The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-02-15

Rebecca's well, which attracted the
party to Haran?
A Traveller in Damascus?
There was to be no abiding in Ha-
ran. Here Terah died, and here Abra-
ham heard the Voice that summoned
him still farther to the west.
On the fullness of detail which the
lesson text gives, he was hidden to go
forth and the promise was made that
he Should become a great nation and
that he should be a blessing to man
kind. Taking his nephew Lot, and all
their herds and families and retainers,
Abraham set out across the desert.
Whether he went directly west to
HONS, or followed the trade route
across to Damascus, we cannot know
probably the latter. Damascus, then
as now, was great city, and we can
imagine Abraham gong through It's
bazars making purchases, even as DO
the visitors from the desert today.
From that city he probably followed
the route of the present road, down
through the wonderful valley and wild
erness east of the Lake of Galilee-
Thence he turned west toward the
drearer mountains of Shechem.
We must not think of Abraham as
pioneering like the men who opened
up the American west. 1t was not
virgin land that he entered Canaan
had long before this been conquered
by the rival kingdoms of Egypt and
Assyria Ie Babylonian language, as
we know indisputably from the Tell ell
Marina tablets, was in vogue through
out Canaan, and there were roads and
well known routes which the famous
emigrant followed.
Men Who Go Out.
A nation with the virtues and OPP
portunities of the pioneer will not
decay while these last. 1t is the con-
-c,r1fi .Nrael 1isZn1 sfn
who become effete. The wondrous
physical vigor of the Jews, and their
persistence through the millenniums,
which is a miracle of history, is in
part due to their migratory, pioneering
qualities. They inherit their ancestors
daring.
Abraham was a great goer-out; he
dared break home ties. He gave up
and then again in the city of Haran.
He went against the conservative ad
vice" of his best friends. He lost the
chance to be a leading citizen" of
nations. Thus God greatly rewards
those who greatly dare at His behest.
The Voice That Calls.
There is nothing peculiar about
hearing divine voices, as was Abra-
hams experience. Speak to the first
Quaker friend you meet, and he will
tell you that that truth of the privi-
lege of the individual to hold COM
munion with the Highest is written
largest upon his creed. ASK the mis-
sicnary acquaintance or talk with the
you trust, and the reality of
a divine call" will be made clear to
you This Voice that speaks from God
to the human spirit is more real than
the skyscraperS that tower above us
or the concrete pavements under our
feet.
In passing, it is to be noticed that
when one confronts a man who be-
lieVes that sod has spoken to him, |
that man be a frenzied At
CHAN Moslem or a college bred Amer
lean reformer, it is best to get out of
his way. Nothing can stop him. 1t
was the conviction of the divine call
in the hearts of the first settlers that
gave the world America.
To lose the hearing ear, which is
to the voice of the divine
spirit. is to suffer the greatest calam-
1ty possible in life. The supreme
tragedy of all human existence is once
to have known communion with God, |
and then to have lost II. The way to |
be sure of continued messages from |
God is to obey those which have been !
received. Abraham pulled up his tent |
pegs and moved on when he heard the |
Voice. If he had not, he would have
as any one of the under /
buffers or camel-driverS of King Ham |
marabi.