The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1913-04-24

A MEAN MANS
GREAT EXPERIENCE
The international Sunday School :
Lesson for April 10 Is, Jacob :
at Bethel" Gen. xviii, 1922. :
1922.
By William r. Ellis. I
BY William r. Ellis.

\ \
There are no plaster saints in the bible.
Men who are good and men who are bad,
even as you and T." make up that record
of human life In It's divine relationships.
1t has often been said that one evidence of
the historicity of the bible Is the honesty
with which 1t deals with its heroes. Con-
trast the Scripture narratives with the fic-
ton and mythology of the non-Christian
religions, 1t is said hat aside from
Christ, there are only two biblical char
acters, Joseph and Stephen, Of whom
naught derogatory is said in the inspired
record. Since these varied men were
friends of God, 1T seems easier for the rest
of us poor humans, with all our liTtta-
tons. 20 aspire to the same goal.
1t is not saint Jacob that we study to-
day. Instead, we look upon a mean, des-
picable, cowardly creature. fleeing from
the consequences of his own duplicity. He
was helped to haste by the knowledge that
his brave and impulsive brother, Esau,
ugh his life.
Tho Plot That Failed.
Schemers commonly overreach them
selves. Clear, outspoken integrity Is the
most charming trait of character. The
most attractive person ! know Is conspicu-
ously marked for her transparent genuine
ness. 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 this by the dis
IlDJltStS " Jdtob +diii ~ ne WtdhlltsS VI
Isaac. Now her home had been scattered.
Jacob had fed for his life toward distant
Mesopotania.
This time the journey was not as his
grandfather Abraham had made 1t, in full
caravan and state. Like a hunted crimi-
nal. he fled In real fear of being over
taken by the avenger. He had no cara
van or companions. He was but a lone.
lorn fugitive. making his furtive way
north and east. He camped wherever
nightfall found him. and so this lesson
story discovers him Oh the stony eight
of Bethel, where Abraham had once tar
ried and erected an altar.
The Sleep BY the Wayside.
The familiar hymn. Nearer. My God,
to Thee which is built on the imagery
Of Jacobs experience at Bethel, 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
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 20 take the nearest
stone for a pillow. | remember a Korean
home where. In the sleeping rooms. the
pillows were simply round stones. Nor
was sleeping on the ground any hardship
to Jacob. The oriental knows how to
stand things. | ave been amazed by the
endurance of men In this very region ira
versed by Jacob. who could sleep on the
ground or on a goard, often in driving
now or pelting rain. Their life has taught
them to endure the buffetings of nature.
So We find Jacob sleeping amid the rocks
at Bethel with no fictitious accessories. He
was a plain runaway, scared and troubled.
His anxious days We're followed by rest
less nights. Not ever in sleep could he
find quiet.
been thinking. Apparently he was learn
Ing of a new way of looking at things.
Some men have to go into a far country
before they can learn the meaning OF
home. 1t is a bitter school which ex-
perience keeps. Jacob was learning what
the history of the race teaches. that dis.
homer does not pay. and that personal
profit may be gained at too high a price.
Dreams That Reach Upward.
The first clear intimation of a 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
Daily thoughts Dire the stuff of which
u dreams are made, Jacob had been
He was getting a spiritual illumination.
Now in this dream he saw how near to
earth Is the life beyond. Heaven is not
dar,, from m us; nr Even the se mind ID, Of !. an ah,n n
2gether. In the rerulsion 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 a man who Is walking the
streets today. Jacob found that God was
dealing better with him than he deserved.
The covenant with Abraham was not alb
rogated because Jacob had fallen SO far
below specifications. The promise Of ABB
in the line Of the covenant. After all, he
was the better of the two sons-which is
saying little.
Now with his new vision he saw God at
the hanH. Nf fhaa1Qd6or QfpafrhfpC from
earth to heaven. He had In his dream q
communion with God. who ratified the
promise of old. Il was g renewal Of the
raham: and It gave 70 Jacob the new sense
Of God and Gods projection
Bethel. asaiasin q house Of cd tsISs The hsq name paeG IS n
truly borne by many churches, Each
soul has Its own Bethel. where 1t has come
the eternal Personality. Memory erects
its pillars of memorial at these places
even as ancient o~rientals used to set up
to remember the past. for thereby we are
in the present MS
The RufaWay's Vow.
We may picture Jacob IN his plight.
he knew, Esau might be only 4 day be-
hind him. Possibly that agile, ~tireless
hunter was hiding behind yonder bush, +
by no means certain that Jacob could
q GiSll LAS . 80 AOAAS - -
Haran. He was accompanied by no fight
ing force. His self-rellance. which had
seemed SO adequate In the presence of his
feeble father and his pliahle 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 ono supreme concern.
The realization OF Gods presence end Of
Gods holiness had overwhelmcd and sub
iected the proud and guileful traficker In
a birthright, 5s
$50 sometimes comes to soul n sense
The feeling which lie evidence
That very near about us lies
The realm of spiritual mysteries,
So Jacob made g new VOW; rather 9
selfish n it lis true, but we must not
expect too much OF this beginner in the
better way.dH He c~oyenanted with God that
he would serve Jehovah as his God II
only Eod1weuld be with him and provide
for him. In token Of his allegiance to the