waters will be calm; for I know that for my sake this great tempest is
upon you."
But the men were not willing to throw Jonah into the sea. They rowed
hard to bring the ship to the land, but they could not. Then they cried
unto the Lord, and said:
"We pray thee, O Lord, we pray thee, let us not die for this man's life;
for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee."
At last, when they could do nothing else to save themselves, they threw
Jonah into the sea.
At once the storm ceased, and the waves became still. Then the men on
the ship feared the Lord greatly. They offered a sacrifice to the Lord,
and made promises to serve him.
And the Lord caused a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was
alive within the fish for three days and three nights. In the fish Jonah
cried to the Lord; and the Lord caused the great fish to throw up Jonah
upon the dry land.
Notice all through this story that, although Jonah was God's servant, he
was always thinking about himself. God protected Jonah and saved him,
not because he was such a good man, but because he wanted to teach him a
great lesson.
By this time Jonah had learned that some men who worshipped idols were
kind in their hearts, and were dear to the Lord. This was the lesson
that God meant Jonah to learn; and now the call of the Lord came to
Jonah a second time:
"Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it what I command
you." So Jonah went to the city of Nineveh; and as he entered into it,
he called out to the people:
"Within forty days shall Nineveh be destroyed."
And he walked through the city all day crying out only this:
"Within forty days shall Nineveh be destroyed."
And the people of Nineveh believed the word of the Lord as spoken by
Jonah. They turned away from their sins and fasted and sought the Lord,
from the greatest of them even to the least. The king of Nineveh arose
from his throne, and laid aside his royal robes, and covered himself
with sack-cloth and sat in ashes, as a sign of his sorrow. And the king
sent out a command to his people that they should fast, and seek the
Lord, and turn from sin.
[Illustration: _To shade Jonah from the sun_]
And God saw that the people of Nineveh were sorry for their wickedness,
and he forgave them, and did not destroy their city. But this made Jonah
very angry. He did not wish to have Nineveh spared, because it was the
enemy of his own land; and also he feared that men would call him a
false prophet when his word did not come to pass. And Jonah said to the
Lord:
"O Lord, I was sure that it would be thus, that thou wouldest spare the
city; and for that reason I tried to flee away; for I know that thou
wast a gracious God, full of pity, slow to anger, and rich in mercy.
Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to
live."
And Jonah went out of the city, and built a little hut on the east side
of it, and sat under its roof, to see whether God would keep the word
that he had spoken. Then the Lord caused a plant with thick leaves to
grow up, and to shade Jonah from the sun; and Jonah was glad, and sat
under its shadow. But a worm destroyed the plant; and the next day a hot
wind blew, and Jonah suffered from the heat; and again Jonah wished that
he might die. And the Lord said to Jonah:
"You were sorry to see the plant die, though you did not make it grow,
and though it came up in a night and died in a night. And should not I
have pity on Nineveh, that great city, where are more than a hundred
thousand little children, and also many cattle,--all helpless and
knowing nothing?"
And Jonah learned that men, and women, and little children, are all
precious in the sight of the Lord, even though they know not God.
THE STORY OF THE FIERY FURNACE
There was in the land of Judah a wicked king-named Jehoiakim, son of the
good Josiah. While Jehoiakim was ruling over the land of Judah,
Nebuchadnezzar, a great conqueror of the nations, came from Babylon with
his army of Chaldean soldiers. He took the city of Jerusalem, and made
Jehoiakim promise to submit to him as his master. And when he went back
to his own land he took with him all the gold and silver that he could
find in the Temple; and he carried away as captives very many of the
princes and nobles, the best people in the land of Judah.
When these Jews were brought to the land of Chaldea or Babylon, King
Nebuchadnezzar gave orders to the prince, who had charge of his palace,
to choose among these Jewish captives some young men who were of noble
rank, and beautiful in their looks, and also quick and bright in their
minds; young men who would be able to learn readily. These young men
were to be placed under the care of wise men, who should teach them all
that they knew, and fit them to stand before the king of Babylon, so
that they might be his helpers to carry out his orders; and the king
wished them to be wise, so that they might give him advice in ruling his
people.
