Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:8-11.)

When Moses was leading the children of Israel through the wilderness, they gathered no food on the seventh day, but instead, they gathered a double portion the day before. People did not cook or buy food on that day. They did not travel on a long journey, or take up any unnecessary work or play on that day. God has so made us that we need to rest one day in seven. We have Sunday as our rest day, so that all may rest together. It is called the Lord's day, because Christ arose from the grave on that day; and it is set apart for two holy uses, rest and worship.

3. This material is taught in the same way as a story. The pupils will tell the points somewhat as they have heard them from the teacher.

4. Let them repeat singly or in concert: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.

5. Have the pupils make a proper title for this lesson, for use in the notebooks, and copy the references and the Fourth Commandment in some brief form, like 4, or simply the first one or two clauses.

THE SACRED ARK

THE SACRED ARK.

Deuteronomy 10:1-8; 1 Samuel

4:21, 22; 2 Samuel 6.

1. What is a trunk for? A wooden chest is often used like a trunk, to carry valuable things on a journey, or to keep them safely for a long time. A steel safe is also used in the same way.

2. When God directed Moses to hew the two tables of stone, he also bade him make an ark or box of wood to put them in. When the ark was made and the sacred tables of the law had been placed in it, the people soon came to look upon it with great reverence. Because the ark contained the law of Jehovah, they said this was the place where Jehovah dwelt. When they wished to come before Jehovah for prayer or worship, they came to the ark of the covenant. They offered their sacrifices before the ark. They set apart men to take special care of it, and it was the sacred ark.

When the ark was moved, it was the signal for all Israel to follow. Where it stopped they pitched their camp. Sometimes it was established in one place for many years. Sometimes it was carried into battle, so that Jehovah would fight for Israel. Once when this was done, it was captured by their enemies, and was lost for a long time. But it was brought back, and was afterward placed in their first temple at Jerusalem, where it probably remained until the temple was destroyed.

3. These points should be told by the teacher, and reproduced by all the pupils, in story form.

A better impression of the religious sacredness of the ark may be produced on the children by omitting the cherubim and the gold described in Exodus 25 and 37.

4. Text. The glory is departed from Israel; for the ark of God is taken. 1 Samuel 4:22.

5. Pictures of the ark of the covenant may be shown, as Tissot, O., 52.

6. Let the pupils find a good title and place it with the references, the text 4, and the pictures, in the notebooks.

3 10.

SACRED ALTARS. Exodus 20:24, 25; Deuteronomy 27:5-8; Joshua 8:30-32.

1. We mark the spot where something has happened, so that those who come after may remember the sacred spota battle-field, for example, or a burial-place. Monuments of stone are sometimes so used.

It used to be that whenever Jehovah did something for his people, they would build an altar of burnt offerings to him in that place. They believed that he smelled the smoke that arose from their altar fire, and that it was pleasing to him; and then he would answer their prayers. So they raised many altars of stones gathered from the ground. Without hewing or breaking the stones, they were carefully built into a square pile. A fire was built upon it, and the sacrifice laid thereon until it was consumed.

It sometimes happened that a man killed another by an accident, and angry people would try to take his life for it. If he could run to an altar and lay his hands on the corner or horn of it, no one dared to touch him, because Jehovah was there, and no man had a right to meddle with the judgments of Jehovah. When the great temple was built in Jerusalem, there was a large altar in front of it for all the people; and gradually the other altars went out of use. The altar of God was always a sacred place, where his people came to him with their offerings and prayers.

3. Show a picture of an altar, if possible with an offering on it, as Tissot, O., 12; or Doré, Wilde, 557.

4. This hymn of Oliver Wendell Holmes may be explained, and perhaps used as a prayer in concert:

O Lord of Hosts! Almighty King!
Behold the sacrifice we bring:

To every arm thy strength impart;

Thy Spirit shed through every heart.

5. Make a title to remember the lesson by, and to place in the notebooks, together with the reference, the hymn, and the picture.

THE SACRED TENT

3 11. THE SACRED TENT. Exodus 33: 7-11; Numbers 12:5; 2 Samuel 7:2.

1. Although God is everywhere, yet people have their regular places to meet him for prayer and worship. What is one such place? (The church.)

2. When the children of Israel lived in tents and moved from place to place, they had one tent outside the camp in a quiet place by itself, and the ark was kept in it. It was called the Tent of Meeting, because Moses went there to meet Jehovah, when it was time for worship, or when there was any danger or trouble. The pillar of cloud and flame, which had been their guide through all their wanderings, came down and stood at the door of the tent; and out of the cloud Jehovah spoke with Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And all the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the door of the tent, and all the people rose up and worshiped, every man at his tent door. Moses would then come back with some message from Jehovah to the people; but the young man, Joshua, his servant, remained in the tent day and night. His work was to watch and care for the sacred ark, which was always kept there. After the children of Israel ceased their wanderings and conquered their enemies, a temple was built to take the place of the tent, and the ark was kept in the temple.

3. These points may be mastered in the usual way. It is best not to bring into this lesson any description of the rich tapestries and gold and timbers of the tabernacle, as described in Exodus 26.

4. A picture of any Arab tent, as Wilde, 247, may be used.

5.

Be thou a pillared flame to show
The midnight snare, the silent foe;
And when the battle thunders loud,

Still guide us in its moving cloud.

6. Read and explain the prayer in this second verse of Holmes' battle hymn, and have it copied, with the refer ences, the title and the picture, in the notebooks.

Take the next period for review, covering the series of "Sacred Things," and also begin a review of the First and Second grade lessons.

BROTHER STORIES

3 12. CAIN AND ABEL.

Teacher's Aim. (1) Stories this relation, so

Genesis 4: 1-6.

In the following series of Brother well known to young children, is employed as a means to fix in the memory certain Bible stories.

(2) In this first brother story the narrative itself vividly presented should be depended on to call forth right feelings in children toward these brothers; therefore the chief aim is to get the story well told.

Do not discuss why God did not respect Cain's offering further than to say, He must have offered it in a wrong spirit.

1. By way of preparation ask how many of the class families have two brothers. Then tell the story somewhat as follows.

2. In the first family in the Bible there were two brothers. The older was named Cain and the younger Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the ground, and Abel brought an offering of the fat lambs of the flock. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering; but unto Cain and unto his offering he had not respect. So Cain was very angry, and when they were in the field he slew his brother Abel.

And when the Lord said to Cain, Where is thy brother? he answered, I know not. Am I my brother's keeper? And the Lord said, What hast thou done? Thy brother's blood crieth out from the ground. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not yield unto thee its fruit. A fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth.