“Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day.” John 5:16.
2. What kind of fast is most acceptable to God?
“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?” Isa. 58:6.
Note.—This is what Jesus did. He, the Author and Lord of the Sabbath, in addition to attending and taking part in religious services (Luke 4:16), went about doing good, healing the sick, relieving the oppressed, and restoring the impotent, lame, and blind, on the Sabbath day. But this, while in perfect accord with the law of God, the great law of love, was contrary to the traditions and perverted ideas of the Jews respecting the Sabbath. Hence they persecuted Him, and sought to slay Him.
3. Why did Cain kill Abel?
“For this is the message that ye have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew [pg 493] he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.” 1 John 3:11, 12.
Note.—The following comment upon this passage by M. de Chesnais, a Catholic priest of New Zealand, is well put: “If you would read the Word of God, you would find that from the beginning all good people were persecuted because they were good. Abel was slain by his brother because he was good, and Cain could not endure the sight of him.”—Kaikoura (New Zealand) Star, April 10, 1884.
The Fiery Furnace. "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace." Dan. 3:17.
4. Commenting upon the treatment of Isaac, the son of Sarah, by Ishmael, the son of the bondwoman, what principle does the apostle Paul lay down?