The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-02-02
The International
Sunday School Lesson
First Quarter. Lesson v. Genesis VIII.
lie. February 8, 1907.
NOAH 9ANEN In TIE ARK.

| NO%f1 SAVED IN The AKIN.
Of the Scriptures there is no canvass
Ike that which presents the Ark ane
the Flood. It is too bold and tragic
70 De Passed ps,ssed # arrests and stirs tn.
the sensitive plate OF child's memory
It will never fade. It's unspeakable
nerror Is mercifully mltisated by sucf
Gods own hand. the dove with oil ye
branch. and the rainbow spanning ali.
tated tho eafn1an bb,eluge only percipi
the great conflict foretold in Eden be-
tween the serpent seed and the seed
OF GOO, the former were ascendant. The
The sons ot God 0y the n, is
scendants Of Seth. were iured BY the
siren daughters Of Cain, so that they
p faSIe R wiye "a 81 the
sorrow OF misalliance followed. The
very physical hardihood Of the off,
s Spine made their moral 9bliquity mora
r rs ,,nSn. Every sy conoeiyable lust was
to paltry contingent. 1t was on the
verge Of extinction. The whole race.
IN IN taet, was committing. suicide. It
whose sansuinary population had con-
sumed itself through lust murder, and
sn The Flood q. was a great great, mercy: It
on a9e a rae .1 then lying It kept the seed
the world has never forgotten.
Gods election to salvation Is based
upon the moral qualities OF those
illustration OF this in the character Ct
Noah. He found grace In the eyes of
f neor h9rd, nc, not through caprice, and
hp
light. and lovingly held forth to a dy-
ing race the word which If received,
would have proved life to them. He
walked with God. He was ut to he
the second Adam, the progenitor Of
az geT and hopeful race. And to this
Noah's faith shines respondent upon
the rayless irreIigion OF his day. he
showed his faith by his stupendous
s Work h on pms, dry land and far from the
preached Righteousness to the gaping
and and gibing crowd which curiosity
@ss hsrf from afar to his shipyard He
building and preaching for one hundred
and twenty years. He built precisely
acc3rdins totthe model shown him. He
and beast requisite for his long voyage.
He. selected and admitted the beasts
and fowl as God directed. With seven |
S sou ne entered his strange prison.
the Invisible Hand, and tarried in his |
weird environment undaunted though f,
seven days passed before the first rain |
crop battered upon the roof. Sublime
faith that,
The log book" of that unparalleled
VOYAGE is Very brief. 1t takes only |
twenty seven verses to narrate ire |
novel and thrilling experience of three
hundred and siXty-fve days Much ,
riches arc in little room Imagination
must be trusted to uncover them
As Noah at length emerged from the
ARK. an inexpressigly sad and orphaned
feeling must have affected his gener- i
Gus, heart. Earth's desolatIon, how u.
ter! In vain he listens for the sound I
or human football Not even n foot
print Is left. He finds relief in wor
ship. He builds an altar on the drin-
ping rocks of Ararat Again his faith
aNemplifes Itself. He had saved ONLY
a rev specimens of clean animals: but
ne prepares to offer some of them. with
the full assurance that God would SIM.
ply their places and see that the
species did not become extinct When
me fragrance of that whole burnt Of
LerlnS came up before the Lord Ho
Knew that Noah intended 1t should sig
1i1y the complete devotion OF himseIs
20 God. edit III
AS pitifying Father. God. gracious-
y responded to the suppliant patriarch
laying MS fears with tho assurances
nut the cataclysm Just passed should
tuyer De repeated; the benehcient regiI-
a.lty OF the seasons should know no
Interruption; human life should have