them such a deed would have\nhad short shrift at the hands of the people of Ophrah. And so there are\nplenty among us who if they set up to be judges of their fellow-men and\nof beliefs which they call false, even when these are false, deserve\nsimply to be put down with a strong hand. There are voices, professing\nto be those of zealous reformers, whose every word and tone are insults.\nThe men need to go and learn the first lessons of truth, modesty and\nearnestness. And this principle applies all round--to many who assail\nmodern errors as well as to many who assail established beliefs. On the\none hand, are men anxious to uphold the true faith? It is well. But\nanxiety and the best of motives do not qualify them to attack science,\nto denounce all rationalism as godless. We want defenders of the faith\nwho have a Divine calling to the task in the way of long study and a\nheavenly fairness of mind, so that they shall not offend and hurt\nreligion more by their ignorant vehemence than they help it by their\nzeal. On the other hand, by what authority do they speak who sneer at\nthe ignorance of faith and would fain demolish the altars of the world?\nIt is no slight equipment that is needed. Fluent sarcasm, confident\nworldliness, even a large acquaintance with the dogmas of science will\nnot suffice. A man needs to prove himself a wise and humane thinker, he\nneeds to know by experience and deep sympathy those perpetual wants of\nour race which Christ knew and met to the uttermost. Some facile\nadmiration of Jesus of Nazareth does not give the right to free\ncriticism of His life and words, or of the faith based upon them. And if\nthe plea is a rare respect for truth, an unusual fidelity to fact,\nhumanity will still ask of its would-be liberator on what fields he has\nwon his rank or what yoke he has borne. Successful men especially will\nfind it difficult to convince the world that they have a right to strike\nat the throne of Him who stood alone before the Roman Pilate and died on\nthe Cross.\n\nGideon was not unfit to render high service. He was a young man tried\nin humble duty and disciplined in common tasks, shrewd but not arrogant,\na person of clear mind and a patriot. The people of the farm and a good\nmany in Ophrah had learned to trust him and were prepared to follow when\nhe struck out a new path. He had God's call and also his own past to\nhelp him. Hence when Gideon began his undertaking, although to attempt\nit in broad day would have been rash and he must act under cover of\ndarkness, he soon found ten men to give their aid. No doubt he could in\na manner command them, for they were his servants. Still a business of\nthe kind he proposed was likely to rouse their superstitious fears, and\nhe had to conquer these. It was also sure to involve the men in some\nrisk, and he must have been able to give them confidence in the issue.\nThis he did, however, and they went forth. Very quietly the altar of\nBaal was demolished and the great wooden mast, hateful symbol of\nAstarte, was cut down and split in pieces. Such was the first act in the\nrevolution.\n\nWe observe, however, that Gideon does not leave Ophrah without an altar\nand a sacrifice. Destroy one system without laying the foundation of\nanother that shall more than equal it in essential truth and practical\npower, and what sort of deliverance have you effected? Men will rightly\nexecrate you. It is no reformation that leaves the heart colder, the\nlife barer and darker than before; and those who move in the night\nagainst superstition must be able to speak in the day of a Living God\nwho will vindicate His servants. It has been said over and over again\nand must yet be repeated, to overturn merely is no service. They that\nbreak down need some vision at least of a building up, and it is the new\nedifice that is the chief thing. The world of thought to-day is\ninfested with critics and destroyers and may well be tired of them. It\nis too much in need of constructors to have any thanks to spare for new\nVoltaires and Humes. Let us admit that demolition is the necessity of\nsome hours. We look back on the ruins of Bastilles and temples that\nserved the uses of tyranny, and even in the domain of faith there have\nbeen fortresses to throw down and ramparts that made evil separations\namong men. But destruction is not progress; and if the end of modern\nthought is to be agnosticism, the denial of all faith and all ideals,\nthen we are simply on the way to something not a whit better than\nprimeval ignorance.\n\nThe morning sun showed the gap upon the hill where the symbols had stood\nof Baal and Astarte, and soon like an angry swarm of bees the people\nwere buzzing round the scattered stones of the old altar and the rough\nnew pile with its smoking sacrifice. Where was he who ventured to rebuke\nthe city? Very indignant, very pious are these false Israelites. They\nturn on Joash with the fierce demand, \"Bring out thy son that he may\ndie.\" But the father too has come to a decision. We get a hint of the\nsame nature as Gideon's, slow, but firm when once roused; and if\nanything would rouse a man it would be this brutal passion, this sudden\noutbreak of cruelty nursed by heathen custom, his own conscience\nmeanwhile testifying that Gideon was right. Tush! says Joash, will you\nplead for Baal? Will you save him? Is it necessary for you to defend one\nwhom you have worshipped as Lord of heaven? Let him ply his lightnings\nif he has any. I am tired of this Baal who has no principles and is good\nonly for feast-days. He that pleads for Baal, let him be the man to\ndie.--Unexpected apology, serious too and unanswerable. Conscience that\nseemed dead is suddenly awakened and carries all before it. There is a\nquick conversion of the whole town because one man has acted decisively\nand another speaks strong words which cannot be gainsaid. To be sure\nJoash uses a threat--hints something of taking a very short method with\nthose who still protest for Baal; and that helps conversion. But it is\nforce against force, and men cannot object who have themselves talked of\nkilling. By a rapid popular impulse Gideon is justified, and with the\nnew name Jerubbaal he is acknowledged as a leader in Manasseh.\n\nFalse religion is not always so easily exposed and upset. Truth may be\nso mixed with the error of a system that the moral sense is confused and\nfaith clings to the follies and lies conjoined with the truth. And when\nwe look at Judaism in contact with Christianity, at Romanism in contact\nwith the Protestant spirit, we see how difficult it may be to liberate\nfaith. The Apostle Paul wielding the weapon of a singular and keen\neloquence cannot overcome the Pharisaism of his countrymen. At Antioch,\nat Iconium he does his utmost with scant success. The Protestant\nreformation did not so swiftly and thoroughly establish itself in every\nEuropean country as in Scotland. Where there is no pressure of outward\ncircumstances forcing new religious ideas upon men there must be all the\nmore a spirit of independent thought if any salutary change is to be\nmade in creed and worship. Either there must be men of Berea who search\nthe Scriptures daily, men of Zurich and Berne with the energy of free\ncitizens, or reformation must wait on some political emergency. And in\neffect conscience rarely has free play, since men are seldom manly but\nmore or less like sheep. Hence the value, as things go in this world, of\nleaders like Joash, princes like Luther's Elector, who give the\nnecessary push to the undecided and check forward opponents by a\nsignificant warning. It is not the ideal way of reforming the world, but\nit has often answered well enough within limits. There are also cases in\nwhich the threats of the enemy have done good service, as when the\nappearance of the Spanish Armada on the English coast did more to\nconfirm the Protestantism of the country than many years of peaceful\nargument. In truth were there not occasionally something like\nmaster-strokes in Providence the progress of humanity would be almost\nimperceptible. Men and nations are urged on although they have no great\ndesire to advance; they are committed to a voyage and cannot return;\nthey are caught in currents and must go where the currents bear them.\nCertainly in such cases there is not the ardour, and men cannot reap the\nreward belonging to the thinkers and brave servants of the truth.\nPractically whether Protestants or Romanists they are spiritually inert.\nStill it is well for them, well for the world, that a strong hand should\nurge them forward, since otherwise they would not move at all. Of many\nin all churches it must be said they are not victors in a fight of\nfaith, they do not work out their own salvation. Yet they are guided,\nwarned, persuaded into a certain habit of piety and understanding of\ntruth, and their children have a new platform somewhat higher than their\nfathers' on which to begin life.\n\nAt Ophrah of the Abiezrites, though we cannot say much for the nature of\nthe faith in God which has replaced idolatry, still the way is prepared\nfor further and decisive action. Men do not cease from worshipping Baal\nand become true servants of the Most Holy in a single day; that requires\ntime. There are better possibilities, but Gideon cannot teach the way of\nJehovah, nor is he in the mood for religious inquiry. The conversion of\nAbiezer is quite of the same sort as in early Christian times was\neffected when a king went over to the new faith and ordered his subjects\nto be baptized. Not even Gideon knows the value of the faith to which\nthe people have returned, in the strength of which they are to fight.\nThey will be bold now, for even a little trust in God goes a long way in\nsustaining courage. They will face the enemy now to whom they have long\nsubmitted. But of the purity and righteousness into which the faith of\nJehovah should lead them they have no vision.\n\nNow with this in view many will think it strange to hear of the\nconversion of Abiezer. It is a great error however to despise the day of\nsmall things. God gives it and we ought to understand its use.\nConversion cannot possibly mean the same in every period of the world's\nhistory; it cannot even mean the same in any two cases. To recognise\nthis would be to clear the ground of much that hinders the teaching and\nthe success of the gospel. Where there has been long familiarity with\nthe New Testament, the facts of Christianity and the high spiritual\nideas it presents, conversion properly speaking does not take place till\nthe message of Christ to the soul stirs it to its depths, moves alike\nthe reason and the will and creates fervent discipleship. But the\nhistory of Israel and of humanity moves forward continuously in\nsuccessive discoveries or revelations of the highest culminating in the\nChristian salvation. To view Gideon as a religious reformer of the same\nkind as Isaiah is quite a mistake. He had scarcely an idea in common\nwith the great prophet of a later day. But the liberty he desired for\nhis people and the association of liberty with the worship of Jehovah\nmade his revolution a step in the march of Israel's redemption. Those\nwho joined him with any clear purpose and sympathy were therefore\nconverted men in a true if very limited sense. There must be first the\nblade and then the ear before there can be the full corn. We reckon\nGideon a hero of faith, and his hope was truly in the same God Whom we\nworship--the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet his faith\ncould not be on a level with ours, his knowledge being far less. The\nangel who speaks to him, the altar he builds, the Spirit of the Lord\nthat comes upon him, his daring iconoclasm, the new purpose and power of\nthe man are in a range quite above material life--and that is enough.\n\nThere are some circles in which honesty and truth-speaking are evidence\nof a work of grace. To become honest and to speak truth in the fear of\nGod is to be converted, in a sense, where things are at that pass. There\nare people who are so cold that among them enthusiasm for anything good\nmay be called superhuman. Nobody has it. If it appears it must come from\nabove. But these steps of progress, though we may describe them as\nsupernatural, are elementary. Men have to be converted again and again,\never making one gain a step to another. The great advance comes when the\nsoul believes enthusiastically in Christ, pledging itself to Him in full\nsight of the cross. This and nothing less is the conversion we need. To\nlove freedom, righteousness, charity only prepares for the supreme love\nof God in Christ, in which life springs to its highest power and joy.\n\nNow are we to suppose that Gideon alone of all the men of Israel had the\nneedful spirit and faith to lead the revolution? Was there no one but\nthe son of Joash? We do not find him fully equipped, nor as the years go\nby does he prove altogether worthy to be chief of the tribes of God.\nWere there not in many Hebrew towns souls perhaps more ardent, more\nspiritual than his, needing only the prophetic call, the touch of the\nUnseen Hand to make them aware of power and opportunity? The leadership\nof such a one as Moses is complete and unquestionable. He is the man of\nthe age; knowledge, circumstances, genius fit him for the place he has\nto occupy. We cannot imagine a second Moses in the same period. But in\nIsrael as well as among other peoples it is often a very imperfect hero\nwho is found and followed. The work is done, but not so well done as we\nmight think possible. Revolutions which begin full of promise lose their\nspirit because the leader reveals his weakness or even folly. We feel\nsure that there are many who have the power to lead in thought where the\nworld has not dreamt of climbing, to make a clear road where as yet\nthere is no path; and yet to them comes no messenger, the daily task\ngoes on and it is not supposed that a leader, a prophet is passed by.\nAre there no better men that Ehud, Gideon, Jephthah must stand in the\nfront?\n\nOne answer certainly is that the nation at the stage it has reached\ncannot as a whole esteem a better man, cannot understand finer ideas. A\nhundred men of more spiritual faith were possibly brooding over Israel's\nstate, ready to act as fearlessly as Gideon and to a higher issue. But\nit could only have been after a cleansing of the nation's life, a\nsuppression of Baal-worship much more rigorous than could at that time\nbe effected. And in every national crisis the thought of which the\npeople generally are capable determines who must lead and what kind of\nwork shall be done. The reformer before his time either remains unknown\nor ends in eclipse; either he gains no power or it passes rapidly from\nhim because it has no support in popular intelligence or faith.\n\nIt may seem well-nigh impossible in our day for any man to fail of the\nwork he can do; if he has the will we think he can make the way. The\ninward call is the necessity, and when that is heard and the man shapes\na task for himself the day to begin will come. Is that certain? Perhaps\nthere are many now who find circumstance a web from which they cannot\nbreak away without arrogance and unfaithfulness. They could speak, they\ncould do if God called them; but does He call them? On every side ring\nthe fluent praises of the idols men love to worship. One must indeed be\ndeft in speech and many other arts who would hope to turn the crowd from\nits folly, for it will only listen to what seizes the ear, and the\nobscure thinker has not the secret of pleasing. While those who see no\nvisions lead their thousands to a trivial victory, many an uncalled\nGideon toils on in the threshing-floor. The duties of a low and narrow\nlot may hold a man; the babble all around of popular voices may be so\nloud that nothing can make way against them. A certain slowness of the\nhumble and patient spirit may keep one silent who with little\nencouragement could speak words of quickening truth. But the day of\nutterance never comes.\n\nTo these waiting in the market-place it is comparatively a small thing\nthat the world will not hire them. But does the church not want them?\nWhere God is named and professedly honoured, can it be that the smooth\nmessage is preferred because it is smooth? Can it be that in the church\nmen shrink from instead of seeking the highest, most real and vital word\nthat can be said to them? This is what oppresses, for it seems to imply\nthat God has no use in His vineyard for a man when He lets him wait long\nunregarded, it seems to mean that there is no end for the wistful hope\nand the words that burn unspoken in the breast. The unrecognized thinker\nhas indeed to trust God largely. He has often to be content with the\nassurance that what he would say but cannot as yet shall be said in good\ntime, that what he would do but may not shall be done by a stronger\nhand. And further, he may cherish a faith for himself. No life can\nremain for ever unfruitful, or fruitful only in its lower capacities.\nPurposes broken off here shall find fulfilment. Where the highways of\nbeing reach beyond the visible horizon leaders will be needed for the\nyet advancing host, and the time of every soul shall come to do the\nutmost that is in it. The day of perfect service for many of God's\nchosen ones will begin where beyond these shadows there is light and\nspace. Were it not so, some of the best lives would disappear in the\ndarkest cloud.\n\n\n\n\nXII.\n\n\"_THE PEOPLE ARE YET TOO MANY._\"\n\nJUDGES vi. 33-vii. 7.\n\n\nAnother day of hope and energy has dawned. One hillside at least rises\nsunlit out of darkness with the altar of Jehovah on its summit and\nholier sacrifices smoking there than Israel has offered for many a year.\nLet us see what elements of promise, what elements of danger or possible\nerror mingle with the situation. There is a man to take the lead, a\nyoung man, thoughtful, bold, energetic, aware of a Divine call and\ntherefore of some endowment for the task to be done. Gideon believes\nJehovah to be Israel's God and Friend, Israel to be Jehovah's people. He\nhas faith in the power of the Unseen Helper. Baal is nothing, a mere\nname--Bosheth, vanity. Jehovah is a certainty; and what He wills shall\ncome about. So far strength, confidence. But of himself and the people\nGideon is not sure. His own ability to gather and command an army, the\nfitness of any army the tribes can supply to contend with Midian, these\nare as yet unproved. Only one fact stands clear, Jehovah the supreme God\nwith Whom are all powers and influences. The rest is in shadow. For one\nthing, Gideon cannot trace the connection between the Most High and\nhimself, between the Power that controls the world and the power that\ndwells in his own will or the hearts of other men. Yet with the first\nmessage a sign has been given, and other tokens may be sought as events\nmove on. With that measure of uncertainty which keeps a man humble and\nmakes him ponder his steps Gideon finds himself acknowledged leader in\nManasseh and a centre of growing enthusiasm throughout the northern\ntribes.\n\nFor the people generally this at least may be said, that they have\nwisdom enough to recognize the man of aptitude and courage though he\nbelongs to one of the humblest families and is the least in his father's\nhousehold. Drowning men indeed must take the help that is offered, and\nIsrael is at present almost in the condition of a drowning man. A little\nmore and it will sink under the wave of the Midianite invasion. It is\nnot a time to ask of the rank of a man who has character for the\nemergency. And yet, so often is the hero unacknowledged, especially when\nhe begins, as Gideon did, with a religious stroke, that some credit must\nbe given to the people for their ready faith. As the flame goes up from\nthe altar at Ophrah men feel a flash of hope and promise. They turn to\nthe Abiezrite in trust and through him begin to trust God again. Yes:\nthere is a reformation of a sort, and an honest man is at the head of\nit. So far the signs of the time are good.\n\nThen the old enthusiasm is not dead. Almost Israel had submitted, but\nagain its spirit is rising. The traditions of Deborah and Barak, of\nJoshua, of Moses, of the desert march and victories linger with those\nwho are hiding amongst the caves and rocks. Songs of liberty, promises\nof power are still theirs; they feel that they should be free. Canaan is\nJehovah's gift to them and they will claim it. So far as reviving human\nenergy and confidence avail, there is a germ out of which the proper\nlife of the people of God may spring afresh. And it is this that Gideon\nas a reformer must nourish, for the leader depends at every stage on the\ndesires that have been kindled in the hearts of men. While he goes\nbefore them in thought and plan he can only go prosperously where they\nintelligently, heartily will follow. Opportunism is the base lagging\nbehind with popular coldness, as moderatism in religion is. The reformer\ndoes not wait a moment when he sees an aspiration he can guide, a spark\nof faith that can be fanned into flame. But neither in church nor state\ncan one man make a conquering movement. And so we see the vast extent of\nduty and responsibility. That there may be no opportunism every citizen\nmust be alive to the morality of politics. That there may be no\nmoderatism every Christian must be alive to the real duty of the church.\n\nNow have the heads of families and the chief men in Israel been active\nin rallying the tribes? Or have the people waited on their chiefs and\nthe chiefs coldly held back?\n\nThere are good elements in the situation but others not so encouraging.\nThe secular leaders have failed; and what are the priests and Levites\ndoing? We hear nothing of them. Gideon has to assume the double office\nof priest and ruler. At Shiloh there is an altar. There too is the ark,\nand surely some holy observances are kept. Why does Gideon not lead the\npeople to Shiloh and there renew the national covenant through the\nministers of the tabernacle? He knows little of the moral law and the\nsanctities of worship; and he is not at this stage inclined to assume a\nfunction that is not properly his. Yet it is unmistakable that Ophrah\nhas to be the religious centre. Ah! clearly there is opportunism among\nsecular leaders and moderatism among the priests. And this suggests that\nJudah in the south, although the tabernacle is not in her territory, may\nhave an ecclesiastical reason for holding aloof now, as in Deborah's\ntime she kept apart. Simeon and Levi are brethren. Judah, the vanguard\nin the desert march, the leading tribe in the first assault on Canaan,\nhas taken Simeon into close alliance. Has Levi also been almost\nabsorbed? There are signs that it may have been so. The later supremacy\nof Judah in religion requires early and deep root; and we have also to\nexplain the separation between north and south already evident, which\nwas but half overcome by David's kingship and reappeared before the end\nof Solomon's reign. It is very significant to read in the closing\nchapters of Judges of two Levites both of whom were connected with\nJudah. The Levites were certainly respected through the whole land, but\ntheir absence from all the incidents of the period of Deborah, Gideon,\nAbimelech and Jephthah compels the supposition that they had most\naffinity with Judah and Simeon in the south. We know how people can be\ndivided by ecclesiasticism; and there is at least some reason to suspect\nthat while the northern tribes were suffering and fighting Judah went\nher own way enjoying peace and organizing worship.\n\nSuch then is the state of matters so far as the tribes are concerned at\nthe time when Gideon sounds the trumpet in Abiezer and sends messengers\nthroughout Manasseh, Zebulun, Asher and Naphtali. The tribes are partly\nprepared for conflict, but they are weak and still disunited. The muster\nof fighting men who gather at the call of Gideon is considerable and\nperhaps astonishes him. But the Midianites are in enormous numbers in\nthe plain of Jezreel between Moreh and Gilboa, having drawn together\nfrom their marauding expeditions at the first hint of a rising among the\nHebrews. And now as the chief reviews his troops his early apprehension\nreturns. It is with something like dismay that he passes from band to\nband. Ill-disciplined, ill-assorted these men do not bear the air of\ncoming triumph. Gideon has too keen sight to be misled by tokens of\npersonal popularity; nor can he estimate success by numbers. Looking\nclosely into the faces of the men he sees marks enough of hesitancy,\ntokens even of fear. Many seem as if they had gathered like sheep to the\nslaughter, not as lions ready to dash on the prey. Assurance of victory\nhe cannot find in his army; he must seek it elsewhere.\n\nIt is well that multitudes gather to the church to-day for worship and\nenter themselves as members. But to reckon all such as an army\ncontending with infidelity and wickedness--that would indeed be a\nmistake. The mere tale of numbers gives no estimation of strength,\nfighting strength, strength to resist and to suffer. It is needful\nclearly to distinguish between those who may be called captives of the\nchurch or vassals simply, rendering a certain respect, and those others,\noften a very few and perhaps the least regarded, who really fight the\nbattles. Our reckoning at present is often misleading so that we occupy\nground which we cannot defend. We attempt to assail infidelity with an\nill-disciplined host, many of whom have no clear faith, and to overcome\nworldliness by the co-operation of those who are more than half-absorbed\nin the pastimes and follies of the world. There is need to look back to\nGideon who knew what it was to fight. While we are thankful to have so\nmany connected with the church for their own good we must not suppose\nthat they represent aggressive strength; on the contrary we must clearly\nunderstand that they will require no small part of the available time\nand energy of the earnest. In short we have to count them not as helpers\nof the church's forward movement but as those who must be helped.\n\nGideon for his work will have to make sharp division. Three hundred who\ncan dash fearlessly on the enemy will be more to his purpose than\ntwo-and-thirty thousand most of whom grow pale at the thought of battle,\nand he will separate by-and-by. But first he seeks another sign of\nJehovah. This man knows that to do anything worthy for his fellow-men he\nmust be in living touch with God. The idea has no more than elementary\nform; but it rules. He, Gideon, is only an instrument, and he must be\nwell convinced that God is working through him. How can he be sure? Like\nother Israelites he is strongly persuaded that God appears and speaks to\nmen through nature; and he craves a sign in the natural world which is\nof God's making and upholding. Now to us the sign Gideon asked may\nappear rude, uncouth and without any moral significance. A fleece which\nis to be wet one morning while the threshing-floor is dry, and dry next\nmorning while the threshing-floor is wet supplies the means of testing\nthe Divine presence and approval. Further it may be alleged that the\nphenomena admit of natural explanation. But this is the meaning. Gideon\nproviding the fleece identifies himself with it. It is his fleece, and\nif God's dew drenches it that will imply that God's power shall enter\nGideon's soul and abide in it even though Israel be dry as the dusty\nfloor. The thought is at once simple and profound, child-like and\nHebrew-like, and carefully we must observe that it is a nature sign,\nnot a mere portent, Gideon looks for. It is not whether God can do a\ncertain seemingly impossible thing. That would not help Gideon. But the\ndew represents to his mind the vigour he needs, the vigour Israel needs\nif he should fail; and in reversing the sign, \"Let the dew be on the\nground and the fleece be dry,\" he seems to provide a hope even in\nprospect of his own failure or death. Gideon's appeal is for a\nrevelation of the Divine in the same sphere as the lightning storm and\nrain in which Deborah found a triumphant proof of Jehovah's presence;\nyet there is a notable contrast. We are reminded of the \"still small\nvoice\" Elijah heard as he stood in the cave-mouth after the rending wind\nand the earthquake and the lightning. We remember also the image of\nHosea, \"I will be as the dew unto Israel.\" There is a question in the\nBook of Job, \"Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of\ndew?\" The faith of Gideon makes answer, \"Thou, O Most High, dost give\nthe dews of heaven.\" The silent distillation of the dew is profoundly\nsymbolic of the spiritual economy and those energies that are \"not of\nthis noisy world but silent and Divine.\" There is much of interest and\nmeaning that lies thus beneath the surface in the story of the fleece.\n\nAssured that yet another step in advance may be taken, Gideon leads his\nforces northward and goes into camp beside the spring of Harod on the\nslope of Gilboa. Then he does what seems a strange thing for a general\non the eve of battle. The army is large but utterly insufficient in\ndiscipline and morale for a pitched battle with the Midianites. Men who\nhave hastily snatched their fathers' swords and pikes of which they are\nhalf afraid are not to be relied upon in the heat of a terrible\nstruggle. Proclamation is therefore made that those who are fearful and\ntrembling shall return to their homes. From the entrenchment of Israel\non the hillside, where the name Jalid or Gilead still survives, the\ngreat camp of the desert people could be seen, the black tents darkening\nall the valley toward the slope of Moreh a few miles away. The sight was\nenough to appal even the bold. Men thought of their families and\nhomesteads. Those who had anything to lose began to re-consider and by\nmorning only one-third of the Hebrew army was left with the leader. So\nperhaps it would be with thousands of Christians if the church were\nagain called to share the reproach of Christ and resist unto blood.\nUnder the banner of a popular Christianity many march to stirring music\nwho if they supposed struggle to be imminent would be tempted to leave\nthe ranks. Yet the fight is actually going on. Camp is set against camp,\narmy is mingled with army; at the front there is hot work and many are\nfalling. But in the rear it would seem to be a holiday; men are idling,\ngossiping, chaffering as though they had come out for amusement or\ntrade, not at all like those who have pledged life in a great cause and\nhave everything to win or lose. And again, in the thick of the strife,\nwhere courage and energy are strained to the utmost, we look round and\nask whether the fearful have indeed withdrawn, for the suspicion is\nforced upon us that many who call themselves Christ's are on the other\nside. Did not some of those who are striking at us lift their hands\nyesterday in allegiance to the great Captain? Do we not see some who\nhave marched with us holding the very position we are to take, bearing\nthe very standards we must capture? Strangely confused is the field of\nbattle, and hard is it to distinguish friends from foes. If the fearful\nwould retire we should know better how we stand. If the enemy were all\nof Midian the issue would be clear. But fearful and faint-hearted\nIsraelites who may be found any time actually contending against the\nfaith are foes of a kind unknown in simpler days. So frequently does\nsomething of this sort happen that every Christian has need to ask\nhimself whether he is clear of the offence. Has he ever helped to make\nthe false world strong against the true, the proud world strong against\nthe meek? Many of those who are doubtful and go home may sooner be\npardoned than he who strikes only where a certain false _eclat_ is to be\nwon.\n\n \"Just for a handful of silver he left us,\n Just for a riband to stick in his coat--\n Found the one gift of which fortune bereft us,\n Lost all the others she lets us devote....\n We shall march prospering--not thro' his presence;\n Songs may inspirit us--not from his lyre;\n Deeds will be done--while he boasts his quiescence,\n Still bidding crouch whom the rest bade aspire.\"\n\nIn the same line of thought lies another reflection. The men who had\nhastily snatched their fathers' swords and pikes of which they were half\nafraid represent to us certain modern defenders of Christianity--those\nwho carry edged weapons of inherited doctrine with which they dare not\nstrike home. The great battle-axes of reprobation, of eternal judgment,\nof Divine severity against sin once wielded by strong hands, how they\ntremble and swerve in the grasp of many a modern dialectician. The sword\nof the old creed, that once like Excalibur cleft helmets and\nbreastplates through, how often it maims the hands that try to use it\nbut want alike the strength and the cunning. Too often we see a\nwavering blow struck that draws not a drop of blood nor even dints a\nshield, and the next thing is that the knight has run to cover behind\nsome old bulwark long riddled and dilapidated. In the hands of these\nunskilled fighters too well armed for their strength the battle is worse\nthan lost. They become a laughingstock to the enemy, an irritation to\ntheir own side. It is time there was a sifting among the defenders of\nthe faith and twenty and two thousand went back from Gilead. Is the\ntruth of God become mere tin or lead that no new sword can be fashioned\nfrom it, no blade of Damascus firm and keen? Are there no gospel\narmourers fit for the task? Where the doctrinal contest is maintained by\nmen who are not to the depth of their souls sure of the creeds they\nfound on, by men who have no vision of the severity of God and the\nmeaning of redemption, it ends only in confusion to themselves and those\nwho are with them.\n\nTen thousand Israelites remain who according to their own judgment are\nbrave enough and prepared for the fight; but the purpose of the\ncommander is not answered yet. He is resolved to have yet another\nwinnowing that shall leave only the men of temper like his own, men of\nquick intelligence no less than zeal. At the foot of the hill there\nflows a stream of water, and towards it Gideon leads his diminished army\nas if at once to cross and attack the enemy in camp. Will they seize his\nplan and like one man act upon it? Only on those who do can he depend.\nIt is an effective trial. With the hot work of fighting before them the\nwater is needful to all, but in the way of drinking men show their\nspirit. The most kneel or lie down by the edge of the brook that by\nputting their lips to the water they may take a long and leisurely\ndraught. A few supply themselves in quite another way. As a dog whose\nmaster is passing on with rapid strides, coming to a pool or stream by\nthe way stops a moment to lap a few mouthfuls of water and then is off\nagain to his master's side, so do these--three hundred of the ten\nthousand--bending swiftly down carry water to their mouths in the hollow\nof the hand. Full of the day's business they move on again before the\nnine thousand seven hundred have well begun to drink. They separate\nthemselves and are by Gideon's side, beyond the stream, a chosen band\nproved fit for the work that is to be done. It is no haphazard division\nthat is made by the test of the stream. There is wisdom in it,\ninspiration. \"And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men\nthat lapped will I save you and deliver the Midianites into thine hand.\"\n\nMany are the commonplace incidents, the seemingly small points in life\nthat test the quality of men. Every day we are led to the stream-side to\nshow what we are, whether eager in the Divine enterprise of faith or\nslack and self-considering. Take any company of men and women who claim\nto be on the side of Christ, engaged and bound in all seriousness to His\nservice. But how many have it clearly before them that they must not\nentangle themselves more than is absolutely needful with bodily and\nsensuous cravings, that they must not lie down to drink from the stream\nof pleasure and amusement? We show our spiritual state by the way in\nwhich we spend our leisure, our Saturday afternoons, our Sabbaths. We\nshow whether we are fit for God's business by our use of the flowing\nstream of literature, which to some is an opiate, to others a pure and\nstrengthening draught. The question simply is whether we are so engaged\nwith God's plan for our life, in comprehending it, fulfilling it, that\nwe have no time to dawdle and no disposition for the merely casual and\ntrifling. Are we in the responsible use of our powers occupied as that\nAthenian was in the service of his country of whom it is recorded:\n\"There was in the whole city but one street in which Pericles was ever\nseen, the street which led to the market-place and the council-house.\nDuring the whole period of his administration he never dined at the\ntable of a friend\"? Let no one say there is not time in a world like\nthis for social intercourse, for literary and scientific pursuits or the\npractice of the arts. The plan of God for men means life in all possible\nfulness and entrance into every field in which power can be gained. His\nwill for us is that we should give to the world as Christ gave in free\nand uplifting ministry, and as a man can only give what he has first\nmade his own the Christian is called to self-culture as full as the\nother duties of life will permit. He cannot explore too much, he cannot\nbe too well versed in the thoughts and doings of men and the revelations\nof nature, for all he learns is to find high use. But the aim of\npersonal enlargement and efficiency must never be forgotten, that aim\nwhich alone makes the self of value and gives it real life--the service\nand glory of God. Only in view of this aim is culture worth anything.\nAnd when in the providence of God there comes a call which requires us\nto pass with resolute step beyond every stream at which the mind and\ntaste are stimulated that we may throw ourselves into the hard fight\nagainst evil there is to be no hesitation. Everything must yield now.\nThe comparatively small handful who press on with concentrated purpose,\nmaking God's call and His work first and all else even their own needs\na secondary affair--to these will be the honour and the joy of victory.\n\nWe live in a time when people are piling up object after object that\nneeds attention and entering into engagement after engagement that comes\nbetween them and the supreme duty of existence. They form so many\nacquaintances that every spare hour goes in visiting and receiving\nvisits: yet the end of life is not talk. They are members of so many\nsocieties that they scarcely get at the work for which the societies\nexist: yet the end of life is not organizing. They see so many books,\nhear so much news and criticism that truth escapes them altogether: yet\nthe end of life is to know and do the Truth. Civilization defeats its\nown use when it keeps us drinking so long at this and the other spring\nthat we forget the battle. We mean to fight, we mean to do our part, but\nnight falls while we are still occupied on the way. Yet our Master is\none who restricted the earthly life to its simplest elements because\nonly so could spiritual energy move freely to its mark.\n\nIn the incidents we have been reviewing voluntary churches may find\nhints at least towards the justification of their principle. The idea of\na national church is on more than one side intelligible and valid.\nChristianity stands related to the whole body of the people, bountiful\neven to those who scorn its laws, pleading on their behalf with God,\nkeeping an open door and sending forth a perpetual call of love to the\nweak, the erring, the depraved. The ideal of a national church is to\nrepresent this universal office and realize this inclusiveness of the\nChristian religion; and the charm is great. On the other hand a\nvoluntary church is the recognition of the fact that while Christ stands\nrelated to all men it is those only who engage at expense to themselves\nin the labour of the gospel who can be called believers, and that these\nproperly constitute the church. The Hebrew people under the theocracy\nmay represent the one ideal; Gideon's sifting of his army points to the\nother; neither, it must be frankly confessed, has ever been realized.\nLarge numbers may join with some intelligence in worship and avail\nthemselves of the sacraments who have no sense of obligation as members\nof the kingdom and are scarcely touched by the teaching of Christianity\nas to sin and salvation. A separated community again, depending on an\nenthusiasm which too often fails, rarely if ever accomplishes its hope.\nIt aims at exhibiting an active and daring faith, the militancy, the\nurgency of the gospel, and in this mission what is counted success may\nbe a hindrance and a snare. Numbers grow, wealth is acquired, but the\nintensity of belief is less than it was and the sacrifices still\nrequired are not freely made. Nevertheless is it not plain that a\nsociety which would represent the imperative claim of Christ to the\nundivided faith and loyalty of His followers must found upon a personal\nsense of obligation and personal eagerness? Is it not plain that a\nsociety which would represent the purity, the unearthliness, the rigour,\nwe may even say, of Christ's doctrine, His life of renunciation and His\ncross must show a separateness from the careless world and move\ndistinctly in advance of popular religious sentiment? Israel was God's\npeople, yet when a leader went forth to a work of deliverance he had to\nsift out the few keen and devoted spirits. In truth every reformation\nimplies a winnowing, and he does little as a teacher or a guide who does\nnot make division among men.\n\n\n\n\nXIII.\n\n\"_MIDIAN'S EVIL DAY._\"\n\nJUDGES vii. 8-viii. 21.\n\n\nThere is now with Gideon a select band of three hundred ready for a\nnight attack on the Midianites. The leader has been guided to a singular\nand striking plan of action. It is however as he well knows a daring\nthing to begin assault upon the immense camp of Midian with so small a\nband, even though reserves of nearly ten thousand wait to join in the\nstruggle; and we can easily see that the temper and spirit of the enemy\nwere important considerations on the eve of so hazardous a battle. If\nthe Midianites, Amalekites and Children of the East formed a united\narmy, if they were prepared to resist, if they had posted sentinels on\nevery side and were bold in prospect of the fight, it was necessary for\nGideon to be well aware of the facts. On the other hand if there were\nsymptoms of division in the tents of the enemy, if there were no\nadequate preparations, and especially if the spirit of doubt or fear had\nbegun to show itself, these would be indications that Jehovah was\npreparing victory for the Hebrews.\n\nGideon is led to inquire for himself into the condition of the\nMidianitish host. To learn that already his name kindles terror in the\nranks of the enemy will dispel his lingering anxiety. \"Jehovah said\nunto him ... Go thou with Purah thy servant down to the camp; and thou\nshalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be\nstrengthened.\" The principle is that for those who are on God's side it\nis always best to know fully the nature of the opposition. The temper of\nthe enemies of religion, those irregular troops of infidelity and\nunrighteousness with whom we have to contend, is an element of great\nimportance in shaping the course of our Christian warfare. We hear of\norganised vice, of combinations great and resolute against which we have\nto do battle. Language is used which implies that the condition of the\nchurches of Christ contrasts pitiably with the activity and agreement of\nthose who follow the black banners of evil. A vague terror possesses\nmany that in the conflict with vice they must face immense resources and\na powerful confederacy. The far-stretching encampment of the Midianites\nis to all appearance organised for defence at every point, and while the\nservants of God are resolved to attack they are oppressed by the\nvastness of the enterprise. Impiety, sensuality, injustice may seem to\nbe in close alliance with each other, on the best understanding,\nfortified by superhuman craft and malice, with their gods in their midst\nto help them. But let us go down to the host and listen, the state of\nthings may be other than we have thought.\n\nUnder cover of the night which made Midian seem more awful the Hebrew\nchief and his servant left the outpost on the slope of Gilboa and crept\nfrom shadow to shadow across the space which separated them from the\nenemy, vaguely seeking what quickly came. Lying in breathless silence\nbehind some bush or wall the Hebrews heard one relating a dream to his\nfellow. \"I dreamed,\" he said, \"and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled\ninto the camp of Midian and came unto a tent and smote it that it fell,\nand overturned it that it lay along.\" The thoughts of the day are\nreproduced in the visions of the night. Evidently this man has had his\nmind directed to the likelihood of attack, the possibility of defeat. It\nis well known that the Hebrews are gathering to try the issue of battle.\nThey are indeed like a barley cake such as poor Arabs bake among\nashes--a defeated famished people whose life has been almost drained\naway. But tidings have come of their return to Jehovah and traditions of\nHis marvellous power are current among the desert tribes. A confused\nsense of all this has shaped the dream in which the tent of the chief\nappears prostrate and despoiled. Gideon and Purah listen intently, and\nwhat they hear further is even more unexpected and reassuring. The dream\nis interpreted: \"This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son\nof Joash, a man of Israel; for into his hand God hath delivered Midian\nand all the host.\" He who reads the dream knows more than the other. He\nhas the name of the Hebrew captain. He has heard of the Divine messenger\nwho called Gideon to his task and assured him of victory. As for the\napparent strength of the host of Midian, he has no confidence in it for\nhe has felt the tremor that passes through the great camp. So, lying\nconcealed, Gideon hears from his enemies themselves as from God the\npromise of victory, and full of worshipping joy hastens back to prepare\nfor an immediate attack.\n\nNow in every combination of godless men there is a like feeling of\ninsecurity, a like presage of disaster. Those who are in revolt against\njustice, truth and the religion of God have nothing on which to rest,\nno enduring bond of union. What do they conceive as the issue of their\nattempts and schemes? Have they anything in view that can give heart and\ncourage; an end worth toil and hazard? It is impossible, for their\nefforts are all in the region of the false where the seeming realities\nare but shadows that perpetually change. Let it be allowed that to a\ncertain extent common interests draw together men of no principle so\nthat they can co-operate for a time. Yet each individual is secretly\nbent on his own pleasure or profit and there is nothing that can unite\nthem constantly. One selfish and unjust person may be depended upon to\nconceive a lively antipathy to every other selfish and unjust person.\nMidian and Amalek have their differences with one another, and each has\nits own rival chiefs, rival families, full of the bitterest jealousy\nwhich at any moment may burst into flame. The whole combination is weak\nfrom the beginning, a mere horde of clashing desires incapable of\nharmony, incapable of a sustaining hope.\n\nIn the course of our Lord's brief ministry the insecurity of those who\nopposed Him was often shown. The chief priests and scribes and lawyers\nwhispered to each other the fears and anxieties He aroused. In the\nSanhedrin the discussion about Him comes to the point, \"What do we? For\nthis man doeth many signs. If we let Him thus alone, all men will\nbelieve on Him: and the Romans will come and take away both our peace\nand our nation.\" The Pharisees say among themselves, \"Perceive ye how ye\nprevail nothing? Behold the world is gone after Him.\" And what was the\nreason, what was the cause of this weakness? Intense devotion to the law\nand the institutions of religion animated those Israelites yet sufficed\nnot to bind them together. Rival schools and claims honeycombed the\nwhole social and ecclesiastical fabric. The pride of religious ancestry\nand a keenly cherished ambition could not maintain peace or hope; they\nwere of no use against the calm authority of the Nazarene. Judaism was\nfull of the bitterness of falsehood. The seeds of despair were in the\nminds of those who accused Christ, and the terrible harvest was reaped\nwithin a generation.\n\nPassing from this supreme evidence that the wrong can never be the\nstrong, look at those ignorant and unhappy persons who combine against\nthe laws of society. Their suspicions of each other are proverbial, and\never with them is the feeling that sooner or later they will be\novertaken by the law. They dream of that and tell each other their\ndreams. The game of crime is played against well-known odds. Those who\ncarry it on are aware that their haunts will be discovered, their gang\nbroken up. A bribe will tempt one of their number and the rest will have\nto go their way to the cell or the gallows. Yet with the presage of\ndefeat wrought into the very constitution of the mind and with\ninnumerable proofs that it is no delusion, there are always those\namongst us who attempt what even in this world is so hazardous and in\nthe larger sweep of moral economy is impossible. In selfishness, in\noppression and injustice, in every kind of sensuality men adventure as\nif they could ensure their safety and defy the day of reckoning.\n\nGideon is now well persuaded that the fear of disaster is not for\nIsrael. He returns to the camp and forthwith prepares to strike. It\nseems to him now the easiest thing possible to throw into confusion that\ngreat encampment of Midian. One bold device rapidly executed will set\nin operation the suspicions and fears of the different desert tribes and\nthey will melt away in defeat. The stratagem has already shaped itself.\nThe three hundred are provided with the earthenware jars or pitchers in\nwhich their simple food has been carried. They soon procure firebrands\nand from among the ten thousand in the camp enough rams' horns are\ncollected to supply one to each of the attacking party. Then three bands\nare formed of equal strength and ordered to advance from different sides\nupon the enemy, holding themselves ready at a given signal to break the\npitchers, flash the torches in the air and make as much noise as they\ncan with their rude mountain horns. The scheme is simple, quaint,\ningenious. It reveals skill in making use of the most ordinary materials\nwhich is of the very essence of generalship. The harsh cornets\nespecially filling the valley with barbaric tumult are well adapted to\ncreate terror and confusion. We hear nothing of ordinary weapons, but it\nmust not be supposed that the three hundred were unarmed.\n\nIt was not long after midnight, the middle watch had been newly set,\nwhen the three companies reached their stations. The orders had been\nwell seized and all went precisely as Gideon had conceived. With crash\nand tumult and flare of torches there came the battle-shout--\"Sword of\nJehovah and of Gideon.\" The Israelites had no need to press forward;\nthey stood every man in his place, while fear and suspicion did the\nwork. The host ran and cried and fled. To and fro among the tents,\nseeing now on this side now on that the menacing flames, turning from\nthe battle-cry here to be met in an opposite quarter by the wild\ndissonance of the horns, the surprised army was thrown into utter\nconfusion. Every one thought of treachery and turned his sword against\nhis fellow. Escape was the common impulse, and the flight of the\ndisorganized host took a south-easterly direction by the road that led\nto the Jordan valley and across it to the Hauran and the desert. It was\na complete rout and the Hebrews had only to follow up their advantage.\nThose who had not shared the attack joined in the pursuit. Every village\nthat the flying Midianites passed sent out its men, brave enough now\nthat the arm of the tyrant was broken. Down to the ghor of Jordan the\nterror-stricken Arabs fled and along the bank for many a mile, harassed\nin the difficult ground by the Hebrews who know every yard of it. At the\nfords there is dreadful work. Those who cross at the highest point near\nSuccoth are not the main body, but the two chiefs Zebah and Zalmunna are\namong them and Gideon takes them in hand. Away to the south Ephraim has\nits opportunity and gains a victory where the road along the valley of\nJordan diverges to Beth-barah. For days and nights the retreat goes on\ntill the strange swift triumph of Israel is assured.\n\n1. There is in this narrative a lesson as to equipment for the battle of\nlife and the service of God somewhat like that which we found in the\nstory of Shamgar, yet with points of difference. We are reminded here of\nwhat may be done without wealth, without the material apparatus that is\noften counted necessary. The modern habit is to make much of tools and\noutfit. The study and applications of science have brought in a fashion\nof demanding everything possible in the way of furniture, means,\nimplements. Everywhere this fashion prevails, in the struggle of\ncommerce and manufacture, in literature and art, in teaching and\nhousehold economy, worst of all in church life and work. Michael Angelo\nwrought the frescoes of the Sistine chapel with the ochres he dug with\nhis own hands from the garden of the Vatican. Mr. Darwin's great\nexperiments were conducted with the rudest and cheapest furniture,\nanything a country house could supply. But in the common view it is on\nperfect tools and material almost everything depends; and we seem in the\nway of being absolutely mastered by them. What, for example, is the\necclesiasticism which covers an increasing area of religious life? And\nwhat is the parish or congregation fully organized in the modern sense?\nMust we not call them elaborate machinery expected to produce spiritual\nlife? There must be an extensive building with every convenience for\nmaking worship agreeable; there must be guilds and guild rooms,\nsocieties and committees, each with an array of officials; there must be\ndue assignment of observances to fit days and seasons; there must be\narchitecture, music and much else. The ardent soul desiring to serve God\nand man has to find a place in conjunction with all this and order his\nwork so that it may appear well in a report. To some these things may\nappear ludicrous, but they are too significant of the drift from that\nsimplicity and personal energy in which the Church of Christ began. We\nseem to have forgotten that the great strokes have been made by men who\nlike Gideon delayed not for elaborate preparation nor went back on rule\nand precedent, but took the firebrands, pitchers and horns that could be\ngot together on a hill-side. The great thing both in the secular and in\nthe spiritual region is that men should go straight at the work which\nhas to be done and do it with sagacity, intelligence and fervour of\ntheir own.\n\nWe look back to those few plain men with whom lay the new life of the\nworld, going forth with the strong certain word of a belief for which\nthey could die, a truth by which the dead could be revived. Their\nequipment was of the soul. Of outward means and material advantages they\nwere, one may say, destitute. Our methods are very different. No doubt\nin these days there is a work of defence which requires the finest\nweapons and most careful preparation. Yet even here no weight of\npolished armour is so good for David's use as the familiar sling and\nstone. And in the general task of the church, teaching, guiding, setting\nforth the Gospel of Christ, whatever keeps soul from honest and hearty\ntouch with soul is bad. We want above all things men who have sanctified\ncommon-sense, mother-wit, courage and frank simplicity, men who can find\ntheir own means and gain their own victories. The churches that do not\nbreed such are doomed.\n\n2. We have been reading a story of panic and defeat, and we may be\nadvised to find in it a hint of the fate that is to overtake\nChristianity when modern criticism has finally ordered its companies and\nprovided them with terrifying horns and torches. Or certain Christians\nmay feel that the illustration fits the state of alarm in which they are\nobliged to live. Is not the church like that encampment in the valley,\nexposed to the most terrible and startling attacks on all sides, and in\nperil constantly of being routed by unforeseen audacities, here of\nIngersoll, Bakunin, Bebel, there of Huxley or Renan? Not seldom still,\nthough after many a false alarm, the cry is raised, \"The church, the\nfaith--in danger!