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[Illustration: Front Cover]
[Illustration: Frontispiece: JOSEPH SOLD INTO CAPTIVITY.]
MOTHER
STORIES
FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT
A Book of the Best Stories from the
Old Testament That Mothers
Can Tell Their Children
With Forty-five Illustrations
PHILADELPHIA
HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY
ALTEMUS' MOTHER STORIES SERIES
MOTHER STORIES
A Book of the Best Stories that Mothers can tell their Children
MOTHER NURSERY RHYMES AND TALES
A Book of the Best Nursery Rhymes and Tales that Mothers can tell
their Children
MOTHER FAIRY TALES
A Book of the Best Fairy Tales that Mothers can tell their Children
MOTHER NATURE STORIES
A Book of the Best Nature Stories that Mothers can tell their Children
MOTHER STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT
A Book of the Best Old Testament Stories that Mothers can tell their
Children
MOTHER STORIES FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT
A Book of the Best New Testament Stories that Mothers can tell their
Children
MOTHER BEDTIME STORIES
A Book of the Best Bedtime Stories that Mothers can tell their
Children
MOTHER ANIMAL STORIES
A Book of the Best Animal Stories that Mothers can tell their Children
MOTHER BIRD STORIES
A Book of the Best Bird Stories that Mothers can tell their Children
MOTHER SANTA CLAUS STORIES
A Book of the Best Santa Claus Stories that Mothers can tell their
Children
Profusely illustrated and handsomely bound in cloth, with
ornamentation in colors
$1.00 PER VOLUME
COPYRIGHT 1908 BY HOWARD E. ALTEMUS
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CONTENTS.
PAGE
ADAM AND EVE 7
CAIN AND ABEL 8
THE FLOOD 10
THE TOWER OF BABEL 12
LOT'S FLIGHT FROM SODOM 14
ABRAHAM AND ISAAC 16
THE STORY OF REBEKAH 18
JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN 22
THE FINDING OF MOSES 28
THE FLIGHT FROM EGYPT 30
MOSES STRIKING THE ROCK 32
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 34
BEZALEEL AND AHOLIAB 36
THE BRAZEN SERPENT 38
PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN 40
THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOST 42
HOW JERICHO WAS CAPTURED 44
ACHAN'S SIN 46
THE ALTAR ON MOUNT EBAL 48
THE CITIES OF REFUGE 50
JOSHUA'S EXHORTATION 52
GIDEON AND THE FLEECE 54
THE DEFEAT OF THE MIDIANITES 56
THE DEATH OF SAMSON 58
RUTH AND NAOMI 60
BOAZ AND RUTH 62
HANNAH PRAYING BEFORE THE LORD 64
ELI AND SAMUEL 66
DEATH OF ELI AND HIS SONS 68
PLAYING ON THE HARP BEFORE SAUL 70
DAVID AND GOLIATH 72
NATHAN REPROVING THE KING 74
DAVID AND ARAUNAH 76
ELIJAH FED BY RAVENS 78
PLOUGHING IN CANAAN 80
THE SHUNAMMITE'S SON 82
THE LITTLE CAPTIVE MAID 84
JONAH AT NINEVEH 86
HEZEKIAH AND SENNACHERIB 88
THE BRAVE HEBREW BOYS 90
DANIEL AND THE LIONS 92
ESTHER BEFORE THE KING 94
DAVID AND JONATHAN 96
OLD TESTAMENT STORIES
ADAM AND EVE.
In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth He also made the
sun, moon, and stars; trees, flowers, and all vegetable life; and all
animals, birds, fishes, and insects. Then God made man. The name of
the first man was Adam, and the first woman was Eve. Both were placed
in a beautiful garden called the Garden of Eden, where they might have
been happy continually had they not sinned. But God forbade them to
eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan
tempted Eve to take the fruit of this tree. She ate, and gave to Adam,
and he ate also. Thus they sinned, and sin came into the world.
Then God called to Adam and said, "Where art thou?" Before this, Adam
and Eve had been happy when God was near, now they were afraid. Why?
Because they knew they had done wrong. So sin makes us afraid of God.
God rebuked them for the evil they had done; and then drove them out
of the Garden of Eden, placing an angel to keep watch over the gate so
that they could not return.
CAIN AND ABEL.
What a sad story the Bible tells us in the fourth chapter of Genesis!
Cain and Abel were brothers, the sons of Adam and Eve. How they should
have loved each other! Yet we find that Cain killed Abel. Why did he
do this?
Cain was a husbandman, who tilled the ground; Abel was a shepherd, who
kept sheep. One day each offered a sacrifice to God. Cain brought
fruit, and Abel brought a lamb. God accepted Abel's offering, but not
Cain's. Why? Well, I am not quite sure, but I think it was because
Abel offered his sacrifice according as God had commanded, and had
faith in a promised Saviour; but Cain simply acknowledged God's
goodness in giving him the fruits of the earth. God had probably told
them, too, that when they came to worship Him, they were to bring a
lamb or a kid as a sacrifice for their sins; this Abel had done, but
Cain had not. Cain was angry because God had accepted Abel's offering
and not his; and he hated his brother Abel.
