nasseh arrived in Samaria, indignant with Nehemiah, and determined to
have his revenge. He and his father-in-law were resolved not to be
outdone by the Jews. They in Samaria would build a grand temple, just as
the Jews had done in Jerusalem. One hill was as good as another, so they
thought; their own Gerizim, with its lovely trees and its sunny slopes,
was as fair or fairer than Mount Moriah.

So they set to work with all their energy, to build the rival temple on
the very hill where 1000 years before, in the time of Joshua, the
blessings of the law had been read, whilst the curses were pronounced
from the hill on the opposite side of the valley, Mount Ebal.

Here then, on Gerizim, the mount of blessing, rose the new temple, which
was built with one object in view, that it might outvie in splendour the
one in Jerusalem. When it was finished, Manasseh was made the rival high
priest, and was able to do what he liked, and to exercise his authority
in any way he pleased in his father-in-law's province.

Nor was Manasseh the only priest in the Gerizim temple; many other
runaway priests joined him, all who were angry with Nehemiah, all who
were offended or touchy, all who thought themselves injured in any way,
all who had been found fault with for Sabbath-breaking or for any other
sin, left Jerusalem for Samaria--chose the temple of Mount Gerizim
instead of the holy temple on Mount Moriah.

Yet of the Samaritans it is said:

'They feared the Lord, and served their own gods.'

It was a half-and-half religion, Judaism and heathenism mixed up
together, the worship of God and the worship of idols side by side.

Satan, now-a-days, has his modern temple of Gerizim. He does not try to
lead nominal Christians to throw up religion altogether, for he sees
that it would be of no use to do so. He knows we have a conscience, he
knows that conscience is often busy, he knows that we fully believe that
some day we must die, and that after death will come the judgment, and
he sees therefore that we shall not be satisfied without some kind of
religion. So Satan tries to tempt us to the Gerizim temple. Serve God by
all means, he cries, but serve the world too. Go to church, say your
prayers, have a fair polish of Sunday religion; it is decent, it is
respectable, it is what is expected of you. But yet, at the very same
time, serve the world, please yourself. Take part in any pleasure that
attracts you, live as you please, enjoy yourself to