Genesis 22
AT last, Isaac grew up to be a man. He lived in a tent as Abraham and Sarah did. They all three loved God, and loved each other very much. It was a happy little family.
Now you know that Abraham had a great many things. He had cows, and asses, sheep and goats, tents and servants, silver and gold. But he had one thing that he loved more than any of these. What was that? His son, his dear son, Isaac. He loved him more than anything else he had.
Yet there was one person whom Abraham loved even better still. Who was that? God. Why ought Abraham to love God better than all? Because God had given him all he had.
At last, God said He would try Abraham, to see whether he loved Him more than anything in the world; more even than he loved his son Isaac. You have heard how Abraham used to burn lambs upon altars. Now, God said to Abraham, "Take your dear son Isaac, and offer him up on an altar in a place that I will show you.”
Was not this a very hard thing for Abraham to do? But Abraham wished to do all God told him; because Abraham loved God so much. So Abraham cut down some wood to burn; he put the wood upon an ass, and he told two of his servants and Isaac to come with him. He left Sarah in the tent at home. They all four walked on for three days; at last they saw a high hill a great way off. Abraham knew that was the place where he was to build the altar; so he said to his servants, "Stay here with the ass, while Isaac and I go and worship God on the top of the hill." He took the wood off the ass, and bound it round Isaac with a rope. Then he took some fire in one of his hands, and a knife in the other, and Abraham and Isaac walked up the hill together.
Isaac did not know that his father was going to offer him as a sacrifice; he thought that his father would offer a lamb. So he said, "Father." Abraham answered, "Here am I, my son." And Isaac said, "Here is fire and wood; but where is the lamb?" "My son," said Abraham, "God will find a lamb"; but Abraham did not tell Isaac that he was to be the lamb.
At last they came to the top of the hill. Then Abraham took stones, and built an altar; and he took the wood off Isaac's back, and laid it on the 'altars. Now, the time was come when Isaac must know who was to be the lamb. The rope that had bound the wood was fastened round the hands and feet of Isaac, and he was laid upon the wood like a lamb.
Then Abraham took the knife, and lifted up his hand to kill Isaac, when he heard a voice calling, "Abraham, Abraham." It was an angel speaking from heaven. The angel said, "Do not kill your son, nor hurt him at all; for now God knows that you love Him, because you have given Him your only son.”
How glad was Abraham to untie the rope that bound Isaac, and to find that he need not kill him Abraham saw a ram caught in the bushes by the horns; and he went and took it, and offered it up as a sacrifice instead of Isaac. Abraham thanked God very much for having given him back his son, and the angel called to him out of heaven again, and said, " God is much pleased with you for having given up your son; and God will bless you, and all your children, and grandchildren, and their children, and one of your children's children shall make all people happy."
Whom did the angel mean? He meant that Jesus would one day be a child, and make people happy, and take them to heaven.
A very, very long while afterward, you know that Mary had a child, who was the Son of God.
When the angel had done speaking, Abraham and Isaac went down the hill together; there was no wood now on Isaac's back. Abraham now was very glad.
They found the servants where they had left them with the ass; then they all went back together to Sarah.
Are, you quite sure that Abraham loved God? How do you know that he did? Because he obeyed God, and was ready to kill his son when God told him. Ought you to love God better than everything? Yes, you ought to love God best. And why? Because God gave you everything. That is one reason why you ought to love Him best. You love your father and mother very much; but you ought to love Gad better still. You ought to love God much better than you do your play, or your pretty things, or nice things to eat. Now, if you love God best, you will do what He tells you. You will not tell lies, for God tells you not to; you will not fall in passions, and call people names; but you will try and please God. Then you will be like Abraham.
Hymn 6
Ah I well may Abraham love the God
Who promised him the land;
A thousand precious gifts bestowed,
His warmest love demand.
His cattle cover o'er the plain;
With gold his stores are filled;
His servants form a numerous train,
Prepared the Sword to wield.
One gift, more precious than the rest,
Does most his heart engage;
With a fair son is Abraham blest,
The solace of his age.
Does he this son more fondly love
Than his all-bounteous God?
This point the Lord would fully prove,
So bids him shed his blood.
See Abraham laboring up the hill,
With Isaac by his side;
The sorrows which his bosom fill,
He strives awhile to hide.
And now the fatal altar's built,
And Abraham lifts the knife;
Oh, must his darling's blood be spilled
In the fair morn of life?
But hark I an angel stays his hand,
And bids him Spare his son I
For he has done God's great command,
And faith and love has shown.
Child
Like Abraham, I am richly blest;
Oh, let me grateful be,
And ever love that God the best
Who gave so much to me.
Oh, let me His commands obey
With dutiful delight,
And, when He takes those gifts away
Think all He does is right.
My God has done far more for me
Than can be e'er repaid;
His only Son on Calvary
For me atonement made.
Chapter 8 – Jacob, or the Heavenly Dream
Genesis 23; 25; 27; 28
ABRAHAM and Sarah were very, very old. At last Sarah died, and Abraham wished, to bury her, but he had not a piece of ground in Canaan to bury her in; so he gave some of his silver to the people in Canaan, and bought a field.
