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and this is regarded by our life-saving authorities as a splendid record. There are sons and daughters of Chris tian homes that have moved into gospel- neglected communities and are without the life-saving appointments of the Word of God. If in the interests of saving the bodies of men our government employs two thou sand expert surfmen to keep faithful vigil on our entire coast line, so that only one per cent or a little less than one per cent are lost, ought not the church of Jesus Christ to be as earnest in its efforts with the life-saving device of the gospel, in order that it may save morally and spiritually these lives in neglected communities? WiMl-The Bottles of Heaven, by Revilo.
chariots were destroyed in the second con flict. Not by fire, but by water! See the Song of Victory (Judg. 5:20, 2 1 ): “ The stars in their courses fought against Sisera; the river of Kishon swept them away.” This is the river that drains the great plain of Esdraelon into which the surrounding hills pour their streams, Caught in the torrent, caused perhaps by a. series of cloud-bursts in the hills, the iron chariots sank nicely. A ll of man’s efforts to fight against God only rebound on his own sinful head. Golden Text Illustration E sther 4:14 The United States Treasury Department reports through the Secretary of the Treas ury concerning the Life-Saving Service as follows: “ Our Life-Saving Service has 256 complete stations, thoroughly equipped with the latest and most effective life-saving devices, manned by nearly 2,000 expert surfmen, selected solely for professional fit ness and (as the law requires) without political or partisan consideration. . . . Out of 4,443 lives imperiled, only 53 were lost,
victory (v. 13). He had no conception of the truth that it was God who was drawing him to Mount Tabor, and that there Barak would merely be God’s agent in the destruc tion of Jabin’s army. Deborah declared to Barak: “ This is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand” (v. 14-). In these words, there was no question concerning the out come of the battle; the Lord already had delivered Sisera into the hands of Barak. All Barak had to do now was to take the victory which already was provided. Barak’s faith rose to the occasion. He followed directions, and found everything just as the Lord had said. Thus faith ever finds that the W ord of God is true, what ever the appearance may be. Deborah used her gift of prophecy and Barak used his gift of faith. A little stronger faith on Barak’s part might have given him the honor which fell to the Kenite woman, Jael (cf. vs. 17-22). How strong is our faith? Do we truly “ believe God” ? Points and Problems 1. “ Again did evil” (Judg. 4:1). This is the dreary and tragic refrain of the Book of Judges. Like a funeral dirge, it describes the almost monotonous round of sin, cap tivity, and deliverance. The keynote of the book is found in 17:6 and 21:25: “ Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” But if the book is a gloomy witness to the inherent evil of fallen men, it is also a great monument of testimony to the in finite grace and patience of God. 2. “Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor” (v. 2). The same name appears in Joshua 11, and in connection with the same city. In both places this king appears as the leader o f a great military force with many chariots. In both chapters the Israelites win a great victory. These similarities have led some critics to suggest that the two accounts are only different versions of the same event. Such a hypothesis is not required. Jabin was doubtless a dynastic name, such as Pharaoh or Caesar. And although Joshua had utterly destroyed Hazor and put the men of the surrounding cities to the sword, sufficient time had passed for the rehabilita tion of the enemy, possibly a century and a half. Even if the city and country had been resettled by other peoples, the new king would probably have assumed the renowned name of Jabin, just as the Hyksos invaders of Egypt took over the name of Pharaoh for their kings. 3. “Nine hundred chariots of iron” (v. 3). Here is one of those little touches which so often shed light upon Biblical problems. Why is the material of “ iron” mentioned here? If the reader will review the account in Joshua 11:1-9, it will be noticed that Joshua on that occasion “ burnt their chariots with fire” (v. 9). And the Canaan- ites never forgot what happened! How per fectly natural, therefore, for these people to improve their military weapons in order to guard against another catastrophe. This time they rode into battle with chariots armored with “ iron.” This one detail is strong proof that we have in Judges a second conflict between Israel and the Hazorites. 4. It is also interesting to note how Jabin’s
Why Deborah Sang J udges 4:1 to 5:3
Memory Verse: “ The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psa. 27:1). Approach: Our story today is about a very famous woman who lived about two
CARLC.HARWOOD •and* JOHNA. T)RAWZ
FACTS of the FAITH
Copyright 1938 » CartC. Harwood
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“And. ye shall hear of mars and rumors of trans,—for nation ¿'hall rise aqainst j .n ion iITiiil H b I. From the year U%j3.C. to 1862AD, a period of 3.358 yearsJrhere were only¿28 yeans of .peace.Within the last 500 yrs. there- have been 286 u;ars inEurope.=from B003C. to I860 hD more than 8000 peace treaties tueresignedy-the averaqe dural ton urn2 yeans. there are a t fe a st 70 sermons and stories especially Forqouncfpeople in the3ible',a h st Of these complete P ittititle s Will be sent to anyone sendMq a setF-addre.ssed, stamped to "FACTSof:HieffilTtreditor S..hop&SF.-losPnqeks.CaJiF,; The authors of "Facfs of the Faith" gladly take responsibility for the accuracy of their statements. Comments or inquiries concerning the drawings will be passed on to them.
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