Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

even"even"good"this time about "General" Abraham and confusion and shouts of a battle. Solhowhe "gotwith Lot. Lot, youremember, had been very selfish inchoosing what he thought was the bestplace for himself, the beautiful, fertile valley, and leaving to Uncle Abraham the rocky hillsides. Now Lot andthe city he lived in were in greattrouble. Four great kings from the northcountry had come with their armiesinto this lovely valley and had madewar against Sodom and the other nearbycities and had overcome them. Foryears (verse 4) these foreignkings ruled over them and no doubtmade them pay very heavy taxes, robbedthem of food and other possessions. Atlast they refused to pay any moretribute to(verse 4). News didnot travel so fast in those days whenrunners had to carry all messages, butin due time (verse 5) heardthat no taxes were being paid, so hesummoned the kings who helped himbefore and started south to punish thecities that would not obey him. Perhaps some of the older Juniors can tellwhat war in the early history of ourcountry was fought about paying taxesto another country. See if you can findin verses 5-7 how many different tribesthese kings conquered on their way toSodom. No one, it seemed, could standagainst them and they "smote" all thetribes of people along their way.Soon word came to Sodom thatChedorlaomer was on his way with anarmy and they were greatly excited andfrightened. Quickly soldiers and weaponswere gathered from all the cities anda great battle was fought. But alas forSodom and for Lot! The northern armywas victorious, the kings of Sodom andGomorrah fell in the (verse 10)and the others who escaped fled{verse 10). The enemy soldiers wentthrough the cities,taking everythingthey wished and carrying away manyof the people as slaves. Among thesewas Lot who was taken captive and allhis goods stolen. Poor Lot! How littlegood to him now was all the wealthhe had gotten! What a poor choice hehad made ofter all! Here he was, allhis posessions stolen, his wealth goneand he himself a captiveperhaps tiedby a rope to those behind and in frontof him being taken as a slave to aforeign land. Day after dusty day thecaptives marched north, often hungryand thirsty and foot sore.One night they camped near Dan.(Find it on your map. Using the scaleof miles, see about how far they hadtraveled from their home near the DeadSea. How far could they probably travelin one day? About how long had theylikely been on the way?) Suddenly inthe darkness there was great noise anddiers were running here and there, hitting each other in the dark, forgettingto guard their captives. After awhile,they seemed all to be gone and thesounds of battle little by little diedaway in the distance. As soon as it waslight, Lot and his friends saw that allthe soldiers had gone, leaving behindthem all their food, weapons, and allthe goods they had stolen. The captives were free! What had happened?Perhaps no one knew for some time,for whoever had rescued them had goneon chasing and killing the enemy. Butone day there came back along the roada company of friendly soldiers, gathering as theycame all the goods theenemy had thrown down in their hurry.Lot looked and looked and could hardlybelieve his eyes. Read in Verse 14 whohad rescued them, and in verse 15, howa small number of trained soldiers hadchased a whole army. What other leader of God's people used the same planhundreds of years later? (Judges 7)So it was "Uncle" Abraham who hadsaved him from slavery and from death.How ashamed Lot must have been, andyet how glad and thankful to the Lord,that Abraham was willing to return goodfor evil, and risk his own life to saveLot from the enemy! Probably Abrahamwould not have traveled to fight theenemy if Lot had not been among thecaptives (verse 14) and Lot began tounderstand what a great and lovingand forgiving man his uncle really was.But Abraham showed still more whata great man he was. It was the customin those days that the leader who wonany battle could have for himself allthe "spoil" ( goods, cattle, silver andgold)that was taken. So when theycame back near Sodom, the ruler ofthe city told Abraham he could haveall the "spoil" if only he would let thepeople go home to their city. But readin verses 22-24 what Abraham replied.Not even a shoe-string would he take!For Abraham wanted these people whodid not know the true God to knowthat it was from the Lord,and notfrom any man, that his riches came.How wise and unselfish and true toGod this man Abraham was! And therethis story ends. Perhaps this story wasput in the Bible so that we would learn,like Abraham, to be unselfish, forgivingand always depending on the Lord.Questions to talk about.1. How did Abraham "getLot? Romans 12:20, 21with2. Did Lot stay with Abraham or goback to live in Sodom? Genesis 19:13. Was Abraham foolish not to takethe "spoil"?4. What did God tell Abraham soonafter this? Genesis 15:15. Who rescues us when we are takencaptive by Satan? Luke 19:10To the Leader. For the flash card thisweek, write across the top the nameAbraham, diagonally across the card,the word "unselfish" and at the bottomthe reference of the memory verse. Asthe cards increase in number, therewill be more interest in using them forreviewing the stories. Use differentmethods each week, devising new onesand repeating old favorites. In everypossible way, impress the stories andmemorychildren.SABBATHverses on the minds of theSCHOOL LESSONAugust 29, 1954by Rev. Joseph A. Hill(Lessons based on International Sunday SchoolLessons; the International Bible Lessons forChristian Teaching:, copyrighted by the International Council of Religious Education.)GROWTH THROUGH CHRISTIANSERVICELesson Material: Acts 10:38; Galatians6:1-2; James 1:22, 26-27; James 2:14-17;I John 3:16-18.Printed Text: Includes all of the abovepassages except Acts 10:38.Memory Verse: Galatians 6:2 "Bearye one another's burdens, and so fulfillthe law of Christ."I. A Summary of Christ's Earthly Ministry (Acts 10:38). This verse is partof Peter's discourse to the householdof Cornelius,which accompanied the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon thispious Gentile. Peter's statement in Acts10:38 set before Cornelius, in brief compass, the good deeds of the Saviour forthe poor and afflicted of His people.This must have made a strong impression on Cornelius. In his own Italy, thepoor were regarded not only as beingof no account, but as a liability to national life.They were of no serviceto the state, either in the armyor inpublic works; and as there appearedno obpect in keeping them alive, no effort was made to do so. But this classof men were the special objects ofthe Saviour's care. He had compassionon them, and "went about doingto help them. This must have impressedCornelius, for he too had helped them.We are told that he had given alms(Acts 10:4, 31), and that God waspleased with Cornelius' good works.II. A Way By Which a Christian MayHelp Other Christians (Galatians 6:1-2).The Apostle Paul sets forths in theseverses the principle that members ofAugust 11, 1954 91