Among the young men thus chosen were four Jews, men who had been brought
from Judah. By order of the king the names of these men were changed.
One of them, named Daniel, was to be called Belteshazzer; the other
three young men were called Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. They were
taught in all the knowledge of the Chaldeans; and after three years of
training they were taken into the king's palace.
King Nebuchadnezzar was pleased with them, more than with any others who
stood before him. He found them wise and faithful in the work given to
them, and able to rule over men under them. And these four men came to
the highest places in the kingdom of the Chaldeans.
At one time King Nebuchadnezzar caused a great image to be made, and to
be covered with gold. This image he set up, as an idol to be worshipped,
on the plain of Dura, near the city of Babylon. When it was finished, it
stood upon its base or foundation almost a hundred feet high; so that
upon the plain it could be seen far away. Then the king sent out a
command for all the princes, and rulers, and nobles in the land, to come
to a great gathering, when the image was to be set apart for worship.
The great men of the kingdom came from far and near and stood around
the image. Among them, by command of the king, were Daniel's three
friends, the young Jews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. For some
reason, Daniel himself was not there. He may have been busy with the
work of the kingdom in some other place.
At one moment in the service before the image, all the trumpets sounded,
the drums were beaten, and music was made upon musical instruments of
all kinds, as a signal for all the people to kneel down and worship the
great golden image. But while the people were kneeling, there were three
men who stood up, and would not bow down. These were the three young
Jews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. They knelt down before the Lord
God only.
Many of the nobles had been jealous of these young men, because they had
been lifted to high places in the rule of the kingdom; and these men who
hated Daniel and his friends, were glad to find that these three men had
not obeyed the command of King Nebuchadnezzar. The king had said that if
any one did not worship the golden image he should be thrown into a
furnace of fire. These men who hated the Jews came to the king and said:
"O king, may you live for ever! You gave orders that when the music
sounded, every one should bow down and worship the golden image; and
that if any man did not worship, he should be thrown into a furnace of
fire. There are some Jews, whom you have made rulers in the land, who
have not done as you commanded. Their names are Shadrach, Meshach and
Abed-nego. They do not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image
that you have set up."
[Illustration: _Nebuchadnezzar was fitted with rage_]
Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage and fury at knowing that any
one should dare to disobey his words. He sent for these three men and
said to them:
"O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, was it by purpose that you did not
fall down and worship the image of gold? The music shall sound once
more, and if you then will worship the image, it will be well. But if
you will not, then you shall be thrown into the furnace of fire, to
die."
These three young men were not afraid of the king. They said:
"O King Nebuchadnezzar, we are ready to answer you at once. The God whom
we serve is able to save us from the fiery furnace, and we know that he
will save us. But if it is God's will that we should die, even then you
may understand, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship
the golden image."
This answer made the king more furious than before. He said to his
servants:
"Make a fire in the furnace hotter than ever it has been before, as hot
as fire can be made; and throw these three men into it."
Then the soldiers of the king's army seized the three young Jews, as
they stood in their loose robes, with their turbans on their heads. They
tied them with ropes, and dragged them to the mouth of the furnace, and
threw them into the fire. The flames rushed from the opened door with
such fury that they burned even to death the soldiers who were holding
these men; and the men themselves fell down bound into the middle of the
fiery furnace.
But an angel befriended them and they were unhurt.
[Illustration: _An angel befriended them_]
King Nebuchadnezzar stood in front of the furnace, and looked into the
open door. As he looked, he was filled with wonder at what he saw; and
he said to the nobles around him:
"Did we not throw three men bound into the fire? How is it then that I
see four men loose walking in the furnace; and the fourth man looks as
though he were a son of the gods?"
And the nobles who stood by could scarcely speak, so great was their
surprise.
"It is true, O king," at last they said to Nebuchadnezzar, "that we cast
these men into the flames, expecting them to be burned up; and we cannot
understand how it happens that they have not been destroyed."
