THE LAND OF ISRAEL

Otago Witness, Issue 3332, 23 January 1918, Page 26

THE LAND OF ISRAEL

A correspondent has asked us io publish I the following : Many speakers and writers in the present day remark with contempt on the ruined city of Jerusalem. They esteem it a dirty , city, with narrow streets and;, of such small ■ extent that you could walk round it in an hour. But in Moses' time the land of Canaan was wonderful. "A good land, a, land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valley and hills, a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil, olive, and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou • shalt not lack anything in it;- a land where stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig, brass." (Duet, viii, 7-9).1n the reigns of David and Solomon the kingdom of Israel was not a- petty State, but a mighty kingdom. "Judah and Israel were many as the sand which is by the sea in multitude. . ." (I Kings, iv, 20). "And King Solomon passed all the kings of "the earth in riches and wisdom. And ,-all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart. And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and ves- | sels of gold, and raiment, harness, and ' spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year. And Solomon had 40,000 stalls for horses arid chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. And he reigned over all the kings from the river even unto the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. II Chronicles ix). When the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon she came from her far country with camels loaded with gold and spices, and precious stones as presents to the great monarch. She was accustomed to Oriental splendour, but when she came and beheld the magnificence of Solomon's court and the numerous retinue of his servants and attendants, she said to the king, "It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and tßy wisdom. Howbeit, I believed not the words until I came and mine eyes have seen it; and, behold, the half was not told me; thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. . . . Blessed be the Lord thy God, which deliprhtedi in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel. . . ." And she gave the king 120 talents of gold, and of spices, very great store, and precious stones. . . .And the king gave her all her desire, and of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants (I Kings x). "Jerusalem is buUded as a city that is compact together. Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel. . . . For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. . . . Peace be within thy walls and prosperity within Chy palaces. . ■ . Let Israel rejoice in Him that made him. let the children of Zion be joyful in their king." Ps. exxii, cxlix). "Thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty —for it was perfect through My comeliness which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God." (Ezskiel xvi. 14). "How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people, how is she become as a widow! She that was great among the nations, and prices among the provinces, how is she become tributary ! The Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions. From the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed': Jerusalem has grievously sinned, therefore is she removed. The Lord hath -.wallowed up Israel. He hath swallowed up all her palaces. All that pass by olap iheir hands at thee, they hiss and wag their lead at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth? Efer gates are sunk into the ground. Ho hath destroyed and broken her bars} :er king and her princes are among the "entiles; the law is no- more. . » Jf Lamentation of Jeremiah).