ish_."[14] Jewish prophets, as they
spake of Him in their predictions, called Him "_The Righteous_ (_or_
HOLY) _Branch_."[15] Apostles, as they wrote about Him, said "_He was_
HOLY, _harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners_."[16] When He was
Himself on earth, He could challenge His bitterest foes, "_Which of you
convinceth me of sin?_"[17] And when He came down, soon after His
ascension, from His throne in the skies, we find Him proclaiming as His
name, "_He that is_ HOLY, _He that is True_!"[18]

Reader, remember this. Jesus never could have saved you unless He had
been "glorious in holiness." If He had had one sin in Him, you and I
must have been lost for ever. Just as one leak in Noah's ark of old
would have sunk it, so one leak of sin in Jesus, the true Ark, would
have plunged us all in the depths of eternal despair. Let us, then, love
often to walk round the walls of KEDESH, and think of _our_ "City of
Refuge" as "_The_ HOLY _Child Jesus_."[19]

And when you ponder _His_ holiness, seek to be holy, as _He_ was. How He
hated sin! How He loved to do His heavenly Father's will! How gentle,
and good, and kind He was to all! He never was angry, or passionate, or
revengeful. When a youth, at His early home in Nazareth, "He increased
in favour with God and man."[20] Be _like_ Jesus in His _holiness_! Let
_KEDESH_ be a word written on your young hearts! Whenever you are in
trouble or difficulty, or temptation, always ask, "How would the HOLY
JESUS have acted here?" Turn the words of your well-known hymn into a
prayer. While you say--

"I love the NAME of Jesus,
Immanuel, Christ the Lord;
Like fragrance on the breezes,
His _name_ abroad is pour'd;"--

seek also to add--

"I long to be _like_ Jesus,
Meek, lowly, loving, mild;
I long to be _like_ Jesus,
The Father's HOLY Child!"

[Illustration: Shechem]

Second City--Shechem.

Shechem was situated at the extremity of a valley among the hills of
Ephraim. The famous mountains of Ebal and Gerizim rose on either side,
from the slopes of which the blessings and the curses of the law were
proclaimed in the ears of assembled Israel. If Jerusalem was the
greatest and the grandest of the cities of Palestine, Shechem was
perhaps the most beautiful. It is still spoken of by travellers as one
of the loveliest spots in the Holy Land, with its orchards of olive,
fig, and pomegranate, and its flocks of singing-birds, which have made