Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1894-02-10
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON VI, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, FE6. II.

Nv, documentary b. the > ~ ID. II.
stearns.
/. "And when Ahram was ninsty years
old and nine, the Lord appeared TO Ahrani
and said unto him, / am the Almighty
God: walk before Me and be thou per
feet 1t is now "a years sinsc Abram
entered the land of Canaan tsee ehapser
xii, 81, during which time lot left him
and went to dwell in SodORi, while .ibram
removed his tent and altar to Hebron txiii,
10, lS). At this time the Lord appeared
and renewed the covenant. We next see
Abram rescuing Lot and his goods from
the four Kings. and being blessed by Mel
chizedec he gives him tithes and is cna-
blr,l to refuse the goods of SodoM. In
chapter Nv the Lord comes 10 him again,
and we have for the first time fear not.
shield, reward, believe, Righteousness and
other words. Then follows another story
of human wisdom and weakness. and a
blank of Is years compare xvi, 10, and
xvii, ~, after which in this lesson .Jeho-
yah appears again, but with II new name
God Almighty, or El Shaddai. Al
mighty, or Shaddai, signifies the all ruffi
cient one and is suggestive of bogntiful.
self sacrificing love pouring itself out for
others Jehovah virtually said to Abram,
You have again listened to human wis
dom, wandered from Me and failed, now
return and walk before Me sincerely up
rightly tsee margin), for | am the power
full, all sufficient oae-El Shaddai- and in
Me alone yoa will find all your need.
2. And l will make my covenant be
tween Me and thee and win multiply thee
exceedingly" Thirteen times do we Gnd
the word covenant in this chapter and
once in XIV, Is, making a full twice seven,
Gods perfect number. Nine times lie
says My covenant, . emphasizing the fact
that it isGll of Him. He is the author and
iinisher of it. and it cannot fail. The time
will surely come when. notwithstanding
all their wanderings, He viii yet give them
repentance and remission of SINS and will
perform the truth to Jacob and mercy to
abraham which He has sworn from the
days of old lActs V, 81; Zeeh. xii, 10;
xiii, /; Mic. vii. 20l.
3. "And Abram fell on his face, and
God talked with him, saying. This posi-
ton il suggestive of weakness, unworthi-
ness, nothingness, on the part of Ahram,
but of worship and alteration toward God.
When Jesus appeared to John on Patmos,
john fell at his feet as dead. So also Dan
tel, when he saw the glory of the Lord, fell
on the ground, with his face toward the
ground (Rev. i, II; Dan. X, -. Isaiah
said, "Woe is me, for am uudone aud
job said. al ;bhor myself lisa. vi, 5; job
xiii, g. \ sight of the Lord and His
beauty and holiness delivers Us from say
ing or thinking anything more about our.
selves and enables us TO glory only in the
Lord.
4. "As for Me, behold, My covenant is
with thee. and thou shalt be Il father Of
many nations. The details of the cove
nant are more fully unfolded with every
new statement of it, First, God would
make of him a great nation, then they
should be as numerous as the dust of the
earth, then as the stars of heaven, then
they would have great substance, but now
he is to become multitude of nations (see
margin) Whatever fulfiilment Of this
there was in the descendants of lshmae
and of the sons of Keturah there l. doubt
less fulfillment to be manifested in the
coming ages. We do well to hold fast the
promise and wait with expectation. lie
will do exceeding abundautly above all
our thinking
5. "Neither shall thy name any more
be called Ahram, but thy name shall be
Abraham, for father of many nations
have | made thee Some of the scholars
may not know that the part of the name
which signifies father" Is the first two
letters Alb. The addition TO his name is
most suggestive. The new eonsonant add
ed is II, which is the principal letter in
God 3 great name-Jehsvah u II V H.
so that it appears as if God breathed Him
self into Abram The only place the name
Almighty is found in the New Testament
outside Of Revelation il in connection
with the promise II will dwell in them
and walk in them, and is conditioned
upon complete separation from all unbe
lief and uncleanness I'll Cor, vi, 1918,
g. "And | will make thee exceeding
fruitful, and viii make nations Of thee
and kings shall come cut of thee" The
new feature here is the last clause con
corning kings. Inasmueh as all in Christ
are children of Abraham, and all in Christ
are kings and priests unto God G,ad shall
reign on the earth, we shall certainly see
fulfillment in the coming kingdom (Gal
Iii, 30; Rev. V, Q, 10; Luke xix, M As
to fruitfulness. some Of the last words of
Jesus are concerning the much fruit that
glorifies God and how we may bear it (see
John XIV, and the secret of it is even in
this lesson, our emptiness. ard God in us
the all sufficient one. Read also Rom.
vii, 4.
I. "And viii establish My covenant
between me and thee, and thy seed after
thee in their generations, for an everlast
ing covenant, to he God unto thee and
to thy seed after thee" The everlasting
covenant is mentioned again in verse 9 in
connection with Isaac, the promised seed
type OF Christ, the true seed, who is also
son of Abraham (Gal iii, 10: Math. /. y,
and son of David in and through whom
all the promises shall be literally fulfilled
and all mys cries made clear IT'S MONDAY.
8. "And will give unto thee and TO thy
seed after thee the land wherein thou art
a stranger, all the land of Canaan for an
everlasting possession, and | will be their
God" AS to the breadth Of the land see
chapter XIV, IS, and notice that it reaches
TO the Euphrates. That it shall be theirs
forever, although they have as yet been
longer oct Of it than in it, the prophets
abundantly testify. Among the plainest
statements sc Eek. xxXYii, 81, %: Amos
tx, Is; Jer. xxi, $40, and listen 10 these
wonderful words of Jer. xxi. Al, ~ win
plant them in this land assuredly with
My whole heart aud with My whole soul.
Whoever can doubt that IL shall be so Is
surely worthy Of the name of infidel.
.. "And God said unto Abraham. Thou
shalt keep My covenant, therefore, thou
and thy seed after thee in their genera
tons" Then follows an account Of that
which they were 10 keep, even the rite OF
circumcision, ms q token Of the covenant.
The bow ia the cloud did not make the
covenant with Noah any more sure. but
was the visible token that there was such
IA covenant. Circumcision did not make
Abraham more righteous (R9m. w, III
nor the covenant more sure, but was the
outward sign that all such were included
in the covenant which was before estab-
lished Its true significance Is seen in
Deut. Xxx, @; Jer. Nv, 4 Col. ii, III Gal.
vi, Is
"After the Ball"