of the name. They are scenes of strife and misery. They are gardens without flowers, temples in ruins, palaces with every beautiful ornament destroyed. Thank God, that to most of us at least home means everything that is dear and precious. I remember when I was a boy being sent away to a boardingschool, and if ever a little fellow was homesick, I was. And why did I think so much of home? Oh, it was because there was so much love there. The very atmosphere was summer, and I longed to be in it as much as ever a flower languished for the reviving shower. If you were sent away among strangers, how your young hearts would yearn to get back again! "Home, sweet home; there is no place like home." And this is just what God is to all his children-a home, a place of love. Mother, father, wife, children, are but faint, faint images of God. He is the fountain of all their affection. There is no place in the universe so safe and so delightful. Dear children, God is willing to become your home now. He is inviting each one of you to come to Him. As the little birds seek shelter and comfort under the parental wing, so may you under the broad and feathery pinions of your heavenly Father's love. "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,' and you are in God's bosom, in God's heart. The angels have not a richer, brighter, happier home than have they who believe. The moment you accept Christ as your Saviour, God becomes your habitation. How rich, and safe, and happy must they be who are living in God's heart! Oh, dear children, come! The door is open; the table is spread with everything that you can need; bright spirits are waiting to minister to your happiness. Come now, and make God your home. BENJAMIN D. THOMAS. The Bible and Modern Discovery, Phoenician Influence on the I SHALL endeavour to show how intercourse with the Phoenicians affected the Jews as indicated in Bible history; and I shall begin with that department with which the Phoenicians attained to their greatest celebrity-navigation. The first record of direct intercourse between the two nations in maritime affairs was when King David began to collect materials for building the temple. Then 66 the Sidonians and they of Tyre brought much cedar-wood to" him (1 Chron. xxii. 4). The intercourse was developed by the ambition of Solomon and his passion for wealth and splendour. The caravans which had hitherto brought to Jerusalem the treasures of Arabia and the East did not satisfy him, and he resolved to take the trade into his own hands by sending a fleet to the Indian Ocean. To construct and navigate a fleet, however, was beyond the skill of the Israelites; so we are told Solomon "made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber on the shore of the Red Sea and luxury, and their usual concomitants in the East, moral degeneracy and gross debauchery, soon undermined the purity and power of prince and people. The first open manifestation of the degrading corruption of the court was given during the visit of the Queen of Sheba; and it soon spread over the kingdom. (See 1 Kings x. xi.,; 2 Chron. ix.) Solomon established a harem on a scale of unprecedented magnitude. Foreign women were brought into it, and they introduced not only the profligacy but the idolatry of their native countries. They "turned away the king's heart," and he became their slave. He built temples and shrines to their idols, and sanctioned rites in Israel which were inhuman and impure. The worship of the true God was undermined, and a system of reckless immorality and godless anarchy was initiated, which led to the speedy dismemberment and the eventual overthrow of the kingdom. The scientific acquirements and technical skill of the Phoenicians were taken advantage of by the Jews in other ways. The Phoenicians were apparently of Egyptian origin, and they brought from that country a knowledge of architecture which was unequalled in Western Asia. Some splendid examples of their architectural genius may still be seen in the colossal ramparts of Gebal, and among the ruins of Tyre, Sidon, and Arvad. When King David resolved to build a palace, he employed Phonicians to execute the work. Hiram, king of Tyre, was his friend and ally; and we are told that Hiram "sent messengers to David, and cedar-trees, and carpenters, and masons; and they built a house for David." (2 Sam. v., 11; cf. 1 Chron. xiv. 1.) These were of course sent by sea from Gebal, at the foot of Lebanon, to Joppa. So also, when David was collecting materials for the the temple, "the Sidonians and they of Tyre brought cedar-wood" (1 Chron. xvii. 4). And when Solomon began to carry out the designs of his father, he wrote to Hiram, asking for skilled workmen; and he replied, "I have heard of the things which thou sentest to me for; I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and timber of cypress. My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea, and I will convey them by sea in rafts to the place that thou shalt appoint me. And they got out great stones, costly stones, hewn stones, to lay the foundation of the house. And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the Gib| lites" (wrongly translated “stonesquarers") "hewed them" (1 Kings v.). Some of those "great stones are still in their places in the outer wall of the temple court, measuring nearly forty feet in length; and recent research has brought to light the Phoenician characters which the Giblite masons inscribed upon them to mark their places in the building. Solomon also wrote to Hiram for an artist to execute the ornamental work of the interior; and Hiram replied: "I have sent a wise man, endued with understanding, namely Huram, my chief (workman), the son of a woman of the daughters. of Dan, but his father was a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver; in brass, in iron, in stone and in timber; in purple, in blue, and in fine linen and in crimson; also to carve all carving, and to devise every device which shall be put to him, with thy wise men (2 Chron. ii. 13, 14). This most accomplished artist, we are told, was son of a Danite woman, no doubt belonging to that section of the tribe which captured and colonized the old Phoenician city of Laish (Judges xviii.), and perhaps also a descendant of that Aholiab who was one of the two artists employed by Moses in decorating the tabernacle (Ex. xxxi. 6). J. L. PORTER, D.D., LL.D.. LOMBARD STREET & CHARING CROSS, LONDON. ESTABLISHED 1782. Insurances against Loss by Fire and Lightning are effected upon every scription of Property, in all parts of the World, on the most favourable terms. The settlement of claims arranged with promptitude and liberality, this mpany having already paid for Losses more than FOURTEEN MILLIONS STERLING. } WILLIAM C. MACDONALD, Joint Rates and Particulars of Insurance may be obtained at the Chief Offices, MBARD STREET and CHARING CROSS, and from the respective Agents of the mpany throughout the Kingdom. SALMS & HYMNS for the SERVICE OF SONG IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, HOME, & SUNDAY SCHOOL. ollected and Edited by the Rev. W. Hope Davison. The most complete Hymnal yet published. Contains Chants and Anthems, well as Psalms and Hymns, obviating the use of several volumes in rship. LONDON: The Office of THE PREACHERS' MONTHLY, 84, Hatton Garden. BOLTON: Tillotson & Son. HE NEW SABBATH HYMNAL FOR THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, HOME, AND SUNDAY SCHOOL. Collected and Edited by Rev. W. HOPE DAVISON. Contains 429 Hymns, Chants, and Anthems for Sunday Schools, Mission Rooms, and General Worship. Price 6d. IE GOOD MINISTER OF JESUS CHRIST. By the Rev. W. HOPE DAVISON. Price 3d. NDON: Office of "The Preachers' Monthly," 84, Hatton Garden. |