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June 1930 land as a whole was firmly in the grip of enemies of God. Dwelt in tents. Lot had a house in Sodom. Abraham the pilgrim had no certain dwelling place. Even his posterity for a long time were but so journers in the land they expected to possess. V. 10. He looked for the city. Nothing had been said in the promise to him about a city. The revelation given him enlarged as he went on in the life of faith. Beyond the pilgrimage he saw a heavenly city, his eternal home. In this he was the great pioneer of all believers. * * * L esson Q uestions V. 1. From what land was Abram called? What was the religion of that land (cf. Josh. 24:2)? What was he told to do ? Did this involve a surrender of his life to God? Was he told definitely where he was to go? Did God require faith on his part? What was God’s pur pose in sending him forth ? V. 2. What was the first promise? Has it been fulfilled? Is Israel now a great nation? What was the second promise? In what ways did God bless Abram when he obeyed? What was the third promise? Has it been fulfilled? What was the fourth promise (in Revised Version, a command) ? Can anyone be truly blessed who refuses to be a blessing? V. 3. What was the fifth promise? Does God still reward service rendered to His saints (cf. Matt. 25:40) ? What was the sixth promise? Have enemies of Is rael often been punished (cf. Est. 7 :10) ? What was the seventh promise? In what ways has this been fulfilled? Does it wait for further fulfillment? 13:7. What caused strife between Abram and Lot? Who were their neigh bors ? Why are these neighbors men tioned ? V. 8. Would strife weaken both men befoi'e their enemies ? In what sense were they1brethren? Should brethren quarrel? V. 9. What proposition did Abram make? Did he yield his rights? Did he show faith in God? V. 10. What did Lot see?’''What was Abram looking for (cf. Heb. 11:10) ? Is it safe to walk by sight? * V. 11. What did Lot choose? Did he move away from light? V. 12. Where was Lot’s permanent abode? Did Abram have a permanent abode? What is a pilgrim? Heb. 11:8. Who called Abraham (cf. Acts 7 :2) ? How did he respond to the call? Was the future fully and definitely made known at first? How could he have courage to go out not knowing? V. 9. What is a sojourner? How could it be said that the land was “not his own” if God had promised it to him? /In what sense were he and his children heirs? V. 10. For what did he look? Had the original promise given him contained ref erence to a city? Did Lot choose a city? Which chose the better “city” ? * * * P ractical P oints 1. There were five great crises in the life of Abraham: (1) separation from idolatry (12:1-3), (2) separation from Lot (13:1-12), (3) refusal of the goods of Sodom (14:17-24), (4) casting out of Ishmael (21:8-21), (5) the offering up of Isaac (22:1-18). Each crisis brought a new lesson in obedience and sacrifice.
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is heavily covered with dew. It is the Negro custom to make the children squeeze through first. The “human brooms,” as they are called, have to rim the first risk of being pounced upon by a hungry hyena or lurking leopard; they also catch the deluge of dew on their naked, shivering bodies. So to the native mind, an explorer like Livingstone is a “dew drier” or a “pathfinder.” The “dew drier” is not “ministered unto,” but “min isters” ’to those who follow, and he has his reward in the Negro song: Lead thou the way in the wet grass drear, Then, only then, art thou pioneer; For Mr. First must get all the woes That Mr. Second may find repose. * * * Abraham Gen. 12:1-3; 13:7-12; Heb. 11:8-10 Memory Verse: “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an in heritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went” (Heb. 11:8). Approach .—Abraham did not k n o w where he was going, but he knew God was with him, and was not afraid. He left his home and country behind, but he was born about 2003 B.C., in Ur of the Chaldees, an idolatrous place. Terah, his father, not only worshiped idols but made them. At Ur Abraham married Sarah, who was very beautiful. Then with Terah they moved to Haran, a city of Meso potamia, where they remained several years. While there God called Abraham to go to Canaan, promising to make of him “a great nation.” He was called to be the founder of a mighty race, great not so much because of its wealth or power, as for its religion, the worship of the true God. Through this Hebrew race all -the nations of the world have been blessed. Abraham was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. He took Sarah with him, his nephew Lot, their household goods, servants and cattle. It was a long, hard, dangerous journey of about six hundred and sixty miles, and vastly dif ferent from our modern way of travel ing 1 One proof that the Bible is God’s Book is that it gives us a record of the failures and faults in the lives of those of whom it tells. The falsehood Abraham told is set forth here as the one dark spot on his life. After the famine in Canaan was over, Abraham and Lot went to Bethel and pitched their tents. Here God prospered them, so that soon there was not room ;enough for all their flocks. Quarrels arose among the herdsmen over the water supply and the pasturage. So, rather did not leave God! Are we as ready to s a y : “Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go” ? Lesson S t o r y .— Abraham is called the friend of, God .(cf. Isa. 41 ;8) and the father of the faithful (cf. Gal. 3: 7). Through him, the Hebrew nation was established. He
2. Abraham was called upon not only to separate from all evil but also to give back to God the very gifts he had re ceived. The land was his by promise, but he was content to possess by purchase only a burial ground. God gave him great wealth, but events proved that it was not an unmixed blessing; and he did not set his heart upon it. When Ishmael had to be sent away, it grieved him sorely; but he consented to crucify the flesh and obey God. Finally he yielded to God the very covenant blessing itself when. Isaac was laid on the altar on Mount Moriah. 3. Hoarded blessings, gripped selfishly, bring sorrow and loss. Surrendered bless ings are multiplied and bring eternal re ward. 4. God’s promise, “I will show thee,” is sufficient encouragement for a trusting pilgrim as he enters upon an unknown path. 5. Abraham was separated unto God from idols to serve the living God and to wait for a kingdom. Many others have followed in his train (cf. 1 Thess. 1 :9, 10 ). 6. The land which God showed Abra ham proved to be a land of famine (12: 10). Disappointed, the pilgrim turned aside to Egypt, the land of plenty, but was soon glad to return tp the place of the altar in the land (12:11-13:4). There is no blessing for a pilgrim in the enemy’s territory. 7. Abraham’s faith was not weakened by trial. Rather, it grew and was estab lished with each new test. Faith was fully matured when, having yielded up his son, the ftill measure of surrender to God had been met. , 8. Each new surrender brought to Ab raham a new revelation of God and a new vision of future blessing (Gen. 13: 14-18; 15:1; 22:15-18). 9. Lot is called a righteous man who did not enjoy the vile ways of the Sodom ites (2 Pet. 2 :7, 8) ; but he differed great ly from Abraham. Lot looked down upon the fertile Jordan valley; Abraham looked up to God. Lot chose material things; Abraham chose spiritual blessing. Lot walked away from light; Abraham walked constantly in the light of God’s promise. Lot was at home with sinners; Abraham was the friend of God. The city of Lot’s choice was Sodom; Abraham waited for the New Jerusalem. Lot lost his inheritance, for it was of the earth earthy; Abraham still waits to know the full value of his inheritance. ♦ * * G olden T ext I llustration Mr. Dan Crawford tells us in “Think ing Black” that traveling in Central Af rica is often difficult, because the trail is lost beneath the thick, matted tangle of grass thirteen feet high, which at dawn
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