The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-06-22
The International
Sunday-School Lesson

Sunday-School Lesson
SECOND QUARTER. LES
SON MI. JUNE %, 1907.
REVIEW.
Those pictures forty centuries old. are
still fair and fadeless There Is nothing
intricate or occult about them They are
simple and true to lie. That accounts ior
the hold they have upon the universal hu.
man hoart. They are mirrors OF good ana
evil. They reflect on the one ha ,i IN, .ms
charm Of santiiness on the other the 1 us.,.
nation OF goodness and tho certain ruinous
denoument of OWL. The one Grass Is In
spiratlonal, the other deterrent. 1t Will never
DO know how much they have promoted tho
ethical evolution OF humanity. They have
boon fairly interviewer In the thinking OF
all tho races who have become the fortunate
possessors OF thom and have powerfully e!-
fected the springs of human conduct IN every
ago.
Jacob In flight. A more vivid portrayal OF
the pains and penalties OF trickery could not
DO made. The patriarch has gotten tho
him dear. Out no goes, shclterless fug:
tive. with four hundred and fifty miles al
forty years OF exiio before him. But mercy
lines with silver the penalty. a vision OF
heavenly staircase thick with angel min
listers cheers the exile
Forty years later Jacob attempts a return
in spite OF the still cherished anger of his
brother. On the boundary Of Canaan he IS
In an agony OF prayer. for delivornnce,
Thoro is nothing inexplicable IN the wrest-
FERROUS. 1t was mercful concession when
the Lord took upon Himself a human form
and allowed Jacob to vent his excessive
grief and anxiety in the way Of physical
oxertion. The corporal struggle was an
Accompaniment OF prayer Jacob gets new
after all 1t is not an instantaneous and
miraculous substitution OF one nature for
another. Tho ethical and spiritual ovolu.
| ton has been going on for four decades, II
has taken forty years to make an 1sruel out
From tho thorny ana thstly sons Of Jacob
grapes and figs could not be expected. They
We're rude. oacherohs. bedouin. Tho gor/Ga
gentle and pure character Of Joseph was 4
standing structure upon them. They nursed
, murder. There Is an oxpulsive power IN a
| now Vice as we'll as in q ne VIRTUE. Avarice
ousted murder. The sight Of the approach n
OF making merchandise Of this obnoxious
brother moment later they. gloat over
| their two els apiece and see their
brother depart to hopeless sorvitude.
| AS In microcosm one secs hore tho
evolution OF man and statesman. The
circumstances which seem to retard really
accelerate tho process. Joseph had learned
how to take honey out OF tho eater-oneE of
the finest and most usefu! arts OF life; As
his master. unconsciously no was schooling
for the premiership, Faithful In few things
no was to be lord Of many. The next nc , in
| cdent seems to plunge Joseph IN !rre-
trovable ruin Yot tho possibility OF doml-
mating ones onvir6nment has n new proof.
for in tho shortest possible time tho prs,,
| oner Is tho prson-keeper Yet all turned
on the character OF Joseph lneretrlcious
promotion m!ghts have como to him. even
mnnent exaitation in the hearts of his own
and his adopted countrymen-an assured
position among tho immortal worthless in
kingdom, and patience OF Coda good Ito
only can win that dtStinC ton.
From prison cell TO thr?no-room Is start
ling transition. But really Joseph had pay
him thirteen years to do It,. The abruptness
\ Is In appearance only. Tho young Hebrew
mado the very best Of his circumstances
In public administration q managed tho
estates Of Potphar with such fidelity. as to
prepare him to administer tho empire Of
Pharaoh When his environment narrowefI
down to prison walls, he avniled himself
Of his enforced d soelusl9 on to reflect upon
polluted from the vices incident to prison
life. He was ready when the hour struck,
Joseph was the "eyes OF Pharaoh" Ho
adopted country. The spendor OF his ves-
turo. ornaments. palace. chariot. Gun hardly
the brothers who had sold him into slayary
| twenty-five years before were brought into
his presence No wonder they did not rec.
osnize him. Ho showed consummato skin
in secretins his identity from them and dis
covering thor present attitude toward the
| brother thoy had SO msused. 6i
| Tho uses Of adversely have fno illustration
In lsraal's experiences In Egypt. When they
ceasod to BIO guests and became slaves In the
land OF their adoption, their first gain was
| humility. Thor second gain was nation
ality. Egypt proved tho furnace In which
| n loose population was fused and compacted
Again they, were shut UP to God. There
| was no other eyo arm for them. So
faith and all other graeos OF the spirit were
nourlshed as SHARP frost nourishes corn
turnlng-point OF Hebrew history. They roc
osnized tho child as the appointed de,lverer.
For three months thoy hid him In defiance
Of Imperial edict and 1T peril of their ltls1
Whom pressed to It rs n last resort they
used consummate strategy, They committed
tho babe IN his ark to tho sacred river at
bathed, AS a reward Of their faith their
babe lodged In tho Imperial palace and
made spoil OF Esypt's wisdom In preparation
/ The mystic flame, symbol OF the Divine
presence. had boot unseen for four hundred
yoars. when It burst upon the yislon Of the
!onnlJ shepherd far down toward Sinai
What an unlikely ons to be called 70 DO
delivoror OF Israel from Egypt Blu! n better
smaneipa,or con,a Mot no Gohes eOtor man nm
i greon bush transmute1 Into flaming shrine
lle knew Egypt, Pharaoh lsreal, and the
school Of adyersty. Ills wonder work Ing
rod was his diploma.
Tho duoi between omnipotehoe and earth'H
proudost monarch IL without parallel
The plasuos OF Egypt arc the Divine answer
to tho challenge. who Is tina LordV' They
Il Illustrate the Divine power over every king.
dom Of nature, Tho imposslbilty of comet
dence is proved by the uniformly ascending
scale and tho exemption Of the Hebrews IN
every Instance, II was fitting that COM
momorative ordinance should be instituted
Nothing mora significant thnn the domestic
sacrament of the Passover can hn imagined
\ The exit OF Israel was not the flight q
criminals They travelled by u special royd
. edict which gave them authority IL do SO
Their march was orderly, by tribes, GoeT
banner. floating In the sky before. thens--