The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1895-10-18
ABRAHAM'S TRIAL.
The Rescue of Isaac from Being
Sacrificed
DR.. Talmage Discourses on the Biblical
Story of Abraham's Faith and the
Angelic Rescue of Isaac as a
SacriRciaI Offering

and the angelic rescue OF isaac from
being offered by his father as sacri-
fee. The text was from Gen. xxi. =:
Behold the fire and the wood, but
where is the lamb?' DR. Talmage said:
Here are Abraham and Isaac; the
one a kind, old, gracious, affectionate
father; the other brave, obedient, re-
ligious son. From his bronzed appear
ance you can tell that his son has been
much in the fields. and from his shag-
gy dress YOU know that he has been
watching the herds. The mountain
air has painted his cheek rubicund.
He is %. or p, or, as some sup
pose. 33 wears of age; neverthe-
less a boy, considering the length
of life to which people lived ia
those times, and the fact that n
son never Is anything but boy to a
father. ! remember that my father
used to come into the house when the
children were at home on some festive
occasion, and say: Where are the
boys" although the boys were -
and 80 and 81 years of age. So this
Isaac is only a boy to Abraham, and
this fathers heart is in him. 1t is
Isaac here and Isaac there. If there
is any festivity around the fathers
tent, Isaac must enjoy it. 1t is Isaac's
walk and Isaac's apparel and Isaac's
manners and Isaac's prospects and
Isaac's prosperity. The fathers heart
strings are all wrapped around that
boy, and wrapped again, until nine
tenths of the old mans life is in Isaac.
l can Just imagine how lovingly and
proudly he looked at his only son.
Well. the dear old man had borne a
great deal of trouble, and it had left
its mark upon him. But now his trouble
seems all gone and we are glad that he
is very soon to rest forever. If the old
man shall get decrepit, Isaac is strong
enough to wait on him. If the father
shall get dim of eyesight, Isaac will
lead him by the hand. If the father
becomes destitute, Isaac will earn him
bread. Are you not rejoiced that glo-
rious old Abraham is through with his
troubles? No no! A thunderbolt!
From that clear eastern sky there drops
into that fathers tent a voice with an
announcement enough to turn black
hair white, and to stun the patriarch
into humiliation. God said: "Abra-
ham," The old man answered: Here
l am God said to him: Take thy
son, thy only son Isaac, whom thou
lowest, and get thee into the land of
Moriah, and offer him there as burnt
Offering" In other words, slay him;
cut his body into fragments; put the
fragments on the wood; set fire to the
wood, and let Isaac's body be consumed
to ashes
''Cannibalism. Murder" says some
one. Not so, )" says Abraham. Khear
him soliloquize: Here is the boy on
whom I have depended! Oh, how I
loved him! He was given in answer
to my prayer, and now l must sur
render him? o, Isaac, my son! Isaac,
how shall part with you? But then
it is always safer to do as God asks me
to; have been in dark places before
and God got me out. l will implicitly
do as God has told me, although it is
very dark. l can't see my way, but
know God makes no mistakes, and to
him l commit myself and my darling
SON"
Early in the morning there is a stir
around Abraham's tent. A beast of
burden is fed and saddled. Abraham
makes no disclosure of the awful Sc
cret At the break of day he says:
Come. come, Isaac, get up, We are
going off on a two or three days jour
ney." l hear the AK hewing and split
ting amid the wood until the sticks are
made the right length and the right
thickness, and then they are fastened
on the beast of burden. They pass on
three or four of them-Abraham,
the father; Isaac, the son; and two
servants. Going along the road. I see
Isaac looking up into his fathers face,
and saving: Father. what is the mat
ter? Are you not well? Has anything
happened? Are you tired? Lean on
my arm" Then, turning around to
the servants, the son saws: ''Ah, father
is getting old, and he has had trouble
enough in other days to kill him"
The third morning has come and it
is the day of the tragedy. The two
servants are left with the beast of
burden, while Abraham and mis- son
Isaac, as was the custom of good peo-
pie in those times, went up on the hill
to sacrifice to the Lord. The wood
is taken off the beasts back and put on
Isaac's back Abraham has in one
hand pan of Goals or a lamp, and in
the other a sharp keen knife. Here
are all the appliances for sacrifice, you
say. No, there is one thing wanting
there is no victim-nO pigeon, or heif-
err, or lamb. Isaac, not knowing that
he is to be the victim, looks up into his
fathers face and asks question which
must have cut the old man to the bone:
my father The old father said:
my son. Isaac, here l am" The son
said: Behold the fire and the wood,
but where is the lamb" The fathers
lip quivered, and his heart tainted, and
his knees knocked together, and his
entire body, mind and soul quivered in
sickening anguish as he struggles to
gain eouipoise; for he does not want
to break down. And then he looks
into his sons face, with a thousand
rushing tendernesses and says: My
son, God Will provide Himself lamb"
The twain are now at the foot of the
hill, the place which is TO be famous
for a most transcendant occurrence.
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 IL
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. Then there is a pause. The son
looks around TO see if there is not
some living animal that can be caugh:
and b,,+cbera1 for tho Offering bra-