THE KING’S BUSINESS
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rious' personage appear in Hebrew history, and with what marvelous miracles are his golden footsteps at tended! He pours a rain of fire on Sodom, and opens a fountain for Hagar in the desert, and provides a lamb for Abraham’s altar; he smites the firstborn of Egypt, and guides the exodus of Israel; he arrests Balaam with his drawn sword of flame, and consumes Gideon’s cakes with mirac ulous fire; he ascends unharmed in the flames of Manoah’s sacrifice, and smites 185,000 Assyrians in one night; he preserves the three holy children in the furnace, and Daniel in the den of lions; he announces the birth of John Baptist and Jesus, and conducts the celestial choir in the anthem of the nativity; he rolls back the stone from the sepulchre of Jesus, and opens the prison door for Peter. A REAL POWER. The angel of the Lord was to the Hebrew the synonym of the unmis takable power of God. No theory of rationalism could account for his august and awful interpositions—and here he is especially connected with answers to prayer! There is no mis taking the Bible doctrine on this sub ject. When such events as these can be explained by natural causes, by self-scrutiny, self-conquest and self culture, then prayer may be brought down to the level of natural philos ophy and moral philosophy. But un til then, there must remain in this mystery a supernatural factor. And in confirmation of this Biblical doctrine I shall array some examples and proof of the supernatural force working in response to believing sup plication. The examples, selected al most at random, are chosen not so much for their startling andpexcep tional character, as to illustrate a pos itive result, not to be explained by the plausible philosophy already re ferred to.
It has been customary for skeptics to account for answers to prayer by a theory of coincidences—or a mere accidental correspondence between the thing sought and the thing obtained. This might do in one or two cases ; but the testimonies to answered prayer run through the whole history of faith and supplication; and not the ignorant alone, or the highly imagi native, whose superstitions or fancies might be supposed to invest events with a needless dignity, but the most intelligent, sober-minded and cautious disciples form the great cloud of wit ness-bearers. J We read of the marvellous deliv erances of Israel. Are there no cor responding interpositions in more re cent times ? A remarkable case- of deliverance from persecution, and of punishment^ visited upon cruel persecutors, is re -' corded of the Jewish colony at Alex andria, about two hundred years be fore Christ. FUTILE ANGER. Ptolemy- Philopator, furiously an gry at the refusal of the High Priest to permit him to invade the temple courts at Jerusalem on his return to Egypt, flung into prison all the Jews upon whom he could lay his hands. There was at Alexandria a huge hip podrome used for gladiatorial shows, and here a host of captives were con fined. The king decreed that ele phants, made furious by intoxicating and stimulating drugs, should be let loose upon them in the arena of this amphitheatre, and allowed to trample them to death. For two days his own drunken revels delayed the execution of this horrid decree, and for two days there went up ceaseless prayer to Israel's God that he who delivered Daniel from the lions, would rescue his helpless people. The third day came, and the infur iated monsters were driven into the
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