Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1894-05-30
rnE SUNDAY SCHOOL

flLct4 tcr ~ II lOr 81
Tnn sEcrioS or HISTORY. Chaps n
,nd ~
TnE-B G issl. rs the fun moon of Abis
tAiso Cailcd NisAnl. the latter part OF March or
early In Aprfi Good Friday aud Easter come
~ ~ sane time % The year and are movable
ieasts. the exsct urnc % which n calculated in
the sane wsy a. thc Passover tRruTsch anu
o;hcrs thi1k the date was about n {. iSool
PLAcK The land % Goshen. In Egypt The
uady Tumilat beginning hear ismAiliA. on tho
socf canal and eKtendiug westward about
eighty miles Marrow a. thc eastern end. "a
fraiuaiiy widen- to~ara The west II was one
81 me ucst hca9tifui districts % Egypt
PHARAOH rs probably NencphtAh son OF
asmeses n
CONFIRMATION striking 70 say. a rnonu.
neut connrms ~ lat that Menephtah during
his lifetime lOst HE eldest son. Who bore the
same mans az himself THIS urince. associated
sin ham on ne throue lcctnpaFc N 81 l. COM
nsuorAted On = colossai status of his father
nov In thr musrum "a hcrifn. He l. the son
whom Mcuephtah loves. shoCravs toward nim
his fNtnsr = heart M royal scricc. the singer,
the chief ~ M archsrs thc Prnce Neucphtah.
ths blessed, e.. the Departed
LEssoS MOTIFS
Pharaoh Hardcns Ills Heart-For
nine months plague after plague falls
successfully upon the Egyptians with
terrible severity, and Yet Pharaoh'S
heart h hardened. In other places il
is said that God hardened Pharaoh's
heart ln what way2 Much light h
thrown upon this question by an at
tentive study 81 the narrative.
1. THREE words are used In the
original. all tran slated harden"
equivalent "a make hard" heavy"
firm"
.. Harden Il used nineteen times in
this account. in which IL l. said eleven
times that God hardened Pharaoh's
heart, three times that he hardened IL
himself, and FIVE times simply the fact
that IL was hardened. and all these
words Of the original are used In each
case.
3. In the narrative Of what actually
took place, - il not tin after the sixth
plague and the seventh use OF the
word, that IL il said that the LORD
hardened his heart, and only after the
eighth plague is the agency exclusively
ascribed To God.
Submission now would have meant
prudence, not penitence; and it was
against prudence, not penitence, that
he was hardened. because he had re-
sisted evidence, experience. and even
II only means that for him the last five
plaques were not disciplinary. but
wholly penal. "Callousness was fol-
lowed by infatuation, as even the pa
gans felt that whom God wills TO ruin
He first drives mad Chadwick
4. God did precisely the same things
that he had been doing all along with
the express design of making Pharaoh
let the people go. The revolving idea
that God sends His Holy Spirit 20 hearts
with the express design of hardening
them finds no warrant in the Scrip
lures. The office of the Holy Spirit is
to soften and win the soul. johnson.
God did 70 Pharaoh exactly what He
in the beginning did to Moses. and for
the same purpose. "-Robinson
3. Everything God did was right and
good, and this good was used as the
occasion for Pharn oh TO harden his
heart. 1t is the same to-day.
6. God made the natural laws under
which Pharaoh acted, and by Iuisusing
which his heart was hardened. Every
act of resistance and disobedience al
ways hardens the heart.
:. When Pharaoh had hardened his
own heart, so that there was no posi-
bic hope OF his yielding obedience.
then God, by His providence. by natural
law, perhaps by the withdrawal of
special influences, let him go on in his
high-handed and blind course to his
own destruction. This was the fruit
and punishment of Pharaoh's harden
ing his own heart. God never hardlens
a willing and obedient heart.
The Birthday of the Nation.-Vcrses
l, 2. Now began new era and epoch
in the history of Israel. 1t was like
the motto on the reverse of the United
States seal, "a new order of the ages"
1t was the birthday of the nation and
needed special commemoration.
Anniversary days. o. The change
of the year marked the great impor-
lance of the events IL COMMUNICATED.
(2) 1t brought TO mind every year the
great truths and lessons of the events.
Through the constant observance of
this ordinance, their literature, their
religion, their character as a people,
were largely nodded; and, i'm an age
when books were almost unknown, the
constant representation OF this first
great scene in their history served all
the purposes which to-day are answered
by our children's histories and our pub
lie schools. Rev. William Taylor.
(8) IL pointed them to Coz. as the
source Of their national life and hope.
a. II ever reminded them OF the priv
ilege and duty Of beginning anew their
lives. OF makinga new era, new epoch.
90 For like reasons 10 Is well for us
TO commemorate the great days of our
lives, birthdays. wedding-days, con-
versions 10 is well 70 commemorate
the great days Of the nation and OF the
church OF Christ
The Institution Of the Passover. vs..
8-1t. The Hebrew Pesach Greek.
Pascha) and the English Passover have
exactly the same meaning 90 pass
over or spare-and they are derived
from the fact, mentioned in v. i3. that
the destroying angel would pass over
al houses whereon was the blood Of
the Pascal lamb. and not destroy the
6rst-born there.
PRACTICAL gU0cEsTfONs
Gods ncrcics. II misused. His invi-
tations. IL rejected, IFS providences. II
resisted. hardSn the heart against
every influence for good.
VS.. &c. The lamb slain was a tvpe
Of Christ, pure. innocent, perfect, slain
for others.
The great foundation truths Of the