Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-10-19
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
ABRAHAM GIVING ISAAC TO
GOD.
Genesis, 22:1-14.
Golden Text will give MIN
unto Jehovah all the days OF MS
life.-I Samuel, Ill.
BY REV. HUGH T. STEVENSON.

I
s-------------------.-
BY REV. HUGH T. STEVENSON.
Some one has said that this lesson
may well be called Abfahams ex.
animation test in the school OF life.
If so, it is especially opportune at
this hour for US to read the scriptural
account and to see how the friend of
God" stood the test. We are living in
an hour when the big word is sacri-
flee America has been called upon
by God to give of her wealth, her re-
sources and her choicest sons without
stint. And such sacrifices call for
faith. AS one Of our statesmen has
said, if he did not believe that back
of the horrors of the present war
were the purposes Of the Divine Gre
ator and Ruler of the World he would
be uncertain, but knowing and feeling
that we are carrying out those pur-
poses, he has faith in the final out
come which can only be complete tn
umph. 1t was such a faith that we
see in Abraham as upon Mount Mor1ah
he is ready and willing to sacr1nce
the most cherished possession OF his
life, Isaac, his only son.
This dramatic incident in the life or
the patriarch is one of the most beautiful
and inspiring in all literature, sacred
and profane, when viewed in it's true
light Reading the story in the TWEEN
tieth century, we are apt to forget
Z, n iyyo6
in a world Of spiritual darkness. He
was surrounded by moral corruption,
not by the modern environment OF
lofty ethical thought and fdeal1sm. or
course, fundamentally his primitive
life does not differ from the modern
complex social life of our day. Abraham
had his problems of duties toward God
overcome, passions to be conquered,
just as they exist today. But the les
son loses much of its significance it we
do not always keep in mind that
Abraham lived during the dawning
day Of religious thought.
The trial which Abraham faced IN
the lesson is the climax in his Chris
tan life. Years before he had heard
the call to leave Ur of the Chaldees, to
leave behind him the associations Of
life that men hold worth while, the
associations of place. OF friends and or
kindred. Under the leadership OF God,
he follows his course through Canaan
and through Egypt. 1t is beyond dis
pute that before leaving Ur Of the
ChaldeeS he was confident of this
divine leadership and that he pos
sessed deep and sincere faith. Yet the
experiences through which he passed
had broadened his knowledge of God.
and they had added strength to his
faith. AFTER these things" he was
come to the test which was to still
further enlarge his vision.
There are two interpretations Of the
offering Of Isaac upon the altar on
Mount Moriah. It can be regarded in
the literal sense that Abraham received
direct from God a command to sacrifice
Isaac as a burnt offering. OF course,
we can now see that God did not IN
tend for Abraham to complete this
sacrifice. 1t was sufficient for him to
be willing. But it was necessary for
spiritual nature Of the kingdom. and
it was essential that his faith should
be purified and strengthened. The
agony Of soul that both he and Sarah
must have experienced was no less
keen. In spirit the sacrifice was made
although it was not made on the altar.
The second Interpretation is that Abra-
ham confused the inspiration of the
spirit of God with the customs and
practices of those peoples with whom
he was in contact
1t is undoubtedly true that even
conceding his spiritual progress. ne
was not yet far enough removed not
to be Influenced by environment and
current traditions. Human sacrlhce
was common to these early races, and
ences, been led on to feel that God was
everything in the world; that he was
dependent upon Him for all of his
blessings, and that the sacrifices De,
sired by God were of the things held
most precious. Thus ne may nave
wanted him to give up his only son;
These pagan influences must have had
some part in shaping his method OF
sacrifices. But he had yet to learn
that this was not Gods method, even
though he thought it was.
Whichever Interpretation we choose,
we cannot help standing in awe of the
sublime faith portrayed. 1t must be
remembered that Abraham had APP
parently good cause to question the
told that in him and in his seed would
all peoples be blest? How could this
promise be kept if Isaac was slain:
A veil has been drawn over the period
of the text. We do not know the
questions and temptations that sug-
gested themselves, but we do know
that early in the morning" Abraham
set out to accomplish GODS Will at
any cost American fathers and
mothers who have given their sons
to our glorious and holy cause can
realize in a measure the anguish and
the heavy heart of that devoted father
as the journey was commenced ana
Isaac left home for the last time, as
they imagined.
1t was only when the hand had
raised the knife ready to strike that
God interfered. Then 1t was that God
brought home the lessons he wanted
Abraham and succeeding generations
to learn. AS Dods has pointed out,
''the sacrifice God seeks is the devo-
ton of the living soul. not the con-
ed Enthusiastically his diSapproval of
human sacrifice as then practiced, and
some one has demonstrated that at
this point the Hebrews broke away
from the revolving custom OF some Of
their neighbors- AS We see now, what
God wanted was not Isaac, but Abra-
ham. He wished to test his faith and
to see whether he was willing to give
himself. He wanted to impress the
spiritual nature of sacrifice and of
true religion. He wanted to take away
the material so that Abraham could
see the value of the unseen things and
their reality. Henceforth, Abraham
saw God in a different light and real
lied the value of the Inner life" both
in worship and in service.
Plainly the lesson has a modern ap-
plication. The world has not yet
learned the truths that God taught
His servant. True it is that great
progress has been made, but even the
gotten away from the customs and
;da,1s If tho world Like Abraham wA