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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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^ h # craftily entered the C ^ ri ^ tian cJmrch to spy its liberty and agato c tp ; briag it into slavery * XIauvv Sqxwv is the . gpithet of Josephysy y ^ hleb is t £ e vq * y : wor < l used by the apostte in regard to the sarnsmen , GaL vi . 3 *
The conversion of tfelen and her son was an event which Jbad no connection with the Jewish Antiquities ^ and the historian evi * deritly has travelled ptit of the records in relating it . But he had an .. important end in view . He describes these illustrious
converts as exhibiting the most engaging virtues , and sharing in the most trying situations the peculiar protection of God : ctnd the object of Josephus ev idently was to re ? commend the Christian , faith to
the world by delineating zts fi ap * PV effects on thed / iaractei * of Izates and Ms mother , and also tKe providence of the Almighty over those ivhoembraced and practised ity though persecuted for a $ ea
son . One incident in the conduct of Helen ought not to be oinitted , and is thus recorded by Joseph us : cc Helen , the king's mother , seeing the affairs of the kingdom in
peace and prosperity , and her son . blessed and admired by all his subjectej and even by foreign mations , entertained a wish to visit Jerusalem , there to hail the temple of God , s ^ o celebrate d over
the world , and to offer sacrifice in tokep of her gratitude * Ac-^ cprdingly she begge 4 the permission of her son to > effect this purcose , which he readily granted ;
and , having jmade ample p rovi-. sions for her journey a 64 furnish - ed her with vast sums ef money , Jie accompanied her for in the ^ v ay to that city . H ^ r visi t was
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very beneficial to the iurrabitanfs pC Jerusalem , fot in consequence of a iSamine afflieling ^ tbe city at that tinae , she dispatched some of h&v attendants ta Jtleieandria with m on © y ^ to putdhase large
stores of corn j others to : Cyprus , to bring thence a carg <» of figs # X ^ ese provisions her se rvants col - lected with the greatest « xpedL tipn , and she distributed them to those who were in want 5 and by this beneficenqe shewtt feall our
nation , she left behind her the most lasting monumeafo J Her son Izates , also liaving x heard of die famine ^ sent" large supplies of money to the great men of Jerusalem ^
Learned men have observed , that the famine here noticed is the same with that mentibi ^ d ta the Acts , The inhabitants of Ju * dea who suffered most by the fiu mine vrgie the followers of Jesu ^; and this for two reaso *> % ; liSecau $ e
these in general were of ifie poorer classes , and because the more opulent among them made themselves poor by a voluntary distribution of their property * This was ojie of the great evils to which the first believers were
exposed by their peculiar situation ; and while the wisdom of God ordained this evil , the goodness of God provided means to alleviate it . For the disciples , whose lot
it was chiefl y to suffeiy were dp * prised of it long before it arrived . Prophets in consequence were sent to the distant opulent towns to collect provisions before the
famine took placev This was an event which finely illustrated the fayour of God in behalf of the converts , and could not fail to produce th' 4 most happy influence on the minds of thousands . TM
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108 Conversion of HcltnltndIzaiez
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1811, page 108, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2413/page/44/
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