Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1907-04-04
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COM.
MENTS FOR APRIL z, BY
THE REV.. W. HENDERSON.
Subject: Jacobs Vision and Gods
Promise, Gen. 28:1-5, 1922
Golden Text: Gen. 20: 10
Memory Verses. 13. ID.

FfOmlSe, ten. S0:l-O, IO-SS-
Golden Text: Gen. 28: 10
Memory Verses, 13, ID.
This story of the journey of Jacob
rom his fathers house to get him a
wife is replete with lessons that are
,upremely valuable for us to-day
We shall be very foolish II we spend
)ur time In disputation over the
chronology or the possibility of the
vents depicted in this record, while
We miss the searching, beautiful
ruths contained in it.
Isaac's trust in the ability and
willingness of God to continue to his
ION and to fulfill the promises that
He had made to him, Is the first mes
age that we should take into our
hearts. There is no note of hesita-
ion or of questioning in the blessing
hat Isaac bestows upon Jacob. Get
hee out, into a proper and wisely
selected country, and seek wife;
ind God bless thee with the blessing
If thy fathers. So Isaac speaks to
Jacob. There is no doubt in his
mind concerning the efficiency OF
5od. He has full faith in the Di.
'ine fidelity.
The vision that came to Jacob, as
he lay asleep with stones for his
,ouch, contains three striking les.
IONS: First, of the Divine reality;
second, of the Divine contiguity;
bird, of the Divine providence.
In the dream Jacob is certified,
first of all, of the reality OF God. The
adder stretching from earth to
Heaven, with the angels of Jehovah
ascending and descending upon 1t, Is
out an incident in the dream. We
shall be unwise if we allow this to
obscure our clear vision of the Lord.
Behold, the Lord stood above it,"
he sacred writer tells us. And that
S the first great fact that the dream
certified to Jacob, the fact of the real
!ty of God. The ladder was to direct
lis attention to God. The angels
ascending and descending had their
impulse from the God whom Jacob
1iscerned at the top of the ladder.
They were to Jacob the Divine means
and method of communication. They
were incidental to the discovery, in a
peculiar fashion, to the mind OF
Jacob, Of the fact that God is. No
man can do much for God unless he
aas a lively consciousness of the &C.
:uality of God. No man can be eX.
pected to have respect for Divine de-
crees and Divine promises until he
has had a vision of divinity. We
cannot have respect, alteration, love
Tor a being of whose existence We are
ignorant or sceptical 1t was neces.
Jary that Jacob should have vision
Of God for himself; a special, init
mate, personal comprehension of the
:eality of God. What was necessary
'or Jacob, what proved of such value
in his life; that is necessary in the
life of every man, and it will be in
spirational to every soul to which 1t
IS experimental.
Jacob, further, was assured in his
dream of the fact of the Divine con-
:iguity; that is to say, of the Divine
nearness. God was not so far away
that He could not be seen. He was
Just at the top of the ladder. He
was clearly and easily visible. Jacob
didn't have to strain his eyes to catch
the vision of Jehovah. The Lord was
near enough for Jacob to discern His
lineaments and to hear the sound of
His voice. God was at hand. He
was very near. And this was another
lesson that Jacob needed to learn for
himself He had to be impressed
with the sense of the nearness of Je-
hovah. The further we picture God
away, the less likely we are to be
assiduous in His service. One of the
greatest motives to righteousness in
the world is the conception that God
is always near. We cannot follow an
"absentee God" with any burning
zeal. But we fain would love and die
for God who is always by our sides.
The sense of the contiguity of God
better any man who is conscious or
it's truth.
Then, too, Jacob received the as.
surance of Divine providence. This
God who was real and near, beauti-
fully real and delightfully."- near, SUI
pervises and directs the lives of those
who love Him and are amenable to
His will. Jacob needed the assurance
of the Divine guidance. This was a
promise that God gave to
him. 1t was almost beyond human
Jacob was but
man. And not the most characterize
man in the world. Evidently he was
an average man. And, being like the
rest of us, he needed to know that
the promising Father is also the en-
abling Lord. And we, being like
Jacob, need to learn this salient
truth also.
Critics tell us that the promise OF
Jacob to give God 1.-THE of his SUBJ
stance, in recognition of His guiding,
is an Interpolation by another hand
at later time. We shall not debate
that. We shall grasp the truth that
the church needs. The God of the
faiths of Jacob and of America is
deserving of at least tenth of the
income Of every man. The money
question will be solved in the church
when Christians devote specific por-
ton Of their income, Of one-tenth or
more, to the Lords work. And 1t
will never be solved until we do.
OF course Jacob was wrong when
he said that Bethel was the gate of
Heaven. And of course Jacob was
right when he said it. No particular
spot under the ckies is the gate OF
Heaven. But every place may be a
gateway unto God. The gate is uni
versally wide; it is open everywhere
to the man who will use his eyes.
When Henry James Spoke English.