The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1901-07-18
THE SABBATH SCHOOL,
International Lesson Comments For
July II.
Subject Noah Saved IN the Ark, Gen viii.
I-22' Golden Text, Gen. w., S-.Mcmory
Verses, zo.z.. Commentary on the Days
Lesson.

Connecting Links - According to the
commonly. accepted chronology, more than
1900 years have passed since our last les
SON. During that time the Old Testament
world became densely populated, and the
race had grown exceedingly wicked so that
God decided to destroy them from the
face Of the earth.
/. God remembered Noah" Noah
himself, though one that had found grace
| IN the eyes of the Lord, yet seemed to be
forgotten in the ark, but at length God
returned in mercy to him. ard that is ex-
| pressed by His remembering him. The
strange work of judgment being over, the
saved family, and all in association with
them. come into remembrance. MADE
wind" Such wind as produced strong
| and sudden evaporation.
9 WAS restrained" When Gods pur-
| poses were accomplished it was as easy for
| Him to restrain the rain as TO cause il to
| rain.
3. Returned-continually They grad.
| ually departed. The heat of the sun ex-
| hailed much, and perhaps the subterra-
neous caverns soaked in more.
4. Mountains of Ararat." A region
nearly in the middle of Armenia, even now
called by the Armenians Ararat, on the
mountains of which the ark of Noah
rested; sometimes in wider sense as the
whole of Armenia iself. As the drying
wind most probably. came from the east
i VI HOIli, IL ~ likely lndJ Ine ark was
| drifted toward Asia Minor, and caught
| land on some hill in the region of the Eu-
| pirates. II cannot be supposed that it
| rested on either of the peaks now called
| Ararat, as Ararat was a country, not a
mountain, and these peaks do not seem
| suitable for the purpose.
Z. Sent forth" Though God had told
| Noah when the food would come, even to
| day, yet He had not revealed to him the
| time when the waters would disappear;
| the knowledge of the former was neces-
sary, while a knowledge of the latter
would serve only to crafty his curiosity,
and the concealing it from him would
| serve the purpose of testing his faith and
| patience. "Raven-to and fro" Going
| forth and returning. It is generally sup
| posed that the raven flew off and was seen
| no more; it is evident, however, that she
| did return, but was not taken into the ark.
8. He sent forth a dove" He sent
| forth the dove three times. The first time
| it speedily returned; the second time it
| returned bringing with it an olive leaf.
| and the third time it went forth to return
| no more. The dove is an emblem of a soul,
which, finding no rest or satisfaction in
| this sinful world, returns to Christ as to
| its ark; the carnal heart like the raven
| takes up with the world and feeds on the
carrion it finds there. As Noah put forth
| his hand and took the dove into the ark,
| so Christ will graciously receive those who
| come to Him for rest.
IL. "An olive leaf" An emblem of the
restoration of peace between God and the
| earth; and from this circumstance the
olive has been the emblem of peace among
| all civilized nations. Sweet emblem of
| the renewed mind which, amid the sur
| rounding desolation, seeks and finds its
| rest and portion in Christ, and not only
| so, but also lays hold of the earnest of the
| inheritance, and furnishes the blessed proof
hot Il ,ar.th haa tl,,4
| renewed earth is coming fully into view.
| lac carnal mind, on the contrary can rest
| in anything and everything but Christ; it
| (like the raven) can feed upon all unclean-
| ness
ID. Second month";" etc. From this it
| appears that Noah was in the ark a COM
| plete solar year, or $50 days
l6. Go forth of the ark" Noah did
| not leave the ark until the command came
| from God. 1t was the Lord who was di-
recting this whole matter.
20. Noah builded an altar" The first
| thing that Noah did after his wonderful
preservation was TO pay his debt of graft
| tude to God, who had so wonderfully pre-
served him. Adam, Cain and Abel offered
| sacrifices, and there can be no doubt that
| they had altars on which they offered
| them, but this, builded by Noah, is GER
| tainly the first on record. The word which
we render altar signifies properly place
| altus, high or elevated, because places for
sacrifice were generally either raised very
| high or built on the tops of hills and noun
| talns; hence they are called high places in
| the Scriptures, but these were chiefly used
| for idolatrous purposes. Unto the Lord"
| 1t was unto the Lord he erected this al
tar. Superstition would have worshped
the ark, as being the means of salvation,
| but Noah's faith passed beyond the ark
| to the God of the ark, and hence when he
| stepped out of it, instead of casting back
| lingering look at it, or regarding it as an
| object Of worship, he built an altar unto
the Lord and worshiped Him, and the ark
is never heard of again. Burnt offerings"
| This was "an acknowledgment OF guilt and
an atonement Tor sin, a grateful recogni-
tion of Gods authority and goodness the
means of securing His favor, and token
| of the giver's self-dedication to His serv-
| ice." At first sacrifices were offered by
individuals, as Cain and Abel; but after
| the fsod by heads of families, or tribes.
This offering was very expressive type
| of the sacrifice of Christ, as nothing less
than His complete and full sacrifice could
| make atonement for the sin of the world.
In most other offerings the offerer had
share, but in the whole burnt offering all
was given to God.
| 81. "Smelled sweet SAVIOUR" That is,
He was well pleased with this act. Said
| in his heart" In chap. o: S-l7, God made
| the covenant with Noah that He had in
| His heart to make. will not again curse"
When Noah and his family first began to
make their homes on the land there would
be fear at every rain that it might be
| the beginning of another flood This
| would interfere not only with their com
| fort, but with their progress. What would
| be the use OF building houses or cultivating
| fields that might at any time be destroyed?
The covenant was Gods solemn promise in
| their behalf
| 22 Earth remaineth." Here il is plain.
| ly intimated that the earth is not to re-
main always; it, and all the works there
in, must be burned up 2 Pet 3: 7. Seed
| time and harvest" etc. The Lord prom
ises two signs as the guarantee, the visible
| proof, that the earth would never again
| be destroyed by flood The first was
that seedtime and harvest and day and
night should not cease while the earth re-
mained; the second was the bow set in the
cloud. Chap. 0: 49,