Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1901-08-17
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
Lesson In the international Series
for august rs, 1sO1-Abraham's
IntercessiOn.
THE LESSON TEXT.
1Genesis IS:16-S3.l

Is And the men rose up from thence al
looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went
with them to bring them on the way.
IL And the Lord said, Shall hide from
Abraham that thing which DO;
Is. Seeing that Abraham shall surely pc
come a great and mighty nation, and all
the nations of the earth shall be blessed In
him?
19. For I know him, that he will COM
mand his children and his household after.
him. and they shall keep the way OF the
Lord, to do justice and judgment; that Ine
Lord may bring upon Abraham That Whlcn
he hath spoken of him.
%. And the Lord said, Because the cry
of Sodom and Gomorrah is great. and De-
cause their sin is very grievous;
n 1 viii go down now, and see whether
they have done altogether according to the
cry of it. which is come unto me; and II
not, I will know.
q And the men turned their faces from
thence, and went toward Sodom; but Abra-
ham stood yet before the Lord.
q. And Abraham drew near, and said,
Wilt thou also destroy the, righteous with
the wicked?
"a. Peradventure there be so righteous
within the city; wilt thou also destroy and
not spare the place for the so righteous that
are therein?
IS. That be far from thee to do after this
manner, to slay the righteous with the wick
ed; and that the righteous should be as the
wicked, that be far from Thee; shall not
the Judge of all the earth do right?
70 And the Lord said, If 1 find in Sodoni
50 righteous within the city, then I will
spare all the place for their sal1es.
q. And Abraham answered and said,
Behold now, have taken upon me to speak
unto the Lord, which am but dust and
ashes;
2s. Peradventure there shall lack five Of
the 90 righteous; wilt Thou destroy all the
city for lack of five? And He said, If find
there forty and five, will not destroy it.
q. And he spake unto Him yet again, and
said, PersSventure there shall be 20 found
there And said I mill n II Toy.
forty's sake
30 And he said unto Him. Oh let not the
Lord be angry, and I will speak; Peradven-
ture there shall 80 be found there. And
said, will not do it. if I find 30 there.
81 And he said, Behold now, have taken
upon me to speak unto the Lord: Perad-
venture there shall be 20 found there. And
He said, will not destroy it for twenty's
sake.
%. And he said, Oh let not the Lord be
angry, and I will speak yet but this once;
Peradventure ten shall be found there.
And He said, will not destroy it for tens
sake.
30. And the Lord went His way. as soon
as He had left communing with Abraham;
and Abraham returned unto his place.
GOLDEN TEXT.-The eRectuaI fer
vent prayer of n righteous man
aVaiIeth much.-Jas 6:16.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
The Scripture to be read includes
the story of the destruction of Sodom
and Lots escape (Gen. 1s:1-19: 3O).
Entertaining Angels.-The visit of
the angels is marked because it in
cluded an appearance of Jehovah Him
self. Abraham did not recognize Him
at first, but his eyes were opened be-
fore the departure of his visitors.
What Abraham did as a welcome to
the angels he would no doubt have
done for any other travellers. It wan
the custom of the time and the coun,
try, and still is the custom of the land,
to welcome visitors as though they
were comforting a favor rather thar
receiving one.
The Intercession for Sodom.-Abra,.
ham, in accompanying his guests ar
they departed, was still following the
custom of the time. The revelation of
Gods in tention concerning Sodom was
q token of the honor in which Abra-
ham was held by the Lord. The depar-
ture of the angels left Abraham alone
in the presence of Jehovah. It had not
been said distinctly that the city was
to be destroyed, but Abraham knew
enough about the place to be sure that
destruction would result. The inter
cession was not only for Lots sake,
however, but was made out of pity for
all the people. The righteous, in Abra-
hams sense, were not so much reli-
gious men as men who made an honest
attempt to do right. Such an attempt
includes some sense, though not al
ways an intelligent one, of the inter
est of God in the effort. The fearless
ness of Abraham's appeal to the JUS
tice of God ". 25) is remarkable. The
argument does not hold in practical
life, because the righteous suffer with
the wicked; but we are taught that the
righteous are the means of delaying
and tightening Gods judgments Us.
1:9; Matt. 5:13; 24:22). United with
boldness in Abraham's petition is a
marked humility. This characteristic
appears in his speaking of himself as
dust and ashes, and in his depreca tory
word in verses 80, 81, 30. The story
illustrates the value of prayer to the
man who offers it. God was as ready
at first to spare Sodom for ten as for
so righteous men.
The Rescue of Lot.-Lot was right
eous man, but too tolerant of evil.
And just here is where so many
Christians manifest a fatal weakness.
They know the good but are dominat-
ed by the evil. Sad tragedy was this
in the life of Lot. A tragedy which
had its beginning when Lot, on sep
arating from Abraham and his right
eous influence, pitched his ten to-
wards Sodom. It was not long ere
he was in the city itself. Step by
step he became a dweller amidst
wickedness if not an actual partici-
pant therein. But God plucked him
as a brand from the burning. Have
we not here picture of many Chris
tiaus who are so in love with the
world and the things of the world
q John 2:15) that at last God will
have to save them SO as by fre2
Cor. 3:15.
HATrn uTMTc