fonv 
 
 #S3l 
 
 now israei was 
 Conf Pam 12mo #592 
 
No. 79. 
 
 HOW ISRAEL WAS DELIVERED FROMTWO 
 CRUEL INVASIONS. 
 
 1, INVASION OF THE MOABITES AND OTHERS, 
 
 2 Chron. chap. 20, to verse SI. 
 
 It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, 
 and the children of Amnion, and with them, other beside the 
 Ammonites, came against Jehosbaphat to battle. Then there 
 .came some that told JeKbshaphat, saying, There cometh a 
 great multitude against thee from beyond the seaon-this side 
 Syria, and behold they be in Hazazon-Tamar, which ia En- 
 gedi. And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the 
 Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Ju- 
 dah gathered themselves together to aakrhefp of the Lord: 
 even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the 
 Lord. 
 
 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and 
 Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord before the new court, 
 and said, Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in 
 heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the 
 heathen ? and in thy hand is there not power and might, so 
 that none is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God, 
 
who^didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy 
 people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend 
 forever ? And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a 
 sanctuary therein for thy name, sayirig, If, when evil com- 
 eth upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, 
 we stand before this house, and in thy presence (for thy 
 name is in this house) and cry unto thee in our affliction^ 
 then thou wilt hear and help. And now behold, the children 
 of Amnion, and Moab, and mount Seir, whom thou wouldst 
 not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of 
 Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not : 
 behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of 
 thy posession, which thou hast given us to inherit. our 
 God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against 
 this great oompany that cometh against us? neither know 
 we what to do : but our eyes are upon thee. And all Judah 
 stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives and 
 their children. 
 
 Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zachariah, the son ol 
 TSenaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite 
 of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord, in 
 the midst of the congregation : and he said, Hearken 
 ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou 
 king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you ; Be not 
 afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude 
 for the battle is not yours but God's. To-morrow go ye down 
 against them : behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz, and 
 ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilder- 
 ness of Jeruel. Ye shall not need to fight in th ; s battle; set 
 yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the 
 Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem ; fear not nor be die- 
 
3. 
 
 mayed ; to-morrow go out against them, for the Lord will be 
 with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face 
 to the ground : and all Judah, and the inhabitants of Je- 
 rusalem, fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord. And 
 the Levites, of tho children of the Kohathites, and of the 
 children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the Lord God of 
 Israel, with a loud voice en high. 
 
 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into 
 the wilerness of Tekoa : and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat 
 stood and said, Hear me, Judah, and ye inhabitant of Je- 
 rusalem ; Believe in the Lord yoyr God, so shall ye be es- 
 tablished ; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. And 
 when ha had consulted with the people, he^appointed Singers 
 unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiuess, 
 as they went out before the army ; and to say, Praise the 
 Lord, for his mercy endureth forever. 
 
 And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set 
 ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and 
 mount Seir, which were come against Judah, and they were 
 smitten. For the children of Ammon and Moab, stood up 
 against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and de- 
 stroy them : and when they had made an end ot . the inhabi- 
 tants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. And when 
 Judah came towards the watch-tower in the wilderness, they 
 looked unto the multitude, and behold, they were dead bodies 
 fallen to the earth, and none escaped. And when Jehosha- 
 phat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, 
 they found among them in abundance both riches with the 
 dead bodies, and precious jewels which they stripped off tor 
 themselves more than they could carry away : and they 
 were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much. 
 
4. 
 
 And on the fourth day as they assembled themselves in the 
 valley of Berachah : for there they blessed the Lord : there- 
 fore the name of the same place was callen the valley of Be- 
 rachah unto this day. Then they returned, every man of 
 Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoehaphat in the forefront of 
 thsm, to go again to Jerusalem with joy ; for the Lord had 
 made them to rejoice over their enemies. And they came to 
 Jerusalem with psalteries, and harps, and trumpets unto the 
 house of the Lord. And the fear of God was on all the 
 kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the 
 Lord fought against the enemies of Israel. So the realm of 
 Jehoshaphat was quiet; for his God gave him rest round 
 about. » 
 
 2. INVASION BY SENNACHERIB, KING OF ASSYRIA, 
 
 2 Chren. chap. 32, to verse 24. 
 After these things and the establishment thereof, Sennache- 
 rib, king of Assyria, came and entered into Judah, and en- 
 camped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them 
 for himself. And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was 
 come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem, 
 he took counsel with his princes, and his mighty men, to 
 stop the waters of the fountains, which were without the city 
 and they did help him. So there was gathered much people 
 together, who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that 
 ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the 
 kings * of Assyria come and' find much water? Also he 
 strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was bro- 
 ken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, 
 and repaired MUlo w the city of David, and made darts and 
 
Aields in abundance. And he set captains of war over the 
 people, and gathered them together to him in the street of 
 the gate of the city, and spake comfortably to them, saying : 
 Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for 
 the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with 
 him : for there be more with us than with him. With him is 
 an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us, 
 and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves 
 upon the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah. 
 
