The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-10-18

somewhere near the Jerusalem rock
there also Christ was offered in real
ity. as well as in intention: Hs was
both the Son and the Lamb. devoted
to sacrifice.
This was the apex of Abraham's
spiritual experience. He achieved
heights of self-surrender. and of abso-
lutte devotion to the will of God, that
set the divine seal of favor upon his
character. We come to our highest
when our hearts bow lowest in sub
mission to God. 1t was verita Bile
Gethsemane that Abraham underwents
and ne emerged like his greatest De-
scendant, obedient to the VIII.
For obviously. as often, God asked
| for Isaac because He wanted Abra-
ham. The thing He cared about was
the complete and uttcrmost loyalty or
His servant. He desired to make sure
that Abraham could stand any test.
Once he found that there was abso-
| lutely no reserved room in the house
| that His friend Abraham had made
! over to him. God relinquished His
| claim upon the token He had indi-
| Gated. 1t was because Isaac was Aora-
hams dearest possession that GOO.
who will not be king at all unless
He can be king in ALL" wished to make
| sure that the son was included in the
| patriarch's loyalty.
A Legend of Many Lands.
Co. of the universal beliefs, found
! in some form or other among all
! primitive peoples. is that every great
! structure needs at its foundation the
sacrifice of a life I have seen tenn.
pies and palaces and bridges and bells.
in many foreign lands, of which stories
were told that the kings son or daugh.
ter or the fairest maiden in the land
had been entombed in the foundation.
or cast into the molten metal. Goa
| has written deeply in the heart OF
%y,;r Tvs nof
be sanctified by sacrifice. Abraham
was but working out a law OF the
highest life when he offered his son.
In Abraham's time, human sacrifice
as a religious rite was widely observed.
To him, the idea that God should want
Gus, but in perfect accord with the re-
lligious ideas of the surrounding ma
tons We must remember that Abra-
i ham was only learning to know Jeho-
yah and His nature. So when Goa
STAYED his hand as he lifted the knife
to slay Isaac, a new idea came into the
world. 1t was that human sacrifice is
repugnant to the Supreme Being. A
new step out of,heathen darkness was
taken on the heights of Mt. Moriah.
4 Occasionally. the records tell OF
some demented person who feels that
God calls him to emulate Abraham
and offer up his sons life. Only a
) crazy man would get this idea: for God
expressly prevented this act on Abra-
hams part. We, who have SO much
fuller and clearer knowledge of the
nature of God than was vouchsafed to
Abra ham in that twilight time. under
stand that such an act would be sheer
and horrible murder. Any person
moved with an impulse to slay his
child should know straightway that
; his brain has broken down and that he
should give himself at once into the
hands of the physicians or the police.
1t is the spirit of sacrifice-the will
ingness to relinquish our most cher
ished possession for the glory of Cod
that this lesson teaches. Loyalty to
the Divine Will. in complete self sur
render. is the message of Mt. Moriah.
? of Gethsemane on the Mt. of Olives.
Of Mt Calvary. and Of the worlds
! present Mountain of Tribulation.