penetrated into the rocky recesses of Argob; they have slept in the
deserted homes of the Rephaim; and have come back to tell us that the
stones reared by those ancient idolaters bear witness to the truth of
the living God.
The Rev. J. L. Porter spent a considerable time in exploring the cities
of Bashan. At Burak he lodged in a city of several hundred houses, all
deserted, but all in good repair, though built two or three thousand
years ago. The walls of these houses were five feet thick, formed of
large blocks of hewn stone, put together without lime or cement of any
kind. The roofs were formed of long blocks of the same black basalt,
measuring twelve feet in length, eighteen inches in breadth, and six
inches in thickness. The doors were stone slabs hung upon pivots formed
of projecting parts of the slabs, working in sockets in the lintel and
threshold; the windows were guarded with stone shutters--everything was
of stone, as if the builders had designed each edifice to last for ever.
The cities have endured, but the inhabitants have fled. You pass the
ruined gateway where stern warriors kept watch, and from whose towers
the watchmen swept the country and signalled the coming of the foe. All
is hushed. Rank weeds and grass, brambles and creeping plants, have
overgrown the well-made roads; and in the massive houses, where once on
a time happy groups assembled, and children shouted with joy, the fox
and the jackal make their dwelling, while owls and daws take possession
of the roof. Here is a city that must at one period have contained at
least twenty thousand inhabitants. Once its streets were noisy and
bustling, and the dealers made their shrewd bargains in the markets,
while the grandees dwelt in their stone palaces, haughty of spirit, as
if the slaves who waited on them were of another flesh than theirs. Here
dwelt the giants, and after them Jews, and Greeks, and Romans, Saracens
and Turks, each leaving memorials of their presence; but all gone--the
whole abandoned to the wild birds and the beasts of prey. There are
palaces with thorns and thistles growing in the chief room; there are
temples with branches of trees shooting through the gaping walls; there
are tombs festooned with the rich luxuriance of nature; there is
everything to tell of desolation and decay.
You remember that we read in Joshua that the kingdom of Og, the giant,
included all Bashan unto Salcah; and the Israelites took and occupied
the whole land, from Mount Hermon unto Salcah. This is the frontier
city of Bashan, and is one of the most remarkable in Palestine. There
are about five hundred houses still remaining, a number of square
towers, a few mosques, and a great old castle on the top of a hill. But
the city, held at first by the giants, and at last by the Turks, has
long been deserted, and the tread of horses on the paved street disturbs
only a fox in its den or a wild bird in its nest. The castle hill is
about three hundred feet in height, the base encircled by a moat. The
building itself appears to have been of Jewish foundation, though it is
probable that the site was occupied by a still older fortress. There is
Roman masonry in the work, and the Saracens have added to the beauty, if
not to the strength, of the structure; but though the exterior wall
remains, the interior is choked with rubbish. The summit of the castle
commands an extensive prospect--a varied, romantic, but wild scene of
rugged rocks and luxuriant verdure, comprising no less than thirty
deserted cities. On the right stretches Moab, on the left Arabia;
behind, in terraced slopes, the hills of Bashan--a sad and solemn scene
of utter desolation.
BIBLE ENIGMA.
A son of Gideon.
A king of Moab.
An untruthful woman.
A man slain by God.
The son of a persecuted woman.
What did the Israelites once desire?
A God-fearing man.
An officer of a king.
One of the Apostles.
The initials will form a passage of Scripture.
ALFRED CLAPSON
(Aged 10 years).
_Reigate._
OUR BIBLE CLASS.
THE GOOD SHEPHERD, HIS LAMBS AND SHEEP.
(ISAIAH xl. 11.)
We know that Jesus is the Person of whom our text speaks, because His
herald and forerunner is described in the third verse, and John the
Baptist applied the prophecy to himself, when the Pharisees wanted to
know who he really was--"The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the Lord."
He came to teach the necessity of repentance, to reprove the pride of
the Pharisee, bringing low the hills and mountains of their self-esteem;
while the despised tax-gatherers and soldiers were taught how to rise,
by the grace of God, to the position of honourable and useful members of
society, and thus the valleys were exalted (Luke iii. 6-14). God,
according to His promise, sent His Prophet to turn the hearts of the
people in some measure before Jesus Himself appeared (Mal. iv. 5, 6).
