Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1913-03-15
LESSON FOR MARCH 16.
THE TEST OF AsRAHAM,s FAITH.

LESSON TEXTGen 22:1-1a
GOLDEN TEXT desire goodness
and not sacrifice: and the knowledge of
God more than burnt offerings-"-How.
So
The birth OF Isaac ('1aughter")
1919, and the setting aside of the son
with suggestfveness, forms the con-
nection between the lesson of last
week and the one of this week
I. Sacrifice Required. God did
prove Abraham Or. W Wv. L. Abra-
hams ready response, Behold me,
here am t. gives evidence of his life
long habit of obedience. He was ready
for sacrifice or service. His habit of
taking God at his word prepared him
for this final act of testing, and per-
fecting, of his faith. The revised YER
sion prove" is better rendering than
the authorized version tempt God
does not tempt, i. e., solicit men to
evil Jas 1:13, but he does prove"
men; see Elk. 1920 and 1 Peter 1:12.
Abraham had been tried before but
what father is there who will not say
this was the supreme test, for he is
called upon to give up his, "only son.
whom thou cherishest"
Abraham's Faith.
Superficial critics have taken occa-
sion to make light of God who would
make such demand upon an earthly
father. We need to remember that
Abraham had doubtless witnessed hui
man sacrifices in Chaldea and that
having seen Gods faithfulness and his
past deliverances, he had enough
fol IN hal
own Providence deliver Isaac Fur
ther, attention has been called to the
exact language of the text, viz, Gods
demand was that Abraham "offer" (not
''kill'0 Isaac as a sacrifice The liter
al language is make him go up up
on the altar, doubtless in symbol We
read elsewhere, Heb. 11:17 that "Abra-
ham offered up Isaac" but we know
he did not kill Isaac Those who
stumble at that part of the story miss
the great lesson God intended to teach
in the record of this incident How
ever, Abraham was ready to do ~. 100
what God himself did actually do when
he gave his "only son." John 1916,
Rom 8:32. Isaac was the child of the
promise, hence the only son (cf. Gen
21:12). This makes the text more Sc
we're for Ishmae1 had been sent off,
21:14- God today is calling upon faith
ers to sacrifice their sons, and fathers
are sacrificing though not always unto
God. We must put our children upon
the altar. Matt. 1927.
II. Sacrifice Granted. abraham
rose up early" Wv. $40. The writer
of Genesis has left us to fill in the
emotions and the mental agony that
must have surged through Abraham's
heart, yet we again see a wonderful
illustration Of prompt obedience, CT
Ps. 1850
Abraham's Devotion
Attention has been called to Isaac
as type of Christ (cf. John 1O:17-1s).
% His name, given before birth; (2)
His birth, supernatural. predicted; (3)
His offering. a, by his father; b, volun-
tary; c, risen from the dead; (4) His
marriage; a, bride selected by his faith
er; b. servant calls the bride; C, meet
ing of bride and bridegroom. In this
connection we behold Isaac bearing
the wood w. g. a reminder of Christ
bearing his cross, John 1917. The
test to Abraham's faith was full even
to the point that che took the knife to
slay his son." when God interviewed
The repetition, Abraham, Abraham"
suggests the urgency of God to save
and the devotion of Abraham in that
he was not easily turned aside nor
looking for a way of escaping a dis
agreeable duty Abraham was sus-
tanned to the end (Rom. 4:20, 81 R. W
and out of 1t all he is abundantly re
varded. Wv. 1918 and 26:4-5
Ill Sacrifice Provided" "a lamb
caught in the thicket," Wv 11-15 Again
God spoke to Abraham through "an
angel" an old Hebraic way of saying
that God made himself known 1t has
been suggested that at this point the
Hebrew broke away from human sacrf
fees There is nothing in this story
to sustain any claim that God justifies
human sacrifices, but the exact con
trary. for God gave Isaac back to
Abraham (Heb. 1:19 r. VI and that
he is constantly doing to those who
surrender their all and their best tic
him. Mark 10:29-30; Prov. 11:24-25
Abraham did not leave the mountain
until he had offered a sacrifice and
who can question but that his heart
was filled with great Joy and thanks
giving unto God, 2 Cor 9:15. Without
the shedding of blood we cannot ap-
proach God.
Abraham is a type of true pfety |
and is constantly held up by New Tes
lament writers as the ideal of religion |
the reason is that religion never |