The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1902-09-11
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson In the International Series
for September II, 10O2-Lov-
Ing and Obeying God.
THE LEsso,NTEXr.
(Deut. 30:li-I.)

THE LESSol&<TEXT.
(Deut. 3o:il-2l.)
II. For this commandment which COM
mand thee this dSy. 1t is not hidden from
thee. neither is IL far off
IL 1t isnetin Heaven, that thou shouldest
say, Who shall so up for us to Heaven, ana
bring it unto US. that We may hear 1t, and
do 1t?
lS Neither is 1t beyond the sea. that thou
shor.Gest say, Who shall go over the sea
for us, and bring II unto US, that We may
hear ii, and do 1t?
II. But the word Is very nigh unto thee,
in thy mouth, ard In thy heart, that thou
mayest co II.
l5 See, l have set before thee this day
life and good, and S.ath and evil;
i6 In that | command thee this day to
love the Lord thy God, TO walk in his ways,
and TO keep his commandments and his
statutes and his JUG gments, that thou may
est live and multiply: and the Lord thy God
shall bless thee In the land whittier thou
goest 10 possess II.
Il. But II thine heart turn away, so that
thou wilt not hear but shalt be drawn
away, and worship other gods, and serve
them:
B denounce unto you this day, that We
shall surely perish, and that ye shall not
prolorg your days upon the land. whittier
thou passest over Jordan to go u possess ii.
~. l call Heaven and earth to record this
Jay against you, that / have set before you
,iie and death. blessing and cursirg: there
lore choose life, that both thou and thy
seed may live:
20. That thou mayest love the Lord thy
GoG, ana thai thou mayest obey His voice,
ana that thou mayest cleave unto Him: for
lie is thy life, and the lengh OF thy days:
that thou mayest dwell in the land which
the Lord sware unto thy fathers. to Abra-
nam, to Isaac, and TO Jacob to give the m.
SOLDEN TENT.-FOr this is the love
OF God, that we keep his command
ments.-1 John 5::s
OUTLINE or SCRIPTURE SECTION
me blessings and curses. .Deut., xviii
israeIs obligation to God d..... Deut., XXix
encouragement to repentance ........
.......,Deut., 30:l-l0
Gods commandment ........ Deut., 3O:ll-ll.
TIME.-B. c. ii52 - - '''' WIN ~
PLACE.-Land of Moab.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
Conditions of National Prosperity.
The Book of Deuteronomy is large
ly given to enforcing the truth that
national prosperity is conditioned
upon serving God. Drawing near to
the end of life, Moses was anxious to
impress this truth upon the Israel
ties. Deuteronomy contains three ad-
dresses in which he sought to con-
vince them that their highest we'll
being depended upon their being faith
full to the God who had brought them
out of Egypt.
The Blessings and Curses.-A most
noteworthy thing about the twenty
eighth chapter of Deuteronomy is
the oriental eXuberance of its Ian
guage. Men of our time and race do
not go so much into details in treat
ing of blessing or curse. Success and
failure in all departments of life are
here connected with obedience and
disobedience. In fact, to the Hebrew
mind all material prosperity was
sign of >Jehovah's favor, and material
reverses, of His displeasure.
Encouragement to Repentance
The two preceding chapters are in
the spirit of the law at it's harshest,
but the thirtjeth chapter is full of the
spirit of the Gospel. AS in all Gods
dealings with men, penalty follows
sin without fail, so does pardon fol-
low penitence. Gods blessing once
lost is not necessarily lost forever,
but may be regained by ccasing to sin
and beginning to obey (v. y. No con-
dition is too hopeless for such a re-
turn ". ~, and the restoration to fa-
vor will be perfect and complete (v.
81. Gods help to faithful obedience
may be expected by those who desire
it ". 6), and full happiness will sure
ly follow Tvs. 7-1O).
Gods Commandment. - The com
mandment referred to (sce 11:22: 49,:
81 is devotion to Jehovah. The "for'
at the beginning is not used to con-
meet this section with what goes just
before, but with the general thought
of the duty of obedience, which is in
volved in everything that has been
said. The word rendered "hard"
means rather. too difficult G7:S). The
reasona bleness and fairness of Gods
will as revealed to us by Christ, and
in the Ten Words of the older revela-
tion, cannot help appealing to the
thoughtful man. God does not lay
upon us burdens too heavy to be
borne, and His commands are given
for our good, not for His. All His
great laws He has in some way put
into our very hearts (30:1D, so that
we should be conscious of their right
ness if they had never been written
on the tables of stone.
Mans Duty.-The keynote of this
section is freedom of choice. The
choice is presented first in the terms
of it's consequences. Life and pros
perity follow the right choice, while
! misfortune and death follow the
choice that is wrong. The choice of
good is the choice of obedience to
Jehovah ". 16). Its first step is love
for Jehovah, and that love will lead
r i.