The field was full of trees, and there was a cave in it. Abraham took the dead body of Sarah, and put it into the cave. At last Abraham died, and Isaac his son buried him in the same cave where Sarah lay.
Abraham will rise again out of that cave at the last day, and live with God in heaven. Abraham did not wish to have Canaan for his land; he wanted to live with God in heaven, which is a better country than Canaan.
Abraham's spirit is not dead; it is with God now; and at the last day his body will live too, and you will see him; and if you love God as Abraham did, you will sit down with Abraham in heaven.
Isaac married a good woman, called Rebekah. She lived in the tent where Sarah used to live.
Isaac and Rebekah had two little sons.
They were called Esau and Jacob. They were twins; that is, they were the same age; but they were quite unlike each other. Their faces were unlike, and their hearts were unlike. Esau was wicked from a child; but Jacob was good, and loved God. When Esau was a man, he became a hunter. He had a bow and arrows; and he used to go into the woods, and shoot birds and stags; he used to bring them home, and dress them for dinner; and he used to give some of his nice meat to his father Isaac.
It was not wrong in Esau to hunt, and to cook the meat; but his heart was wicked; he did not care for God; and he loved meat and drink more than God.
Jacob was a shepherd; he stayed at home near his tent with his father and mother, and his sheep and goats. He loved God, and prayed to God, very often.
I am sorry to tell you that Isaac loved wicked Esau better than he loved good Jacob. Shall I tell you why? Because Esau brought him nice meat. That was a very bad reason for loving him best.
But Rebekah loved Jacob, and God loved Jacob; and God did not love Esau. Do you think that Esau and Jacob loved one another?
They did not; Jacob sometimes behaved unkindly to Esau; and so Esau hated Jacob, and wished to kill him. One day Esau said, "My father will soon die; and then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
Rebekah heard that Esau meant to kill Jacob some day; so she was frightened, and called Jacob, and said to him, "Your brother Esau means to kill you. This is what you must do; go to your uncle, who lives a great way off, and stay with him. Soon Esau will leave off being angry; then I will send for you home.”
Jacob did as his mother advised. He took leave of his father Isaac, and Isaac blessed him before he went. Jacob did not ask his father to give him anything. He took no servant with him, no sheep nor goats—not even an ass to ride upon. He only took a stick in his hand, and he set out on his journey; Jacob felt very sad. He was a poor stranger, and he was going to a far country, which he had never seen.
Should not you feel very sad, if you were to leave your father and mother, and to go alone into a country a great way off?
He had no tent, nor house to sleep in by the way; so when night came, he took some stones for a pillow, and lay down to sleep on the ground. There were bears and wolves in that country; but God took care of him. God knew how sad he was; and God made him dream the sweetest dream that you ever heard of.
In his sleep Jacob saw a great many steps, reaching up to the sky; and on the steps beautiful angels; some going up, and some coming down; and at the top he saw God Himself. Then Jacob heard a voice, and God spoke to him, and said, "I am the God of Abraham and of Isaac, and I will take care of you wherever you go; and I will bring you home again; and your children shall live in this land of Canaan, where you are sleeping.”
Then Jacob awaked out of his sleep, but now his heart was glad; he knew that God and His angels were watching over him. He wished never to forget the place where he had this sweet dream, so he took the stones, which had been his pillow, and made them into a heap. "Now," he thought, "I shall be able to find the place, when God lets me come back to Canaan, as He has promised." He could not offer a sacrifice upon the stones, because he had no lambs, but he poured some oil upon them, and he prayed to the Lord, and said, "If. God will take care of me, and give me bread to eat, and clothes to wear, and bring me home again, He shall be my God, and this stone shall be God's house.”
Jacob felt sure that God would take care of him, and bring him home again, because He had promised that He would.
God takes care of you, my dear children. He sends His angels down from heaven to watch over you, as they did over Jacob.
Hymn 7
On the bare ground the traveler lies,
The stones his pillows are;
While slumbers close his weary eyes,
God sends a vision fair.
See on that' wondrous airy way
What troops of angels move
Their brightness turns the night to day,
Their faces beam with love
And where the steps are lost in light,
On heaven's glorious coast,
There stands the Lord, more wondrous bright,
Than that angelic host.
Like rushing waters, loud and soft,
Sounds the Almighty's voice,
Uttering sweet promises, which oft
Made Abraham's heart rejoice.
“Thy children shall this land possess
(In number like the dust),
And ONE all families shall bless,
Who place in Him their trust.
And I Myself will go with thee,
Where'er thy footsteps roam;
Once more thy joyful eyes shall See
Thine own beloved home.”
Sweet consolation' thus is given,
A wanderer's heart to cheer!
This house of God, this gate of heave
Shall be to memory dear.
Child
And well I know that angels fair
E'en now from heaven descend,
That day and night they fill the air,
And from all, harm defend.
And well I know that angels fair
E'en now to heaven ascend,
And blest departed Spirits bear
To their Almighty Friend.
And angels, too, shall guard my way,
If I the Lord revere;
In life and death, by night and day,
“They still shall hover near.