Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1901-09-07
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson in the international Series
for September 8, 10O1-JacOb
at Bethel.
THE LESSON TEXT.
Genesis 2S:1O-22.)

4 Genesis ZS:1O-z2-j
10 And Jacob went out from Beersheoa'
| and went toward Haran.
| IL And he lighted upon certain place
and tarried there all night, because thS
sun was set; and he took the stones OF thaI
| place, and put them for his Pillows ana
lay down in that place to sleep
| IL And he dreamed, and behold LADDER
| set up on the earth, and ~the top OF IL
reached to Heaven; and behold the ne, Angels al
| OF God ascending and descending ON IT,
| H. And, behold, the Lord stood ABOVE II,
| and said, am the Lord God of Abraham
| this father, and the God of Isaac; the lNnd
| whereon thou Hest, to thee Will give IL
and to thy seed.
H. And thy seed shall be as the dust 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 be
| blessed.
10. And. behold, I am with thee, and Will
keep thee in all places whittier thou goest,
| and will bring thee again into this land;
for will not leave thee, until have done
that which have spoken to thee Of
10 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep,
and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place;
| and knew it 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 it up for a pillar, and
poured oil upon the top of it.
10. And he called the name of that place
Bethel; but the name of that city was
| called Luz at the first.
| 20. And Jacob vowed a VOW saying, If
God will be with me, and will keep me in this
| way that go, and will give me bread tCr
eat and raiment to put on,
| q. So that I come again to my fathers
house in peace; then shall the Lord be my
God;
%. And this stone, which I have set fof :.
pillar, shall be Gods house; and of all that
Thou shalt give me I will surely give the
| tenth unto Thee.
GOLDEN TEXT.-SureIy the Lord ia
| in this pIace.-Gen. 2S:16.
| NOTES AND COMMENTS
| Jacob and ESau.-HheSe twin sons OF
Isaac and Rebekah were very unlike
| in temperament. Esau had his moth
er's active and restless dispositionN
Jacob resembled the quiet Isaac in hi4
| tastes. Jacob was also like his father
in spiritual sensibility, but the unscru+
pulous cunning with which he sought
his end was more like Rebekah than
Like Isaac. The sale of the birthright
| shows both brothers almost equally
unattractive. Jacob schemes and takes
advantage of Esau's need. Esau's hun.
ger becomes resistless greed.
Jacobs ception.-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 it's
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.
Their 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 Harasu
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 a man in Isaac's circun-
stances to provide some attendants
and means of easy travel for his soIi.
| 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 nigh5
| after his departure. Even if he had
| been provided with camels, he would
| hardly have been able to reach BethGS
| the first night. The use of the stone
| for a pillow does not indicate as great
a lack of the comforts of life as IT
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 lett
on his sight by the mountains about
| him. The ladder was a staircase
rather than a series of rungs. In the
| dream Jacob received the same prone
| Use which God had given Abraham and
Isaac. It is noteworthy that the pront-
Use of blessing to the whole world,
| which had been given to Abraham
| OBS; 22:1s), but not in terms to
Isaac, was here repeated. To this
| promise was added assurance of Ja-
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
wanderer through his, own avalice
and deceit God now takes him up and
encourages him with His promises.
In his great distress and need ne had
| eyes to see and ears to hear MARK
s:1s). What blessed experience IL
was to him. We all need Bethel ez
periences.