and sorely punished, emboldened the people in trans-
gression of God's commandments. And Solomon's
life, after a morning of so great promise, was darkened
with apostasy.
Desire for political power and self-
aggrandizement led to alliance with heathen nations.
The silver of Tarshish and the gold of Ophir were pro-
cured by the sacrifice of integrity, the betrayal of sacred
trusts. Association with idolaters, marriage with heathen
wives, corrupted his faith. The barriers that God had
crected for the safety of His people were thus broken
down, and Solomon gave himself up to the worship of
false gods. On the summit of the Mount of Olives,
confronting the temple of Jehovah, were erected gigan-
tic images and altars for the service of heathen deities.
As he cast off his allegiance to God, Solomon lost the
mastery of himself. His fine sensibilities became blunted.
The conscientious, considerate spirit of his early reign
was changed. Pride, ambition, prodigality, and indul-
gence bore fruit in cruelty and exaction. He who had
been a just, compassionate, and God-fearing ruler, be-
came tyrannical and oppressive. He who at the dedica-
tion of the temple had prayed for his people that their
hearts might be undividedly given to the Lord, became
their seducer. Solomon dishonored himself, dishonored
Israel, and dishonored God.

The nation, of which he had been the pride, followed his leading. Though he afterward repented, his repentance did not prevent the fruition of the evil he had sown. The discipline and training that God appointed for Israel would cause them, in all their ways of life, to differ from the people of other nations. This peculiarity, which should have been regarded as a special privilege and blessing, was to them unwelcome. The

Intermingling

with Idolaters

Apostasy

simplicity and self-restraint essential to the highest development they sought to exchange for the pomp and selfNational indulgence of heathen peoples. To be "like all the nations "1 was their ambition. God's plan of education

Overthrow

God's Plan
Unchanged

"For Our Admonition"

was set aside, His authority disowned.

In the rejection of the ways of God for the ways of men, the downfall of Israel began. Thus also it continued, until the Jewish people became a prey to the very nations whose practises they had chosen to follow. As a nation the children of Israel failed of receiving the benefits that God desired to give them. They did not appreciate His purpose or co-operate in its execution. But though individuals and peoples may thus separate themselves from Him, His purpose for those who trust Him is unchanged. "Whatsoever God doeth, it shall

be forever."2

While there are different degrees of development and different manifestations of His power to meet the wants of men in the different ages, God's work in all time is the same. The Teacher is the same. God's character and His plan are the same. With Him "is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."

994

The experiences of Israel were recorded for our instruction. "All those things happened unto them for ensamples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. With us, as with Israel of old, success in education depends on fidelity in carrying out the Creator's plan. Adherence to the principles of God's word will bring as great blessings to us as it would have brought to the Hebrew people.

Lives of Great Men

"THE FRUIT OF THE RIGHTEOUS

IS A TREE OF LIFE"

SACRED history presents many illustrations of the

results of true education. It presents many noble examples of men whose characters were formed under divine direction; men whose lives were a blessing to their fellow-men, and who stood in the world as representatives of God. Among these are Joseph and Daniel, Moses, Elisha, and Paul,-the greatest statesmen, the wisest legislator, one of the most faithful of reformers, and, except Him who spoke as never man spake, the most illustrious teacher that this world has known.

In early life, just as they were passing from youth to manhood, Joseph and Daniel were separated from their homes, and carried as captives to heathen lands. Especially was Joseph subject to the temptations that attend great changes of fortune. In his father's home a tenderly cherished child; in the house of Potiphar a slave, then a confidant and companion; a man of affairs, educated by study, observation, contact with men; in Pharaoh's dungeon a prisoner of state, condemned unjustly, without hope of vindication or prospect of release; called at a great crisis to the leadership of the nation,-what enabled him to preserve his integrity?

No one can stand upon a lofty height without danger. As the tempest that leaves unharmed the

Results

of True Education

Joseph

Prosperity

flower of the valley uproots the tree upon the mountain

top, so do fierce temptations that leave untouched the Perils of lowly in life assail those who stand in the world's high places of success and honor. But Joseph bore alike the test of adversity and of prosperity. The same fidelity was manifest in the palace of the Pharaohs as in the prisoner's cell.

Joseph's Early Years

The Crisis

In his childhood, Joseph had been taught the love and fear of God. Often in his father's tent, under the Syrian stars, he had been told the story of the night vision at Bethel, of the ladder from heaven to earth, and the descending and ascending angels, and of Him who from the throne above revealed Himself to Jacob. He had been told the story of the conflict beside the Jabbok, when, renouncing cherished sins, Jacob stood conqueror, and received the title of a prince with God.

A shepherd boy, tending his father's flocks, Joseph's pure and simple life had favored the development of both physical and mental power. By communion with God through nature and the study of the great truths handed down as a sacred trust from father to son, he had gained strength of mind, and firmness of principle.

In the crisis of his life, when making that terrible journey from his childhood's home in Canaan to the bondage which awaited him in Egypt, looking for the last time on the hills that hid the tents of his kindred, Joseph remembered his father's God. He remembered the lessons of his childhood, and his soul thrilled with the resolve to prove himself true,-ever to act as became a subject of the King of heaven.

In the bitter life of a stranger and a slave, amidst the sights and sounds of vice and the allurements of heathen worship, a worship surrounded with all the

of

attractions of wealth and culture and the pomp royalty, Joseph was steadfast. He had learned the lesson of obedience to duty. Faithfulness in every station, from the most lowly to the most exalted, trained every power for highest service.

At the time when he was called to the court of Pharaoh, Egypt was the greatest of nations. In civilization, art, learning, she was unequaled. Through a period of utmost difficulty and danger, Joseph administered the affairs of the kingdom; and this he did in a manner that won the confidence of the king and the people. Pharaoh made him "lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance; to bind his princes at his pleasure, and teach his senators wisdom."1

The secret of Joseph's life Inspiration has set before us. In words of divine power and beauty, Jacob, in the blessing pronounced upon his children, spoke thus of his best-loved son:

"Joseph is a fruitful bough,

Even a fruitful bough by a well;
Whose branches run over the wall;
The archers have sorely grieved him,

And shot at him, and hated him;

But his bow abode in strength,

And the arms of his hands were made strong

By the hands of the mighty God of Jacob;

Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee;

And by the Almighty, who shall bless thee

• With blessings of heaven above,

Training

for Service

Secret of

Joseph's
Greatness

Blessings of the deep that lieth under;

The blessings of thy father have prevailed

Above the blessings of my progenitors

Unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills;

They shall be on the head of Joseph,

And on the crown of the head of him that was separate