The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1907-04-05
Jacobs Vision and
Gods Promise
Sunday School Lesson fer April 7. 1907
Specially pfeplrld ior Oh plpef.


memory verses. l3. TO-
GOLDEN TEXT -"neholl. ] am witt
thee. and will Keep thco ln al place.
whittier thou Goeatt'-Gen. 4-l1.
TlME.-Not definitely known. but prob
ably about llN B. g.. Isaac was lll
years old and Eaau and jacob about 5l
PLACES -Bcorslcha. ou Che southern
edge Of Palestine. and Bethel about D.
miles north OF jerusalem "lhcre ia a
! little village and NcIl at Bethel Wni'H
IS on a hiu and tle ruins of Crusaders
church stand there on o. hin quarter
Of a milo away nre the ruins of aD-
| called castle of Abraham which some
consider the site of tne Old baineL
/ Charles O.. Trumhul
/ sCRlpTURAL REFERENCES Bible
| droams Abimcieohs. Gen. ll3, jacob 8
other dreams. Gen. 3i.ii-H, f1.2-i' Lah-
| ans Cen 1895 Josoph'9. Con. si.l-lN.
| phnraoh'e. and his officers. Cen. a. At
| the Midnnite's. Judg 1913. solomon's, ]
Kings 35-fl. Nchuchadnczzar Dan. 20.
Joseph's. Matt i.-1-23. 2.i3. 10. p, Pilates
wifc's. Matt I.i9. pauls, Acts l3.9. -s.h.
etc.
Compare Gods covenants with Ania-
ham and Isaac and lsl1c's blessing, Cen
i2I-2. i5.l-2i. i7.i-.i. 2lIl-S. 251-5. 2.-i-
g.
New Testament HIGHT on th.s event.
John 1851. Heb lii john 1876. ] Tim
2.5.
Comment and Suggestive Thought
]. And Isaac" Sow am old man of
III. Called Jacob" About 81 years
Old a young man for those times of
long life. "And blessed him" There
is no attempt TO substitute Eslu for
Jacob. "-Elllc0t. Thou shalt noi
take wife of the daughters of
Canaan. This was Rebekah's con
trivance (Gcn. 27.iGl. in order 20 get
Jacob safely away; and yet It was
not wholly a pretcxt, for a wife must
be provided for the now recognized
frst-born. and no alliance with heath
enism was fit for the one i'm whose
line the great Abrahamic covenant
would descend. 10 would be well for
Christians If they also took heed
to "be not upequally yokod together
with unbelievers" q Cor. GID.
A Fathers Blessing. The best start
in life" a young man can have is the
benedictlon Of a godly father or moth
er.
Jacob comforted by a Heavenly
Vision and a Renewed Covenant
Our exile was a mothers boy Tie
had been long enough from Beershoba
to grow homcsick. 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.
/. The nearnoss OF heaven. Angels
are all around MS to help us, as the
mountain was fun 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 Ike 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"
T. And Jesus Christ Is the Way
Our Lord himself John 1:5D applied
the description of Jacobs stairway 20
his own great work as a medium Of
communication between God and man
no man cometh unto the Father but
by me-"
8. 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 answers We are reminded Of /
the afferent and efferent nerves of /
the body-up which flash the sharp /
stlngs Of pain from the cxtremities TO
he head; down which come the direc-
tons how 10 act"-F. b. Meyer
Jacobs Covenant a Response TO
Gods covenant.-ln no way do men
show their characters more clearly
han by the response they make 10
he goodness Of God 10 IS like the
reaction In the chemists testtube.
when a certain substance is added
which at once d.sclosos the nature of
he compound under examination.
Jacobs responses TO Gods gracious
promises were three: Venerauon.
.ommemoraton and conservation.
Second Response. Commemora
ion.-Jacob established two memo.
ials Of the great event. a stone monu
nent, and still more lasting name.
Third Response. Conservation
z. 20. "And Jacob vowed a VOW"
When man understands Gods GOV.
nant Of blessing, the natural and
honorable impulse is to make one I'm
eturn. Love bosots love. and bene-
It's inspire a wish to do something
or the benefactor
V. %. And Of all that thou shalt
i've me ] will surely give the tenth
nto thee" This giving of tithos was
very ancient custom. followed by
braham in the case of Melchizodek
Gen. 14:20). and carefully laid down
D the Mosaic law Oev 27:3O33).
Gods Covenant with Us.-Chrisfs
cath is Gods new covenant" with
len. 1t takes up and wonderfully en-.
lrges all these ancient covenants with
zen. It means that God loves MS.
ven the worst Of as. with a marvel
us love; that he reaches out after us
nat he longs to heap an joy upon MS
is a promise to be with as every.
here. help us in all difficulties. save
3 from all temptation. and bring MS
home at last
Our Answering Covenant with God
Since God thus gives himself 20 US
hat less can we do than give our.