Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1895-10-18

| They gather some stones out of the
field, and build an altar of three or
four feet high. Then they take this
wood off Isaac's back and sprinkle it
over the stones, so as to help and in
vite the flame. The altar is done--it is
all done. Isaac has helped to build it.
With his father he has discussed
! whether the top OF the table is even,
and whether the wood is properly pre-
pared Then there is pause. The
son looks around to see if there is not
| some living animal that can be caught
and butchered for the Offering. Abra-
ham tries to choke down his fatherly
feelings and suppress his grief, in Or
| der that he may break to his son the
| terrific news that he is to be the victim.
! All! Isaac never looked more beauti-
full than on that day to his father. As
! the old man ran his e,1aciated fingers
through his sons hair, he said to him
self: How shall | give him up?
What Will his mother say when | come
back without my boy: l thought he
Ginning days. ] thought he would have
been the hope OF ages to come. Beau-
tiful and loving, and yet to die under
my own hand. Oh. God! is there not
some other 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 in
Ie,t,, nv. L., 1t,
feelings, and looks into his sons face.
and says: Isaac, must tell you all?"
His son said: Yes, father ] thought
you had something on your mind: tell
it, The father said: MY son, Isaac,
thou art the lamb!' "Oh," you say,
was twenty or thirty years of age.
smite into the dust his infirm 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 struggle. They fell
on each others necks, and walled out
the parting. Awful and matchless
scene of the wilderness. The rocks
echo back the breaking of their hearts.
The cry: my son! my son." The an
swer: MY father! my father"
DO not compare this. as some people
have. to Agamcmnon. willing to offer
up his daughter, Iphigenia, to please
the gods. There is nothing comparable
to this wonderful obedience to the true
God. You know that victims for sac
rifice were always bound, so that they
might not struggle away. Rawlings,
the martyr. when he was dying for
! Christs sake, said to the blacksmith
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 pile of WOOD. Fastening
thong on one side of the altar. he
makes it span the body of Isaac. and
| fastens the thong at the other side the
altar. and another thong, and another
thong. There is the lamp Pickering
| in the wind, ready to be put under the
brush wood of the altar. There is the
| knife, sharp and keen. Abraham,
struggling with his mortal feelings on
| the one side, and the commands of God
| on the other-takes that knife. rubs
| the fiat of it on the palm of his hand,
cries to God for help, comes up to the
| side of the altar, puts a parting kiss on
| the brow of his boy, takes a message
| from him for mother and home, and
then, lifting the glittering weapon for
- af thA n CT. h 80
muscles knitting for the work-the
! hand begins to descend. 1t falls! Not
on the heart of Isaac, but on the arm
of God, who arrests the stroke, making
| the wilderness quake with the cry:
Abraham! Abraham! lay not thy hand
upon the lad, nor do him any harm.'
What is this sound back in the
woods! 1t is cracking as of tree
branches. bleating and a struggle.
Go, Abraham, and see what it is. Oh.
it was a ram that, going through the
woods, has it's crooked horns fastened
and entangled in the brushwood, and
could not get loose; and Abraham
seizes it gladly, and quickly unloosens
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 of the sacrifice begins to
rise, the blood rolls down the sides Of
the altar, and drops Kissing into the
| fire, and | hear the words: Behold
the Lamb of God who takes away the
! sins of the world"
| Out yonder. in this house, is an aged
woman; the light of heaven in her face;
| she is halfway 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, II 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 lifted: 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 and had nothing to put on 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