\"\n\nOnce for all--the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is never in danger,\nthough enemies buzz on every side like furious hornets. A confederation\nof men, a human organization may be in deadly peril and may know that\nthe harsh tumult around it means annihilation. But no institution is\nidentical with the Catholic Church, much less with the kingdom of God.\nChristians need not dread the honest criticism which has a right to\nspeak, nor even the malice, envy, which have no right yet dare to utter\nthemselves. Whether it be sheer atheism or scientific dogma or political\nchange or criticism of the Bible that makes the religious world tremble\nand cry out for fear, in every case panic is unchristian and unworthy.\nFor one thing, do we not frame numerous thoughts and opinions of our own\nand devise many forms of service which in the course of time we come to\nregard as having a sacredness equal to the doctrine and ordinances of\nChrist? And do we not frequently fall into the error of thinking that\nthe symbols, traditions, outward forms of a Christian society are\nessential and as much to be contended for as the substance of the\ngospel? Criticism of these is dreaded as criticism of Christ, decay of\nthem is regarded, often quite wrongly, as decay of the work of God on\nearth. We forget that forms, as such, are on perpetual trial, and we\nforget also that no revolution or seeming disaster can touch the facts\non which Christianity rests. The Divine gospel is eternal. Indeed,\nassailants of the right sort are needed, and even those of the bad sort\nhave their use. The encampment of the unseeing and unthinking, of the\nself-loving and arrogant needs to be startled; and he is no emissary of\nSatan who honestly leads an attack where men lie in false peace, though\nhe may be for his own part but a rude fighter. The panic indeed\nsometimes takes a singular and pathetic form. The unexpected enemy\nbreaks in on the camp with blare of ignorant rebuke and noisy\ndemonstration of strength and authority. Him the church hails as a new\napostle, at his feet she takes her place with a strange unprofitable\nhumility: and this is the worst kind of disaster. Better far a serious\nbattle than such submission.\n\n3. Without pursuing this suggestion we pass to another raised by the\nconduct of the men of Ephraim. They obeyed the call of Gideon when he\nhastily summoned them to take the lower fords of Jordan within their own\nterritory and prevent the escape of the Midianites. To them it fell to\ngain a great victory, and especially to slay two subordinate chiefs,\nOreb and Zeeb, the Crow and the Wolf. But afterwards they complained\nthat they had not been called at first when the commander was gathering\nhis army. We are informed that they chode with him sharply on this\nscore, and it was only by his soft answer which implied a little\nflattery that they were appeased. \"What have I now in comparison with\nyou? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the\nvintage of Abiezer?\"\n\nThe men of Ephraim were not called at first along with Manasseh,\nZebulun, Asher and Naphtali. True. But why? Was not Gideon aware of\ntheir selfish indifference? Did he not read their character? Did he not\nperceive that they would have sullenly refused to be led by a man of\nManasseh, the youngest son of Joash of Abiezer? Only too well did the\nyoung chief know with whom he had to deal. There had been fighting\nalready between Israel and the Midianites. Did Ephraim help then? Nay:\nbut secure in her mountains that tribe sullenly and selfishly held\naloof. And now the complaint is made when Gideon, once unknown, is a\nvictorious hero, the deliverer of the Hebrew nation.\n\nDo we not often see something like this? There are people who will not\nhazard position or profit in identifying themselves with an enterprise\nwhile the issue is doubtful, but desire to have the credit of connection\nwith it if it should succeed. They have not the humanity to associate\nthemselves with those who are fighting in a good cause because it is\ngood. In fact they do not know what is good, their only test of value\nbeing success. They lie by, looking with half-concealed scorn on the\nattempts of the earnest, sneering at their heat either in secret or\nopenly, and when one day it becomes clear that the world is applauding\nthey conceive a sudden respect for those at whom they scoffed. Now they\nwill do what they can to help,--with pleasure, with liberality. Why were\nthey not sooner invited? They will almost make a quarrel of that, and\nthey have to be soothed with fair speeches. And people who are worldly\nat heart push forward in this fashion when Christian affairs have\nsuccess or eclat attached to them, especially where religion wears least\nof its proper air and has somewhat of the earthly in tone and look.\nChrist pursued by the Sanhedrin, despised by the Roman is no person for\nthem to know. Let Him have the patronage of Constantine or a de' Medici\nand they are then assured that He has claims which they will admit--in\ntheory. More than that needs not be expected from men and women \"of the\nworld.\" \"_Messieurs, surtout, pas de zele._\" Above all, no zeal: that is\nthe motto of every Ephraim since time began. Wait till zeal is cooling\nbefore you join the righteous cause.\n\n4. But while there are the carnal who like to share the success of\nreligion after it has cooled down to their temperature, another class\nmust not be forgotten, those who in their selfishness show the worst\nkind of hostility to the cause they should aid. Look at the men of\nSuccoth and Penuel. Gideon and his band leading the pursuit of the\nMidianites have had no food all night and are faint with hunger. At\nSuccoth they ask bread in vain. Instead of help they get the taunt--\"Are\nZebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand that we should give bread unto\nthine army?\" Onward they press another stage up the hills to Penuel, and\nthere also their request is refused. Gideon savage with the need of his\nmen threatens dire punishment to those who are so callous and cruel; and\nwhen he returns victorious his threat is made good. With thorns and\nbriars of the wilderness he scourges the elders of Succoth. The pride of\nPenuel is its watchtower, and that he demolishes, at the same time\ndecimating the men of the city.\n\nPenuel and Succoth lay in the way between the wilderness in which the\nMidianites dwelt and the valleys of western Palestine. The men of these\ncities feared that if they aided Gideon they would bring on themselves\nthe vengeance of the desert tribes. Yet where do we see the lowest point\nof unfaith and meanness, in Ephraim or Succoth? It is perhaps hard to\nsay which are the least manly: those contrive to join the conquering\nhost and snatch the credit of victory; these are not so clever, and\nwhile they are as eager to make things smooth for themselves the thorns\nand briars are more visibly their portion. To share the honour of a\ncause for which you have done very little is an easy thing in this\nworld, though an honest man cannot wear that kind of laurel; but as for\nSuccoth and Penuel, the poor creatures, who will not pity them? It is so\ninconvenient often to have to decide. They would temporise if it were\npossible--supply the famished army with mouldy corn and raisins at a\nhigh price, and do as much next time for the Midianites. Yet the\nopportunity for this kind of salvation does not always come. There are\ntimes when people have to choose definitely whom they will serve, and\ndiscover to their horror that judgment follows swiftly upon base and\ncowardly choice. And God is faithful in making the recusants feel the\nurgency of moral choice and the grip He has of them. They would fain let\nthe battle of truth sweep by and not meddle with it. But something is\nforced upon them. They cannot let the whole affair of salvation alone,\nbut are driven to refuse heaven in the very act of trying to escape\nhell. And although judgment lingers, ever and anon demonstration is made\namong the ranks of the would-be prudent that One on high judges for His\nwarriors. It is not the Gideon leading the little band of faint but\neager champions of faith who punishes the callous heathenism and low\nscorn of a Succoth and Penuel. The Lord of Hosts Himself will vindicate\nand chasten. \"Whoso shall cause one of these little ones that believe in\nMe to stumble, it is profitable for him that a great millstone should be\nhanged about his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depth of the\nsea.\"\n\n5. Yet another word of instruction is found in the appeal of Gideon:\n\"Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me, for\nthey be faint and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna.\" Well has the\nexpression \"Faint yet pursuing\" found its place as a proverb of the\nreligious life. We are called to run with patience a race that needs\nlong ardour and strenuous exertion. The goal is far away, the ground is\ndifficult. As day after day and year after year demands are made upon\nour faith, our resolution, our thought, our devotion to One who remains\nunseen and on our confidence in the future life it is no wonder that\nmany feel faint and weary. Often have we to pass through a region\ninhabited by those who are indifferent or hostile, careless or derisive.\nAt many a door we knock and find no sympathy. We ask for bread and\nreceive a stone; and still the fight slackens not, still have we to\nreach forth to the things that are before. But the faintness is not\ndeath. In the most terrible hours there is new life for our spiritual\nnature. Refreshment comes from an unseen hand when earth refuses help.\nWe turn to Christ; we consider Him who endured great contradiction of\nsinners against Himself; we realize afresh that we are ensured of the\nfulness of His redemption. The body grows faint, but the soul presses\non; the body dies and has to be left behind as a worn-out garment, but\nthe spirit ascends into immortal youth.\n\n \"On, chariot! on, soul!\n Ye are all the more fleet.\n Be alone at the goal\n Of the strange and the sweet!\"\n\n6. Finally let us glance at the fate of Zebah and Zalmunna, not without\na feeling of admiration and of pity for the rude ending of these stately\nlives.\n\nThe sword of Jehovah and of Gideon has slain its thousands. The vast\ndesert army has been scattered like chaff, in the flight, at the fords,\nby the rock Oreb and the winepress Zeeb, all along the way by Nobah and\nJogbehah, and finally at Karkor, where having encamped in fancied\nsecurity the residue is smitten. Now the two defeated chiefs are in the\nhand of Gideon, their military renown completely wrecked, their career\ndestroyed. To them the expedition into Canaan was part of the common\nbusiness of leadership. As emirs of nomadic tribes they had to find\npasture and prey for their people. No special antagonism to Jehovah, no\nill-will against Israel more than other nations led them to cross the\nJordan and scour the plains of Palestine. It was quite in the natural\ncourse of things that Midianites and Amalekites should migrate and move\ntowards the west. And now the defeat is crushing. What remains therefore\nbut to die?\n\nWe hear Gideon command his son Jether to fall upon the captive chiefs,\nwho brilliant and stately once lie disarmed, bound and helpless. The\nindignity is not to our mind. We would have thought more of Gideon had\nhe offered freedom to these captives \"fallen on evil days,\" men to be\nadmired not hated. But probably they do not desire a life which has in\nit no more of honour. Only let the Hebrew leader not insult them by the\nstroke of a young man's sword. The great chiefs would die by a warrior's\nblow. And Jether cannot slay them; his hand falters as he draws the\nsword. These men who have ruled their tens of thousands have still the\nlion look that quails. \"Rise thou and fall upon us,\" they say to Gideon:\n\"for as the man is, so is his strength.\" And so they die, types of the\ngreatest earthly powers that resist the march of Divine Providence,\noverthrown by a sword which even in faulty weak human hands has\nindefeasible sureness and edge.\n\n\"As the man is, so is his strength.\" It is another of the pregnant\nsayings which meet us here and there even in the least meditative parts\nof Scripture. Yes: as a man is in character, in faith, in harmony with\nthe will of God, so is his strength; as he is in falseness, injustice,\negotism and ignorance, so is his weakness. And there is but one real\nperennial kind of strength. The demonstration made by selfish and\ngodless persons, though it shake continents and devastate nations, is\nnot Force. It has no nerve, no continuance, but is mere fury which\ndecays and perishes. Strength is the property of truth and truth only;\nit belongs to those who are in union with eternal reality and to no\nothers in the universe. Would you be invincible? You must move with the\neternal powers of righteousness and love. To be showy in appearance or\nterrible in sound on the wrong side with the futilities of the world is\nbut incipient death.\n\nOn all sides the application may be seen. In the home and its varied\nincidents of education, sickness, discipline; in society high and low;\nin politics, in literature. As the man or woman is in simple allegiance\nto God and clear resolution there is strength to endure, to govern, to\nthink and every way to live. Otherwise there can only be instability,\nfoolishness, blundering selfishness, a sad passage to inanition and\ndecay.\n\n\n\n\nXIV.\n\n_GIDEON THE ECCLESIASTIC._\n\nJUDGES viii. 22-28.\n\n\nThe great victory of Gideon had this special significance, that it ended\nthe incursions of the wandering races of the desert. Canaan offered a\ncontinual lure to the nomads of the Arabian wilderness, as indeed the\neastern and southern parts of Syria do at the present time. The hazard\nwas that wave after wave of Midianites and Bedawin sweeping over the\nland should destroy agriculture and make settled national life and\ncivilization impossible. And when Gideon undertook his work the risk of\nthis was acute. But the defeat inflicted on the wild tribes proved\ndecisive. \"Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, and they\nlifted up their heads no more.\" The slaughter that accompanied the\noverthrow of Zebah and Zalmunna, Oreb and Zeeb became in the literature\nof Israel a symbol of the destruction which must overtake the foes of\nGod. \"Do thou to thine enemies as unto Midian\"--so runs the cry of a\npsalm--\"Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb: yea, all their princes\nlike Zebah and Zalmunna, who said, Let us take to ourselves in\npossession the habitations of God.\" In Isaiah the remembrance gives a\ntouch of vivid colour to the oracle of the coming Wonderful, Prince of\nPeace. \"The yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod\nof his oppressor shall be broken as in the day of Midian.\" Regarding the\nAssyrian also the same prophet testifies, \"The Lord of Hosts shall stir\nup against him a scourge as in the slaughter of Midian at the rock of\nOreb.\" We have no song like that of Deborah celebrating the victory, but\na sense of its immense importance held the mind of the people, and by\nreason of it Gideon found a place among the heroes of faith. Doubtless\nhe had, to begin with, a special reason for taking up arms against the\nMidianitish chiefs that they had slain his two brothers: the duty of an\navenger of blood fell to him. But this private vengeance merged in the\ndesire to give his people freedom, religious as well as political, and\nit was Jehovah's victory that he won, as he himself gladly acknowledged.\nWe may see, therefore, in the whole enterprise, a distinct step of\nreligious development. Once again the name of the Most High was exalted;\nonce again the folly of idol worship was contrasted with the wisdom of\nserving the God of Abraham and Moses. The tribes moved in the direction\nof national unity and also of common devotion to their unseen King. If\nGideon had been a man of larger intellect and knowledge he might have\nled Israel far on the way towards fitness for the mission it had never\nyet endeavoured to fulfil. But his powers and inspiration were limited.\n\nOn his return from the campaign the wish of the people was expressed to\nGideon that he should assume the title of king. The nation needed a\nsettled government, a centre of authority which would bind the tribes\ntogether, and the Abiezrite chief was now clearly marked as a man fit\nfor royalty. He was able to persuade as well as to fight; he was bold,\nfirm and prudent. But to the request that he should become king and\nfound a dynasty Gideon gave an absolute refusal: \"I will not rule over\nyou, neither shall my son rule over you; Jehovah shall rule over you.\"\nWe always admire a man who refuses one of the great posts of human\nauthority or distinction. The throne of Israel was even at that time a\nflattering offer. But should it have been made? There are few who will\npause in a moment of high personal success to think of the point of\nmorality involved; yet we may credit Gideon with the belief that it was\nnot for him or any man to be called king in Israel. As a judge he had\npartly proved himself, as a judge he had a Divine call and a marvellous\nvindication: that name he would accept, not the other. One of the chief\nelements of Gideon's character was a strong but not very spiritual\nreligiousness. He attributed his success entirely to God, and God alone\nhe desired the nation to acknowledge as its Head. He would not even in\nappearance stand between the people and their Divine Sovereign, nor with\nhis will should any son of his take a place so unlawful and dangerous.\n\nAlong with his devotion to God it is quite likely that the caution of\nGideon had much to do with his resolve. He had already found some\ndifficulty in dealing with the Ephraimites, and he could easily foresee\nthat if he became king the pride of that large clan would rise strongly\nagainst him. If the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim was better than\nthe whole vintage of Abiezer, as Gideon had declared, did it not follow\nthat any elder of the great central tribe would better deserve the\nposition of king than the youngest son of Joash of Abiezer? The men of\nSuccoth and Penuel too had to be reckoned with. Before Gideon could\nestablish himself in a royal seat he would have to fight a great\ncoalition in the centre and south and also beyond Jordan. To the pains\nof oppression would succeed the agony of civil war. Unwilling to kindle\na fire which might burn for years and perhaps consume himself, he\nrefused to look at the proposal, flattering and honourable as it was.\n\nBut there was another reason for his decision which may have had even\nmore weight. Like many men who have distinguished themselves in one way,\nhis real ambition lay in a different direction. We think of him as a\nmilitary genius. He for his part looked to the priestly office and the\ntransmission of Divine oracles as his proper calling. The enthusiasm\nwith which he overthrew the altar of Baal, built the new altar of\nJehovah and offered his first sacrifice upon it survived when the wild\ndelights of victory had passed away. The thrill of awe and the strange\nexcitement he had felt when Divine messages came to him and signs were\ngiven in answer to his prayer affected him far more deeply and\npermanently than the sight of a flying enemy and the pride of knowing\nhimself victor in a great campaign. Neither did kingship appear much in\ncomparison with access to God, converse with Him and declaration of His\nwill to men. Gideon appears already tired of war, with no appetite\ncertainly for more, however successful, and impatient to return to the\nmysterious rites and sacred privileges of the altar. He had good reason\nto acknowledge the power over Israel's destiny of the Great Being Whose\nspirit had come upon him, Whose promises had been fulfilled. He desired\nto cultivate that intercourse with Heaven which more than anything else\ngave him the sense of dignity and strength. From the offer of a crown he\nturned as if eager to don the robe of a priest and listen for the holy\noracles that none beside himself seemed able to receive.\n\nIt is notable that in the history of the Jewish kings the tendency shown\nby Gideon frequently reappeared. According to the law of later times the\nkingly duties should have been entirely separated from those of the\npriesthood. It came to be a dangerous and sacrilegious thing for the\nchief magistrate of the tribes, their leader in war, to touch the sacred\nimplements or offer a sacrifice. But just because the ideas of sacrifice\nand priestly service were so fully in the Jewish mind the kings, either\nwhen especially pious or especially strong, felt it hard to refrain from\nthe forbidden privilege. On the eve of a great battle with the\nPhilistines Saul, expecting Samuel to offer the preparatory sacrifice\nand inquire of Jehovah, waited seven days and then impatient of delay\nundertook the priestly part and offered a burnt sacrifice. His act was\nproperly speaking a confession of the sovereignty of God; but when\nSamuel came he expressed great indignation against the king, denounced\nhis interference with sacred things and in effect removed him then and\nthere from the kingdom. David for his part appears to have been\nscrupulous in employing the priests for every religious function; but at\nthe bringing up of the ark from the house of Obed-Edom he is reported to\nhave led a sacred dance before the Lord and to have worn a linen ephod,\nthat is a garment specially reserved for the priests. He also took to\nhimself the privilege of blessing the people in the name of the Lord. On\nthe division of the kingdom Jeroboam promptly assumed the ordering of\nreligion, set up shrines and appointed priests to minister at them; and\nin one scene we find him standing by an altar to offer incense. The\ngreat sin of Uzziah, on account of which he had to go forth from the\ntemple a hopeless leper, is stated in the second book of Chronicles to\nhave been an attempt to burn incense on the altar. These are cases in\npoint; but the most remarkable is that of Solomon. To be king, to build\nand equip the temple and set in operation the whole ritual of the house\nof God did not content that magnificent prince. His ambition led him to\nassume a part far loftier and more impressive than fell to the chief\npriest himself. It was Solomon who offered the prayer when the temple\nwas consecrated, who pronounced the blessing of God on the worshipping\nmultitude; and at his invocation it was that \"fire came down from heaven\nand consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices.\" This crowning act\nof his life, in which the great monarch rose to the very highest pitch\nof his ambition, actually claiming and taking precedence over all the\nhouse of Aaron, will serve to explain the strange turn of the\nAbiezrite's history at which we have now arrived.\n\n\"He made an ephod and put it in his city, even in Ophrah.\" A strong but\nnot spiritual religiousness, we have said, is the chief note of Gideon's\ncharacter. It may be objected that such a one, if he seeks\necclesiastical office, does so unworthily; but to say so is an\nuncharitable error. It is not the devout temper alone that finds\nattraction in the ministry of sacred things; nor should a love of place\nand power be named as the only other leading motive. One who is not\ndevout may in all sincerity covet the honour of standing for God before\nthe congregation, leading the people in worship and interpreting the\nsacred oracles. A vulgar explanation of human desire is often a false\none; it is so here. The ecclesiastic may show few tokens of the\nspiritual temper, the other-worldliness, the glowing and simple truth we\nrightly account to be the proper marks of a Christian ministry; yet he\nmay by his own reckoning have obeyed a clear call. His function in this\ncase is to maintain order and administer outward rites with dignity and\ncare--a limited range of duty indeed, but not without utility,\nespecially when there are inferior and less conscientious men in office\nnot far away. He does not advance faith, but according to his power he\nmaintains it.\n\nBut the ecclesiastic must have the ephod. The man who feels the dignity\nof religion more than its humane simplicity, realizing it as a great\nmovement of absorbing interest, will naturally have regard to the means\nof increasing dignity and making the movement impressive. Gideon calls\nupon the people for the golden spoils taken from the Midianites,\nnose-rings, earrings and the like, and they willingly respond. It is\neasy to obtain gifts for the outward glory of religion, and a golden\nimage is soon to be seen within a house of Jehovah on the hill at\nOphrah. Whatever form it had, this figure was to Gideon no idol but a\nsymbol or sign of Jehovah's presence among the people, and by means of\nit, in one or other of the ways used at the time, as for example by\ncasting lots from within it, appeal was made to God with the utmost\nrespect and confidence. When it is supposed that Gideon fell away from\nhis first faith in making this image the error lies in overestimating\nhis spirituality at the earlier stage. We must not think that at any\ntime the use of a symbolic image would have seemed wrong to him. It was\nnot against images but against worship of false and impure gods that his\nzeal was at first directed. The sacred pole was an object of detestation\nbecause it was a symbol of Astarte.\n\nIn some way we cannot explain the whole life of Gideon appears as quite\nseparate from the religious ordinances maintained before the ark, and at\nthe same time quite apart from that Divine rule which forbade the making\nand worship of graven images. Either he did not know the second\ncommandment, or he understood it only as forbidding the use of an image\nof any creature and the worship of a creature by means of an image. We\nknow that the cherubim in the Holy of Holies were symbolic of the\nperfections of creation, and through them the greatness of the Unseen\nGod was realized. So it was with Gideon's ephod or image, which was\nhowever used in seeking oracles. He acted at Ophrah as priest of the\ntrue God. The sacrifices he offered were to Jehovah. People came from\nall the northern tribes to bow at his altar and receive divine\nintimations through him. The southern tribes had Gilgal and Shiloh. Here\nat Ophrah was a service of the God of Israel, not perhaps intended to\ncompete with the other shrines, yet virtually depriving them of their\nfame. For the expression is used that all Israel went a whoring after\nthe ephod.\n\nBut while we try to understand we are not to miss the warning which\ncomes home to us through this chapter of religious history. Pure and,\nfor the time, even elevated in the motive, Gideon's attempt at\npriestcraft led to his fall. For a while we see the hero acting as judge\nat Ophrah and presiding with dignity at the altar. His best wisdom is at\nthe service of the people and he is ready to offer for them at new moon\nor harvest the animals they desire to consecrate and consume in the\nsacred feast. In a spirit of real faith and no doubt with much sagacity\nhe submits their inquiries to the test of the ephod. But \"the thing\nbecame a snare to Gideon and his house,\" perhaps in the way of bringing\nin riches and creating the desire for more. Those who applied to him as\na revealer brought gifts with them. Gradually as wealth increased among\nthe people the value of the donations would increase, and he who began\nas a disinterested patriot may have degenerated into a somewhat\navaricious man who made a trade of religion. On this point we have,\nhowever, no information. It is mere surmise depending upon observation\nof the way things are apt to go amongst ourselves.\n\nReviewing the story of Gideon's life we find this clear lesson, that\nwithin certain limits he who trusts and obeys God has a quite\nirresistible efficiency. This man had, as we have seen, his limitations,\nvery considerable. As a religious leader, prophet or priest, he was far\nfrom competent; there is no indication that he was able to teach Israel\na single Divine doctrine, and as to the purity and mercy, the\nrighteousness and love of God, his knowledge was rudimentary. In the\nremote villages of the Abiezrites the tradition of Jehovah's name and\npower remained, but in the confusion of the times there was no education\nof children in the will of God: the Law was practically unknown. From\nShechem where Baal-Berith was worshipped the influence of a degrading\nidolatry had spread, obliterating every religious idea except the barest\nelements of the old faith. Doing his very best to understand God, Gideon\nnever saw what religion in our sense means. His sacrifices were appeals\nto a Power dimly felt through nature and in the greater epochs of the\nnational history, chastising now and now friendly and beneficent.\n\nYet, seriously limited as he was, Gideon when he had once laid hold of\nthe fact that he was called by the unseen God to deliver Israel went on\nstep by step to the great victory which made the tribes free. His\nresponsibility to his fellow-Israelites became clear along with his\nsense of the demand made upon him by God. He felt himself like the wind,\nlike the lightning, like the dew, an agent or instrument of the Most\nHigh, bound to do His part in the course of things. His will was\nenlisted in the Divine purpose. This work, this deliverance of Israel\nwas to be effected by him and no other. He had the elemental powers with\nhim, in him. The immense armies of Midian could not stand in his way. He\nwas, as it were, a storm that must hurl them back into the wilderness\ndefeated and broken.\n\nNow this is the very conception of life which we in our far wider\nknowledge are apt to miss, which nevertheless it is our chief business\nto grasp and carry into practice. You stand there, a man instructed in a\nthousand things of which Gideon was ignorant, instructed especially in\nthe nature and will of God Whom Christ has revealed. It is your\nprivilege to take a broad survey of human life, of duty, to look beyond\nthe present to the eternal future with its infinite possibilities of\ngain and loss. But the danger is that year after year all thought and\neffort shall be on your own account, that with each changing wind of\ncircumstance you change your purpose, that you never understand God's\ndemand nor find the true use of knowledge, will and life in fulfilling\nthat. Have you a Divine task to effect? You doubt it. Where is anything\nthat can be called a commission of God? You look this way and that for a\nlittle, then give up the quest. This year finds you without enthusiasm,\nwithout devotion even as you have been in other years. So life ebbs away\nand is lost in the wide flat sands of the secular and trivial, and the\nsoul never becomes part of the strong ocean current of Divine purpose.\nWe pity or deride some who, with little knowledge and in many errors\nalike of heart and head, were yet men as many of us may not claim to be,\nalive to the fact of God and their own share in Him. But they were so\nlimited, those Hebrews, you say, a mere horde of shepherds and\nhusbandmen; their story is too poor, too chaotic to have any lesson for\nus. And in sheer incapacity to read the meaning of the tale you turn\nfrom this Book of Judges, as from a barbarian myth, less interesting\nthan Homer, of no more application to yourself than the legends of the\nRound Table. Yet, all the while, the one supreme lesson for a man to\nread and take home to himself is written throughout the book in bold and\nliving characters--that only when life is realized as a vocation is it\nworth living. God may be faintly known, His will but rudely interpreted;\nyet the mere understanding that He gives life and rewards effort is an\ninspiration. And when His life-giving call ceases to stir and guide,\nthere can be for the man, the nation, only irresolution and weakness.\n\nA century ago Englishmen were as little devout as they are to-day; they\nwere even less spiritual, less moved to fine issues. They had their\nscepticisms too, their rough ignorant prejudices, their giant errors and\nperversities. \"We have gained vastly,\" as Professor Seeley says, \"in\nbreadth of view, intelligence and refinement. Probably what we threw\naside could not be retained; what we adopted was forced upon us by the\nage. Nevertheless, we had formerly what I may call a national\ndiscipline, which formed a firm, strongly-marked national character. We\nhave now only materials, which may be of the first quality, but have not\nbeen worked up. We have everything except decided views and steadfast\npurpose--everything in short except character.\" Yes: the sense of the\nnation's calling has decayed, and with it the nation's strength. In\nleaders and followers alike purpose fades as faith evaporates, and we\nare faithless because we attempt nothing noble under the eye and sceptre\nof the King.\n\nYou live, let us say, among those who doubt God, doubt whether there is\nany redemption, whether the whole Christian gospel and hope are not in\nthe air, dreams, possibilities, rather than facts of the Eternal Will.\nThe storm-wind blows and you hear its roaring: that is palpable fact,\ndivine or cosmic. Its errand will be accomplished. Great rivers flow,\ngreat currents sweep through the ocean. Their mighty urgency who can\ndoubt? But the spiritual who can believe? You do not feel in the sphere\nof the moral, of the spiritual the wind that makes no sound, the current\nthat rolls silently charged with sublime energies, effecting a vast and\nwonderful purpose. Yet here are the great facts; and we must find our\npart in that spiritual urgency, do our duty there, or lose all. We must\nlaunch out on the mighty stream of redemption or never reach eternal\nlight, for all else moves down to death. Christ Himself is to be\nvictorious in us. The glory of our life is that we can be irresistible\nin the region of our duty, irresistible in conflict with the evil, the\nselfishness, the falsehood given us to overthrow. To realize that is to\nlive. The rest is all mere experiment, getting ready for the task of\nexistence, making armour, preparing food, otherwise, at the worst, a\nwinter's morning before inglorious death.\n\nOne other thing observe, that underlying Gideon's desire to fill the\noffice of priest there was a dull perception of the highest function of\none man in relation to others. It appears to the common mind a great\nthing to rule, to direct secular affairs, to have the command of armies\nand the power of filling offices and conferring dignities; and no doubt\nto one who desires to serve his generation well, royalty, political\npower, even municipal office offer many excellent opportunities. But set\nkingship on this side, kingship concerned with the temporal and earthly,\nor at best humane aspects of life, and on the other side priesthood of\nthe true kind which has to do with the spiritual, by which God is\nrevealed to man and the holy ardour and divine aspirations of the human\nwill are sustained--and there can be no question which is the more\nimportant. A clever strong man may be a ruler. It needs a good man, a\npious man, a man of heavenly power and insight to be in any right sense\na priest. I speak not of the kind of priest Gideon turned out, nor of a\nJewish priest, nor of any one who in modern times professes to be in\nthat succession, but of one who really stands between God and men,\nbearing the sorrows of his kind, their trials, doubts, cries and prayers\non his heart and presenting them to God, interpreting to the weary and\nsad and troubled the messages of heaven. In this sense Christ is the one\nTrue Priest, the eternal and only sufficient High Priest. And in this\nsense it is possible for every Christian to hold towards those less\nenlightened and less decided in their faith the priestly part.\n\nNow in a dim way the priestly function presented itself to Gideon and\nallured him. Sufficient for it he was not, and his ephod became a snare.\nNeither could he grasp the wisdom of heaven nor understand the needs of\nmen. In his hands the sacred art did not prosper, he became content with\nthe appearance and the gain. It is so with many who take the name of\npriests. In truth on one side the term and all it stands for must be\nconfessed full of danger to him set apart and those who separate him.\nHere as pointedly as anywhere must it be affirmed, \"Whatsoever is not of\nfaith is sin.\" There must be a mastering sense of God's calling on the\nside of him who ministers, and on the side of the people recognition of\na message, an example coming to them through this brother of theirs who\nspeaks what he has received of the Holy Spirit, who offers a personal\nliving word, a personal testimony. Here, be it called what it may, is\npriesthood after the pattern of Christ's, true and beneficent; and apart\nfrom this, priesthood may too easily become, as many have affirmed, a\nhorrible imposture and baleful lie. Christianity brings the whole to a\npoint in every life. God's calling, spiritual, complete, comes to each\nsoul in its place, and the holy oil is for every head. The father,\nmother, the employer and the workman, the surgeon, writer,\nlawyer--everywhere and in all posts, just as men and women are living\nout God's demand upon them--these are His priests, ministrants of the\nhearth and the shop, the factory and the office, by the cradle and the\nsick-bed, wherever the multitudinous epic of life goes forward. Here is\nthe common and withal the holiest calling and office. That one dwelling\nwith God in righteousness and love introduce others into the sanctuary,\ndeclare as a thing he knows the will of the Eternal, uplift the\nfeebleness of faith and revive the heart of love--this is the highest\ntask on earth, the grandest of heaven. Of such it may be said, \"Ye are a\nchosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people\nthat ye should show forth the praises of Him Who hath called you out of\ndarkness into His marvellous light.\"\n\n\n\n\nXV.\n\n_ABIMELECH AND JOTHAM._\n\nJUDGES viii. 29-ix. 57.\n\n\nThe history we are tracing moves from man to man; the personal influence\nof the hero is everything while it lasts and confusion follows on his\ndeath. Gideon appears as one of the most successful Hebrew judges in\nmaintaining order. While he was there in Ophrah religion and government\nhad a centre \"and the country was in quietness forty years.\" A man far\nfrom perfect but capable of mastery held the reins and gave forth\njudgment with an authority none could challenge. His burial in the\nfamily sepulchre in Ophrah is specially recorded as if it had been a\ngreat national tribute to his heroic power and skilful administration.\n\nThe funeral over, discord began. A rightful ruler there was not. Among\nthe claimants of power there was no man of power. Gideon left many sons,\nbut not one of them could take his place. The confederation of cities\nhalf Hebrew, half Canaanite with Shechem at their head, of which we have\nalready heard, held in check while Gideon lived, now began to control\nthe politics of the tribes. By using the influence of this league a\nusurper who had no title whatever to the confidence of the people\nsucceeded in exalting himself.\n\nThe old town of Shechem situated in the beautiful valley between Ebal\nand Gerizim had long been a centre of Baal worship and of Canaanite\nintrigue, though nominally one of the cities of refuge and therefore\nspecially sacred. Very likely the mixed population of this important\ntown, jealous of the position gained by the hill-village of Ophrah, were\nready to receive with favour any proposals that seemed to offer them\ndistinction. And when Abimelech, son of Gideon by a slave woman of their\ntown, went among them with ambitious and crafty suggestions they were\neasily persuaded to help him. The desire for a king which Gideon had\npromptly set aside lingered in the minds of the people, and by means of\nit Abimelech was able to compass his personal ends. First, however, he\nhad to discredit others who stood in his way. There at Ophrah were the\nsons and grandsons of Gideon, threescore and ten of them according to\nthe tradition, who were supposed to be bent on lording it over the\ntribes. Was it a thing to be thought of that the land should have\nseventy kings? Surely one would be better, less of an incubus at least,\nmore likely to do the ruling well. Men of Shechem too would not be\ngoverned from Ophrah if they had any spirit. He, Abimelech, was their\ntownsman, their bone and flesh. He confidently looked for their support.\n\nWe cannot tell how far there was reason for saying that the family of\nGideon were aiming at an aristocracy. They may have had some vague\npurpose of the kind. The suggestion, at all events, was cunning and had\nits effect. The people of Shechem had stored considerable treasure in\nthe sanctuary of Baal, and by public vote seventy pieces of silver were\npaid out of it to Abimelech. The money was at once used by him in hiring\na band of men like himself, unscrupulous, ready for any desperate or\nbloody deed. With these he marched on Ophrah and surprising his brothers\nin the house or palace of Jerubbaal speedily put out of his way their\ndangerous rivalry. With the exception of Jotham, who had observed the\nband approaching and concealed himself, the whole house of Gideon was\ndragged to execution. On one stone, perhaps the very rock on which the\naltar of Baal once stood, the threescore and nine were barbarously\nslain.\n\nA villainous _coup d'etat_ this. From Gideon overthrowing Baal and\nproclaiming Jehovah to Abimelech bringing up Baal again with hideous\nfratricide--it is a wretched turn of things. Gideon had to some extent\nprepared the way for a man far inferior to himself, as all do who are\nnot utterly faithful to their light and calling; but he never imagined\nthere could be so quick and shocking a revival of barbarism. Yet the\nephod-dealing, the polygamy, the immorality into which he lapsed were\nbound to come to fruit. The man who once was a pure Hebrew patriot begat\na half-heathen son to undo his own work. As for the Shechemites, they\nknew quite well to what end they had voted those seventy pieces of\nsilver; and the general opinion seems to have been that the town had its\nmoney's worth, a life for each piece and, to boot, a king reeking with\nblood and shame. Surely it was a well-spent grant. Their confederation,\ntheir god had triumphed. They made Abimelech king by the oak of the\npillar that was in Shechem.\n\nIt is the success of the adventurer we have here, that common event.\nAbimelech is the oriental adventurer and uses the methods of another age\nthan ours; yet we have our examples, and if they are less scandalous in\nsome ways, if they are apart from bloodshed and savagery, they are still\nsufficiently trying to those who cherish the faith of divine justice and\nprovidence. How many have to see with amazement the adventurer triumph\nby means of seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal or even from\na holier treasury. He in a selfish and cruel game seems to have speedy\nand complete success denied to the best and purest cause. Fighting for\nhis own hand in wicked or contemptuous hardness and arrogant conceit, he\nfinds support, applause, an open way. Being no prophet he has honour in\nhis own town. He knows the art of the stealthy insinuation, the lying\npromise and the flattering murmur; he has skill to make the favour of\none leading person a step to securing another. When a few important\npeople have been hoodwinked, he too becomes important and \"success\" is\nassured.\n\nThe Bible, most entirely honest of books, frankly sets before us this\nadventurer, Abimelech, in the midst of the judges of Israel, as low a\nspecimen of \"success\" as need be looked for; and we trace the well-known\nmeans by which such a person is promoted. \"His mother's brethren spake\nof him in the ears of all the men of Shechem.\" That there was little to\nsay, that he was a man of no character mattered not the least. The thing\nwas to create an impression so that Abimelech's scheme might be\nintroduced and forced. So far he could intrigue and then, the first\nsteps gained, he could mount. But there was in him none of the mental\npower that afterwards marked Jehu, none of the charm that survives with\nthe name of Absalom. It was on jealousy, pride, ambition he played as\nthe most jealous, proud and ambitious; yet for three years the Hebrews\nof the league, blinded by the desire to have their nation like others,\nsuffered him to bear the name of king.\n\nAnd by this sovereignty the Israelites who acknowledged it were doubly\nand trebly compromised. Not only did they accept a man without a record,\nthey believed in one who was an enemy to his country's religion, one\ntherefore quite ready to trample upon its liberty. This is really the\nbeginning of a worse oppression than that of Midian or of Jabin. It\nshows on the part of Hebrews generally as well as those who tamely\nsubmitted to Abimelech's lordship a most abject state of mind. After the\nbloody work at Ophrah the tribes should have rejected the fratricide\nwith loathing and risen like one man to suppress him. If the\nBaal-worshippers of Shechem would make him king there ought to have been\na cause of war against them in which every good man and true should have\ntaken the field. We look in vain for any such opposition to the usurper.\nNow that he is crowned, Manasseh, Ephraim and the North regard him\ncomplacently. It is the world all over. How can we wonder at this when\nwe know with what acclamations kings scarcely more reputable than he\nhave been greeted in modern times? Crowds gather and shout, fires of\nwelcome blaze; there is joy as if the millennium had come. It is a king\ncrowned, restored, his country's head, defender of the faith. Vain is\nthe hope, pathetic the joy.\n\nThere is no man of spirit to oppose Abimelech in the field. The duped\nnation must drink its cup of misrule and blood. But one appears of keen\nwit, apt and trenchant in speech. At least the tribes shall hear what\none sound mind thinks of this coronation. Jotham, as we saw, escaped the\nslaughter at Ophrah. In the rear of the murderer he has crossed the\nhills and he will now utter his warning, whether men hear or whether\nthey forbear. There is a crowd assembled for worship or deliberation at\nthe oak of the pillar. Suddenly a voice is heard ringing clearly out\nbetween hill and hill, and the people looking up recognize Jotham who\nfrom a spur of rock on the side of Gerizim demands their audience.\n\"Hearken unto me,\" he cries, \"ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken\nunto you.\" Then in his parable of the olive, the fig-tree, the vine and\nthe bramble, he pronounces judgment and prophecy. The bramble is exalted\nto be king, but on these terms, that the trees come and put their trust\nunder its shadow; \"but if not, then let fire come out of the bramble and\ndevour the cedars of Lebanon.\"\n\nIt is a piece of satire of the best order, brief, stinging, true. The\ncraving for a king is lashed and then the wonderful choice of a ruler.\nJotham speaks as an anarchist, one might say, but with God understood as\nthe centre of law and order. It is a vision of the Theocracy taking\nshape from a keen and original mind. He figures men as trees growing\nindependently, dutifully. And do trees need a king? Are they not set in\ntheir natural freedom each to yield fruit as best it can after its kind?\nMen of Shechem, Hebrews all, if they will only attend to their proper\nduties and do quiet work as God wills, appear to Jotham to need a king\nno more than the trees. Under the benign course of nature, sunshine and\nrain, wind and dew, the trees have all the restraint they need, all the\nliberty that is good for them. So men under the providence of God,\nadoring and obeying Him, have the best control, the only needful\ncontrol, and with it liberty. Are they not fools then to go about\nseeking a tyrant to rule them, they who should be as cedars of Lebanon,\nwillows by the watercourses, they who are made for simple freedom and\nspontaneous duty? It is something new in Israel this keen\nintellectualizing; but the fable, pointed as it is, teaches nothing for\nthe occasion. Jotham is a man full of wit and of intelligence, but he\nhas no practicable scheme of government, nothing definite to oppose to\nthe mistake of the hour. He is all for the ideal, but the time and the\npeople are unripe for the ideal. We see the same contrast in our own\nday; both in politics and the church the incisive critic discrediting\nsubordination altogether fails to secure his age. Men are not trees.\nThey are made to obey and trust. A hero or one who seems a hero is ever\nwelcome, and he who skilfully imitates the roar of the lion may easily\nhave a following, while Jotham, intensely sincere, highly gifted, a\ntrue-sighted man, finds none to mind him.\n\nAgain the fable is directed against Abimelech. What was this man to whom\nShechem had sworn fealty? An olive, a fig-tree, fruitful and therefore\nto be sought after? Was he a vine capable of rising on popular support\nto useful and honourable service? Not he. It was the bramble they had\nchosen, the poor grovelling jagged thorn-bush that tears the flesh,\nwhose end is to feed the fire of the oven. Who ever heard of a good or\nheroic deed Abimelech had done? He was simply a contemptible upstart,\nwithout moral principle, as ready to wound as to flatter, and they who\nchose him for king would too soon find their error. Now that he had done\nsomething, what was it? There were Israelites among the crowd that\nshouted in his honour. Had they already forgotten the services of Gideon\nso completely as to fall down before a wretch red-handed from the murder\nof their hero's sons? Such a beginning showed the character of the man\nthey trusted, and the same fire which had issued from the bramble at\nOphrah would flame out upon themselves. This was but the beginning; soon\nthere would be war to the knife between Abimelech and Shechem.\n\nWe find instruction in the parable by regarding the answers put into the\nmouth of this tree and that when they are invited to wave to and fro\nover the others. There are honours which are dearly purchased, high\npositions which cannot be assumed without renouncing the true end and\nfruition of life. One for example who is quietly and with increasing\nefficiency doing his part in a sphere to which he is adapted must set\naside the gains of long discipline if he is to become a social leader.\nHe can do good where he is. Not so certain is it that he will be able to\nserve his fellows well in public office. It is one thing to enjoy the\ndeference paid to a leader while the first enthusiasm on his behalf\ncontinues, but it is quite another thing to satisfy all the demands made\nas years go on and new needs arise. When any one is invited to take a\nposition of authority he is bound to consider carefully his own\naptitudes. He needs also to consider those who are to be subjects or\nconstituents and make sure that they are of the kind his rule will fit.\nThe olive looks at the cedar and the terebinth and the palm. Will they\nadmit his sovereignty by-and-by though now they vote for it? Men are\ntaken with the candidate who makes a good impression by emphasizing what\nwill please and suppressing opinions that may provoke dissent. When they\nknow him, how will it be? When criticism begins, will the olive not be\ndespised for its gnarled stem, its crooked branches and dusky foliage?\n\nThe fable does not make the refusal of olive and fig-tree and vine rest\non the comfort they enjoy in the humbler place. That would be a mean and\ndishonourable reason for refusing to serve. Men who decline public\noffice because they love an easy life find here no countenance. It is\nfor the sake of its fatness, the oil it yields, grateful to God and man\nin sacrifice and anointing, that the olive-tree declines. The fig-tree\nhas its sweetness and the vine its grapes to yield. And so men despising\nself-indulgence and comfort may be justified in putting aside a call to\noffice. The fruit of personal character developed in humble unobtrusive\nnatural life is seen to be better than the more showy clusters forced by\npublic demands. Yet, on the other hand, if one will not leave his books,\nanother his scientific hobbies, a third his fireside, a fourth his\nmanufactory, in order to take his place among the magistrates of a city\nor the legislators of a land the danger of bramble supremacy is near.\nNext a wretched Abimelech will appear; and what can be done but set him\non high and put the reins in his hand? Unquestionably the claims of\nchurch or country deserve most careful weighing, and even if there is a\nrisk that character may lose its tender bloom the sacrifice must be made\nin obedience to an urgent call. For a time, at least, the need of\nsociety at large must rule the loyal life.\n\nThe fable of Jotham, in so far as it flings sarcasm at the persons who\ndesire eminence for the sake of it and not for the good they will be\nable to do, is an example of that wisdom which is as unpopular now as\never it has been in human history, and the moral needs every day to be\nkept full in view. It is desire for distinction and power, the\nopportunity of waving to and fro over the trees, the right to use this\nhandle and that to their names that will be found to make many eager,\nnot the distinct wish to accomplish something which the times and the\ncountry need. Those who solicit public office are far too often selfish,\nnot self-denying, and even in the church there is much vain ambition.\nBut people will have it so. The crowd follows him who is eager for the\nsuffrages of the crowd and showers flattery and promises as he goes. Men\nare lifted into places they cannot fill, and after keeping their seats\nunsteadily for a time they have to disappear into ignominy.\n\nWe pass here, however, beyond the meaning Jotham desired to convey, for,\nas we have seen, he would have justified every one in refusing to reign.\nAnd certainly if society could be held together and guided without the\nexaltation of one over another, by the fidelity of each to his own task\nand brotherly feeling between man and man, there would be a far better\nstate of things. But while the fable expounds a God-impelled anarchy,\nthe ideal state of mankind, our modern schemes, omitting God,\nrepudiating the least notion of a supernatural fount of life, turn upon\nthemselves in hopeless confusion. When the divine law rules every life\nwe shall not need organised governments; until then entire freedom in\nthe world is but a name for unchaining every lust that degrades and\ndarkens the life of man. Far away, as a hope of the redeemed and\nChrist-led race, there shines the ideal Theocracy revealed to the\ngreater minds of the Hebrew people, often re-stated, never realised. But\nat present men need a visible centre of authority. There must be\nadministrators and executors of law, there must be government and\nlegislation till Christ reigns in every heart. The movement which\nresulted in Abimelech's sovereignty was the blundering start in a series\nof experiments the Hebrew tribes were bound to make, as other nations\nhad to make them. We are still engaged in the search for a right system\nof social order, and while fearers of God acknowledge the ideal towards\nwhich they labour, they must endeavour to secure by personal toil and\ndevotion, by unwearying interest in affairs the most effective form of\nliberal yet firm government.\n\nAbimelech maintained himself in power for three years, no doubt amid\ngrowing dissatisfaction. Then came the outburst which Jotham had\npredicted. An evil spirit, really present from the first, rose between\nAbimelech and the men of Shechem. The bramble began to tear themselves,\na thing they were not prepared to endure. Once rooted however it was not\neasily got rid of. One who knows the evil arts of betrayal is quick to\nsuspect treachery, the false person knows the ways of the false and how\nto fight them with their own weapons. A man of high character may be\nmade powerless by the disclosure of some true words he has spoken; but\nwhen Shechem would be rid of Abimelech it has to employ brigands and\norganise robbery. \"They set liers in wait for him in the mountains who\nrobbed all that came along that way,\" the merchants no doubt to whom\nAbimelech had given a safe conduct. Shechem in fact became the\nhead-quarters of a band of highwaymen whose crimes were condoned or even\napproved in the hope that one day the despot would be taken and an end\nput to his misrule.