The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1902-05-15

L
camel train is moving once more, the fam
lily of Rebekah watching until the last
camel is lost to view IN the distance. Inc
Journey is uneventful. but the end of it Is
more than striking. And Isaac went out
to mediate in the field at eventide; and
he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold,
the camels were coming. And Rebehah
lifted I'D her eyes, and when she saw
Isaac she lighted of the camel. For she
had said unto the servant w hat man IS
this that walketh in the field to meet us?
And the servant had said, 1t is my master;
therefore she took a veil and covered her
self. And the servant told Isaac all things
that he had done And Isaac brought her
unto his mother Sarah's tent, and took
Rebel,ah, and she became his wife; and he
loved her, and Isaac was comforted after
his mothers death Genesis "a: 63-67.
Here is les Of divine providence;
Hear Abraham when he says, The Lord
God of heaven which took me from my
fathers house, and from the land Of my
kindred, and. which sqake mo me, and
tAat 81 are unto me, saying, Unto thy
I seed will 1 give this land; He shall send
| His angel befc re thee, and thou shalt
| t1ke a wife unto my son from thence"
! Genesis, "a 7. We think of this as Old
| Testament history simply. We hear God
| SAYING, CAS- | was with Moses | will be
with myself. Why it is we always think
of Gods care of the patriarchs as mira
! cles, without it's counterpart Is In our own
| lives, when God is our Father, everything
| in our life is precious to Him, and the
very hairs of our head are numbered! He
is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
and He is your God. The angel of the
Lord is still living. We have grown world
| ~ wise and speal. or impressions, convlc-
tons, condolences, impulses, when all the
! time it is the angel of the Lord speaking
| to us. Have you noticed that there were
two servants, one winged one one IN me ar ar
and the other in charge of the cames. 1t
is always so. 1t is by this double ministry
| that providences are confirmed. All
| through life we see it; in the conversion
| of men, in things common and IN things
unusual You say, Il feel strong i'm
pulse to do e certain thing" 1t Is the an
gel of the Lord troubling the stagnation OF
your heart You say that | am impressed
that l ought to do thus and so, when 1t
is the finger Of God writing His purpose
on your soul. These are but the heavenly
ministers of Jehovah. Look around you
and you will find some opportunity for
service fitting into your impulse or con-
| vction, and that which yesterday you
wondered at as a coincidence fills you
with the spirit of worship to-day as you
say, The Lord was in this place and /
knew it not" Life without a religious
Interpretation is little less than trag-
| edy" while life thus viewed may have
many twists and turns, but ends in heaven.
Ii.
find here a good picture Of real service,
| When Eleazar was leaving Abraham he
said, "Peradventure, the woman will not
| be willing to follow me unto this land;
| must | needs bring thy son again unto the
land from whence thou earnest" And
Abraham said unto him, Beware, thou,
that thou bring not my son thither again.
| The Lord God of heaven, which took me
from my fathers house, and from the land
OF my kindred, and which spake unto me,
and that sWare unto me, saying, Unto thy
seed will give this land; He shall send
His angel before thee, and thou shalt take
| Te3fe unto my son from thence. And II
the woman will not be willing to follow
thee then thou shalt be clear from this
my oath; only bring not my son thither
again" Genesis "a: SO.
1t is the same figure that we have OF
the Waterman upon the walls. Both OF
these appeal strongly to us: We are not
free from responsibility until we have tried
at least to WIN every soul over Wnom we
nave an influence for Christ. l cannot con-
vert even the smallest child, nor can you,
but / can try to tell them what l have
| been commissioned to say, for am my
brothers keeper. Oh, for the intense de-
sire to do our Masters will that Eieazar
had. His camels are. cared for, he has
entered the house of Bethuel. He Is
weary with his long journey, the savory
meat prepared for his feast appeals. to
his weakness, but hear him say, And
there was set meat before him TO eat;
but re said, l will not eat, until have
told mine errand. And he said, speak
on" Genesis "a: 80. Is not this like
| Paul on his missionary journey. In
journeyngs often, in perils OF waters, In
perils OF robbers, in perils by mine own
| countrymer. in perils by the heather, IN
perils in the city, In perils IN the wider
ness, in peris in the sea, in perlls among
false brethren; in WEAKNESS and painful
ness, in watchings often, in hunger and
thirst, in hastings often, IN cold and
nakedncss." 2 Corinthians H. 1927. And
is it not like Jesus Ei.nself, when He is
weary BY the we'll side, hungry with
much fasting and sends His disciple to
| buy meat which He forgot to eat because
of the woman by His side. | am sure
Rebekah saw in him the great love of
wilt thou so with this man? She said,
l will CO."
| III.
Yet there is more to the story than
this, 1 am sure. | know it because |
read that what was written afore time
| was written for our instruction. The
| great object and aim of the Bible is to
! Illustrate the operations of divine grace,
to show the works of Providence in the
minute things of life, to show, us that
| provision has been made for the fulfill
ment of the great scheme OF Redemption.
God speaks in every way; by direct state
ment, by parable, by picture, by types.
by symbols, if by all means He may make
known the riches of His grace; and here
| is a whole chapter, one OF the longest in
the Pentateuch, taken up with a wedding
story; there must be some reason. The
spirit of God would not use an entire
chapter TO describe the journey of Abra,
ham to Mt. Moriah, and another to tell
of the death of Sarah, and another to
give an account OF a wooing and we'd
| ding without meaning. 1 think it must
be that it is all to illustrate the mystery
| of the church. In the 22d chapter of
Genesis, tire son is offered up as sacri-
| fee, at least Abraham is willing to offer
him; in the 23d chapter of Genesis
Sarah is laid aside in the tomb, while in
the oath chapter the servant is sent forth
| to win a bride for the SON. 1t is at least