Part 15 (2/2)

All those not born into the tribe had no right, no welcome there, for their coming would tend to restrict the common pasturage. They would be a burden. Though the tent-dweller might be hospitable to a guest, an alien had no rights except on sufferance. If he were needy and were received, he usually became a serf or slave. And yet this exclusiveness is the germ of our patriotism, a n.o.ble trait that may ultimately, but not soon, be replaced by a cosmopolitan love for humanity.

Allied to this is the personal bond, that obtains in the tribe, instead of the territorial unity of the modern state. A Frenchman is such because he is born in France; an Israelite is such because he is the son of Abraham and knows his people as his blood kinsmen.

This personal tie makes for peace and democracy. Building on this Jewish tribal trait, Jesus calls all men brethren because sons of a common Father. His Kingdom of G.o.d, likewise, is not territorial.

Its citizens are bound together by the tribal bond of a common brotherhood and fatherhood. Thus the lessons, so deeply impressed in the childhood of the race, have a large and growing significance for the present and future.

_Questions for Further Consideration_.

What reasons may be given to prove that love for humanity is a virtue more useful to modern civilization than patriotism?

Does the movement for universal peace find any encouragement in the teachings ascribed to Moses?

On what grounds can the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites be defended? How did it differ from the taking of Tripoli by Italy?

Or of Porto Rico by the United States?

In the light of the oldest records, was Moses' work in your judgment accomplished by natural or supernatural methods?

What were the chief characteristics of Moses? What place does he hold in history?

Is modern socialism in any way a revival of the principles underlying the old tribal organization? How far did Jesus in his idea of the Kingdom of G.o.d build on the old tribal idea?

_Subjects/or Further Study_.

(1) Characteristics of the Wilderness South of Palestine.

Hastings, _Dict. Bib_. III, 505-6. Kent, _Bib. Geog. and Hist_., 42, 43.

(2) The Religion of Moses. Hastings, _Dict. Bib_., Extra Vol.

631-634; Marti, _Old Testament Religion_, 36-71.

(3) Compare the tribal organization and customs of the Israelites with those of the American Indian tribes of to-day. Publications of the _Indian a.s.sociation_; publications of the _Mohonk Conferences_.

STUDY XII

A NATION'S STRUGGLE FOR A HOME AND FREEDOM.

ISRAEL'S VICTORIES OVER THE CANAANITES.--Josh. 2-9; Judg. 1, 4, 5.

_Parallel Readings_.

_Hist. Bible_ II,1-4.1.

_Prin. of Politics_ X.

That the leaders took the lead in Israel, That the people volunteered readily, Bless Jehovah!

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