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The Gathering at Tabor

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 7, 1912

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 89, No. 45.

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The Gathering at Tabor

By Arthur W. Spaulding

ARTHUR W. SPAULDING
Awake, awake, O Israel! Arise, ye sons of God! And gather up your clans along the way your comrades trod, Behold, in Esdraelon’s plains the streams of Kishon run, Where meet the power of Issachar, the zeal of Zebulun. And list! and list! and ye shall hear the dauntless rallying-cry, Amid the hills where Barak leads the spears of Naphtali.
O Asher, in your havens-safe, will ye to cowardice stoop? O Gilead, ye men of Gad, when comes your vaunted troop? And Reuben mid the sheep-cotes far, and Dan upon the sea, Will ye in safety cower, and fail to set your brethren free?
The trumpet sounds from Hazor’s land, where Jabin holds his sway. Lift up, lift up your hearts, and on where Barak leads the way!
From Ephraim’s vine- and olive-yards the streams of valor pour, And Machir’s shepherds leave their flocks, and pass the river o’er; And least in Israel’s numbered host, but keen the fight to win, The gentle and the valiant hearts, come little Benjamin.
Then shrink ye from the battle’s shock? Find ye your courage gone, Where Deborah hath told the way, and Barak leadeth on?
O Meroz, Meroz! shamed be ye, that dwell within the land, And when your helpers struggle fierce, lift up no helping hand. Blest had ye been if alien blood upon this fateful day When at your doors, for Israel’s homes, is waged the bloody fray, And ye sit listless, praying not, and wielding not the sword, To bring upon your heads the curse, ye cursed of the Lord!
But lift ye up the trumpets now, and let each stirring peal Unite us in a single heart, and nerve that heart like steel! For it shall be a foughten field will test the hearts of men, That they may call on God, and never cease to call again. And it shall be a glorious field, when o’er the fateful plain The horseman and the charioteer shall flee Jehovah’s rain.
Ye leaders of the people, will ye lead your people now? Or will ye still before the shrines of Baal and Moloch bow? Who doubts God’s prophet here to-day shall perish in his pride, And in his place shall stand the men that choose Jehovah’s side. For many a one unknown to-day is written God’s ally: The Kenite’s tent is pitched among the hills of Naphtali!
Awake, awake, O hosts of God! Arise, ye that are men! The God that wrought in days of yore, shall work his works again. Cast off the shackles of your shame; rise from the place of slaves; Upon the heights of Tabor now Jehovah’s banner waves. Strike, and your God shall nerve your arm! Pray, and the Lord shall hear! Shout, for the host on Tabor’s height seeth the victory near!
Madison, Tenn.