God knew the evil thought Cain had towards his brother, and asked him,
"Why art thou wroth?" and said, "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be
accepted?" But Cain did still more wickedly. When out in the field he
killed his brother. Was it not a cruel deed? They were alone when this
murder was committed, yet one eye saw it all. God saw it, and said to
Cain: "Where is Abel, thy brother?" We cannot sin without God knowing
it! Cain told God a lie. He answered, "I know not." But he did know.
God was angry with Cain for his sin, and sent him as a fugitive and
vagabond to wander on the earth.
[Illustration: ABEL'S SACRIFICE.]
THE FLOOD.
About fifteen hundred years had passed since Cain slew Abel, during
which time man had become more and more wicked. At length God saw
"that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."
Then God said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face
of the earth."
But one man was righteous and served God. His name was Noah. God told
him that the world would be drowned by a flood because of the
wickedness of the people, and commanded him to build a great ark to
float upon the waters. In this ark God promised to preserve alive Noah
and his family; and also two of each of every living thing on the
earth--animals, birds, and creeping things. All the rest were to die.
Noah built the ark as God commanded. It took him a great many years,
during which time the people were warned to forsake their sins and
turn to God, but they did not do so. At last the ark was finished, and
Noah, with his wife, and his sons with their wives, and the animals,
birds, and creeping things, as God had commanded, all entered into it.
What a long procession it must have been! Then God shut them in, and
they dwelt in safety while the rain came down, and the waters rose up
and covered the earth. All were drowned except those in the ark.
A year afterwards, when the waters were dried up, Noah, and all that
had been with him, left the ark. Then Noah built an altar, and offered
sacrifices to God, in thankfulness for God's goodness to him and his
family.
[Illustration: ENTERING THE ARK.]
THE TOWER OF BABEL.
Babel means confusion. Was it not a strange name to give a tower? How
did it get this?
After Noah left the ark, God made a promise to him that He would no
more destroy the earth by a flood, and blessed him and his sons. In
course of time many little children were born, baby boys and girls,
who grew up to be fathers and mothers having children also. In this
manner a great many people dwelt again on the earth. For more than one
hundred years they all spoke the same language, and as, in course of
time, they journeyed onward, they came to a large plain in the land of
Shinar, near to where Babylon was afterwards built. Here they said
they would remain and build a great city, with a high tower ascending
to heaven.
Now God, when he blessed Noah, had said to him, "Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth;" meaning that the people were to
scatter abroad, so that the world might become inhabited again. But
these men wanted to keep together, and found one great empire, the
centre of which should be the great city with the lofty tower. So they
made bricks and burnt them, and took a kind of pitch for mortar, and
began to build. Some learned men say they took three years in getting
the materials, and were twenty-two years building the tower. It was
very great and high, but it was never finished. The people did
wickedly in building it, and God, who saw all they were doing,
confounded their language, so that one could not understand another.
Thus they left off building the tower, and that is why it is called
Babel. Then God scattered them abroad to re-people the earth.
[Illustration: BUILDING THE TOWER OF BABEL.]
LOT'S FLIGHT FROM SODOM.
In Palestine, the land in which Jesus dwelt when He was upon earth,
there is an inland sea, called the Dead Sea. Its waters are very salt,
and no trees grow upon its shores. Many long years before the birth of
Jesus Christ, two cities stood upon the plain which the waters of the
Dead Sea now cover. These cities were named Sodom and Gomorrah. Their
inhabitants were very wicked, so God destroyed their cities by raining
brimstone and fire upon them.
Before God destroyed these cities, He sent two angels to Lot,
Abraham's nephew, who dwelt in Sodom, commanding him to flee from it,
taking his family with him. The angels hastened him, saying, "Arise,
take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be
consumed in the iniquity of the city." Then the angels took all four
by the hand and led them out, and said to Lot, "Escape for thy life;
look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to
the mountain, lest thou be consumed."
Lot pleaded that he might take refuge in a little city, named Zoar,
not very far distant; and having obtained the angels' permission to do
so, he took his wife and daughters, and hastened away. In our picture
we see him and his daughters entering Zoar, and Sodom burning in the
distance--but what is that strange figure standing on the plain? Alas!
that is Lot's wife; the angel had commanded them that none were to
look back, but she did so, and was turned into a pillar of salt.
Lot did wrong in dwelling in such a wicked city as Sodom, and lost all
his property when he escaped for his life.
[Illustration: LOT ENTERING ZOAR.]
ABRAHAM AND ISAAC.
Abraham feared God and obeyed His commandments; and God promised to
bless Abraham very greatly. He gave him riches in cattle, and silver,
and gold; and said that the land of Canaan should belong to him and
his descendants. God also gave him a son in his old age, whom he
loved, very dearly and named Isaac. But God intended to try Abraham,
to see if he loved Him above all else.
One day God told Abraham to take his son Isaac, and to journey into
the land of Moriah; there to build an altar and offer Isaac as a
sacrifice upon it. It was a strange command, but Abraham knew that God
would not bid him do what was wrong, and believed that even if he slew
his son, God was able to raise him to life again. So he rose early in
the morning, saddled his ass, took two of his young men, and wood for
the fire; and then, accompanied by Isaac, started on his journey. On
the third day they came near the place God had pointed out, and
Abraham left the young men with the ass, while he and his son
journeyed up the mountain alone. As they went along, Isaac--who
carried the wood, while his father carried the knife and the fire,
said: "My father." And Abraham replied, "Here am I, my son." Then
Isaac said: "Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a
burnt offering?" Abraham answered: "My son, God will provide Himself a
lamb for a burnt offering."
