Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

over"memorials."me."church"The leader may assign these divisionsto individuals or discuss them in thegroup having the references read at thattime. He may ask ahead of time ones togive their testimony for Christ in thismeeting.Psalms:92:1, 2, 11-14, page 23296:1, 4, 5, page 23243:3-6, page 109147:1, 2, 6, 7, page 354JUNIOR TOPICFor September 18, 1955Mrs. Russell ScottColdenham, New YorkBUILDING THE ALTAR ESTLANDScripture: Joshua 4A NEWMemory Verse: "Ye shall diligently keepthe commandments of the Lord yourGod, and his testimonies, and hisstatutes, which he hath commandedthee."Deuteronomy 6:17Psalms:Memory Psalm for September Psalm147:1-3, page 354Psalm 44:1-4, page 112.Psalm 68:18-19, page 164Psalm 85:1, 6, 7, 8, page 207"Memorial""Altar"What do these words mean to us? Afew weeks ago we celebrated one of ournational holidays,"MemorialDay" or"Decoration Day." What does this daymean to us? Parades of men in armyor navy uniform marching, decoratinggraves of soldiers in our cemeteries! Wesay it is to make us remember and honor those who have died fighting in warsto save our country. Perhaps you havebeen in Washington, D. C. and have seenthe Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial or Washington Monument built tohonor three of our greatest Presidents.Our lesson today is the story of theerecting of a memorial by the Israelitesat God's command. Last week our lessonwas the story of the Israelites' crossingthe Jordan River into the PromisedLand. This was not the first miraculouscrossing of a body of water they hadmade in their journey from Egypt toCanaan. How had they shown "theirgratitude before? (Exodus 15:20-22).As soon as the people were all passedthrough the Jordan, what did God command Joshua to do? How many men washe to choose for the task? Why thisnumber? Where were they to go andwhat were they to do? "And Joshua saidunto them, Pass over before the arkof the Lord your God into the midst ofJordan, and take you up everyman ofyou a stone upon his shoulder,accord-August 31, 3955ingunto the number of the tribes of thechildren of Israel:"That this may be a sign among you,that when your children ask their fathers in time to come,mean ye by these stones?saying, What"Then ye shall answer them, That thewaters of Jordan were cut off beforethe ark of the covenant of the Lord;when it passed over Jordan, the watersof Jordan were cut off; and these stonesshall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever."And the children of Israel did so asJoshua commanded, and took up twelvestones out of the midst of Jordan, asthe Lord spake unto Joshua, accordingto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them downthere."And Joshua set up twelve stones in themidst of Jordan, in the place where thefeet of the priests which bare the arkof the covenant stood: and they arethere unto this day."And those twelve stones, which theytook out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch inGilgal."And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall asktheir fathers in time to come, saying,What mean these stones? "Then ye shalllet your children know, saying, Israelcame over this Jordan on dry land."For the Lord your God dried up thewaters of Jordan from before you, untilye were passed over, as the LORD yourGod did to the Red Sea, which he driedup from before us, until we were gone(Joshua 4:5-9, 20-23). Thus wasbuilt an altar in a new land."Altar""The idea of an altar was of ameeting place with God, who was to beapproached with a gift in the form of asacrifice. Though generally erected forthe offering of sacrifice, in some instances they appear to have been onlyThe first altar the Bibletells us of was erected by Noah to praisethe Lord for deliverance. From whathad God saved Noah and his family?Genesis 8:20Abram built many altars in his journeying from Ur to Canaan: Genesis 12:7, 8; Genesis 13:4, 18; Genesis 22:9.Isaac built an altar: Genesis 26:25.Jacob built altars: Genesis 33:20; 35:7.Each altar was built to honor Godfor His deliverance.Before the Israelites left Egypt, thereoccurred their greatest deliverance andto this day this is observed as a memorial among the Jewish people (Exodus12:13-14). Our Lord and Saviour JesusChrist always observed the Passoverand at the last Passover before Hisdeath on the cross, instituted the Lord'sSupper as a memorialmembrance of"This do in reYou will be looking forward to thetime when you "join the andcan go with your father and mother tothe Lord's table on a communion Sabbath to observe this memorial.For your notebooks:Perhaps you will like to tell the storyof the building of one of the altars wehave studied in this lesson.SABBATH SCHOOL LESSONFor September 18, 1955Rev. W. J. McBurney(Leaaoni baicd on international Sunday SchoolLeuons; the International Bible Lessona forChristian Teaching, copyrighted by the International Council of Religions Education.)MALACHI CALLS FOR RIGHTEOUSLIVINGLeviticus 22:21, 22; Malachi.PRINTEDLev. 22:21, 22; Mai. 1:8;2:10; 3:1-8, 10, 12-18.MEMORY, Mai. 2:10; "Have ye notall one father? Hath not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherouslyeveryman against hisbrother?"The name Malachi means the Messenger of the Lord. It is the word thatis so translated in 2:7. It is not likelythat Malachi was known by that nameexcept as the author of the book. Wecount him the last of the prophets untilthe coming of John the Baptist. The history of the Jews during those four centuries has been given us by the Apocryphal books of the Maccabees and theJewish historian Josephus.The exact date of the writing of Malachi is not indicated. It was probablywithin thirty years of the last return ofcaptives to Jerusalem. The book waswritten for a people that had been released from captivity, who were livingat peace without any threatened dangerfrom without, but were fast becomingtheir own enemies by forsaking God.Ingratitude and Self-justificationMalachi followed the effective methodof questions and answers. In the versespreceeding those of the lesson, Israelrashly denied that God had shown herany special favor. Then as rashly, theytake up their defense against the chargethat they have despised the Name ofGod. Though they call Him Father andMaster, they do not honor Him as such.They poluted the altar by making it acommon thing. Coming to the first verseof the lesson, the prophet asks them tobe the judge of their own conduct.Would they expect men to accept fromthem such indifferent service? Thenturning to the Law of Moses, Lev. 22:21,we find the basis of the charge thatMalachi was making against the Jews.How they may have been very scrupulous in selecting their lambs for the sac-139