The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1901-09-05
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
81 tor September $. I001-Jacob
At Dethsl.
THE LESSON. TEXT.
fCA>sts "a IN %

and tarried there all night. because she
0un was set: and he took the stones OF that
place. and put them for his pillows anA
by down In that PLACE to sleep.
"A And he dreamed. ard behold laeeee
se< up on the earth. ard the top Of u
reached to Heaven: and behold the ~
Of God ascending ard descending on II.
1a And. behold. the Lord stood above II.
and said, am the Lord God Of Abraham
thy father. and the God Of Isaac: the lanS
whereon thou Hest. to thee will l give b.
and to thy seed. e..
Il. And thy seed shall be ~ the dusk Of
the earth. and thou shalt spread abroad to
the west. and TO the east. and to the north
and to the south; and In thee and In thy
seed shall all the families Of The earth ~
blessed.
Is. And. behold, I am with thee. and will
kAp thee In all places whittier thou gosst.
and will bring thee again into this land;
for I will not leave thee. until have done
that which have spoken TO thee Of.
IL. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep
and he said. Surely the Lord is in this place:
and l knew 1t not.
II. And he was afraid, and said. How
dreadful is this place! this Is none other
than the house OF God, and this Is the gate
OF Heaven.
Is. And Jacob rose up early In the morn.
Ing, and took the stone that he had put for
his pillows, and set 1t up for a pillar. and
poured oil upon the top of it.
-. And he called the name of that place
Bethel; but the name of that city was
called Luz at the first.
~. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying. II
God vii be with me, and will keep me In this
way that i CO. and will give me bread to
eat, and raiment to put on,
p. So that l come again to my fathers
house in peace; then shall the Lord be my
God;
22. And this stone, which have set for
pillar, shall be Gods house; and of all that
Thou shalt give me l will surely give the
tenth unto Thee.
GOLDEN TENT.-surely the Lord 10
In this plnce.-Gen. 2St1O.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
Jacob and Esau.-These twin sons of
Isaac and Rebekah were very unlike
in temperament. Esau had his moth.
er's active and restless disposition;
Jacob resembled the quiet Isaac in his
tastes. Jacob was also like his father
in spiritual sensibilty, but the unscru.
pulous cunning with which he sought
his end was more like Rebekah than
amt i5AAN' SdAS vi TIC ~
shows both brothers almost equally
unattractive. Jacob schemes and takes
advantage of Esau's need. EsaU's hun
ger becomes resistless greed.
Jacobs Deception.-Neither Isaac
nor Esau seems to have recognized the
sale of the birthright as valid. The
patriarch was determined to leave the
inheritance to Esau. The plan to de-
ceive Isaac was Rebekah's, and Jacob
appears as her willing tool. The bless.
ing which Isaac gave was thought to
settle the inheritance, much as a will
does In modern times. This blessing,
couched in poetical language, gave its
recipient the headship of the family.
Esau's Blessing.-The bitter disap-
pointment of Esau is pictured with re.
markable literary power in 27:31-3s.
His earnest plea brought from his ia.
ther prophecy of prosperity and final
independence.
Jacob Sent Away.-Esau's plan for
revenge was natural; its self-restraint
shows how deep was his respect for his
father. The choice of wife by Jacob
from among their kindred in Haran
would appeal to Isaac as fitting.
Jacobs Dream.-Jacob was nearly
or quite 40 years old when he set out
on his long journey. Apparently he
went on foot and alone, though we
should expect man in Isaac's circum-
stances to provide some attendants
and means Of easy travel for his son.
The distance from Beersheba to
Bethel is somewhat more than 60
miles, so that the dream can hardly
have come to Jacob on the first night
after his departure. Even If he had
been provided with camels, he would
hardly have been able to reach Bethel
the first night. The use Of the stone
for a pillow does not indicate as great
a lack of the comforts of life as IL
would in these days. Probably soft
pillows were an invention Of later
times. The form of Jacobs dream may
have been due to the impression left
on his sight by the mountains about
him. The ladder was staircase
rather than a series Of rungs. In the
dream Jacob received the same prom
ise which God had given Abraham and
Isaac. 1t is noteworthy that the prom
Use of blessing to the whole world,
which had been given to Abraham
(12:3; 22:1s), but not In terms to
Isaac, was here repeated. To this
promise was added assurance of ia
cob's safe return. The form of conse-
Grafton which Jacob used in pouring
oil on the stone was common. Such
sacred stones stood in many places
and were objects of popular reverence,
though not generally of direct wor-
ship. Jacobs vow was in part token
OF gratitude and in part, apparently,
an attempt to make conditions with
God, though he named no conditions
which God had not already pledged.
This experience of Jacob at Bethel
may be perhaps called his first spir-
itual awakening. An outcast and a
wanderer through his own avarice
and deceit God now takes him up and
encourages him with His promises
In his great distress and need he had
eyes to see and ears to hear MARK
8:1S). What blessed experience IL