Bolivar Central School - Gusher Yearbook (Bolivar, NY)

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26 BOLIVAR HIGH SCHOOL BLIZZARD” archy but at last the people became (lissatished with the judges and asked that a king be given them. The people wished particularly to have a king in order to have a closer union and a stronger government which they could not very easily have when the government was led by the judges. They deemed it best to have a monarchy because Canaanitish tribes were so near and so dangerous to a nation that was exposed to an attack. The government was changed to a monarchy and Saul, of the tribe of benjamin was chosen as their king. The chief reason that he was chosen was because of his commanding stature and royal aspect. He subdued the enemies of the Hebrews successfully, brought the tribes into union, and settled the affairs of the new state, but he also carried on many wars with the neighboring states, the Ommonites, the Philistines and others. Towards the close of his reign Saul lost his reasoning faculties, had many tits of gloom and despondency ami tin-ally passed into actual insanity. Thus the closing years of his life were clouded by insanity. However, at last he and also his three sons fell in a battle with the Philistines upon Mount Gilboa. The second king of the monarchy was David, son of Jesse, of the tribe of Judah. The prophet, Samuel, had prophesied for David to expect tlu crown. He had to crush the attempt of Saul’s son to gain the crown before he could begin to enlarge and to strengthen his dominion. After doing this David seized the strong fortress of Jehus, possessed by the Jebusites, which was in the midst of the district allotted to Judah. This fortress was one of the many Canaanitish strongholds in the land, the defenders of which the Israelites had been unable to dislodge. He changed the name from Jehus to Jerusalem and established his capitol there. He built a royal palace at Jerusalem with the aid of the Phoenician artists. David transformed the war-like tribes into a conquering people. By his conquests he extended the limits of his empire on all sides especially on the north and south. In the north he extended it to the Euphrates and on the south to the Red Sea. He waged a great many wars of extermination against the troublesome tribes of Noah and Edom. David led the Philistines into slavery during his reign by simply slinging a stone which hit the leader of the Philistines on his head and killed him. He developed the Hebrew literature a great deal during his time. He sang lyric songs, of such a spirit of devotion and trust that since his day they have been a source of comfort and inspiration to thousands. He wrote mostly all of the psalms which are a book of the Bible. At the close of his reign he began to collect material for building a magnificent temple but lie was not able to realize this hope because of his death. The third and last king was Solomon, the youngest son of David. The eldest son of David was not allowed to be king because of making a conspiracy against his father and he was also dead at the time the power of reigning would have fallen into his hands. The eldest, son’s name was Absalom and the second was Adonijah, who was excluded from reigning because of a crime similar to that of his elder brother. Solomon gave his kingdom an air of oriental magnificence. However he did not possess David’s talent in military affairs but he erected the temple according to David’s plans. lie did this with the aid of King Hiram of Tyre, one