\n\nIt may appear strange that our attention is directed to these vulgar\nincidents, as they may be called, which were taking place in and about\nShechem. Why has the historian not chosen to tell us of other regions\nwhere some fear of God survived and guided the lives of men, instead of\ngiving in detail the intrigues and treacheries of Abimelech and his\nrebellious subjects? Would we not much rather hear of the sanctuary and\nthe worship, of the tribe of Judah and its development, of men and women\nwho in the obscurity of private life were maintaining the true faith and\nserving God in sincerity? The answer must be partly that the contents of\nthe history are determined by the traditions which survived when it was\ncompiled. Doings like these at Shechem keep their place in the memory of\nmen not because they are important but because they impress themselves\non popular feeling. This was the beginning of the experiments which\nfinally in Samuel's time issued in the kingship of Saul, and although\nAbimelech was, properly speaking, not a Hebrew and certainly was no\nworshipper of Jehovah, yet the fact that he was king for a time gave\nimportance to everything about him. Hence we have the full account of\nhis rise and fall.\n\nAnd yet the narrative before us has its value from the religious point\nof view. It shows the disastrous result of that coalition with idolaters\ninto which the Hebrews about Shechem entered, it illustrates the danger\nof co-partnery with the worldly on worldly terms. The confederacy of\nwhich Shechem was the centre is a type of many in which people who\nshould be guided always by religion bind themselves for business or\npolitical ends with those who have no fear of God before their eyes.\nConstantly it happens in such cases that the interests of the commercial\nenterprise or of the party are considered before the law of\nrighteousness. The business affair must be made to succeed at all\nhazards. Christian people as partners of companies are committed to\nschemes which imply Sabbath work, sharp practices in buying and\nselling, hollow promises in prospectuses and advertisements, grinding\nof the faces of the poor, miserable squabbles about wages that should\nnever occur. In politics the like is frequently seen. Things are done\nagainst the true instincts of many members of a party; but they, for the\nsake of the party, must be silent or even take their places on platforms\nand write in periodicals defending what in their souls and consciences\nthey know to be wrong. The modern Baal-Berith is a tyrannical god, ruins\nthe morals of many a worshipper and destroys the peace of many a circle.\nPerhaps Christian people will by-and-by become careful in regard to the\nschemes they join and the zeal with which they fling themselves into\nparty strife. It is high time they did. Even distinguished and pious\nleaders are unsafe guides when popular cries have to be gratified; and\nif the principles of Christianity are set aside by a government every\nChristian church and every Christian voice should protest, come of\nparties what may. Or rather, the party of Christ, which is always in the\nvan, ought to have our complete allegiance. Conservatism is sometimes\nright. Liberalism is sometimes right. But to bow down to any Baal of the\nLeague is a shameful thing for a professed servant of the King of kings.\n\nAgainst Abimelech the adventurer there arose another of the same stamp,\nGaal son of Ebed, that is the _Abhorred_, son of a slave. In him the men\nof Shechem put their confidence such as it was. At the festival of\nvintage there was a demonstration of a truly barbarous sort. High\ncarousal was held in the temple of Baal. There were loud curses of\nAbimelech and Gaal made a speech. His argument was that this Abimelech,\nthough his mother belonged to Shechem, was yet also the son of Baal's\nadversary, far too much of a Hebrew to govern Canaanites and good\nservants of Baal. Shechemites should have a true Shechemite to rule\nthem. Would to Baal, he cried, this people were under my hand, then\nwould I remove Abimelech. His speech, no doubt, was received with great\napplause, and there and then he challenged the absent king.\n\nZebul, prefect of the city, who was present, heard all this with anger.\nHe was of Abimelech's party still and immediately informed his chief,\nwho lost no time in marching on Shechem to suppress the revolt.\nAccording to a common plan of warfare he divided his troops into four\ncompanies and in the early morning these crept towards the city, one by\na track across the mountains, another down the valley from the west, the\nthird by way of the Diviners' Oak, the fourth perhaps marching from the\nplain of Mamre by way of Jacob's well. The first engagement drove the\nShechemites into their city, and on the following day the place was\ntaken, sacked and destroyed. Some distance from Shechem, probably up the\nvalley to the west, stood a tower or sanctuary of Baal around which a\nconsiderable village had gathered. The people there, seeing the fate of\nthe lower town, betook themselves to the tower and shut themselves up\nwithin it. But Abimelech ordered his men to provide themselves with\nbranches of trees, which were piled against the door of the temple and\nset on fire, and all within were smothered or burned to the number of a\nthousand.\n\nAt Thebez, another of the confederate cities, the pretender met his\ndeath. In the siege of the tower which stood within the walls of Thebez\nthe horrible expedient of burning was again attempted. Abimelech\ndirecting the operations had pressed close to the door when a woman cast\nan upper millstone from the parapet with so true an aim as to break his\nskull. So ended the first experiment in the direction of monarchy; so\nalso God requited the wickedness of Abimelech.\n\nOne turns from these scenes of bloodshed and cruelty with loathing. Yet\nthey show what human nature is, and how human history would shape itself\napart from the faith and obedience of God. We are met by obvious\nwarnings; but so often does the evidence of divine judgment seem to\nfail, so often do the wicked prosper that it is from another source than\nobservation of the order of things in this world we must obtain the\nnecessary impulse to higher life. It is only as we wait on the guidance\nand obey the impulses of the Spirit of God that we shall move towards\nthe justice and brotherhood of a better age. And those who have received\nthe light and found the will of the Spirit must not slacken their\nefforts on behalf of religion. Gideon did good service in his day, yet\nfailing in faithfulness he left the nation scarcely more earnest, his\nown family scarcely instructed. Let us not think that religion can take\ncare of itself. Heavenly justice and truth are committed to us. The\nChrist-life generous, pure, holy must be commended by us if it is to\nrule the world. The persuasion that mankind is to be saved in and by the\nearthly survives, and against that most obstinate of all delusions we\nare to stand in constant resolute protest, counting every needful\nsacrifice our simple duty, our highest glory. The task of the faithful\nis no easier to-day than it was a thousand years ago. Men and women can\nbe treacherous still with heathen cruelty and falseness; they can be\nvile still with heathen vileness, though wearing the air of the highest\ncivilization. If ever the people of God had a work to do in the world\nthey have it now.\n\n\n\n\nXVI.\n\n_GILEAD AND ITS CHIEF._\n\nJUDGES x. 1-xi. 11.\n\n\nThe scene of the history shifts now to the east of Jordan, and we learn\nfirst of the influence which the region called Gilead was coming to have\nin Hebrew development from the brief notice of a chief named Jair who\nheld the position of judge for twenty-two years. Tola, a man of\nIssachar, succeeded Abimelech, and Jair followed Tola. In the Book of\nNumbers we are informed that the children of Machir son of Manasseh went\nto Gilead and took it and dispossessed the Amorites which were therein;\nand Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh. It is added that\nJair the son or descendant of Manasseh went and took the towns of Gilead\nand called them Havvoth-jair; and in this statement the Book of Numbers\nanticipates the history of the judges.\n\nGilead is described by modern travellers as one of the most varied\ndistricts of Palestine. The region is mountainous and its peaks rise to\nthree and even four thousand feet above the trough of the Jordan. The\nsouthern part is beautiful and fertile, watered by the Jabbok and other\nstreams that flow westward from the hills. \"The valleys green with corn,\nthe streams fringed with oleander, the magnificent screens of\nyellow-green and russet foliage which cover the steep slopes present a\nscene of quiet beauty, of chequered light and shade of uneastern aspect\nwhich makes Mount Gilead a veritable land of promise.\" \"No one,\" says\nanother writer, \"can fairly judge of Israel's heritage who has not seen\nthe exuberance of Gilead as well as the hard rocks of Judaea which only\nyield their abundance to reward constant toil and care.\" In Gilead the\nrivers flow in summer as well as in winter, and they are filled with\nfishes and fresh-water shells. While in Western Palestine the soil is\ninsufficient now to support a large population, beyond Jordan improved\ncultivation alone is needed to make the whole district a garden.\n\nTo the north and east of Gilead lie Bashan and that extraordinary\nvolcanic region called the Argob or the Lejah where the Havvoth-jair or\ntowns of Jair were situated. The traveller who approaches this singular\ndistrict from the north sees it rising abruptly from the plain, the edge\nof it like a rampart about twenty feet high. It is of a rude oval shape,\nsome twenty miles long from north to south, and fifteen in breadth, and\nis simply a mass of dark jagged rocks, with clefts between in which were\nbuilt not a few cities and villages. The whole of this Argob or Stony\nLand, Jephthah's land of Tob, is a natural fortification, a sanctuary\nopen only to those who have the secret of the perilous paths that wind\nalong savage cliff and deep defile. One who established himself here\nmight soon acquire the fame and authority of a chief, and Jair,\nacknowledged by the Manassites as their judge, extended his power and\ninfluence among the Gadites and Reubenites farther south.\n\nBut plenty of corn and wine and oil and the advantage of a natural\nfortress which might have been held against any foe did not avail the\nHebrews when they were corrupted by idolatry. In the land of Gilead and\nBashan they became a hardy and vigorous race, and yet when they gave\nthemselves up to the influence of the Syrians, Sidonians, Ammonites and\nMoabites, forsaking the Lord and serving the gods of these peoples,\ndisaster overtook them. The Ammonites were ever on the watch, and now,\nstronger than for centuries in consequence of the defeat of Midian and\nAmalek by Gideon, they fell on the Hebrews of the east, subdued them and\neven crossed Jordan and fought with the southern tribes so that Israel\nwas sore distressed.\n\nWe have found reason to suppose that during the many turmoils of the\nnorth the tribes of Judah and Simeon and to some extent Ephraim were\npleased to dwell secure in their own domains, giving little help to\ntheir kinsfolk. Deborah and Barak got no troops from the south, and it\nwas with a grudge Ephraim joined in the pursuit of Midian. Now the time\nhas come for the harvest of selfish content. Supposing the people of\nJudah to have been specially engaged with religion and the arranging of\nworship--that did not justify their neglect of the political troubles of\nthe north. It was a poor religion then, as it is a poor religion now,\nthat could exist apart from national well-being and patriotic duty.\nBrotherhood must be realised in the nation as well as in the church, and\npiety must fulfil itself through patriotism as well as in other ways.\n\nNo doubt the duties we owe to each other and to the nation of which we\nform a part are imposed by natural conditions which have arisen in the\ncourse of history, and some may think that the natural should give way\nto the spiritual. They may see the interests of a kingdom of this world\nas actually opposed to the interests of the kingdom of God. The\napostles of Christ, however, did not set the human and divine in\ncontrast, as if God in His providence had nothing to do with the making\nof a nation. \"The powers that be are ordained of God,\" says St. Paul in\nwriting to the Romans; and again in his First Epistle to Timothy, \"I\nexhort that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings be made\nfor all men: for kings and all that are in high place, that we may lead\na tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity.\" To the same\neffect St. Peter says, \"Be subject to every ordinance of man for the\nLord's sake.\" Natural and secular enough were the authorities to which\nsubmission was thus enjoined. The policy of Rome was of the earth\nearthy. The wars it waged, the intrigues that went on for power savoured\nof the most carnal ambition. Yet as members of the commonwealth\nChristians were to submit to the Roman magistrates and intercede with\nGod on their behalf, observing closely and intelligently all that went\non, taking due part in affairs. No room was to be given for the notion\nthat the Christian society meant a new political centre. In our own\ntimes there is a duty which many never understand, or which they easily\nimagine is being fulfilled for them. Let religious people be assured\nthat generous and intelligent patriotism is demanded of them and\nattention to the political business of the time. Those who are careless\nwill find, as did the people of Judah, that in neglecting the purity of\ngovernment and turning a deaf ear to cries for justice, they are\nexposing their country to disaster and their religion to reproach.\n\nWe are told that the Israelites of Gilead worshipped the gods of the\nPhoenicians and Syrians, of the Moabites and of the Ammonites. Whatever\nreligious rites took their fancy they were ready to adopt. This will be\nto their credit in some quarters as a mark of openness of mind,\nintelligence and taste. They were not bigoted; other men's ways in\nreligion and civilization were not rejected as beneath their regard. The\nargument is too familiar to be traced more fully. Briefly it may be said\nthat if catholicity could save a race Israel should rarely have been in\ntrouble, and certainly not at this time. One name by which the Hebrews\nknew God was _El_ or _Elohim_. When they found among the gods of the\nSidonians one called El, the careless-minded supposed that there could\nbe no harm in joining in his worship. Then came the notion that the\nother divinities of the Phoenician Pantheon, such as Melcarth, Dagon,\nDerketo, might be adored as well. Very likely they found zeal and\nexcitement in the alien religious gatherings which their own had lost.\nSo they slipped into practical heathenism.\n\nAnd the process goes on among ourselves. Through the principles that\nculture means artistic freedom and that worship is a form of art we\narrive at taste or liking as the chief test. Intensity of feeling is\ncraved and religion must satisfy that or be despised. It is the very\nerror that led Hebrews to the feasts of Astarte and Adonis, and whither\nit tends we can see in the old history. Turning from the strong earnest\ngospel which grasps intellect and will to shows and ceremonies that\nplease the eye, or even to music refined and devotional that stirs and\nthrills the feelings, we decline from the reality of religion. Moreover\na serious danger threatens us in the far too common teaching which makes\nlittle of truth everything of charity. Christ was most charitable, but\nit is through the knowledge and practice of truth He offers freedom. He\nis our King by His witness-bearing not to charity but to truth. Those\nwho are anxious to keep us from bigotry and tell us that meekness,\ngentleness and love are more than doctrine mislead the mind of the age.\nTruth in regard to God and His covenant is the only foundation on which\nlife can be securely built, and without right thinking there cannot be\nright living. A man may be amiable, humble, patient and kind though he\nhas no doctrinal belief and his religion is of the purely emotional\nsort; but it is the truth believed by previous generations, fought and\nsuffered for by stronger men, not his own gratification of taste that\nkeeps him in the right way. And when the influence of that truth decays\nthere will remain no anchorage, neither compass nor chart for the\nvoyage. He will be like a wave of the sea driven of the wind and tossed.\n\nAgain, the religious so far as they have wisdom and strength are\nrequired to be pioneers, which they can never be in following fancy or\ntaste. Here nothing but strenuous thought, patient faithful obedience\ncan avail. Hebrew history is the story of a pioneer people and every\nlapse from fidelity was serious, the future of humanity being at stake.\nEach Christian society and believer has work of the same kind not less\nimportant, and failures due to intellectual sloth and moral levity are\nas dishonourable as they are hurtful to the human race. Some of our\nheretics now are more serious than Christians, and they give thought and\nwill more earnestly to the opinions they try to propagate. While the\nprofessed servants of Christ, who should be marching in the van, are\namusing themselves with the accessories of religion, the resolute\nsocialist or nihilist reasoning and speaking with the heat of conviction\nleads the masses where he will.\n\nThe Ammonite oppression made the Hebrews feel keenly the uselessness of\nheathenism. Baal and Melcarth had been thought of as real divinities,\nexercising power in some region or other of earth or heaven, and\nIsrael's had been an easy backsliding. Idolatry did not appear as\ndarkness to people who had never been fully in the light. But when\ntrouble came and help was sorely needed they began to see that the\nBaalim were nothing. What could these idols do for men oppressed and at\ntheir wits' end? Religion was of no avail unless it brought an assurance\nof One Whose strong hand could reach from land to land, Whose grace and\nfavour could revive sad and troubled souls. Heathenism was found utterly\nbarren, and Israel turned to Jehovah the God of its fathers. \"We have\nsinned against Thee even because we have forsaken our God and have\nserved the Baalim.\"\n\nThose who now fall away from faith are in worse case by far than Israel.\nThey have no thought of a real power that can befriend them. It is to\nmere abstractions they have given the divine name. In sin and sorrow\nalike they remain with ideas only, with bare terms of speculation in\nwhich there is no life, no strength, no hope for the moral nature. They\nare men and have to live; but with the living God they have entirely\nbroken. In trouble they can only call on the Abyss or the Immensities,\nand there is no way of repentance though they seek it carefully with\ntears. At heart therefore they are pessimists without resource. Sadness\ndeep and deadly ever waits upon such unbelief, and our religion to-day\nsuffers the gloom because it is infected by the uncertainties and\ndenials of an agnosticism at once positive and confused.\n\nAnother paganism, that of gathering and doing in the world-sphere, is\nconstantly beside us, drawing multitudes from fidelity to Christ as\nBaal-worship drew Israel from Jehovah, and it is equally barren in the\nsharp experiences of humanity. Earthly things venerated in the ardour of\nbusiness and the pursuit of social distinction appear as impressive\nrealities only while the soul sleeps. Let it be aroused by some overturn\nof the usual, one of those floods that sweep suddenly down on the cities\nwhich fill the valley of life, and there is a quick pathetic confession\nof the truth. The soul needs help now, and its help must come from the\nEternal Spirit. We must have done with mere saying of prayers and begin\nto pray. We must find access if access is to be had to the secret place\nof the Most High on Whose mercy we depend to redeem us from bondage and\nfear. Sad therefore is it for those who having never learned to seek the\nthrone of divine succour are swept by the wild deluge from their temples\nand their gods. It is a cry of despair they raise amid the swelling\ntorrent. You who now by the sacred oracles and the mediation of Christ\ncan come into the fellowship of eternal life be earnest and eager in the\ncultivation of your faith. The true religion of God which avails the\nsoul in its extremity is not to be had in a moment, when suddenly its\nhelp is needed. That confidence which has been established in the mind\nby serious thought, by the habit of prayer and reliance on divine wisdom\ncan alone bring help when the foundations of the earthly are destroyed.\n\nTo Israel troubled and contrite came as on previous occasions a\nprophetic message; and it was spoken by one of those incisive ironic\npreachers who were born from time to time among this strangely heathen,\nstrangely believing people. It is in terms of earnest remonstrance he\nspeaks, at first almost going the length of declaring that there is no\nhope for the rebellious and ungrateful tribes. They found it an easy\nthing to turn from their Divine King to the gods they chose to worship.\nNow they perhaps expect as easy a recovery of His favour. But healing\nmust begin with deeper wounding, and salvation with much keener anxiety.\nThis prophet knows the need for utter seriousness of soul. As he loves\nand yearns over his country-folk he must so deal with them; it is God's\nway, the only way to save. Most irrationally, against all sound\nprinciples of judgment they had abandoned the Living One, the Eternal to\nworship hideous idols like Moloch and Dagon. It was wicked because it\nwas wilfully stupid and perverse. And Jehovah says, \"I will save you no\nmore. Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them save you\nin the day of your distress.\" The rebuke is stinging. The preacher makes\nthe people feel the wretched insufficiency of their hope in the false,\nand the great strong pressure upon them of the Almighty, Whom, even in\nneglect, they cannot escape. We are pointed forward to the terrible\npathos of Jeremiah:--\"Who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who\nshall bemoan thee? or who shall turn aside to ask of thy welfare? Thou\nhast rejected me, saith the Lord, thou art gone backward: therefore have\nI stretched out my hand against thee, and destroyed thee: I am weary\nwith repenting.\"\n\nAnd notice to what state of mind the Hebrews were brought. Renewing\ntheir confession they said, \"Do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good\nunto Thee.\" They would be content to suffer now at the hand of God\nwhatever He chose to inflict on them. They themselves would have exacted\nheavy tribute of a subject people that had rebelled and came suing for\npardon. Perhaps they would have slain every tenth man. Jehovah might\nappoint retribution of the same kind; He might afflict them with\npestilence; He might require them to offer a multitude of sacrifices.\nMen who traffic with idolatry and adopt gross notions of revengeful gods\nare certain to carry back with them when they return to the better faith\nmany of the false ideas they have gathered. And it is just possible that\na demand for human sacrifices was at this time attributed to God, the\ngeneral feeling that they might be necessary connecting itself with\nJephthah's vow.\n\nIt is idle to suppose that Israelites who persistently lapsed into\npaganism could at any time, because they repented, find the spiritual\nthoughts they had lost. True those thoughts were at the heart of the\nnational life, there always even when least felt. But thousands of\nHebrews even in a generation of reviving faith died with but a faint and\nshadowy personal understanding of Jehovah. Everything in the Book of\nJudges goes to show that the mass of the people were nearer the level of\ntheir neighbours the Moabites and Ammonites than the piety of the\nPsalms. A remarkable ebb and flow are observable in the history of the\nrace. Look at some facts and there seems to be decline. Samson is below\nGideon, and Gideon below Deborah; no man of leading until Isaiah can be\nnamed with Moses. Yet ever and anon there are prophetic calls and voices\nout of a spiritual region into which the people as a whole do not enter,\nvoices to which they listen only when distressed and overborne.\nWorldliness increases, for the world opens to the Hebrew; but it often\ndisappoints, and still there are some to whom the heavenly secret is\ntold. The race as a whole is not becoming more devout and holy, but the\nfew are gaining a clearer vision as one experience after another is\nrecorded. The antithesis is the same we see in the Christian centuries.\nIs the multitude more pious now than in the age when a king had to do\npenance for rash words spoken against an ecclesiastic? Are the churches\nless worldly than they were a hundred years ago? Scarcely may we affirm\nit. Yet there never was an age so rich as ours in the finest\nspirituality, the noblest Christian thought. Our van presses up to the\nSimplon height and is in constant touch with those who follow; but the\nrear is still chaffering and idling in the streets of Milan. It is in\ntruth always by the fidelity of the remnant that humanity is saved for\nGod.\n\nWe cannot say that when Israel repented it was in the love of holiness\nso much as in the desire for liberty. The ways of the heathen were\nfollowed readily, but the supremacy of the heathen was ever abominable\nto the vigorous Israelite. By this national spirit however God could\nfind the tribes, and a special feature of the deliverance from Ammon is\nmarked where we read: \"The people, the princes of Gilead said one to the\nother, What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of\nAmmon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.\" Looking\naround for the fit leader they found Jephthah and agreed to invite him.\n\nNow this shows distinct progress in the growth of the nation. There is,\nif nothing more, a growth in practical power. Abimelech had thrust\nhimself upon the men of Shechem. Jephthah is chosen apart from any\nambition of his own. The movement which made him judge arose out of the\nconsciousness of the Gileadites that they could act for themselves and\nwere bound to act for themselves. Providence indicated the chief, but\nthey had to be instruments of providence in making him chief. The vigour\nand robust intelligence of the men of Eastern Palestine come out here.\nThey lead in the direction of true national life. While on the west of\nJordan there is a fatalistic disposition, these men move. Gilead, the\nseparated country, with the still ruder Bashan behind it and the Argob a\nresort of outlaws, is beneath some other regions in manners and in\nthought, but ahead of them in point of energy. We need not look for\nrefinement, but we shall see power; and the chosen leader while he is\nsomething of the barbarian will be a man to leave his mark on history.\n\nAt the start we are not prepossessed in favour of Jephthah. There is\nsome confusion in the narrative which has led to the supposition that he\nwas a foundling of the clan. But taking Gilead as the actual name of his\nfather, he appears as the son of a harlot, brought up in the paternal\nhome and banished from it when there were legitimate sons able to\ncontend with him. We get thus a brief glance at a certain rough standard\nof morals and see that even polygamy made sharp exclusions. Jephthah,\ncast out, betakes himself to the land of Tob and getting about him a\nband of vain fellows or freebooters becomes the Robin Hood or Rob Roy of\nhis time. There are natural suspicions of a man who takes to a life of\nthis kind, and yet the progress of events shows that though Jephthah was\na sort of outlaw his character as well as his courage must have\ncommended him. He and his men might occasionally seize for their own use\nthe cattle and corn of Israelites when they were hard pressed for food.\nBut it was generally against the Ammonites and other enemies their raids\nwere directed, and the modern instances already cited show that no\nlittle magnanimity and even patriotism may go along with a life of\nlawless adventure. If this robber chief, as some might call him, now and\nagain levied contributions from a wealthy flock-master, the poorer\nHebrews were no doubt indebted to him for timely help when bands of\nAmmonites swept through the land. Something of this we must read into\nthe narrative otherwise the elders of Gilead would not so unanimously\nand urgently have invited him to become their head.\n\nJephthah was not at first disposed to believe in the good faith of those\nwho gave him the invitation. Among the heads of households who came he\nsaw his own brothers who had driven him to the hills. He must have more\nthan suspected that they only wished to make use of him in their\nemergency and, the fighting over, would set him aside. He therefore\nrequired an oath of the men that they would really accept him as chief\nand obey him. That given he assumed the command.\n\nAnd here the religious character of the man begins to appear. At Mizpah\non the verge of the wilderness where the Israelites, driven northward by\nthe victories of Ammon, had their camp there stood an ancient cairn or\nheap of stones which preserved the tradition of a sacred covenant and\nstill retained the savour of sanctity. There it was that Jacob fleeing\nfrom Padan-aram on his way back to Canaan was overtaken by Laban, and\nthere raising the Cairn of Witness they swore in the sight of Jehovah to\nbe faithful to each other. The belief still lingered that the old\nmonument was a place of meeting between man and God. To it Jephthah\nrepaired at this new point in his life. No more an adventurer, no more\nan outlaw, but the chosen leader of eastern Israel, \"he spake all his\nwords before Jehovah in Mizpah.\" He had his life to review there, and\nthat could not be done without serious thought. He had a new and\nstrenuous future opened to him. Jephthah the outcast, the unnamed, was\nto be leader in a tremendous national struggle. The bold Gileadite feels\nthe burden of the task. He has to question himself, to think of Jehovah.\nHitherto he has been doing his own business and to that he has felt\nquite equal; now with large responsibility comes a sense of need. For a\nfight with society he has been strong enough; but can he be sure of\nhimself as God's man, fighting against Ammon? Not a few words but many\nwould he have to utter as on the hill-top in the silence he lifted up\nhis soul to God and girt himself in holy resolution as a father and a\nHebrew to do his duty in the day of battle.\n\nThus we pass from doubt of Jephthah to the hope that the banished man,\nthe free-booter will yet prove to be an Israelite indeed, of sterling\ncharacter, whose religion, very rude perhaps, has a deep strain of\nreality and power. Jephthah at the cairn of Mizpah lifting up his hands\nin solemn invocation of the God of Jacob reminds us that there are great\ntraditions of the past of our nation and of our most holy faith to which\nwe are bound to be true, that there is a God our witness and our judge\nin Whose strength alone we can live and do nobly. For the service of\nhumanity and the maintenance of faith we need to be in close touch with\nthe brave and good of other days and in the story of their lives find\nquickening for our own. Along the same line and succession we are to\nbear our testimony, and no link of connection with the Divine Power is\nto be missed which the history of the men of faith supplies. Yet as our\npersonal Helper especially we must know God. Hearing His call to\nourselves we must lift the standard and go forth to the battle of life.\nWho can serve his family and friends, who can advance the well-being of\nthe world, unless he has entered into that covenant with the Living God\nwhich raises mortal insufficiency to power and makes weak and ignorant\nmen instruments of a divine redemption?\n\n\n\n\nXVII.\n\n_THE TERRIBLE VOW._\n\nJUDGES xi. 12-40.\n\n\nAt every stage of their history the Hebrews were capable of producing\nmen of passionate religiousness. And this appears as a distinction of\nthe group of nations to which they belong. The Arab of the present time\nhas the same quality. He can be excited to a holy war in which thousands\nperish. With the battle-cry of Allah and his Prophet he forgets fear. He\npresents a different mingling of character from the Saxon,--turbulence\nand reverence, sometimes apart, then blending--magnanimity and a\ntremendous want of magnanimity; he is fierce and generous, now rising to\nvivid faith, then breaking into earthly passion. We have seen the type\nin Deborah. David is the same and Elijah; and Jephthah is the Gileadite,\nthe border Arab. In each of these there is quick leaping at life and\nbeneath hot impulse a strain of brooding thought with moments of intense\ninward trouble. As we follow the history we must remember the kind of\nman it presents to us. There is humanity as it is in every race, daring\nin effort, tender in affection, struggling with ignorance yet thoughtful\nof God and duty, triumphing here, defeated there. And there is the\nSyrian with the heat of the sun in his blood and the shadow of Moloch on\nhis heart, a son of the rude hills and of barbaric times, yet with a\ndignity, a sense of justice, a keen upward look, the Israelite never\nlost in the outlaw.\n\nSo soon as Jephthah begins to act for his people, marks of a strong\ncharacter are seen. He is no ordinary leader, not the mere fighter the\nelders of Gilead may have taken him to be. His first act is to send\nmessengers to the king of Ammon saying, What hast thou to do with me\nthat thou art come to fight against my land? He is a chief who desires\nto avert bloodshed--a new figure in the history.\n\nNatural in those times was the appeal to arms, so natural, so customary\nthat we must not lightly pass this trait in the character of the\nGileadite judge. If we compare his policy with that of Gideon or Barak\nwe see of course that he had different circumstances to deal with.\nBetween Jordan and the Mediterranean the Israelites required the whole\nof the land in order to establish a free nationality. There was no room\nfor Canaanite or Midianite rule side by side with their own. The\ndominance of Israel had to be complete and undisturbed. Hence there was\nno alternative to war when Jabin or Zebah and Zalmunna attacked the\ntribes. Might had to be invoked on behalf of right. On the other side\nJordan the position was different. Away towards the desert behind the\nmountains of Bashan the Ammonites might find pasture for their flocks,\nand Moab had its territory on the slopes of the lower Jordan and the\nDead Sea. It was not necessary to crush Ammon in order to give Manasseh,\nGad and Reuben space enough and to spare. Yet there was a rare quality\nof judgment shown by the man who although called to lead in war began\nwith negotiation and aimed at a peaceful settlement. No doubt there was\ndanger that the Ammonites might unite with Midian or Moab against\nIsrael. But Jephthah hazards such a coalition. He knows the bitterness\nkindled by strife. He desires that Ammon, a kindred people, shall be won\nover to friendliness with Israel, henceforth to be an ally instead of a\nfoe.\n\nNow in one aspect this may appear an error in policy, and the Hebrew\nchief will seem especially to blame when he makes the admission that the\nAmmonites hold their land from Chemosh their god. Jephthah has no sense\nof Israel's mission to the world, no wish to convert Ammon to a higher\nfaith, nor does Jehovah appear to him as sole King, sole object of human\nworship. Yet, on the other hand, if the Hebrews were to fight idolatry\neverywhere it is plain their swords would never have been sheathed.\nPhoenicia was close beside; Aram was not far away; northward the\nHittites maintained their elaborate ritual. A line had to be drawn\nsomewhere and, on the whole, we cannot but regard Jephthah as an\nenlightened and humane chief who wished to stir against his people and\nhis God no hostility that could possibly be avoided. Why should not\nIsrael conquer Ammon by justice and magnanimity, by showing the higher\nprinciples which the true religion taught? He began at all events by\nendeavouring to stay the quarrel, and the attempt was wise.\n\nThe king of Ammon refused Jephthah's offer to negotiate. He claimed the\nland bounded by the Arnon, the Jabbok and Jordan as his own and demanded\nthat it should be peaceably given up to him. In reply Jephthah denied\nthe claim. It was the Amorites, he said, who originally held that part\nof Syria. Sihon who was defeated in the time of Moses was not an\nAmmonite king, but chief of the Amorites. Israel had by conquest\nobtained the district in dispute, and Ammon must give place.\n\nThe full account given of these messages sent by Jephthah shows a strong\ndesire on the part of the narrator to vindicate Israel from any charge\nof unnecessary warfare. And it is very important that this should be\nunderstood, for the inspiration of the historian is involved. We know of\nnations that in sheer lust of conquest have attacked tribes whose land\nthey did not need, and we have read histories in which wars unprovoked\nand cruel have been glorified. In after times the Hebrew kings brought\ntrouble and disaster on themselves by their ambition. It would have been\nwell if David and Solomon had followed a policy like Jephthah's rather\nthan attempted to rival Assyria and Egypt. We see an error rather than a\ncause of boasting when David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus: strife\nwas thereby provoked which issued in many a sanguinary war. The Hebrews\nshould never have earned the character of an aggressive and ambitious\npeople that required to be kept in check by the kingdoms around. To this\nnation, a worldly nation on the whole, was committed a spiritual\ninheritance, a spiritual task. Is it asked why being worldly the Hebrews\nought to have fulfilled a spiritual calling? The answer is that their\nbest men understood and declared the Divine will, and they should have\nlistened to their best men. Their fatal mistake was, as Christ showed,\nto deride their prophets, to crush and kill the messengers of God. And\nmany other nations likewise have missed their true vocation being\ndeluded by dreams of vast empire and earthly glory. To combat idolatry\nwas indeed the business of Israel and especially to drive back the\nheathenism that would have overwhelmed its faith; and often this had to\nbe done with an earthly sword because liberty no less than faith was at\nstake. But a policy of aggression was never the duty of this people.\n\nThe temperate messages of the Hebrew chief to the king of Ammon proved\nto be of no avail: war alone was to settle the rival claims. And this\nonce clear Jephthah lost no time in preparing for battle. As one who\nfelt that without God no man can do anything, he sought assurance of\ndivine aid; and we have now to consider the vow which he made, ever\ninteresting on account of the moral problem it involves and the very\npathetic circumstances which accompanied its fulfilment.\n\nThe terms of the solemn engagement under which Jephthah came were\nthese:--\"If Thou wilt indeed deliver the children of Ammon into mine\nhand, then it shall be that whatsoever\" (Septuagint and Vulgate,\n\"_whosoever_\") \"cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me when I\nreturn in peace from the children of Ammon shall be the Lord's, and I\nwill offer it (otherwise, _him_) for a burnt offering.\" And here two\nquestions arise; the first, what he could have meant by the promise; the\nsecond, whether we can justify him in making it. As to the first, the\nexplicit designation to God of whatever came forth of the doors of his\nhouse points unmistakably to a human life as the devoted thing. It would\nhave been idle in an emergency like that in which Jephthah found\nhimself, with a hazardous conflict impending that was to decide the fate\nof the eastern tribes at least, to anticipate the appearance of an\nanimal, bullock, goat or sheep, and promise that in sacrifice. The form\nof words used in the vow cannot be held to refer to an animal. The chief\nis thinking of some one who will express joy at his success and greet\nhim as a victor. In the fulness of his heart he leaps to a wild savage\nmark of devotion. It is a crisis alike for him and for the people and\nwhat can he do to secure the favour and help of Jehovah? Too ready from\nhis acquaintance with heathen sacrifices and ideas to believe that the\nGod of Israel will be pleased with the kind of offerings by which the\ngods of Sidon and Aram were honoured, feeling himself as the chief of\nthe Hebrews bound to make some great and unusual sacrifice, he does not\npromise that the captives taken in war shall be devoted to Jehovah, but\nsome one of his own people is to be the victim. The dedication shall be\nall the more impressive that the life given up is one of which he\nhimself shall feel the loss. A conqueror returning from war would, in\nordinary circumstances, have loaded with gifts the first member of his\nhousehold who came forth to welcome him. Jephthah vows to give that very\nperson to God. The insufficient religious intelligence of the man, whose\nlife had been far removed from elevating influences, this once\nperceived--and we cannot escape from the facts of the case--the vow is\nparallel to others of which ancient history tells. Jephthah expects some\nservant, some favourite slave to be the first. There is a touch of\nbarbaric grandeur and at the same time of Roman sternness in his vow. As\na chief he has the lives of all his household entirely at his disposal.\nTo sacrifice one will be hard, for he is a humane man; but he expects\nthat the offering will be all the more acceptable to the Most High. Such\nare the ideas moral and religious from which his vow springs.\n\nNow we should like to find more knowledge and a higher vision in a\nleader of Israel. We would fain escape from the conclusion that a Hebrew\ncould be so ignorant of the divine character as Jephthah appears; and\nmoved by such feelings many have taken a very different view of the\nmatter. The Gileadite has, for example, been represented as fully aware\nof the Mosaic regulations concerning sacrifice and the method for\nredeeming the life of a firstborn child; that is to say he is supposed\nto have made his vow under cover of the Levitical provision by which in\ncase his daughter should first meet him he would escape the necessity of\nsacrificing her. The rule in question could not, however, be stretched\nto a case like this. But, supposing it could, is it likely that a man\nwhose whole soul had gone out in a vow of life and death to God would\nreserve such a door of escape? In that case the story would lose its\nterror indeed, but also its power: human history would be the poorer by\none of the great tragic experiences wild and supernatural that show man\nstruggling with thoughts above himself.\n\nWhat did the Gileadite know? What ought he to have known? We see in his\nvow a fatalistic strain; he leaves it to chance or fate to determine who\nshall meet him. There is also an assumption of the right to take into\nhis own hands the disposal of a human life; and this, though most\nconfidently claimed, was entirely a factitious right. It is one which\nmankind has ceased to allow. Further the purpose of offering a human\nbeing in sacrifice is unspeakably horrible to us. But how differently\nthese things must have appeared in the dim light which alone guided this\nman of lawless life in his attempt to make sure of God and honour Him!\nWe have but to consider things that are done at the present day in the\nname of religion, the lifelong \"devotion\" of young women in a nunnery,\nfor example, and all the ceremonies which accompany that outrage on the\ndivine order to see that centuries of Christianity have not yet put an\nend to practices which under colour of piety are barbaric and revolting.\nIn the modern case a nun secluded from the world, dead to the world, is\nconsidered to be an offering to God. The old conception of sacrifice was\nthat the life must pass out of the world by way of death in order to\nbecome God's. Or again, when the priest describing the devotion of his\nbody says: \"The essential, the sacerdotal purpose to which it should be\nused is to die. Such death must be begun in chastity, continued in\nmortification, consummated in that actual death which is the priest's\nfinal oblation, his last sacrifice,\"[6]--the same superstition appears\nin a refined and mystical form.\n\n [6] Henri Perreyve.\n\nHis vow made, the chief went forth to battle leaving in his home one\nchild only, a daughter beautiful, high-spirited, the joy of her father's\nheart. She was a true Hebrew girl and all her thought was that he, her\nsire, should deliver Israel. For this she longed and prayed. And it was\nso. The enthusiasm of Jephthah's devotion to God was caught by his\ntroops and bore them on irresistibly. Marching from Mizpah in the land\nof Bashan they crossed Manasseh, and south from Mizpeh of Gilead, which\nwas not far from the Jabbok, they found the Ammonites encamped. The\nfirst battle practically decided the campaign. From Aroer to Minnith,\nfrom the Jabbok to the springs of Arnon, the course of flight and\nbloodshed extended, until the invaders were swept from the territory of\nthe tribes. Then came the triumphant return.\n\nWe imagine the chief as he approached his home among the hills of\nGilead, his eagerness and exultation mingled with some vague alarm. The\nvow he has made cannot but weigh upon his mind now that the performance\nof it comes so near. He has had time to think what it implies. When he\nuttered the words that involved a life the issue of war appeared\ndoubtful. Perhaps the campaign would be long and indecisive. He might\nhave returned not altogether discredited, yet not triumphant. But he has\nsucceeded beyond his expectation. There can be no doubt that the\noffering is due to Jehovah. Who then shall appear? The secret of his vow\nis hid in his own breast. To no man has he revealed his solemn promise;\nnor has he dared in any way to interfere with the course of events. As\nhe passes up the valley with his attendants there is a stir in his rude\ncastle. The tidings of his coming have preceded him and she, that dear\ngirl who is the very apple of his eye, his daughter, his only child,\nhaving already rehearsed her part, goes forth eagerly to welcome him.\nShe is clad in her gayest dress. Her eyes are bright with the keenest\nexcitement. The timbrel her father once gave her, on which she has often\nplayed to delight him, is tuned to a chant of triumph. She dances as she\npasses from the gate. Her father, her father, chief and victor!\n\nAnd he? A sudden horror checks his heart. He stands arrested, cold as\nstone, with eyes of strange dark trouble fixed upon the gay young figure\nthat welcomes him to home and rest and fame. She flies to his arms, but\nthey do not open to her. She looks at him, for he has never repulsed\nher--and why now? He puts forth his hands as if to thrust away a\ndreadful sight, and what does she hear? Amid the sobs of a strong man's\nagony, \"Alas, my daughter, thou hast brought me very low ... and thou\nart one of them that trouble me.\" To startled ears the truth is slowly\ntold. She is vowed to the Lord in sacrifice. He cannot go back. Jehovah\nwho gave the victory now claims the fulfilment of the oath.\n\nWe are dealing with the facts of life. For a time let us put aside the\nreflections that are so easy to make about rash vows and the iniquity of\nkeeping them. Before this anguish of the loving heart, this awful issue\nof a sincere but superstitious devotion we stand in reverence. It is one\nof the supreme hours of humanity. Will the father not seek relief from\nhis obligation? Will the daughter not rebel? Surely a sacrifice so awful\nwill not be completed. Yet we remember Abraham and Isaac journeying\ntogether to Moriah, and how with the father's resignation of his great\nhope there must have gone the willingness of the son to face death if\nthat last proof of piety and faith is required. We look at the father\nand daughter of a later date and find the same spirit of submission to\nwhat is regarded as the will of God. Is the thing horrible--too horrible\nto be dwelt upon? Are we inclined to say,\n\n \"... 'Heaven heads the count of crimes\n With that wild oath?' She renders answer high,\n 'Not so; nor once alone, a thousand times\n I would be born and die.'\"\n\nIt has been affirmed that \"Jephthah's rash act, springing from a\nculpable ignorance of the character of God, directed by heathen\nsuperstition and cruelty poured an ingredient of extreme bitterness into\nhis cup of joy and poisoned his whole life.\" Suffering indeed there must\nhave been for both the actors in that pitiful tragedy of devotion and\nignorance, who knew not the God to Whom they offered the sacrifice. But\nit is one of the marks of rude erring man that he does take upon himself\nsuch burdens of pain in the service of the invisible Lord. A shallow\nscepticism entirely misreads the strange dark deeds often done for\nreligion; yet one who has uttered many a foolish thing in the way of\n\"explaining\" piety can at last confess that the renouncing mortifying\nspirit is, with all its errors, one of man's noble and distinguishing\nqualities. To Jephthah, as to his heroic daughter, religion was another\nthing than it is to many, just because of their extraordinary\nrenunciation. Very ignorant they were surely, but they were not so\nignorant as those who make no great offering to God, who would not\nresign a single pleasure, nor deprive a son or daughter of a single\ncomfort or delight, for the sake of religion and the higher life. To\nwhat purpose is this waste? said the disciples, when the pound of\nointment of spikenard very costly was poured on the head of Jesus and\nthe house was filled with the odour. To many now it seems waste to\nexpend thought, time or money upon a sacred cause, much more to hazard\nor to give life itself. We see the evils of enthusiastic self-devotion\nto the work of God very clearly; its power we do not feel. We are saving\nlife so diligently, many of us, that we may well fear to lose it\nirremediably. There is no strain and therefore no strength, no joy. A\nweary pessimism dogs our unfaith.\n\nTo Jephthah and his daughter the vow was sacred, irrevocable. The\ndeliverance of Israel by so signal and complete a victory left no\nalternative. It would have been well if they had known God differently;\nyet better this darkly impressive issue which went to the making of\nHebrew faith and strength than easy unfruitful evasion of duty. We are\nshocked by the expenditure of fine feeling and heroism in upholding a\nfalse idea of God and obligation to Him; but are we outraged and\ndistressed by the constant effort to escape from God which characterizes\nour age? And have we for our own part come yet to the right idea of self\nand its relations? Our century, beclouded on many points, is nowhere\nless informed than in matters of self-sacrifice; Christ's doctrine is\nstill uncomprehended. Jephthah was wrong, for God did not need to be\nbribed to support a man who was bent on doing his duty. And many fail\nnow to perceive that personal development and service of God are in the\nsame line. Life is made for generosity not mortification, for giving in\nglad ministry not for giving up in hideous sacrifice. It is to be\ndevoted to God by the free and holy use of body, mind and soul in the\ndaily tasks which Providence appoints.\n\nThe wailing of Jephthah's daughter rings in our ears bearing with it the\nanguish of many a soul tormented in the name of that which is most\nsacred, tormented by mistakes concerning God, the awful theory that He\nis pleased with human suffering. The relics of that hideous\nMoloch-worship which polluted Jephthah's faith, not even yet purged away\nby the Spirit of Christ, continue and make religion an anxiety and life\na kind of torture. I do not speak of that devotion of thought and time,\neloquence and talent to some worthless cause which here and there amazes\nthe student of history and human life,--the passionate ardour, for\nexample, with which Flora Macdonald gave herself up to the service of a\nStuart. But religion is made to demand sacrifices compared to which the\noffering of Jephthah's daughter was easy. The imagination of women\nespecially, fired by false representations of the death of Christ in\nwhich there was a clear divine assertion of self, while it is made to\nappear as complete suppression of self, bears many on in a hopeless and\nessentially immoral endeavour. Has God given us minds, feelings, right\nambitions that we may crush them? Does He purify our desires and\naspirations by the fire of His own Spirit and still require us to crush\nthem? Are we to find our end in being nothing, absolutely nothing,\ndevoid of will, of purpose, of personality? Is this what Christianity\ndemands? Then our religion is but refined suicide, and the God who\ndesires us to annihilate ourselves is but the Supreme Being of the\nBuddhists, if those may be said to have a god who regard the suppression\nof individuality as salvation.\n\nChrist was made a sacrifice for us. Yes: He sacrificed everything\nexcept His own eternal life and power; He sacrificed ease and favour\nand immediate success for the manifestation of God. So He achieved\nthe fulness of personal might and royalty. And every sacrifice His\nreligion calls us to make is designed to secure that enlargement and\nfulness of spiritual individuality in the exercise of which we shall\ntruly serve God and our fellows. Does God require sacrifice? Yes,\nunquestionably--the sacrifice which every reasonable being must make in\norder that the mind, the soul may be strong and free, sacrifice of the\nlower for the higher, sacrifice of pleasure for truth, of comfort for\nduty, of the life that is earthly and temporal for the life that is\nheavenly and eternal. And the distinction of Christianity is that it\nmakes this sacrifice supremely reasonable because it reveals the higher\nlife, the heavenly hope, the eternal rewards for which the sacrifice is\nto be made, that it enables us in making it to feel ourselves united to\nChrist in a divine work which is to issue in the redemption of mankind.\n\nThere are not a few popularly accepted guides in religion who fatally\nmisconceive the doctrine of sacrifice. They take man-made conditions for\nDivine opportunities and calls. Their arguments come home not to the\nselfish and overbearing, but to the unselfish and long-suffering members\nof society, and too often they are more anxious to praise\nrenunciation--any kind of it, for any purpose, so it involve acute\nfeeling--than to magnify truth and insist on righteousness. It is women\nchiefly these arguments affect, and the neglect of pure truth and\njustice with which women are charged is in no small degree the result of\nfalse moral and religious teaching. They are told that it is good to\nrenounce and suffer even when at every step advantage is taken of their\nsubmission and untruth triumphs over generosity. They are urged to\nschool themselves to humiliation and loss not because God appoints these\nbut because human selfishness imposes them. The one clear and damning\nobjection to the false doctrine of self-suppression is here: it makes\nsin. Those who yield where they should protest, who submit where they\nshould argue and reprove, make a path for selfishness and injustice and\nincrease evil instead of lessening it. They persuade themselves that\nthey are bearing the cross after Christ; but what in effect are they\ndoing? The missionary amongst ignorant heathen has to bear to the\nuttermost as Christ bore. But to give so-called Christians a power of\noppression and exaction is to turn the principles of religion upside\ndown and hasten the doom of those for whom the sacrifice is made. When\nwe meddle with truth and righteousness even in the name of piety we\nsimply commit sacrilege, we range ourselves with the wrong and unreal;\nthere is no foundation under our faith and no moral result of our\nendurance and self-denial. We are selling Christ not following Him.