The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1901-08-08
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL,

THE LESSON TEXT.
Genesis l5:1-1S.)

Genesis lb1-lS.)
| I. After these things the word Of the Lord
came unto Abram in vision saying. Fear
sot, Abram; am thy shield, and thy ex-
eeeding great reward.
2 And Abram said, Lord. God, what wilt
Thou give me, seeing l go childless. and
The steward of my house is this Eliezer Of
| Damascus?
3. And Abram said. Behold, to me Thou
hast given no Seed and, 10, one born In my
house Is mine heir.
| 1. And. behold the word Of the Lord
rame unto him, saying, This shall not be
thine heir; but he that shall come forth
out of thine own bowels shall be thine
heir.
S. And he brought him forth abroad. and
said, Look now toward Heaven. and tell
the stars. II thou be able to number them;
and He said unto him. So shall thy seed be-
6. And he believed in the Lord; and he
counted It to him for righteousness.
T. And He said unto him. l am the LORD
that brought thee out OF Ur of the Chaldees,
20 give thee this land TO inherit It.
| S. And he said, Lord God, whereby shall
| know that l shall inherit It?
9. And He said unto him, Take me an
heifeY OF three years old, and a she goat Of
hree years old and ram Of three years
old. and a turtledove. and young pigeon.
! 10. And he took unto Him all these. and
| I,
piece one against another; but the birds d.
. vided he not.
II. And when the fowls came down upon
the earcasses. Abram drove them away.
/ T. And when the sun was going down,
deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, 10, an
horror Of grest darkness fell upon him.
13. And He said unto Abram, Know Of a
Iurety that thy seed shall be a stranger In
land that is not theirs. and shall serve
them: and they shall afiict them 400 years.
| "A. And aho that nation, whom they shall
serve, will I Judge. and afterward shall
they come out with great substance.
| Is. And thou shalt go to thy fathers In
peace; thou shalt be buried in q good old
age.
Is. But In the fourth generation they shaH
come hither again. for the iriquity of the
Amorites Is not yet full
II. And 1t came to pass, that. when the
sun went down. and 1t was dark, behold a
smoking furnace. and a burning lamp that
passed between those pieces.
IS. In the same day ths Lord made a COW
enant with Abram, saying. Unto thy seed
have l given this land. from the river of
Egypt unto the great river. the river Eu-
pirates.
GOLDEN TEXT.-I am thy shield,
and thy exceeding Grest reward.-
Gen. 1871.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
Read chapters 15, ls and II to make
continuous the story of Genesis. But
for our purpose Of impressing moral
and religious truths we need advert
to but one incident in these chapters
outside of the lesson text printed
above. That one Incident is the in
stitution Of the rite Of circumcision.
Some one has said that this has ever
Se6n the rite Of the Jews, as baptism
since then has been the sign OF the
Christians covenant with God. It
was In . certain sense q symbol Of
Gods covenant with Abraham. But
1t really meant moro to the jewish
nation and people than any ordinary
religious rite. It made them In more
senses than one . separate and Pc
culisr people. L sffe0tuslly set them
apart from theis hesthen neighbors.
It was . sort Of recognition of the
law Of environment. The principle
was illustrated when Abraham was
called to leave the city Of Ur, q GEN.
ter Of heather worship in the very
ancient world, and 10 establish the
worship Of Jehovah, the only true
God, in the wilderness on the east
ern coast Of the Mediterranean sea.
Here 1t is illustrated again BY the m
stitution OF this rite. Gsd foresaw
that even here HIS people would be
surrounded by Numerous heather
population. What moro effective bar
rier to outside influences could He
raise than this very rite of circum-
cision? In connection with the study
of the ins stitution Of this Jewish site
it will be interesting to note Paul's
references thereto. See especially,
Rom. 81; Gal. $50; Col. s:l1; Phil
3:3.
Abram was living childless in
Canaan, with confidence in Gods
promise that his descendants should
inherit the land. But there are In
elections that the situation troubled
Abram sometimes. The most open
expression of his perplexity is that
found in 1852. 3. The perplexity was
met by positive assurance that his
own child Shouts inherit the promise.
Abrams faith On the assurance, 50
contrary to experience, Is striking.
Equally striking is the simple state
ment that his faith was counted to
him for righteousness. The reason
for this truth is that such faith al
ways leads to the obedient spirit. Al
though Abram accepted Gods assur-
snce, he still desired visible token
Of the fact. This token was given in
the symbolism OF the covenant, as de-
scribel in verses 0, 10 and II. These
animals were all recognized ss clean;
ut the age Of three years they are in
their prime. The division into parts
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