An' shot the Bear, he did, an' killed him dead! An' lit wite side o' where the Big Bear's at. An' nen the Big Bear's awful mad, you bet!- Than the old Bear kin climb, you know.-But he- An' so here come the grea'-big Bear, he did,- Bear Wuz wite clos't to him-nen the Little Boy No load uz anymore nen in the gun! But th' Little Boy climbed higher up, he did He climbed lots higher-an' on up higher- an' higher An' higher-till he ist can't climb no higher, 'Cause nen the limbs 'uz all so little, 'way Up in the teeny-weeny tip-top of The tree, they break down wiv him ef he don't He looked around-An' here come th' old Bear. He's got to ist git out o' there some way! 'Cause here come the old Bear!-so clos't his bref's Purt 'nigh so's he kin feel how hot it is Ag'inst his bare feet-ist like old "Ring's" bref So when th' old Bear's so clos't-the Little Boy Ist gives a grea'-big jump for 'nother tree- The Little Boy does:-W'y, nen-w'y, he-Oh, yes- 'At's in the tree-an climbs in there an' hides— An' nen the Old Bear can't find the Little Boy The Little boy's gun 'at 'a up there-cause the gun Out where the Little Boy's hid at. -An' nen-nen- An' takes his ax an' chops the limb off!.... Nen TH Bible Lessons Jan. 1906. 1ST QUARTER. Lesson I.-Jan. 7. HE SHEPHERDS FIND JESUS.-Luke 2:1-20. LESSON KEY-NOTE:-"For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ thy Lord." Time: -We do not know just what time of the year Jesus was born. Some say December sometime, some say February, some, April. We celebrate Dec. 25, but that was probably not the date. We did not begin to count dates from the birth of Jesus until about 530 years after he was born; then the date was fixed by a monk named Dionysius Exiguus, who is said to have made a mistake of about four years. So Jesus was born four years before our Christian era began. Place:-Bethlehem, a small town about five miles south of Jerusalem, the birthplace of David. It is now a town of about 8,000 people. An order was issued for everybody to go to his own town to be enrolled for taxation. It was the first enrollment had under Quirinius, governor of Syria. Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem for that purpose, as Joseph was of the house of David. When they got there, they found all the hostelries and boarding houses full, and they were assigned for lodging to a sort of cave or grotto where sheep were sheltered of nights. But the place had been cleaned and fitted up for the accommodation of guests and Joseph and Mary had very comfortable lodging quarters. The old ideals about Mary lying in a hay rack or trough and the cattle feeding about her are pure fancy. There Jesus was born. I believe there is no better established fact of history than this, that has occurred even half so long ago. We have the four gospels, Paul, Josephus and the Talmud corroborative of the fact. At that time Augustus Caesar, the adopted son of Julius Caesar, was emperor of Rome, and Herod, called "The Great", the first of the Herods, was King of Judea. Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth, Galilee, at the time, a town of rather bad repute. The story the Shepherds told of seeing and hearing a host of angels, may have been either truth or fancy. Mr. Ingersoll used to say that the only thing known about angels is that nobody ever saw one. Anyhow, according to the artists, they are all pretty young women. here. Notice, that the Holy Ghost origin is not mentioned Verse 16 says that Joseph, Mary and the babe were all lying in the manger. Wetstein has shown from a multitude of instances that the Greek phatnee, here translated "manger", does not mean a trough or hay rack, but the whole barn or sheep house fitted up for a temporary inn. Mary remembered and pondered over the things the shepherds told her that the angels said to them. Wilson gives verse 14 this translation: "Glory to God in the highest heavens, on Earth peace, and among men good will." Jesus was the Prince of Peace and good will, in whose name there have been more blood-shed and cruelty than in any other name. But he was not to blame for that. 1. Give an account of Jesus' origin. 2. What was the message of the Shepherds? 4. What are angels? 5. How was Jesus a Prince of Peace? 6. Who is the Christ? 7. How is the Christ a Savior? Lesson II.-Jan. 14. THE WISE MEN FIND JESUS.-Matt. 2:1-12. LESSON KEY-NOTE:-"My Son, give me thine heart." old. Time:-When Jesus was about six or eight weeks Place:-Bethlehem is where the wise men found Jesus. They came from Persia. This story does not give the names or number of these wise men. We have other records which say they were three kings, named Melchior, Balthazor and Caspor. They were followers of the Zoroastrian philosophy. We have a tradition that Zoroaster, who lived and taught 6,000 years before Christ, predicted the coming of Jesus and had it placed upon record that the star would appear, instructing his magi to follow the star and find the babe. These three men were Persian Magi, or wise men, prophets or priests. They said they followed a very bright star which went before them and stood over Bethlehem. They brought rich gifts and called him "King of the Jews". This title troubled Herod and he set about to locate the child that he might kill him. The wise men went back home another way, not through Jerusalem, so that Herod could not ascertain through them where the child was. You remember Herod's cruel act afterward; but Joseph had had warn |