Twelve Studies on the Making of a Nation Part 7

What qualities must every true pioneer possess?

What is the ultimate basis of all true politeness?

Who are some of the great pioneers of early American history? What were their chief contributions to their nation?

Is your own conscientious conception of your duty to be considered as G.o.d's command to you? Does he give any other command?

Does a high stage of civilization enn.o.ble character or tend to degrade it?

_Subjects for Further Study_.

(1) Abraham in Late Jewish Tradition. Hastings, _Dict. Bib_. I, 16, 17, Ginsberg, _The Legends of the Jews_, I, pp. 185-308.

(2) The Geological History of the Dead Sea Valley. Hastings, _Dict. Bib_. I, 575-7; _Encyc. Bib_. I, 1042-6; Kent, _Bib. Geog.

and Hist_., 45-54; Smith, _Hist. Geography_, 499-516.

(3) The Original Meaning of Sacrifice. _St. O. T_., IV, 238; Hastings, _Dict. Bib_. IV, 329-31; _Encyc. Bib_. IV, 4216-26; Smith, _Relig. of the Semites_, 213-43, 252-440; Gordon, _Early Traditions of Genesis_, 212-16.

(4) A Comparison of the Motives that Inspired the Migrations of the Ancestors of the Hebrews and our Pilgrim Fathers. Cheyney, _European Background of American History_; Andrews, _Colonial Self-Government_.

STUDY VI

THE POWER OF AMBITION.

JACOB, THE PERSISTENT.--Gen. 28, 10-33, 20.

_Parallel Readings_.

_Hist. Bible_ I, 101-21.

Hastings, _Dict. Bible_ II, 526-535.

_Prin. of Politics_ Ch. II.

Now as the boys grew Esau became a skilful hunter, but Jacob was a quiet man, a dweller in tents. And Isaac loved Esau--for he had a taste for game--and Rebekah loved Jacob.

Once when Jacob was preparing a stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was faint; therefore Esau said to Jacob, Let me eat quickly, I pray, some of that red food, for I am faint. (Therefore his name was called Edom, Red.) But Jacob said, Sell me first of all your birthright. And Esau replied, Alas! I am nearly dead, therefore of what use is this birthright to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me first; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and stewed lentils, and when he had eaten and drank, he rose up and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.--_Hist. Bible_.

Charles Darwin when asked for the secret of his success said, "It's dogged as does it."

Oh well for him whose will is strong!

He suffers, but he will not suffer long; He suffers, but he cannot suffer wrong: For him nor moves the loud world's random mock, Nor all Calamity's hugest waves confound, Who seems a promontory of rock, That, compa.s.st round with turbulent sound In middle ocean meets the surging shock, Tempest-buffetted but citadel-crowned.

--_Tennyson_.

Life is comic or pitiful, as soon as the high ends of being fade out of sight and man becomes near-sighted and can only attend to what addresses the senses--_Emerson_.

Who rises every time he falls Will sometime rise to stay.

I.

THE TWO BROTHERS, JACOB AND ESAU.

South of the Dead Sea, bounded by the rocky desert on the east and the hot barren Arabah on the west, extends the wild picturesque range of Mount Seir. It is a land of lofty heights and deep, almost inaccessible valleys, the home of the hunter and the nomad.

From a few copious springs there issue clear, refres.h.i.+ng brooks, which run rippling through the deep ravines, but soon lose themselves in their hot, gravelly beds. A few miles further on they emerge and again disappear, as they approach the borders of the hot, thirsty wilderness that surrounds Mount Seir on every side. Here in early times lived the Edomites, a nomadic people who established themselves in this borderland of Palestine long before the Hebrews gained a permanent foothold in the land of Canaan. The name, Edom, is found in an inscription of a king of the eighth Egyptian Dynasty,

In the Biblical narrative, Esau evidently is the traditional ancestor of the Edomites, even as Jacob figures as the father of the twelve tribes. One of the aims of these narratives, it seems to many scholars, is to explain why the Israelites, the younger people, who settled latest in Palestine, ultimately possessed the land and conquered the Edomites.

The portraits of Esau and Jacob are remarkably true to the characteristics of these two rival nations. They are also faithful to human nature as we find it to-day. Of these two brothers which, on the whole, is the more attractive? Which resembles his father and which his mother? (Read the accounts of their lives, Gen.