\n\n\n\n\nXVIII.\n\n_SHIBBOLETHS._\n\nJUDGES xii. 1-7.\n\n\nWhile Jephthah and his Gileadites were engaged in the struggle with\nAmmon jealous watch was kept over all their movements by the men of\nEphraim. As the head tribe of the house of Joseph occupying the centre\nof Palestine Ephraim was suspicious of all attempts and still more of\nevery success that threatened its pride and pre-eminence. We have seen\nGideon in the hour of his victory challenged by this watchful tribe, and\nnow a quarrel is made with Jephthah who has dared to win a battle\nwithout its help. What were the Gileadites that they should presume to\nelect a chief and form an army? Fugitives from Ephraim who had gathered\nin the shaggy forests of Bashan and among the cliffs of the Argob, mere\nadventurers in fact, what right had they to set up as the protectors of\nIsrael? The Ephraimites found the position intolerable. The vigour and\nconfidence of Gilead were insulting. If a check were not put on the\nenergy of the new leader might he not cross the Jordan and establish a\ntyranny over the whole land? There was a call to arms, and a large force\nwas soon marching against Jephthah's camp to demand satisfaction and\nsubmission.\n\nThe pretext that Jephthah had fought against Ammon without asking the\nEphraimites to join him was shallow enough. The invitation appears to\nhave been given; and even without an invitation Ephraim might well have\ntaken the field. But the savage threat, \"We will burn thine house upon\nthee with fire,\" showed the temper of the leaders in this expedition.\nThe menace was so violent that the Gileadites were roused at once and,\nfresh from their victory over Ammon, they were not long in humbling the\npride of the great western clan.\n\nOne may well ask, Where is Ephraim's fear of God? Why has there been no\nconsultation of the priests at Shiloh by the tribe under whose care the\nsanctuary is placed? The great Jewish commentary affirms that the\npriests were to blame, and we cannot but agree. If religious influences\nand arguments were not used to prevent the expedition against Gilead\nthey should have been used. The servants of the oracle might have\nunderstood the duty of the tribes to each other and of the whole nation\nto God and done their utmost to avert civil war. Unhappily, however,\nprofessed interpreters of the divine will are too often forward in\nurging the claims of a tribe or favouring the arrogance of a class by\nwhich their own position is upheld. As on the former occasion when\nEphraim interfered, so in this we scarcely go beyond what is probable in\nsupposing that the priests declared it to be the duty of faithful\nIsraelites to check the career of the eastern chief and so prevent his\nrude and ignorant religion from gaining dangerous popularity. Bishop\nWordsworth has seen a fanciful resemblance between Jephthah's campaign\nagainst Ammon and the revival under the Wesleys and Whitefield which as\na movement against ungodliness put to shame the sloth of the Church of\nEngland. He has remarked on the scorn and disdain--and he might have\nused stronger terms--with which the established clergy assailed those\nwho apart from them were successfully doing the work of God. This was an\nexample of far more flagrant tribal jealousy than that of Ephraim and\nher priests; and have there not been cases of religious leaders urging\nretaliation upon enemies or calling for war in order to punish what was\nabsurdly deemed an outrage on national honour? With facts of this kind\nin view we can easily believe that from Shiloh no word of peace, but on\nthe other hand words of encouragement were heard when the chiefs of\nEphraim began to hold councils of war and to gather their men for the\nexpedition that was to make an end of Jephthah.\n\nLet it be allowed that Ephraim, a strong tribe, the guardian of the ark\nof Jehovah, much better instructed than the Gileadites in the divine\nlaw, had a right to maintain its place. But the security of high\nposition lies in high purpose and noble service; and an Ephraim\nambitious of leading should have been forward on every occasion when the\nother tribes were in confusion and trouble. When a political party or a\nchurch claims to be first in regard for righteousness and national\nwell-being it should not think of its own credit or continuance in power\nbut of its duty in the war against injustice and ungodliness. The favour\nof the great, the admiration of the multitude should be nothing to\neither church or party. To rail at those who are more generous, more\npatriotic, more eager in the service of truth, to profess a fear of some\nulterior design against the constitution or the faith, to turn all the\nforce of influence and eloquence and even of slander and menace against\nthe disliked neighbour instead of the real enemy, this is the nadir of\nbaseness. There are Ephraims still, strong tribes in the land, that are\ntoo much exercised in putting down claims, too little in finding\nprinciples of unity and forms of practical brotherhood. We see in this\nbit of history an example of the humiliation that sooner or later falls\non the jealous and the arrogant; and every age is adding instances of a\nlike kind.\n\nCivil war, at all times lamentable, appears peculiarly so when the cause\nof it lies in haughtiness and distrust. We have found however that,\nbeneath the surface, there may have been elements of division and\nill-will serious enough to require this painful remedy. The campaign may\nhave prevented a lasting rupture between the eastern and western tribes,\na separation of the stream of Israel's religion and nationality into\nrival currents. It may also have arrested a tendency to ecclesiastical\nnarrowness, which at this early stage would have done immense harm. It\nis quite true that Gilead was rude and uninstructed, as Galilee had the\nreputation of being in the time of our Lord. But the leading tribes or\nclasses of a nation are not entitled to overbear the less enlightened,\nnor by attempts at tyranny to drive them into separation. Jephthah's\nvictory had the effect of making Ephraim and the other western tribes\nunderstand that Gilead had to be reckoned with, whether for weal or woe,\nas an integral and important part of the body politic. In Scottish\nhistory, the despotic attempt to thrust Episcopacy on the nation was the\ncause of a distressing civil war; a people who would not fall in with\nthe forms of religion that were in favour at head-quarters had to fight\nfor liberty. Despised or esteemed they resolved to keep and use their\nrights, and the religion of the world owes a debt to the Covenanters.\nThen in our own times, lament as we may the varied forms of antagonism\nto settled faith and government, that enmity of which communism and\nanarchism are the delirium, it would be simply disastrous to suppress it\nby sheer force even if the thing were possible. Surely those who are\ncertain they have right on their side need not be arrogant. The\noverbearing temper is always a sign of hollow principle as well as of\nmoral infirmity. Was any Gilead ever put down by a mere assertion of\nsuperiority, even on the field of battle? Let the truth be acknowledged\nthat only in freedom lies the hope of progress in intelligence, in\nconstitutional order and purity of faith. The great problems of national\nlife and development can never be settled as Ephraim tried to settle the\nmovement beyond Jordan. The idea of life expands and room must be left\nfor its enlargement. The many lines of thought, of personal activity, of\nreligious and social experiment leading to better ways or else proving\nby-and-by that the old are best--all these must have place in a free\nstate. The threats of revolution that trouble nations would die away if\nthis were clearly understood; and we read history in vain if we think\nthat the old autocracies or aristocracies will ever approve themselves\nagain, unless indeed they take far wiser and more Christian forms than\nthey had in past ages. The thought of individual liberty once firmly\nrooted in the minds of men, there is no going back to the restraints\nthat were possible before it was familiar. Government finds another\nbasis and other duties. A new kind of order arises which attempts no\nsuppression of any idea or sincere belief and allows all possible room\nfor experiments in living. Unquestionably this altered condition of\nthings increases the weight of moral responsibility. In ordering our own\nlives as well as in regulating custom and law we need to exercise the\nmost serious care, the most earnest thought. Life is not easier because\nit has greater breadth and freedom. Each is thrown back more upon\nconscience, has more to do for his fellow-men and for God.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWe pass now to the end of the campaign and the scene at the fords of\nJordan, when the Gileadites, avenging themselves on Ephraim, used the\nnotable expedient of asking a certain word to be pronounced in order to\ndistinguish friend from foe. To begin with, the slaughter was quite\nunnecessary. If bloodshed there had to be, that on the field of battle\nwas certainly enough. The wholesale murder of the \"fugitives of\nEphraim,\" so called with reference to their own taunt, was a passionate\nand barbarous deed. Those who began the strife could not complain; but\nit was the leaders of the tribe who rushed on war, and now the rank and\nfile must suffer. Had Ephraim triumphed the defeated Gileadites would\nhave found no quarter; victorious they gave none. We may trust, however,\nthat the number forty-two thousand represents the total strength of the\narmy that was dispersed and not those left dead on the field.\n\nThe expedient used at the fords turned on a defect or peculiarity of\nspeech. Shibboleth perhaps meant _stream_. Of each man who came to the\nstream of Jordan wishing to pass to the other side it was required that\nhe should say _Shibboleth_. The Ephraimites tried but said _Sibboleth_\ninstead, and so betraying their west-country birth they pronounced their\nown doom. The incident has become proverbial and the proverbial use of\nit is widely suggestive. First, however, we may note a more direct\napplication.\n\nDo we not at times observe how words used in common speech, phrases or\nturns of expression betray a man's upbringing or character, his strain\nof thought and desire? It is not necessary to lay traps for men, to put\nit to them how they think on this point or that in order to discover\nwhere they stand and what they are. Listen and you will hear sooner or\nlater the _Sibboleth_ that declares the son of Ephraim. In religious\ncircles, for example, men are found who appear to be quite enthusiastic\nin the service of Christianity, eager for the success of the church, and\nyet on some occasion a word, an inflexion or turn of the voice will\nreveal to the attentive listener a constant worldliness of mind, a\nworship of self mingling with all they think and do. You notice that and\nyou can prophesy what will come of it. In a few months or even weeks the\nshow of interest will pass. There is not enough praise or deference to\nsuit the egotist, he turns elsewhere to find the applause which he\nvalues above everything.\n\nAgain, there are words somewhat rude, somewhat coarse, which in\ncarefully ordered speech a man may not use; but they fall from his lips\nin moments of unguarded freedom or excitement. The man does not speak\n\"half in the language of Ashdod\"; he particularly avoids it. Yet now and\nagain a lapse into the Philistine dialect, a something muttered rather\nthan spoken betrays the secret of his nature. It would be harsh to\ncondemn any one as inherently bad on such evidence. The early habits,\nthe sins of past years thus unveiled may be those against which he is\nfighting and praying. Yet, on the other hand, the hypocrisy of a life\nmay terribly show itself in these little things; and every one will\nallow that in choosing our companions and friends we ought to be keenly\nalive to the slightest indications of character. There are fords of\nJordan to which we come unexpectedly, and without being censorious we\nare bound to observe those with whom we purpose to travel further.\n\nHere, however, one of the most interesting and, for our time, most\nimportant points of application is to be found in the self-disclosure of\nwriters--those who produce our newspapers, magazines, novels, and the\nlike. Touching on religion and on morals certain of these writers\ncontrive to keep on good terms with the kind of belief that is popular\nand pays. But now and again, despite efforts to the contrary, they come\non the _Shibboleth_ which they forget to pronounce aright. Some among\nthem who really care nothing for Christianity and have no belief\nwhatever in revealed religion, would yet pass for interpreters of\nreligion and guides of conduct. Christian morality and worship they\nbarely endure; but they cautiously adjust every phrase and reference so\nas to drive away no reader and offend no devout critic; that is, they\naim at doing so; now and again they forget themselves. We catch a word,\na touch of flippancy, a suggestion of licence, a covert sneer which goes\ntoo far by a hairsbreadth. The evil lies in this that they are teaching\nmultitudes to say _Sibboleth_ along with them. What they say is so\npleasant, so deftly said, with such an air of respect for moral\nauthority that suspicion is averted, the very elect are for a time\ndeceived. Indeed we are almost driven to think that Christians not a few\nare quite ready to accept the unbelieving _Sibboleth_ from sufficiently\ndistinguished lips. A little more of this lubricity and there will have\nto be a new and resolute sifting at the fords. The propaganda is\nvillainously active and without intelligent and vigorous opposition it\nwill proceed to further audacity. It is not a few but scores of this\nsect who have the ear of the public and even in religious publications\nare allowed to convey hints of earthliness and atheism. A covert worship\nof Mammon and of Venus goes on in the temple professedly dedicated to\nChrist, and one cannot be sure that a seemingly pious work will not vend\nsome doctrine of devils. It is time for a slaughter in God's name of\nmany a false reputation.\n\n * * * * *\n\nBut there are _Shibboleths_ of party, and we must be careful lest in\ntrying others we use some catchword of our own Gilead by which to judge\ntheir religion or their virtue. The danger of the earnest, alike in\nreligion, politics and philanthropy, is to make their own favourite\nplans or doctrines the test of all worth and belief. Within our churches\nand in the ranks of social reformers distinctions are made where there\nshould be none and old strifes are deepened. There are of course certain\ngreat principles of judgment. Christianity is founded on historical fact\nand revealed truth. \"Every spirit which confesseth that Jesus Christ is\ncome in the flesh is of God.\" In such a saying lies a test which is no\ntribal _Shibboleth_. And on the same level are others by which we are\nconstrained at all hazards to try ourselves and those who speak and\nwrite. Certain points of morality are vital and must be pressed. When a\nwriter says, \"In mediaeval times the recognition that every natural\nimpulse in a healthy and mature being has a claim to gratification was a\nvictory of unsophisticated nature over the asceticism of\nChristianity\"--we use no Shibboleth-test in condemning him. He is judged\nand found wanting by principles on which the very existence of human\nsociety depends. It is in no spirit of bigotry but in faithfulness to\nthe essentials of life and the hope of mankind that the sternest\ndenunciation is hurled at such a man. In plain terms he is an enemy of\nthe race.\n\nPassing from cases like this, observe others in which a measure of\ndogmatism must be allowed to the ardent. Where there are no strong\nopinions strenuously held and expressed little impression will be made.\nThe prophets in every age have spoken dogmatically; and vehemence of\nspeech is not to be denied to the temperance reformer, the apostle of\npurity, the enemy of luxurious self-indulgence and cant. Moral\nindignation must express itself strongly; and in the dearth of moral\nconviction we can bear with those who would even drag us to the ford and\nmake us utter their _Shibboleth_. They go too far, people say: perhaps\nthey do; but there are so many who will not move at all except in the\nway of pleasure.\n\nNow all this is clear. But we must return to the danger of making one\naspect of morality the sole test of morals, one religious idea the sole\ntest of religion and so framing a formula by which men separate\nthemselves from their friends and pass narrow bitter judgments on their\nkinsfolk. Let sincere belief and strong feeling rise to the prophetic\nstrain; let there be ardour, let there be dogmatism and vehemence. But\nbeyond urgent words and strenuous example, beyond the effort to persuade\nand convert there lie arrogance and the usurpation of a judgment which\nbelongs to God alone. In proportion as a Christian is living the life of\nChrist he will repel the claim of any other man however devout to force\nhis opinion or his action. All attempts at terrorism betray a lack of\nspirituality. The Inquisition was in reality the world oppressing\nspiritual life. And so in less degree, with less truculence, the\nunspiritual element may show itself even in company with a fervent\ndesire to serve the gospel. There need be no surprise that attempts to\ndictate to Christendom or any part of Christendom are warmly resented by\nthose who know that religion and liberty cannot be separated. The true\nchurch of Christ has a firm grasp of what it believes and is aiming at,\nand by its resoluteness it bears on human society. It is also gracious\nand persuasive, reasonable and open, and so gathers men into a free and\nfrank brotherhood, revealing to them the loftiest duty, leading them\ntowards it in the way of liberty. Let men who understand this try each\nother and it will never be by limited and suspicious formulae.\n\nAmidst pedants, critics, hot and bitter partisans, we see Christ moving\nin divine freedom. Fine is the subtlety of His thought in which the\nideas of spiritual liberty and of duty blend to form one luminous\nstrain. Fine are the clearness and simplicity of that daily life in\nwhich He becomes the way and the truth to men. It is the ideal life,\nbeyond all mere rules, disclosing the law of the kingdom of heaven; it\nis free and powerful because upheld by the purpose that underlies all\nactivity and development. Are we endeavouring to realize it? Scarcely at\nall: the bonds are multiplying not falling away; no man is bold to claim\nhis right, nor generous to give others their room. In this age of Christ\nwe seem neither to behold nor desire His manhood. Shall this always be?\nShall there not arise a race fit for liberty because obedient, ardent,\ntrue? Shall we not come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge\nof the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature\nof the fulness of Christ?\n\n * * * * *\n\nFor a little we must return to Jephthah, who after his great victory and\nhis strange dark act of faith judged Israel but six years. He appears in\nstriking contrast to other chiefs of his time and even of far later\ntimes in the purity of his home life, the more notable that his father\nset no example of good. Perhaps the legacy of dispeace and exile\nbequeathed to him with a tainted birth had taught the Gileadite, rude\nmountaineer as he was, the value of that order which his people too\noften despised. The silence of the history which is elsewhere careful to\nspeak of wives and children sets Jephthah before us as a kind of\npuritan, with another and perhaps greater distinction than the desire to\navoid war. The yearly lament for his daughter kept alive the memory not\nonly of the heroine but of one judge in Israel who set a high example of\nfamily life. A sad and lonely man he went those few years of his rule in\nGilead, but we may be sure that the character and will of the Holy One\nbecame more clear to him after he had passed the dreadful hill of\nsacrifice. The story is of the old world, terrible; yet we have found in\nJephthah a sublime sincerity, and we may believe that such a man though\nhe never repented of his vow would come to see that the God of Israel\ndemanded another and a nobler sacrifice, that of life devoted to His\nrighteousness and truth.\n\n\n\n\nXIX.\n\n_THE ANGEL IN THE FIELD._\n\nJUDGES xiii. 1-18.\n\n\nIn our ignorance not in our knowledge, in our blindness not in our light\nwe call nature secular and think of the ordinary course of events as a\nseries of cold operations, governed by law and force, having nothing to\ndo with divine purpose and love. Oftentimes we think so, and suffer\nbecause we do not understand. It is a pitiful error. The natural could\nnot exist, there could be neither substance nor order without the\nover-nature which is at once law and grace. Vitality, movement are not\nan efflorescence heralding decay--as to the atheist; they are not the\nactivity of an evil spirit--as sometimes to confused and falsely\ninstructed faith. They are the outward and visible action of God, the\nhem of the vesture on which we lay hold and feel Him. In the seen and\ntemporal there is a constant presence maintaining order, giving purpose\nand end. Were it otherwise man could not live an hour; even in\nselfishness and vileness he is a creature of two worlds which yet are\none, so closely are they interwoven. At every point natural and\nsupernatural are blended, the higher shaping the development of the\nlower, accomplishing in and through the lower a great spiritual plan.\nThis it is which gives depth and weight to our experience,\ncommunicating the dignity of the greatest moral and spiritual issues to\nthe meanest, darkest human life. Everywhere, always, man touches God\nthough he know Him not.\n\nNo surprise, therefore, is excited by the modes of speech and thought we\ncome upon as we read Scripture. The surprise would be in not coming upon\nthem. If we found the inspired writers divorcing God from the world and\nthinking of \"nature\" as a dark chamber of sin and torture echoing with\nHis curse, there would be no profit in studying this old volume. Then\nindeed we might turn from it in discontent and scorn, even as some cast\nit aside just because it is the revelation of God dwelling with men upon\nthe earth.\n\nBut what do the writers of faith mean when they tell of divine\nmessengers coming to peasants at labour in the fields, speaking to them\nof events common to the race--the birth of some child, the defeat of a\nrival tribe--as affairs of the spiritual even more than of the temporal\nregion? The narratives simple yet daring which affirm the mingling of\ndivine purpose and action with human life give us the deepest science,\nthe one real philosophy. Why do we have to care and suffer for each\nother? What are our sin and sorrow? These are not material facts; they\nare of quite another range. Always man is more than dust, better or\nworse than clay. Human lives are linked together in a gracious and awful\norder the course of which is now clearly marked, now obscurely\ntraceable; and if it were in our power to revive the history of past\nages, to mark the operation of faith and unbelief among men, issuing in\nvirtue and nobleness on the one hand, in vice and lethargy on the other,\nwe should see how near heaven is to earth, how rational a thing is\nprophecy, not only as relating to masses of men but to particular\nlives. It is our stupidity not our wisdom that starts back from\nrevelations of the over-world as if they confused what would otherwise\nbe clear.\n\nIn more than one story of the Bible the motherhood of a simple peasant\nwoman is a cause of divine communications and supernatural hopes. Is\nthis amazing, incredible? What then is motherhood itself? In the coming\nand care of frail existences, the strange blending in one great\nnecessity of the glad and the severe, the honourable and the\nhumiliating, with so many possibilities of failure in duty, of error and\nmisunderstanding ere the needful task is finished, death ever waiting on\nlife, and agony on joy--in all this do we not find such a manifestation\nof the higher purpose as might well be heralded by words and signs? Only\nthe order of God and His redemption can explain this \"nature.\" Right in\nthe path of atheistic reasoners, and of others not atheists, lie facts\nof human life which on their theory of naturalism are simply\nconfounding, too great at once for the causes they admit and the ends\nthey foresee. And if reason denies the possibility of prediction\nrelating to these facts we need not wonder. Without philosophy or faith\nthe range of denial is unlimited.\n\nFrom the quaint and simple narrative before us the imaginative\nrationalist turns away with the one word--\"myth.\" His criticism is of a\nsort which for all its ease and freedom gives the world nothing. We\ndesire to know why the human mind harbours thoughts of the kind, why it\nhas ideas of God and of a supernatural order, and how these work in\ndeveloping the race. Have they been of service? Have they given strength\nand largeness to poor rude lives and so proved a great reality? If so,\nthe word myth is inadmissible. It sets falsehood at the source of\nprogress and of good.\n\nHere are two Hebrew peasants, in a period of Philistine domination more\nthan a thousand years before the Christian era. Of their condition we\nknow only what a few brief sentences can tell in a history concerned\nchiefly with the facts of a divine order in which men's lives have an\nappointed place and use. It is certain that a thorough knowledge of this\nDanite family, its own history and its part in the history of Israel,\nwould leave no difficulty for faith. Belief in the fore-ordination of\nall human existence and the constant presence of God with men and women\nin their endurance, their hope and yearning would be forced upon the\nmost sceptical mind. The insignificance of the occasion marked by a\nprediction given in the name of God may astonish some. But what is\ninsignificant? Wherever divine predestination and authority extend, and\nthat is throughout the whole universe, nothing can properly be called\ninsignificant. The laws according to which material things and forces\nare controlled by God touch the minutest particles of matter, determine\nthe shape of a dew-drop as certainly as the form of a world. At every\npoint in human life, the birth of a child in the poorest cottage as well\nas of the heir to an empire, the same principles of heredity, the same\ndisposition of affairs to leave room for that life and to work out its\ndestiny underlie the economy of the world.\n\nA life is to appear. It is not an interposition or interpolation. No\nevent, no life is ever thrust into an age without relation to the past;\nno purpose is formed in the hour of a certain prophecy. For Samson as\nfor every actor distinguished or obscure upon the stage of the world\nthe stars and the seasons have co-operated and all that has been done\nunder the sun has gone to make a place for him. One who knows this can\nspeak strongly and clearly. One who knows what hinders and what is sure\nto aid the fulfilment of a great destiny can counsel wisely. And so the\nangel of Jehovah, a messenger of the spiritual covenant, is no mere\nvehicle of a prediction he does not understand. Without hesitation he\nspeaks to the woman in the field of what her son shall do. By the story\nof God's dealings with Israel, by the experiences of tribe and family\nand individual soul since the primitive age, by the simple faith of\nthese parents that are to be and the honest energy of their humble lives\nhe is prepared to announce to them their honour and their duty. \"Thou\nshalt bear a son and he shall begin to deliver Israel.\" The messenger\nhas had his preparation of thought, inquiry deep devout and pondering,\nere he became fit to announce the word of God. No seer serves the age to\nwhich he is sent with that which costs him nothing, and here as\nelsewhere the law of all ministry to God and man must apply to the\npreparation and work of the revealer.\n\nThe personality of the messenger was carefully concealed. \"A man of God\nwhose countenance was like that of an angel of God very terrible\"--so\nruns the pathetic, suggestive description; but the hour was too intense\nfor mere curiosity. The honest mind does not ask the name and social\nstanding of a messenger but only--Does he speak God's truth? Does he\nopen life? There are few perhaps, to-day, who are simple and intelligent\nenough for this; few, therefore, to whom divine messages come. It is the\ncredentials we are anxious about, and the prophet waits unheard while\npeople are demanding his family and tribe, his college and reputation.\nAre these satisfactory? Then they will listen. But let no prophet come\nto them unnamed. Yet of all importance to us as to Manoah and his wife\nare the message, the revelation, the announcement of privilege and duty.\nWhere that divine order is disclosed which lies too deep for our own\ndiscovery but once revealed stirs and kindles our nature, the prophet\nneeds no certification.\n\nThe child that was to be born, a gift of God, a divine charge, was\npromised to these parents. And in the case of every child born into the\nworld there is a divine predestination which whether it has been\nrecognized by the parents or not gives dignity to his existence from the\nfirst. There are natural laws and spiritual laws, the gathering together\nof energies and needs and duties which make the life unique, the care of\nit sacred. It is a new force in the world--a new vessel, frail as yet,\nlaunched on the sea of time. In it some stores of the divine goodness,\nsome treasures of heavenly force are embarked. As it holds its way\nacross the ocean in sunshine or shadow, this life will be watched by the\ndivine eye, breathed gently upon by the summer airs or buffeted by the\nstorms of God. Does heaven mind the children? \"In heaven their angels do\nalways behold the face of My Father.\"\n\nIn the marvellous ordering of divine providence nothing is more\ncalculated than fatherhood and motherhood to lift human life into the\nhigh ranges of experience and feeling. Apart from any special message or\nrevelation, assuming only an ordinary measure of thoughtfulness and\ninterest in the unfolding of life, there is here a new dignity the sense\nof which connects the task of those who have it with the creative energy\nof God. Everywhere throughout the world we can trace a more or less\nclear understanding of this. The tide of life is felt to rise as the new\noffice, the new responsibility are grasped. The mother is become--\n\n \"A link among the days to knit\n The generations each to each.\"\n\nThe father has a sacred trust, a new and nobler duty to which his\nmanhood is entirely pledged in the sight of that great God who is the\nFather of all spirits, doubly and trebly pledged to truth and purity and\ncourage. It is the coronation of life; and the child, drawing father and\nmother to itself, is rightly the object of keenest interest and most\nassiduous care.\n\nThe interest lies greatly in this, that to the father and mother first,\nthen to the world there may be untold possibilities of good in the\nexistence which has begun. Apart from any prophecy like that given\nregarding Samson we have truly what may be called a special promise from\nGod in the dawning energy of every child-life. By the cradle surely, if\nanywhere, hope sacred and heavenly may be indulged. With what earnest\nglances will the young eyes look by-and-by from face to face. With what\nnew and keen love will the child-heart beat. Enlarging its grasp from\nyear to year the mind will lay hold on duty and the will address itself\nto the tasks of existence. This child will be a heroine of home, a\nhelper of society, a soldier of the truth, a servant of God. Does the\nmother dream long dreams as she bends over the cradle? Does the father,\none indeed amongst millions, yet with his special distinction and\ncalling, imagine for the child a future better than his own? It is well.\nBy the highest laws and instincts of our humanity it is right and good.\nHere men and women, the rudest and least taught, live in the immaterial\nworld of love, faith, duty.\n\nWe observe the anxiety of Manoah and his wife to learn the special\nmethod of training which should fit their child for his task. The\nfather's prayer so soon as he heard of the divine annunciation was, \"O\nLord, let the man of God whom Thou didst send come again unto us and\nteach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.\" Conscious\nof ignorance and inexperience, feeling the weight of responsibility, the\nparents desired to have authoritative direction in their duty, and their\nanxiety was the deeper because their child was to be a deliverer in\nIsrael. In their home on the hillside, where the cottages of Zorah\nclustered overlooking the Philistine plain, they were frequently\ndisturbed by the raiders who swept up the valley of Sorek from Ashdod\nand Ekron. They had often wondered when God would raise up a deliverer\nas of old, some Deborah or Gideon to end the galling oppression. Now the\nanswer to many a prayer and hope was coming, and in their own home the\nhero was to be cradled. We cannot doubt that this made them feel the\npressure of duty and the need of wisdom. Yet the prayer of Manoah was\none which every father has need to present, though the circumstances of\na child's birth have nothing out of the most ordinary course.\n\nTo each human mind are given powers which require special fostering,\npeculiarities of temperament and feeling which ought to be specially\nconsidered. One way will not serve in the upbringing of two children.\nEven the most approved method of the time, whether that of private\ntutelage or public instruction, may thwart individuality; and if the way\nbe ignorant and rough the original faculty will at its very springing be\ndistorted. It is but the barest commonplace, yet with what frequency it\nneeds to be urged that of all tasks in the world that of the guide and\ninstructor of youth is hardest to do well, best worth doing, therefore\nmost difficult. There is no need to deny that for the earliest years of\na child's life the instincts of a loving faithful mother may be trusted\nto guide her efforts. Yet even in those first years tendencies declare\nthemselves that require to be wisely checked or on the other hand wisely\nencouraged; and the wisdom does not come by instinct. A spiritual view\nof life, its limitations and possibilities, its high calling and\nheavenly destiny is absolutely necessary--that vision of the highest\nthings which religion alone can give. The prophet comes and directs; yet\nthe parents must be prophets too. \"The child is not to be educated for\nthe present--for this is done without our aid unceasingly and\npowerfully--but for the remote future and often in opposition to the\nimmediate future.... The child must be armed against the close-pressing\npresent with a counter-balancing weight of three powers against the\nthree weaknesses of the will, of love and of religion.... The girl and\nthe boy must learn that there is something in the ocean higher than its\nwaves--namely, a Christ who calls upon them.\"[7] On the religious\nteaching especially which is given to children much depends, and those\nwho guide them should often begin by searching and reconsidering their\nown beliefs. Many a promising life is marred because youth in its wonder\nand sincerity was taught no living faith in God, or was thrust into the\nmould of some narrow creed which had more in it of human bigotry than of\ndivine reason and love.\n\n [7] Richter, _Levana_.\n\n\"What shall be the ordering of the child?\" is Manoah's prayer, and it is\nwell if simply expressed. The child's way needs ordering. Circumstances\nmust be understood that discipline may fit the young life for its part.\nIn our own time this represents a serious difficulty. What to do with\nchildren, how to order their lives is the pressing question in thousands\nof homes. The scheme of education in favour shows little insight, little\nesteem for the individuality of children, which is of as much value in\nthe case of the backward as of those who are lured and goaded into\ndistinction. To broaden life, to give it many points of interest is\nwell. Yet on the other hand how much depends on discipline, on\nlimitation and concentration, the need of which we are apt to forget.\nNarrow and limited was the life of Israel when Samson was born into it.\nThe boy had to be what the nation was, what Zorah was, what Manoah and\nhis wife were. The limitations of the time held him and the secluded\nlife of Dan knowing but one article of patriotic faith, hatred of the\nPhilistines. Was there so much of restriction here as to make greatness\nimpossible? Not so. To be an Israelite was to have a certain moral\nadvantage and superiority. It was not a barren solidarity, a dry ground\nin which this new life was planted; the sprout grew out of a living\ntree; traditions, laws full of spiritual power made an environment for\nthe Hebrew child. Through the limitations, fenced and guided by them, a\nsoul might break forth to the upper air. It was not the narrowness of\nIsrael nor of his own home and upbringing but the licence of Philistia\nthat weakened the strong arm and darkened the eager soul of the young\nDanite. Are we now to be afraid of limitations, bent on giving to youth\nmultiform experience and the freest possible access to the world? Do we\ndream that strength will come as the stream of life is allowed to wander\nover a whole valley, turning hither and thither in a shallow and shifty\nbed? The natural parallel here will instruct us, for it is an image of\nthe spiritual fact. Strength not breadth is the mark at which education\nshould be directed. The intellectually and morally strong will find\nculture waiting them at every turn of the way and will know how to\nselect, what to appropriate. In truth there must be first the moral\npower gained by concentration, otherwise all culture--art, science,\nliterature, travel--proves but a Barmecide feast at which the soul\nstarves.\n\nThe special method of training for the child Samson is described in the\nwords, \"He shall be a Nazirite unto God.\" The mother was to drink no\nstrong drink nor eat any unclean thing. Her son was to be trained in the\nsame rigid abstinence; and always the sense of obligation to Jehovah was\nto accompany the austerity. The hair neither cut nor shaven but allowed\nto grow in natural luxuriance was to be the sign of the separated life.\nFor the hero that was to be, this ascetic purity, this sacrament of\nunshorn hair were the only things prescribed. Perhaps there was in the\ncommand a reference to the godless life of the Israelites, a protest\nagainst their self-indulgence and half-heathen freedom. One in the tribe\nof Dan would be clear of the sins of drunkenness and gluttony at least,\nand so far ready for spiritual work.\n\nNow it is notable enough to find thus early in history the example of a\nrule which even yet is not half understood to be the best as well as the\nsafest for the guidance of appetite and the development of bodily\nstrength. The absurdities commonly accepted by mothers and by those who\nonly desire some cover for the indulgence of taste are here set aside.\nA hero is to be born, one who in physical vigour will distinguish\nhimself above all, the Hercules of sacred history. His mother rigidly\nabstains, and he in his turn is to abstain from strong drink. The\nplainest dieting is to serve both her and him--the kind of food and\ndrink on which Daniel and his companions throve in the Chaldean palace.\nSurely the lesson is plain. Those who desire to excel in feats of\nstrength speak of their training. It embraces a vow like the Nazirites,\nwanting indeed the sacred purpose and therefore of no use in the\ndevelopment of character. But let a covenant be made with God, let\nsimple food and drink be used under a sense of obligation to Him to keep\nthe mind clear and the body clean, and soon with appetites better\ndisciplined we should have a better and stronger race.\n\nIt is not of course to be supposed that there was nothing out of the\ncommon in Samson's bodily vigour. Restraint of unhealthy and injurious\nappetite was not the only cause to which his strength was due. Yet as\nthe accompaniment of his giant energy the vow has great significance.\nAnd to young men who incline to glory in their strength, and all who\ncare to be fit for the tasks of life the significance will be clear. As\nfor the rest whose appetites master them, who must have this and that\nbecause they crave it, their weakness places them low as men, nowhere as\nexamples and guides. One would as soon take the type of manly vigour\nfrom a paralytic as from one whose will is in subjection to the cravings\nof the flesh.\n\nIt soon becomes clear in the course of the history that while some forms\nof evil were fenced off by Naziritism others as perilous were not. The\nmain part of the devotion lay in abstinence, and that is not spiritual\nlife. Here is one who from his birth set apart to God is trained in\nmanly control of his appetites. The locks that wave in wild luxuriance\nabout his neck are the sign of robust physical vigour as well as of\nconsecration. But, strangely, his spiritual education is not cared for\nas we might expect. He is disciplined and yet undisciplined. He fears\nthe Lord and yet fears Him not. He is an Israelite but not a true\nIsraelite. Jehovah is to him a God who gives strength and courage and\nblessing in return for a certain measure of obedience. As the Holy God,\nthe true God, the God of purity, Samson knows Him not, does not worship\nHim. Within a certain limited range he hears a divine voice saying,\n\"Thou shalt not,\" and there he obeys. But beyond is a great region in\nwhich he reckons himself free. And what is the result? He is strong,\nbrave, sunny in temper as his name implies. But a helper of society, a\nservant of divine religion, a man in the highest sense, one of God's\nfree men Samson does not become.\n\nSo is it always. One kind of exercise, discipline, obedience, virtue\nwill not suffice. We need to be temperate and also pure, we need to keep\nfrom self-indulgence but also from niggardliness if we are to be men. We\nhave to think of the discipline of mind and soul as well as soundness of\nbody. He is only half a man, however free from glaring faults and vices,\nwho has not learned the unselfishness, the love, the ardour in holy and\ngenerous tasks which Christ imparts. To abstain is a negative thing; the\npositive should command us--the highest manhood, holy, aspiring,\npatient, divine.\n\n\n\n\nXX.\n\n_SAMSON PLUNGING INTO LIFE._\n\nJUDGES xiii. 24-xiv. 20.\n\n\nOf all who move before us in the Book of Judges Samson is pre-eminently\nthe popular hero. In rude giant strength and wild daring he stands alone\nagainst the enemies of Israel contemptuous of their power and their\nplots. It is just such a man who catches the public eye and lives in the\ntraditions of a country. Most Hebrews of the time minded piety and\nculture as little as did the Norsemen when they first professed\nChristianity. Both races liked manliness and feats of daring and could\npardon much to one who flung his enemies and theirs to the ground with\ngod-like strength of arm, and in the narrative of Samson's exploits we\ntrace this note of popular estimation. He is a singular hero of faith,\nquite akin to those half-converted half-savage chiefs of the north who\nthought the best they could do for God was to kill His enemies and bound\nthemselves by fierce oaths in the name of Christ to hack and slaughter.\nFor the separateness from others, the isolation which marked Samson's\nwhole career the reasons are evident. His vow of Naziritism, for one\nthing, kept him apart. Others were their own men, he was Jehovah's. His\nradiant health and uncommon physical energy even in boyhood were to\nhimself and others the sign of a divine blessing which maintained his\nsense of consecration. While he looked on at the riot and drunkenness of\nthe feasts of his people he felt a growing revulsion, nor was he pleased\nwith other indications of their temper. The frequent raids of\nPhilistines from their walled cities by the coast struck terror far and\nwide--up the valleys of Dan into the heart of Judah and Ephraim. Samson\nas he grew up marked the supineness of his people with wonder and\ndisgust. If he did anything for them it was not because he honoured them\nbut in fulfilment of his destiny. At the same time we must note that the\nhero though a man of wit was not wise. He did the most injudicious\nthings. He had nothing in him of the diplomatist, not much of the leader\nof men. It was only now and again when the mood took him that he cared\nto exert himself. So he went his own way an admired hero, a lonely giant\namong smaller beings. Worst of all he was an easy prey to some kinds of\ntemptation. Restrained on one side, he gave himself license on others;\nhis strength was always undisciplined, and early in his career we can\nalmost predict how it will end. He ventures into one snare after\nanother. The time is sure to come when he will fall into a pit out of\nwhich there is no way of escape.\n\nOf the early life of the great Danite judge there is no record save that\nhe grew and the Lord blessed him. The parents whose home on the\nhill-side he filled with boisterous glee must have looked on the lad\nwith something like awe--so different was he from others, so great were\nthe hopes based on his future. Doubtless they did their best for him.\nThe consecration of his life to God they deeply impressed on his mind\nand taught him as well as they could the worship of the Unseen Jehovah\nin the sacrifice of lamb or kid at the altar, in prayers for protection\nand prosperity. But nothing is said of instruction in the righteousness,\nthe purity, the mercifulness which the law of God required. Manoah and\nhis wife seem to have made the mistake of thinking that outside the vow\nmoral education and discipline would come naturally, so far as they were\nneeded. There was great strictness on certain points and elsewhere such\nlaxity that he must have soon become wilful and headstrong and somewhat\nof a terror to the father and mother. Lads of his own age would of\ncourse adore him; as their leader in every bold pastime he would command\ntheir deference and loyalty, and many a wild thing was done, we can\nfancy, at which the people of the valley laughed uneasily or shook their\nheads in dismay. He who afterwards tied the jackals' tails together and\nset firebrands between each pair to burn the Philistines' corn must have\nserved an apprenticeship to that kind of savage sport. Hebrew or alien\nfor miles round who roused the anger of Samson would soon learn how\ndangerous it was to provoke him. Yet a dash of generosity always took\nthe edge from fiery temper and rash revenge, and the people of Dan, for\ntheir part, would allow much to one who was expected to bring\ndeliverance to Israel. The wild and dangerous youth was the only\nchampion they could see.\n\nBut even before manhood Samson had times of deeper feeling than people\nin general would have looked for. Boisterous hot-blooded impetuous\nnatures grievously wanting in decorum and sagacity are not always\nsuperficial; and there were occasions when the Spirit of the Lord began\nto move Samson. He felt the purpose of his vow, saw the serious work to\nwhich his destiny was urging him, looked down on the plain of the\nPhilistines with a kindling eye, spoke in strains that even rose to\nprophetic intensity. At Mahaneh-Dan, the camp of Dan, where the more\nresolute spirits of the tribe came together for military exercise or to\nrepel some raid of the enemy, Samson began to speak of his purpose and\nto make schemes for Israel's liberation. Into these the fiery vehemence\nof the young man flowed, and the enthusiasm of his nature bore others\nalong. Can we be wrong in supposing that in various ways, by plans often\nill-considered he sought to harass the Philistines, and that failure as\na leader in these left him somewhat discredited? Samson was just of that\nsanguine venturesome disposition which makes light of difficulties and\nis always courting defeat. It was easy for him with his immense bodily\nstrength to break through where other men were entrapped. A frequent\nresult of the frays into which he hurried must have been, we imagine, to\nmake his own friends doubt him rather than to injure the enemy. At all\nevents he became no commander like Gideon or Jephthah, and the men of\nJudah, if not of Dan, while they acknowledged his calling and his power,\nbegan to think of him as a dangerous champion.\n\nSo far we have the merest hints by which to go, but the narrative\nbecomes more detailed when it approaches the time of Samson's marriage.\nA strange union it is for a hero of Israel. What made him think of going\ndown among the Philistines for a wife? How can the sacred writer say\nthat the thing was of the Lord? Let us try to understand the\ncircumstances. Between the people of Zorah and the villagers of Timnah a\nfew miles down the valley on the other side who, though Philistines,\nwere presumably not of the fighting sort there was a kind of enforced\nneighbourliness. They could not have lived at all unless they had been\ncontent, Philistines for their part, Hebrews for theirs, to let the\ngeneral enmity sleep. Samson by observing certain precautions and\nkeeping his Hebrew tongue quiet was safe enough in Timnah, an object of\nfear rather than himself in danger. At the same time there may have been\na touch of bravado in his rambles to the Philistine settlement, and the\nyoung woman of whom he caught a passing glance, perhaps at the spring,\nhad very likely all the more charm for him that she was of the strong\nhostile race. History as well as fiction supplies instances in which\nthis fascination does its work, family feuds, oppositions of caste and\nreligion directing the eye and the fancy instead of repelling. In his\nsudden wilful way Samson resolved, and his mind once made up no one in\nZorah could induce him to alter it. \"The thing was of the Lord; for he\nsought an occasion against the Philistines.\" Perhaps Samson thought the\nwoman would be denied to him, a straight way to a quarrel. But more\nprobably it is the outcome of the whole pitiful business that is in the\nmind of the historian. After the event he traces the hand of Providence.\n\nAs we pass with Samson and his parents down to Timnah we cannot but\nagree with Manoah in his objection, \"Is there never a woman among the\ndaughters of thy brethren or among all my people that thou goest to take\na wife of the uncircumcised Philistines?\" It was emphatically one of\nthose cases in which liking should not have led. An impetuous man is not\nto be excused; much less those who claim to be exceedingly rational and\nyet go against reason because of what they call love--or, worse, apart\nfrom love. General rules are with difficulty laid down in matters of\nthis sort, and to deny the right of love would be the worst error of\nall. So far as our popular writers are concerned, we must allow that\nthey wonderfully balance the claims of \"arrangement\" and honest\naffection, declaring strongly for the latter. But yet such a difference\nas between faith and idolatry, between piety and godlessness, is a\nbarrier that only the blindest folly can overleap when marriage is in\nview. Daughters of the Philistines may be \"most divinely fair,\" most\ngraceful and plausible; men who worship Moloch or Mammon or nothing but\nthemselves may have most persuasive tongues and a large share of this\nworld's good. But to mate with these, whatever liking there may be, is\nan experiment too rash for venturing. In Christian society now, is there\nnot much need to repeat old warnings and revive a sense of peril that\nseems to have decayed? The conscience of piously bred young people was\nalive once to the danger and sin of the unequal yoke. In the rush for\nposition and means marriage is being made by both sexes, even in most\nreligious circles, an instrument and opportunity of earthly ambition,\nand it must be said that foolish romance is less to be feared than this\ncarefulness in which conscience and heart alike submit to the imperious\ncravings of sheer worldliness. Novels have much to answer for; yet they\ncan make one claim--they have done something for simple humanity. We\nwant more than nature, however. Christian teaching must be heard and the\nChristian conscience must be re-kindled. The hope of the world waits on\nthat devout simplicity of life which exalts spiritual aims and spiritual\ncomradeship and by its beauty shames all meaner choice. In marriage not\nonly should heart go out to heart, but mind to mind and soul to soul;\nand the spirit of one who knows Christ can never unite with a\nself-worshipper or a servant of mammon.\n\nReturning to Samson's case, he would possibly have said that he wished\nan adventurous marriage, that to wed a Danite woman would have in it too\nlittle risk, would be too dull, too commonplace a business for him, that\nhe wanted a plunge into new waters. It is in this way, one must believe,\nmany decide the great affair. So far from thinking they put thought\naway; a liking seizes them and in they leap. Yet in the best considered\nmarriage that can be made is there not quite enough of adventure for any\nsane man or woman? Always there remain points of character unknown,\nunsuspected, possibilities of sickness, trouble, privation that fill the\nfuture with uncertainty, so far as human vision goes. It is, in truth, a\nserious undertaking for men and women, and to be entered upon only with\nthe distinct assurance that divine providence clears the way and invites\nour advance. Yet again we are not to be suspicious of each other,\nprobing every trait and habit to the quick. Marriage is the great\nexample and expression of the trust which it is the glory of men and\nwomen to exercise and to deserve, the great symbol on earth of the\nconfidences and unions of immortality. Matter of deep thankfulness it is\nthat so many who begin the married life and end it on a low level,\nhaving scarcely a glimpse of the ideal, though they fail of much do not\nfail of all, but in some patience, some courage and fidelity show that\nGod has not left them to nature and to earth. And happy are they who\nadventure together on no way of worldly policy or desire but in the pure\nlove and heavenly faith which link their lives for ever in binding them\nto God.\n\nSamson, reasoned with by his parents, waved their objection royally\naside and ordered them to aid his design. It was necessary according to\nthe custom of the country that they should conduct the negotiations for\nthe marriage, and his wilfulness imposed on them a task that went\nagainst their consciences. So they found themselves with the common\nreward of worshipping parents. They had toiled for him, made much of\nhim, boasted about him no doubt; and now their boy-god turns round and\ncommands them in a thing they cannot believe to be right. They must\nchoose between Jehovah and Samson and they have to give up Jehovah and\nserve their own lad. So David's pride in Absalom ended with the\nrebellion that drove the aged father from Jerusalem and exposed him to\nthe contempt of Israel. It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his\nyouth, the yoke even of parents who are not so wise as they might be and\ndo not command much reverence. The order of family life among us,\ninvolving no absolute bondage, is recognized as a wholesome discipline\nby all who attain to any understanding of life. In Israel, as we know,\nfilial respect and obedience were virtues sacredly commended, and it is\none mark of Samson's ill-regulated self-esteeming disposition that he\nneglected the obvious duty of deference to the judgment of his parents.\n\nOn the way to Timnah the young man had an adventure which was to play an\nimportant part in his life. Turning aside out of the road he found\nhimself suddenly confronted by a lion which, doubtless as much surprised\nas he was by the encounter, roared against him. The moment was not\nwithout its peril; but Samson was equal to the emergency and springing\non the beast \"rent it as he would have rent a kid.