And then, though in a human form, the "Lord God came with strong hand,"
"mighty to save." His "reward was with Him, and the recompense of His
work was before Him," and He did then, and does still, "feed His people
like a shepherd." It was the Lord God who came among men; but how did He
come? Not with earthly pomp and glory, and His heavenly majesty was but
dimly seen.
I thought of this on July 17th last, when the Prince of Wales went with
the Princess to open the Great Northern Hospital at Upper Holloway,
London. The Royal party were attired in deep mourning, on account of the
recent death of the Emperor Frederick of Germany, and so quietly did
their carriage pass along that many scarcely recognized them, and nearly
all who were looking expectantly for the Prince's coming were greatly
disappointed at the absence of a showy retinue. Yet he fulfilled all
that he promised, and more, for he, with his wife and daughters, visited
all the patients in the hospital, speaking kindly words, and doubtless
giving real pleasure to those afflicted ones.
So, when that infinitely greater One, the Prince of Peace, came, He did
all that had been predicted of Him; and though even His own disciples
expected grandeur which they did not find, and for a while were grieved
and perplexed, yet when, by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, they
better understood His mission, they perceived that He had finished His
work most gloriously, and had "done all things well."
The Shepherd of Israel, then, is the Lord God, of whom David sang, "The
Lord" (Jehovah) "is my Shepherd: I shall not want," which Jesus followed
up by saying, "I am the Good Shepherd, and am come that My sheep might
have life, and have more abundantly all the blessings My people enjoyed
before I came into this world" (see John x.).
"He shall feed His flock like a Shepherd." Jesus here appears as a King
as well as a Shepherd, for good kings care for and defend their
subjects, but none can do as He does, who is "over all, blessed for
evermore." All other shepherds must lead their sheep into green
pastures, or procure them food in some other way, but Jesus supplies His
people from Himself. All the fulness of love, grace, and blessing are
His own, and as the poet sings--
"On a dying Christ I feed;
This is meat and drink indeed."
Christ once crucified for the redemption of His loved ones, but now
alive for evermore, is the life and joy of all who believe on His name.
And these sheep are divided into two classes--lambs, and their parents.
Those who are young, inexperienced, and weak, like Christ's followers
were when He was on earth, how gently He "carried" them, guarding,
supporting, and instructing so gradually until they became able to lead
others in the ways of God. And still He tends His feeble ones with
special care. He is kind and full of compassion, and they who most need
His protection are most sure to have it, for He fully knows the need.
But the older sheep need the shepherd's consideration as much as the
lambs of the flock. Those who have young ones to nourish and care for
must be gently led.
The Apostle Paul said that "the care of all the Churches of Christ
pressed daily upon him" (2 Cor. xi. 28), yet he could tell how the Lord
comforted both himself and his fellow-workers in all their trials, so
that they were enabled to comfort others; and speaking from his own
experience, he could encourage his friends to "cast all their care upon
Him" who ever cares for all His people.
And it is Jesus only who can really lead and feed His flock. Ministers
of the Gospel are called "pastors," "shepherds." As Christ's servants,
they may be, and often are, the means of leading their hearers into
green pastures, and of restoring the wandering and the weak; yet every
true pastor is a sheep after all, and all spiritual, heavenly power and
blessing must proceed from Him alone.
I was much interested, some time ago, in a pretty little poem,
illustrated by the picture of a splendid ram, standing beside his
wounded little one, calling loudly for the help he could not render; and
the shepherd, hearing his cries, hastened to the spot, and carried the
helpless little thing to the fold. And methought, "Is not this a
beautiful parable for us?" If we are longing to help and heal the
feeble, the straying, and the sin-sick, and feel how little we can do,
let us seek to follow this sheep's example, and call upon our Shepherd--
"Whose ears attend the softest call,
Whose eyes can never sleep."
He is the Good Shepherd, for He gave His life for the sheep; the Chief
Shepherd, possessing all the amiable and winning attractions that charm
and draw the heart; and the Great Shepherd, almighty and unchanging,
"able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him."
