Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-04-03
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
For April 8th-Gen. 1925
BY DIR. MARION MICH. HULL

some measure for his migratory life.
He went where food could be found,
and moved when it was exhausted.
His life, however, was that of a
wealthy man. He was the head or
father" of a great tribe. The very
fact that he had 318 trained serv-7
ants, who could fight and who were
born in his house, gives us some
idea of the size of his household
His word was law.
Abrams social relations somewhat
shock our sense Of prOpriety. While
Sarai was his wife, she was also
his half-sister, the daughter OF his
father, but not of his mother Gen
2012). At her suggestion he also
married her bondslave. He had
numerous concubines among his
maidservants. After Sarais death
when he was 1877 years old he mar
ried Keturah, who bore him SIX
sons and possibly some daughters
0whose names are rarely given) in
the genealogical records.
We must not criticize Abraham
unduly, for he was living in the
time when polygamy was the usual
thing. 1t impresses us with the
fact that these old worthless whom
We are accustomed to regard as out
of the ordinary were men like those
of today-not perfect, but in the
process of being perfected. 1t en-
courages us to- strive to attain, as
they attained as they were sinners
also like ourselves.
We must not think, however, that
because Abraham lived a nomadic
life that he was not cultured. Re
cent archaeological discoveries are
showing us that the time of his life
and the place from which he came
had a culture in some ways superior
to our own, and a civilization that
was very highly developed. One Of
the kings against whom Abram
fought to deliver Lot was .Amra-
phel, the king of Shinar, who was
none other than the great Ham
murabi, whose code of laws is SO
remarkable that some would have
us believe that Moses copied it. 1t
reveals a very high state of civiliza-
ton at any rate.
Possibly it was the religious life
of Abraham'S time that would in
terest US more. The worship of the
Moon-god was the most prevalent,
but we have seen that Abram was
distinguished for his allegiance to
the One God who is Lord of heaven
and earth. Wherever he stopped
when he was not in sin-he built
an altar and worshipped. When he
won his victory over the five kings
he met Melchizedec, the priest-king,
on the way back and because he
was the priest of the Most High
God Lord of heaven and earth,
Abram gave him tithes of all-thus
acknowledging Gods ownership Of
it all. He refused to take any of
the spoil, lest the King of Sodom
should claim any of the glory that
was Gods. He believed God and
obeyed Him when He told him to
offer his only son. Isaac, account
ing that God could and would raise
Isaac from the dead if necessary to
fulfill His promise to him. Through
out his whole life, he had no home,
for he had the forward 1ook-he
looked for a city that hath founda-
tions whose builder and maker is
God. His whole daily life was col
ored by his forward look. ..
His Character !
We have been getting glimpSeS of
his character as we have journeyed
along with him; but now that we
can stop and view him from the
distant point of several thousand
years, we can get q better perspec-
tive and can form a better idea of
the real man that he was. We
must honor him as a man Of piety-
he made mistakes. he. committed
sins, but the great trend of his life
was toward God. When he sinned
he turned back instead of going on
in sin. He was a man Of prayer
consider the affairs that he built;
his intercession for the salvation of
Sodom, his nephew's home; his fire.
quent talks with God, He was big
enough to be generous with Lot
Gen. 1879; he was never graspinS
(note, his refusal to take even shoe
latchet from the King Of Sodom
Gen. :23); he would not take for
nothing the field of Ephron, even
though he might have had it. And
when he made Isaac his sole heir
he also provided generously for the
sons of his concubines. He was
faithful, hospitible, and compassion
ate--although at first sight his treat
ment of Hagar and Ishmael might
not seem so.
He was outstanding as a man Of
faith. and faith which showed itself
by instant obedience. To leave eV-
erything and everybody when he
was seventy-five years old and start
out for g. new land which had been
promised him required great faith
and marvellous. obedience. To be-
lieve that he was to be the father
of nations when he was ninety nine
years old and his wife eighty-nlne
and they had no children, required
great faith. To obey instantly ="
without question the command
offer his son of his old age thro
whom the promise was to be
lied required great faith. To an
swer that boys question about the
sacrifice required great faithfully
son, God will provide Himself a
lamb" TO live in tents all his life.
to move about from place to place
in a land that had been promised
to him, without owning a foot of 1t
for sixty-two years, and then only
q graveyard, required great faith.
His faith was a matter of growth.
He took the first step when God
ordered him to move. A young man
of seventy-five might have great
hope and expectations: His faith
did not attend the test Of famine
at first. He had no business going
to Egypt for food, God could have
provided it in Canaan. His faith
did not stand the test Of the fear of
the Pharoahs. Lest Pharaoh take
his life, he devised a half truth and
=, ,,,boIa lilo tn nrotect himself in