May 1927
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of the millenniums has streamed, from Babylon, Assyria, and the mighty nations on the north, to the great nation of Egypt on the south. T he H ills of G alilee The Plain of Esdraelon stretches eastward from the Mediterranean, and merging into the Vale of Jezreel, falls away to the Jordan river on the east. It breaks the back bone of hills known as the Central Range, which traverses the length of the land except in this one place. The plain itself is quite fertile; and just now is covered with fields of green grain, gently waving in the breeze. Beyond the plain, and almost directly north of us, rise the hills of Galilee. Upon the first ridge, but partially concealed by a small basin in the hills, lies the city of Nazareth. The other villages of Galilee are hidden from view among the rugged hills. The Sea of Galilee too is out of sight, but towering majestically above all sur rounding hills, and crowned with perpetual snows, stands Mt. Hermon, that silent guardian of the North,-;! : Stretching away to the south and east of Hermon, lies the great plain of the Hauran, the granary of Syria and Palestine. South of the Hauran the mountains of Gilead, Amon, and Moab rise abruptly from the Jordan valley, standing like a grim, impenetrable wall in the pur ple haze. Between us and them lies the deep trench of the Jordan. We cannot see the floor of the valley, but so abruptly does it drop away, that we feel as if we were standing upon the verge of a mighty chasm which sank into the very bowels of the earth. The impression which this mighty cleft makes upon one, cannot adequately be described. Far to the southeast, though hidden from us in the bottom of its subterranean chamber, lies the Dead Sea. When viewed from the Mount of Olives, which is' on the east of Jerusalem, it is truly beautiful. It seems that the Almighty Artist could not have painted it a more beautiful blue, if He had dipped His brush in the azure skies of the cloudless heavens above, yet it lies there below us bearing mute, testimony to the certain fate of one who receives but never gives—dead! W here . T he S on of G od T rod We have seen the Holy Land. And now the question arises, “Why has such a small land exerted such a power ful influence over the affairs of men and of nations in all ages of time?” We can discover the answer in a scene immediately below us. Look over to the east, where the narrow valley in which the city of Shechem is located opens out into a small plain. There, almost at our feet, lies “the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well is there.” Upon the stone beside that well there sat, one day* One who said, “Whoso ever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whoso ever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never th irst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” The experiences of men throughout nineteen centuries are testimony of the truth of these words. These experiences have proved to men that He who spoke those words was the Son of God. Palestine is the Holy Land because it was pressed by the feet of the Son of God. That is reason sufficient for the influence of this small land over the lives of men for the centuries gone by.
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W hy is the House ofGod Forsaken?
The Average Church T HE accompanying chart prepared by the Lord’s Day Alliance reveals something of what has happened and gives “A Modern Answer to an Ancient Question.” This chart is the result of a two-year study of church attendance in New York state, outside of New York City, in the churches of nearly all the representative Protestant bodies. The chart represents a church auditorium, drawn to scale) to seat the members of the average church, using seven representative bodies as the basis of computation. There were 987 churches included in the study where the attendance was actually counted, not estimated. These churches averaged 211 members per congregation for the entire state. Non-resident members are not included where church records list them separately. All the services recorded were in the morning, save in a very few churches where afternoon services were the chief, or only, services of the day. The squares on the chart represent the actual average attendance at those services, plus ten per cent to allow for those in some churches who do not go to church if they think' their pastor is not going to speak, or who have not the courage to face vital problems. The smaller squares represent children. The actual average attendance was 52.8 persons, or 25 per cent of the mem bership of the average church in New York state. This indicates that in the average Protestant church in the Empire State three members out of every four are some where else than in the House of God on the average Sab bath morning. When Nehemiah returned from Babylon, where he had been on affairs of state, he found that the ordinances of worship in Jerusalem had almost ceased; the sanctuary was deserted and the people scattered. He went to those in authority and said in the earnestness of his soul, "Why is the House of God forsaken?” He sought and found an answer to his own question which is most illuminating, as he gives it in Nehemiah 13:15 and forward. The sum of this answer is stated in two words, “ S abbath D esecration .” That was the ancient answer. What is the “Modern Answer” to this same question? Refer again to the chart, and note the result of a series of “Round Table Conferences” in which this very question was faced seriously by pastors and laymen. They are the answers gathered from the field. Possibly others might be given under each heading, but these are sufficient to chal lenge attention.
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