\" The affair however\ndid not seem worth referring to when he joined his parents, and they\nwent on their way. It was as when a man of strong moral principle and\nforce meets a temptation dangerous to the weak, to him an enemy easily\novercome. His vigorous truth or honour or chastity makes short work of\nit. He lays hold of it and in a moment it is torn in pieces. The great\ntalk made about temptations, the ready excuses many find for themselves\nwhen they yield are signs of a feebleness of will which in other ranges\nof life the same persons would be ashamed to own. It is to be feared\nthat we often encourage moral weakness and unfaithfulness to duty by\nexaggerating the force of evil influences. Why should it be reckoned a\nfeat to be honest, to be generous, to swear to one's own hurt? Under the\ndispensation of the Spirit of God, with Christ as our guide and stay\nevery one of us should act boldly in the encounter with the lions of\ntemptation. Tenderness to the weak is a Christian duty, but there is\ndanger that young and old alike, hearing much of the seductions of sin,\nlittle of the ready help of the Almighty, submit easily where they\nshould conquer and reckon on divine forbearance when they ought to\nexpect reproach and contempt. Our generation needs to hear the words of\nSt. Paul: \"There hath no temptation taken you but such as man can bear:\nbut God is faithful Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye\nare able.\" Is there a tremendous pressure constantly urging us towards\nthat which is evil? In our large cities especially is the power of\niniquity almost despotic? True enough. Yet men and women should be\nbraced and strengthened by insistence on the other side. In Christian\nlands at least it is unquestionable that for every enticement to evil\nthere is a stronger allurement to good, that against every argument for\nimmorality ten are set more potent in behalf of virtue, that where sin\nabounds grace does much more abound. Young persons are indeed tempted;\nbut nothing will be gained by speaking to them or about them as if they\nwere children incapable of decision, of whom it can only be expected\nthat they will fail. By the Spirit of God, indeed, all moral victories\nare gained; the natural virtue of the best is uncertain and cannot be\ntrusted in the trying hour, and he only who has a full inward life and\nearnest Christian purpose is ready for the test. But the Spirit of God\nis given. His sustaining, purifying, strengthening power is with us. We\ndo not breathe deep, and then we complain that our hearts cease to beat\nwith holy courage and resolve.\n\nAt Timnah, where life was perhaps freer than in a Hebrew town, Samson\nappears to have seen the woman who had caught his fancy; and he now\nfound her, Philistine as she was, quite to his mind. It must have been\nby a low standard he judged, and many possible topics of conversation\nmust have been carefully avoided. Under the circumstances, indeed, the\ndifficulty of understanding each other's language may have been their\nsafety. Certainly one who professed to be a fearer of God, a patriotic\nIsraelite had to shut his eyes to many facts or thrust them from sight\nwhen he determined to wed this daughter of the enemy. But when we choose\nwe can do much in the way of keeping things out of view which we do not\nwish to see. Persons who are at daggers drawn on fifty points show the\ngreatest possible affability when it is their interest to be at one.\nLove gets over difficulties and so does policy. Occasions are found when\nthe anxiously orthodox can join in some comfortable compact with the\nagnostic, and the vehement state-churchman with the avowed secularist\nand revolutionary. And it seems to be only when two are nearly of the\nsame creed, with just some hairsbreadth of divergence on a few articles\nof belief, that the obstacles to happy union are apt to become\ninsurmountable. Then every word is watched, each tone noted with\nsuspicion. It is not between Hebrew and Philistine but between Ephraim\nand Judah that alliances are difficult to form. We hope for the time\nwhen the long and bitter disputes of Christendom shall be overcome by\nlove of truth and God. Yet first there must be an end to the strange\nreconcilings and unions which like Samson's marriage often confuse and\nobstruct the way of Christian people.\n\nThere is an interval of some months after the marriage has been arranged\nand the bridegroom is on his way once more down the valley to Timnah. As\nhe passes the scene of his encounter with the lion he turns aside to see\nthe carcase and finds that bees have made it their home. Vultures and\nants have first found it and devoured the flesh, then the sun has\nthoroughly dried the skin and in the hollow of the ribs the bees have\nsettled. At considerable risk Samson possesses himself of some of the\ncombs and goes on eating the honey, giving a portion also to his father\nand mother. It is again a type, and this time of the sweetness to be\nfound in the recollection of virtuous energy and overcoming. Not that we\nare to be always dwelling on our faithfulness even for the purpose of\nthanking God Who gave us moral strength. But when circumstances recall a\ntrial and victory it is surely matter of proper joy to remember that\nhere we were strong enough to be true, and there to be honest and pure\nwhen the odds seemed to be against us. The memories of a good man or\ngood woman are sweeter than the honeycomb, though tempered often by\nsorrow over the human instruments of evil who had to be struggled with\nand thrust aside in the sharp conflict with sin and wrong. Very few in\nyouth or middle-life seem to think of this joy, which makes beautiful\nmany a worn and aged face on earth and will not be the least element in\nthe felicity of heaven. Too often we bear burdens because we must; we\nare dragged through trial and distress to comparative quiet; we do not\ncomprehend what is at stake, what we may do and gain, what we are kept\nfrom losing; and so the look across our past has none of the glow of\ntriumph, little of the joy of harvest. For man's blessedness is not to\nbe separated from personal striving. In fidelity he must sow that he may\nreap in strength, in courage that he may reap in gladness. He is made\nnot for mere success, not for mere safety, but for overcoming.\n\nWe are not finished with the lion; he next appears covertly, in a\nriddle. Samson has shown himself a strong man; now we hear him speak and\nhe proves a wit. It is the wedding festival, and thirty young men have\nbeen gathered--to honour the bridegroom, shall we say?--or to watch him?\nPerhaps from the first there has been suspicion in the Philistine mind,\nand it seems necessary to have as many as thirty to one in order to\noverawe Samson. In the course of the feast there might be quarrels, and\nwithout a strong guard on the Hebrew youth Timnah might be in danger. As\nthe days went by the company fell to proposing riddles and Samson,\nprobably annoyed by the Philistines who watched every movement, gave\nthem his, on terms quite fair, yet leaving more than a loophole for\ndiscontent and strife. In the conditions we see the man perfectly\nself-reliant, full of easy superiority, courting danger and defying\nenvy. The thirty may win--if they can. In that case he knows how he will\npay the forfeit. \"Put forth thy riddle,\" they said, \"that we may hear\nit;\" and the strong mellow Hebrew voice chanted the puzzling verse:\n\n \"Out of the eater came forth meat;\n Out of the strong came forth sweetness.\"\n\nNow in itself this is simply a curiosity of old-world table-talk. It is\npreserved here mainly because of its bearing on following events; and\ncertainly the statement which has been made that it contained a gospel\nfor the Philistines is one we cannot endorse. Yet like many witty\nsayings the riddle has a range of meaning far wider than Samson\nintended. Adverse influences conquered, temptation mastered,\ndifficulties overcome, the struggle of faithfulness will supply us not\nonly with happy recollections but also with arguments against\ninfidelity, with questions that confound the unbeliever. One who can\nglory in tribulations that have brought experience and hope, in bonds\nand imprisonments that have issued in a keener sense of liberty, who\nhaving nothing yet possesses all things--such a man questioning the\ndenier of divine providence cannot be answered. Invigoration has come\nout of that which threatened life and joy out of that which made for\nsorrow. The man who is in covenant with God is helped by nature; its\nforces serve him; he is fed with honey from the rock and with the finest\nof the wheat. When out of the mire of trouble and the deep waters of\ndespondency he comes forth braver, more hopeful, strongly confident in\nthe love of God, sure of the eternal foundation of life, what can be\nsaid in denial of the power that has filled him with strength and peace?\nHere is an argument that can be used by every Christian, and ought to be\nin every Christian's hand. Out of his personal experience each should be\nable to state problems and put inquiries unanswerable by unbelief. For\nunless there is a living God Whose favour is life, Whose fellowship\ninspires and ennobles the soul, the strength which has come through\nweakness, the hope that sprang up in the depth of sorrow cannot be\naccounted for. There are natural sequences in which no mystery lies.\nWhen one who has been defamed and injured turns on his enemy and pursues\nhim in revenge, when one who has been defeated sinks back in languor and\nwaits in pitiful inaction for death, these are results easily traced to\ntheir cause. But the man of faith bears witness to sequences of a\ndifferent kind. His fellows have persecuted him, and he cares for them\nstill. Death has bereaved him, and he can smile in its face. Afflictions\nhave been multiplied and he glories in them. The darkness has fallen and\nhe rejoices more than in the noontide of prosperity. Out of the eater\nhas come forth meat, out of the strong has come forth sweetness. \"Except\na corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if\nit die, it bringeth forth much fruit.\" The paradox of the life of Christ\nthus stated by Himself is the supreme instance of that demonstration of\ndivine power which the history of every Christian should clearly and\nconstantly support.\n\n\n\n\nXXI.\n\n_DAUNTLESS IN BATTLE, IGNORANTLY BRAVE._\n\nJUDGES xv.\n\n\nGiven a man of strong passions and uninstructed conscience, wild courage\nand giant energy, with the sense of a mission which he has to accomplish\nagainst his country's enemies so that he reckons himself justified in\ndoing them injury or killing them in the name of God, and you have, no\ncomplete hero, but a real and interesting man. Such a character,\nhowever, does not command our admiration. The enthusiasm we feel in\ntracing the career of Deborah or Gideon fails us in reviewing these\nstories of revenge in which the Hebrew champion appears as cruel and\nreckless as an uncircumcised Philistine. When we see Samson leaving the\nfeast by which his marriage has been celebrated and marching down to\nAshkelon where in cold blood he puts thirty men to death for the sake of\ntheir clothing, when we see a country-side ablaze with the standing corn\nwhich he has kindled, we are as indignant with him as with the\nPhilistines when they burn his wife and her father with fire. Nor can we\nfind anything like excuse for Samson on the ground of zeal in the\nservice of pure religion. Had he been a fanatical Hebrew mad against\nidolatry his conduct might find some apology; but no such clue offers.\nThe Danite is moved chiefly by selfish and vain passions, and his sense\nof official duty is all too weak and vague. We see little patriotism and\nnot a trace of religious fervour. He is serving a great purpose with\nsome sincerity, but not wisely, not generously nor greatly. Samson is a\ncreature of impulse working out his life in blind almost animal fashion,\nperceiving the next thing that is to be done not in the light of\nreligion or duty, but of opportunity and revenge. The first of his acts\nagainst the Philistines was no promising start in a heroic career, and\nalmost at every point in the story of his life there is something that\ntakes away our respect and sympathy. But the life is full of moral\nsuggestion and warning. He is a real and striking example of the wild\nBerserker type.\n\n1. For one thing this stands out as a clear principle that a man has his\nlife to live, his work to do, alone if others will not help, imperfectly\nif not in the best fashion, half-wrongly if the right cannot be clearly\nseen. This world is not for sleep, is not for inaction and sloth.\n\"Whatsoever thy hand finds to do, do it with thy might.\" A thousand men\nin Dan, ten thousand in Judah did nothing that became men, sat at home\nwhile their grapes and olives grew, abjectly sowed and reaped their\nfields in dread of the Philistines, making no attempt to free their\ncountry from the hated yoke. Samson, not knowing rightly how to act, did\ngo to work and, at any rate, lived. Among the dull spiritless Israelites\nof the day, three thousand of whom actually came on one occasion to\nbeseech him to give himself up and bound him with ropes that he might be\nsafely passed over to the enemy, Samson with all his faults looks like a\nman. Those men of Dan and Judah would slay the Philistines if they\ndared. It is not because they are better than Samson that they do not\ngo down to Ashkelon and kill. Their consciences do not keep them back;\nit is their cowardice. One who with some vision of a duty owing to his\npeople goes forth and acts, contrasts well with these chicken-hearted\nthousands.\n\nWe are not at present stating the complete motive of human activity nor\nsetting forth the ideal of life. To that we shall come afterwards. But\nbefore you can have ideal action you must have action. Before you can\nhave life of a fine and noble type you must have life. Here is an\nabsolute primal necessity; and it is the key to both evolutions, the\nnatural and the spiritual. First the human creature must find its power\nand capability and must use these to some end, be it even a wrong end,\nrather than none; after this the ideal is caught and proper moral\nactivity becomes possible. We need not look for the full corn in the ear\ntill the seed has sprouted and grown and sent its roots well into the\nsoil. With this light the roll of Hebrew fame is cleared and we can\ntrace freely the growth of life. The heroes are not perfect; they have\nperhaps barely caught the light of the ideal; but they have strength to\nwill and to do, they have faith that this power is a divine gift, and\nthey having it are God's pioneers.\n\nThe need is that men should in the first instance live so that they may\nbe faithful to their calling. Deborah looking round beheld her country\nunder the sore oppression of Jabin, saw the need and answered to it.\nOthers only vegetated; she rose up in human stature resolute to live.\nThat also was what Gideon began to do when at the divine call he\ndemolished the altar on the height of Ophrah; and Jephthah fought and\nendured by the same law. So soon as men begin to live there is hope of\nthem.\n\nNow the hindrances to life are these--first, slothfulness, the\ndisposition to drift, to let things go; second, fear, the restriction\nimposed on effort of body or of mind by some opposing force ingloriously\nsubmitted to; third, ignoble dependence on others. The proper life of\nman is never reached by many because they are too indolent to win it. To\nforecast and devise, to try experiments, pushing out in this direction\nand that is too much for them. Some opportunity for doing more and\nbetter lies but a mile away or a few yards; they see but will not\nventure upon it. Their country is sinking under a despot or a weak and\nfoolish government; they do nothing to avert ruin, things will last\ntheir time. Or again, their church is stirred with throbs of a new duty,\na new and keen anxiety; but they refuse to feel any thrill, or feeling\nit a moment they repress the disturbing influence. They will not be\ntroubled with moral and spiritual questions, calls to action that make\nlife severe, high, heroic. Often this is due to want of physical or\nmental vigour. Men and women are overborne by the labour required of\nthem, the weary tale of bricks. Even from youth they have had burdens to\nbear so heavy that hope is never kindled. But there are many who have no\nsuch excuse. Let us alone, they say, we have no appetite for exertion,\nfor strife, for the duties that set life in a fever. The old ways suit\nus, we will go on as our fathers have gone. The tide of opportunity ebbs\naway and they are left stranded.\n\nNext, and akin, there is fear, the mood of those who hear the calls of\nlife but hear more clearly the threatenings of sense and time. Often it\ncomes in the form of a dread of change, apprehension as regards the\nunknown seas on which effort or thought would launch forth. Let us be\nstill, say the prudent; better to bear the ills we have than fly to\nothers that we know not of. Are we ground down by the Philistines?\nBetter suffer than be killed. Are our laws unjust and oppressive? Better\nrest content than risk revolution and the upturning of everything. Are\nwe not altogether sure of the basis of our belief? Better leave it\nunexamined than begin with inquiries the end of which cannot be\nforeseen. Besides, they argue, God means us to be content. Our lot in\nthe world however hard is of His giving; the faith we hold is of his\nbestowing. Shall we not provoke Him to anger if we move in revolution or\nin inquiry? Still it is life they lose. A man who does not think about\nthe truths he rests on has an impotent mind. One who does not feel it\nlaid on him to go forward, to be brave, to make the world better has an\nimpotent soul. Life is a constant reaching after the unattained for\nourselves and for the world.\n\nAnd lastly there is ignoble dependence on others. So many will not exert\nthemselves because they wait for some one to come and lift them up. They\ndo not think, nor do they understand that instruction brought to them is\nnot life. No doubt it is the plan of God to help the many by the\ninstrumentality of the few, a whole nation or world by one. Again and\nagain we have seen this illustrated in Hebrew history, and elsewhere the\nfact constantly meets us. There is one Luther for Europe, one Cromwell\nfor England, one Knox for Scotland, one Paul for early Christianity. But\nat the same time it is because life is wanting, because men have the\ndeadly habit of dependence that the hero must be brave for them and the\nreformer must break their bonds. The true law of life on all levels,\nfrom that of bodily effort upwards, is self-help; without it there is\nonly an infancy of being. He who is in a pit must exert himself if he is\nto be delivered. He who is in spiritual darkness must come to the light\nif he is to be saved.\n\nNow we see in Samson a man who in his degree lived. He had strength like\nthe strength of ten; he had also the consecration of his vow and the\nsense of a divine constraint and mandate. These things urged him to life\nand made activity necessary to him. He might have reclined in careless\nease like many around. But sloth did not hold him nor fear. He wanted no\nman's countenance nor help. He lived. His mere exertion of power was the\nsign of higher possibilities.\n\nLive at all hazards, imperfectly if perfection is not attainable,\nhalf-wrongly if the right cannot be seen. Is this perilous advice? From\none point of view it may seem very dangerous. For many are energetic in\nso imperfect a way, in so blundering and false a way that it might\nappear better for them to remain quiet, practically dead than degrade\nand darken the life of the race by their mistaken or immoral vehemence.\nYou read of those traders among the islands of the Pacific who, afraid\nthat their nefarious traffic should suffer if missionary work succeeded,\nurged the natives to kill the missionaries or drive them away, and when\nthey had gained their end quickly appeared on the scene to exchange for\nthe pillaged stores of the mission-house muskets and gunpowder and\nvillainous strong drink. May it not be said that these traders were\nliving out their lives as much as the devoted teachers who had risked\neverything for the sake of doing good? Napoleon I., when the scheme of\nempire presented itself to him and all his energies were bent on\nclimbing to the summit of affairs in France and in Europe--was not he\nliving according to a conception of what was greatest and best? Would it\nnot have been better if those traders and the ambitious Corsican alike\nhad been content to vegetate--inert and harmless through their days? And\nthere are multitudes of examples. The poet Byron for one--could the\nworld not well spare even his finest verse to be rid of his unlawful\nenergy in personal vice and in coarse profane word?\n\nOne has to confess the difficulty of the problem, the danger of praising\nmere vigour. Yet if there is risk on the one side the risk on the other\nis greater: and truth demands risk, defies peril. It is unquestionable\nthat any family of men when it ceases to be enterprising and energetic\nis of no more use in the economy of things. Its land is a necropolis.\nThe dead cannot praise God. The choice is between activity that takes\nmany a wrong direction, hurrying men often towards perdition, yet at\nevery point capable of redemption, and on the other hand inglorious\ndeath, that existence which has no prospect but to be swallowed up of\nthe darkness. And while such is the common choice there is also this to\nbe noted that inertness is not certainly purer than activity though it\nmay appear so merely by contrast. The active life compels us to judge of\nit; the other a mere negation calls for no judgment, yet is in itself a\nmoral want, an evil and injury. Conscience being unexercised decay and\ndeath rule all.\n\nMen cannot be saved by their own effort and vigour. Most true. But if\nthey make no attempt to advance towards strength, dominion and fulness\nof existence, they are the prey of force and evil. Nor will it suffice\nthat they simply exert themselves to keep body and soul together. The\nlife is more than meat. We must toil not only that we may continue to\nsubsist, but for personal distinctness and freedom. Where there are\nstrong men, resolute minds, earnestness of some kind, there is soil in\nwhich spiritual seed may strike root. The dead tree can produce neither\nleaf nor flower. In short, if there is to be a human race at all for the\ndivine glory it can only be in the divine way, by the laws that govern\nexistence of every degree.\n\n2. We come, however, to the compensating principle of\nresponsibility--the law of Duty which stands over energy in the range of\nour life. No man, no race is justified by force or as we sometimes say\nby doing. It is faith that saves. Samson has the rude material of life;\nbut though his action were far purer and nobler it could not make him a\nspiritual man: his heart is not purged of sin nor set on God.\n\nGranted that the time was rough, chaotic, cloudy, that the idea of\ninjuring the Philistines in every possible way was imposed on the Danite\nby his nation's abject state, that he had to take what means lay in his\npower for accomplishing the end. But possessed of energy he was\ndeficient in conscience, and so failed of noble life. This may be said\nfor him that he did not turn against the men of Judah who came to bind\nhim and give him up. Within a certain range he understood his\nresponsibility. But surely a higher life than he lived, better plans\nthan he followed were possible to one who could have learned the will of\nGod at Shiloh, who was bound to God by a vow of purity and had that\nconstant reminder of the Holy Lord of Israel. It is no uncommon thing\nfor men to content themselves with one sacrament, one observance which\nis reckoned enough for salvation--honesty in business, abstinence from\nstrong drink, attendance on church ordinances. This they do and keep the\nrest of existence for unrestrained self-pleasing, as though salvation\nlay in a restraint or a form. But whoever can think is bound to\ncriticise life, to try his own life, to seek the way of salvation, and\nthat means being true to the best he knows and can know, it means\nbelieving in the will of God. Something higher than his own impulse is\nto guide him. He is free, yet responsible. His activity, however great,\nhas no real power, no vindication unless it falls in with the course of\ndivine law and purpose. He lives by faith.\n\nGenerally there is one clear principle which, if a man held to it, would\nkeep him right in the main. It may not be of a very high order, yet it\nwill prepare the way for something better and meanwhile serve his need.\nAnd for Samson one simple law of duty was to keep clear of all private\nrelations and entanglements with the Philistines. There was nothing to\nhinder him from seeing that to be safe and right as a rule of life. They\nwere Israel's enemies and his own. He should have been free to act\nagainst them: and when he married a daughter of the race he forfeited as\nan honourable man the freedom he ought to have had as a son of Israel.\nDoubtless he did not understand fully the evil of idolatry nor the\ndivine law that Hebrews were to keep themselves separate from the\nworshippers of false gods. Yet the instincts of the race to which he\nbelonged, fidelity to his forefathers and compatriots made their claim\nupon him. There was a duty too which he owed to himself. As a brave\nstrong man he was discredited by the line of action which he followed.\nHis honour lay in being an open enemy to the Philistines, his dishonour\nin making underhand excuses for attacking them. It was base to seek\noccasion against them when he married the woman at Timnah, and from one\nact of baseness he went on to others because of that first error. And\nchiefly Samson failed in his fidelity to God. Scarcely ever was the name\nof Jehovah dragged through the mire as it was by him. The God of truth,\nthe divine guardian of faithfulness, the God who is light, in Whom is no\ndarkness at all, was made by Samson's deeds to appear as the patron of\nmurder and treachery. We can hardly allow that an Israelite was so\nignorant of the ordinary laws of morality as to suppose that faith need\nnot be kept with idolaters; there were traditions of his people which\nprevented such a notion. One who knew of Abraham's dealings with the\nHittite Ephron and his rebuke in Egypt could not imagine that the Hebrew\nlay under no debt of human equity and honour to the Philistine. Are\nthere men among ourselves who think no faithfulness is due by the\ncivilised to the savage? Are there professed servants of Christ who dare\nto suggest that no faith need be kept with heretics? They reveal their\nown dishonour as men, their own falseness and meanness. The primal duty\nof intelligent and moral beings cannot be so dismissed. And even Samson\nshould have been openly the Philistines' enemy or not at all. If they\nwere cruel, rapacious, mean, he ought to have shown that Jehovah's\nservant was of a different stamp. We cannot believe morality to have\nbeen at so low an ebb among the Hebrews that the popular leader did not\nknow better than he acted. He became a judge in Israel, and his\njudgeship would have been a pretence unless he had some of the justice,\ntruth and honour which God demanded of men. Beginning in a very\nmistaken way he must have risen to a higher conception of duty,\notherwise his rule would have been a disaster to the tribes he governed.\n\nConscience has originated in fear and is to decay with ignorance, say\nsome. Already that extraordinary piece of folly has been answered.\nConscience is the correlative of power, the guide of energy. If the one\ndecays, so must the other. Living strongly, energetically, making\nexperiments, seeking liberty and dominion, pressing towards the higher\nwe are ever to acknowledge the responsibility which governs life. By\nwhat we know of the divine will we are to order every purpose and scheme\nand advance to further knowledge. There are victories we might win,\nthere are methods by which we might harass those who do us wrong. One\nvoice says Snatch the victories, go down by night and injure the foe,\ninsinuate what you cannot prove, while the sentinels sleep plunge your\nspear through the heart of a persecuting Saul. But another voice asks,\nIs this the way to assert moral life? Is this the line for a man to\ntake? The true man swears to his own hurt, suffers and is strong, does\nin the face of day what he has it in him to do and, if he fails, dies a\ntrue man still. He is not responsible for obeying commands of which he\nis ignorant, nor for mistakes which he cannot avoid. One like Samson is\nclean-handed in what it would be unutterably base for us to do. But\nclose beside every man are such guiding ideas as straightforwardness,\nsincerity, honesty. Each of us knows his duty so far and cannot deceive\nhimself by supposing that God will excuse him in acting, even for what\nhe counts a good end, as a cheat and a hypocrite. In politics the rule\nis as clear as in companionship, in war as in love.\n\nIt has not been asserted that Samson was without a sense of\nresponsibility. He had it, and kept his vow. He had it, and fought\nagainst the Philistines. He did some brave things openly and like a man.\nHe had a vision of Israel's need and God's will. Had this not been true\nhe could have done no good; the whole strength of the hero would have\nbeen wasted. But he came short of effecting what he might have effected\njust because he was not wise and serious. His strokes missed their aim.\nIn truth Samson never went earnestly about the task of delivering\nIsrael. In his fulness of power he was always half in sport, making\nrandom shots, indulging his own humour. And we may find in his career no\ninapt illustration of the careless way in which the conflict with the\nevils of our time is carried on. With all the rage for societies and\norganizations there is much haphazard activity, and the fanatic for rule\nhas his contrast in the free-lance who hates the thought of\nresponsibility. A curious charitableness too confuses the air. There are\nmen who are full of ardour to-day and strike in with some hot scheme\nagainst social wrongs, and the next day are to be seen sitting at a\nfeast with the very persons most to blame under some pretext of finding\noccasion against them or showing that there is \"nothing personal.\" This\nperplexes the whole campaign. It is usually mere bravado rather than\ncharity, a mischief not a virtue.\n\nIsrael must be firm and coherent if it is to win liberty from the\nPhilistines. Christians must stand by each other steadily if they are to\novercome infidelity and rescue the slaves of sin. The feats of a man who\nholds aloof from the church because he is not willing to be bound by its\nrules count for little in the great warfare of the age. Many there are\namong our literary men, politicians and even philanthropists who strike\nin now and again in a Christian way and with unquestionably Christian\npurpose against the bad institutions and social evils of our time, but\nhave no proper basis or aim of action and maintain towards Christian\norganizations and churches a constant attitude of criticism. Samson-like\nthey make showy random attacks on \"bigotry,\" \"inconsistency\" and the\nlike. It is not they who will deliver man from hardness and worldliness\nof soul; not they who will bring in the reign of love and truth.\n\n3. Looking at Samson's efforts during the first part of his career and\nobserving the want of seriousness and wisdom that marred them, we may\nsay that all he did was to make clear and deep the cleft between\nPhilistines and Hebrews. When he appears on the scene there are signs of\na dangerous intermixture of the two races, and his own marriage is one.\nThe Hebrews were apparently inclined to settle down in partial\nsubjection to the Philistines and make the best they could of the\nsituation, hoping perhaps that by-and-by they might reach a state of\ncomfortable alliance and equality. Samson may have intended to end that\nmovement or he may not. But he certainly did much to end it. After the\nfirst series of his exploits, crowned by the slaughter at Lehi, there\nwas an open rupture with the Philistines which had the best effect on\nHebrew morals and religion. It was clear that one Israelite had to be\nreckoned with whose strong arm dealt deadly blows. The Philistines drew\naway in defeat. The Hebrews learned that they needed not to remain in\nany respect dependent or afraid. This kind of division grows into\nhatred; but, as things were, dislike was Israel's safety. The\nPhilistines did harm as masters; as friends they would have done even\nmore. Enmity meant revulsion from Dagon-worship and all the social\ncustoms of the opposed race. For this the Hebrews were indebted to\nSamson; and although he was not himself true all along to the principle\nof separation, yet in his final act he emphasized it so by destroying\nthe temple of Gaza that the lesson was driven home beyond the\npossibility of being forgotten.\n\nIt is no slight service those do who as critics of parties and churches\nshow them clearly where they stand, who are to be reckoned as enemies,\nwhat alliances are perilous. There are many who are exceedingly easy in\ntheir beliefs, too ready to yield to the _Zeit Geist_ that would\nobliterate definite belief and with it the vigour and hope of mankind.\nAlliance with Philistines is thought of as a good, not a risk, and the\nwhole of a party or church may be so comfortably settling in the new\nbreadth and freedom of this association that the certain end of it is\nnot seen. Then is the time for the resolute stroke that divides party\nfrom party, creed from creed. A reconciler is the best helper of\nreligion at one juncture; at another it is the Samson who standing alone\nperhaps, frowned on equally by the leaders and the multitude, makes\noccasion to kindle controversy and set sharp variance between this side\nand that. Luther struck in so. His great act was one that \"rent\nChristendom in twain.\" Upon the Israel which looked on afraid or\nsuspicious he forced the division which had been for centuries latent.\nDoes not our age need a new divider? You set forth to testify against\nPhilistines and soon find that half your acquaintances are on terms of\nthe most cordial friendship with them, and that attacks upon them which\nhave any point are reckoned too hot and eager to be tolerated in\nsociety. To the few who are resolute duty is made difficult and protest\npainful: the reformer has to bear the sins and even the scorn of many\nwho should appear with him.\n\n\n\n\nXXII.\n\n_PLEASURE AND PERIL IN GAZA._\n\nJUDGES xvi. 1-3.\n\n\nBy courage and energy Samson so distinguished himself in his own tribe\nand on the Philistine border that he was recognized as judge. Government\nof any kind was a boon, and he kept rude order, as much perhaps by\noverawing the restless enemy as by administering justice in Israel.\nWhether the period of twenty years assigned to Samson's judgeship\nintervened between the fight at Lehi and the visit to Gaza we cannot\ntell. The chronology is vague, as might be expected in a narrative based\non popular tradition. Most likely the twenty years cover the whole time\nduring which Samson was before the public as hero and acknowledged\nchief.\n\nSamson went down to Gaza, which was the principal Philistine city\nsituated near the Mediterranean coast some forty miles from Zorah. For\nwhat reason did he venture into that hostile place? It may, of course,\nhave been that he desired to learn by personal inspection what was its\nstrength, to consider whether it might be attacked with any hope of\nsuccess; and if that was so we would be disposed to justify him. As the\nchampion and judge of Israel he could not but feel the danger to which\nhis people were constantly exposed from the Philistine power so near to\nthem and in those days always becoming more formidable. He had to a\ncertain extent secured deliverance for his country as he was expected to\ndo; but deliverance was far from complete, could not be complete till\nthe strength of the enemy was broken. At great risk to himself he may\nhave gone to play the spy and devise, if possible, some plan of attack.\nIn this case he would be an example of those who with the best and\npurest motives, seeking to carry the war of truth and purity into the\nenemy's country, go down into the haunts of vice to see what men do and\nhow best the evils that injure society may be overcome. There is risk in\nsuch adventure; but it is nobly undertaken, and even if we do not feel\ndisposed to imitate we must admire. Bold servants of Christ may feel\nconstrained to visit Gaza and learn for themselves what is done there.\nBeyond this too is a kind of adventure which the whole church justifies\nin proportion to its own faith and zeal. We see St. Paul and his\ncompanions in Ephesus, in Philippi, in Athens and other heathen towns,\nbraving the perils which threaten them there, often attacked, sometimes\nin the jaws of death, heroic in the highest sense. And we see the modern\nmissionary with like heroism landing on savage coasts and at the\nconstant risk of life teaching the will of God in a sublime confidence\nthat it shall awaken the most sunken nature; a confidence never at\nfault.\n\nBut we are obliged to doubt whether Samson had in view any scheme\nagainst the Philistine power; and we may be sure that he was on no\nmission for the good of Gaza. Of a patriotic or generous purpose there\nis no trace; the motive is unquestionably of a different kind. From his\nyouth this man was restless, adventurous, ever craving some new\nexcitement good or bad. He could do anything but quietly pursue a path\nof duty; and in the small towns of Dan and the valleys of Judah he had\nlittle to excite and interest him. There life went on in a dull way from\nyear to year, without gaiety, bustle, enterprise. Had the chief been\ndeeply interested in religion, had he been a reformer of the right kind\nhe would have found opportunity enough for exertion and a task into\nwhich he might have thrown all his force. There were heathen images to\nbreak in pieces, altars and high-places to demolish. To banish\nBaal-worship and the rites of Ashtoreth from the land, to bring the\ncustoms of the people under the law of Jehovah would have occupied him\nfully. But Samson did not incline to any such doings; he had no passion\nfor reform. We never see in his life one such moment as Gideon and\nJephthah knew of high religious daring. Dark hours he had, sombre\nenough, as at Lehi after the slaughter. But his was the melancholy of a\nlife without aim sufficient to its strength, without a vision matching\nits energy. To suffer for God's cause is the rarest of joys and that\nSamson never knew though he was judge in Israel.\n\nWe imagine then that in default of any excitement such as he craved in\nthe towns of his own land he turned his eyes to the Philistine cities\nwhich presented a marked contrast. There life was energetic and gay,\nthere many pleasures were to be had. New colonists were coming in their\nswift ships and the streets presented a scene of constant animation. The\nstrong eager man, full of animal passion, found the life he craved in\nGaza where he mingled with the crowds and heard tales of strange\nexistence. Nor was there wanting the opportunity for enjoyment which at\nhome he could not indulge. Beyond the critical observation of the\nelders of Dan he could take his fill of sensual pleasure. Not without\ndanger of course. In some brawl the Philistines might close upon him.\nBut he trusted to his strength to escape from their hands, and the risk\nincreased the excitement. We must suppose that, having seen the nearer\nand less important towns such as Ekron, Gath and Ashkelon he now\nventured to Gaza in quest of amusement, in order, as people say, to see\nthe world.\n\nA constant peril this of seeking excitement, especially in an age of\nhigh civilization. The means of variety and stimulus are multiplied, and\never the craving outruns them, a craving yielded to, with little or no\nresistance, by many who should know better. The moral teacher must\nrecognize the desire for variety and excitement as perhaps the chief of\nall the hindrances he has now to overcome. For one who desires duty\nthere are scores who find it dull and tame and turn from it, without\nsense of fault, to the gaieties of civilized society in which there is\n\"nothing wrong\" as they say, or at least so little of the positively\nwrong that conscience is easily appeased. The religious teacher finds\nthe demand for \"brightness\" and variety before him at every turn; he is\nindeed often touched by it himself and follows with more or less of\ndoubt a path that leads straight from his professed goal. \"Is amusement\ndevilish?\" asks one. Most people reply with a smile that life must be\nlively or it is not worth having. And the Philistinism that attracts\nthem with its dash and gaudiness is not far away nor hard to reach. It\nis not necessary to go across to the Continent where the brilliance of\nVienna or Paris offers a contrast to the grey dulness of a country\nvillage; nor even to London where amid the lures of the midnight\nstreets there is peril of the gravest kind. Those who are restless and\nfoolhardy can find a Gaza and a valley of Sorek nearer home, in the next\nmarket town. Philistine life, lax in morals, full of rattle and glitter,\nheat and change, in gambling, in debauchery, in sheer audacity of\nmovement and talk, presents its allurements in our streets, has its\nacknowledged haunts in our midst. Young people brought up to fear God in\nquiet homes whether of town or country are enticed by the whispered\ncounsels of comrades half ashamed of the things they say, yet eager for\nmore companionship in what they secretly know to be folly or worse.\nYoung women are the prey of those who disgrace manhood and womanhood by\nthe offers they make, the insidious lies they tell. The attraction once\nfelt is apt to master. As the current that rushes swiftly bears them\nwith it they exult in the rapid motion even while life is nearing the\nfatal cataract. Subtle is the progress of infidelity. From the\npersuasion that enjoyment is lawful and has no peril in it the mind\nquickly passes to a doubt of the old laws and warnings. Is it so certain\nthat there is a reward for purity and unworldliness? Is not all the talk\nabout a life to come a jangle of vain words? The present is a reality,\ndeath a certainty, life a swiftly passing possession. They who enjoy\nknow what they are getting. The rest is dismissed as altogether in the\nair.\n\nWith Samson, as there was less of faith and law to fling aside, there\nwas less hardening of heart. He was half a heathen always, more\nconscious of bodily than of moral strength, reliant on that which he\nhad, indisposed to seek from God the holy vigour which he valued little.\nAt Gaza where moral weakness endangered life his well-knit muscles\nreleased him. We see him among the Philistines entrapped, apparently in\na position from which there is no escape. The gate is closed and\nguarded. In the morning he is to be seized and killed. But aware of his\ndanger, his mind not put completely off its balance as yet by the\nseductions of the place, he arises at midnight and, plucking the doors\nof the city-gate from their sockets carries them to the top of a hill\nwhich fronts Hebron.\n\nHere is represented what may at first be quite possible to one who has\ngone into a place of temptation and danger. There is for a time a power\nof resolution and action which when the peril of the hour is felt may be\nbrought into use. Out of the house which is like the gate of hell, out\nof the hands of vile tempters it is possible to burst in quick decision\nand regain liberty. In the valley of Sorek it may be otherwise, but here\nthe danger is pressing and rouses the will. Yet the power of rising\nsuddenly against temptation, of breaking from the company of the impure\nis not to be reckoned on. It is not of ourselves we can be strong and\nresolute enough, but of grace. And can a man expect divine succour in a\nharlot's den? He thinks he may depend upon a certain self-respect, a\ncertain disgust at vile things and dishonourable life. But vice can be\nmade to seem beautiful, it can overcome the aversion springing from\nself-respect and the best education. In the history of one and another\nof the famous and brilliant, from the god-like youth of Macedon to the\ngenius of yesterday the same unutterably sad lesson is taught us; we\ntrace the quick descent of vice. Self-respect? Surely to Goethe, to\nGeorge Sand, to Musset, to Burns that should have remained, a saving\nsalt. But it is clear that man has not the power of preserving himself.\nWhile he says in his heart, That is beneath me; I have better taste; I\nshall never be guilty of such a low, false and sickening thing--he has\nalready committed himself.\n\nSamson heard the trampling of feet in the streets and was warned of\nphysical danger. When midnight came he lost no time. But he was too\nlate. The liberty he regained was not the liberty he had lost. Before he\nentered that house in Gaza, before he sat down in it, before he spoke to\nthe woman there he should have fled. He did not; and in the valley of\nSorek his strength of will is not equal to the need. Delilah beguiles\nhim, tempts him, presses him with her wiles. He is infatuated; his\nsecret is told and ruin comes.\n\nMoral strength, needful decision in duty to self and society and\nGod--few possess these because few have the high ideal before them, and\nthe sense of an obligation which gathers force from the view of\neternity. We live, most of us, in a very limited range of time. We think\nof to-morrow or the day beyond; we think of years of health and joy in\nthis world, rarely of the boundless after-life. To have a stain upon the\ncharacter, a blunted moral sense, a scar that disfigures the mind seems\nof little account because we anticipate but a temporary reproach or\ninconvenience. To be defiled, blinded, maimed for ever, to be\nincapacitated for the labour and joy of the higher world does not enter\ninto our thought. And many who are nervously anxious to appear well in\nthe sight of men are shameless when God only can see. Moral strength\ndoes not spring out of such imperfect views of obligation. What availed\nSamson's fidelity to the Nazirite vow when by another gate he let in the\nfoe?\n\nThe common kind of religion is a vow which covers two or three points of\nduty only. The value and glory of the religion of the Bible are that it\nsets us on our guard and strengthens us against everything that is\ndangerous to the soul and to society. Suppose it were asked wherein our\nstrength lies, what would be the answer? Say that one after another\nstood aside conscious of being without strength until one was found\nwilling to be tested. Assume that he could say, I am temperate, I am\npure; passion never masters me: so far the account is good. You hail him\nas a man of moral power, capable of serving society. But you have to\ninquire further before you can be satisfied. You have to say, Some have\nhad too great liking for money. Francis Bacon, Lord Chancellor of\nEngland, notable in the first rank of philosophers, took bribes and was\nconvicted upon twenty-three charges of corruption. Are you proof against\ncovetousness? because if you can be tempted by the glitter of gold\nreliance cannot be placed upon you. And again it must be asked of the\nman--Is there any temptress who can wind you about her fingers, overcome\nyour conscientious scruples, wrest from you the secret you ought to keep\nand make you break your covenant with God, even as Delilah overcame\nSamson? Because, if there is, you are weaker than a vile woman and no\ndependence can be placed upon you. We learn from history what this kind\nof temptation does. We see one after another, kings, statesmen, warriors\nwho figure bravely upon the scene for a time, their country proud of\nthem, the best hopes of the good centred in them, suddenly in the midst\nof their career falling into pitiable weakness and covering themselves\nwith disgrace. Like Samson they have loved some woman in the valley of\nSorek. In the life of to-day instances of the same pitiable kind occur\nin every rank and class. The shadow falls on men who held high places\nin society or stood for a time as pillars in the house of God.\n\nOr, taking another case, one may be able to say, I am not avaricious, I\nhave fidelity, I would not desert a friend nor speak a falsehood for any\nbribe; I am pure; for courage and patriotism you may rely upon me:--here\nare surely signs of real strength. Yet that man may be wanting in the\ndivine faithfulness on which every virtue ultimately depends. With all\nhis good qualities he may have no root in the heavenly, no spiritual\nfaith, ardour, decision. Let him have great opposition to encounter,\nlong patience to maintain, generosity and self-denial to exercise\nwithout prospect of quick reward--and will he stand? In the final test\nnothing but fidelity to the Highest, tried and sure fidelity to God can\ngive a man any right to the confidence of others. That chain alone which\nis welded with the fire of holy consecration, devotion of heart and\nstrength and mind to the will of God is able to bear the strain. If we\nare to fight the battles of life and resist the urgency of its\ntemptations the whole divine law as Christ has set it forth must be our\nNazirite vow and we must count ourselves in respect of every obligation\nthe bondmen of God. Duty must not be a matter of self-respect but of\nardent aspiration. The way of our life may lead us into some Gaza full\nof enticements, into the midst of those who make light of the names we\nrevere and the truths we count most sacred. Prosperity may come with its\nstrong temptations to pride and vainglory. If we would be safe it must\nbe in the constant gratitude to God of those who feel the responsibility\nand the hope that are kindled at the cross, as those who have died with\nChrist and now live with Him unto God. In this redeemed life it may be\nalmost said there is no temptation; the earthly ceases to lure, gay\nshows and gauds cease to charm the soul. There still are comforts and\npleasures in God's world, but they do not enchain. A vision of the\nhighest duty and reality overshines all that is trivial and passing. And\nthis is life--the fulness, the charm, the infinite variety and strength\nof being. \"How can he that is dead to the world live any longer\ntherein?\" Yet he lives as he never did before.\n\nIn the experience of Samson in the valley of Sorek we find another\nwarning. We learn the persistence with which spiritual enemies pursue\nthose whom they mark for their prey. It has been said that the\nadversaries of good are always most active in following the best men\nwith their persecutions. This we take leave to deny. It is when a man\nshows some weakness, gives an opportunity for assault that he is pressed\nand hunted as a wounded lion by a tribe of savages. The occasion was\ngiven to the Philistines by Samson's infatuation. Had he been a man of\nstern purity they would have had no point of attack. But Delilah could\nbe bribed. The lords of the Philistines offered her a large sum to\nfurther their ends, and she, a willing instrument, pressed Samson with\nher entreaties. Baffled again and again she did not rest till the reward\nwas won.\n\nWe can easily see the madness of the man in treating lightly, as if it\nwere a game he was sure to win, the solicitations of the adventuress.\n\"The Philistines be upon thee, Samson\"--again and again he heard that\nthreat and laughed at it. The green withes, the new ropes with which he\nwas bound were snapped at will. Even when his hair was woven into the\nweb he could go away with web and beam and the pin with which they had\nbeen fixed to the ground. But if he had been aware of what he was doing\nhow could he have failed to see that he was approaching the fatal\ncapitulation, that wiles and blandishments were gaining upon him? When\nhe allowed her to tamper with the sign of his vow it was the presage of\nthe end.\n\nSo it often is. The wiles of the spirit of this world are woven very\ncunningly. First the \"over-scrupulous\" observance of religious\nordinances is assailed. The tempter succeeds so far that the Sabbath is\nmade a day of pleasure: then the cry is raised, \"The Philistines be upon\nthee.\" But the man only laughs. He feels himself quite strong as yet,\nable for any moral task. Another lure is framed--gambling, drinking. It\nis yielded to moderately, a single bet by way of sport, one deep draught\non some extraordinary occasion. He who is the object of persecution is\nstill self-confident. He scorns the thought of danger. A prey to\ngambling, to debauchery? He is far enough from that. But his weakness is\ndiscovered. Satanic profit is to be made out of his fall; and he shall\nnot escape.\n\nIt is true as ever it was that the friendship of the world is a snare.\nWhen the meshes of time and sense close upon us we may be sure that the\nend aimed at is our death. The whole world is a valley of Sorek to weak\nman, and at every turn he needs a higher than himself to guard and guide\nhim. He is indeed a Samson, a child in morals, though full-grown in\nmuscle. There are some it is true who are able to help, who if they were\nbeside in the hour of peril would interpose with counsel and warning and\nprotection. But a time comes to each of us when he has to go alone\nthrough the dangerous streets. Then unless he holds straight forward,\nlooking neither to right hand nor left, pressing towards the mark, his\nweakness will be quickly detected, that secret tendency scarcely known\nto himself by which he can be most easily assailed. Nor will it be\nforgotten if once it has been discovered. It is now the property of a\nlegion. Be it vanity or avarice, ambition or sensuousness, the\nPhilistines know how to gain their end by means of it. There is strength\nindeed to be had. The weakest may become strong, able to face all the\ntempters in the world and to pass unscathed through the streets of Gaza\nor the crowds of Vanity Fair. Nor is the succour far away. Yet to\npersuade men of their need and then to bring them to the feet of God are\nthe most difficult of tasks in an age of self-sufficiency and spiritual\nunreason. Harder than ever is the struggle to rescue the victims of\nworldly fashion, enticement and folly: for the false word has gone forth\nthat here and here only is the life of man and that renouncing the\ntemporal is renouncing all.\n\n\n\n\nXXIII.\n\n_THE VALLEY OF SOREK AND OF DEATH._\n\nJUDGES xvi. 4-31.\n\n\nThe strong bold man who has blindly fought his battles and sold himself\nto the traitress and to the enemy,\n\n \"Eyeless in Gaza at the mill with slaves,\"\n\nthe sport and scorn of those who once feared him, is a mournful object.\nAs we look upon him there in his humiliation, his temper and power\nwasted, his life withered in its prime, we almost forget the folly and\nthe sin, so much are we moved to pity and regret. For Samson is a\npicture, vigorous in outline and colour, of what in a less striking way\nmany are and many more would be if it were not for restraints of divine\ngrace. A fallen hero is this. But the career of multitudes without the\ndash and energy ends in the like misery of defeat; nothing done, not\nmuch attempted, their existence fades into the sere and yellow leaf.\nThere has been no ardour to make death glorious.\n\nEvery man has his defects, his besetting sins, his dangers. It is in the\nconsciousness of our own that we approach with sorrow the last scenes of\nthe eventful history of Samson. Who dares cast a stone at him? Who can\nfling a taunt as he is seen groping about in his blindness?\n\n \"A little onward lend thy guiding hand\n To these dark steps, a little further on.\n For yonder bank hath choice of sun or shade;\n There I am wont to sit when any chance\n Relieves me from my task of servile toil.\n O dark, dark, dark amid the blaze of noon,\n Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse\n Without all hope of day:\"\n\nso we hear him bewail his lot. And we, perchance, feeling weakness creep\nover us while bonds of circumstance still hold us from what we see to be\nour divine calling,--we compassionate ourselves in pitying him; or, if\nwe are as yet strong and buoyant, our history before us, plans for\nuseful service of our time clearly in view, have we not already felt the\nsymptoms of moral infirmity which make it doubtful whether we shall\nreach our goal? There are many hindrances, and even the brave unselfish\nman who never loiters in Gaza or in the treacherous valley may find his\nway barred by obstacles he cannot remove. But in the case of most the\nhindrances within are the most numerous and powerful. This man who\nshould effect much for his age is held by love which blinds him, that\nother by hatred which masters him. Now covetousness, now pride is the\ndeterrent. Many begin to know themselves and the difficulty of doing\ngreat tasks for God and man when noontide is past and the day has begun\nto decline. Great numbers have only dreamed of attempting something and\nhave never bestirred themselves to act. So it is that Samson's defeat\nappears a symbol of the pathetic human failure. To many his character is\nfull of sad interest, for in it they see what they have fears of\nbecoming or what they have already become.