The Tupelo journal., 1907-04-05

Jacobs Vision and
Gods Promise
Sunday School Lesson for April 7, 1907
Specially prepared for this paper.
Specially prepared for this paper.

thee, and Will keep thee III al Pi@ScS
whittier thou goest."-Gen. 2S-15.
TIME.-Not definitely known, but prob
IDLY about 1880 b. c. Isaac was III
years old and Esau and Jacob about 81.
PLACES-Beersheba, on the southern
edge of Palestine, and Bethel, about IL
miles north of JerusaI I'm. There is a
little village and a well at Bethel, which
is on a hill, and the ruins of a Crusaders
church stand there. On a hill a quarter
of a mile away are the ruins of a so
called 'castle of Abraham which some
consider the site of the old Bethel
Charles G. Trumbull.
SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES.-Bible
dreams: Abimelech's, Gen. 2O:S; Jacobs
other dreams, Gen. 31:11-13; 1874; LAD
ans, Gen. 3l:24; J~oseph's. Gen. Sl:o-O;
Pharaoh's, and his officers. Gen. AZ. Al,
the Midianite's, Judg. lib; Soiomons l
Kings 3:5-15; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. pan. "a
Joseph's, Matt, 1903; 2:1S. 10. Y; mates
wife's, Matt. Z7:19; PauPs, Acts 1872 Z""A'
etc.
Compare Gods covenants with Abra-
ham and Isaac and Isaac's blessing, Cen
12:1-3; 15:1-21; 17:1-21; 22:15-1S; 26:l-5; Z''Z'-
20.
New Testament light on this event:
John Isl; Heb. 1:14; John lfo' L ii"'
2:5.
Comment and Suggestive Thought.
l. and Isaac Now an old man OF
III. Called Jacob" About 81 years
old, a young man for those times OF
long life. And blessed him. Ihere
is no attempt to substitute Esau lof
Jacob."-Ellicott. Thou shalt not
take a wife of the daughters OF
Canaan" This was Rebekah's con-
~trivance (Gen. 27:46), in order to get
Jacob safely away; and yet IL was
not wholly a p~retext, for a wife must
be provided for the now recognized
f~rst-born. and no alliance with heath
enism was fit for the n in whose
line the great Abrahamic covenant
would descend. 1t would be well for
Christians if they also took heed
to "be not unequally yoked together
with unbelievers" e Cor. 6:14).
A Fathers Blessing. The best start
in life" a young man can have is the
benediction of a godly father or moth
er.
Jacob Comforted by a Heavenly
Vision and a Renewed Covenant
Our exile was a mothers boy" He
had been long enough from Beersheba
to grow homesick. His heart was
softened also by the lonely place and
his solitary condition, by the night and
the stars.
Light from Jacobs Ladder.-What
the lonely traveller learned from this
lovely vision we also may learn. These
ladder lessons are:
l. The nearness of heaven. Angels
are all around us to help us, as the
mountain was full of celestial defend.
ers round about Elisha.
2. These angels are magnificent
creatures. God 'maketh his angels
winds, and his ministers a flame OF
fire." And yet they are ready to COM
fort a guilty fugitive like Jacob.
3. The way to heaven is a stairway,
easy of ascent, with angels to help us.
The Mohammedans, on the contrary,
picture the entrance to heaven as a
bridge, "as narrow as the thread OF
a famished spider"
4. And Jesus Christ Is the Way!
Our Lord himself John 1:51) applied
the description of Jacobs stairway to
his own great work as a medium OF
communication between God and man.
mo man cometh unto the Father, but
by me-"
5. Cleans of heaven may be expect
ed through the darkest sky of misfor
tune and sorrow.
6. THE angels assembled: there is
the ascent of our prayers. The angels
descended: there is the descent of
Gods We are reminded of
the afferent and efferent nerves of
the body-up which fash the sharp
stings of pain from the extremities to
the head; down which come the direc.
lions how to act."-F. B. Meyer.
Jacobs Covenant a Response to
Gods ~Covenant.-In no way do men
show their characters more clearly
than by the response they make to
the goodness of God. 1t is like the
reaction in the chemists test-tube,
when a certain substance is added,
which at once discloses the nature of
the compound under examination.
Jacobs responses to Gods gracious
promises were three: Veneration,
commemoration and conservation.
Second Response, Commemora-
| tion.-Jacob established two memo
rails of the great event, a stone monu-
ment, and a still more lasting name.
Third Response, Conservation
v. 20. "And Jacob vowed a vow"
| When a man understands Gods COW
enant of blessing, the natural and
honorable impulse is to make one in
return. Love begets love, and bene-
fits inspire a wish to do something
for the benefactor.
v. %. And of all that thou shalt
give me I will surely give the tenth
unto thee" This giving of tithes was
a very ancient custom, followed by
Abraham in the case of Melchizedek
(Gen. 14:20), and carefully laid down
in the Mosaic law Lev. 27: 3O-33).
Gods Covenant with Us.-Christ's
death is Gods new covenant with
men. 1t takes up and wonderfully en-
larges all these ancient covenants with
men. 1t means that God loves US.
even the worst of us, with a marvel
Gus love; that he reaches out after us.
that he longs to heap all joy upon us.
1t is a promise to be with us every
where, help us in all difficulties, save
us from all temptation, n bring US
triumphantly home at last.
Our Answering Covenant with God.
Since God thus gives himself to us.
what less can we do than give our
selves to Kim?
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