The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1907-01-22
d =
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COM
MENTS FOR. JANUARY % BY
THE REV. I. w. HENDERSON.
Subject: The Story of Cain and Abel
Gen. 1915 Golden Text, I
John 1915 - Memory Verses,

/
$40.
! The story of Cain and Abel is the
! story of a great variety of human
| sins. Centrally it may be said to be
| the story of human faithfullness on
the one hand, and on the other of hui
man Jealousy This jealousy is the
| direct result of deep rooted desire
| upon the part of Cain to have every
| thing his own way. And to desire
| ones own way is to be self willed.
| From this point of view we may be
| justified perhaps to push the app1i-
cation of the story back one step far
Their and say that we have here
| picture of the opposing elements OF
| faithfulness and wilfulness in hu-
man life. Cain and Abel make Offer
ings to God Abel evidently per- 4
forms his sacrifice as God has CONF
manded and evidently Cain does not.
| God honors the sacrifice of Abel,
| which is according to His command,
| and He has no respect to the offering
| of Cain. He respects the faithful
ness of the one man and, may we not
say it, rehukes the wilfulness of the
! other. Being rejected, hot. sin
! surges, resentfully, in the heart OF
| Cain. He puts his hand out in evil
! against his own kin. Witness now
| the train of wickedness that results
| from the first irregular act. Cain,
with the calculation of man who
has decided to commit grievous of
| Tense, waits until he is far from hu-
man sight and hearing and then he
commits murder. To cover it up he
lies about it. And he not only lies
to God, but he adds insult to injury
| by unworthy remarks, to wit, "Am I
my brothers keeper?" This is a
! fair sample of the consequences of
! an inquitous self will. And to give
| the rein to self will is to invite the
same consequences in our own lives.
| Gains life is an illustration of the.
| need for several prChibitory COM
mands such as we have in Exodus
| 20, i. e., Thou shalt have no other
| Gods before Me-" Thou shalt not
KILL Thou shalt not bear false wit
! ness" not only against thy neighbor
but concerning thine own acts. When
| Cain elevated sin and self will above
| God in his life he laid the foundation
! for the first command. And in like
| fashion he laid the ground for the
| others.
The other great lessen from these
verses is to be found in the patience
| of God with the man who becomes
| overborne with the sense of his own
unworth Guilt and punishment
weigh heavy on the heart and mind
| of Cain. He cries out in anguish
| unto God The Lord hears his petit
ton. He lightens the penalty and
| provides way of escape for Cain by
placing brand on him to warn the
| peoples that Cain is under the di-
rect protection of the Almighty
wherever he may wander Cain cam
not escape the consequences of his
! sin, in a large degree, however. The
mark that notifies humanity of the
magnanimity of God at the same
| time recalls to their attention the
| sin of Cain.
AS with Cain so with us. We may
be forgiven, we may feel Gods par-
| don, but we never can lose the menu
DRY of our unworthiness.
VS.. 8. Process" many years
| pass between the events of VS.. / and
VS.. 3. How many years is not re-
| corded. Evidently it was a long
enough time for quite number of
people to gain maturity, for we read
| in VS.. IA the words ''every one" inn
plying that there were many others.
Offering" This assumes an altar
and sacrificial offerings. No account
of their institution is previously Civ
en-, however.
vs. 5. Respect" for what reason
we cannot learn. There may have
been some laxity in Gains Offering.
! He may have not complied with
| ceremonial law as completely as
did Abel. But we must hazard the
reason.
VS.. Z. Commentators seem to be
| f1nohln nynlain odnnnafnlu fhid
verse. 1t is likely incomplete. Parts
| of it perhaps are lost. At any rate,
it is not ineligible.
VS.. 8. Told" better "said unto"
"Field," the free countryside. Per-
haps distant place far removed
from near acquaintance.
VS.. 8. Where God gives him a
chance to make breast of his crime.
81 know not Cain doesn't try to
excuse himself, to. dodge, to beat
about the bush. He simply brazens
| it out and lies directly and shame7
lessly. Keeper" Abel kept sheeUA
We may not unreasonably read bist
OF INSCRIPTIONS irony in these rev
| marks.
VS.. IA. "Eid.' "In the primitive
tradition Jehovah is specially the
| ruler Of the cultivated district of Ca
AddAS anu " lCdNO Sduodl III Iu0
surrounding wilderness was to lose
the divine protection in it's ordinary
manifestation.
VS.. Is. Vengeance. The MUIR
derer and six of his kindred as a
rule were put to death together. See
2 Sam 21:S. Sign" for protection.
This was to indicate that he was UNI
! der divine protection and not to de-
clare his sin to the world. However,
it is likely that the brand did both.
Note that death is not absolutely
prescribed as penalty for murder.
| The right of revenge was family
one as much as any. But it's exer-
else was not compulsory This Sec
ton will admit of much thought.
! False Hun1iIifv