Oh, that we all may know His love, which never can be fully known on
earth, and enjoy the sweet privilege of commending all our loved ones to
His gracious care, assured that He is able to do all that His heart
desireth, and that--
"With heaven and earth at His command,
He waits to answer prayer."
Our next subject will be, _The Glory of Christ, as described by Himself
in John xvii_.
Yours affectionately,
H. S. L.
THE POWER OF KINDNESS.
Elihu Burritt, speaking of the power of kindness, says, "There is no
power of love so hard to get and keep as a kind voice. A kind hand is
deaf and dumb. It may be rough in flesh and blood, yet do the work of a
soft heart, and do it with a soft touch. But there is no one thing that
love so much needs as a sweet voice to tell what it means and feels; and
it is hard to get and keep it in the right tone."
BIBLE SUBJECTS FOR EACH SUNDAY IN OCTOBER.
Oct. 7. Commit to memory Rom. ix. 25.
Oct. 14. Commit to memory Rom. ix. 26.
Oct. 21. Commit to memory Rom. ix. 27.
Oct. 28. Commit to memory Rom. ix. 28.
PRIZE ESSAY.
CHARITY.
Paul says (1 Cor. xiii. 4) that "charity suffereth long, and is kind;
charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up"; and
in the thirteenth verse, "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these
three; but the greatest of these is charity."
Now, this shows that charity is a very great and good thing, and that we
ought to desire to have charity above all things. "If we have not
charity, we are nothing."
Charity means "love," and that is the greatest of all good gifts. Love
supplies all other wants, however hard they may be; and so, if we have
not it, we are not by any means complete, for "above all these things
put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness" (Col. iii. 14). This
teaches us that charity is perfect above all things, and that we are to
"love our enemies, and pray for those that despitefully use us"; also,
we are exhorted to "let brotherly love continue."
"Brethren, let us walk together
In the bonds of love and peace;
Can it be a question whether
Brethren should from conflict cease?
'Tis in union,
Hope, and joy, and love increase."
There would be fewer quarrels and less sin if every one had charity.
"Charity," or love, "covers a multitude of sins." "Flee also youthful
lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that
call on the Lord out of a pure heart" (2 Tim. ii. 22).
In 1 Corinthians xvi. 14, it says, "Let all your things be done with
charity," which means that all our actions are to be done in love. "God
is love." Jesus had charity or love when He was on earth. His love knew
no bounds. When God sent His only Son Jesus Christ down into the world,
it was done thoroughly out of love to sinful man.
Jesus Himself was full of love, for He prayed for His persecutors when
He was on the cross, and said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not
what they do."
"High beyond imagination
Is the love of God to man;
Far too deep for human reason;
Fathom that it never can:
Love eternal
Richly dwells in Christ the Lamb."
"If God so loved us, ought we not to love one another?"
Charity is being kind and loving to one another, and helping one another
when we can. If we are not kind and gentle to them, we have not charity,
and do not love each other. When people do ever such great things, if
they do it for self-praise, and not for love, it does not profit them
anything. If we love our neighbours as ourselves, we shall never do them
any ill, but rather "kill them by kindness," even if they are inclined
to resent our charity, or love.
JESSIE MARTHA COLLINS
(Aged 11 years).
_19, Platt Street, Pancras Road,
London, N. W._
[Very good Essays have been sent by Ada Dudley Mote, E. B. Knocker, A.
J. Wells, H. F. Forfeitt, K. E. Thomas, W. E. Cray, C. Bowman, B. E. J.
Noakes, A. Judd, C. Lack, Winnie Langman, and F. Lawrence.]
[The writer of the above Essay receives a copy of Foxe's "Book of
Martyrs."
The subject for December will be, "The Disobedience of our First Parents
and its Results"; and the prize to be given for the best Essay on that
subject, a copy of "The Loss of All Things for Christ." All competitors
must give a guarantee that they are under fifteen years of age, and that
the Essay is their own composition, or the papers will be passed over,
as the Editor cannot undertake to write for this necessary information.
Papers must be sent direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street,
Hastings, before the twentieth of October, in order that the Volume may
be completed for binding.]
ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
(_Page 213_)
"_Persecution._"--2 TIMOTHY iii. 12.
P otiphar Genesis xxxvii. 36.
E noch Genesis iv. 17.
R ehoboam 1 Kings xi. 43.