The altar was built, Isaac was bound and laid upon it, and Abraham's
arm was uplifted to strike the blow that was to take his son's life
away. Then God called to Abraham, "Lay not thine hand upon the lad,
neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest
God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from
Me." Abraham looked up, and behind him saw a ram which was caught in a
thicket by its horns; this he took and offered as a sacrifice to God.
So God tried Abraham; and also Himself provided the lamb for the burnt
offering, as Abraham had said.
[Illustration: ABRAHAM AND ISAAC.]
THE STORY OF REBEKAH.
When Abraham had grown old, he desired that his son, Isaac, should
take a wife. But he did not wish him to choose one from among the
women of Canaan, for they worshipped idols. So he called his oldest
servant, and commanded him to make a journey to Abraham's own country,
and there to choose a wife for Isaac. Then the man took ten camels,
together with food and other goods for the journey, and set out for
the city of Nahor. When he came to the walls of the city he spied a
well, and, as it was evening, the young women were coming out to draw
water. Then he asked God to help him to choose a wife for Isaac,
saying, "Let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say,
'Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink,' and who shall
reply, 'Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also;' let her be the
one Thou hast chosen for Thy servant Isaac."
[Illustration: REBEKAH GIVING DRINK TO ABRAHAM'S SERVANT.]
Before he had done speaking, there came out a beautiful young woman,
whose name was Rebekah. She was the grand-daughter of Nahor, Abraham's
brother. She carried a pitcher upon her shoulder, and went down to the
well and filled it. Then Abraham's servant ran to her and asked her
for a drink from her pitcher. She said, "Drink, my lord," and held the
pitcher for him, and afterwards drew water for his camels also. Then
he took a golden jewel and a pair of gold bracelets, and put them upon
her, and asked whose daughter she was, and if her father could lodge
him and his company. When she told him who she was, he was glad, and
worshipped God, for he was sure then that he had been led to the house
of Abraham's brother.
Then Rebekah called out her friends, and they took the man in to lodge
him for the night, and set food before him. But he would not eat until
he had told them his errand, and how he believed God had chosen
Rebekah for Isaac's wife. He then asked the parents to say whether
they would give their daughter or not, but they said: "It has been
ordered by God; we cannot give or refuse her. Rebekah is before you.
Take her and go. Let her be Isaac's wife, as the Lord hath spoken."
When the man heard these words, he again praised God, and then he
brought out rich clothing, and jewels of gold and silver, and gave
them to Rebekah. He also gave presents to her mother and brother. When
they asked Rebekah if she would go with the man, she said "Yes," and
took leave of her friends, who blessed her. Then, with her nurse and
her maids, she rode upon the camels, and followed the man, for she
believed that so God had ordered it.
Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi, and one evening he walked into the
fields to meditate. As he lifted up his eyes he saw the company of
camels coming towards him. At the same time, Rebekah lifted up her
eyes and saw Isaac. When the man told her it was his master Isaac, she
alighted from the camel, and covered her face with a veil, according
to the custom of the East. When the man told Isaac all he had done,
Isaac was pleased, and welcomed Rebekah, and gave her the tent that
had been his mother's. And she became his wife.
[Illustration: REBEKAH JOURNEYING TO ISAAC.]
* * * * *
JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN.
How wonderful is the way in which God works for those who fear Him!
The history of Joseph teaches us this truth.
Joseph had one younger and ten elder brothers. The name of the younger
brother was Benjamin. Jacob was the father of them all; and Rachel was
the mother of Joseph and Benjamin. Jacob loved Joseph more than all
his other sons, and made him a coat of many colours; but his elder
brothers hated him, and one day, when far away from home, proposed to
kill him. They cast him into a pit instead, and afterwards sold him as
a slave to some merchants who were travelling from Gilead to Egypt.
When they returned to their father, they took Joseph's coat of many
colours, which they had dipped in blood, and brought it to Jacob,
saying: "This have we found: know now if it be thy son's coat or no."
Jacob knew the coat; and thought Joseph had been killed by some wild
beast, and mourned for him greatly.
[Illustration: THE MEETING OF ISAAC AND REBEKAH.]
The merchants carried Joseph into Egypt, and sold him to one of the
king's officers, named Potiphar. But, though a slave, he was not
forsaken by God. No, God was with him, and made all that he did to
prosper. His master placed him over all his house, but his mistress
wanted him to commit a great sin. When he refused, she accused him
unjustly to his master, and Potiphar had him cast into prison.
God was with Joseph in the prison, and gave him such favour with the
keeper that he set him over all the other prisoners. Among them were
two; one who had been the king's butler, and the other his baker. Both
had dreams which troubled them much, but Joseph was enabled by God to
interpret their dreams for them. By-and-by Pharaoh, the king, dreamed
a dream. He was standing on the banks of a river, and saw seven fat
cows come up out of the water and feed in a meadow; afterwards seven
very lean cows came up and devoured the fat ones. Then Pharaoh awoke;
but he dreamed again, and saw that seven very poor ears of corn
devoured seven that were full and good. In the morning he was greatly
troubled. What could the dreams mean? He called for the magicians and
the wise men, but they could not tell. At last it was told him how
Joseph had interpreted the dreams in the prison; so he sent for
Joseph, who came from the prison, and stood before the king.
