The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1895-10-25


without my boy? / thought he would
have been the comfort Of Fhy eeelihihs
years. thought he would have been
the hope of ages to come. Beautiful
and loving, and yet TO die under my
own hand. OH EEtl 3 there not some
cth5r sacrifice that will do? Take my
life and spare his! Pour out my blood
and save Isaac for his mother and the
world" But this was an inward strug-
gle. The father controls his feelings
and looks into his sons face and says:
Isaac, must tell you alp" his son
said, Yes, father. thought you had
something on your minds tell It." The
father said, MY sob. isaac; THOU art
the lambs oh" you say, why didn't
that young man; II he was twenty or
thirty years Of eye, sti4ite into the dust
his ihfirm father He could have done
it," All! Isaac knew By this time that
the scene was typical of a Messiah who
was to come, and so he made no strug-
gle. They fell on each others neck
and walled out the parting, Awful
and instchless scene of the wilderness.
The rocks echo. back the breaking Of
thejr hearts. Tie ery, my soil iti$
soa:" Tne answer, MY fatherI my
father!"
Do not compare this, as some people
have, to AgamemnOn, willing to offer
up his daughter, 1phigsnia, to please
the gods. There Is nothing compare
BILE TO this wonderful obedience 10 the
true. tod. YOU Know that Victims for
sacrifice were always bound, SO that
they might not struggle away. Raw
lings. the martyr. wien lie was dying
for ebrisia Aaka, said 10 .he bldck-
smith who held the manacles: "Fasten
those chains tight, now, for my flesh
may struggle nightly" So Isaac's
arms are fastened, his feet are tied.
The old man, rallying all his strength,
lifts him on to q pile Of wood.
Fastening a thong al 6ne side
of INC AitaF, lie makes it span the
body of Isaac, and fastcns the thong
at the other side the altar, and an
other thong, and another thong.
There Is the lamp Pickering in toe
wind; rssdf % be put iiridet the brush
wood of the altar. There is the knife,
sharp and keen. Abraham-struggli
with his mortal feelings on the one
side, and the commands of God on the
other-takes that knife, rubs the
fat of it on the palm Of bis
hand, cries to God for hslp, eoties up
to the side Of the altar puts parting
kiss On the brow Of his boy; takes
a message from him for mother and
home, and Their, lifting the glittering
weapon for the plunge of the death
stroke-his muscles knitting for the
work-the hand begins to descend. 1t
fullsI Not on the heart of Isaac, but
OH Tie arm of God, who arrests the
stroke, making the wilderness quake
with the cry: abraham! Abraham!
lay not thy hand upon the lad tor do
him any hRrn.."
What is this sound back In the
woodsl II IL d craeklihg as of tree
branches, bleating and struggle.
Go, Abraham; and see what ID is. Oh,
ii was II rain. that, going thfongh the
woods, has its crooked horns fastened
and entangled in the brushwood, and
could not get loose; and Abraham
siezes it gladly, and quickly unloosers
Isaac from the altar, puts the ram on
in his place, sets the lamp under the
brushwood of the altar, and as the
dense smoke IF the Sacrifice bGgihs to
riss, the blood rolls dow Che sides of
the altar, the drops kissing into the
fire, and 1 hear the words: Behold
the lamb of God, who takes away the
sins of the world"
Well, what are you Roing 30 pet out
of thisS There is an aged minister Of
the Gospel. lie says: II should get
v4N ~
to do thing, whe Their 1t seems reason
able to you are not, go ahead
and do it." Here Abraham couldn't
have been mistaken. God didn't
speak SO indistinctly that it was not
certain whether He called Sarah, or
Abimelerh, or somebody e1sei but with
divine articulation, divine information,
divine emphasis, He said. Abraham
Abraham rushed blindly ahead to do
his duty, knowing that things would
come out right. Likewise do so your
selves. There is a mystery of your
life. There Is some burden you have
to carry. You don't know why God
has put 1t on you. There is some per-
secution, Some trial, and you don't
know why God allows It. There Is a
y
enough grace, You think, to do it. Do
as Abraham did. Advance, and do
your whole duty. BE willing TO give
up Isaac, and perhaps yeI will not
have. to give up Anything. Jehovah
iiteh-the Lord will provide" A capt.
tai lesson this old minister gives Us.
Out yonder, in this house, is an aged
woman; the light OF heaven in her
face, she is half |ay through the door:
she has her hand on the pearl of the
gate. Mother, what would you get out
OF this subject? "Oh." she says, 81
would learn that it is in the last pinch
that God comes to the relief You see
the altar was ready and Isaac was
fastened on it, and the Knife was
liftsdj and just at the last moment
God broke in and stopped proceedings.
So it has been in my life of seventy
years. Why, sir, there was time
when the -four was all
out of the house; and set
the table at noon aud had nothing
to put Oh it; but FIVE minutes of one
o'clock loaf of bread came. The
Lord will provide. My son was very
sick, and | said Dear Lord, you
don't mean to take him away from me,
do you? Please, Lord, don't take him
away. Why, there are neighbors who
have three or four sons: this is my
only SOM this il my isaac Lord, you
won't take him away from me, will
you? But 1 saw he was getting worse
and worse all the time, and / turned
round and prayed, until after awhile
l felt submissive, and L could say: