Evening star., 1926-05-22

l.
I ious word stirreth up anger
| Proverbs. XVI.
| There Is not much recorded in the
Scriptures concerning Isaac. whose
life covered more years tnan any other
patrarch He was man NJ peace.
PHOSPHORUS and powerful. In his ca
reer he reproduced the life of his
father In comparatively uneVent1tl
career In some respects Isaac's life
was unique. His birth was mracu
Ious one. He came in accordan nee with
the promise given 10 Abrah ham, that
we considered in last weeks lesson
His name. meaning laughter. was
daily reminder Of SarahS sin ann
Gods unlimited power.
The story of his marriage Is the first
detailed narrative OF \ wedding given
us in the Bible. There is no sweeter
picture of patriarchal manners to he
found than the simple yet picturesque
narrative of the Scriptures. The story
of how Eliezer found Rebekah at the
well. barcained for her as the bride of
Isaac. and speedily returning with her
10 he Isaac's happy bride and To fulhiI
the parting blessing Of her family:
/ Our sister he thou the mother OF
thousands Of ten thousands, and let
| thy seed possess the gates of those
| that hate them. is one of the Worio :
| great love stories.
! Retween his birth and marriage
Isaac had entered the shadow Of death.
| He had meekly submitted 10 be bound
! hand and foot with cords and>to be
| laid upon the altar. willing to be sacri-
| ficed BY his father. He had seen the
AGED patriarch stretch forth the blade
| in the air and observed how he was
willing to complete the sacrifice. If
God had not commanded him 10 re
lease the cable that held the beloved
| Isaac upon the altar and offer in his
sons place the ram which He had pro
vided He entered the valley with his
father, when the mother whom Abra
ham and Isaac both loved. died and
was buried in Hebron. His father had
impressed his faith upon Isaac ana his
own household so that he became after
his death the founder of spiritual
empire. that rules the world today IN
the teachings of Judaism. Mohamme-
danism and Christia nifty. The fnfiu-
ence Of his father is seen in the peace
ful methods adopted by Isaac in MS
relation with other nations.
An Apostle of Peace.
| Famine compelled Isaac f." leave
| Reersheha He did not GO to Egypt.
| God met him at Gerar and stopped
| him bv His revelation of warning and
the renewal Of the covenant. repeat
ing the great promises 10 Isaac that
Jehovah had given to Abraham. he
fell into the same sin that marked MS
fathers experience In Egypt He
tried 10 pass Rebekah off as his sister.
The ruler Of the Philistines rebuked
him for his duplicity and issued
orders that protected Isaac and his
from being molested by his tribe.
Being assured of protection. Isaac
tarrjed near Gerar. Like his father.
he was a wanderer and a stranger In
the land The decision to add agri-
culture to his task AS a shepherd may
have been due TO the presence of the
famine and the need Of his rapidly In
creasing fiocks. The section where
he encamped possesses marvellous fer
tility. 1t produces bumper crops
without the Use of fertilizer. except
that which is washed down from the
hills without irrigation. with success
sion of crops, nd with the use OF the
most primitive methods Of agricul-
ture. Gods blessing rested upon the
efforts Of Isaac so that he became
more prosperous. through the In
crease Of his crops and f1ocks.
The prosperity Of the patriarch pro
voked jealousy among the Fhilistine.
They looked upon him as intruder.
They filled MP the wells that had been
dug hy Abrah hams servants. as
result Of their malicious envy. Abim-
elech found 1t necessary to suggest 10
Isaac in a diplomatic manner that he
leave. saving to him. that you are
too great a man for us" In the de
cision OF the patriarch we see that he
was indeed The First Apostle Of
Peace" Isaac did not insist upon his
rights. The wells were vested rights
that he had inherited from his father
Abraham, and he had. added TO the
vested interests the fact of his own
labor and that OF his servants. He
had God given right to the land.
Abimelech recognized that Isaac was
the stronger. possessing a greater
military force but the patriarch con.
sidered Gods will. Abraham had ex-
. hibited 1t in his proposal to Lot that
there should he no strife between
them for they were brethren. He
could have stood upon his rights and
fought, but the quiet man Of faith left
Gerar, placing his confidence In God
and daring to prove that the follower
: of Jehovah had in his spiritual faith a
: greater protection than the force Of
: arms. He would have fought had
God called him, but he knew that
Jehovah would take care of him in
carving on his efforts as public
bepefactor He saw the difference
between our rights and the right.
Public Benefsctor.
The selfdeniai spirit and sacriticial
service marked all OF Isaac's life. Any
man in the Orient Is considered a
} public benefaetor when he digs well.
isaac digged out the old wells which
his father had digged, calling them
bv the names that Abraham had be
slowed upon them. Wells in the near
East have always been OF the high
est importance as objects of possession
and as historical landmarks" 1t Is
. no easy task to dig through the rock
until water is reached, which is of the
greatest possible value.
When the workmen of Isaac tapped
some subterranean spring they had
J to face the claims of the shepherds of
Gerar. They acknowledged that the
, well had been dug by the servants of
, Isaac. but claimed the water because
they were the owners of the land.
The peaceAl patriarch yielded to
their contention" and moved on un-
til another site was selected. well
dug and a similar claim advanced.
J All that Isaac did was to call the
former Contention" and the latter
one "Enmity." leave them as a memo
. | .:.t or As~ Hv>fsvat "a vrnAUad