\n\nWhat has Samson lost when he has revealed his secret to Delilah? Observe\nhim when he goes forth from the woman's house and stands in the\nsunlight. Apart from the want of his waving locks he seems the same and\nis physically the same; muscle and sinew, bone and nerve, stout-beating\nheart and strong arm, Samson is there. And his human will is as eager as\never; he is a bold daring man this morning as he was last evening, with\nthe same dream of \"breaking through all\" and bearing himself as king.\nBut he is more lonely than ever before; something has gone from his\nsoul. A heavy sense of faithlessness to one prized distinction and known\nduty oppresses him. Shake thyself as at other times, poor rash Samson,\nbut know in thy heart that at last thou art powerless: the audacity of\nfaith is no longer thine. Thou art the natural man still, but that is\nnot enough, the spiritual sanction gone. The Philistines, half afraid,\ngather about thee ten to one; they can bind now and lead captive for\nthou hast lost the girdle which knit thy powers together and made thee\ninvincible. The consciousness of being God's man is gone--the\nconsciousness of being true to that which united thee in a rude but very\nreal bond to the Almighty. Thou hast scorned the vow which kept thee\nfrom the abyss, and with the knowledge of utter moral baseness comes\nphysical prostration, despair, feebleness, ruin. Samson at last knows\nhimself to be no king at all, no hero nor judge.\n\nIt is common to think the spiritual of little account, faith in God of\nlittle account. Suppose men give that up; suppose they no longer hold\nthemselves bound by duty to the Almighty; they expect nevertheless to\ncontinue the same. They will still have their reason, their strength of\nbody and of mind; they believe that all they once did they shall still\nbe able to do and now more freely in their own way, therefore even more\nsuccessfully. Is that so? Hope is a spiritual thing. It is apart from\nbodily strength, distinct from energy and manual skill. Take hope away\nfrom a man, the strongest, the bravest, the most intelligent, and will\nhe be the same? Nay. His eye loses its lustre; the vigour of his will\ndecays; he lies powerless and defeated. Or take love away--love which is\nagain a spiritual thing. Let the ardour, the reason for exertion which\nlove inspired pass away. Let the man who loved and would have dared all\nfor love be deprived of that source of vital power, and he will dare no\nlonger. Sad and weary and dispirited he will cast himself down careless\nof life.\n\nBut hope and love are not so necessary to the full tide of human vigour,\nare not so potent in stirring the powers of manhood as the friendship of\nGod, the consciousness that made by God for ends of His we have Him as\nour stay. Indeed without this consciousness manhood never finds its\nstrength. This gives a hope far higher and more sustaining than any of a\npersonal or temporal kind. It makes us strong by virtue of the finest\nand deepest affection which can possibly move us; and more than that it\ngives to life full meaning, proper aim and justification. A man without\nthe sense of a divine origin and election has no standing-ground; he is\nso to speak without the right of existence, he has no claim to be heard\nin speaking and to have a place among those who act. But he who feels\nhimself to be in the world on God's business, to be God's servant, has\nhis assured place and claim as a man, and can see reason and purpose for\nevery sharp trial to which he is put. Here then is the secret of\nstrength, the only source of power and steadfastness for any man or\nwoman. And he who has had it and lost it, breaking with God for the sake\nof gain or pleasure or some earthly affection, must like Samson feel his\nvigour sapped, his confidence forfeited. Now his power to command, to\nadvise, to contend for any worthy result has passed away. He is a tree\nwhose root ceases to feed in the soil though still the leaves are green.\n\nThe spiritual loss, the loss of living faith, is the great one: but is\nit for that we generally pity ourselves or any person known to us? Life\nand freedom are dear, the ability to put forth energy at our will, the\nsense of capacity; and it is the loss of these in outward and visible\nranges that most moves us to grief. We commiserate the strong man whose\nexploits in the world seem to be over, as we pity the orator whose power\nof speech is gone, the artist who can no more handle the brush, the\neager merchant whose bargaining is done. We give our sympathy to Samson,\nbecause in the midst of his days he has fallen overcome by treachery,\nbecause the cruelty of enemies has afflicted him. Yet, looking at the\ntruth of things, the real cause of pity is deeper than any of these and\ndifferent. A man who is still in living touch with God can suffer the\nsaddest deprivations and retain a cheerful heart, unbroken courage and\nhope. Suppose that Samson, surprised by his enemies while he was about\nsome worthy task, had been seized, deprived of his sight, bound with\nfetters of iron and consigned to prison. Should we then have had to pity\nhim as we must when he is taken, a traitor to himself, the dupe of a\ndeceiver, with the badge of his vow and the sense of his fidelity gone?\nWe feel with Jeremiah in his affliction; we feel with John the Baptist\nconfined in the prison into which Herod has cast him, with St. Paul in\nthe Philippian dungeon and with St. Peter lying bound with chains in the\ncastle of Jerusalem. But we do not commiserate, we admire and exult.\nHere are men who endure for the right. They are martyrs,\nfellow-sufferers with Christ; they are marching with the cohorts of God\nto the deliverances of eternity. Ah! It is the men who are \"martyrs by\nthe pang without the palm,\" the men who have lost not only liberty but\nnobleness, who dragged after false lures have sold their prudence and\ntheir strength--these it is for whom we need to weep. He who doing his\nduty has been mastered by enemies, he who fighting a brave battle has\nbeen overcome--let us not dare to pity him. But the man who has given up\nthe battle of faith, who has lost his glory, him the heavens look upon\nwith the profound sorrow that is called for by a wasted life.\n\nAnd how pathetic the touch: \"He wist not that the Lord had departed from\nhim.\" For a little time he failed to realize the spiritual disaster he\nhad brought on himself. For a little time only; soon the dark conviction\nseized him. But worse still would have been his case if he had remained\nunconscious of loss. This sense of weakness is the last boon to the\nsinner. God still does this for him, poor headstrong child of nature as\nhe would fain be, living by and for himself: he is not permitted.\nWhether he will own it or not he shall be weak and useless until he\nreturns to God and to himself. Often indeed we find the enslaved Samson\nrefusing to allow that anything is wrong with him. Out of sight of the\nworld, in some very secret place he has broken the obligations of\nfaith, temperance, chastity, and yet thinks no special result has\nfollowed. He can meet the demands of society and that is enough,\nsupposing the matter should come to light. Of the subtle poisoning of\nhis own soul he has no thought. Is the thing hidden then? The law which\ndetermines that as a man is so his strength shall be follows every one\ninto the most secret place. It keeps watch over our veracity, our\nsobriety, our purity, our faithfulness. Whenever in one point our\ncovenant with God is broken a part of strength is taken away. Do we not\nperceive the loss? Do we flatter ourselves that all is as before? That\nis only our spiritual blindness; the fact remains.\n\nWhat a pitiful thing it is to see men in this plight trying in vain to\ngo about as if nothing had happened and they were as fit as ever for\ntheir places in society and in the church! We do not speak solely of\nsins like those into which Samson and David fell. There are others,\nscarcely reckoned sins, which as surely result in moral weakness\nperceived or unperceived, in the loss of God's countenance and support.\nOur covenant is to be pure and also merciful; let one fail in\nmercifulness, let there be a harsh pitiless temper cherished in secret,\nand this as well as impurity will make him morally weak. Our covenant is\nto be generous as well as honest; let a man keep from the poor and from\nthe church what he ought to give, and he will lose his strength of soul\nas surely as if he cheated another in trade, or took what was not his\nown. But we distinguish between sin and default and think of the latter\nas a mere infirmity which has no ill effect. There is no acknowledgment\nof loss even when it has become almost complete. The man who is not\ngenerous nor merciful, nor a defender of faith goes on thinking all is\nwell with him, imagining that his futile religious exercises or gifts to\nthis and that keep him on good terms with God and that he is helping the\nworld, while in truth he has not the moral strength of a child. He acts\nthe part of a Christian teacher or servant of the church, he leads in\nprayer, he joins in deliberations that have to do with the success of\nChristian work. To himself all seems satisfactory and he expects that\ngood shall result from his efforts. But it cannot be. There is the\nstrain of exertion but no power.\n\nDo we wonder that more is not effected by our organizations, religious\nand other, which seem so powerful, quite capable of Christianising and\nreforming the world? The reason is that many of the professed religious\nand benevolent, who appear zealous and strenuous, are dying at heart.\nThe Lord may not have departed from them utterly; they are not dead;\nthere is still a rootlet of spiritual being. But they cannot fight; they\ncannot help others; they cannot run in the way of God's commandments.\nAre we not bound to ask ourselves how we stand, whether any failure in\nour covenant-keeping has made us spiritually weak. If we are paltering\nwith eternal facts, if between us and the one Source of Life there is a\nwidening distance surely the need is urgent for a return to Christian\nhonour and fidelity which will make us strong and useful.\n\nAnd there is something here in the story of Samson that bids us think\nhopefully of a new way and a new life. In the misery to which he was\nreduced there came to him with renewed acceptance of his vow a fresh\nendowment of vigour. It is the divine healing, the grace of the\nlong-suffering Father which are thus represented. No human soul needs\nto be utterly disconsolate, for grace waits ever on discomfiture. Return\nto me, says the Lord, and I will return to you; I will heal your\nbackslidings and love you freely. Out of the deepest depths there is a\nway to the heights of spiritual privilege and power. To confess our\nfaults and sins, to resume the fidelity, the uprightness, the generosity\nand mercifulness we renounced, to take again the straight upward path of\nself-denial and duty--this is always reserved for the soul that has not\nutterly perished. The man, young or old, who has become weaker than a\nchild for any good work may hear the call that speaks of hope. He who in\nself-indulgence or hard worldliness has abandoned God may turn again to\nthe Father's entreaty, \"Remember from what thou hast fallen and repent.\"\n\nWe pass now to consider a point suggested by the terms in which the\nPhilistines triumphed over their captured foe. When the people saw him\nthey praised their God: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our\nhand our enemy, and the destroyer of our country which hath slain many\nof us. Here the ignorant religiousness and gratitude of Philistines to a\ngod which was no God might provoke a smile were it not for the\nconsideration that under the clear light of Christianity equal ignorance\nis often shown by those who profess to be piously grateful. You say it\nwas the bribe which the Philistine lords offered to Delilah and her\ntreachery and Samson's sin that put him in the enemy's hand. You say,\nSurely the most ignorant man in Gaza must have seen that Dagon had\nnothing whatever to do with the result. And yet it is very common to\nascribe to God what is nowise His doing. There are indeed times when we\nalmost shudder to hear God thanked for that which could only be\nattributed to a Dagon or a Moloch.\n\nWe are told of the tribal gods of those old Syrians--Baal, Melcarth,\nSutekh, Milcom and the rest--each adored as master and protector by some\npeople or race. Piously the devotees of each god acknowledged his hand\nin every victory and every fortunate circumstance, at the same time\ntracing to his anger and their own neglect of duty to him all calamities\nand defeats. May it not be said that the belief of many still is in a\ntribal god, falsely called by the name of Jehovah, a god whose chief\nfunction is to look after their interests whoever may suffer, and take\ntheir side in all quarrels whoever may be in the right? Men make for\nthemselves the rude outline of a divinity who is supposed to be\nindifferent or hostile to every circle but their own, suspicious of\nevery church but their own, careless of the sufferings of all but\nthemselves. In two countries that are at war prayers for success will\nascend in almost the same terms to one who is thought of as a national\nprotector, not to the Father of all; each side is utterly regardless of\nthe other, makes no allowance in prayer for the possibility that the\nother may be in the right. The thanksgivings of the victors too will be\nmixed with glorying almost fiendish over the defeated, whose blood, it\nmay be, dyed in pathetic martyrdom their own hill-sides and valleys. In\nless flagrant cases, where it is only a question of gain or loss in\ntrade, of getting some object of desire, the same spirit is shown. God\nis thanked for bestowing that of which another, perhaps more worthy, is\ndeprived. It is not to the kindness of Heaven, but rather to the proving\nseverity of God, we may say, that the result is due. Looking on with\nclear eyes we see something very different from divine approval in the\nprosperous efforts of unscrupulous push and wire-pulling. Those who have\nmuch success in the world have need to justify their comforts and the\npraise they enjoy. They need to show cause to the ranks of the obscure\nand ill-paid for their superior fortune. Success like theirs cannot be\nadmitted as a special mark of the favour of that God Whose ways are\nequal, Whose name is the Holy and Just.\n\nNext look at the ignoble task to which Samson is put by the Philistines,\na type of the ignominious uses to which the hero may be doomed by the\ncrowd. The multitude cannot be trusted with a great man.\n\nIn the prison at Gaza the fallen chief was set to grind corn, to do the\nwork of slaves. To him, indeed, work was a blessing. From the bitter\nthoughts that would have eaten out his heart he was somewhat delivered\nby the irksome labour. In reality, as we now perceive, no work degrades;\nbut a man of Samson's type and period thought differently. The\nPhilistine purpose was to degrade him; and the Hebrew captive would feel\nin the depths of his hot brooding nature the humiliating doom. Look then\nat the parallels. Think of a great statesman placed at the head of a\nnation to guide its policy in the line of righteousness, to bring its\nlaws into harmony with the principles of human freedom and divine\njustice--think of such a one, while labouring at his sacred task with\nall the ardour of a noble heart, called to account by those whose only\ndesire is for better trade, the means of beating their rivals in some\nmarket or bolstering up their failing speculations. Or see him at\nanother time pursued by the cry of a class that feels its prescriptive\nrights invaded or its position threatened. Take again a poet, an artist,\na writer, a preacher intent on great themes, eagerly following after\nthe ideal to which he has devoted himself, but exposed every moment to\nthe criticism of men who have no soul--held up to ridicule and\nreprobation because he does not accept vulgar models and repeat the\ncatchwords of this or that party. Philistinism is always in this way\nasserting its claim, and ever and anon it succeeds in dragging some\nardent soul into the dungeon to grind thenceforth at the mill.\n\nWith the very highest too it is not afraid to inter-meddle. Christ\nHimself is not safe. The Philistines of to-day are doing their utmost to\nmake His name inglorious. For what else is the modern cry that\nChristianity should be chiefly about the business of making life\ncomfortable in this world and providing not only bread but amusement for\nthe crowd? The ideas of the church are not practical enough for this\ngeneration. To get rid of sin--that is a dream; to make men fearers of\nGod, soldiers of truth, doers of righteousness at all hazards--that is\nin the air. Let it be given up; let us seek what we can reach; bind the\nname of Christ and the Spirit of Christ in chains to the work of a\npractical secularism, and let us turn churches into pleasant lounging\nplaces and picture galleries. Why should the soul have the benefit of so\ngreat a name as that of the Son of God? Is not the body more? Is not the\nmain business to have houses and railways, news and enjoyment? The\npolicy of undeifying Christ is having too much success. If it make way\nthere will soon be need for a fresh departure into the wilderness.\n\nThe last scene of Samson's history awaits us--the gigantic effort, the\nawful revenge in which the Hebrew champion ended his days. In one sense\nit aptly crowns the man's career. The sacred historian is not composing\na romance, yet the end could not have been more fit. Strangely enough it\nhas given occasion for preaching the doctrine of self-sacrifice as the\nonly means of highest achievement, and we are asked to see here an\nexample of the finest heroism, the most sublime devotion. Samson dying\nfor his country is likened to Christ dying for His people.\n\nIt is impossible to allow this for a moment. Not Milton's apology for\nSamson, not the authority of all the illustrious men who have drawn the\nparallel can keep us from deciding that this was a case of vengeance and\nself-murder not of noble devotion. We have no sense of vindicated\nprinciple when we see that temple fall in terrible ruin, but a thrill of\ndisappointment and keen sorrow that a servant of Jehovah should have\ndone this in His name. The lords of the Philistines, all the _serens_ or\nchiefs of the hundred cities are gathered in the ample porch of the\nbuilding. True, they are assembled at an idolatrous feast; but this\nidolatry is their religion which they cannot choose but exercise for\nthey know of no better, nor has Samson ever done one deed or spoken one\nword that could convince them of error. True, they are met to rejoice\nover their enemy and they call for him in cruel vainglory to make them\nsport. Yet this is the man who for his sport and in his revenge once\nburned the standing corn of a whole valley and more than once went on\nslaying Philistines till he was weary. True, Samson as a patriotic\nIsraelite views these people as enemies. Yet it was among them he first\nsought a wife and afterwards pleasure. And now, if he decides to die\nthat he may kill a thousand enemies at once, is the self-chosen death\nless an act of suicide?\n\nIf this was truly a fine act of self-sacrifice what good came of it? The\nsacrifice that is to be praised does distinct and clearly purposed\nservice to some worthy cause or high moral end. We do not find that this\ndreadful deed reconciled the Philistines to Israel or moved them to\nbelief in Jehovah. We observe, on the contrary, that it went to increase\nthe hatred between race and race, so that when Canaanites, Moabites,\nAmmonites, Midianites no longer vex Israel these Philistines show more\ndeadly antagonism--antagonism of which Israel knew the heat when on the\nred field of Gilboa the kingly Saul and the well-beloved Jonathan were\ntogether stricken down in death. If there was in Samson's mind any\nthought of vindicating a principle it was that of Israel's dignity as\nthe people of Jehovah. But here his testimony was worthless.\n\nAs we have already said, much is written about self-sacrifice which is\nsheer mockery of truth, most falsely sentimental. Men and women are\nurged to the notion that if they can only find some pretext for\nrenouncing freedom, for curbing and endangering life, for stepping aside\nfrom the way of common service that they may give up something in an\nuncommon way for the sake of any person or cause, good will come of it.\nThe doctrine is a lie. The sacrifice of Christ was not of that kind. It\nwas under the influence of no blind desire to give up His life, but\nfirst under the pressure of a supreme providential necessity, then in\nrenunciation of the earthly life for a clearly seen and personally\nembraced divine end, the reconciliation of man to God, the setting forth\nof a propitiation for the sin of the world--for this it was He died. He\nwilled to be our Saviour; having so chosen He bowed to the burden that\nwas laid upon Him. \"It pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him\nto grief.\" To the end He foresaw and desired there was but one way--and\nthe way was that of death because of man's wickedness and ruin.\n\nSuffering for itself is no end and never can be to God or to Christ or\nto a good man. It is a necessity on the way to the ends of righteousness\nand love. If personality is not a delusion and salvation a dream there\nmust be in every case of Christian renunciation some distinct moral aim\nin view for every one concerned, and there must be at each step, as in\nthe action of our Lord, the most distinct and unwavering sincerity, the\nmost direct truthfulness. Anything else is a sin against God and\nhumanity. We entreat would-be moralists of the day to comprehend before\nthey write of \"self-sacrifice.\" The sacrifice of the moral judgment is\nalways a crime, and to preach needless suffering for the sake of\ncovering up sin or as a means of atoning for past defects is to utter\nmost unchristian falsehood.\n\nSamson threw away a life of which he was weary and ashamed. He threw it\naway in avenging a cruelty; but it was a cruelty he had no reason to\ncall a wrong. \"O God, that I might be avenged!\"--that was no prayer of a\nfaithful heart. It was the prayer of envenomed hatred, of a soul still\nunregenerate after trial. His death was indeed _self_-sacrifice--the\nsacrifice of the higher self, the true self, to the lower. Samson should\nhave endured patiently, magnifying God. Or we can imagine something not\nperfect yet heroic. Had he said to those Philistines, My people and you\nhave been too long at enmity. Let there be an end of it. Avenge\nyourselves on me, then cease from harassing Israel,--that would have\nbeen like a brave man. But it is not this we find. And we close the\nstory of Samson more sad than ever that Israel's history has not taught\na great man to be a good man, that the hero has not achieved the morally\nheroic, that adversity has not begotten in him a wise patience and\nmagnanimity. Yet he had a place under Divine Providence. The dim\ntroubled faith that was in his soul was not altogether fruitless. No\nJehovah-worshipper would ever think of bowing before that god whose\ntemple fell in ruins on the captive Israelite and his thousand victims.\n\n\n\n\nXXIV.\n\n_THE STOLEN GODS._\n\nJUDGES xvii., xviii.\n\n\nThe portion of the Book of Judges which begins with the seventeenth\nchapter and extends to the close is not in immediate connection with\nthat which has gone before. We read (ch. xviii. 30) that \"Jonathan, the\nson of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the\ntribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.\" But the proper\nreading is, \"Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses.\" It would\nseem that the renegade Levite of the narrative was a near descendant of\nthe great law-giver. So rapidly did the zeal of the priestly house\ndecline that in the third or fourth generation after Moses one of his\nown line became minister of an idol temple for the sake of a living. It\nis evident, then, that in the opening of the seventeenth chapter we are\ncarried back to the time immediately following the conquest of Canaan by\nJoshua, when Othniel was settling in the south and the tribes were\nendeavouring to establish themselves in the districts allotted to them.\nThe note of time is of course far from precise, but the incidents are\ncertainly to be placed early in the period.\n\nWe are introduced first to a family living in Mount Ephraim consisting\nof a widow and her son Micah who is married and has sons of his own. It\nappears that on the death of the father of Micah a sum of eleven hundred\nshekels of silver, about a hundred and twenty pounds of our money--a\nlarge amount for the time--was missed by the widow, who after vain\nsearch for it spoke in strong terms about the matter to her son. He had\ntaken the money to use in stocking his farm or in trade and at once\nacknowledged that he had done so and restored it to his mother, who\nhastened to undo any evil her words had caused by invoking upon him the\nblessing of God. Further she dedicated two hundred of her shekels to\nmake graven and molten images in token of piety and gratitude.\n\nWe have here a very significant revelation of the state of religion. The\nindignation of Moses had burned against the people when at Sinai they\nmade a rude image of gold, sacrificed to it and danced about it in\nheathen revel. We are reading of what took place say a century after\nthat scene at the foot of Sinai, and already those who desire to show\ntheir devotion to the Eternal, very imperfectly known as Jehovah, make\nteraphim and molten images to represent Him. Micah has a sort of private\nchapel or temple among the buildings in his courtyard. He consecrates\none of his sons to be priest of this little sanctuary. And the historian\nadds in explanation of this, as one keenly aware of the benefits of good\ngovernment under a God-fearing monarch--\"In those days there was no king\nin Israel. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.\"\n\nWe need not take for granted that the worship in this hill-chapel was of\nthe heathen sort. There was probably no Baal, no Astarte among the\nimages; or, if there was, it may have been merely as representing a\nSyrian power prudently recognised but not adored. No hint occurs in the\nwhole story of a licentious or a cruel cult, although there must have\nbeen something dangerously like the superstitious practices of Canaan.\nMicah's chapel, whatever the observances were, gave direct introduction\nto the pagan forms and notions which prevailed among the people of the\nland. There already Jehovah was degraded to the rank of a\nnature-divinity, and represented by figures.\n\nIn one of the highland valleys towards the north of Ephraim's territory\nMicah had his castle and his ecclesiastical establishment--state and\nchurch in germ. The Israelites of the neighbourhood, who looked up to\nthe well-to-do farmer for protection, regarded him all the more that he\nshowed respect for religion, that he had this house of gods and a\nprivate priest. They came to worship in his sanctuary and to inquire of\nthe ecclesiastic, who in some way endeavoured to discover the will of\nGod by means of the teraphim and ephod. The ark of the covenant was not\nfar away for Bethel and Gilgal were both within a day's journey. But the\npeople did not care to be at the trouble of going so far. They liked\nbetter their own local shrine and its homelier ways; and when at length\nMicah secured the services of a Levite the worship seemed to have all\nthe sanction that could possibly be desired.\n\nIt need hardly be said that God is not confined to a locality, that in\nthose days as in our own the true worshipper could find the Almighty on\nany hill-top, in any dwelling or private place, as well as at the\naccredited shrine. It is quite true, also, that God makes large\nallowance for the ignorance of men and their need of visible signs and\nsymbols of what is unseen and eternal. We must not therefore assume at\nonce that in Micah's house of idols, before the widow's graven and\nmolten figures there could be no acceptable worship, no prayers that\nreached the ear of the Lord of Hosts. And one might even go the length\nof saying that, perhaps, in this schismatic sanctuary, this chapel of\nimages, devotion could be quite as sincere as before the ark itself.\nLittle good came of the religious ordinances maintained there during the\nwhole period of the judges, and even in Eli's latter days the vileness\nand covetousness practised at Shiloh more than countervailed any pious\ninfluence. Local and family altars therefore must have been of real use.\nBut this was the danger, that leaving the appointed centre of\nJehovah-worship, where symbolism was confined within safe limits, the\npeople should in ignorant piety multiply objects of adoration and run\ninto polytheism. Hence the importance of the decree, afterwards\nrecognised, that one place of sacrifice should gather to it all the\ntribes and that there the ark of the covenant with its altar should\nalone speak of the will and holiness of God. And the story of the Danite\nmigration connected with this of Micah and his Levite well illustrates\nthe wisdom of such a law, for it shows how, in the far north, a\nsanctuary and a worship were set up which, existing long for tribal\ndevotion, became a national centre of impure worship.\n\nThe wandering Levite from Bethlehem-judah is one, we must believe, of\nmany Levites, who having found no inheritance because the cities\nallotted to them were as yet unconquered spread themselves over the land\nseeking a livelihood, ready to fall in with any local customs of\nreligion that offered them position and employment. The Levites were\nesteemed as men acquainted with the way of Jehovah, able to maintain\nthat communication with Him without which no business could be\nhopefully undertaken. Something of the dignity that was attached to the\nnames of Moses and Aaron ensured them honourable treatment everywhere\nunless among the lowest of the people; and when this Levite reached the\ndwelling of Micah, beside which there seems to have been a khan or\nlodging-place for travellers, the chance of securing him was at once\nseized. For ten pieces of silver, say twenty-five shillings a year, with\na suit of clothes and his food, he agreed to become Micah's private\nchaplain. At this very cheap rate the whole household expected a time of\nprosperity and divine favour. \"Now know I,\" said the head of the family,\n\"that the Lord will do me good seeing I have a Levite to my priest.\" We\nmust fear that he took some advantage of the man's need, that he did not\nmuch consider the honour of Jehovah yet reckoned on getting a blessing\nall the same. It was a case of seeking the best religious privileges as\ncheaply as possible, a very common thing in all ages.\n\nBut the coming of the Levite was to have results Micah did not foresee.\nJonathan had lived in Bethlehem, and some ten or twelve miles westward\ndown the valley one came to Zorah and Eshtaol, two little towns of the\ntribe of Dan of which we have heard. The Levite had apparently become\npretty well known in the district and especially in those villages to\nwhich he went to offer sacrifice or perform some other religious rite.\nAnd now a series of incidents brought certain old acquaintances to his\nnew place of abode.\n\nEven in Samson's time the tribe of Dan, whose territory was to be along\nthe coast west from Judah, was still obliged to content itself with the\nslopes of the hills, not having got possession of the plain. In the\nearlier period with which we are now dealing the Danites were in yet\ngreater difficulty, for not only had they Philistines on the one side\nbut Amorites on the other. The Amorites \"would dwell,\" we are told, \"in\nMount Heres, in Aijalon and in Shaalbim.\" It was this pressure which\ndetermined the people about Zorah and Eshtaol to find if possible\nanother place of settlement, and five men were sent out in search.\nTravelling north they took the same way as the Levite had taken, heard\nof the same khan in the hill-country of Ephraim and made it their\nresting-place for a night. The discovery of the Levite Jonathan followed\nand of the chapel in which he ministered with its wonderful array of\nimages. We can suppose the deputation had thoughts they did not express,\nbut for the present they merely sought the help of the priest, begging\nhim to consult the oracle on their behalf and learn whether their\nmission would be successful. The five went on their journey with the\nencouragement, \"Go in peace; before the Lord is your way wherein ye go.\"\n\nMonths pass without any more tidings of the Danites until one day a\ngreat company is seen following the hill-road near Micah's farm. There\nare six hundred men girt with weapons of war with their wives and\nchildren and cattle, a whole clan on the march, filling the road for\nmiles and moving slowly northward. The five men have indeed succeeded\nafter a fashion. Away between Lebanon and Hermon in the region of the\nsources of Jordan they have found the sort of district they went to\nseek. Its chief town Laish stood in the midst of fertile fields with\nplenty of wood and water. It was a place, according to their large\nreport, where was \"no want of anything that is in the earth.\" Moreover\nthe inhabitants, who seem to have been a Phoenician colony, dwelt by\nthemselves quiet and secure having no dealings or treaty with the\npowerful Zidonians. They were the very kind of people whom a sudden\nattack would be likely to subdue. There was an immediate migration of\nDanites to this fresh field, and in prospect of bloody work the men of\nZorah and Eshtaol seem to have had no doubt as to the rightness of their\nexpedition; it was enough that they had felt themselves straitened. The\nsame reason appears to suffice many in modern times. Were the aboriginal\ninhabitants of America and Australia considered by those who coveted\ntheir land? Even the pretence of buying has not always been maintained.\nMurder and rapine have been the methods used by men of our own blood,\nour own name, and no nation under the sun has a record darker than the\ntale of British conquest.\n\nMen who go forth to steal land are quite fit to attempt the strange\nbusiness of stealing gods--that is appropriating to themselves the\nfavour of divine powers and leaving other men destitute. The Danites as\nthey pass Micah's house hear from their spies of the priest and the\nimages that are in his charge. \"Do you know that there is in these\nhouses an ephod and teraphim and a graven image and a molten image? Now\ntherefore consider what ye have to do.\" The hint is enough. Soon the\ncourt of the farmstead is invaded, the images are brought out and the\nLevite Jonathan, tempted by the offer of being made priest to a clan, is\nfain to accompany the marauders. Here is confusion on confusion. The\nDanites are thieves, brigands, and yet they are pious; so pious that\nthey steal images to assist them in worship. The Levite agrees to the\ntheft and accepts the offer of priesthood under them. He will be the\nminister of a set of thieves to forward their evil designs, and they\nknowing him to be no better than themselves expect that his sacrifices\nand prayers will do them good. It is surely a capital instance of\nperverted religious ideas.\n\nAs we have said, these circumstances are no doubt recounted in order to\nshow how dangerous it was to separate from the pure order of worship at\nthe sanctuary. In after times this lesson was needed, especially when\nthe first king of the northern tribes set his golden calves the one at\nBethel, the other at Dan. Was Israel to separate from Judah in religion\nas well as in government? Let there be a backward look to the beginning\nof schism in those extraordinary doings of the Danites. It was in the\ncity founded by the six hundred that one of Jeroboam's temples was\nbuilt. Could any blessing rest upon a shrine and upon devotions which\nhad such an origin, such an history?\n\nMay we find a parallel now? Is there a constituted religious authority\nwith which soundness of belief and acceptable worship are so bound up\nthat to renounce the authority is to be in the way of confusion and\nerror, schism and eternal loss? The Romanist says so. Those who speak\nfor the Papal church never cease to cry to the world that within their\ncommunion alone are truth and safety to be found. Renounce, they say,\nthe apostolic and divine authority which we conserve and all is gone. Is\nthere anarchy in a country? Are the forces that make for political\ndisruption and national decay showing themselves in many lands? Are\nmonarchies overthrown? Are the people lawless and wretched? It all comes\nof giving up the Catholic order and creed. Return to the one fold under\nthe one Shepherd if you would find prosperity. And there are others who\nrepeat the same injunction, not indeed denying that there may be saving\nfaith apart from their ritual, but insisting still that it is an error\nand a sin to seek God elsewhere than at the accredited shrine.\n\nWith Jewish ordinances we Christians have nothing to do when we are\njudging as to religious order and worship now. There is no central\nshrine, no exclusive human authority. Where Christ is, there is the\ntemple; where He speaks, the individual conscience must respond. The\nwork of salvation is His alone, and the humblest believer is His\nconsecrated priest. When our Lord said, \"The hour cometh and now is when\nthe true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth\";\nand again, \"Where two or three are gathered together in My name there am\nI in the midst of them\"; when He as the Son of God held out His hands\ndirectly to every sinner needing pardon and every seeker after truth,\nwhen He offered the one sacrifice upon the cross by which a living way\nis opened into the holiest place, He broke down the walls of partition\nand with the responsibility declared the freedom of the soul.\n\nAnd here we reach the point to which our narrative applies as an\nillustration. Micah and his household worshipping the images of silver,\nthe Levite officiating at the altar, seeking counsel of Jehovah by ephod\nand teraphim, the Danites who steal the gods, carry off the priest and\nset up a new worship in the city they build--all these represent to us\ntypes and stages of what is really schism pitiful and disastrous--that\nis, separation from the truth of things and from the sacred realities of\ndivine faith. Selfish untruth and infidelity are schism, the wilderness\nand outlawry of the soul.\n\n1. Micah and his household, with their chapel of images, their ephod and\nteraphim represent those who fall into the superstition that religion is\ngood as insuring temporal success and prosperity, that God will see to\nthe worldly comfort of those who pay respect to Him. Even among\nChristians this is a very common and very debasing superstition. The\nsacraments are often observed as signs of a covenant which secures for\nmen divine favour through social arrangements and human law. The\nspiritual nature and power of religion are not denied, but they are\nuncomprehended. The national custom and the worldly hope have to do with\nthe observance of devout forms rather than any movement of the soul\nheavenward. A church may in this way become like Micah's household, and\nprayer may mean seeking good terms with Him who can fill the land with\nplenty or send famine and cleanness of teeth. Unhappily many worthy and\nmost devout persons still hold the creed of an early and ignorant time.\nThe secret of nature and providence is hid from them. The severities of\nlife seem to them to be charged with anger, and the valleys of human\nreprobation appear darkened by the curse of God. Instead of finding in\npain and loss a marvellous divine discipline they perceive only the\npenalty of sin, a sign of God's aversion not of His Fatherly grace. It\nis a sad, a terrible blindness of soul. We can but note it here and pass\non, for there are other applications of the old story.\n\n2. The Levite represents an unworthy worldly ministry. With sadness must\nconfession be made that there are in every church pastors unspiritual,\nworldlings in heart whose desire is mainly for superiority of rank or of\nwealth, who have no vision of Christ's cross and battle except as\nobjective and historical. Here, most happily, the cases of complete\nworldliness are rare. It is rather a tendency we observe than a\ndeveloped and acknowledged state of things. Very few of those in the\nranks of the Christian ministry are entirely concerned with the respect\npaid to them in society and the number of shekels to be got in a year.\nThat he keeps pace with the crowd instead of going before it is perhaps\nthe hardest thing that can be said of the worldly pastor. He is humane,\nactive, intelligent; but it is for the church as a great institution, or\nthe church as his temporal hope and stay. So his ministry becomes at the\nbest a matter of serving tables and providing alms--we shall not say\namusement. Here indeed is schism; for what is farther from the truth of\nthings, what is farther from Christ?\n\n3. Once more we have with us to-day, very much with us, certain Danites\nof science, politics and the press who, if they could, would take away\nour God and our Bible, our Eternal Father and spiritual hope, not from a\ndesire to possess but because they hate to see us believing, hate to see\nany weight of silver given to religious uses. Not a few of these are\nmarching as they think triumphantly to commanding and opulent positions\nwhence they will rule the thought of the world. And on the way, even\nwhile they deride and detest the supernatural, they will have the priest\ngo with them. They care nothing for what he says; to listen to the voice\nof a spiritual teacher is an absurdity of which they would not be\nguilty; for to their own vague prophesying all mankind is to give heed,\nand their interpretations of human life are to be received as the bible\nof the age. Of the same order is the socialist who would make use of a\nfaith he intends to destroy and a priesthood whose claim is offensive to\nhim on his way to what he calls the organization of society. In his view\nthe uses of Christianity and the Bible are temporal and earthly. He will\nnot have Christ the Redeemer of the soul, yet he attempts to conjure\nwith Christ's words and appropriate the power of His name. The audacity\nof these would-be robbers is matched only by their ignorance of the\nneeds and ends of human life.\n\nWe might here refer to the injustice practised by one and another band\nof our modern Israel who do not scruple to take from obscure and weak\nhouseholds of faith the sacraments and Christian ministry, the marks and\nrights of brotherhood. We can well believe that those who do this have\nnever looked at their action from the other side, and may not have the\nleast idea of the soreness they leave in the hearts of humble and\nsincere believers.\n\nIn fine, the Danites with the images of Micah went their way and he and\nhis neighbours had to suffer the loss and make the best of their empty\nchapel where no oracle thenceforth spoke to them. It is no parable, but\na very real example of the loss that comes to all who have trusted in\nforms and symbols, the outward signs instead of the living power of\nreligion. While we repel the arrogance that takes from faith its\nsymbolic props and stays we must not let ourselves deny that the very\nrudeness of an enemy may be an excellent discipline for the Christian.\nAgnosticism and science and other Danite companies sweep with them a\ngood deal that is dear to the religious mind and may leave it very\ndistressed and anxious--the chapel empty, the oracle as it may appear\nlost for ever. With the symbol the authority, the hope, the power seem\nto be lost irrecoverably. What now has faith to rest upon? But the\nmodern spirit with its resolution to sweep away every unfact and mere\nform is no destroyer. Rather does it drive the Christian to a science, a\nvirtue far beyond its own. It forces we may say on faith that severe\ntruthfulness and intellectual courage which are the proper qualities of\nChristianity, the necessary counterpart of its trust and love and grace.\nIn short, when enemies have carried on the poor teraphim and fetishes\nwhich are their proper capture they have but compelled religion to be\nitself, compelled it to find its spiritual God, its eternal creed and to\nunderstand its Bible. This, though done with evil intent, is surely no\ncruelty, no outrage. Shall a man or a church that has been so roused and\nthrown back on reality sit wailing in the empty chapel for the images of\nsilver and the deliverances of the hollow ephod? Everything remains, the\nsoul and the spiritual world, the law of God, the redemption of Christ,\nthe Spirit of eternal life.\n\n\n\n\nXXV.\n\n_FROM JUSTICE TO WILD REVENGE._\n\nJUDGES xix.-xxi.\n\n\nThese last chapters describe a general and vehement outburst of moral\nindignation throughout Israel, recorded for various reasons. A vile\nthing is done in one of the towns of Benjamin and the fact is published\nin all the tribes. The doers of it are defended by their clan and\nfearful punishment is wrought upon them, not without suffering to the\nentire people. Like the incidents narrated in the chapters immediately\npreceding, these must have occurred at an early stage in the period of\nthe judges, and they afford another illustration of the peril of\nimperfect government, the need for a vigorous administration of justice\nover the land. The crime and the volcanic vengeance belong to a time\nwhen there was \"no king in Israel\" and, despite occasional appeals to\nthe oracle, \"every man did that which was right in his own eyes.\" In\nthis we have one clue to the purpose of the history.\n\nThe crime of Gibeah brought under our notice here connects itself with\nthat of Sodom and represents a phase of immorality which, indigenous to\nCanaan, mixed its putrid current with Hebrew life. There are traces of\nthe same horrible impurity in the Judah of Rehoboam and Asa; and in the\nstory of Josiah's reign we are horrified to read of \"houses of\nSodomites that were in the house of the Lord, where the women wove\nhangings for the Asherah.\" With such lurid historical light on the\nsubject we can easily understand the revival of this warning lesson from\nthe past of Israel and the fulness of detail with which the incidents\nare recorded. A crime originally that of the off-scourings of Gibeah\nbecame practically the sin of a whole tribe, and the war that ensued\nsets in a clear light the zeal for domestic purity which was a feature\nin every religious revival and, at length, in the life of the Hebrew\npeople.\n\nIt may be asked how, while polygamy was practised among the Israelites,\nthe sin of Gibeah could rouse such indignation and awaken the signal\nvengeance of the united tribes. The answer is to be found partly in the\nsingular and dreadful device which the indignant husband used in making\nthe deed known. The ghastly symbols of outrage told the tale in a way\nthat was fitted to stir the blood of the whole country. Everywhere the\nhideous thing was made vivid and a sense of utmost atrocity was kindled\nas the dissevered members were borne from town to town. It is easy to\nsee that womanhood must have been stirred to the fieriest indignation,\nand manhood was bound to follow. What woman could be safe in Gibeah\nwhere such things were done? And was Gibeah to go unpunished? If so,\nevery Hebrew city might become the haunt of miscreants. Further there is\nthe fact that the woman so foully murdered, though a concubine, was the\nconcubine of a Levite. The measure of sacredness with which the Levites\nwere invested gave to this crime, frightful enough in any view, the\ncolour of sacrilege. How degenerate were the people of Gibeah when a\nservant of the altar could be treated with such foul indignity and\ndriven to so extraordinary an appeal for justice? There could be no\nblessing on the tribes if they allowed the doers or condoners of this\nthing to go unpunished. Every Levite throughout the land must have taken\nup the cry. From Bethel and other sanctuaries the call for vengeance\nwould spread and echo till the nation was roused. Thus, in part at\nleast, we can explain the vehemence of feeling which drew together the\nwhole fighting force of the tribes.\n\nThe doubt will yet remain whether there could have been so much purity\nof life or respect for purity as to sustain the public indignation. Some\nmay say, Is there not here a sufficient reason for questioning the\nveracity of the narrative? First, however, let it be remembered that\noften where morals are far from reaching the level of pure monogamic\nlife distinctions between right and wrong are sharply drawn.\nAcquaintance with phases of modern life that are most painful to the\nmind sensitively pure reveals a fixed code which none may infringe\nwithout bringing upon themselves reprobation, perhaps more vehement than\nin a higher social grade visits the breach of a higher law. It is the\nfact that concubinage has its unwritten acknowledgment and protecting\ncustoms. There is marriage that is only a name; there is concubinage\nthat gives the woman more rights than one who is married. Against the\nimmorality and the gross evils of cohabitation is to be set this\nunwritten law. And arguing from popular feeling in our great cities we\nreach the conclusion that in ancient Israel where concubinage prevailed\nthere was a wide and keen feeling as to the rights of concubines and the\nnecessity of upholding them. Many women must have been in this relation,\nbelow those who could count themselves legally married, and all the\nmore that the concubine occupied a place inferior to that of the lawful\nwife would popular opinion take up her cause and demand the punishment\nof those who did her wrong.\n\nAnd here we are led to a point which demands clear statement and\nrecognition. It has been too readily supposed that polygamy is always a\nresult of moral decline and indicates a low state of domestic purity. It\nmay, in truth, be a rude step of progress. Has it been sufficiently\nnoted that in those countries in which the name of the mother not of the\nfather descended to the children the reason may be found in universal or\nalmost universal unchastity? In Egypt at one time the law gave to women,\nespecially to mothers, peculiar rights; but to praise Egyptian\ncivilization for this reason and hold up its treatment of women as an\nexample to the nineteenth century is an extraordinary venture. The\nIsraelites, however lax, were doubtless in advance of the society of\nThebes. Among the Canaanites the moral degradation of women, whatever\nfreedom may have gone with it, was so terrible that the Hebrew with his\ntwo or three wives and concubines, but with a morality otherwise severe,\nmust have represented a new and holier social order as well as a new and\nholier religion. It is therefore not incredible but appears simply in\naccordance with the instincts and customs proper to the Hebrew people\nthat the sin of Gibeah should provoke overwhelming indignation. There is\nno pretence of purity, no hypocritical anger. The feeling is sound and\nreal. Perhaps in no other matter of a moral kind would there have been\nsuch intense and unanimous exasperation. A point of justice or of belief\nwould not have so moved the tribes. The better self of Israel appears\nasserting its claim and power. And the miscreants of Gibeah representing\nthe lower self, verily an unclean spirit, are detested and denounced on\nevery hand.\n\nThe time was that of fresh feeling, unwarped by those customs which in\nthe guise of civilisation and refinement afterwards corrupted the\nnation. And we may see the prophetic or hortatory use of the narrative\nfor an after age in which doings as vile as those at Gibeah were\nsanctioned by the court and protected even by religious leaders. It\nwould be hoped by the sacred historian that this tale of the fierce\nindignation of the tribes might rouse afresh the same moral feeling. He\nwould fain stir a careless people and their priests by the exhibition of\nthis tumultuous vengeance. Nor can we say that the necessity for the\nimpressive lesson has ceased. In the heart of our large cities vices as\nvile as those of Gibeah are heard muttering in the nightfall, life as\nabandoned lurks and festers creating a social gangrene.\n\nRecognise, then, in these chapters a truth for all time boldly drawn\nout--the great truth as to moral reform and national purity. Law will\nnot cure moral evils; a statute book the purest and noblest will not\nsave. Those who by the impulse of the Spirit gathered the various\ntraditions of Israel's life knew well that on a living conscience in men\neverything depended, and they at least indicate the further truth which\nmany of ourselves have not grasped, that the early and rude workings of\nconscience, producing stormy and terrible results, are a necessary stage\nof development. As there must be energy before there can be noble\nenergy, so there must be moral vigour, it may be rude, violent,\nignorant, a stream rushing out of barbarian hills, sweeping with most\nappalling vehemence, before there can be spiritual life patient calm and\nholy. Law is a product not a cause; it is not the code we make that will\npreserve us but the God-given conscience that informs the code and ever\ngoes before it a pillar of fire, at times flashing vivid lightning. Even\nChristian law cannot save a people if it be merely a series of\ninjunctions. Nothing will do but the mind of Christ in every man and\nwoman continually inspiring and directing life. The reformer who thinks\nthat a statute or regulation will end some sin or evil custom is in sad\nerror. Say the decree he contends for is enacted; but have the\nconsciences of those against whom it is made been quickened? If not, the\nlaw merely expresses a popular mood and the life of the whole community\nwill not be permanently raised in tone.\n\nThe church finds here a perpetual mission of influence. Her doctrine is\nbut half her message. From the doctrine as from an eternal fount must go\nlife-giving moral heat in every range, and the Spirit is ever with her\nto make the word like a fire. Her duty is wide as righteousness, great\nas man's destiny; it is never ended, for each generation comes in a new\nhour with new needs. The church, say some, is finishing its work; it is\ndoomed to be one of the broken moulds of life. But the church that is\nthe instructor of conscience and kindles the flame of righteousness has\na mission to the ages. We are far yet from that day of the Lord when all\nthe people shall be prophets; and until then how can the world live\nwithout the church? It would be a body without a soul.\n\nConscience the oracle of life, conscience working badly rather than held\nin chains of mere rule without spontaneity and inspiration, moral energy\nwidespread personal and keen, however rude--here is one of the notes of\nthe sacred writer; and another note, no less distinct, is the assertion\nof moral intolerance. It has not occurred to this prophetic annalist\nthat endurance of evil has any curative power. He is a Hebrew, full of\nindignation against the vile and false, and he demands a heat of moral\nforce in his people. Foul things are done at the court and even in the\ntemple; there is a depraving indifference to purity, a loose notion\n(very similar to the idea of our day), that all the sides of life should\nhave free play and that the heathen had much to teach Israel. The whole\nof the narrative before us is infused with a righteous protest against\nevil, a holy plea for intolerance of sin. Will men refuse instruction\nand persist in making themselves one with bestiality and outrage? Then\njudgment must deal with them on the ground they have chosen to occupy,\nand until they repent the conscience of the race must repudiate them\ntogether with their sin. Along with a keenly burning conscience there\ngoes this necessity of moral intolerance. Charity is good, but not\nalways in place; and brotherhood itself demands at times strong\nuncompromising judgment of the evil-doer. How else among men of weak\nwills and wavering hearts can righteousness vindicate and enforce itself\nas the eternal reality of life? Compassion is strong only when it is\nlinked to unfaltering declarations; mercy is divine only when it turns a\nfront of mail to wickedness and flashes lightning at proud wrong. Any\nother kind of charity is but a new offence--the sinner pardoning sin.