The king came near to the door of the furnace, as the fire became lower;
and he called out to the three men within it:
"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ye who serve the Most High God, come
out of the fire, and come to me."
They came out and stood before the king, in the sight of all the
princes, and nobles, and rulers; and every one could see that they were
alive.
Their garments had not been scorched, nor their hair singed, nor was
there even the smell of fire upon them.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar said before all his rulers:
"Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has sent
his angel, and has saved the lives of these men who trusted in him. _I_
make a law that no man in all my kingdoms shall say a word against
their God, for there is no other god who can save in this manner those
who worship him. And if any man speaks a word against their God, the
Most High God, that man shall be cut in pieces, and his house shall be
torn down."
After King Nebuchadnezzar died, his kingdom became weak, and the city of
Babylon was taken by the Medes and Persians, under Cyrus, a great
warrior.
THE STORY OF DANIEL IN THE LIONS' DEN
The lands which had been the Babylonian or Chaldean empire, now became
the empire of Persia; and over these Darius was the king. King Darius
gave to Daniel, who was now a very old man, a high place in honor and in
power. Among all the rulers over the land, Daniel stood first, for the
king saw that he was wise and able to rule. This made the other princes
and rulers very jealous, and they tried to find something evil in
Daniel, so that they could speak to the king against him.
These men saw that three times every day Daniel went to his room and
opened the window that was toward the city of Jerusalem, and looking
toward Jerusalem, made his prayer to God. Jerusalem was at that time in
ruins, and the Temple was no longer standing; but Daniel prayed three
times each day with his face toward the place where the house of God had
once stood, although it was many hundreds of miles away.
These nobles thought that in Daniel's prayers they could find a chance
to do him harm, and perhaps cause him to be put to death. They came to
King Darius, and said to him:
"All the rulers have agreed together to have a law made that for thirty
days no one shall ask anything of any god or of any man, except from
you, O king; and that if any one shall pray to any god, or shall ask
anything from any man during the thirty days, except from you, O king,
he shall be thrown into the den where the lions are kept. Now, O king,
make the law, and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, for no
law among the Medes and the Persians can be altered."
The king was not a wise man; and being foolish and vain, he was pleased
with this law which would set him even above the gods. So without asking
Daniel's advice, he signed the writing; and the law was made, and the
word was sent out through the kingdom, that for thirty days no one
should pray to any god.
Daniel knew that the law had been made, but every day he went to his
room three times, and opened the window that looked toward Jerusalem,
and offered his prayers to the Lord, just as he had prayed in other
times. These rulers were watching near by, and they saw Daniel kneeling
in prayer to God. Then they came to the king, and said:
"O King Darius, have you not made a law, that if any one in thirty days
offers a prayer, he shall be thrown into the den of lions?"
"It is true," said the king. "The law has been made, and it must
stand."
They said to the king: "There is one man who does not obey the law which
you have made. It is that Daniel, one of the captive Jews. Every day
Daniel prays to his God three times, just as he did before you signed
the writing of the law."
[Illustration: _Thrown into the den of lions_]
Then the king was very sorry for what he had done, for he loved Daniel,
and knew that no one could take his place in the kingdom. All day, until
the sun went down, he tried in vain to find some way to save Daniel's
life; but when evening came, these men again told him of the law that he
had made, and said to him that it must be kept. Very unwillingly the
king sent for Daniel, and gave an order that he should be thrown into
the den of lions. He said to Daniel: "Perhaps your God, whom you serve
so faithfully, will save you from the lions."
They led Daniel to the mouth of the pit where the lions were kept, and
they threw him in; and over the mouth they placed a stone; and the king
sealed it with his own seal, and with the seals of his nobles; so that
no one might take away the stone and let Daniel out of the den.
Then the king went again to his palace; but that night he was so sad
that he could not eat, nor did he listen to music as he was used to
listen. He could not sleep, for all through the night he was thinking of
Daniel. Very early in the morning he rose up from his bed and went in
haste to the den of lions. He broke the seal and took away the stone,
and in a voice full of sorrow he called out, scarcely hoping to have an
answer:
"O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God been able to save you
from the lions?"
