_And there happened to be there a man of Belial._ REBELLION OF SHEBA This chapter is a relation of Sheba’s rebellion. 1. The trumpet of this new rebellion was a son of Belial, Sheba the son of Bichri, whom God by His providence ordered to be present when this paroxism or hot fit of contention happ... [ Continue Reading ]
_Art thou in health, my brother?_ THE SOUL’S HEALTH The sickness of the soul is the evil of all evils, and one in comparison with which mere bodily pain is nothing. Whether sin be regarded as a disease, or as guilt, or as both combined, there is only one Physician, even God Himself, who can help u... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when the man maw that all the people stood still._ HORROR AT SIGHT OF A SLAUGHTERED MAN What unutterable, illimitable pity it seems that our horror at the corpse of a slaughtered man should not have been made just so much stronger as to render war impossible! It looks as if human nature has b... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then cried a wise woman out of the city._ ABEL’S ORACLE; OR PRUDENCE AND PEACEABLENESS I. The people in Abel of Bethmaachah are on the verge of ruin, for Joab is battering away at the walls. Soon his soldiers will be pouring into the city, and the sword will devour and destroy. Now if a man could... [ Continue Reading ]
_They shall surely ask counsel at Abel._ AN OLD-TIME CUSTOM It will have to come to that again. Things cannot be settled really and lastingly except by counsel, wisdom, consent. The sword has had its day; it is a fool’s argument. What is the idea of the text that is translatable into the practice o... [ Continue Reading ]