p. 244 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 7, No. 21. (6/2/1881)

PROMISE TO THE FATHERS.

By Editor

(Continued.)

The first mention of the call of Abraham is in Gen. 12:1-3, as follows:—

"Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee; and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing; and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."

Obedient to this call he came into the land of Canaan, to Sichem,—

"And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him." Verse 7.

It will be noticed that from this time onward the promise of the land was largely the burden of every message of blessing that God gave unto "the fathers." The next word to Abram is found in chap. 13:14-17. Lot had separated himself from him, choosing the fertile and well-watered plains of Sodom.

"And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee."

In chap. 15, Abram complained to the Lord that he was childless, and feared that he should die without an heir. There is peculiar force in this plea, amounting even to plaintiveness; for the Lord had said unto him that he would give the land unto his seed; and yet he had no son, and if his heir should be one of his own family, the promise did not bring assurance of a blessing to his house. Then the Lord assured him that he should have an heir, and a multitudinous posterity. Too often has this promise of a seed been considered separate from the previous promise of the land, but it will be noticed that Abram's plea for a son was in direct reference to the former promise to his seed; for if he died childless how could that promise be fulfilled?

"And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them; and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it." Verses 4-7.

By direction he prepared an offering, and "a horror of great darkness fell upon him," which well represented the darkness and trials which lay between Abram and his seed, and the fulfillment of the promise concerning the inheritance. But the promise itself was renewed:—

"In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates." Verse 18.

Chapter 17, where next the promise is renewed, is full of interest.

"And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face; and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." Verses 1-8.

Here are several points of importance. To give force to the promise of a numerous posterity, the name of Abram was changed to Abraham. And after the promise was renewed, as in the verses quoted, circumcision was instituted as a sign or token of the covenant. This was designed as a surety of the promise.

"And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you." Verse 11.

In chapter 18 is given the account of Abraham entertaining three angels, who acquainted him with the impending destruction of Sodom, and informed him that a son should be born unto him by Sarah, within the year. The promise is referred to, but not reiterated. There is, however, the strong intimation of the conditional nature of the promises, as the faithfulness of Abraham is spoken of as that which would make the fulfillment of the promise possible. "And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him." Verses 17-19.

Chapter 19 records the birth of Isaac, and the rejection of Ishmael from being co-heir with him. Though Abraham had waited with long patience for a son, the severest test of his faith was that recorded in chapter 22; it was the offering of Isaac. The Lord said unto him:—

"Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." Verse 2.

We must bear in mind that the promise, from the very first, was to Abraham and to his seed. And it was distinctly revealed that it should be fulfilled, not only to the son of Sarah, but to Isaac individually; and Abraham could not fall back upon Ishmael in the event of the loss of Isaac, for Ishmael had been decidedly rejected from being heir. And as if to make the test complete and thorough, he calls him his "only son;" the alone heir to these great promises; and still further he reminds him of his affection for him—"whom thou lovest."

It has always been true that men who have large inheritances to bequeath have highly prized the privilege of having children. The idea of having great possessions, and dying childless, with no one to perpetuate their names, and their estate falling into the hands of strangers, has always been deeply trying to the feelings of men. It was this that moved Abraham to present such a pathetic lament to the Lord:—

"Lord, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus! And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed; and, lo, one born in my house shall be mine heir." Chap. 15:2, 3. (My servant born in my house shall be my heir.—Douay Bible.)

The man whose lot is one of destitution and suffering, who has nothing to leave to his posterity, and no hope of their lot being more tolerable than his own had been, may be reconciled by these considerations to dying childless. The very greatness of the promise, the vast extent of the possession to which he should be heir, greatly added to the anguish of Abraham's mind. If Isaac is slain, how will the promise be fulfilled? How will his name and house be perpetuated? Who will be his heir? These questions must have come with great weight to his mind, when he received this soul-trying order.

The record in Genesis is so brief that it notices neither the sorrow nor the hope of Abraham. So far as that is concerned we are left to imagine what were his thoughts and feelings. But Paul relieves our anxiety in this respect. In his letter to the Hebrews, 11:17-19, he says:—

"By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called; accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure."

