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CLIPPINGS FROM THE AFC I ENT PRESS
The Death of Moses.
As it might habe been told by a good nelvspaper
correspondent.
(From The Jericho Tribune. Editorial.)
The Tribune desires to announce that it has dis
patched one of its most trusted correspondents to
tlie army of Israel which is moving in this direction.
He has been instructed to spare no expense in giv
ing our people all the news of the movement so that
we may be prepared for any emergency.
Moses, who is in charge of this movement, claims
that he has been commissioned of God to lead his
people from Egypt to occupy all the land of Pales
tine which was promised to the father of the Isra
elites in the long ago. In searching the records we
learn that Abraham, a man of considerable import
ance and wealth, came into Palestine from Ur of
the Chaldees and claimed that all the land had been
given to him and his people by their God and in his
own good time he would deliver it to them. That
time seems to be approaching if it is not already
upon us. An army of enormous size, all descend
ants of Abraham, has been brought from Egypt in
this direction by a man named Moses who has per
formed miracles too numerous to mention. They
have been marching around the country for a long
time, gradually taking possession of it. It is a most
remarkable army, for the women and children ac
company it and the worship of their God is never
neglected. When supplies fail they arc furnished in
a miraculous manner by the God who guards them
and who guides them by a pillar of cloud by day
and a pillar of fire by night.
Pharaoh’s army pursuing them was drowned in
the Red sea; from Mount Sinai in the midst of thun
der, lightning and smoke God gave them a code of
laws to govern them and they have subdued every
nation that has lifted its hand against them. Arad
the king of Canaan has been defeated by them and
his cities have been destroyed, Midian has fallen
before them, Og, the King of Bashan, and Sihon,
King of Heshben, with their cities, have been de
stroyed, all Gilead is in the hands of Israel and the
signs of the time indicate that our own city will
sooner or later fall into their hands. A crisis is
approaching and we call upon the leading men in
Jericho to get together and decide upon some plan
of action.
In of ail these things we have dispatched our
correspondent to the scene and he is instructed to
send all news just as soon as it happens. He will
keep our people fully posted as to the movements
of the Israelites.
ISRAEL’S GREAT LEADER IS DEAD.
(From The Jericho Tribune. Special Correspond
ence.)
Mount Nebo. Moses the great leader of the army
of Israel is dead and Joshua, the son of Nun, has
been appointed in his place. Just what bearing this
will have upon the movement of the army re
mains to be seen.
A mystery, strange and. deep, in keeping with
the mysteries that have surrounded this movement
upon Palestine, surrounds the death of Moses, for
no man saw him die and no man has looked upon his
body. And yet there seems to be no doubt as to
his death. On the day that he was one hundred
and twenty years old he called the people together
and addressed them. His personal appearance
would command respect anywhere. He is tall and
yet compactly built and has about him the bearing
of a man born to command. Time has dealt kindly
with him and her finger marks have left few im
prints upon his handsome face. His large, well set
head is covered with a mass of silken hair that falls
in graceful waves across his shoulders, while his long
beard, reaching to his waist, is as white as the
snows that crown the crest of Lebanon.
His step is quick and elastic, more like a youth
of twenty than an old man of one hundred and
twenty. But the most striking feature of this re-
The Golden Age for January 24, 1907.
By ALEX W. BEALER
markable man is his eye which is undimmed by age
and is piercing in its intensity. There was a flash
of victory in his glance, softened by a look of sor
row, as he faced the people he had called together.
He spoke slowly and very deliberately, but very
tenderly and every word was heard. His address
made a profound impression upon the great congre
gation that was often moved to sobs at what he had
to say.
It was a never to be forgotten scene. There was
an air of peace hovering over the fertile valley of
Moab whose waving grasses, green trees and bloom
ing flowers reached to the feet of Mount Nebo
whose rugged outlines were sharply silhouetted
against the bright blue of the overarching sky.
There was >an air of deep solemnity pervading the
great congregation gathered there, for every soul
seemed to know that a message of unusual impor
tance was to be delivered to them. Thousands of
people were gathered in a semi-circle (around an
elevated position and the hum of their voices, as
they talked in subdued tones, sounded like the
murmur of the sea or the coming of a storm in the
wilderness.
When Moses appeared he walked through the
gathering, saluting the men who greeted him as ho
passed. He ascended the elevated position, and,
seating himself in full view of the whole company,
began his address. He toid them that God had
revealed to him that he could not go with them
across the Jordan into the land he had promised
them, he bade them be of good courage as God
would go before them and would subdue all their en
emies. Joshua, the son of Nun, he said, had been
chosen as his successor, and here he paused to
call the new leader to the front. He came and
fixing his piercing eye full upon him Moses said to
him, “Be strong and of good courage; for thou
must go with this people unto the land which the
Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them;
and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.”