\n\nNow the people of Gibeah were not all vile. The wretches whose crime\ncalled for judgment were but the rabble of the town. And we can see that\nthe tribes when they gathered in indignation were made serious by the\nthought that the righteous might be punished with the wicked. We are\ntold that they went up to the sanctuary and asked counsel of the Lord\nwhether they should attack the convicted city. There was a full muster\nof the fighting men, their blood at fever heat, yet they would not\nadvance without an oracle. It was an appeal to heavenly justice, and\ndemands notice as a striking feature of the whole terrible series of\nevents. For an hour there is silence in the camp till a higher voice\nshall speak.\n\nBut what is the issue? The oracle decrees an immediate attack on Gibeah\nin the face of all Benjamin which has shown the temper of heathenism by\nrefusing to give up the criminals. Once and again there is trial of\nbattle which ends in defeat of the allied tribes. The wrong triumphs;\nthe people have to return humbled and weeping to the Sacred Presence and\nsit fasting and disconsolate before the Lord.\n\nNot without the suffering of the entire community is a great evil to be\npurged from a land. It is easy to execute a murderer, to imprison a\nfelon. But the spirit of the murderer, of the felon, is widely diffused,\nand that has to be cast out. In the great moral struggle year after year\nthe better have not only the openly vile but all who are tainted, all\nwho are weak in soul, loose in habit, secretly sympathetic with the\nvile, arrayed against them. There is a sacrifice of the good before the\nevil are overcome. In vicarious suffering many must pay the penalty of\ncrimes not their own ere the wide-reaching wickedness can be seen in its\ndemonic power and struck down as the cruel enemy of the people.\n\nWhen an assault is made on some vile custom the sardonic laugh is heard\nof those who find their profit and their pleasure in it. They feel their\npower. They know the wide sympathy with them spread secretly through the\nland. Once and again the feeble attempt of the good is repelled. With\nsad hearts, with impoverished means, those who led the crusade retire\nbaffled and weary. Has their method been unintelligent? There very\npossibly lies the cause of its failure. Or, perhaps, it has been, though\nnominally inspired by an oracle, all too human, weak through human\npride. Not till they gain with new and deeper devotion to the glory of\nGod, with more humility and faith, a clearer view of the battle-ground\nand a better ordering of the war shall defeat be changed into victory.\nAnd may it not be that the assault on moral evils of our day, in which\nmultitudes are professedly engaged, in which also many have spent\nsubstance and life, shall fail till there is a true humiliation of the\narmies of God before Him, a new consecration to higher and more\nspiritual ends? Human virtue has ever to be jealous of itself, the\nreformer may so easily become a Pharisee.\n\nThe tide turned and there came another danger, that which waits on\nebullitions of popular feeling. A crowd roused to anger is hard to\ncontrol, and the tribes having once tasted vengeance did not cease till\nBenjamin was almost exterminated. The slaughter extended not only to the\nfighting men, but to women and children. The six hundred who fled to the\nrock-fort of Rimmon appear as the only survivors of the clan. Justice\novershot its mark and for one evil made another. Those who had most\nfiercely used the sword viewed the result with horror and amazement, for\na tribe was lacking in Israel. Nor was this the end of slaughter. Next\nfor the sake of Benjamin the sword was drawn and the men of\nJabesh-gilead were butchered. It has to be noticed that the oracle is\nnot made responsible for this horrible process of evil. The people came\nof their own accord to the decision which annihilated Jabesh-gilead. But\nthey gave it a pious colour; religion and cruelty went together,\nsacrifices to Jehovah and this frightful outbreak of demonism. It is one\nof the dark chapters of human history. For the sake of an oath and an\nidea death was dealt remorselessly. No voice suggested that the people\nof Jabesh may have been more cautious than the rest, not less faithful\nto the law of God. The others were resolved to appear to themselves to\nhave been right in almost annihilating Benjamin; and the town which had\nnot joined in the work of destruction must be punished.\n\nThe warning conveyed here is intensely keen. It is that men, made\ndoubtful by the issue of their actions whether they have done wisely,\nmay fly to the resolution to justify themselves and may do so even at\nthe expense of justice; that a nation may pass from the right way to the\nwrong and then, having sunk to extraordinary baseness and malignity, may\nturn writhing and self-condemned to add cruelty to cruelty in the\nattempt to still the upbraidings of conscience. It is that men in the\nheat of passion which began with resentment against evil may strike at\nthose who have not joined in their errors as well as those who truly\ndeserve reprobation. We stand, nations and individuals, in constant\ndanger of dreadful extremes, a kind of insanity hurrying us on when the\nblood is heated by strong emotion. Blindly attempting to do right we do\nevil, and again, having done the evil we blindly strive to remedy it by\ndoing more. In times of moral darkness and chaotic social conditions,\nwhen men are guided by a few rude principles, things are done that\nafterwards appal themselves, and yet may become an example for future\noutbreaks. During the fury of their Revolution the French people, with\nsome watchwords of the true ring as liberty, fraternity, turned hither\nand thither, now in terror, now panting after dimly seen justice or\nhope, and it was always from blood to blood. We understand the juncture\nin ancient Israel and realize the excitement and the rage of a\nself-jealous people when we read the modern tales of surging ferocity in\nwhich men appear now hounding the shouting crowd to vengeance then\nshuddering on the scaffold.\n\nIn private life the story has an application against wild and violent\nmethods of self-vindication. Many a man, hurried on by a just anger\nagainst one who has done him wrong, sees to his horror after a sharp\nblow is struck that he has broken a life and thrown a brother bleeding\nto the dust. One wrong thing has been done perhaps more in haste than\nvileness of purpose, and retribution, hasty, ill-considered, leaves the\nmoral question tenfold more confused. When all is reckoned we find it\nimpossible to say where the right is, where the wrong.\n\nPassing to the final expedient adopted by the chiefs of Israel to\nrectify their error--the rape of the women at Shiloh--we see only to how\npitiful a pass moral blundering brings those who fall into it: other\nmoral teaching there is none. We might at first be disposed to say that\nthere was extraordinary want of reverence for religious order and\nengagements when the men of Benjamin were invited to make a sacred\nfestival the occasion of taking what the other tribes had solemnly vowed\nnot to give. But the festival at Shiloh must have been far more of a\nmerry-making than of a sacred assembly. It needs to be recognised that\nmany gatherings even in honour of Jehovah were mainly, like those of\nCanaanite worship, for hilarity and feasting. There was probably no\ngreat incongruity between the occasion and the plot.\n\nBut the scenes certainly change in the course of this narrative with\nextraordinary swiftness. Fierce indignation is followed by pity, weeping\nfor defeat by tears for too complete a victory. Horrible bloodshed\nwastes the cities and in a month there is dancing in the plain of Shiloh\nnot ten miles from the field of battle. Chaotic indeed are the morality\nand the history; but it is the disorder of social life in its early\nstages, with the vehemence and tenderness, the ferocity and laughter of\na nation's youth. And, all along, the Book of Judges bears the stamp of\nveracity as a series of records because these very features are to be\nseen--this tumult, this undisciplined vehemence in feeling and act. Were\nwe told here of decorous solemn progress at slow march, every army going\nforth with some stereotyped invocation of the Lord of Hosts, every\nleader a man of conventional piety supported by a blameless priesthood\nand orderly sacrifices, we should have had no evidence of truth. The\ntraditions preserved here, whoever collected them, are singularly free\nfrom that idyllic colour which an imaginative writer would have\nendeavoured to give.\n\nAt the last, accordingly, the book we have been reading stands a real\npiece of history, proving itself over every kind of suspicion a true\nrecord of a people chosen and guided to a destiny greater than any other\nrace of man has known. A people understanding its call and responding\nwith eagerness at every point? Nay. The world is in the heart of Israel\nas of every other nation. The carnal attracts, and malignant cries\noverbear the divine still voice; the air of Canaan breathes in every\npage, and we need to recollect that we are viewing the turbulent\nupper-waters of the nation and the faith. But the working of God is\nplain; the divine thoughts we believed Israel to have in trust for the\nworld are truly with it from the first, though darkened by altars of\nBaal and of Ashtoreth. The Word and Covenant of Jehovah are vital facts\nof the supernatural which surrounds that poor struggling erring Hebrew\nflock. Theocracy is a divine fact in a larger sense than has ever been\nattached to the word. Inspiration too is no dream, for the history is\ncharged with intimations of the spiritual order. The light of the\nunrealized end flashes on spear and altar, and in the frequent roll of\nthe storm the voice of the Eternal is heard declaring righteousness and\ntruth. No story this to praise a dynasty or magnify a conquering nation\nor support a priesthood. Nothing so faithful, so true to heaven and to\nhuman nature could be done from that motive. We have here an\nimperishable chapter in the Book of God.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BOOK OF RUTH.\n\n\n\n\nI.\n\n_NAOMI'S BURDEN._\n\nRUTH i. 1-13.\n\n\nLeaving the Book of Judges and opening the story of Ruth we pass from\nvehement out-door life, from tempest and trouble into quiet domestic\nscenes. After an exhibition of the greater movements of a people we are\nbrought, as it were, to a cottage interior in the soft light of an\nautumn evening, to obscure lives passing through the cycles of loss and\ncomfort, affection and sorrow. We have seen the ebb and flow of a\nnation's fidelity and fortune, a few leaders appearing clearly on the\nstage and behind them a multitude indefinite, indiscriminate, the\nthousands who form the ranks of battle and die on the field, who sway\ntogether from Jehovah to Baal and back to Jehovah again. What the\nHebrews were at home, how they lived in the villages of Judah or on the\nslopes of Tabor the narrative has not paused to speak of with detail.\nNow there is leisure after the strife and the historian can describe old\ncustoms and family events, can show us the toiling flockmaster, the busy\nreapers, the women with their cares and uncertainties, the love and\nlabour of simple life. Thunderclouds of sin and judgment have rolled\nover the scene; but they have cleared away and we see human nature in\nexamples that become familiar to us, no longer in weird shadow or vivid\nlightning flash, but as we commonly know it, homely, erring, enduring,\nimperfect, not unblest.\n\nBethlehem is the scene, quiet and lonely on its high ridge overlooking\nthe Judaean wilderness. The little city never had much part in the eager\nlife of the Hebrew people, yet age after age some event notable in\nhistory, some death or birth or some prophetic word drew the eyes of\nIsrael to it in affection or in hope; and to us the Saviour's birth\nthere has so distinguished it as one of the most sacred spots on earth\nthat each incident in the fields or at the gate appears charged with\npredictive meaning, each reference in psalm or prophecy has tender\nsignificance. We see the company of Jacob on a journey through Canaan\nhalt by the way near Ephrath, which is Bethlehem, and from the tents\nthere comes a sound of wailing. The beloved Rachel is dead. Yet she\nlives in a child new-born, the mother's Son of Sorrow, who becomes to\nthe father Benjamin, Son of the Right Hand. The sword pierces a loving\nheart, but hope springs out of pain and life out of death. Generations\npass and in these fields of Bethlehem we see Ruth gleaning, Ruth the\nMoabitess, a stranger and foreigner who has sought refuge under the\nshadow of Jehovah's wings; and at yonder gate she is saved from want and\nwidowhood, finding in Boaz her _goel_ and _menuchah_, her redeemer and\nrest. Later, another birth, this time within the walls, the birth of one\nlong despised by his brethren, gives to Israel a poet and a king, the\nsweet singer of divine psalms, the hero of a hundred fights. And here\nagain we see the three mighty men of David's troop breaking through the\nPhilistine host to fetch for their chief a draught from the cool spring\nby the gate. Prophecy, too, leaves Israel looking to the city on the\nhill. Micah seems to grasp the secret of the ages when he exclaims, \"But\nthou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of\nJudah, out of thee shall one come forth unto Me that is to be the ruler\nin Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.\" For\ncenturies there is suspense, and then over the quiet plain below the\nhill is heard the evangel: \"Be not afraid: for, behold, I bring you good\ntidings of great joy which shall be to all the people: for there is born\nto you this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the\nLord.\" Remembering this glory of Bethlehem we turn to the story of\nhumble life there in the days when the judges ruled, with deep interest\nin the people of the ancient city, the race from which David sprang, of\nwhich Mary was born.\n\n * * * * *\n\nJephthah had scattered Ammon behind the hills and the Hebrews dwelt in\ncomparative peace and security. The sanctuary at Shiloh was at length\nrecognised as the centre of religious influence; Eli was in the\nbeginning of his priesthood, and orderly worship was maintained before\nthe ark. People could live quietly about Bethlehem, although Samson,\nfitfully acting the part of champion on the Philistine border, had his\nwork in restraining the enemy from an advance. Yet all was not well in\nthe homesteads of Judah, for drought is as terrible a foe to the\nflockmaster as the Arab hordes, and all the south lands were parched and\nunfruitful.\n\nWe are to follow the story of Elimelech, his wife Naomi and their sons\nMahlon and Chilion whose home at Bethlehem is about to be broken up. The\nsheep are dying in the bare glens, the cattle in the fields. From the\nsoil usually so fertile little corn has been reaped. Elimelech, seeing\nhis possessions melt away, has decided to leave Judah for a time so as\nto save what remains to him till the famine is over, and he chooses the\nnearest refuge, the watered Field of Moab beyond the Salt Sea. It was\nnot far; he could imagine himself returning soon to resume the\naccustomed life in the old home. True Hebrews, these Ephrathites were\nnot seeking an opportunity to cast off pious duty and break with Jehovah\nin leaving His land. Doubtless they hoped that God would bless their\ngoing, prosper them in Moab and bring them back in good time. It was a\ntrial to go, but what else could they do, life itself, as they believed,\nbeing at hazard?\n\nWith thoughts like these men often leave the land of their birth, the\nscenes of early faith, and oftener still without any pressure of\nnecessity or any purpose of returning. Emigration appears to be forced\nupon many in these times, the compulsion coming not from Providence but\nfrom man and man's law. It is also an outlet for the spirit of adventure\nwhich characterizes some races and has made them the heirs of\ncontinents. Against emigration it would be folly to speak, but great is\nthe responsibility of those by whose action or want of action it is\nforced upon others. May it not be said that in every European land there\nare persons in power whose existence is like a famine to a whole\ncountry-side? Emigration is talked of glibly as if it were no loss but\nalways gain, as if to the mass of men the traditions and customs of\ntheir native land were mere rags well parted with. But it is clear from\ninnumerable examples that many lose what they never find again, of\nhonour, seriousness and faith.\n\nThe last thing thought of by those who compel emigration and many who\nundertake it of their own accord is the moral result. That which should\nbe first considered is often not considered at all. Granting the\nadvantages of going from a land that is over-populated to some fertile\nregion as yet lying waste, allowing what cannot be denied that material\nprogress and personal freedom result from these movements of population,\nyet the risk to individuals is just in proportion to the worldly\nattraction. It is certain that in many regions to which the stream of\nmigration is flowing the conditions of life are better and the natural\nenvironment purer than they are in the heart of large European cities.\nBut this does not satisfy the religious thinker. Modern colonies have\nindeed done marvels for political independence, for education and\ncomfort. Their success here is splendid. But do they see the danger? So\nmuch achieved in short time for the secular life tends to withdraw\nattention from the root of spiritual growth--simplicity and moral\nearnestness. The pious emigrant has to ask himself whether his children\nwill have the same thought for religion beyond the sea as they would\nhave at home, whether he himself is strong enough to maintain his\ntestimony while he seeks his fortune.\n\nWe may believe that the Bethlehemite if he made a mistake in removing to\nMoab acted in good faith and did not lose his hope of the divine\nblessing. Probably he would have said that Moab was just like home. The\npeople spoke a language similar to Hebrew, and like the tribes of Israel\nthey were partly husbandmen partly keepers of cattle. In the \"Field of\nMoab,\" that is the upland canton bounded by the Arnon on the north, the\nmountains on the east and the Dead Sea precipices on the west, people\nlived very much as they did about Bethlehem, only more safely and in\ngreater comfort. But the worship was of Chemosh, and Elimelech must\nsoon have discovered how great a difference that made in thought and\nsocial custom and in the feeling of men toward himself and his family.\nThe rites of the god of Moab included festivals in which humanity was\ndisgraced. Standing apart from these he must have found his prosperity\nhindered, for Chemosh was lord in everything. An alien who had come for\nhis own advantage yet refused the national customs would be scorned at\nleast if not persecuted. Life in Moab became an exile, the Bethlehemites\nsaw that hardship in their own land would have been as easy to endure as\nthe disdain of the heathen and constant temptations to vile conformity.\nThe family had a hard struggle, not holding their own and yet ashamed to\nreturn to Judah.\n\nAlready we have a picture of wayworn human lives tried on one side by\nthe rigour of nature, on the other by unsympathetic fellow-creatures,\nand the picture becomes more pathetic as new touches are added to it.\nElimelech died; the young men married women of Moab; and in ten years\nonly Naomi was left, a widow with her widowed daughters-in-law. The\nnarrative adds shadow to shadow. The Hebrew woman in her bereavement,\nwith the care of two lads who were somewhat indifferent to the religion\nshe cherished, touches our sympathies. We feel for her when she has to\nconsent to the marriage of her sons with heathen women, for it seems to\nclose all hope of return to her own land and, sore as this trial is,\nthere is a deeper trouble. She is left childless in the country of\nexile. Yet all is not shadow. Life never is entirely dark unless with\nthose who have ceased to trust in God and care for man. While we have\ncompassion on Naomi we must also admire her. An Israelite among heathen\nshe keeps her Hebrew ways, not in bitterness but in gentle fidelity.\nLoving her native place more warmly than ever she so speaks of it and\npraises it as to make her daughters-in-law think of settling there with\nher. The influence of her religion is upon them both, and one at least\nis inspired with faith and tenderness equal to her own. Naomi has her\ncompensations, we see. Instead of proving a trouble to her as she\nfeared, the foreign women in her house have become her friends. She\nfinds occupation and reward in teaching them the religion of Jehovah,\nand thus, so far as usefulness of the highest kind is concerned, Naomi\nis more blessed in Moab than she might have been in Bethlehem.\n\nFar better the service of others in spiritual things than a life of mere\npersonal ease and comfort. We count up our pleasures, our possessions\nand gains and think that in these we have the evidence of the divine\nfavour. Do we as often reckon the opportunities given us of helping our\nneighbours to believe in God, of showing patience and fidelity, of\nhaving a place among those who labour and wait for the eternal kingdom?\nIt is here that we ought to trace the gracious hand of God preparing our\nway, opening for us the gates of life. When shall we understand that\ncircumstances which remove us from the experience of poverty and pain\nremove us also from precious means of spiritual service and profit? To\nbe in close personal touch with the poor, the ignorant and burdened is\nto have simple every-day openings into the region of highest power and\ngladness. We do something enduring, something that engages and increases\nour best powers when we guide, enlighten and comfort even a few souls\nand plant but a few flowers in some dull corner of the world. Naomi did\nnot know how blest she had been in Moab. She said afterwards that she\nhad gone out full and the Lord had brought her home again empty. She\neven imagined that Jehovah had testified against her and cast her from\nHim in rejection. Yet she had been finding the true power, winning the\ntrue riches. Did she return empty when the convert Ruth, the devoted\nRuth went back with her?\n\nHer two sons taken away, Naomi felt no tie binding her to Moab. Moreover\nin Judah the fields were green again and life was prosperous. She might\nhope to dispose of her land and realize something for her old age. It\nseemed therefore her interest and duty to return to her own country; and\nthe next picture of the poem shows Naomi and her daughters-in-law\ntravelling along the northward highway towards the ford of Jordan, she\non her way home, they accompanying her. The two young widows are almost\ndecided when they leave the desolate dwelling in Moab to go all the way\nto Bethlehem. Naomi's account of the life there, the purer faith and\nbetter customs attract them, and they love her well. But the matter is\nnot settled; on the bank of Jordan the final choice will be made.\n\nThere are hours which bring a heavy burden of responsibility to those\nwho advise and guide, and such an hour came now to Naomi. It was in\npoverty she was returning to the home of her youth. She could promise to\nher daughters-in-law no comfortable easy life there, for, as she well\nknew, the enmity of Hebrews against Moabites was apt to be bitter and\nthey might be scorned as aliens from Jehovah. So far as she was\nconcerned nothing could have been more desirable than their company. A\nwoman in poverty and past middle life could not wish to separate\nherself from young and affectionate companions who would be a help to\nher in her old age. To throw off the thought of personal comfort natural\nto one in her circumstances and look at things from an unselfish point\nof view was very difficult. In reading her story let us remember how apt\nwe are to colour advice half unconsciously with our own wishes, our own\nseeming needs.\n\nNaomi's advantage lay in securing the companionship of Ruth and Orpah,\nand religious considerations added their weight to her own desire. Her\nvery regard and care for these young women seemed to urge as the highest\nservice she could do them to draw them out of the paganism of Moab and\nsettle them in the country of Jehovah. So while she herself would find\nreward for her patient efforts these two would be rescued from the\ndarkness, bound in the bundle of life. Here, perhaps, was her strongest\ntemptation; and to some it may appear that it was her duty to use every\nargument to this end, that she was bound as one who watched for the\nsouls of Ruth and Orpah to set every fear, every doubt aside and to\npersuade them that their salvation depended on going with her to\nBethlehem. Was this not her sacred opportunity, her last opportunity of\nmaking sure that the teaching she had given them should have its fruit?\n\nStrange it may seem that the author of the Book of Ruth is not chiefly\nconcerned with this aspect of the case, that he does not blame Naomi for\nfailing to set spiritual considerations in the front. The narrative\nindeed afterwards makes it clear that Ruth chose the good part and\nprospered by choosing it, but here the writer calmly states without any\nquestion the very temporal and secular reasons which Naomi pressed on\nthe two widows. He seems to allow that home and country--though they\nwere under the shadow of heathenism--home and country and worldly\nprospects were rightly taken account of even as compared with a place in\nHebrew life and faith. But the underlying fact is a social pressure\nclearly before the Oriental mind. The customs of the time were\novermastering, and women had no resource but to submit to them. Naomi\naccepts the facts and ordinances of the age; the inspired author has\nnothing to say against her.\n\n\"The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of\nher husband.\" That the two young widows should return each to her\nmother's house and marry again in Moab is Naomi's urgent advice to them.\nThe times were rude and wild. A woman could be safe and respected only\nunder the protection of a husband. Not only was there the old-world\ncontempt for unmarried women, but, we may say, they were an\nimpossibility; there was no place for them in the social life. People\ndid not see how there could be a home without some man at the head of\nit, the house-band in whom all family arrangements centred. It had not\nbeen strange that in Moab Hebrew men should marry women of the land; but\nwas it likely Ruth and Orpah would find favour at Bethlehem? Their\nspeech and manners would be despised and dislike once incurred prove\nhard to overcome. Besides, they had no property to commend them.\n\nEvidently the two were very inexperienced. They had little thought of\nthe difficulties, and Naomi, therefore, had to speak very strongly. In\nthe grief of bereavement and the desire for a change of scene they had\nformed the hope of going where there were good men and women like the\nHebrews they knew, and placing themselves under the protection of the\ngracious God of Israel. Unless they did so life seemed practically at an\nend. But Naomi could not take upon herself the responsibility of letting\nthem drift into a hazardous position, and she forced a decision of their\nown in full view of the facts. It was true kindness no less than wisdom.\nThe age had not dawned in which women could attempt to shape or dare to\ndefy the customs of society, nor was any advantage to be sought at the\nrisk of moral compromise. These things Naomi understood, though\nafterwards, in extremity, she made Ruth venture unwisely to obtain a\nprize.\n\nLooking around us now we see multitudes of women for whom there appears\nto be no room, no vocation. Up to a certain point, while they were\nyoung, they had no thought of failure. Then came a time when Providence\nappointed a task; there were parents to care for, daily occupations in\nthe house. But calls for their service have ceased and they feel no\nresponsibility sufficient to give interest and strength. The world has\nmoved on and the movement has done much for women, yet all do not find\nthemselves supplied with a task and a place. Around the occupied and the\ndistinguished circles perpetually a crowd of the helpless, the aimless,\nthe disappointed, to whom life is a blank, offering no path to a ford of\nJordan and a new future. Yet half the needful work is done for these\nwhen they are made to feel that among the possible ways they must choose\none for themselves and follow it; and all is done when they are shown\nthat in the service of God, which is the service also of mankind, a task\nwaits them fitted to engage their highest powers. Across into the region\nof religious faith and energy they may decide to pass, there is room in\nit for every life. Disappointment will end when selfish thoughts are\nforgotten; helplessness will cease when the heart is resolved to help.\nEven to the very poor and ignorant deliverance would come with a\nreligious thought of life and the first step in personal duty.\n\n\n\n\nII.\n\n_THE PARTING OF THE WAYS._\n\nRUTH i. 14-19.\n\n\nWe journey along with others for a time, enjoying their fellowship and\nsharing their hopes, yet with thoughts and dreams of our own that must\nsooner or later send us on a separate path. But decision is so difficult\nto many that they are glad of an excuse for self-surrender and are only\ntoo willing to be led by some authority, deferring personal choice as\nlong as possible. Let an ecclesiastic or a strong-minded companion lay\ndown for them the law of right and wrong and point the path of duty and\nthey will obey, welcoming the relief from moral effort. Not seeing\nclearly, not disciplined in judgment, they crave external human\nguidance. The teachers of submission find many disciples not because\nthey speak truth but because they meet the indolence of the human will\nwith a crutch instead of a stimulus; they succeed by pampering weakness\nand making ignorance a virtue. A time comes, however, when the method\nwill not serve. There are moments when the will must be exercised in\nchoosing between one path and another, advance and retreat; and the\nalternative is too sharp to allow any escape. If the person is to live\nat all as a human being he has to decide whether he will go on in such\na company or turn back; he has to declare what or who has the strongest\nhold upon his mind. Such an occasion came to Ruth and Orpah when they\nreached the border of Moab.\n\nTo Orpah the arguments of Naomi were persuasive. Her mother lived in\nMoab, and to her mother's house she could return. There the customs\nprevailed which from childhood she had followed. She would have liked to\ngo with Naomi, but her interest in the Hebrew woman and the land and law\nof Jehovah did not suffice to draw her forward. Orpah saw the future as\nNaomi painted it, not indeed very attractive if she returned to her\nnative place, but with far more uncertainty and possible humiliation if\nshe crossed the dividing river. She kissed Naomi and Ruth and took the\nsouthward road alone, weeping as she went, often turning for yet another\nsight of her friends, passing at every step into an existence that could\nnever be the old life simply taken up again, but would be coloured in\nall its experience by what she had learned from Naomi and that parting\nwhich was her own choice.\n\nThe others did not greatly blame her, and we, for our part, may not\nreproach her. It is unnecessary to suppose that in returning to her\nkinsfolk and settling down to the tasks that offered in her mother's\nhouse she was guilty of despising truth and love and renouncing the\nbest. We may reasonably imagine her henceforth bearing witness for a\nhigher morality and affirming the goodness of the Hebrew religion among\nher friends and acquaintances. Ruth goes where affection and duty lead\nher; but for Orpah too it may be claimed that in love and duty she goes\nback. She is not one who says, Moab has done nothing for me; Moab has no\nclaim upon me; I am free to leave my country; I am under no debt to my\npeople. We shall not take her as a type of selfishness, worldliness or\nbacksliding, this Moabite woman. Let us rather believe that she knew of\nthose at home who needed the help she could give, and that with the\nthought of least hazard to herself mingled one of the duty she owed to\nothers.\n\nAnd Ruth:--memorable for ever is her decision, charming for ever the\nwords in which it is expressed. \"Behold,\" said Naomi, \"thy sister-in-law\nis gone back unto her people, and unto her god: return thou after thy\nsister-in-law.\" But Ruth replied, \"Intreat me not to leave thee, and to\nreturn from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and\nwhere thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy\nGod my God: where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried:\nthe Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and\nme.\" Like David's lament over Jonathan these words have sunk deep into\nthe human heart. As an expression of the tenderest and most faithful\nfriendship they are unrivalled. The simple dignity of the iteration in\nvarying phrase till the climax is reached beyond which no promise could\ngo, the quiet fervour of the feeling, the thought which seems to have\nalmost a Christian depth--all are beautiful, pathetic, noble. From this\nmoment a charm lingers about Ruth and she becomes dearer to us than any\nwoman of whom the Hebrew records tell.\n\nDignified and warm affection is the first characteristic of Ruth and\nclose beside it we find the strength of a firm conclusion as to duty. It\nis good to be capable of clear resolve, parting between this and that of\nopposing considerations and differing claims. Not to rush at decisions\nand act in mere wilfulness, for wilfulness is the extreme of weakness,\nbut to judge soundly and on this side or that to say, Here I see the\npath for me to follow: along this and no other I conclude to go.\nUnreason decides by taste, by momentary feeling, often out of mere spite\nor antipathy. But the resolve of a wise thoughtful person, even though\nit bring temporal disadvantage, is a moral gain, a step towards\nsalvation. It is the exercise of individuality, of the soul.\n\nOne may act in error, as perhaps Elimelech and Orpah acted, yet the life\nbe the stronger for the mistaken decision; only there must be no\nrepentance for having exercised the power of judgment and of choice.\nWomen are particularly prone to go back on themselves in false\nrepentance. They did what they could not but think to be duty; they\ncarefully decided on a path in loyalty to conscience; yet too often they\nwill reproach themselves because what they desired and hoped has not\ncome about. We cannot imagine Ruth in after years, even though her lot\nhad remained that of the poor gleaner and labourer, returning upon her\ndecision and weeping in secret as if the event had proved her high\nchoice a foolish one. Her mind was too firm and clear for that. Yet this\nis what numbers of women are doing, burdening their souls, making that a\ncrime in which they should rather practise themselves. Our decisions,\neven when they are made with all the wisdom and information we can\ncommand in thorough sanity and sincerity, may be, often are very faulty;\nand do we expect that Providence will perpetually interfere to bring a\nperfect result out of the imperfect? Only in the perfect order of God,\nthrough the perfect work of Christ and the perfect operation of the Holy\nSpirit is the glorious consummation of human history and divine purpose\nto come. As for us, we are to learn of God in Christ, to judge and act\nour best; thereafter, leaving the result to Providence, never go back on\nthat of which the Spirit of the Almighty made us capable in the hour of\ntrial.\n\n \"Then welcome each rebuff\n That turns earth's smoothness rough,\n Each sting that bids nor sit nor stand but go!\n Be our joys three parts pain!\n Strive, and hold cheap the strain;\n Learn, nor account the pang; dare, never grudge the throe!\"[8]\n\n [8] Browning: _Rabbi Ben Ezra_.\n\nIn religion there is no escape from personal decision; no one can drift\nto salvation with companions or with a church. In art, in literature, in\nordinary morality it is possible to possess something without any\nspecial effort. The atmosphere of cultured society, for instance, holds\nin solution the knowledge and taste which have been gained by a few and\nmay pass in some measure to those who associate with them, though\npersonally these have studied and acquired very little. Any one who\nobserves how a new book is talked of will see the process. But the\nsupreme nature of religion and its unique part in human development are\nseen here, that it demands high and sustained personal effort, the\nconstant action of the will; that indeed every spiritual gain must\nresult from the vital activity of the individual mind choosing to enter\nand enter yet farther the kingdom of divine revelation and grace. As it\nis expressed in the Epistle to the Hebrews: \"We desire that every one of\nyou do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the\nend: that ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith\nand patience inherit the promises.\" The training in resoluteness,\ntherefore, finds highest value and significance in view of the religious\nlife. Those who live by habit and dependence in other matters are not\nprepared for the strenuous calling of faith, and many a one is kept from\nthe freedom and joy of Christianity not because they are undesired, not\nbecause the call of Christ is unheeded, but for want of the power of\ndecision, strength to go forward on a personal quest. Thousands are in\nthe way of saying, Will you go to an evangelistic meeting? Then I will\ngo. Will you take the Sacrament? Then I will. Will you teach in the\nSunday-school? Then I will. So far something is gained: there is a\nhalf-decision. But the spiritual life is sure at some point to demand\nmore than this. Even Naomi's advice must not deter Ruth from taking the\nway to Bethlehem.\n\nLike many women Ruth was moved greatly by love. Was her love justified?\nDid it rightly govern her to the extent her words imply? \"Whither thou\ngoest, I will go: thy people shall be my people: where thou diest I will\ndie, and there will I be buried.\" It is beautiful to see such love: but\nhow was it earned?\n\nSurely by years of patient faithful help; not by a few cheap words and\ncaresses, a few facile promises; not by beauty of face, gaiety of\ntemper. The love that has nothing but these to found upon is not enough\nfor a life-companionship. But if there is honour, clear sincerity of\nsoul, generosity of nature; if there is brave devotion to duty, there\nlove can rest without fear, reproach or hazard. When these cast their\nlight on your way, love then, love freely and strongly; you are safe. It\nis indeed called love where these are not--but only in ignorance and\nlightness: the heart has been caught by a word, ensnared by a look. How\npathetic are the errors into which we see our friends and neighbours\nfall, errors that call for a life-long repentance because reason and\nserious purpose had nothing to do with the loving. No law of God is\nwritten against human affection, nor has He any jealousy of the devotion\nwe show to worthy fellow-creatures; but there are divine laws of love to\nrestrain our weak fancy and uplift our emotions; and if we disdain or\ncast aside these laws we must suffer however ardent and self-sacrificing\naffection may be. Egotistical wilfulness in serving some one who engages\nour admiration and passionate devotion is not properly speaking love. It\nis rather an offence against that divine grace which bears the noble\nname. Of course we are not here speaking of Christian charity towards\nour neighbours, interest in them and care for their well-being, which\nare always our duty and must not be limited. The story we are following\nis one of an intimate and personal affection.\n\nLastly and chiefly the answer of Ruth implies a religious\nchange--conversion. She renounces Chemosh and turns in faith and hope to\nthe God of Israel, and this is the striking feature of her choice. Dimly\nseen, the grace and righteousness of the Most High touched her soul,\ncommanded her reverence, drew her to follow one who was His servant and\ncould recount the wonderful story of His people. Surely it is a supreme\nevent in any life when this vision of the Best allures the mind and\nengages the will, even though knowledge of God be as yet very imperfect.\nAnd the reliance of Ruth upon the little she felt and knew of God, her\nclear resolution to seek rest under His wings appear in striking\ncontrast with the reluctance, the unconcern, the hard unfaith of many\nto-day. How is it that they to whom the Word speaks and the life is\nrevealed, whose portion is at every moment enriched by that Word and\nthat life are so blind to the grace that encompasses and deaf to the\nlove that entreats? Again and again we see them on the banks of some\nJordan, with the land of God clear in view, with the promise of devotion\ntrembling on their lips; but they turn back to Moab and Chemosh, to\npaganism, unrest and despair.\n\nRuth's life properly began when at Naomi's side she passed through the\nwaters, the very waters of baptism to her. There, with the purple\nmountains of Moab and the precipices of the Dead Sea shore behind, she\nsent her last look to Orpah and the past, and saw before her the steep\nnarrow ascent through the Judaean hills. With rising faith, with growing\nlove she moved to the fulfilment of womanhood in realizing the soul's\nhighest power and privilege. The upward path was hard to weary feet and\nall was not to be easy for Ruth in the Bethlehem of which she had\ndreamed; but fully committed and pledged to the new life she went\nforward. How much is missed when the choice to serve God is not\nunreservedly made, and there is not that full consecration of which\nRuth's decision may be a type.\n\nOf this loss we see examples on every side. To remain in the low ground\nby the river, still within reach of some paganism that fascinates even\nafter profession and baptism--this is the end of religious feeling with\nmany. Where the narrow way of discipleship leads they will not\nadventure; it is too bare, confining and severe. They will not believe\nthat freedom for the human soul is found by that path alone; they\nrefuse to be bound and therefore never discover the inheritance of\nGod's children to which they are called. When He who alone can guide,\nquicken, redeem is accepted solemnly and finally as the Lord of life,\nthen at last the weak and entangled spirit knows the beginning of\nliberty and strength. Sad is the reckoning in our time of those who\nrefuse to pledge themselves to the Saviour Whose claim they do feel to\nbe divine and urgent. Not yet may the preacher cease to speak of\nconversion as the necessity in every life. Rather because it is easy to\nbe in touch with Christianity at some point, because gospel influences\nare widely diffused, and church connection can be lightly held, the\npersonal pledge to Christ must be insisted upon in the pulpit and kept\nin view as the end to which all the work of the church is directed.\n\n * * * * *\n\nLife has many partings, and we have all had our experience of some which\nwithout fault on either side separate those well fitted to serve and\nbless each other. Over matters of faith, questions of political order\nand even social morality separations will occur. There may be no lack of\nfaithfulness on either side when at a certain point widely divergent\nviews of duty are taken by two who have been friends. One standing only\na little apart from the other sees the same light reflected from a\ndifferent facet of the crystal, streaming out in a different direction.\nAs it would be altogether a mistake to say that Orpah took the way of\nworldly selfishness, Ruth only going in the way of duty, so it is\nentirely a mistake to accuse those who part with us on some question of\nfaith or conduct and think of them as finally estranged. A little more\nknowledge and we would see with them or they with us. Some day they and\nwe shall reach the truth and agree in our conclusions. Separations there\nmust be for a time, for as the character leans to love or justice, the\nmind to reasoning or emotion, there is a difference in the vision of the\ngood for which a man should strive. And if it comes to this that the\npaths chosen by those who were once dear friends divide them to the end\nof earthly days, they should retain the recollection not so much of the\nsingle point that separated, as of the many on which there was\nagreement. Even though they have to fight on opposite sides it should be\nas those who were brothers once and shall be brothers again. Indeed, are\nthey not brothers still, if they fight for the same Master?\n\nYet one difference between men reaches to the roots of life. The company\nof those who keep the straight way and press on towards the light have\nthe most sorrowful recollection of some partings. They have had to leave\ncomrades and brethren behind who despised the quest of holiness and\nimmortality and had nothing but mockery for the Friend and Saviour of\nman. The shadows of estrangement falling between those who are of\nChrist's company are nothing compared with the dense cloud which divides\nthem from men pledged to what is earthly and ignoble; and so the\nreproach of sectarian division coming from irreligious persons needs not\ntrouble those who have as Christians an eternal brotherhood.\n\nThere are divisions sharp and dreadful, not always at some river which\nclearly separates land from land. They may be made in the street where\nparting seems temporary and casual. They may be made in the very house\nof God. While some members of a family are responding with joy to a\ndivine appeal, one may be resolutely turning from it to a base\nidolatry. Of three who went together to a place of prayer two may from\nthat hour keep company in the heavenward journey, while the third moves\nevery day towards the shadow of self-chosen reprobation. Christ has\nspoken of tremendous separations which men make by their acceptance or\nrejection of Him. \"These shall go away into eternal punishment, but the\nrighteous into life eternal.\"\n\n\n\n\nIII.\n\n_IN THE FIELD OF BOAZ._\n\nRUTH i. 19-ii. 23.\n\n\nWeary and footsore the two travellers reached Bethlehem at length, and\n\"all the city was moved about them.\" Though ten years had elapsed, many\nyet remembered as if it had been yesterday the season of terrible famine\nand the departure of the emigrants. Now the women lingering at the well,\nwhen they see the strangers approaching, say as they look in the face of\nthe elder one, \"Is this Naomi?\" What a change is here! With husband and\nsons, hoping for a new life across in Moab, she went away. Her return\nhas about it no sign of success; she comes on foot, in the company of\none who is evidently of an alien race, and the two have all the marks of\npoverty. The women who recognize the widow of Elimelech are somewhat\npitiful, perhaps also a little scornful. They had not left their native\nland nor doubted the promise of Jehovah. Through the famine they had\nwaited, and now their position contrasts very favourably with hers.\nSurely Naomi is far down in the world since she has made a companion of\na woman of Moab. Her poverty is against the wayfarer, and to those who\nknow not the story of her life that which shows her goodness and\nfaithfulness appears a cause of reproach and reason of suspicion.\n\nIs it too harsh to interpret thus the question with which Naomi is met?\nWe are only using a key which common experience of life supplies. Do\npeople give sincere and hearty sympathy to those who went away full and\nreturn empty, who were once in good standing and repute and come back\nyears after to their old haunts impoverished and with strange\nassociates? Are we not more ready to judge unfavourably in such a case\nthan to exercise charity? The trick of hasty interpretation is common\nbecause every one desires to be on good terms with himself, and nothing\nis so soothing to vanity as the discovery of mistakes into which others\nhave fallen. \"All the brethren of the poor do hate him,\" says one who\nknew the Hebrews and human nature well; \"how much more do his friends go\nfar from him. He pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him.\"\nNaomi finds it so when she throws herself on the compassion of her old\nneighbours. They are not uninterested, they are not altogether unkind,\nbut they feel their superiority.\n\nAnd Naomi appears to accept the judgment they have formed. Very touching\nis the lament in which she takes her position as one whom God has\nrebuked, whom it is no wonder, therefore, that old friends despise. She\nalmost makes excuse for those who look down upon her from the high\nground of their imaginary virtue and wisdom. Indeed she has the same\nbelief as they that poverty, the loss of land, bereavement and every\nkind of affliction are marks of God's displeasure. For, what does she\nsay? \"Call me not Naomi, Pleasant, call me Mara, Bitter, for the\nAlmighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.... The Lord hath testified\nagainst me and the Almighty hath afflicted me.\" Such was the Hebrew\nthought, the purpose of God in His dealings with men not being\napprehended. Under the shadow of loss and sorrow it seemed that no heat\nof the Divine Presence could be felt. To have a husband and children\nappeared to Naomi evidence of God's favour; to lose them was a proof\nthat He had turned against her. Heavy as her losses had been the\nterrible thing was that they implied the displeasure of God.\n\nIt is perhaps difficult for us to realize even by an imaginative effort\nthis condition of soul--the sense of banishment, darkness, outlawry\nwhich came to the Hebrew whenever he fell into distress or penury. And\nyet we ourselves retain the same standard of judgment in our common\nestimate of life; we still interpret things by an ignorant unbelief\nwhich causes many worthy souls to bow in a humiliation Christians should\nnever feel. Do not the loneliness, the poverty, the testimony of Christ\nteach us something altogether different? Can we still cherish the notion\nthat prosperity is an evidence of worth and that the man who can found a\nfamily must be a favourite of the heavenly powers? Judge thus and the\nprovidence of God is a tangle, a perplexing darkening problem which,\nbelieve as you may, must still overwhelm. Wealth has its conditions;\nmoney comes through some one's cleverness in work and trading, some\none's inventiveness or thrift, and these qualities are reputable. But\nnothing is proved regarding the spiritual tone and nature of a life\neither by wealth or by the want of it. And surely we have learned that\nloss of friends and loneliness are not to be reckoned the punishment of\nsin. Often enough we hear the warning that wealth and worldly position\nare not to be sought for themselves, and yet, side by side with this\nwarning, the implication that a high place and a prosperous life are\nproofs of divine blessing.\n\nOn the whole subject Christian thought is far from clear, and we have\nneed to go anew to the Master and inquire of Him Who had no place where\nto lay His head. The Hebrew belief in the prosperity of God's servants\nmust fulfil itself in a larger better faith or the man of to-morrow will\nhave no faith at all. One who bewails the loss of wealth or friends is\ndoing nothing that has spiritual meaning or value. When he takes himself\nto task for that despondency he begins to touch the spiritual.\n\nIn Bethlehem Naomi found the half-ruined cottage still belonging to her,\nand there she and Ruth took up their abode. But for a living what was to\nbe done? The answer came in the proposal of Ruth to go into the fields\nwhere the barley harvest was proceeding and glean after the reapers. By\ngreat diligence she might gather enough day by day for the bare\nsustenance that contents a Syrian peasant, and afterwards some other\nmeans of providing for herself and Naomi might be found. The work was\nnot dignified. She would have to appear among the waifs and wanderers of\nthe country, with women whose behaviour exposed them to the rude gibes\nof the labourers. But whatever plan Naomi vaguely entertained was\nhanging in abeyance, and the circumstances of the women were urgent. No\nkinsman came forward to help them. Loath as she was to expose Ruth to\nthe trials of the harvest-field, Naomi had to let her go. So it was Ruth\nwho made the first move, Ruth the stranger who brought succour to the\nHebrew widow when her own people held aloof and she herself knew not how\nto act.\n\nNow among the farmers whose barley was falling before the sickle was the\nland-owner Boaz, a kinsman of Elimelech, a man of substance and social\nimportance, one of those who in the midst of their fruitful fields\nshine with bountiful good-humour and by their presence make their\nservants work heartily. To Ruth in after days it must have seemed a\nwonderful thing that her first timid expedition led her to a portion of\nground belonging to this man. From the moment he appears in the\nnarrative we note in him a certain largeness of character. It may be\nonly the easy kindness of the prosperous man, but it commends him to our\ngood opinion. Those who have a smooth way through the world are bound to\nbe especially kind and considerate in their bearing toward neighbours\nand dependants, this at least they owe as an acknowledgment to the rest\nof the world, and we are always pleased to find a rich man paying his\ndebt so far. There is a certain piety also in the greeting of Boaz to\nhis labourers, a customary thing no doubt and good even in that sense,\nbut better when it carries, as it seems to do here, a personal and\nfriendly message. Here is a man who will observe with strict eye\neverything that goes on in the field and will be quick to challenge any\nlazy reaper. But he is not remote from those who serve him, he and they\nmeet on common ground of humanity and faith.\n\nThe great operations which some in these days think fit to carry on,\nmore for their own glory certainly than the good of their country or\ncountrymen, entirely preclude anything like friendship between the chief\nand the multitude of his subordinates. It is impossible that a man who\nhas a thousand under him should know and consider each, and there would\nbe too much pretence in saying, \"God be with you,\" on entering a yard or\nfactory when otherwise no feeling is shown with which the name of God\ncan be connected. Apart altogether from questions as to wealth and its\nuse every employer has a responsibility for maintaining the healthy\nhuman activity of his people, and nowhere is the immorality of the\npresent system of huge concerns so evident as in the extinction of\npersonal good will. The workman of course may adjust himself to the\nstate of matters, but it will too often be by discrediting what he knows\nhe cannot have and keeping up a critical resentful habit of mind against\nthose who seem to treat him as a machine. He may often be wrong in his\njudgment of an employer. There may be less hardness of temper on the\nother side than there is on his own. But, the conditions being what they\nare, one may say he is certain to be a severe critic. We have\nunquestionably lost much and are in danger of losing more, not in a\nfinancial sense, which matters little, but in the infinitely more\nimportant affairs of social sweetness and Christian civilization.