Thus it is evident that Abraham had fully given his son to the Lord. So perfectly was he resigned to the order that Isaac was to him as one already slain, and his being saved to him was as if he had been raised from the dead. His faith grasped the resurrection. He had previously been told (Gen. 15) that affliction and oppression, trials and sorrow, should befall his posterity before they possessed the promised land. And by the offering of his only son, and receiving him as one raised from the dead, he was taught also that death and a resurrection were to take place before his seed received the inheritance. This trial of Abraham's faith, and the apostle's comment upon it, forever puts at rest the oft-repeated conjecture that the faith of the patriarchs, and of all the faithful of old, did not grasp the realities of the life to come.

When this trial of Abraham was complete, and his faith in God fully proved, the Lord renewed his promise to bless him, to multiply his seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand upon the seashore—"and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies."

That Abraham's faith took strong hold of this promise of the land, and that his hope rested on it, is shown by his own words, spoken to his servant when he sent him to the home of his kindred to find a suitable wife for his son Isaac. To the servant's questionings, he said:—

"The Lord God of Heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, "Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence." Gen. 24:7.

We have now passed entirely through the history of Abraham, his death being recorded in the next chapter. But it is necessary to ascertain what was said to Isaac and Jacob, inasmuch as Paul says they were "heirs with him of the same promise." Heb. 11:9.

There was a famine in the land, and it appears that Isaac thought to go to Egypt.

"And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; and I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Gen. 26:2-4.

Here the promise is not only referred to, but renewed to Isaac in the very same terms. To him and to his seed, the land should be given; and to him, and through him, the promises to Abraham should be fulfilled.

Jacob, at the solicitation of his mother, was sent to her kindred to take a wife. On his journey, he saw in a dream a ladder reaching from earth to heaven:—

"And, Behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; and thy seed shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south; and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Gen. 28:13, 14.

Here the same promise of the land is given to Jacob and to his seed. And before his death, as he blessed Joseph and his sons, he spoke of the promise, saying:—

"God almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and I will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession." Gen. 48:3, 4.

Having now examined the entire record of the promises to the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we confidently appeal to the reader that the possession of the land is the burden of the promises made unto these, "the fathers" of the tribes of Israel. And reading these promises carefully we are greatly surprised that this truth has been so generally lost sight of by the Christian world. And, to test the importance of this point, we ask the reader to turn back and read again all the promises to these patriarchs, leaving out all that refers to the gift of the land; and see what there is left. It will then be readily perceived that, in so doing, great injustice has been done to the word of the Lord, and "the covenant of promise" is robbed of an essential element.

But if this course would do violence to the record of the Abrahamic covenant, is it not doing equal violence to the covenant itself, and thereby doing injustice to the faithfulness of God, to reject the promise of the land from the fulfillment of the covenant? We think in this respect there is a fault in the current theology of the age, and a defect in the faith of very many of those who profess to be "the children of Abraham."

But some suppose there are reasons why this part of the covenant should be passed by in this dispensation. This branch of the subject must next be examined.

LESSON FOR PACIFIC COAST.—JUNE 4.

Healing the Centurion's Servant, and Raising the Widow's Son.

Matt. 8:5-13, Luke 7:1-23.

LESSON COMMENTS.

HAVING finished his memorable sermon on the mount, Jesus descended from the natural sanctuary in the mountain, followed by his disciples and the multitudes who heard him, and again entered Capernaum which is called "his own city," Matt. 9:1, and where, as a citizen, he paid his proportion of dues and taxes. "He had hardly reached home," says Geikie, "when a deputation of the elders of the Jews waited on him. They were the foremost men in the Capernaum community—the governing body of the synagogue, and, as such, the Jewish magistrates of the town. It is the habit in the East to send such embassies when any request is to be made or invitation given with circumstances of special respect, but there was a feature in this case that made it very unusual. The members of the deputation, though Jewish ecclesiastical officials, came as the representatives of a heathen, possibly of a Samaritan. Lying on the edge of his territory, Herod Antipas kept a small garrison in Capernaum, and this, at that time, was under command of a centurion, who, like many of the better heathen of the day, had been drawn toward Judaism by its favorable contrast with idolatry. He had shown his sympathy with the nation, and his generous spirit, in a way then not uncommon among the wealthy, by building a synagogue in the town—perhaps that of which the massive ruins still remain. One of his slaves had been struck with a paralytic affection, and was fast sinking; and with a tenderness that did him infinite honor in an age when a slave, with many masters, and even in the eye of the Roman law, was treated as a mere chattel, he prayed Jesus, through the Jewish elders, to heal him. Their request was at once complied with, and Jesus forthwith set out with them to the centurion's quarters."

