The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1907-02-12
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL,
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COM
MENTS FOR FEBRUARY II, By
THE REV. I. w. HENDERSON.

| Subject: Lots Choice, Gen. 10: 1-4H|
Golden Text: Luke 12:15-
Memory Verses: 8, 9-Helpfsl
Notes.
Last weeks lesson completed WITH
| the arrival of Abram and Lot wIfh
| their retainers, slaves and posses
sions, in the land of Canaan White
there a grievous famine arises. The
| is not enough food for subsistentn
| diet. Starvation stares them G0
naan is barren. Egypt is the gran
| airy of the world Here if anywaefa
| there will be food And so into tke'
| dominions of Pharaoh, GouthwafH
from Canaan, they journey. Whi3&
| there Abram has trouble with the
Egyptians because of the relations X
| Abimilech, King of Gerar, with SH
| raj. God brings swift judgnselit
| upon the house of the Pharaoh. &
| dignifies Abram among and delivers
him from the hands of the Egyptisfss4
Released from their troublouss &{s
| yironment Abram and Lot go up out
| of Egypt into Southern Judah The
years have brought wealth to bow
| Abram and Lot What with tl13ff
| cattle and f1ocks, their silver ax1i3'
| gold and tents, they were rich men.
With these possessions they travel
| as far as between Bethel and Hai.
! unto the place of the altar, which
| aforetime Abram had erected.
Abram and Lot have such numer*
| GUS herds and f1ocks that the land i'll
incompetent to support them. Their
herdmen fight. Grazing lands and
| watering places are equally subjects
| n Nj
| between their retainers is imminents
| An open breach between the chief
| tains is likely. The situation Isl
| strained. But Abram is a man OF
| peace and of no contentious spirit.
| His riches have made him neither
| hard nor arrogant. He scans the
| landscape as it stretches toward the
| four winds of heaven and he sees ops
| portunity abundant for them both.
| With wise economy he perceives
| that war is the last thing that must
| come to pass between Lot and him-
! self; that with Canaanites and Periz-
| ziteS still in the country life will be-
| perilous at best, without any family
| feuds; that the one way to invite COM
| certed attack by their common enemy
| is for them to fight between them~
| selves. And so he proclaims an iren*
| icon: Let there be no strife-for We
| are brethren" With beautiful spirit
4 he offers Lot Fac initial choice: ''If
| thou wilt take the left hand, then
| will / go to the right; or if thou de-
| part to the right hand, then will r
| go to the left" There is no trace AZ
| pugnacity, no evidence of self-ag
| grandizement in his dealings wit
| Lot. The entire proposition is We
| worthy of man who enjoyed die
| divine favor to an unusual degree.
| Abram had profited from his init
macy with God.
Lot accepts the proposal. With am
eye single to his own preferment and
| advantage he chooses the fertile and
luxuriant Edenic country eastward
| toward the Jordan. Fair as the pri-
| mordial garden of the Lord, it ap-
peals to his self-seeking soul as offer
ing an opportunity for profitable ex-
ploitation. Therefore Lot pitched
his tent toward Sodom."
Lot is sample of the man who is
| spoiled by wealth and success. The
more he has the more he wants. His
spiritual sensibilities are dulled and
his finer qualities are blunted.
Practically Abram teaches us the
virtue of humility, fairness, magma
nimity. What he lost by granting Lot
The first choice he gained in just self
satisfaction. Lot may have selected
the best land, but Abram gained a
richer spiritual blessing. Abrams
course was as generous as 1t was
| diplomatic. He might have drawn
lots for position on the land and have
left the decision to fate. But he did
not. His open-handed dealing with
! Lot is lesson to US ALL
Lot stands warning against the
tnsidiously destructive influence of
prosperity Greed hardens and dead
ems; it destroys the powers of spirit
ual perception; it leads men to look
| with favoring eyes on sin. And to
look with favor is to invite tempta-
ton. May God keep us from the adj
versary of material gain
VS.. l. South" See Gen. 1879.
/ VS.. 8. Bethel" They travel back
the way they had gone down to
Egypt. ~. =
VS.. Z. Strife" Water and wells
are prolific sources of friction among
Eastern herdmen to-day.
VS.. 8. Land The unsettled
country
| VS.. 10. "Plain." Better, Basin
of the Jordan" The Jordan, in the
region, near Jericho, which Lot
chose, is surrounded by valley four.
teen miles wide. 1t is to the north
of the Dead Sea. "Watered." Lot
was DESTROYS of the most favored
| places. Garden Eden This land
| was beautifully supplied with
streams. Near Jericho water was to
be found four ways, practically from
common centre, as glance at a
map will show. And besides a null
| titude of other streams ran Jordan
wards or to the Salt Sea. Egypt"
This land was remarkable for its fer
I tility.
/! VS.. II "Close." Lot was so anx-
| ious to secure the best in sight for
himself that he even forgot his man
ners.
VS.. 1S. Wicked" They were
| prosperous and rich. 1t is not at all
! strange that they were wicked. The
1 wonder is that prosperous men are
| as good as they are. No temptation
is so insidious and subtle as that of
| ease. Exceedingly. They were SO
| wicked that, as we learn from Gen.
10. they were ready even to do harm
to the very messengers of God.
A Freak Potato.
\ What 90 napo;darod ~ he %ho ,,.a.~&