It was a solemn scene as the old man, with moist
ened eyes, gave his commission into the hands of his
successor and from every side the sound of weeping
and loud lamentation was heard, to think that the
man who had been with them for so many long
years should soon be among them no more.
Following the commandment that had been given
to Moses, he and Joshua presented themselves in
the tiabernaele of the Lord, while all the people bow
ed themselves in reverent worship at a respectful
distance. A sort of haze began to gather above the
tabernacle while the two men were within. It
grew denser and denser until it formed a tall
pillar of cloud that gleamed with a rosy glow and
all the people, at sight of it, prostrated themselves
upon their faces to the earth. On coming out of
the tabernacle Moses delivered a song or an oration
to the people, one filled with striking images which
made a profound impression upon them. He caused
them to mourn by telling them that certain awful
calamities would come upon them on account of
their sin. he brought thrills into their hearts by
predicting certain death to all who opposed them in
their onward march, and lifted them up in enthusi
asm by many brilliant passages in his address.
Among other fine passages was this one, in speak
ing the mind of God: “If I whet my glittering
sword and my hand take hold of judgment I will
render vengeance to mine enemies and will reward
them that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk
with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh. Re
joice 0 ye nations, for he will avenge the blood
of his servants and will render vengeance to his
adversaries.”
Rising up, filled with an emotion that swept
like a storm across his congregation, the grand look
ing old man blessed his people, calling many of
them by name and concluding with these words:
“The eternal God is thy refuge and underneath
are the everlasting arms; and he shall thrust out
the enemy from before thee and shalt say, Destroy
them. Israel then shall dwell in safety along-,
the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn
and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew.
Happy art thou, 0 Israel! who is like unto thee, O
people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help,
and who is the sword of thy excellency!”
Having thus delivered himself the old man, with
quivering lips, waved a sad farewell to his weep
ing people, many of whom crowded forward to
kiss his hands, and walking with a firm step
through the weeping host ho took his way across
the plain, the voices of lamentation calling after
him as he went. Without looking back he ascend
ed the steeps of Nebo to meet God alone, the people
said, to look out over all the surrounding coun
try, including Jericho, to die in the arms of his
God, to have the kiss of the Eternal imprinted on
his lips, to be laid by angel bands in an unknown
grave over which the cedars chanted a requiem and
on which no man shall ever look.
Although no one has seen the dead Moses the
people have accepted his death as a. fact, and are
looking to Joshua for orders.
The Work of a Hundred Years
For a Hundred Years.
Phe following extracts from a recent addretes
delivered at Minneapolis. Minn., before the Minis
ters’ Association, by Dr. Stanley B. Roberts, pas
tor of Bethlehem Presbyterian Church, will be of
interest to our readers, and we only regret that
space forbids our printing more than the sentences
q unit ed:
“For over a. hundrc|d years a battle royal has
been going on between sobriety and inebriety.
“Within the last fifty years temperance reformers
have taken high ground in the main. There have
been compromising attempts in the form of high
license and the dispensary, but these have proved
to be failures as far as lessening the volume of
drink, and at the same time fastened the saloon
more tirmily upon the people, as far as its political
power is concerned. The result has been the driv
ing of the question further and further toward the
final solution, i. e., abstinence for the individual
and prohibition for the state and nation.
“During the last fifty years the Church has been
thundering its denunciations against the traffic, and
has been educating the children and youth to a high
standard of thinking and acting upon the great
question, still the black flood of intemperance has
been increasing. Forty years ago the consumption
per capita was four gallons; today it is over nine
gallons.
“This may seem discouraging, but it only demon
pirates upon the one side greater debauchery, while
upon the other side there is more determined and
intelligent acition
“To those who have watched the progress of the
cause throughout the land, there must have come
good cheer from the industrial and commercial cen
ters. The business world is demanding clear think
ing and straightforward living in the fierce com
petition of the day, and drink and cigarettes and
tobacco are the deadly enemies of all this, so the
drink and the saloon are tabooed by the very cir
cumstances of the ease, and the mighty forces of
commerce and industry are arrayed against them in
American life.
“Stale and local prohibition, from Maine to
Tqxais, and from Florida to Washington, is making
great progress. Vermont and lowa have shown a
temporary retrograde movement, but there is today
more prohibition territory than ever before. The
South is a conspicuous example and shows below
the Mason and Dixon line fewer saloons than in the
single state of New York.
“The navy has no longer its ration of grog, and
is free from drink, while the army is free from
the canteen in its post exchanges. So, in army
and navy the cause is marching on.
“The Church and the ministry have, in the 20th
century, a great opportunity—let Olli'S be the vio
tory-” . .. . _ j
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