Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1901-08-24
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
lesson IN the international Series
for August 25, 1901-Abraham
and Isaac.
LESSON TEXT.

THE hh0SO1N
Genesis 22:1-14.)
I. And It came to pass after thess tninsss
that God did tempt Abraham and salu un-
to him, Abraham; and he said. BeholdtEe[
I am.
z And He said, Take now thy son, thine
only son Isaac, whom thou lowest, and get
thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him
there for a burnt offering upon one OF the
mountains which I Will tell thee OF.
3. And Abraham rose up early in the
morning, and saddled his ass and took TWO
of his young men with him. and Isaac MS
son, and cIave the wood for the burnt Of
fering. and rose Up, and went unto the
place of which God had told him.
4. Then on the third day Abraham hfteo
up his eyes, and saw the place afar on.
And Abraham said unto his young men,
Abide We here with the ass; and and the
lad Will go yonder and worship, and come
again to you.
8. And Abraham took the wood of the
burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his
son; and he took the fire in his hand. and
knife; and they went both of them to-
gether.
I. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his
father, and said. My father; and he said.
Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold
the fire and the wood; but where is the
lamb for burnt Offering?
8. And Abraham said, My son, God Will
provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offer
ing; so they went both of them together.
3. And they came to the place which God
had told him of; and Abraham built an
altar there, and laid the wood in order, and
bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the
altar upon the wood.
10. And Abraham stretched forth his
hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
II. And the angel of the Lord called unto
him out of Heaven, and said Abraham.
Abraham; and he said, Here am I.
L. And He said, Lay not thine hand upon
the lad, neither do thou any thing unto
him; for now know that thou fearest God,
seeing thou hast not withheld thy son.
thine only son from me.
IL. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and
looked, and behold, behind him a ram
caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abra-
ham went and took the ram and offered him
up for burnt Offering in the stead of his
son.
Il. And Abraham called the name of that
place Jehovah-jireh; as it is said to thia
day. In the mount of the Lord it shall ba
GOLDEN TExT.-By faith Abraham,
when he was tried, offered up Isaac.
Heb. Ii III
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
Continuing the story of Genesis, read
chapters 20, 81 and %. The story of
chief interest and conveying the most
important teaching is that which cen.
ters in the lesson text proper.
Birth of Isaac.-Isaac means "laugh-
ter" and the name was given because
Sarah had Knocked inwardly at the
promise QS:12, 49, and because her
delight in the birth of her son was so
great.
Hagar and Ishmael.-Ishmael's con-
duct at the time of the feast was prob
| ably not only irreverent, but made
Sarah fear that his influence over
Isaac would be bad. Abraham did
what he could to make the sending
away less harsh than it otherwise
would have been. Ishmael was not
the child of promise but was born
latter the iesh.' (Gal. 4:23.) How
sharply God drew the line between
that which is of the spiritual and
that which is of the flesh.
Abraham and Abimelech.-Chap
20 is probably misplaced in the chrome
logical order, as a woman over 90 years
old would scarcely have such charms
as to endanger her husbands life.
Abraham's sin at Gerar was even
worse than that he had committed in
Egypt.
The Offering of Isaac.-There is an
instructive feeling among men that
they ought to offer the best they have
to their gods; and they have nothing
more precious than their children.
The proving, rather than the tempt
ing. of Abraham was based upon this
feeling, which no doubt the patriarch
shared. Its purpose was to develop
the character of both Abraham and
Isaac, not merely though chiefly in the
matter of confding obedience to God,
but also in correcting his understand
'ng of the nature of God and His re-
quirements. Abraham sacrificed Isaac
in what he did as truly as though he
had actually put him to death. From
Beersheba to Mount Moriah, where
afterwards So1omon's temple was
built, was about 60 miles. The subjec-
ton of the son to the father in the
patriarchal household was so COM
plete that Isaac would not think of
contending with his father even for
his life. The words of verse IL do rot
Of course hint that God did not know
Abrahamis heart without putting him
to the outward test. But an outward
test often strengthens the inner pur-
pose. Abraham had given up kindred,
home, ease, that he might do Gods
will; but it did not follow from that
that he would give up even the child
on whose life the fu1fllment of Gods
promise depended. It seems prepos-
ferrous to think that God intended the
sacrifice, or that He should have
judged Abraham's faith insufficient
unless he was willing to kill his boy.
Abraham may have interpreted Gods
voice to him in the light of the prac-
tice of his day The command not to
slay the lad was the most significant
thing in the whole transaction. The
provision of a wild ram for the offer
ing was an indication that God, de-
sired a beast and not a boy for such
sacrifice. Abraham's words, ssGod will
provide Himself a lamb" were
prophetic and found their perfect
fulfillment in Christ. Gods covenant
was given new sacredness by being
Dut in the form of an oath.