S apphire Ezekiel i. 26.
E bal Joshua viii. 30.
C andace Acts viii. 27.
U r Genesis xi. 28.
T hyatira Revelation i. 11.
I ram Genesis xxxvi. 43.
O thniel Judges iii. 9.
N oah Numbers xxvii. 1.
MINNIE LEGG
(Aged 12 years).
_Edinburgh._
AN OLD CLOCK'S ADVICE.
A correspondent says that in his great-grandfather's house, as he has
heard his mother tell, there was a clock on which was the following
inscription--
"Here I stand both day and night,
To tell the time with all my might;
Do thou example take by me,
And serve thy God as I serve thee."
The old clock remained in the family for many years, but the time of
which it told so faithfully at last conquered it, as it conquers all
things on earth.
Interesting Items.
THE National Sunday League lament a deficit of L110 as a result of the
band performances in the three parks.
THE oldest and biggest tree in the world is at Mascoli, near Mount Etna.
The trunk is seventy yards round, and a flock of sheep can take refuge
in it.
JERUSALEM is rapidly becoming again a veritable city of the Jews. In
1880 there were probably not more than 5,000 Jews there; now there are
more than 30,000.
THE "threepenny-bit" may well be regarded as the "church coin." At the
collection at Dr. Parker's Sunday evening meeting in Queen Anne Street
Church, Dunfermline, there were no fewer than 1,400 threepenny pieces.
PHONOGRAPHY, as a system of shorthand, is the best, simplest, soundest,
and most scientific of any in existence. Ninety-nine out of every
hundred shorthand writers use it, and none other should be learned.
THE buttercup blooms in unwonted places. A horse belonging to a farmer
near Belford was having an old shoe removed, when a buttercup was found
to have taken root between the hoof and the shoe, near the toe. It was
in full bloom.
THIS is the day of rapid travelling. A through railway service has been
organised to run from Charing Cross to Constantinople in seventy-six
hours. Thus, in three days and a half, one will pass from the city of
the Queen to the city of the Sultan.
IN England and Wales the receipts for first-class railway season tickets
last year amounted to L720,862, for second-class season tickets the
receipts amounted to L665,203, and for those of the third-class
(including workmen's weekly tickets) the amount was L358,142.
AMONG the rarities in Dr. Williams' library in Grafton Street, London,
is a tiny shorthand Bible, exquisitely written, which is said to have
belonged to an apprentice, who, suspicious of James II.'s intentions
regarding Protestantism, wrote the whole for himself, fearing that he
might be deprived of his printed copy.
DRS. CHAUVEL and Nimier now announce that, in future warfare with the
Lebel rifle, the surgeons will not be perplexed by having to extract
balls from wounded soldiers. These projectiles pass through the body,
bones, and all, even when fired at a distance of from 1,800 to 2,000
metres (1,980 to 2,200 yards).
A FORTUNATE COBBLER.--It is announced that a Blackburn cobbler has just
come in for a windfall in the shape of property valued at L40,000. He
saw an advertisement some time ago with regard to some property in
America, to which he has proved himself sole heir. He has left for the
New World to take possession of his unexpected wealth.
ONE day last August a boy, nine years old, went to a school treat, and
ran in several races. On returning home he complained of headache, and
next morning was seized with pains and became insensible, dying an hour
afterwards. The post-mortem examination showed that death was the result
of syncope, brought on by fatigue and excitement.
A STATEMENT was made at the Spanish Armada Convention at Exeter Hall,
recently, to the effect that, during 1878, "in the poor country of
Ireland there had been bequeathed to the Roman Catholic Church no less
than L750,000 for masses for the souls of the departed." Doubtless Mr.
Isaacs had proof of this, for he referred to it as "an ascertained
fact."
A PAPYRUS of extraordinary beauty and completeness, of the fourteenth
century before our era, has been added to the British Museum. It
contains certain chapters of the "Book of Death," carefully copied out
by a scribe of Thebes. Its remarkable feature are the illustrations. The
colouring of these is as vivid as if the work had been done yesterday,
instead of more than thirty centuries ago.