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BOLIVAR HIGH SCHOOL ‘ BLIZZARD 25 The Hebrew People By VELMA GREEN '27 The Hebrews were a Semitic nation. They were men of the desert just as the Egyptians were men of the Nile River valley. They were wandering shepherds for many years and taught Christianity during these years. The Hebrew stmy begins with the departure of Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, about 2000 B. C. He had higher ideas of God than did his countrymen so naturally he became discontented with the religion. In his wanderings with his family and followers while hunting for the promised land and also a place where they could secure food he went to the Nile valley in Egypt and finally settled in Canaan. They lived peacefully in Egypt for a while but developed so great in numbers that the Egyptians were afraid of an uprising by the combined forces of the Hebrews and other enemies of the Egyptians. There arose a new dynasty of kings who at last drove them into slavery • and oppressed them sorely. This was really caused hv the antaganism of the people concerning their religions. The Hebrews were believers of monotheism whereas the Egyptians were believers in the worship of animals and nature. At last while the Egyptian government was in a state of disorder the oppressed people, being encouraged by Moses, their leader, decided to migrate from the country. They crossed the bead waters of the Red Sea and at last became wandering shepherds of the desert again. The pharaoh of Egypt gave them permission to go because he thought it would be a relief but very soon after they were gone he was sorry he gave them permission to go so he immediately gathered a large army of foot soldiers and chariots and pursued the fugitives. He overtook them just as they reached the Red Sea and it would have been sure destruction for the fleeing multitude had the quick sands of the Red Sea not compelled the “Pharaoh” and his army to return. Then an event which was called the “Exodus” occurred. This was a forty years’ period of wandering by the Hebrew people led by Moses and later by Joshua, Moses’ successor. They were kept together thru forty years of wandering just by the tact of their leader. He taught them to believe that their final deliverance was in Jehovah, the one and only God whom they should worship. Joshua, having overthrown the city of Jericho with its strongly built walls by the help of their in.,,, Jehovah, conquered Palestine and settled down there. The land was divided among the twelve tribes. These twelve tribes were Judah, Issachar, Zebelun, Reuben, Simeon, Gad, Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin, Dan, Asher, and Naphtali. Each of these had separate captains whom it is needless to name. They became an agricultural people instead of pastoral and tilled the soil. During this time there arose a line of national heroes who were called judges since they performed a kind of judicial function. However, there was no individual leader and the government was really an an-

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BOLIVAR HIGH SCHOOL “BLIZZARD” 27 of his close friends, who supplied him with the celebrated cedar of Lebanon and also with the Tyrian architects, the most skilled workmen in the world at that time. He also huilt other sumptuous palaces of beautiful architecture and adornment. lie built Hoots on the Mediterranean sea and Red sea for the purpose of extending commerce with Egypt and the East. He amassed enormous wealth by sending ships to the most remote regions of Asia and Africa and appropriating the wealth that they brought with them on their return. Tadmor, a city built to be used as a sort of caravansary, was built to facilitate the overland trade of the Euphrates valley and other regions. Tadmor was built in the midst of the Syrian desert. This wealth and glory was purchased at the price of his nation’s honor as he impoverished his subjects and entirely disregarded the laws of Moses. The Hebrew kingdom became practically an oriental monarchy as did Babylon. He married an Egyptian princess and that was partly what caused him to adopt eastern habits and customs. The wisest king of the East was Solomon, he was versed in botany, being acquainted with all the plants and trees that he could possibly learn about. He was witty as is shown by his proverbs. Tt is said that he had seven hundred wives of all different nationalities and religions. Tn the end Solomon became a worshipper of idols and thus turned the whole kingdom against himself and also prepared a way for the dissensions and wars that followed after his death. He used all of the country’s resources and left it nearly bankrupt. When Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, became king the people begged him to enlighten the heavy taxes that his father had enforced. Rehoboam refused to do this so ten of the tribes, all except Benjamin and Judah, revolted and took Jeroboam as their king. The ten tribes which were in the north were called Israel, with Samaria as its capital, and the two tribes in the south under the reign of Rehoboam, with Jerusalem as its capital was called J udah. lien these are torn in twain it makes them an easy mark for the monarchies in the neighboring districts. The kingdoms are so destined to he ground to pieces by the larger kingdoms. During the time these two kingdoms are in existence, they do not accomplish much. These is a struggle going on between the two religious parties during the time Israel exists for a period of about two hundred and hftv years. The worshippers of idols light for their religion just as the monotheistic people light for their religion and neither party gains anything in the conflict. At last Israel fell into the power of the Assyrian king Sargon II and he took them to Nineveh where they are simply lost in history. A few of the poorer class of Jews remained but not enough to unite and accomplish anything. During this time the kingdom of Judah was also having religious dissensions but existed for about four centuries. A line of eighteen kings ruled Judah until Babylonia began to extend west and Judah had to acknowledge Babylonia’s superiority. Nebuchadnezzar then destroyed the kingdom and carried the captives away to Babylonia. Afterwards, however, they were allowed to return to Jerusalem as subjects of Cyrus, the Persian king. Cyrus permitted them to restore the temple in Jerusalem for worshipping their God. Thus Jerusalem again became the center of He-