In the twentieth chapter of II Samuel there is the account of Sheba, a man of Belial, who attempted a rebellion against King David. After disclaiming any loyalty to David or any inheritance with his forefathers, Sheba advised those who heeded him to revolt with him, saying, "Every man to his tents, O Israel." "To his tents" meant, of course, the putting on of armor and the preparation for combat with the king's forces. The revolt was very brief, being abruptly terminated when a wise woman of the little town of Abel turned Sheba over to the army of David.
Subduing revolts, that is, silencing aggressive mental suggestions of disloyalty, disobedience, and egotism, has special interest for the student of Christian Science, because daily he is compelled to overcome so-called evil forces. Though they appear to be part of his everyday affairs, their overcoming takes place within his own consciousness. Aggressive mental suggestions will continue until the entire world discerns that evil, so called, is a pretender, a falsity, an illusion, a helpless, unreal counterfeit of true being. Christian Science reveals and demonstrates the fact that evil is never a person, a place, or even a thing. Evil, or error, is never other than a misstatement, an untruth, whether it claims to be sin, sickness, disease, death, or any other discord. St. Paul saw this clearly and said, "I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Though evil appears to be repeating itself in aggressive forms today, even as it did in David's time, when it also resisted true authority, its insubordination to Truth must be proved unavailing, and its false claims of presence and power annulled. Even as the self-assertiveness of Sheba was brought to a quick end by a wise woman, so today, through the wisdom of a wise woman, Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, we have the authority and power to destroy quickly the aggressive suggestions of evil through the application of Christian Science, which Mrs. Eddy defines in "Rudimental Divine Science" (p. 1) as "the law of God, the law of good, interpreting and demonstrating the divine Principle and rule of universal harmony."
