What do you think Abram did when he heard this news? Instantly he called for his three hundred and eighteen men whom he had trained to be soldiers, and told them to get ready for the march. There were three chieftains in that part of the country named Mamre, Eschol, and Aner, with whom Abram was friendly, and when he sent word to them that he was going to rescue his nephew and the other people taken by the kings of the East, they joined him, and the party started north. They had to travel more than a hundred miles before they overtook the enemy. Then they waited until night, when Abram divided his company in such a way as to make an attack at one time from different places. The soldiers were sleeping, thinking themselves perfectly safe, and when the attack came they were panic-stricken and fled, and Abram pursued them as far as Hobah, a village near Damascus. Then he led his soldiers, his nephew Lot, Lot’s family, and all the other people of Sodom and Gomorrah with their possessions back toward home.

As Abram passed near Salem, in the mountains west of Sodom, Melchizedek, who was both priest and king in that city, brought food and drink for the soldiers and for the people who had been rescued, and he blessed Abram saying, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth: and blessed be God Most High, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.” And to him, as the priest of the most high God, Abram gave a tenth of all that he had taken in the battle. Then the king of Sodom came to meet Abram. It was considered the right thing for anyone who gained a victory in battle to keep for himself all the goods that he took and the people also for slaves, to keep or sell as he wished. The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Let me have the people that you have rescued, but keep the goods for yourself,” but Abram answered, “I have vowed to the Most High God that I will not take so much as a thread or a shoe lace of all these things, nor anything else that belongs to you, because if I do, you may say that you made me rich. Let there be nothing for me. Let all that is taken from your possessions be what my soldiers have eaten and the portion that rightfully belongs to my allies, these three men who went with me.”

It seems strange that in this story there is nothing to tell us that Lot even thanked his uncle for what he had done. All that we know is that he went back into the Jordan valley and to wicked Sodom, and Abram and his soldiers and the friends who had helped him journeyed south until they came to the home tents at Hebron. Did you ever hear the proverb, “A friend in need is a friend indeed”? Open your Bibles in the middle, turn to the next book on the right, and you will see that it is the book of Proverbs. Find chapter 17 and verse 17, and let us read that proverb together. Who was it in this story that acted the part of a friend? A friend to whom? What is the name that Abram earned for himself? Do you not think that a friend of God would always be quite sure to be a friend of man also?

(Ask the children to watch during the coming week and see how many people they can find who are doing kindly things for others. Suggest that they try themselves to be “friends” and “brothers” to everybody who needs any help that they can give.)

LESSON 11
THE CORRELATED LESSON

(If the children have the colored slips marking their memory verses corresponding to the rainbow bookmark colors, as suggested in Lesson 8, it will be easy for them to find the verses. Such a drill as the one given here will not only fix the verses in their memory associated with their meaning, but will help the children to acquire facility in handling the Bible and turning quickly to references. As you will see this lesson is partly a drill on information which is given on page 31 of the Pupil’s Book for Work and Study.)

How many memory texts have we had in the first book of the Bible? What is the name of that book? What is the color in the rainbow bookmark for the first five books? What are those books called? Who can tell what the memory texts in Genesis are without looking in the book? Who can give one from Jeremiah?

Who will find for me a verse about love? What is that chapter called? Then if any one should ask you, “Where will I find the Love Chapter in the Bible?” what would you answer? Who will find a verse that tells how Abraham obeyed when God called him? What is that chapter about? Then what is it called? In what book is the Faith Chapter found? What is the number of the chapter? Let us see if we can all find the Christmas Story.

What one of our memory verses would you like me to find? (Give out the other memory verses by subjects and let each child read the verse he has found.) What is the text that tells us what a friend and a brother will do for any one who needs his help? Let us find that in the Bible. Open your Bibles in the middle. What book have you there? That is the hymn book of the Bible. The next book to the right is another book of poetry, and that is the one which has our memory text in it. The chapter and verse are both 17. Who will be the first to find it? Yellow is the color for the books of poetry, so I will give you a yellow slip to mark the place of this verse. Let us all read it together. Who can tell me in other words what that verse means?