24-27.) What n.o.ble virtues does Esau possess? What was his great fault? Reckless men or drifters with generous impulses but with no definite purpose, of whom gypsies and hoboes are extreme types, are found in every age and society. Why is it that men of the type of Esau so often in time become criminals?

II.

THE MAN WITH A WRONG AMBITION.

The modern tendency to idealize the character of Jacob, simply because he was one of the famous patriarchs, is both unfortunate and misleading. Although he vividly typifies certain characteristics of his race, the Jacob of these early prophetic accounts is portrayed with absolute fidelity and realism. His faults are revealed even more clearly than his virtues. The dominant motive in his life is ambition, but it is a thoroughly selfish ambition. In the light of the stories, state in your own words what was the exact nature of Jacob's ambition. How did it differ from that of Abraham? What methods did he use to achieve his ambition? Were these methods justifiable? What is your view of the statement, "The end justifies the means"? Try to define exactly the method of determining justifiable means. May Jacob's action be excused because he was acting under the direction of his mother?

Does a man with a selfish ambition always injure others? Does he in the end injure himself most of all? How? Every type of selfishness is directly opposed to a man's highest self-interest.

Jesus continually had this large truth in mind when he declared, "He that findeth his life shall lose it, but he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." Jesus himself ill.u.s.trated this principle. Cite other ill.u.s.trations from history. From your own observation or experience.

Was Jacob, even with his wrong ambition, a stronger and more promising character than his brother Esau? Why?

Would you rather have your son a boy of strong character with vicious tendency or a weakling with harmless, virtuous inclinations?

III.

JACOB'S TRAINING IN THE SCHOOL OF EXPERIENCE.

Jacob's experiences as a fugitive well ill.u.s.trate the homely proverb, "The way of the transgressor is hard." He who deceived and cheated his brother soon became the victim of deception and fraud. Most painful of all was the ever-haunting sense of fear because of the consequences of his wrong acts that followed him even in his life as an exile and, like a spectre, confronted him as he returned again to the scenes of his boyhood. These painful experiences were probably essential to the development of Jacob's character. Are there any other ways in which men of this type can be led to appreciate that their ambitions are wrong? Was Laban any more unjust or tricky in his dealing with Jacob than Jacob had been with Esau, or than Jacob was with Laban? Note the grim humor running through these stories. They are the type of stories that would be especially appreciated when told by shepherds beside the camp fire.

The most significant point in these stories is that they declare that Jehovah's care and guidance followed the selfish deceiver even as he fled the consequences of his own misdeeds. Why should that divine care s.h.i.+eld him from the consequences of his misdeeds? Do we find such instances to-day? How do you explain them? What is the meaning of the story of Jacob's vision at Bethel? What promising elements did Jehovah find in Jacob's character? What practical lessons did Jacob learn during his sojourn in Aram?

Was Jacob really a hypocrite, or did he in fact fail to see any inconsistency between, his trickery and meanness and his wors.h.i.+p of Jehovah? A man may be sincere in his religious wors.h.i.+p on Sunday and yet cheat a neighbor on Monday. a.n.a.lyze carefully the nature of his religion.

IV.

THE INVINCIBLE POWER OP AMBITION AND PERSEVERANCE.

History and modern life abound in ill.u.s.trations of what can be accomplished by the combination of ambition and perseverance.

Cyrus, the king of a little upland province, through a remarkable series of victories became the undisputed master of south-western Asia and laid the foundations of the great Persian Empire. Julius Caesar, who transformed Rome from a republic into an empire, and Napoleon the Corsican, are the cla.s.sic ill.u.s.trations of the power of great ambition and dauntless persistency. Far n.o.bler is that quiet, courageous perseverance which led Livingston through the trackless swamps and forests of Africa and blazed the way for the conquest of the dark continent. Equally significant is that n.o.ble ambition, coupled with heroic perseverance, that has enabled settlement workers to bring light to the darkest parts of our great cities.

Ambition without persistency is but a dream or hope. Observe Jacob's persistency in the Biblical stories. Does persistency, which has always been a marked characteristic of the Hebrew race, largely explain the achievements of the Jews throughout the world?

Note the apparently scientific knowledge regarding breeding of lambs by Jacob in his dealings with Laban. Is it a fact recognized by science to-day? If he knew this and Laban did not, can you justify his acts? Can you justify the act of the director of a corporation who uses his prior knowledge of the business of his corporation to make profit from buying or selling its stocks? Who loses? Is he a trustee for their interests?