And out of the darkness in the den came the voice of Daniel, saying:
"O king, may you live forever! My God has sent his angel and has shut
the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because my God saw that
I had done no wrong. And I have done no wrong toward you, O king!"
[Illustration: DANIEL'S ANSWER TO THE KING--"Then said Daniel unto
the King, O King, live forever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath
shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me."--(Daniel 6:
21-22.)]
Then the king was glad. He gave to his servants orders to take Daniel
out of the den. Daniel was brought out safe and without harm, because
he had trusted fully in the Lord God. Then by the king's command, they
brought those men who had spoken against Daniel, and with them their
wives and their children, for the king was exceedingly angry with them.
They were all thrown into the den, and the hungry lions leaped upon
them, and tore them in pieces, so soon as they fell upon the floor of
the den.
After this king Darius wrote to all the lands and the peoples in the
many kingdoms under his rule:
"May peace be given to you all abundantly! I make a law that everywhere
among my kingdoms men fear and worship the Lord God of Daniel; for he is
the living God, above all other gods, who only can save men."
And Daniel stood beside king Darius until the end of his reign, and
afterward while Cyrus the Persian was king over all the lands.
THE STORY OF THE ANGEL BY THE ALTAR
At the time when the story of the New Testament begins, the land of
Israel, called also the land of Judea, was ruled by a king named Herod.
He was the first of several Herods, who at different times ruled either
the whole of the land, or parts of it. But Herod was not the highest
ruler. Many years before this time, the Romans, who came from the city
of Rome in Italy, had won all the lands around the Great Sea, the sea
which we call the Mediterranean; and above king Herod of Judea was the
great king of Rome, ruling over all the lands, and over the land of
Judea among them. So Herod, though king of Judea, obeyed his overlord,
the emperor at Rome. At the time when this story begins, the emperor at
Rome was named Augustus Cæsar.
At this time, the land where the Jews lived was full of people.
Jerusalem was its largest city, and in Jerusalem was standing the Temple
of the Lord, which king Herod had lately built anew, taking the place of
the old Temple built very many years before, which had long needed
repair. There were also many other large cities besides Jerusalem. In
the south was Hebron among the mountains; on the shore of the Great Sea
were Gaza, and Joppa, and Cæsarea; in the middle of the land were
Shechem and Samaria; and in the north were Nazareth, and Cana; down by
the shore of the Sea of Galilee were Tiberias, and Capernaum, and
Bethsaida. Far up in the north, at the foot of snowy Mount Hermon, was
another Cæsarea; but so that it might not be confused with Cæsarea upon
the seacoast this city was called Cæsarea-Philippi, or "Philip's
Cæsarea," from the name of one of Herod's sons.
One day, an old priest named Zacharias was leading the service of
worship in the Temple. He was standing in front of the golden altar of
incense, in the Holy Place, and was holding in his hand a censer, or
cup, full of burning coals and incense; while all the people were
worshipping in the court of the Temple, outside the court of the
Priests, where the great altar of burnt-offering stood.
Suddenly, Zacharias saw an angel from the Lord, standing on the right
side of the altar of incense. He felt a great fear when he saw this
strange being with shining face; but the angel said to him:
[Illustration: _"Do not be afraid, Zacharias"_]
"Do not be afraid, Zacharias; for I have come from the Lord to bring
good news. Your wife Elizabeth shall have a son, and you shall name him
John. You shall be made glad, for your son John shall bring joy and
gladness to many. He shall be great in the sight of the Lord; and he
shall never taste wine nor strong drink as long as he lives; but he
shall be filled with God's Holy Spirit. He shall lead many of the
people of Israel to the Lord, for he shall go before the Lord in the
power of Elijah the prophet, as was promised by Malachi, the last of the
old prophets. He shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,
and those who are disobeying the Lord to do his will."