When not far from the house, the centurion sent another delegation to meet him and apologize for having so troubled him, and begging in view of his unworthiness to have such an holy one come under his roof, that he would but speak the word, and his servant should be healed. And when Jesus heard these things, he said, "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness." "To share a grand banquet with the patriarchs in the Messianic kingdom, was a favorite mode with the Jews of picturing the blessedness that kingdom would bring. 'In the future world,' they made God say, in one of their Rabbinical lessons, 'I shall spread for you Jews a great table, which the Gentiles will see and be ashamed.' But now, according to Christ's words, rejection and despair are to be theirs!

'Go thy way,' added he to the centurion, 'and as thou hast believed, so be it done to thee.' And his slave was healed in that very hour."

He had apparently left Capernaum the same day, for we find him, the next, at a village called Nain, twenty-five miles to the south-west, on the northern slope of Little Hermon, a clump of hills at the eastern end of the great plain of Esdraelon. It was still the early and popular time of his ministry, and crowds followed him wherever he appeared. Nain, which is now a poor and miserable hamlet, inhabited only by a few fanatical Mahometans, may then have deserved its name—the beautiful. The only antiquities about it are some tombs hewn in the hills, seen as you approach, beside the road which winds up to the village.

The presence of the Prince of Life, with a throng of disciples and followers, might well have banished thoughts of sadness, but shadows everywhere lie side by side with the light. As he came near, another procession met him, descending from Nain, the dismal sounds rising from it, even at a distance, telling too plainly what it was. Death had been busy under those blue summer skies, and its prey was now being borne, amidst the wail of the mourner, to its last resting-place. A colder heart than that of Jesus would have been touched, for it was a case so sad that the whole town had poured forth to show its sympathy with the broken heart that followed next the bier. It was the funeral of a young man, the only son of a widow, now left in that saddest of all positions to a Jew—to mourn alone in the desolate home in which he had died, doubtless only a very few hours before. Moved with the pity at all times an instinct with him, Jesus could not let the train sweep on. It was not meet that death should reap its triumph in his presence. Stepping toward the poor mother, he dried up the fountain of her tears by a soft appeal. 'Weep not,' said he, and then moved to the bier, careless of the defilement which would have made a Rabbi pass as far as he could from the dead. Touching it, those who bore the body at once stood still. It was, doubtless, a mere open frame, like that still used for such purposes in Palestine. 'Young man,' said he, 'I say unto thee, Arise.' He that was dead sat up and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother."

It was at Shunem, a village on the other side of the very hill on which Nain stood, that Elisha had raised the only son of the lady who had hospitably entertained him; and the luxuriant plain of Jezreel, stretching out beneath, had been the scene of the greatest events in the life of Elijah, who had raised to life the son of the widow in the Phenician village of Sarepta, on the far northern coast. No prouder sign of their greatness as prophets had lingered in the mind of the nation than such triumphs over the grave, and in no place could such associations have been more rife than in the very scene of the life of both. At the sight of the young man once more alive, the memory of Elijah and Elisha was on every lip, and cries rose on all sides, that a great prophet had again risen, and that God had visited his people. Nor did the report confine itself to these upland regions. It flew far and near to Judea in the south, and even to the remote Perea."

John the Baptist who had now lain for six months or a year in prison, but who was permitted to receive frequent visits from his disciples, heard through them of the wonderful miracles Christ had wrought, and he sent them to inquire of him, 'Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?' 'Having spent his life in the open air, in active, persevering labor, enduring privations, hardship, and toil, he had never before,' says Mrs. E. G. White, in Great Controversy, vol. 2, 'experienced the trials of confined, living. He therefore became desponding, and even doubts troubled him whether Christ was indeed the Messiah. He concluded that if Christ was indeed the Messiah, he would publicly proclaim himself as the Saviour of the world. He had indistinct ideas of the kingdom Christ came to establish, as also had the disciples of Christ. They thought Christ would establish a temporal kingdom, and reign upon the throne of David in Jerusalem. He became impatient because Christ did not make himself known, assume kingly authority, and subdue the Romans. He hoped that if Christ established his kingdom, he would be brought out of prison. He decided that if Jesus was really the son of God, and could do all things, he would exercise his power and set him at liberty."

