McNairy County independent. (Selmer, McNairy County, Tenn.) 1902-1969, 1913-03-14


Of the bond woman, a story so rich
with suggestiveness. forms the con-
nection between the lesson of last
week and the one of this week.
/. Sacrifice Required. God did
prove Abraham" (R. W. w. IL. Abra-
hams ready response, Behold me,
here am l." gives evidence of his life
long habit OF obedience. He was ready
Tor sacrifice or service. His habit OF
laking God at his word prepared him
Tor this final act OF testing, and per
Letting. of his faith. The revised YER
ZION prove" is better rendering than
The authorized version tempt" God
Ices not tempt, |. O., solicit men to
svil Jas. 1:13. but he does "prove"
men; see Elk. 20;20 and / 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.
zion to make light of God who would
make such a demand upon an earthly
lather. 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
taith to believe that God could In his
own Providence deliver Isaac. Fur
Their, attention has been called to the
exact language OF the text, viz, Gods
iemand was that Abraham "offer" (not
"kill") Isaac as a sacrifice. The liter
III language is make him 60 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 ". 10Y
what God himself did actually do when
he gave his only SON." John 3:16,
Rom. 1892 Isaac was the child of the
promise, hence the only son (cf. Gen.
n:12). This makes the text more Sc
we're for Ishmael had been sent of,
n:14. God today is calling upon faith
srs to sacrifice their sons, and fathers
are sacrificing though not always unto
God. We must put our children upon
the altar Matt. 1887.
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. There is no suggestion
whatever as to Sarah's connection
with this incident. yet we Judge she
must have known. How Abraham's
heart must have bled at Isaac's ques.
ton. v. Z, yet he trusts God for we
read, God will provide himself the
lamb" v. 81; CT. John 1929. Notice
also Abraham's words to his servants,
1--WE will come again." v. 8. Just as
God had revealed the place at which
to offer the sacrifice, he saw the
place." v. IA, SO also we believe Abra-
ham was looking unto God for the sac
official lamb. v. IS.
Abraham's Devotion.
Attention has been called to Isaac
As type of Christ (cf. John 10. 1919.
"a His name, given before birth; (2)
His birth. supernatural, predicted; go
His Offering, a. by his father; b, volun-
tary; c, risen from the dead; az 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 ". 81 reminder OF Christ
bearing his cross, John 1917. The
test to Abraham's faith was full even
to the point that "he 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 way Of escaping q dis.
agreeable duty. Abraham was sus-
tanned to the end from. 1870, 81 R. w
and out Of 1t all he is abundantly re
warded, w. 1918 and 26:4-5.
III Sacrifice Provided" "A lamb
caught In the thicket." w. 11-15. Again
God spoke to Abraham through "an
angel" an old Hebraic way of saying
that God made himself known. It has
been suggested that at this point the
Hebrew broke away from human sacri.
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. W and that
he is constantly doing to those who
surrender their all and their best to
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 s:15. Without
the shedding of blood we cannot ap.
proach God. yet we do not need to pro.
vide our sacrifice. that has been pro.
vided once for all. Heb. 9:22, lisa. $3.50
Peter 2:24. Small wonder Abraham
should name the place Jehovah will
provide"
This Is wonderful lesson. Begin
with the Joy of Abraham's home over
the son born for whom they had SO
long waited. Grown to manhood, the
cali upon Abraham TO sacrifice the