The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1901-08-09

s~ssem On the international series
for August ~. 1O01-God's Prom
Use 10 Abraham.


not AblaHs ''' 80 --''~' - -
eeedng great reward
Ana Abram said. Lord. God wha. wilt
Thou give me. seeing ! 20 chiidless. ana
ne steward OF my house ID this Eliezer OF
Damascus!
hast given no seed, anu 10, 1he poih az my
house IS mine heir.
And. behold the word OF the Lord
came unto him. saying. This shan not be
,hine heir; but he that shall come forth
ant OF thine own bowels shah be thine
heir.
md, Look now toward Heaven. and tell
Nv ,tars. II thou be able TO number them.
Ana He said unto him. So shall thy seed be.
. And he believed in the Lord; and he
counted II to him for Righteousness.
4 And lie said unto him. ! am the Lord
,h.tbrought thee out OF ur OF the Chaldees.
10 give thee this land TO inherit II.
And he said. Lord God. whereby shah
l know that shall inheritu 1t?
o And lie said unto him. Take me an
helfer OF three years old. and a she goat Of
three years old, and "a ram OF three years
..a and a turtledove. and young pigeon.
10 And he took unto Him all these. and
divided them In the midst, and laid each
piece one against another; but the birds d.
Ndtd he not.
II. And when the fowls came down upon
me csrcasses. Abram drove them away.
Y And when the sun was going down.
deep sleep fell upon Abram; and. 10. an
horror OF great darkness fell upon him.
l8 And lie said unto Abram. Know OF
eurety that thy SEED shall be a stranger In
a land that is not theirs, and shall serve
them, and they shall affiict them 400 years.
H. And also that nation, whom they shall
e. rye, Will | judge; and afterward shall
they come out with great substance.
l5 And thou shalt go TO thy fathers In
peace. thou shalt be buried in "A good old
age.
Is But In the fourth generation they shall
come hither again. for the iniquity OF the
AlnoTites Is not yet full.
IT, And II came TO pass. that. when the
sun went down. and It was dark. behold a
smokng furnace. and burning lamp that
passed between those pieces.
Is In the same day the Lord made a COW
tfAnt with Abram saying, Unto thy seed
have | given this land. from the river OF
Egypt unto the great river, the river Eu-
GOLDEN TExT-I am thy shield,
and thy exceeding great reward
zen. 1871.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
Read chapters Is, 16 and IL to make
continuous the story of Genesis. But
for oar purpose of impressing moral
and religious truths we need advert
go bhb oAS intidtul IA lutSc cha
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
been the rite of the Jews, as baptism
since then has been the sign of the
Christians covenant with God. 1t
was in q certain sense symbol OF
il really meant more to the Jewish
nation and people than any ordinary
religious rite. Ii made them in more
svnses than one separate and Pc
'ular people. 1t effectually set them
apart from their heather neighbors.
II was sort of recognition of the
law of environment. The principle
was illustrated when Abraham was
allied to leave the city of Ur, cen
yer Of heather worship in the very
ancient world, and TO establish the
Worship of Jehovah. the only true
God. in the wilderness on the east
rrn coast Of the Mediterranean sea.
Here il is illustrated again by the in
stitution of this rite. God foresaw
hat even here His people would be
surrounded by numerous heather
population. What more effective bar.
ricr TO outside influences could He
raise than this very rite of circum.
ciSion? In connection with the study
~ the institution Of this Jewish site
u will be interesting to note Paul's
references thereto. See especially
Rom 81; Gal. Sc; Col. 2:11; Phil
SO.
Abram was living childless in
anaan, with confidence in Gods
!, ~omisc that his descendants should
inhcrit the land. But there are in
"i,alions that the situation troubled
Abram sometimes. The most open
expression Of his perplexity is that
foun1 In 1870 q The parnle xitv was ,