The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1913-04-12
International Sunday School Lesson.
Second Quarter. Lessoa2 Gen. 2S:
1922. April IL. 1918.
Jacob and Bethal.
The Story.

ESau's prowess could easily I'M
do Jacobs plotting. Mother and
son seem not to have duly appre-
ciated the risk of exciting the rage
Of the hunter used to striking dead
ly blows. The mothers wit was
not long in seeming the danger, and
she bade her favorite ely" Jacob
was heir-apparent to thee chieftain-
ship of a tribe; the successor of a
vast estate; but he must needs take
his departure in the most ignomini-
Gus plight; no caravan or escort not
so much as a single servant; moth
he goes, a shelterless fugitive, a
tramp, with four hundred and fifty
miles and forty years of exile ahead
Of him. The man who was so used
to the sweets of domesticity was
getting further and further from
home, his sorrows increasing all
the way. He must needs keep far
from the dwellings of men. He
STARTS at every sight and sound:
Bitter are his tears, fervent his
prayers. For two nights, probably,
the fugitive must lie down in the
cleaning uncontrolled. On the ev-
ening of the third day Jacob light
ed on the place-likely one of his
grandfather's camps. The very
sight of the altar may have siren
gthened his faith. The Kingdom of
Heaven suffered violence that night,
as Jacob laid his head on stone
from Abraham's altar. The last
object left on the dimming vision of
the patriarch may have been the
receding rocky lodges opposite. In
his dream the steps rise to Heaven,
are Illuminated by an unearthly
radiance, and peopled by angel
forms. But all this is but by way
CT approach to the ineffahls person
of Jehovah, who stands above it..
The mere vision would have been
indescribably comforting, but the
spoken word is added. The fugi-
tive is assured that the very ground
on which he lies he shall possess;
and that his progeny shall be as nu-
merous as the stars. Jehovah's pro-
tective company is assured. Jacob,
on waking, cries: Jehovah was
here, though had forfeited all
claim upon Him, and had no right
to expect His coming" A holy awe
fills the dreamer's soul. He cries
again: why, this place is the por-
tai to Jehovah's palace" He con-
verts his pillow into a pillar, and
makes an oblation upon it. He
names the place House of God" "
He enters into a sacred treaty of
reciprocity: "Since God has made
His assuring promises, 1 will make
mine This spot shall be perma-
ment place of worship, and l will
1.-THE my income.
The Teachers Lantern.
The story of Jacob puts no prem
ium on craft in the management of
ones affairs. "The Lord used ia
cob for holy purposes YES: but
in spite of his despicable conduct,
not because of It. Jacob was terri
bly, punished. He was separated
forever from his doting mother; was
exiled forty years; got paid back in
his own coin, with compounded in
terest. Great are the advantages
of solitude. If Jacob had pushed
on into the town of Luz, chances ar
he never would have seen the lad
der. Our age needs more chance
to mediate. Choose sometime to
be alone; salute myself" Be care
full not to make the ladder of the
vision serve too many purposes.
Jesus in His conversation with Ma
thanael, makes it the symbol of
His mediatorial work, which spans
the chasm between God and man,
and makes intercommunication pos
sible. That is enough. The pill
lar reared and anointed may stand
for the use of form in religion. Con-
stituted as we are, the employment
of religious ceremony is indispen-
sable. Some one says the forms of
religion are like a ladder. The vi
tally religious man uses the ladder
to reach a greater altitude. The
Journalist just keeps running up and
down it to exhibit his agility. Aims
and prayers are inseparable. Jacob
evinced his sincerity by pouring one