Pharaoh said, "I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can
interpret it; and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand
a dream to interpret it." Joseph answered, "It is not in me: God shall
give Pharaoh an answer of peace." Then Joseph told Pharaoh that the
dreams had been sent by God, to show him that after seven years of
great plenty had passed there would come seven years of famine. He
also advised Pharaoh to lay up corn in cities during the years of
plenty, so that the people might be fed during the years of famine.
Pharaoh saw what great wisdom God had given Joseph, and made him ruler
over all the land of Egypt. The corn was stored up; and after the
years of plenty the famine came.
[Illustration: JOSEPH BEFORE THE PHARAOH.]
During all this time Jacob and his sons had been dwelling in Canaan;
where, through the famine, they were now in want of food. So Jacob
sent his sons to Egypt to buy corn. The Bible tells us, in the book of
Genesis, how they came to Egypt, and all that befell them there; and
how at last Joseph, the ruler of the mighty kingdom, made himself
known to them as the brother they had cruelly sold for a slave. But he
forgave them, and sent to fetch his father Jacob, saying that all were
to come into Egypt, where he would provide for them.
Jacob could not at first believe the good news his sons brought; but
when he saw the waggons which Joseph had sent to carry him and the
little ones, he said, "It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive; I
will go and see him before I die." So he journeyed to Egypt, with his
sons, and all that he had; and as he drew near Joseph went to meet
him. When Joseph met his father, he fell on his neck, and wept there.
And Jacob said, "Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because
thou art yet alive." He was so full of joy that it seemed to him there
was nothing else worth living for. Afterwards Joseph presented his
father to Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh; who allowed him and his
family to dwell in the land of Goshen.
[Illustration: JACOB PRESENTED TO PHARAOH.]
THE FINDING OF MOSES.
Pharoah, becoming alarmed at the increasing power and numbers of the
Israelites in Egypt, ordered that every male child who might be born
to them should be cast into the river, and drowned. But the wife of a
man named Levi felt that she could not give up her babe, and for three
months she hid him. When she could hide him no longer, she prepared a
basket of rushes, and coated it with pitch, so that it would float
upon the river and keep out the water. In this ark she placed her
infant son, and hid the ark among the flags and bulrushes on the
river-bank, and set the child's sister to watch it.
Now it happened that the daughter of Pharaoh came with her maidens to
bathe in the river; and when she saw the basket she sent one of her
maids to fetch it. And when she looked at the child he wept, and she
had compassion for him, and said, "This is one of the Hebrews'
children." Then the child's sister came forward and said to Pharaoh's
daughter, "Shall I call to thee a Hebrew woman that she may nurse the
child for thee?" And when the princess said, "Go!" she, the maid, went
and called her own mother, to whom Pharaoh's daughter said, "Take this
child and nurse him for me, and I will give thee thy wages." And the
woman took the child and nursed him. And when he had grown, his mother
took him to the princess, who adopted him as her son, and called his
name Moses, which means _drawn out_, because she took him from the
water. Afterwards he grew to be a great man: he was learned in all the
wisdom of the Egyptians; and we are told, "he was mighty in words and
deeds."
[Illustration: THE FINDING OF MOSES.]
THE FLIGHT FROM EGYPT.
When Moses was forty years old he had to flee from Egypt. He went to
Midian, where he dwelt for forty years; at the end of which time God
appeared to him, and instructed him to return to Egypt; where he was
appointed by God to lead the Israelites from bondage to the land of
Canaan. Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and delivered
to him God's command to let the people of Israel go; telling him that
if he disobeyed terrible plagues would come upon his land. Pharaoh
hardened his heart against God, and refused to let the people go; so
ten dreadful plagues were sent, the last of which was that the
firstborn of every Egyptian should die, whether it were man or beast.
But not a single Israelite was to suffer harm. This plague God said
should come in the night; when an angel would pass through the land,
destroying the Egyptians but sparing the Israelites.
Each family of the Israelites was commanded, on the evening that God
had appointed, to kill a lamb, and to dip a bunch of hyssop in its
blood, sprinkling this blood upon the top and side posts of the door.
All the houses thus marked God said would be spared when the
destroying angel passed through the land. In the night, while the
Israelites were, according to God's command, eating the lambs that had
been slain, all ready to depart, a great cry arose among the
Egyptians. In every house, from the palace downwards, the eldest child
lay dead.
Then the Egyptians arose, and thrust the Israelites out; and they left
Egypt, and journeyed towards the Red Sea.
[Illustration: SPRINKLING THE BLOOD.]
MOSES STRIKING THE ROCK.
After the Israelites left Egypt they crossed the Red Sea, whose waters
divided so that they passed through on dry land. Then they travelled
through the wilderness toward Mount Sinai. Passing onward, they wanted
water and food; and forgetting the great things God had already done
for them, they began to murmur. At a place called Marah they found the
water too bitter to drink; so they grumbled, saying to Moses, "What
shall we drink?" He asked God; who showed him a tree, which, when cast
into the water, made it sweet.
