Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1894-02-09
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON VI, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, FEB. II.

DRY Verses. :, - Golden Text, Gen.
XIV, G-Commentary by the Tsev. ID. NJ.
Stearns.
1. "And when Abram was ninety years
old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram
and said unto him, | am the Almighty
God; walk before Me and be thou per-
feet" 1t is now "a years since Abram
entered the land of Canaan (see chapter
xii, ~, during which time Lot left him
and went to dwell in Sodom, while Abram
removed his tent and altar to Hebron (xiii,
IL, lS). At this time the Lord appeared
and renewed the covenant. We next see
Abran rescuing Lot and his goods from
the -four kings, and being blessed by Mel
| chizedec he gives him tithes and is ena-
| bled to refuse the goods of Sodom. In
| chapter XIV the Lord comes to 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
! blank of l3 years compare xvi, 10, and
xvii, y, after which in this lesson JehO-
yah appears again but with new name
God Almighty, or FL Shaddai. AL
mighty, Or Shaddai, signifies the all suffi
cient one and is suggestive of bountiful,
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 see margin), for am th e power
! full, ali sufficient one-El Shaddai-and in
Me alone you will find all your need.
.. "And will make my covenant be
tween Me and thee and will multiply thee
exceedingly" Thirteen times do we find
the word covenant in this chapter and
once in Nv, is, making Il full twice seven,
| Gods perfect number Nine times He
says Only covenant. emphasizing the fact
| that it is all of Him. He is the author and
| iinisher of it, and it cannot fail. The time
will surely come when, Notwithstanding
all their wanderings lie will 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 CActs v, 81; Zech. xii, 10;
xiii, | Mic. vii, POI.
3. "And Abram fell on his face, and
God talked with him, saying" This posi-
/ ton Is suggestive of weakness unworthi-
ness, nothingness on the part of Abram,
but of worship and alteration toward God.
| When Jesus appeared to John on Patmos,
John fell at his feet as dead. So also Dan
| iel, when he saw the glory of the Lord, fell
ground Drew i, II; Dan. X, ~. Isaiah
said, 'Woe is me, for | am undone,' and
job said ~ abhor myself lisa. vi. 3 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.
1. AS for Me, behold, My covenant is
with thee, and thou shalt be father of
! many nations The details of the cove
nant are more fully unfoded with every
new statement of it. First. God would
| make of him Il 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
marginD Whatever fulfllment of this
there WAS in the descendants of Ishmael
and of the SONS of keturah there is doubt
less II fulfllment to he manifested in the
coming ages We do well To hold fast the
promise and wait with expectation. He
will do exceeding abundantly above all
our thinking
3, Neither shall thy name any more
be called Abram, but thy name shall be
Abraham, for II father of many nations
have made thee" Some of the scholars
which signifies father is the first two
letters Alb. The addition to his name is
most suggestive. The new consonant add
ed is ii, which is the principal letter in
God 5 great name-.Iehovah ID III 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 is in connection
with the promise ~ will dwell in them
and walk in them and is conditioned
upon complete separation from all unbe
lief and uncleanness III Cor. vi, 1919.
&. "And | will make thee exceeding
fruitful, and will make nations of thee,
and kings shall come out of thee" The
new feature here is the last clause con-
corning kings Inasmuch as all in Christ
are children of Abraham, and all in Christ
are kings and priests unto God and shall
reign on the earth, we shall certainly see
fulfllment in the coming kingdom gal.
iii, 30; Rev. v, Q, 10; Luke xix, ~. AS
to fruitfulness, some of the last words of
Jesus are concerning the much fruit that
gloriies God and how we may bear it (see
John XIV, and the secret of it is ever in
this lesson, our emptiness, and God in us
the all sufficient one Read also Rom.
vii, 4.
Z. "And | will establish My covenant
between me and thee, and thy seed after
, thee in their generations, for an everlast-
, ing covenant, to be Il God unto thee and
I TO thy seed after thee" The everlasting
| covenant is mentioned again in verse 10 in
connection with Isaac the promised seed,
, type of Christ, the true seed, who is also
3 son of Abraham Gal. iii, 49, Math. i, y,
: and son of David, in and through whom
+ all the promises shall be literally fulfilled
: and all mysteries made clear as MONDAY.
, s. And will give unto thee and to thy
, seed after thee the land wherein thou art
n stranger, all the land of Canaan for an
5 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 out of it than in it, the prophets
abundantly testify. Among the plainest
I statements see Eek. xXxvii, 81, %; Amos
q tx, 10; Jer. xxi, 1910 and listen to these
wonderful words of Jer xxi, Al, ~ will
plant them in this land assuredly with
! My whole heart and with My whole soul. u