The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1913-04-24

A MEAN MANS
GREAT EXPERIENCE
The international Sunday School
at Bethel" Gen. xxviii, 1922.
1922.
BY William 7. Ellis.

II has often been SAID that one evidence OF
the historicity of the bible is the honesty
with which II deals with its heroes. Con-
trast the Scripture narratives with the fc-
ton and mythology OF the non-Christian
religions. 1t is said that aside from
Christ, there are only two biblical char
acters, Joseph and stephen, of whom
naught d~erogatory Is said In the inspired
record. Since these varied men were
OF us poor humans, with all our linr'ta-
lions, to aspire to the same goal.
1t Is not saint Jacob that we study to-
day. Instead, we look upon a mean, des-
plcable, cowRrdIy creature. fleeing from
the consequences Of his own duplicity. He
was helped to haste by the knowledge that
his brave and impulslve brother. Esau,
sought his life.
The Plot That Failed.
Schemers commonly overreach them
most charming trait of character. The
most attractive person / know is conspicu-
ously marked for her transparent genuine
ness. 7 Rebekah had violated all the con-
siderations of honesty in order to secure
a fathers blessing for her %favorite son.
She had been abetted In his by the dis
honesty of Jacob n by the weakness Of
Isaac. Now her home had been scattered,
Jacob had, fed for his life oward distant
Mesopotamia.
This time the journey was not rs his
grandfather Abraham had made it, in fun
caravan and state. Like a hunted crimi-
nal, he fed in real fear of being over
taken by the avenger. He had no cara
a or companions; He was but a lone,
lorn fugitive. making his furtiye way
nightfall found him, and so this lesson
story discovers him on the stony heights
of Bethel, where Abraham had once tar
ried and erected an altar.
The Sleep BY tho Wayside.
The familiar hymn. Nearer, My God,
10 Thee" which is built on the imagery
- Iannh'C axnnrfnnNn nj I(nfhal with his
vision of the ladder, has helped to Inn
press upon our uniformed minds the
hardship of the fugitive's having to sleep
with a stone for a pillow. Now this was
no stony grief" The oriental, especially
in pastoral pursuits. does not know the
cushioned life OF ease Of the occident.
The verisimilitude of the bible is revealed
by a thousand such touches as this. 1t
would be the most natural thing for a man
trained in the Open 90 take the nearest
stone for a pillow. l remember a Korean
home where. In the sleeping rooms, the
pillows were simply round stones. Nor
was sleeping IN the ground any hardship
to Jacob. The oriental knows how to
stand things. l have been amazed by the
endurance of men In this very region ira
versed by Jacob. who could sleep on the
ground or on q goard, often In driving
snow or pelting rain. Their life has taught
them to endure the buffetings of nature.
So we find Jacopasleeping amid the rocks
was a plain runaway. scared and troubled.
HIS anxious days were followed by rest
less nights. Not even in sleep could he
And quiet.
In these days of pilgrimage Jacob had
been thinking. Apparently he was learn
ing Of a new way of looking at things.
Some men have to &c into a far country
before they can learn the meaning of
home. It is a bitter school which ex-
%perience keeps. Jacob was learning what
the history of the race teaches, that dis
honor does not pay, and that personal
profit may be gained at too high a price,
Dreams That Reach Upward.
The first clear intimation of 4 life be-
yond this present one to be found in
scripture is this experience of Jacob at
Bethel. He In his dream saw a ladder
reaching to heaven.
Daily thoughts are the stuff of which
our dreams are made. Jacob had been
upon the God of his fathers.
Now in this dream he saw how near to
earth is the life beyond. Heaven is not
far from us. Even the mind OF an in
dividual may bring heaven and earth to-
In the reVulsion from his old
self which remorse had brought to. him,
Jacob had been driven to nobler thoughts.
AS he progressed toward Mesopotamia he
was progressing toward grace.
An Old Agreement Ratified.
Like many q ma who is walking the
streets today, Jacob Il that God was
dealing better with him than he deserved.
The covenant with Abraham was not abb
OBhICo NCSanoS SaSSp q AAC ~ .
below specifications. The promise of Alb
raham's seed still held true. Jacob was
in the line OF the covenant. After all, he
vas the better OF the two sons-which 10
little.
Now with his new vision he saw God at
the head OF the ladder stretching from
earth to heaven. He had in his dream a
promise Of old. It was q renewal Of the
old agreement between Jehovah and Alb
and It gave to Jacob the new sense
Of Goo ANA n GSGts q Pr SFssmsr Jacob swok.
declaring that this place had become q
Bethel, or house of God The name is one
truly borne by many churches. Each
face to face with the infinite realities and
the eternal Personality. Memory erects
It's pillars Of memorial at these places
even as ancient orientals used to set up
to remember the past, for thereby we are
in the present.
The Runaway's. Vow.
We may picture Jacob In his plight.
he knew, Esau might be only a day be-
him. Possibly that agile, ~tireless
was hiding behind yonder bush. II
was by no means certain that Jacob could
his mothers ancestral home up In
Haran. He was accompanied by no fight
Ing force. His self-reliance, which had
seemed SO ADEQUATE in the presence OF his
feeble father and his pliable brother. ap-
peared less adequate now.
Great loneliness had come over him. He
had thought the whole thing through. The
scheming Jacob had broken down. Now
his only dependence was upon God. He
had been solemnized by the vision In the
night. To get right with God seemed to
him thereafter the one supreme concern.
The realization of Gods presence and OF
Gods holiness had overwhelmed and sub
tected the proud and g~uileful trafficker In
a birthright.
so sometimes comes to soul and sense
The feeling which Is evidence
That very near about us lies
The realm of spiritual mysteries"
So Jacob made a new vow; rather a
selfish one, 1t Is true, but we must not
expect too much Of this beginner in the
better way. He ~covenanted with God that
he would serve Jehovah as his God II
only God would be with him and provide
for him. In token Of his allegiance to the
sovereignty of Jehovah. he pledged a 1.-THE
of all his goods and he set UP a pillar or
memorial.
Bethel made a new man Of Jacob. True.
he occasionally relapsed into some Of his
old tricks, but he had become a person
ality the tide of whose life now set in q
new direction. Jacob the ~supplanter was
In school to God to learn how to become
Israel the prince.
Requieseat.
Strew on her roses, roses
And never a spray OF yew!
In Uuiet she FepOSes.