Next the people murmured for food, and God sent them manna, which they
gathered every day except the Sabbath; but with all God's care and
kindness the Israelites continued to grumble whenever any difficulty
arose. Journeying forward, they entered another wilderness, called the
Desert of Sin, and came to a place named Rephidim, where they found no
water. They were very thirsty, and came to Moses murmuring and saying,
"Give us water that we may drink." How could Moses do that? He was
grieved with them, and said, "Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye
tempt the Lord?" But the people grew so angry that they were ready to
stone him. Then Moses told God all the trouble, and God showed him
what to do. He was to go before the people, taking the elders of
Israel with him, and his rod, and God would stand before him on a rock
among the mountains of Horeb. This rock he was to strike, when water
would gush forth.
Moses did as God commanded. He went forward with the elders, struck
the rock with his rod; and the pure, clear water gushed out, so that
all the people were able to drink.
[Illustration: STRIKING THE ROCK.]
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
The Israelites journeyed onward and encamped before Mount Sinai. There
God talked with Moses, and instructed him to remind the people of the
great things He had done for them; and to say that if they obeyed Him,
and kept His covenant, they should be a peculiar treasure to Him above
all people, and a holy nation.
When the people heard God's message, they answered, "All that the Lord
hath spoken we will do." How happy would they have been if they had
always kept this promise! But, alas! they did not do so; and great
punishments came upon them in consequence.
God also said that on the third day He would descend upon Mount Sinai;
and commanded the people to prepare themselves for that great and
solemn event. None were to approach the mount, for if they did so they
would die. On the third day, according to the command, the people
gathered before Mount Sinai. A thick cloud covered the mountain, which
smoked and quaked, and there were thunders and lightnings; a trumpet
also sounded exceeding loud, so that all the people trembled. Then God
spake from the midst of the fire, and gave the people the Ten
Commandments. These you will find in the twentieth chapter of Exodus;
and little folks with sharp eyes can read them in our picture.
We are told that "all the people saw the thunderings, and the
lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking;"
and when they saw it they were so much afraid that they stood afar
off. How holy is God's law, and how careful should we be to obey it!
[Illustration: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.]
BEZALEEL AND AHOLIAB.
After God had given the Ten Commandments, He called Moses up into the
mountain; where he remained forty days and forty nights. During that
time, God told him to speak to the Israelites, asking them to give
gold, silver, brass, blue, purple, fine linen, oil, precious stones,
and other things, to make a tabernacle or sanctuary, where God would
dwell among them. God showed Moses the pattern of this tabernacle,
with its coverings, its holy place and most holy place, its ark of the
covenant with the cherubims and mercy-seat, its table for the
shewbread, golden candlestick, and altar of incense, and the garments
for Aaron and his sons, etc.; everything was accurately described by
God. Then God instructed Moses as to who could do the work He had
commanded to be done, and named two to whom He had given special
wisdom and skill: these two were Bezaleel and Aholiab.
When Moses came down from the mountain he called Aaron and all the
people of Israel, and told them what God had commanded. The people
willingly brought gifts, till more than enough was provided. Then
Bezaleel and Aholiab, and other wise-hearted men, worked diligently
until the tabernacle and all things belonging to it were made exactly
as God had instructed. Some worked in gold and silver, others in brass
and wood; wise women spun cloth of blue, purple and scarlet, and fine
linen; precious stones were set for the high priest's ephod and
breastplate; and, at last, all was finished. Then we are told "Moses
did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the Lord
had commanded." Then Moses blessed them.
[Illustration: BEZALEEL AND AHOLIAB.]
THE BRAZEN SERPENT.
Jesus Christ says that "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up." What did Jesus
mean?
Nearly forty years had passed since God gave His law from Mount Sinai;
and frequently the people had sinned during that time. Through their
disobedience they were compelled to wander in the wilderness for many
long years, instead of going straight to Canaan. While thus wandering
they passed round the land of Edom, and became grieved and impatient
because of the dreariness and difficulty of the way. They murmured
against God and against Moses, and said, "Wherefore have ye brought us
up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread,
neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread."
They meant the manna which God gave them daily.
God allowed fiery serpents to come among the people because of their
sin, which bit them, and many died. Then they came to Moses, saying,
"We have sinned ... pray unto the Lord that He take away the serpents
from us." Moses did so; and God told him to make a serpent of brass
and to put it on a pole; and said that all who looked to the serpent
should live. The serpent of brass could not heal them, but God healed
them as they obeyed his command to look to the serpent. It was _look_
and _live_.
Now I think we see what Jesus means. God has said that all must die
because of sin; but those who look to Jesus and trust in Him will have
their sins pardoned, and will live with Him in glory forever.
[Illustration: THE BRAZEN SERPENT.]
THE PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN.
Having wandered for forty years in the wilderness, the Israelites drew
near to the river Jordan, at a place opposite Jericho. Moses was dead,
and Joshua was now the leader of the host. God told him that the time
had come when the people of Israel were to enter Canaan; to which land
they had all this long time been travelling, but which previously they
had not been permitted to enter on account of their sin. A description
of this sin is given in the Bible, in the fourteenth chapter of
Numbers.
But the people were now to cross the Jordan and enter Canaan. They
were a very great multitude, and the river lay before them. How were
they to cross? God told them! He commanded Joshua that the priests
were to take the ark of the covenant and to go before the people; who
were to follow a short distance behind. Could the priests and the
people walk across the deep water? No. But as soon as the priests
reached the river, and their feet were dipped in the water, God
divided the Jordan into two, leaving dry ground for the Israelites to
cross upon.