'His disciples sought the presence of Christ; but they could not communicate with him immediately, because of the crowd who were bearing the sick to Jesus. The afflicted, blind, and lame, were passing through the throng. The disciples of John saw the miracles of Christ, and at that instant at his word the lifeless clay became animate, and the glow of health took the place of the pallor of death. Jesus said to the disciples of John, 'Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.'"

'In these words John is gently reproved for his impatience. The cautious reproof returned to John was not lost upon him. He then better understood the character of Christ's mission. And with submission and faith, he yielded himself into the hands of God, to live, or to die, as should best advance his glory.'"

Teaching Children Successfully

IN order to teach children successfully, we should remember that we were once children, and should often recall the feelings of childhood.

CALIFORNIA QUARTERLY S. S. REPORT.

By E. A. Chapman

FOR QUARTER ENDING MARCH 31, 1881.

Names of Schools	Names Superintendents	Membership	Average Attendance	Scholars Ch'r'h Members	Number of Classes	No. of Instructors taken	Contributions Received
Arbuckle	John Clasby	38	26	10	4	24	$5.26
Chico	George De Forrest	22	16	6	3	10
Fairview	J. W. Beal	25	25	19	3	15
Freshwater	Mrs. W. B. Goodfellow	11	8	4	2	10	2.00
Forrestville	T. W. Ross	37	23	8	3	20
Healdsburg	Mrs. Maggie Cook	45	26	23	5	16	1.15
La Fayette	C. L. Isaacs	7	4	6	1	5	1.00
Lemoore	J. E. Yoakum	50	39	30	6	24	3.65
†Little River	R. Stickney	9	3	8		2
Napa	Joseph Eggleston	37	35	19	5	40
Nevada City	A. Papworth	23	16	15	2	10	.50
Oakland	W. C. White	207	144	90	28	200	53.23
Pacheco	G. P. Sanford	12	12		2	12
Petaluma	Mrs. T. M. Chapman	15	13	13	3	15	1.50
San Pasqual	John Judson	19	18	5	3	4	.70
†San Rafael	J. B. Dymot	6	5	4	1
Santa Rosa	Lucian Light	62	44	30	7	30	5.40
San Francisco	E. A. Stockton	48	75	30	7	50	9.65
Red Bluff	D. S. Hemstreet	12	8	6	2	10
Temp. Colony	M. J. Church	12	10	8	2	5
†Ukiah	Mrs. A. C. Bainbridge	3	3	1	2	1
Vacaville	W. S. Swayzee	37	30	14	4	15	2.75
Woodland	J. G. Overshiner	66	47	42	7	40	10.00
St. Helena	C. E. Spear	76	37	38	8	6	3.30
Lone Oak	T. C. Howells	18	14	12	2	1
Totals		807	686	436	114	544	99.39

E. A. CHAPMAN, Sec.

CALIFORNIA SABBATH-SCHOOLS.

By William Clarence White

WE give below a table showing the reported standing at the close of March of each of our twenty-five Sabbath-schools. As we compare this with past reports and notice the rise and fall of the figures, they tell us of many an effort for progress which those less acquainted with the difficulties under which some of them are conducted, would never notice. In many places the difficulties to be overcome are greater than those accompanying an ordinary Sunday-school. Many of our churches have no settled pastor, and both church and school feel the lack of that experienced wisdom and strong guiding hand which a minister of the gospel could bring to their support.

In the same degree that the difficulties multiply, the mission of the school grows in importance, for where there is no pastor to preach the word, there is all the more need of making the school a means of imparting in the most attractive and forcible manner, those Bible truths which furnish subjects for thought and religious conversation.

The quarter reported, from January to March, is the most discouraging time of the year to secure full attendance, and this accounts in part for the decrease in numbers. In some cases families who moved from a large church to several different places have formed new schools without reporting their organization to the State Secretary.

In many respects the present is the most favorable time of the year for the formation of new schools, and the strengthening in numbers and interest of the old ones. The weather and the roads are good, the days are long, and the lessons are of thrilling interest. We hope that the harvest season will not lessen the attendance at the Sabbath services. It would be truly deplorable if the gathering, upon the six days alloted to us, of the bounties God has granted for our bodily food, should so weary any that they would starve their souls by idling away the Sabbath and failing to gather for themselves spiritual food upon the day that God has reserved for that purpose. We have much to learn. Time is short. Who will improve it?

W. C. WHITE.

Continue reading: NOT A SABBATH, BUT THE SABBATH