AN interesting discovery has just been made by Dr. Tschakort, Professor
of Church History in the University of Konigsberg, who has found in the
library there numerous manuscript sermons and commentaries by Luther,
hitherto absolutely unknown. They were written in the years 1519 to
1521--that is, at the very culminating period of Luther's work as a
Church Reformer, after the burning of the Papal bull, and before the
Diet of Worms.
STRANGE stories occasionally come from the Black Country, but few are
stranger than that which is related of a man living at Bilston. A
collier lost his eyesight in December through the explosion of a
blasting cartridge, and the other week, as he was being led home from a
neighbouring village by a brother, a terrific thunderstorm commenced.
Simultaneously with a flash of lightning, he experienced a piercing
sensation from the eye to the back of the head and his sight was
instantly restored.
MILDEWED linen may be restored by soaping the spots, and while wet
covering them with powdered chalk.
THE Dead Sea, at its northern end, is but thirteen feet in depth, but at
the southern end it is thirteen hundred.
CHISWICK CEMETERY.--The Home Secretary has ordered that a large tract of
ground which has been recently acquired and added to the Chiswick
Cemetery should be set aside for the use of the Roman Catholics of the
district.
A CATHOLIC total abstinence society has been brought into court in
Philadelphia under the laws against gambling. They pleaded that a
benevolent enterprise such as theirs, though using lotteries, could not
be regarded as a swindling speculation. "If such things are allowed to
be carried on by professedly good people," said Judge Biddle, "it is
inconsistent to call upon us to convict other people." The relation
between the grab-bag and the gaming-table is not inconceivable.
ON June 8th last, a correspondent at Shepherd's Bush despatched a
post-card from London, _via_ the Brindisi and Suez Canal route, to Hong
Kong, with the request that it might be forwarded to the addressee _via_
San Francisco and New York. The card was duly received by the original
sender a short time ago, the time taken in its transit round the world
being exactly seventy days, which is about forty days less than the time
taken ten years ago. The card was franked for 31/2d.
A THANKSGIVING DAY.--Dr. Franklin says that, in a time of great
despondency among the first settlers of New England, it was proposed in
one of their public assemblies to proclaim a fast. An old farmer arose,
spoke of their provoking Heaven with their complaints, reviewed their
mercies, showed that they had much to be thankful for, and moved that,
instead of appointing a day of fasting, they should appoint a day of
thanksgiving. This was accordingly done, and the custom has continued
ever since.
DIPHTHERIA.--An American medical journal gives the following remedy for
diphtheria, and says that where it has been applied promptly, it has
never been known to fail. It is simply as follows:--"At the first
indication of diphtheria in the throat of the child, make the room
clean. Then take a tin cup and pour into it a quantity of tar and
turpentine, equal parts. Then hold the cup over a fire so as to fill the
room with the fumes. The patient, on inhaling the fumes, will fall
asleep, and, when it awakes, it will cough up and spit out all the
membranous matter, and diphtheria will pass off. The fumes of the tar
and turpentine loose the matter in the throat, thus affording the relief
that has baffled the skill of physicians." As the remedy is so simple,
parents would do well to cut this out and preserve it.
AN extraordinary affray took place at Manchester on Sunday, July 8th.
The members of several prominent Orange lodges in the city were
proceeding to a church, where special services were to be held, when
they encountered in a narrow thoroughfare, inhabited chiefly by Irish
Roman Catholics, a band of men and women, who rushed upon them with
hatchets, knives, pokers, and bottles. Two men were seriously injured,
and, but for the timely arrival of thirty policemen, the affray would
probably have had a fatal termination.
HOW THE COLLIE REACHED HIS HOME.--The following is a true story about a
collie who took a hansom. He was lost in Oxford Street, London, so,
after having spent some time in looking for him, his mistress went home,
and what was her surprise, when she arrived, to see him in the hall. The
butler told her the story, and it was this. After the dog had been lost,
he saw an empty hansom, which he got into; and the cabby could not get
him out, for he showed his teeth. He called a policeman, who could not
move him either, but with some difficulty they read the name and address
on his collar, and settled that it would be best to drive him to his
home. They shut the doors, and drove him home. When he arrived, the
cabby rang the bell, and asked for his fare (which he of course got),
and then the butler opened the doors, and the dog jumped out as if
nothing had happened.--From _Little Folks' Magazine_ for August.