The priests carried the ark into the middle of the bed of the river
and then stood still, and all the people passed on before them. When
all were over, the priests carrying the ark moved forward also, and
the waters returned to their proper place again. But before they did
so, Joshua commanded twelve men, one from each tribe, each to take a
stone from the river's bed; and these stones were set up as a memorial
of the marvellous manner in which God had brought the Israelites
across the Jordan into Canaan.
[Illustration: CROSSING THE JORDAN.]
THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOST.
News of the miraculous way in which the Israelites had been brought
across the Jordan spread rapidly among the Canaanites, and when they
heard what God had done, they were very much afraid. We are told that
"their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more,
because of the children of Israel."
God had said to Joshua that the land of Canaan was to be taken
possession of by the Israelites; and had commanded him to "Be strong
and of a good courage," and had strengthened him by saying, "Be not
afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee
whithersoever thou goest." Joshua and the people were now in Canaan,
and before them lay a stronghold of the Canaanites, named Jericho,
having high walls and strong gates. This city the Israelites had to
capture; but the inhabitants closed the gates, and prepared to fight
fiercely to prevent Joshua and his warriors from getting in.
As Joshua was alone at this time, near Jericho, he looked up, and saw
a man standing with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and
asked, "Art thou for us or for our adversaries?" The man answered,
"Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I come." Do you know
who it was? Was it an angel? I think it was more than an angel. It was
the Lord! Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped, saying,
"What saith my Lord unto His servant?" Then the Lord told Joshua, as
before he had told Moses, to take his shoes from his feet, for the
place on which he stood was holy; and instructed him how Jericho was
to be captured.
[Illustration: THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOST.]
HOW JERICHO WAS CAPTURED.
When men in olden times attacked a city, they tried to batter down the
walls with heavy beams of wood, having heads of iron, called battering
rams; but God did not instruct the Israelites thus to capture Jericho.
They were to remember that it was not by their own power they could
conquer the Canaanites, but only as God gave them the victory over
their enemies. So God commanded Joshua to lay siege to Jericho in a
very strange way. He said that seven priests, each having a trumpet,
were to go before the ark. In front of them the armed men of Israel
were to march; and behind the ark the people were to follow. In this
way they were to go round the city once each day for six days, the
priests blowing their trumpets each time. The seventh day they were to
go in the same manner round the city seven times; and God said that
when the priests blew their trumpets the seventh time, the people were
to give a great shout, and the walls of the city would fall down.
Joshua and the people did as God commanded. They marched round the
city carrying the ark, the priests blowing their trumpets; and on the
seventh day they marched round seven times. The last time, when the
priests blew their trumpets, the people shouted with a great shout,
and the walls of the city fell down flat. Then the Israelites went up
and took possession of it.
Thus God delivered Jericho into the hands of His people. All the
inhabitants were killed except Rahab and her relatives. These were
spared because Rahab had been kind to the spies whom Joshua had sent.
[Illustration: THE FALL OF JERICHO.]
ACHAN'S SIN.
God commanded the Israelites to destroy Jericho; and all the gold,
silver, and other riches found there were to be devoted to the Lord.
If any disobeyed this command then a curse was to rest upon all, and
they were not to prosper.
The Israelites were to conquer the Canaanites, and drive them out of
the land. So Joshua prepared to attack a city named Ai. Three thousand
of his men went to capture it, but the inhabitants came out and drove
them back, killing some of them. Joshua was greatly grieved. He knew
that unless God made the Israelites victorious, the Canaanites would
be able to overcome them, and God had appeared to fail them this time.
Oh! he was sorry. But he told God the trouble, and God showed him the
cause of it.
One of the Israelites, named Achan, saw among the spoil of Jericho, a
handsome garment, some silver, and a bar of gold, and coveted them. He
stole these things and hid them away in his tent, thinking that no one
saw him; but God knew it all. Achan's sin was the cause of Israel's
defeat! God showed Joshua how the man who had done the wickedness was
to be discovered. Each tribe was to be brought before God, then each
family of the tribe He chose, then each household of the family taken,
and lastly each man of the family chosen. Finally, Achan was pointed
out by God. Joshua bade him confess what he had done, and he said that
he had taken the Babylonish garment and the gold and silver.
Messengers were sent to his tent, who brought what Achan had hidden;
and he, with his sons and daughters, his cattle, and all that he had,
and the garment, silver, and gold, were taken to a valley near by,
where the people stoned them, and burned them with fire; and then
raised over all a great heap of stones, which remained as a memorial
to warn others against sinning as Achan had done.
[Illustration: ACHAN CONFESSING HIS SIN.]
* * * * *
THE ALTAR ON MOUNT EBAL.
Before Moses died he called the Israelites together, and urged them to
faithfully serve God; also directing that when they entered Canaan,
they were to build an altar of rough stones, covered with plaster, on
Mount Ebal, and to write the words of God's law upon this altar. Then
six of the tribes were to stand on Mount Gerizim, and six on Mount
Ebal, and, in the hearing of all the people, the blessings for
obedience and the cursings for disobedience were to be proclaimed.