As Zacharias heard these words, he was filled with wonder, and could
hardly believe them true. He was now an old man, and his wife Elizabeth
was also old; so that they could not expect to have a child. He said to
the angel:
"How shall I know that your words are true, for I am an old man, and my
wife is old?"
"I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God," said the angel. "And
I was sent from the Lord to speak to you, and to bring you this good
news. But because you did not believe my words, you shall become dumb,
and shall not be able to speak, until this which I have said comes to
pass."
All this time the people outside in the court were wondering why the
priest stayed so long in the Temple. When at last he came out, they
found that he could not speak a word; but he made signs to them, to tell
them that he had seen a vision in the Temple.
After the days of his service were over, Zacharias went to his own home,
which was near Hebron, a city of the priests, among the mountains in
the south of Judea. When his wife Elizabeth found that God was soon to
give her a child, she was very happy, and praised the Lord.
About six months after Zacharias saw the vision in the Temple, the same
angel Gabriel was sent from the Lord to a city in the part of the land
called Galilee, which was in the north. The city to which the angel was
sent was Nazareth. There the angel found a young girl named Mary, who
was a cousin to Elizabeth. Mary was soon to be married to a good man who
had sprung from the line of king David, though he was not himself a
king, nor a rich man. He was a carpenter, living in Nazareth, and his
name was Joseph. The angel came into the room where Mary was, and said
to her: "Hail, woman favored by the Lord; the Lord is with you!"
Mary was surprised at the angel's words, and wondered what they could
mean. Then the angel spoke again, and said: "Do not be afraid, Mary. The
Lord has given to you his favor, and has chosen you to be the mother of
a son whose name shall be Jesus, which means 'salvation,' because he
shall save his people from their sins. He shall be great, and shall be
called the Son of God; and the Lord shall give to him the throne of his
father David. He shall be a king, and shall reign over the people of
God forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."
But Mary could not see how all this was to come to pass. And the angel
said to her:
"The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High God
shall be over you; and the child which you shall have shall be called
holy, the Son of God."
Then the angel told Mary that her cousin Elizabeth was soon to have a
child, through the power of the Lord. And when Mary heard all this, she
said: "I am the servant of the Lord, to do his will. Let it be to me as
you have said."
When the angel had given his message and had gone away, Mary rose up in
haste and made a journey to the home of Zacharias and Elizabeth. When
Elizabeth saw Mary, she was filled with the Spirit of the Lord, and
said:
"Blessed are you among women, and blessed among men shall be your son!
And why is it that the mother of my Lord comes to visit me? Blessed is
the woman who believed that the promise of the Lord to her shall be made
true!"
Then Mary was filled with the Spirit of the Lord, and broke out into a
song of praise. She stayed with Elizabeth for nearly three months, and
then went again to her own home at Nazareth.
As the angel had said, to the aged woman Elizabeth was given a son.
They were going to name him Zacharias, after his father. But his mother
said: "No, his name shall be John."
"Why," they said, "none of your family have ever been named John!"
They asked his father Zacharias, by signs, what name he wished to be
given to the child. He asked for something to write upon; and when they
brought it, he wrote, "His name is John." Then all at once, the power to
hear and to speak came back to Zacharias. He spoke, praising and
blessing God; and he sang a song of thanks to God, in which he said:
"You O child, shall be called a prophet of the Most High; to go before
the Lord, and to make ready his ways."
When John was growing up, they sent him out into the desert on the south
of the land, and there he stayed until the time came for him to preach
to the people; for this child became the great prophet John the Baptist.
THE STORY OF JESUS, THE BABE OF BETHLEHEM
Soon after the time when John the Baptist was born, Joseph the carpenter
of Nazareth had a dream. In his dream he saw an angel from the Lord
standing beside him. The angel said to him:
"Joseph, sprung from the line of king David, I have come to tell you,
that Mary, the young woman whom you are to marry, will have a son, sent
by the Lord God. You shall call his name Jesus, which means 'salvation,'
because he shall save his people from their sins."
God's people had had several kings. Some of them had been selfish and
cruel, but Jesus was to be a new kind of king, one who would save, not
destroy men.