\n\nBoaz the farmer had not more in hand than he could attend to honestly,\nand everything under his care was well ordered. He had a foreman over\nthe reapers, and from him he required an account of the stranger whom he\nsaw gleaning in the field. There were to be no hangers-on of loose\ncharacter where he exercised authority; and in this we justify him. We\nlike to see a man keeping a firm hand when we are sure that he has a\ngood heart and knows what he is doing. Such a one is bound within the\nrange of his power to have all done rightly and honourably, and Boaz\npleases us all the better that he makes close inquiry regarding the\nwoman who seeks the poor gains of a common gleaner.\n\nOf course in a place like Bethlehem people knew each other, and Boaz was\nprobably acquainted with most whom he saw about; at once, therefore, the\nnew figure of the Moabite woman attracted his attention. Who is she? A\nkindly heart prompts the inquiry for the farmer knows that if he\ninterests himself in this young woman he may be burdened with a new\ndependant. \"It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of\nthe country of Moab.\" She is the daughter-in-law of his old friend\nElimelech. Before the eyes of Boaz one of the romances of life, common\nand tragic too, is unfolding itself. Often had Boaz and Elimelech held\ncounsel with each other, met at each other's houses, talked together of\ntheir fields or of the state of the country. But Elimelech went away and\nlost all and died; and two widows, the wreck of the family, had returned\nto Bethlehem. It was plain that these would be new claimants on his\nfavour, but unlike many well-to-do persons Boaz does not wait for some\nurgent appeal; he acts rather as one who is glad to do a kindness for\nold friendship's sake.\n\nGreat was the surprise of the lonely gleaner when the rich man came to\nher side and gave her a word of comfortable greeting. \"Hearest thou not,\nmy daughter? Go not to glean in another field, but abide here fast by my\nmaidens.\" Nothing had been done to make Ruth feel at home in Bethlehem\nuntil Boaz addressed her. She had perhaps seen proud and scornful looks\nin the street and at the well, and had to bear them meekly, silently. In\nthe fields she may have looked for something of the kind and even feared\nthat Boaz would dismiss her. A gentle person in such circumstances is\nexceedingly grateful for a very small kindness, and it was not a slight\nfavour that Boaz did her. But in making her acknowledgments Ruth did not\nknow what had prepared her way. The truth was that she had met with a\nman of character who valued character, and her faithfulness commended\nher. \"It hath been fully showed me, all that thou hast done unto thy\nmother-in-law since the death of thine husband.\" The best point in Boaz\nis that he so quickly and fully recognises the goodness of another and\nwill help her because they stand upon a common ground of conscience and\nduty.\n\nIs it on such a ground you draw to others? Is your interest won by\nkindly dispositions and fidelity of temper? Do you love those who are\nsincere and patient in their duties, content to serve where service is\nappointed by God? Are you attracted by one who cherishes a parent, say a\npoor mother, in the time of feebleness and old age, doing all that is\npossible to smooth her path and provide for her comfort? Or have you\nlittle esteem for such a one, for the duties so faithfully discharged,\nbecause you see no brilliance or beauty, and there are other persons\nmore clever and successful on their own account, more amusing because\nthey are unburdened? If so, be sure of your own ignorance, your own\nundutifulness, your own want of principle and heart. Character is known\nby character, and worth by worth. Those who are acquainted with you\ncould probably say that you care more for display than for honour, that\nyou think more of making a fine figure in society than of showing\ngenerosity, forbearance integrity at home. The good appreciate goodness,\nthe true honour truth. One important lesson of the Book of Ruth lies\nhere, that the great thing for young women, and for young men also, is\nto be quietly faithful in the service, however humble, to which God has\ncalled them and the family circle in which He has set them. Not indeed\nbecause that is the line of promotion, though Ruth found it so; every\nRuth does not obtain favour in the eyes of a wealthy Boaz. So honourable\nand good a man is not to be met on every harvest held; on the contrary\nshe may encounter a Nabal, one who is churlish and evil in his doings.\n\nWe must take the course of this narrative as symbolic. The book has in\nit the strain of a religious idyl. The Moabite who wins the regard of\nthis man of Judah represents those who, though naturally strangers to\nthe covenant of promise, receive the grace of God and enter the circle\nof divine blessing--even coming to high dignity in the generations of\nthe chosen people. It is idyllic, we say, not an exhibition of every-day\nfact; yet the course of divine justice is surely more beautiful, more\ncertain. To every Ruth comes the Heavenly Friend Whose are all the\npastures and fields, all the good things of life. The Christian hope is\nin One Who cannot fail to mark the most private faithfulness, piety and\nlove hidden like violets among the grass. If there is not such a One,\nthe Helper and Vindicator of meek fidelity, virtue has no sanction and\nwell-doing no recompense.\n\nThe true Israelite Boaz accepts the daughter of an alien and unfriendly\npeople on account of her own character and piety. \"The Lord recompense\nthy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord, the God of\nIsrael, under Whose wings thou art come to take refuge.\" Such is the\nbenediction which Boaz invokes on Ruth, receiving her cordially into the\nfamily circle of Jehovah. Already she has ceased to be a stranger and a\nforeigner to him. The boundary walls of race are overstepped, partly, no\ndoubt, by that sense of kinship which the Bethlehemite is quick to\nacknowledge. For Naomi's sake and for Elimelech's as well as her own he\ncraves divine protection and reward for the daughter of Moab. Yet the\nbeautiful phrase he employs, full of Hebrew confidence in God, is an\nacknowledgment of Ruth's act of faith and her personal right to share\nwith the children of Abraham the fostering love of the Almighty. The\nstory, then, is a plea against that exclusiveness which the Hebrews too\noften indulged. On this page of the annals the truth is written out that\nthough Jehovah cared for Israel much He cares still more for love and\nfaithfulness, purity and goodness. We reach at last an instance of that\nfulfilment of Israel's mission to the nations around which in our study\nof the Book of Judges we looked for in vain.\n\nNot for Israel only in the time of its narrowness was the lesson given.\nWe need it still. The justification and redemption of God are not\nrestricted to those who have certain traditions and beliefs. Even as a\nMoabite woman brought up in the worship of Chemosh, with many heathen\nideas still in her mind, has her place under the wings of Jehovah as a\nsoul seeking righteousness, so from countries and regions of life which\nChristian people may consider a kind of rude heathen Moab many in\nhumility and sincerity may be coming nigh to the kingdom of God. It was\nso in our Lord's time, and it is so still. All along the true religion\nof God has been for reconciliation and brotherhood among men, and it was\npossible for many Israelites to do what Naomi did in the way of making\neffectual the promise of God to Abraham that in his seed all families of\nthe earth should be blessed. There never was a middle wall of partition\nbetween men except in the thought of the Hebrew. He was separated that\nhe might be able to convert and bless, not that he might stand aloof in\npride. The wall which he built Christ has broken down that the servants\nof His gospel may go freely forth to find everywhere brethren in common\nhumanity and need, who are to be made brethren in Christ. The outward\nrepresentation of brotherhood in faith must follow the work of the\nreconciling Spirit--cannot precede it. And when the reconciliation is\nfelt in the depth of human souls we shall have the all-comprehensive\nchurch, a fair and gracious dwelling-place, wide as the race, rich with\nevery noble thought and hope of man and every gift of Heaven.\n\n\n\n\nIV.\n\n_THE HAZARDOUS PLAN._\n\nRUTH iii.\n\n\nHope came to Naomi when Ruth returned with the ephah of barley and her\nstory of the rich man's hearty greeting. God was remembering His\nhandmaiden; He had not shut up His tender mercies. Through His favour\nBoaz had been moved to kindness, and the house of Elimelech would yet be\nraised from the dust. The woman's heart, clinging to its last hope, was\nencouraged. Naomi was loud in her praises of Jehovah and of the man who\nhad with such pious readiness befriended Ruth. And the young woman had\ndue encouragement. She heard no fault-finding, no complaint that she had\nmade too little of her chance. The young sometimes find it difficult to\nserve the old, and those who have come down in the world are very apt to\nbe discontented and querulous; what is done for them is never rightly\ndone, never enough. It was not so here. The elder woman seems to have\nhad nothing but gratitude for the gentle effort of the other. And so the\nweeks of barley-harvest and of wheat-harvest went by, Ruth busy in the\nfields of Boaz, gleaning behind his maidens, helped by their\nkindness--for they knew better than to thwart their master--and cheered\nat home by the pleasure of her mother-in-law. An idyl? Yes: one that\nmight be enacted, with varying circumstances, in a thousand homes where\nat present distrust and impatience keep souls from the peace God would\ngive them.\n\nBut, one may ask, why did Boaz, so well inclined to be generous, knowing\nthese women to be deserving of help, leave them week after week without\nfurther notice and aid? Could he reckon his duty done when he allowed\nRuth to glean in his fields, gave her a share of the refreshment\nprovided for the reapers, and ordered them to pull some ears from the\nbundles that she might the more easily fill her arms? For friendships\nsake even, should he not have done more?\n\nWe keep in mind, for one thing, that Boaz, though a kinsman, was not the\nnearest relation Naomi had in Bethlehem. Another was of closer kin to\nElimelech, and it was his duty to take up the widow's case in accordance\nwith the custom of the time. The old law that no Hebrew family should be\nallowed to lapse had deep root and justification. How could Israel\nmaintain itself in the land of promise and become the testifying people\nof God if families were suffered to die out and homesteads to be lost?\nOne war after another drained away many active men of the tribes. Upon\nthose who survived lay the serious duty of protecting widows, upholding\nclaims to farm and dwelling and raising up to those who had died a name\nin Israel. The stress of the time gave sanction to the law; without it\nIsrael would have decayed, losing ground and power in the face of the\nenemy. Now this custom bound the nearest kinsman of Naomi to befriend\nher and, at least, to establish her claim to a certain parcel of land\nnear Bethlehem. As for Boaz, he had to stand aside and give the goel his\nopportunity.\n\nAnd another reason is easily seen for his not hastening to supply the\ntwo widows with every comfort and remove from their hearts every fear, a\nreason which touches the great difficulty of the philanthropic,--how to\ndo good and yet do no harm. To give is easy; but to help without\ntarnishing the fine independence and noble thrift of poorer persons is\nnot easy. It is, in truth, a very serious matter to use wealth wisely,\nfor against the absolute duty of help hangs the serious mischief that\nmay result from lavish or careless charity. Boaz appears a true friend\nand wise benefactor in leaving Ruth to enjoy the sweetness of securing\nthe daily portion of corn by her own exertion. He might have relieved\nher from toiling like one of the poorest and least cared for of women.\nHe might have sent her home the first day and one of his young men after\nher with store of corn and oil. But if he had done so he would have made\nthe great mistake so often made now-a-days by the bountiful. An\nindustrious patient generous life would have been spoiled. To protect\nRuth from any kind or degree of insolence, to show her, for his own\npart, the most delicate respect--this Boaz could well do. In what he\nrefrained from doing he is an example, and in the kind and measure of\nattention he paid to Ruth. Corresponding acts of Christian courtesy and\njustice due from the rich and influential of our time to persons in\nstraitened circumstances are far too often unrendered. A thousand\nopportunities of paying this real debt of man to man are allowed to\npass. Those concerned do not see any obligation, and the reason is that\nthey want the proper state of mind. That is indispensable. Where it\nexists true neighbourliness will follow; the best help will be given\nnaturally with perfect taste, in proper degree and without\nself-sufficiency or pride.\n\nA great hazard goes with much of the spiritual work of our time. The\nRuth gleaning for herself in the field of Christian thought, finding\nhere and there an ear of heavenly corn which, as she has gathered it,\ngives true nourishment to the soul--is met not by one but by many eager\nto save her all the trouble of searching the Scriptures and thinking out\nthe problems of life and faith. Is it wrong to deprive a brave\nself-helper of the need to toil for daily bread? How much greater is the\nwrong done to minds capable of spiritual endeavour when they are taught\nto renounce personal effort and are loaded with sheaves of corn which\nthey have neither sowed nor reaped. The fashion of our time is to save\npeople trouble in religion, to remove all resistance from the way of\nmind and soul, and as a result the spiritual life never attains strength\nor even consciousness. Better the scanty meal won by personal search in\nthe great harvest field than the surfeit of dainties on which some are\nfed, spiritual paupers though they know it not. The wisdom of the Divine\nBook is marvellously shown in that it gives largely without destroying\nthe need for effort, that it requires examination and research,\ncomparison of scripture with scripture, earnest thought in many a field.\nBible study, therefore, makes strong Christians, strong faith.\n\nAs time went by and harvest drew to a close, Naomi grew impatient.\nAnxious about Ruth's future she wished to see something done towards\nestablishing her in safety and honour. \"My daughter-in-law,\" we hear her\nsay, \"shall I not seek rest--a _menuchah_ or asylum for thee, that it\nmay be well with thee?\" No goel or redeemer has appeared to befriend\nNaomi and reinstate her, or Ruth as representing her dead son, in the\nrights of Elimelech. If those rights are not to lapse, something must\nbe done speedily; and Naomi's plot is a bold one. She sets Ruth to claim\nBoaz as the kinsman whose duty it is to marry her and become her\nprotector. Ruth is to go to the threshing-floor on the night of the\nharvest festival, wait until Boaz lies down to sleep beside the mass of\nwinnowed grain, and place herself at his feet, so reminding him that if\nno other will it is his part to be a husband to her for the sake of\nElimelech and his sons. The plan is daring and appears to us indelicate\nat least. It is impossible to say whether any custom of the time\nsanctioned it; but even in that case we cannot acquit Naomi of resorting\nto a stratagem with the view of bringing about what seemed most\ndesirable for Ruth and herself.\n\nNow let us remember the position of the two widows, lonely, with no\nprospect before them but hard toil that would by-and-by fail, unable to\nundertake anything on their own account, and still regarded with\nindifference if not suspicion by the people of Bethlehem. There is no\nasylum for Ruth except in the house of a husband. If Naomi dies she will\nbe worse than destitute, morally under a cloud. To live by herself will\nbe to lead a life of constant peril. It is, we may say, a desperate\nresource on which Naomi falls. Boaz is probably already married, has\nperhaps more wives than one. True, he has room in his house for Ruth; he\ncan easily provide for her; and though the customs of the age are\nstrained somewhat we must partly admit excuse. Still the venture is\nalmost entirely suggested and urged by worldly considerations, and for\nthe sake of them great risk is run. Instead of gaining a husband Ruth\nmay completely forfeit respect. Boaz, so far from entertaining her\nappeal to his kinship and generosity, may drive her from the\nthreshing-floor. It is one of those cases in which, notwithstanding\nsome possible defence in custom, poverty and anxiety lead into dubious\nways.\n\nWe ask why Naomi did not first approach the proper goel, the kinsman\nnearer than Boaz, on whom she had an undeniable claim. And the answer\noccurs that he did not seem in respect of disposition or means so good a\nmatch as Boaz. Or why did she not go directly to Boaz and state her\ndesire? She was apparently not averse from grasping at the result,\ncompromising him, or running the risk of doing so in order to gain her\nend. We cannot pass the point without observing that, despite the happy\nissue of this plot, it is a warning not an example. These secret,\nunderhand schemes are not to our liking; they should in no circumstances\nbe resorted to. It was well for Ruth that she had a man to deal with who\nwas generous, not irascible, a man of character who had fully\nappreciated her goodness. The scheme would otherwise have had a pitiful\nresult. The story is one creditable in many respects to human nature,\nand the Moabite acting under Naomi's direction appears almost blameless;\nyet the sense of having lowered herself must have cast its shadow. A\nrisk was run too great by far for modesty and honour.\n\nTo compromise ourselves by doing that which savours of presumption,\nwhich goes too far even by a hair's-breadth in urging a claim is a bad\nthing. Better remain without what we reckon our rights than lower our\nmoral dignity in pressing them. Independence of character, perfect\nhonour and uprightness are too precious by far to be imperilled even in\na time of serious difficulty. To-day we can hardly turn in any direction\nwithout seeing instances of risky compromise often ending in disaster.\nTo obtain preferment one will offer some mean bribe of flattery to the\nperson who can give it. To gain a fortune men will condescend to pitiful\nself-humiliation. In the literary world the upward ways open easily to\ntalent that does not refuse compromises; a writer may have success at\nthe price of astute silence or careful caressing of prejudice. The\ncandidate for office commits himself and has afterwards to wriggle as\nbest he can out of the straits in which he is involved. And what is the\nmeaning of the light judgment of drunkenness and impurity by men and\nwomen of all ranks who associate with those known to be guilty and make\nno protest against their wrongdoing?\n\nIt would be shirking one of the plain applications of the incidents\nbefore us if we passed over the compromises so many women make with\nself-respect and purity. Ruth, under the advice of one whom she knew to\nbe a good woman, risked something: with us now are many who against the\nentreaty of all true friends adventure into dangerous ways, put\nthemselves into the power of men they have no reason to trust. And women\nin high place, who should set an example of fidelity to the divine order\nand understand the honour of womanhood, are rather leading the dance of\nfreedom and risk. To keep a position or win a position in the crowd\ncalled society some will yield to any fashion, go all lengths in the\nlicense of amusement, sit unblushing at plays that serve only one end,\ngive themselves and their daughters to embraces that degrade. The\nstruggle to live is spoken of sometimes as an excuse for women. But is\nit the very poor only who compromise themselves? Something else is going\non beside the struggle to find work and bread. People are forgetting\nGod, thrusting aside the ideas of the soul and of sin; they want keen\ndelight and are ready to venture all if only in triumphant ambition or\non the perilous edge of infamy they can satisfy desire for an hour. The\ncry of to-day, spreading down through all ranks, is the old one, Why\nshould we be righteous over much and destroy ourselves? It is the\nexpression of a base and despicable atheism. To deny the higher light\nwhich shows the way of personal duty and nobleness, to prefer instead\nthe miserable rushlight of desire is the fatal choice against which all\nwisdom of sage and seer testifies. Yet the thing is done daily, done by\nbrilliant women who go on as if nothing was wrong and laugh back to\nthose who follow them. The Divine Friend of women protests, but His\nwords are unheard, drowned by the fascinating music and quick pulsation\nof the dance of death.\n\nTo compromise ourselves is bad: close beside lies the danger of\ncompromising others; and this too is illustrated by the narrative. Boaz\nacted in generosity and honour, told Ruth plainly that a kinsman nearer\nthan himself stood between them, made her a most favourable promise. But\nhe sent her away in the early morning \"before one could recognise\nanother.\" The risk to which she had exposed him was one he did not care\nto face. While he made all possible excuses for her and was in a sense\nproud of the trust she had reposed in him, still he was somewhat alarmed\nand anxious. The narrative is generous to Ruth; but this is not\nconcealed. We see very distinctly a touch of something caught in heathen\nMoab.\n\nOn the more satisfactory side of the picture is the confidence so\nunreservedly exercised, justified so thoroughly. It is good to be among\npeople who deserve trust and never fail in the time of trial. Take them\nat any hour, in any way they are the same. Incapable of baseness they\nbear every test. On the firm conviction that Boaz was a man of this kind\nNaomi depended, upon this and an assurance equally firm that Ruth would\nbehave herself discreetly. Happy indeed are those who have the honour of\nfriendship with the honourable and true, with men who would rather lose\na right hand than do anything base, with women who would die for\nhonour's sake. To have acquaintance with faithful men is to have a way\nprepared for faith in God.\n\nLet us not fail, however, to observe where honour like this may be\nfound, where alone it is to be found. Common is the belief that absolute\nfidelity may exist in soil cleared of all religious principle. You meet\npeople who declare that religion is of no use. They have been brought up\nin religion, but they are tired of it. They have given up churches and\nprayers and are going to be honourable without thought of God, on the\nbasis of their own steadfast virtue. We shall not say it is impossible,\nor that women like Ruth may not rely upon men who so speak. But a single\nword of scorn cast on religion reveals so faulty a character that it is\nbetter not to confide in the man who utters it. He is in the real sense\nan atheist, one to whom nothing is sacred. About some duties he may have\na sentiment; but what is sentiment or taste to build upon? For one to\ntrust where reputation is concerned, where moral well-being is involved\na soul must be found whose life is rooted in the faith of God. True\nenough, we are under the necessity of trusting persons for whom we have\nno such guarantee. Fortunately, however, it is only in matters of\nbusiness, or municipal affairs, or parliamentary votes, things\nextraneous to our proper life. Unrighteous laws may be made, we may be\ndefrauded and oppressed, but that does not affect our spiritual\nposition. When it comes to the soul and the soul's life, when one is in\nsearch of a wife, a husband, a friend, trust should be placed elsewhere,\nhope built on a sure foundation.\n\nMay we depend upon love in the absence of religious faith? Some would\nfain conjure with that word; but love is a divine gift when it is pure\nand true; the rest is mere desire and passion. Do you suppose because an\ninsincere worldly man has a selfish passion for you that you can be safe\nwith him? Do you think because a worldly woman loves you in a worldly\nway that your soul and your future will be safe with her? Find a fearer\nof God, one whose virtues are rooted where alone they can grow, in\nfaith, or live without a wife, a husband. It is presupposed that you\nyourself are a fearer of God, a servant of Christ. For, unless you are,\nthe rule operates on the other side and you are one who should be\nshunned. Besides, if you are a materialist living in time and sense and\nyet look for spiritual graces and superhuman fidelity, your expectation\nis amazing, your hope a thing to wonder at.\n\nTrue, hypocrites exist, and we may be deceived just because of our\ncertainty that religion is the only root of faithfulness. A man may\nsimulate religion and deceive for a time. The young may be sadly\ndeluded, a whole community betrayed by one who makes the divinest facts\nof human nature serve his own wickedness awhile. He disappears and\nleaves behind him broken hearts, shattered hopes, darkened lives. Has\nreligion, then, nothing to do with morality? The very ruin we lament\nshows that the human heart in its depth testifies to an intimate and\neternal connection with the absolute of fidelity. Not otherwise could\nthat hypocrite have deceived. And in the strength of faith there are men\nand women of unflinching honour, who, when they find each other out,\nform rare and beautiful alliances. Step for step they go on, married or\nunmarried, each cheering the other in trial, sustaining the other in\nevery high and generous task. Together they enter more deeply into the\npurpose of life, that is the will of God, and fill with strong and\nhealthy religion the circle of their influence.\n\nOf the people of ordinary virtue what shall be said?--those who are\nneither perfectly faithful nor disgracefully unfaithful, neither certain\nto be staunch and true nor ready to betray and cast aside those who\ntrust them. Large is the class of men whose individuality is not of a\nmoral kind, affable and easy, brisk and clever but not resolute in truth\nand right. Are we to leave these where they are? If we belong to their\nnumber are we to stay among them? Must they get on as best they can with\neach other, neither blessed nor condemned? For them the gospel is\nprovided in its depth and urgency. Theirs is the state it cannot\ntolerate nor leave untouched, unaffected. If earth is good enough for\nyou, so runs the divine message to them, cling to it, enjoy its\ndainties, laugh in its sunlight--and die with it. But if you see the\nexcellence of truth, be true; if you hear the voice of the eternal\nChrist, arise and follow Him, born again by the word of God which liveth\nand abideth for ever.\n\n\n\n\nV.\n\n_THE MARRIAGE AT THE GATE_\n\nRUTH iv\n\n\nA simple ceremony of Oriental life brings to a climax the history which\nitself closes in sweet music the stormy drama of the Book of Judges.\nWith all the literary skill and moral delicacy, all the charm and keen\njudgment of inspiration the narrator gives us what he has from the\nSpirit. He has represented with fine brevity and power of touch the old\nlife and custom of Israel, the private groups in which piety and\nfaithfulness were treasured, the frank humanity and divine seriousness\nof Jehovah's covenant. And now we are at the gate of Bethlehem where the\nhead men are assembled and according to the usage of the time the\naffairs of Naomi and Ruth are settled by the village court of justice.\nBoaz gives a challenge to the goel of Naomi, and point by point we\nfollow the legal forms by which the right to redeem the land of\nElimelech is given up to Boaz and Ruth becomes his wife.\n\nWhy is an old custom presented with such minuteness? We may affirm the\nunderlying suggestion to be that the ways described were good ways which\nought to be kept in mind. The usage implied great openness and\nneighbourliness, a simple and straightforward method of arranging\naffairs which were of moment to a community. People lived then in very\ndirect and frank relations with each other. Their little town and its\nconcerns had close and intelligent attention. Men and women desired to\nact so that there might be good understanding among them, no jealousy\nnor rancour of feeling. Elaborate forms of law were unknown,\nunnecessary. To take off the shoe and hand it to another in the presence\nof honest neighbours ratified a decision as well and gave as good\nsecurity as much writing on parchment. The author of the Book of Ruth\ncommends these homely ways of a past age and suggests to the men of his\nown time that civilization and the monarchy, while they have brought\nsome gains, are perhaps to be blamed for the decay of simplicity and\nfriendliness.\n\nMore than one reason may be found for supposing the book to have been\nwritten in Solomon's time, probably the latter part of his reign when\nlaws and ordinances had multiplied and were being enforced in endless\ndetail by a central authority; when the manners of the nations around,\nChaldea, Egypt, Phoenicia, were overbearing the primitive ways of\nIsrael; when luxury was growing, society dividing into classes and a\nproud imperialism giving its colour to habit and religion. If we place\nthe book at this period we can understand the moral purpose of the\nwriter and the importance of his work. He would teach people to maintain\nthe spirit of Israel's past, the brotherliness, the fidelity in every\nrelation that were to have been all along a distinction of Hebrew life\nbecause inseparably connected with the obedience of Jehovah. The\nsplendid temple on Moriah was now the centre of a great priestly system,\nand from temple and palace the national and, to a great extent, the\npersonal life of all Israelites was largely influenced, not in every\nrespect for good. The quiet suggestion is here made that the\nartificiality and pomp of the kingdom did not compare well with that old\ntime when the affairs of an ancestress of the splendid monarch were\nsettled by a gathering at a village gate.\n\nNor is the lesson without its value now. We are not to go back on the\npast in mere antiquarian curiosity, the interest of secular research.\nLabour which goes to revive the story of mankind in remote ages has its\nvalue only when it is applied to the uses of the moralist and the\nprophet. We have much to learn again that has been forgotten, much to\nrecall that has escaped the memory of the race. Through phases of\ncomplex civilization in which the outward and sensuous are pursued the\nworld has to pass to a new era of more simple and yet more profound\nlife, to a social order fitted for the development of spiritual power\nand grace. And the church is well directed by the Book of God. Her\ninquiry into the past is no affair of intellectual curiosity, but a\nresearch governed by the principles that have underlain man's life from\nthe first and a growing apprehension of all that is at stake in the\nmultiform energy of the present. Amid the bustle and pressure of those\nendeavours which Christian faith itself may induce our minds become\nconfused. Thinkers and doers are alike apt to forget the deliverances\nknowledge ought to effect, and while they learn and attempt much they\nare rather passing into bondage than finding life. Our research seems\nmore and more to occupy us with the manner of things, and even Bible\nArchaeology is exposed to this reproach. As for the scientific comparers\nof religion they are mostly feeding the vanity of the age with a sense\nof extraordinary progress and enlightenment, and themselves are\noccasionally heard to confess that the farther they go in study of old\nfaiths, old rituals and moralities the less profit they find, the less\nhint of a design. No such futility, no failure of culture and inquiry\nmark the Bible writers dealing with the past. To the humble life of the\nSon of Man on earth, to the life of the Hebrews long before He appeared\nour thought is carried back from the thousand objects that fascinate in\nthe world of to-day. And there we see the faith and all the elements of\nspiritual vitality of which our own belief and hope are the fruit. There\ntoo without those cumbrous modern involutions which never become\nfamiliar, society wonderfully fulfils its end in regulating personal\neffort and helping the conscience and the soul.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe scene at the gate shows Boaz energetically conducting the case he\nhas taken up. Private considerations urged him to bring rapidly to an\nissue the affairs of Naomi and Ruth since he was involved, and again he\ncommends himself as a man who, having a task in hand, does it with his\nmight. His pledge to Ruth was a pledge also to his own conscience that\nno suspense should be due to any carelessness of his; and in this he\nproved himself a pattern friend. The great man often shows his greatness\nby making others wait at his door. They are left to find the level of\ntheir insignificance and learn the value of his favour. So the grace of\nGod is frustrated by those who have the opportunity and should covet the\nhonour of being His instruments. Men know that they should wait\npatiently on God's time, but they are bewildered when they have to wait\non the strange arrogance of those in whose hands Providence has placed\nthe means of their succour. And many must be the cases in which this\nfault of man begets bitterness, distrust of God and even despair. It\nshould be a matter of anxiety to us all to do with speed and care\nanything on which the hopes of the humble and needy rest. A soul more\nworthy than our own may languish in darkness while a promise which\nshould have been sacred is allowed to fade from our memory.\n\nBoaz was also open and straightforward in his transactions. His own wish\nis pretty clear. He seems as anxious as Naomi herself that to him should\nfall the duty of redeeming her burdened inheritance and reviving her\nhusband's name. Possibly without any public discussion, by consulting\nwith the nearer kinsman and urging his own wish or superior ability he\nmight have settled the affair. Other inducements failing, the offer of a\nsum of money might have secured to him the right of redemption. But in\nthe light of honour, in the court of his conscience, the man was unable\nthus to seek his end; and besides the town's people had to be\nconsidered; their sense of justice had to be satisfied as well as his\nown.\n\nOften it is not enough that we do a thing from the best of motives; we\nmust do it in the best way, for the support of justice or purity or\ntruth. While private benevolence is one of the finest of arts, the\nChristian is not unfrequently called to exercise another which is more\ndifficult and not less needful in society. Required at one hour not to\nlet his left hand know what his right hand doeth, at another he is\nrequired in all modesty and simplicity to take his fellows to witness\nthat he acts for righteousness, that he is contending for some thought\nof Christ's, that he is not standing in the outer court among those who\nare ashamed but has taken his place with the Master at the judgment bar\nof the world. Again, when a matter in which a Christian is involved is\nbefore the public and has provoked a good deal of discussion and perhaps\nno little criticism of religion and its professors it is not enough that\nout of sight, out of court some arrangement be made which counts for a\nmoral settlement. That is not enough though a person whose rights and\ncharacter are affected may consent to it. If still the world has reason\nto question whether justice has been done,--justice has not been done.\nIf still the truthfulness of the church is under valid suspicion,--the\nchurch is not manifesting Christ as it should. For no moral cause once\nopened at public assize can be issued in private. It is no longer\nbetween one man and another, nor between a man and the church. The\nconscience of the race has been empanelled and cannot be discharged\nwithout judgment. Innumerable causes withdrawn from court, compromised,\nhushed up or settled in corners with an effort at justice still shadow\nthe history of the church and cast a darkness of justifiable suspicion\non the path along which she would advance.\n\nEven in this little affair at Bethlehem the good man will have\neverything done with perfect openness and honour and will stand by the\nresult whether it meet his hopes or disappoint them. At the town-gate,\nthe common meeting-place for conversation and business, Boaz takes his\nseat and invites the goel to sit beside him and also a jury of ten\nelders. The court thus constituted, he states the case of Naomi and her\ndesire to sell a parcel of land which belonged to her husband. When\nElimelech left Bethlehem he had, no doubt, borrowed money on the field,\nand now the question is whether the nearest kinsman will pay the debt\nand beyond that the further value of the land so that the widow may have\nsomething to herself. Promptly the goel answers that he is ready to buy\nthe land. This, however, is not all. In buying the field and adding it\nto his estate will the man take Ruth to wife, to raise up the name of\nthe dead upon his inheritance? He is not prepared to do that, for the\nchildren of Ruth would be entitled to the portion of ground and he is\nunwilling to impoverish his own family. \"I cannot redeem it for myself,\nlest I mar my own inheritance.\" He draws off his shoe and gives it to\nBoaz renouncing his right of redemption.\n\nNow this marriage-custom is not ours, but at the time, as we have seen,\nit was a sacred rule, and the goel was morally bound by it. He could\nhave insisted on redeeming the land as his right. To do so was therefore\nhis duty, and to a certain extent he failed from the ideal of a\nkinsman's obligation. But the position was not an easy one. Surely the\nman was justified in considering the children he already had and their\nclaims upon him. Did he not exercise a wise prudence in refusing to\nundertake a new obligation? Moreover the circumstances were delicate and\ndispeace might have been caused in his household if he took the Moabite\nwoman. It is certainly one of those cases in which a custom or law has\ngreat weight and yet creates no little difficulty, moral as well as\npecuniary, in the observance. A man honest enough and not ungenerous may\nfind it hard to determine on which side duty lies. Without, however,\nabusing this goel we may fairly take him as a type of those who are more\nimpressed by the prudential view of their circumstances than by the\nduties of kinship and hospitality. If in the course of providence we\nhave to decide whether we will admit some new inmate to our home worldly\nconsiderations must not rule either on the one side or the other.\n\nA man's duty to his family, what is it? To exclude a needy dependant\nhowever pressing the claim may be? To admit one freely who has the\nrecommendation of wealth? Such earthly calculation is no rule for a true\nman. The moral duty, the moral result are always to be the main elements\nof decision. No family ever gains by relief from an obligation\nconscience acknowledges. No family loses by the fulfilment of duty,\nwhatever the expense. In household debate the balance too often turns\nnot on the character of Ruth but on her lack of gear. The same woman who\nis refused as a heathen when she is poor, is discovered to be a most\ndesirable relation if she brings fuel for the fire of welcome. Let our\ndecisions be quite clear of this mean hypocrisy. Would we insist on\nbeing dutiful to a rich relation? Then the duty remains to him and his\nif they fall into poverty, for a moral claim cannot be altered by the\nstate of the purse.\n\nAnd what of the duty to Christ, His church, His poor? Would to God some\npeople were afraid to leave their children wealthy, were afraid of\nhaving God inquire for His portion. A shadow rests on the inheritance\nthat has been guarded in selfish pride against the just claims of man,\nin defiance of the law of Christ. Yet let one be sure that his\nliberality is not mixed with a carnal hope. What do we think of when we\ndeclare that God's recompense to those who give freely comes in added\nstore of earthly treasure, the tithe returned ten and twenty and a\nhundred fold? By what law of the material or spiritual world does this\ncome about? Certainly we love a generous man, and the liberal shall\nstand by liberal things. But surely God's purpose is to make us\ncomprehend that His grace does not take the form of a percentage on\ninvestments. When a man grows spiritually, when although he becomes\npoorer he yet advances to nobler manhood, to power and joy in\nChrist--this is the reward of Christian generosity and faithfulness. Let\nus be done with religious materialism, with expecting our God to repay\nus in the coin of this earth for our service in the heavenly kingdom.\n\nThe marriage of Ruth at which we now arrive appears at once as the happy\ntermination of Naomi's solicitude for her, the partial reward of her own\nfaithfulness and the solution so far as she was concerned of the problem\nof woman's destiny. The idea of the spiritual completion of life for\nwoman as well as man, of the woman being able to attain a personal\nstanding of her own with individual responsibility and freedom was not\nfully present to the Hebrew mind. If unmarried, Ruth would have\nremained, as Naomi well knew and had all along said, without a place in\nsociety, without an asylum or shelter. This old-world view of things\nburdens the whole history, and before passing on we must compare it with\nthe state of modern thought on the question.\n\nThe incompleteness of the childless widow's life which is an element of\nthis narrative, the incompleteness of the life of every unmarried woman\nwhich appears in the lament for Jephthah's daughter and elsewhere in the\nBible as well as in other records of the ancient world had, we may say,\na two-fold cause. On the one hand there was the obvious fact that\nmarriage has a reason in physical constitution and the order of human\nsociety. On the other hand heathen practices and constant wars made it,\nas we have seen, impossible for women to establish themselves alone. A\nwoman needed protection, or as the law of England has it, coverture. In\nvery exceptional cases only could the opportunity be found, even among\nthe people of Jehovah, for those personal efforts and acts which give a\nposition in the world. But the distinction of Israel's custom and law as\ncompared with those of many nations lay here, that woman was recognized\nas entitled to a place of her own side by side with man in the social\nscheme. The conception of her individuality as of individuality\ngenerally was limited. The idea of what is now called the social\norganism governed family life, and the very faith that was afterwards to\nbecome the strength of individuality was held as a national thing. The\nview of complete life had no clear extension into the future, even the\nsalvation of the soul did not appear as a distinct provision for\npersonal immortality. Under these limitations, however, the proper life\nof every woman and her place in the nation were acknowledged and\nprovision was made for her as well as circumstances would allow. By the\ncustoms of marriage and by the laws of inheritance she was recognized\nand guarded.\n\nNow it may appear that the problem of woman's place, so far from\napproaching solution in Christian times, has rather fallen into greater\nconfusion; and many are the attacks made from one point of view and\nanother upon the present condition of things. By the nature school of\nrevolutionaries physical constitution is made a starting-point in\nargument and the reasoning sweeps before it every hindrance to the\ncompletion of life on that side for women as for men. Christian marriage\nis itself assailed by these as an obstacle in the path of evolution.\nThey find women, thanks to Christianity, no longer unable to establish\nthemselves in life; but against Christianity which has done this they\nraise the loud complaint that it bars the individual from full life and\nenjoyment. In the course of our discussion of the Book of Judges\nreference has been made once and again to this propaganda, and here its\nreal nature comes to light. Its conception of human life is based on\nmere animalism; it throws into the crucible the gain of the centuries in\nspiritual discipline and energetic purity in order to make ample\nprovision for the flesh and the fulfilling of the lusts thereof.\n\nBut the problem is not more confused; it is solved, as all other\nproblems are by Christ. Penetrating and arrogant voices of the day will\ncease and His again be heard Whose terrible and gracious doctrine of\npersonal responsibility in the supernatural order is already the heart\nof human thought and hope. There is turmoil, disorder, vile and foolish\nexperimenting; but the remedy is forward not behind. Christ has opened\nthe spiritual kingdom, has made it possible for every soul to enter. For\neach human being now, man and woman, life means spiritual overcoming,\nspiritual possession, and can mean nothing else. It is altogether out of\ndate, an insult to the conscience and common sense of mankind, not to\nspeak of its faith, to go back on the primitive world and the ages of a\nlower evolution and fasten down to sensuousness a race that has heard\nthe liberating word, Repent, believe and live. The incompleteness of a\nhuman being lies in subjection to passion, in existing without moral\nenergy, governed by the earthly and therefore without hope or reason of\nlife. To the full stature of heavenly power the woman has her way open\nthrough the blood of the cross, and by a path of loneliness and\nprivation, if need be, she may advance to the highest range of priestly\nservice and blessing.\n\nTo the Jewish people and to the writer of the Book of Ruth as a Jew\ngenealogy was of more account than to us, and a place in David's\nancestry appears as the final honour of Ruth for her dutifulness, her\nhumble faith in the God of Israel. Orpah is forgotten; she remained with\nher own people and died in obscurity. But faithful Ruth lives\ndistinguished in history. She takes her place among the matrons of\nBethlehem and the people of God. The story of her life, says one, stands\nat the portal of the life of David and at the gates of the gospel.\n\nYet suppose Ruth had not been married to Boaz or to any other good and\nwealthy man, would she have been less admirable and deserving? We\nattribute nothing to accident. In the providence of God Boaz was led to\nan admiration for Ruth and Naomi's plan succeeded. But it might have\nbeen otherwise. There is nothing, after all, so striking in her faith\nthat we should expect her to be singled out for special honour; and she\nis not. The divine reward of goodness is the peace of God in the soul,\nthe gladness of fellowship with Him, the opportunity of learning His\nwill and dispensing His grace. It is interesting to note that Ruth's son\nObed was the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David. But was Ruth\nnot also the ancestress of the sons of Zeruiah, of Absalom, Adonijah and\nRehoboam? Even though looking down the generations we see the Messiah\nborn of her line, how can that glorify Ruth? or, if it does, how shall\nwe explain the want of glory of many an estimable and godly woman who\nfighting a battle harder than Ruth's, with clearer faith in God, lived\nand died in some obscure village of Naphtali or dragged out a weary\nwidowhood on the borders of the Syrian desert?\n\nYet there is a sense in which the history of Ruth stands at the gates of\nthe gospel. It bears the lesson that Jehovah acknowledged all who did\njustly and loved mercy and walked humbly with Him. The foreign woman was\njustified by faith, and her faith had its reward when she was accepted\nas one of Jehovah's people and knew Him as her gracious Friend. Israel\nhad in this book the warrant for missionary work among the pagan nations\nand a beautiful apologue of the reconciliation the faith of Jehovah was\nto effect among the severed families of mankind. The same faith is ours,\nbut with deeper urgency, the same spirit of reconciliation reaching now\nto farther mightier issues. We have seen the Goel of the race and have\nheard His offer of redemption. We are commissioned to those who dwell in\nthe remotest borders of the moral world under oppressions of heathenism\nand fear or wander in strange Moabs of confusion where deep calleth unto\ndeep. We have to testify that with One and One only are the light, the\njoy, the completeness of man, because He alone among sages and helpers\nhas the secret of our sin and weakness and the long miracle of the\nsoul's redemption. \"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to\nthe whole creation: and lo, I am with you.\" The faith of the Hebrew is\nmore than fulfilled. Out of Israel He comes our Menuchah, Who is \"_an\nhiding place from the wind and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of\nwater in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land_.\"\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n\n Achsah, 20.\n\n Adoni-bezek, 12.\n\n Adventurer, the, 211.\n\n Agnosticism, 156.\n\n Altars, local, 338.\n\n Amalek, 78.\n\n Amorites, 64.\n\n Angel of Jehovah, 147.\n\n Ascendency of races, 14.\n\n Astarte, 52.\n\n\n Baal, 52.\n\n Baal-berith, the modern, 221.\n\n Baal-peor, 51.\n\n Balaam, 70.\n\n Barak, the Lightning Chief, 99;\n agreement with Deborah, 122.\n\n Barbarism, the new, 140.\n\n Bethlehem, 364.\n\n\n Canaan, its population, 6;\n central position, 6;\n degeneracy of its people, 8;\n god of, 52.\n\n Character, national, 205;\n of Arabs, 239;\n decision of, 378.\n\n Charity, careless, 399.\n\n Christ, the Strengthener, 42, 43;\n and the inquirer, 124;\n and the church, 152, 177;\n critics of, 154;\n personal pledge to, 160, 383;\n enemies of, 181;\n priesthood of, 208;\n kingship of, 228;\n sacrifice of, 251, 332;\n manliness of, 264;\n the temple, 343;\n His teaching as to wealth, 388.\n\n Christianity secularized, 330.\n\n Church, the opposition to, 79, 82;\n leaders in, 123;\n custody of truth by, 124;\n world in, 133;\n elation of, 139;\n right spirit of, 152;\n confusion in, 171;\n national, 176;\n attacks upon, 186;\n perpetual duty of, 353.\n\n Completeness of life, 416.\n\n Compromise, 88, 402;\n with heathens, 98.\n\n Concentration, 175;\n and breadth, 275.\n\n Conscience, correlative of power, 303;\n and life, 353, 354;\n insanity of, 357.\n\n Conversion, 27, 159;\n imperfect, 41;\n helped by circumstances, 158;\n complete, 160;\n Ruth's, 381.\n\n Co-partnery, with the world, 220;\n between Hebrew and Philistine, 284.\n\n Creed, the old, 172.\n\n Culture, 20, 88;\n affecting religion, 228.\n\n Cushan-rishathaim, 69.\n\n Custom, old, why recorded, 408.\n\n\n Danite migration, 340.\n\n Date of Book of Ruth, 409.\n\n Deborah, 91;\n inspiration of, 96, 102, 108;\n her wisdom, 100;\n not unmerciful, 117;\n her judgeship, 135.\n\n Dependents, duty to, 414.\n\n Dependence, ignoble, 297.\n\n Divine judgment, 11;\n of Meroz the prudent, 132.\n\n Divine Vindicator, the, 394.\n\n Doubt, religious, 26.\n\n\n Earth-force in man, 149.\n\n Ecclesiasticism, 167, 201.\n\n Education, 273.\n\n Ehud, 83.\n\n Emigration, 366.\n\n Entanglements, base, 301.\n\n Equipment for life, 184.\n\n Evil, despotic, 287.\n\n Evolution, spiritual, 4, 85, 109.\n\n Ezra, 38.\n\n\n Faint yet pursuing, 191.\n\n Faith, development of, 4;\n conflicts of, 27;\n link between generations, 49;\n army of, 128;\n recuperative power of, 141;\n power through, 203;\n ebb and flow of, 233;\n saves, not doing, 300;\n courage forced on, 347.\n\n Fidelity depends on religion, 405.\n\n Fittest, survival of, 9.\n\n Fleece, Gideon's, 169.\n\n Freedom, cradle of faith, 85, 86, 90;\n right of the rude, 258.\n\n Free-lance, 304.\n\n\n Gibeah, crime of, 348\n\n Gideon, 144;\n his fleece, 169;\n his three hundred, 173;\n kingship refused by, 196;\n his caution, 197;\n desire for priesthood, 198;\n his ephod-dealing, 202;\n a storm of God, 204.\n\n Gilead, its vigour, 235.\n\n God with man, 146.\n\n Goel, duty of, 398.\n\n Gospel, at the gates of, 420.\n\n\n Heathenism, rites of, 53.\n\n Hebrews, language of, 31;\n intermixture with Canaanites, 68;\n national spirit of, 234.\n\n Heroism, 149.\n\n History, key to, 5, 295.\n\n Hittites, 65.\n\n Honey from the carcase, 289.\n\n Humanity, priesthood of, 208.\n\n\n Ideal, of life, 29;\n for Israel, 48, 242.\n\n Idolatry, 33;\n unpardonable, 49.\n\n Intolerance, moral, 354.\n\n Israel, mission of, 13;\n oppressed by Cushan-rishathaim, 72;\n by Jabin, 92;\n by Midianites, 137;\n tribes of, 97, 132, 167;\n its idea of Jehovah, 107, 118;\n superiority of, 55, 69, 90.\n\n\n Jael, 103, 134;\n her tragic moment, 105.\n\n Jealousy, tribal, 255.\n\n Jebusites, 28.\n\n Jephthah, the outlaw, 235;\n chosen leader, 236;\n his peaceful policy, 240;\n his vow, 243;\n his daughter, 247.\n\n Jerusalem, 15.\n\n Joash of Abiezer, 156.\n\n Joshua, 45.\n\n Jotham's parable, 214.\n\n Judges, their vindication, 57.\n\n Justice, passion for, 58;\n human effort for, 104;\n should be open, 412.\n\n\n Kenites, 24.\n\n Kingship, refused by Gideon, 196.\n\n Kiriath-sepher, 18.\n\n\n Leaders, uncalled, 163.\n\n Leadership, incomplete, 161.\n\n Levites, 338.\n\n Life, the law of, 294, 299;\n hindrances to, 296;\n fear hindering, 297;\n complete, 314.\n\n Literature, 19;\n Danites of, 345, 346.\n\n Love, 380.\n\n Luz, 28.\n\n\n Marriage, 20;\n a failure? 24;\n rash experiments in, 284.\n\n Marriages, mixed, 38.\n\n Master-strokes in providence, 158.\n\n Meroz, 132.\n\n Micah, 335.\n\n Midianites, 137, 195.\n\n Missionary spirit, 137.\n\n Moab, 77, 367.\n\n Moderatism, 166.\n\n Monotheism, 32.\n\n Moral intolerance, 354.\n\n Moses, 13, 19.\n\n Motherhood, 268.\n\n\n National church, 176.\n\n Nature, God revealed in, 111-15;\n and supernatural, 266.\n\n Nature-cult, 42, 418.\n\n Nazirite vow, 276.\n\n Nomadism, religious, 25.\n\n\n Opportunism, 166.\n\n Organized vice, 179.\n\n Orpah, 376.\n\n Othniel, 22, 73.\n\n\n Parentage, 271.\n\n Past, the, returning, 71;\n lessons of, 410.\n\n Pastors, unspiritual, 344.\n\n Patriotism, religious, 226.\n\n Personal ends engrossing, 136.\n\n Personality, 15;\n in religion, 379.\n\n Pessimism, 230.\n\n Pharisaism, 39;\n danger of, 356.\n\n Philistines, 26, 62.\n\n Philistinism, 310, 329.\n\n Phoenicians, 63.\n\n Polygamy, 21, 351.\n\n Polytheism, its development, 54.\n\n Prayer, 142, 143, 231.\n\n Predestination, 269.\n\n Priesthood, Gideon's desire for, 198;\n true, 206;\n Roman Catholic, 246.\n\n Prophets, unrecognized, 162;\n their preparation, 270.\n\n Prosperity, misunderstood, 388.\n\n Providence, imperfect instruments of, 58, 84.\n\n Public office, 216.\n\n Purity, 350.\n\n\n Reconciliation, religion always for, 395.\n\n Reformer, his character, 153.\n\n Reformation, the true, 155.\n\n Religion, emotional, 130;\n and the state, 36, 75.\n\n Remnant, the godly, 126, 131.\n\n Repentance, imperfect, 40.\n\n Responsibility, 300;\n in advising, 370.\n\n Retribution, 138.\n\n Rich, obligations of, 390.\n\n Rights and duties, 30, 256.\n\n Ruth, her choice, 377;\n conversion of 381;\n goodness commending her, 392;\n her danger, 401;\n her marriage, 416.\n\n\n Sacred places, 33.\n\n Salvation, personal, 151.\n\n Samson, his loneliness, 279;\n boyhood of, 280;\n character of, 281;\n his marriage, 290;\n his riddle, 291;\n no reformer, 308.\n\n Schism, 342, 345.\n\n Science, dogmatism of, 112;\n Danites of, 345.\n\n Self-respect, 312.\n\n Self-sacrifice, 249, 331, 333.\n\n Self-suppression, 16, 251, 375.\n\n Self-vindication, 358.\n\n Separations in life, 383.\n\n Shechem, 210.\n\n Shibboleths, of reform, 262;\n allowable, 263;\n Christ used none, 264.\n\n Sibboleths, of egotism, 260;\n of bad habit, 260;\n of literature, 261.\n\n Sisera, 101.\n\n Spiritual brotherhood, 151;\n strength, 321, 324;\n service, 369;\n pauperism, 400.\n\n Strength and character, 193.\n\n Struggle, the law of existence, 10.\n\n Success, sanctified, 80;\n succeeding, 189.\n\n Succoth and Penuel, 190.\n\n Supernatural in human life, 267.\n\n\n Temptation, 287;\n process of, 317.\n\n Theocracy, 3, 46;\n Jotham's idea of, 214, 218.\n\n Tribal religion, 328.\n\n Truth and charity, 228.\n\n\n Unscrupulous helpers, 133.\n\n\n Veracity of the narrative, 359.\n\n Vicarious suffering, 355.\n\n Voluntary churches, 176.\n\n\n Wars of conquest, 5.\n\n Women, treatment of, 21;\n their freedom, 22;\n duties of, 125;\n social bondage of, 372;\n helpless, 373;\n submission preached to, 375;\n problems in their life, 416, 418.\n\n Wrong never strong, 182.\n\n\n Zephath, 25.","title":"The Expositor's Bible: Judges and Ruth","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":126178}