Mounts Ebal and Gerizim are two rugged mountains that face each other
in Samaria. When the Israelites advanced thus far, they remembered the
words of Moses. Joshua built the altar as directed, on which he
offered sacrifices to God, and wrote a copy of the law upon it. All
Israel stood, "half of them over against Mount Gerizim, and half of
them over against Mount Ebal," and Joshua read all the words of the
law, "the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in
the book of the law." Then the loud voices of the Levites were heard
from the mountain sides, declaring, in the hearing of all the people,
the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience, as God
had commanded.
[Illustration: THE ALTAR ON MOUNT EBAL.]
THE CITIES OF REFUGE.
Revenge is contrary to the teaching of Jesus Christ, "If thine enemy
hunger, feed him," says the Saviour; but among the Israelites and
other eastern nations a different practice prevailed. If one slew
another, the kinsman of him that was slain felt bound to avenge his
relative, and to slay him that had done the deed. Sometimes people
were killed by accident, when it was clearly unjust that he who had
unwittingly killed another should be slain. To guard against the
innocent thus suffering, God commanded that "cities of refuge" should
be appointed, to which the slayer might flee, "which killeth any
person at unawares."
These cities were six in number: Kedesh, Shechem, and Kirjath-arba, on
the west of Jordan; and Bezer, Ramoth, and Golan, on the east of that
river. They were so arranged that a few hours' rapid flight would
bring the slayer from any part of the land to one of the cities of
refuge. Jewish writers say that the roads leading to these cities were
always kept in good repair, and that guide-posts were placed at every
cross road with "Refuge! Refuge!" written upon them. But the man that
wilfully killed another was not sheltered. He was given up to the
avenger to be slain.
In our picture we see the slayer running to the city gate; the avenger
close behind, shooting arrows at him. He has thus far escaped, and two
or three more steps will place him in safety. But, once within the
city, he must not quit its refuge until the death of the high priest.
If he do so and the avenger find him he may be slain. But upon the
death of the high priest he will be allowed to return home, to dwell
in peace again.
[Illustration: FLEEING TO THE CITY OF REFUGE.]
JOSHUA'S EXHORTATION.
Exhortation seems a hard word, but it simply means to strongly urge to
good deeds, and this is what our artist shows Joshua to be doing.
Joshua is now an old man, and the Israelites are settled peaceably in
Canaan. He has called them before him, with their elders, and heads,
and judges, and officers. He tells them that he is old and about to
die, and reminds them of the land that has already been conquered and
divided among them, and of that which still remains to be conquered;
urging them to be "very courageous to keep and to do all that is
written in the book of the law of Moses, that they turn not aside
therefrom to the right hand or to the left." He bids them take good
heed therefore unto themselves, that they love the Lord their God; and
warns them that if they go back and do wickedly, the anger of the Lord
will be kindled against them, and they will perish quickly from off
the good land which God has given them.
In his address, Joshua said, "Ye know in all your hearts and in all
your souls, that not one good thing hath failed of all the good things
which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass
unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof." How faithful is God!
He never fails in His promises: and we are told He is unchangeable, so
that whatever He promises now He will fulfil, and whatever warnings He
gives will surely come to pass. How good is it to have this holy and
wise God for our Father, and to know that He promises abundantly to
bless all those that trust in the Saviour, Jesus Christ. But let us
take heed of the warnings against sin given in God's Holy Word.
[Illustration: JOSHUA EXHORTING THE PEOPLE.]
GIDEON AND THE FLEECE.
After the death of Joshua, the Israelites turned away from God, and
served idols. Therefore the evils came upon them of which they had
been warned by Moses and Joshua. But at different times God, seeing
their distress, raised up "judges" to deliver them from their enemies,
and to judge over them. The first of these judges was named Othniel.
He was Caleb's nephew. The last was Samuel. One that lived about one
hundred years before Samuel was named Gideon.
The Israelites were at this time in great trouble. They were hiding in
dens and caves because of the Midianites, who had conquered them and
overrun their country. When their corn was ripe these enemies came and
destroyed it, so altogether they were in sad plight. One day Gideon
was threshing wheat in a secluded place, so as to escape the notice of
the Midianites, when an angel from God appeared to him, bidding him to
go and save the Israelites from their foes. Gideon obeyed the command:
but before commencing the battle he much desired a sign from God
showing that He would give the Israelites the victory. The sign Gideon
asked for was, that when he laid a fleece of wool on the ground, if
the victory were to be his, then the fleece should be wet and the
ground dry. He placed the wool on the ground, and taking it up the
next morning found it wet, although the ground was dry. So he knew God
had answered him as he desired. But he was not quite satisfied. He
begged God for a second sign. This time the ground was to be wet and
the fleece of wool dry. God gave him this sign also: and then Gideon
felt sure that the Israelites would be victorious over the
Midianites.
[Illustration: EXAMINING THE FLEECE.]
THE DEFEAT OF THE MIDIANITES.
Large numbers of the Israelites gathered around Gideon, prepared to
fight against the Midianites, who were encamped in a valley, "like
grasshoppers for multitude." How Gideon's host was reduced till only
three hundred men remained, and the wonderful dream he heard related,
when he and his servant went down as spies into the enemy's camp, are
recorded in the seventh chapter of Judges. It was not by their own
bravery or power that the Israelites were to overcome their enemies.