 After this did Sennacherib, king of Assyria, send his ser- 
 vants to Jerusalem (but he himself laid aeirje against Lachish, 
 and all his power with him) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, 
 and unto all Judah that icerc at Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith 
 Sennacherib, king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye 
 abide in the seige in Jerusalem? Doth not Hezekiah per- 
 suade you to give over yourselves to die by iamine and by 
 thirst; saying, The Lord our God shall deliver us out of the 
 harrd of the king of Assyria? Hath not the same Hezekiah 
 taken away his high places, and his altars, and commanded 
 Judah and Jerusalem, saying : Ye shall worship before one 
 altar, and burn incense upon it? Know ye not what I and 
 my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands ? were 
 the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver 
 their lands out Of my hand/ Who ivas there among all the 
 gods of those nations,. that my lathers utterly destroyed, that 
 could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should 
 be able to deliver you out of my hand? Now therefore let 
 not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persude you on this manner, 
 neither yet believe him : for no god of any nation or kingdom 
 was able to deliver his people out of my hand, and out of 
 the hand of mv fathers ; how much less shall vour God de- 
 
G. 
 
 Uver you out of mine hand? And his servants spake yet 
 more against the Lord God, and against his servant Heze- 
 kiah. He wrote also letters, to rail on the Lord God of Israel, 
 and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations 
 of other Jands have not delivered their people out of my 
 hand: so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his out of 
 my hand. Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews' 
 speech unto the people of Jerusalem that were onthe wall, to 
 affright them, and to trouble them, that they might take the 
 city. , And they spake against the God of Jerusalem, as 
 against, the gods of the pe©"ple of the earth which were the 
 work of the hands of man. For this cause Hezekiah the 
 king, and the Prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and 
 cried to heaven. 
 
 And the Lord sent an Angel which cut off all the mighty 
 men of valor, and the leaders and captains in the camp of 
 the king of Assyria: so he returned with shame of face to 
 his own land. And~when he was come into the house of his 
 god, they that came forth of his own bowels, slew him there 
 with the sword. Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah, and the in- 
 habitants of Jerusalem, from the hand of Sennacherib, the 
 king of Assyria, and from the hand of all others, and guided 
 them on every side. And many brought gifts unto the Lord 
 to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah, king of Judah: so 
 that he was magnified in the sightof all nations, fro.n thence- 
 forth. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 What did Jehoshaphat when he was told of the great 
 army that was coming against him ? From whom did he 
 seek help? Why? What did the people of Judah? Can 
 we expect to prosper without trusting in the Lord? Why 
 not ? ' Do you put your trust in him ? 
 
 Did Hezekiah prepare to defend Jerusalem against Senna- 
 cherib? What did he? What said he to the people? — 
 Why were there more with him than with the enemy? Have 
 we more with us than our enemies ? Why do you think so i 
 
No. 80. 
 
 THE CAPTAIN OF SALVATION. 
 
 BY REV. P. A. PENICK, OF N. G 
 
 It is the glory and .safety of a people, in times of war 
 to honor and obey their legitimate and trust-worthy offi- 
 cers. Jesus Christ is commissioned from Heaven as the 
 Captain ef Salvation, in the bitterest war that was ever 
 waged on this earth. "For we wrestle, not against flesh and 
 blood, but against principalities, against powers, against 
 the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual 
 wickedness in high places." His jurisdiction includes, 
 not only all civilians, but all officers as well as privates in 
 the army, whether of invasion or of delence. Christ, 
 therefore, is legimately the trust-worthy Captain of Sal 
 vation for us all. 
 
 Now a word to soldiers, whether officers or privates, in 
 our noble army of defence. Were you members of the 
 Christian Church before entering the army ? If so. Christ 
 is confessedly your Captain. You have enlisted under his 
 banner. You are pledged to follow him. He is drilling 
 you for, and leading you in the conflict against sin and the 
 devil — against the world and your corrupt nature — a host 
 of deadly enemies to your souls. He commands you to 
 follow him, through evil and good report, to victory and 
 to glory. To do this, you must place implicit confidence 
 in Him, closely imitate his example, stand constantly by 
 his side, and promptly execute his commands. As sol- 
 
diers of the cross, whether in the army or in domestic 
 life, you are daily to deny yourselves, take up your cross 
 and follow Chris^ your Captain — yea, constantly to watch 
 and pray and fight against fcemptatioa and sin — walking 
 circumspectly before Him and all around you, in fear and 
 godliness. But, instead of tl you ceased, in the 
 
 bustle of camp life, to watch and follow Christ ? 
 
 Have you lost sight of your lin, and. deserted his 
 
 colors and fallen into the r- "Hy around 
 
 you? If so, you have back-slide'a fi 
 graced yourselves, dishonored yOiir C no se- 
 
 rious injury to your ungodly associates. ^red- 
 
 ly traitors to the cause of Christ, and th 
 of his wrath. Nevertheless, He calls y a to 
 
 your allegiance to Him, and offers you pardon an , : i 
 tion,. upon your immediate and penitential return, 
 you return f 
 
 But are there not many of you who have never enlist- 
 ed under the banner of Christ ? The war of conquest 
 against your souls is raging around you. Jesus Christ, 
 the Prince of Peace as well as the Captain of Salvation, 
 says to you : "Follow me." He offers to recruit you into his 
 service. He forces none — will have none but volunteers. 
 Enlist under Him, and He will train you for His service, 
 accompany you through the whole campaign, give you a 
 rich bounty of Grace, make you more than conquerers. 
 and then crown you with crowns of victory. Will you 
 give Him your name, and with it — your heart ? 
 
Hollinger Corp. 
 P H8.5