The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-09-07
THE sUNDAY-SCHOOL LESSON.


Esau's prowess could easily undo Jacobs plot
ting. Mother and son seem not to have duly
appreciated the risk OF exciting the rage OF the
hunter used 10 striking deadly blows. The EGom-
tie. like another elder brother. and with more
cause than h@ was at once iniamed with muir
derous enmity. The mothers wit was rot long
In scenting the danger. and she bsde her f%avorite
fly" . Jacob was heir apparent 10 the
chieftai nship OF a tribe growing with phenomenal
rapiditv: the successor ~ a vast Oriental estate:
but he must needs take his departure in the
most ignominious plight: no caravan or escort;
rot so much as a single servant; nothing but
the stick in his hand. Out he goes. a shelterless
fugitive. a tramp with $50 miles aud
forty years OF exile ahead OF him. The
odds seem against him; for he mas
been enervated by tent life. while his
pursuer is used 20 chasing game. One cannot
but contrast the grandson's sorry exit with the
grandfather's happy and stately entrance to that
land. The man who was so used 70 the
sweets Of domestIcity was getting further and
further from home. his sorrows increasing all
the way. He must needs keep far from the
dwellings of men. He starts at every sight ana
sound. Bitter are his tears. fervent his prayers.
But the Lord delays his coming, as He did To
His disciples, storm-tossed on Gennesaret- For
two nights. probably. the fugitive must lie down
in tho cleaning uncontrolled. 49, on the
evening OF n lnlIQ a ADloOdbt2J ~ NeH'N
on literally the place-likely one of his grand
fathers camping places. The very sight Of the
altar may have strengthened his faith. Doubt
less he began there the wrestling which made
him Israel forty years later at the Jabbok. The
kingdom Of heaven suffered violence that night.
as Jacob laid his head on a stone from Abra-
hams altar. . . The last object left on the
dimming vision Of the patriarch may have been
the Jagged staircase. the receding rocky lodges
- E,s-.r- .x-1414I Ia ~ ETfn
In his dream the steps rise to heaven. are illumi-
mated by an unearthly radiance. and peopled by
angel forms. But all this is but by way Of ap-
proach 10 the ineffable person OF Jehovah. who
stands above il. . . The mere vision would
have been indescribably comforting, but the
spoken word is added. The fugitive is assured
that the very ground on which he lies he Shall
possess; and that his progeny shall be so numer-
Gus that they cannot be confined in narrow lin
its. but shall break out toward the four points
of the compass. Jehovah's protective company
Jehovah was here. though 1 had forfeited all
claim upon Him. and had no right TO expect
His coming" A holy awe fills the dreamer's
soul. He cries again: why. this lonely place
proved the very portal to Jehovah's palace"
He converts his pillow into a pillar.
and makes an oblation upon it from his scanty
cruise. He names the place House OF God
~ enters lntO Al sacred treaty or reciprocity:
Since God has made His assuring promises. I
will make mine. This spot shall be a permanen.
place Of worship, and 1 Will 1.-THE my income. -
IL TEACHERS LANTERN.
The story of Jacob puts no premium on craft
in the management of ones affairs. The Lord
used Jacob for holy purposes'-yes; but in spite
of his desplcable conduct, not because OF II.
The seal Of divine disapprovaI is clearly affixed.
Those who think chicane-a little of II. at least
Indispensable 10 success. find no comfort or
justification I'm this instance. . . . Jacob was
terribly punished. He was separated forever
from his doting mother: was exiIed forty years.
got paid back in his own coin. with comnound
interest. AS he practiced a fraud To get a bless
ing, so Laban p~racticed one on him to withhold
the woman he loved. The way Of the trans
gressor is hard. Great are the aovant-
ages of solitude. IL Jacob had pushed on into
the town OF Luz, chances are he never would
have seen the ladder. Our age needs mora
chance TO mediate. The pendulum has swung
to the opposite OF medieval anchore.sn
Quantity and well does George Herbert say:
Choose sometime 10 be alone:
Salute thyself,"
The stoniness Of Jacobs pillow had hs,+.r
not be unduly emphasized. 1t was not an I'M
usual hardship then. nor to this day. In tha
East William Taylor, missionary TO Africa
carried a stone in his satcheI. II had q no,.,
IN 1t as If artifcially made just to conform 70