God was to give them the victory: and He chose Gideon and three
hundred men to overcome the great and mighty host of the Midianites.
Gideon divided his three hundred men into three companies, and put a
trumpet in every man's hand, and gave to each a pitcher with a lamp
inside. Then he said, "Look on me, and do likewise: when I blow with a
trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on
every side of the camp, and say, 'The sword of the Lord and of
Gideon.'" Gideon and the hundred men of his company approached the
enemy's camp by night, and the other two companies drew nigh also, so
that the Midianites where surrounded. Then all blew their trumpets,
broke their pitchers, held up their lamps (torches), and cried out as
they had been commanded.
The Midianites heard the trumpets' blast and the cry, and saw the
lights. They were thrown into confusion, and one fought against
another; then they fled, and were pursued by the Israelites, great
numbers of whom gathered together and followed after their flying
enemies. Thus the Midianites were overcome, and Israel had peace
during the lifetime of Gideon.
[Illustration: "THE SWORD OF THE LORD, AND OF GIDEON."]
THE DEATH OF SAMSON.
Samson's birth was foretold by an angel. He was to grow up a Nazarite,
forbidden to drink strong drink, neither was his head to be shaved.
His strength was very great; but his marriage was sinful, and his
doings with the idolatrous Philistines terrible. Though an Israelite
and a judge, I fear much he sinned greatly against God. On one
occasion he went to Gaza, a city of the Philistines. The inhabitants
tried to take him, but he arose at midnight and carried away the gates
of their city. In our picture though he looks so strong, yet we see
chains on his legs, and he is blind! How came he to lose his sight and
be made a prisoner? I think it was owing to his sin and folly.
He became acquainted with a wicked woman, who enticed him to tell her
in what his great strength lay. Three times he told her falsely, but
at last he said that if the flowing locks of his hair were removed his
strength would depart. While he slept these locks were cut off, then
the Philistines burst in upon him, and when he arose to resist them,
he found that his strength was gone. Then his eyes were cruelly put
out, and he was bound with fetters of brass.
Our artist shows him blind, brought out to make sport at the
Philistines' feast. He is very sorrowful, and, I think, angry. He asks
the lad beside him to place his hands upon the pillars supporting the
house; then, his great strength returning, he bows himself with all
his might; the pillars break, the house falls, and Samson, with very
many of the Philistines, is crushed amid the ruins. Was not this a
terrible end to what might have been a noble life?
[Illustration: SAMSON MAKING SPORT FOR THE PHILISTINES.]
RUTH AND NAOMI.
Naomi was the wife of a Jew named Elimelech, who left his own city of
Bethlehem to go into the land of Moab, because there was a famine in
Canaan. Some time afterwards he died, leaving Naomi a widow with two
sons, all dwellers in a strange land. Her sons married two young women
belonging to Moab, whose names were Orpah and Ruth. After living there
about ten years Naomi's sons died also, leaving Orpah and Ruth widows,
along with their widowed mother-in-law. Then Naomi determined to
return to her own land. Orpah and Ruth accompanied Naomi some distance
on her journey; then she bade them to leave her, telling each to go
back to her mother's house in Moab, while she would pursue her way
alone to the land of Judah. They were unwilling to do so, saying they
would go with her to her land and people; but she urged them to
depart, assuring them that they would gain nothing by leaving their
own country to accompany her, and that they had better return to their
own homes. Then the story informs us--you will find it in the Bible,
in the Book of Ruth--that Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and departed;
but Ruth clave unto her, saying, "Whither thou goest, I will go; and
where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and
thy God my God; where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be
buried: the Lord do so to me and more also, if ought but death part
thee and me."
So Ruth refused to leave her mother-in-law, and journeyed with her
until they reached Canaan. Then they both dwelt in the city of
Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, where we shall meet with them again.
[Illustration: RUTH AND NAOMI.]
BOAZ AND RUTH.
When Naomi returned to Bethlehem she was poor. The poor were allowed
at harvest time to follow the reapers; gleaning or gathering up the
stray ears of corn. One day, Ruth obtained permission from her
mother-in-law to go gleaning, and went to glean in the field of a rich
man named Boaz, who happened to be a kinsman, or relative of
Elimelech. But Ruth did not know of this relationship.
Boaz saw Ruth gleaning, and asked one of his servants who she was. The
servant replied, "It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi
out of the country of Moab." Then Boaz spoke kindly to Ruth, telling
her not to go to any other field to glean, but to stay with his
maidens and glean in his field. She fell on her face before him and
bowed herself to the ground, and asked, "Why have I found grace in
thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a
stranger?" Boaz was pleased with her because of her kindness to Naomi,
so he replied, "It hath fully been showed me all that thou hast done
unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband." He also bade
her to eat and drink with his servants, and told his reapers to let
some handfuls of grain fall on purpose for her. So Ruth gleaned that
day quite a large quantity of barley, which she took home to Naomi.
Then she learned that Boaz was her kinsman.
She continued gleaning until the end of harvest; and afterwards became
the wife of Boaz and grandmother of Jesse, the father of David. Jesus
Christ descended from David; so we see what high honour was bestowed
upon Ruth for her kindness to her mother-in-law.
[Illustration: BOAZ SHOWING KINDNESS TO RUTH.]
HANNAH PRAYING BEFORE THE LORD.