words: ‘An old man hath come to see thee out of the land of the
Philistines, and he says, The nail that fastens thy tent is bad; cast
it away or thy tent will fall, and get thee a better nail.’” Then he
departed, and went home.
Now when Ishmael returned, his wife told him all these words, and he
knew that his father had been there, and he understood the tenor of his
words, so he sent away his wife, and he took another, with his mother’s
advice, out of Egypt, and her name was Fatima.
And after three years, Abraham’s bowels yearned once more after his
son, and he said to Sarah, “I must see how Ishmael fares.” And she
answered, “Thou shalt go, if thou wilt swear to me not to alight from
off thy camel.” So Abraham swore.
Then he went to Paran, over the desert, seeking Ishmael’s tent, and he
reached it at noon; but neither Hagar nor her son was at home. Only
Ishmael’s wife, Fatima, was within, and she was singing to the children.
So Abraham halted on his camel before the tent door, and the sun was
hot in the blue sky above, and the sand was white and glaring beneath.
And when Fatima saw a stranger at the door, she rose from her seat, and
veiled her face, and came out and greeted him.
Then said Abraham, “Is thy husband within?”
She answered, “My lord, he is pasturing the camels in the desert;” and
she added, “Enter, my lord, into the cool of the tent and rest, and
suffer me to bring thee a little meat.”
But Abraham said, “I may not alight from off my camel, for my journey
is hasty; but bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread and a drop of
water, for I am hungry and faint.”
Then she ran and brought him of the best of all that she had in the
tent, and he ate and drank, and was glad.
So he said to her, “Say to thy husband, even to Ishmael, that an old
man out of the land of the Philistines hath been here, and he says,
The nail that fastens thy tent is very good; let it not be stirred out
of its place, and thy tent will stand.”
And he returned. And when Ishmael came home, Fatima related to him all
the words that the old man had spoken, and he understood the tenor of
the words.
Ishmael was glad that his father had visited him, for he knew thereby
that his love to him was not extinguished.[322]
Shortly after, he left his wife and children, and went across the
desert to see his father in the land of the Philistines. And Abraham
related to him all that had taken place with the first wife, and why he
had exhorted him to put her away.
8. THE STRIFE BETWEEN THE SHEPHERDS.
Abraham lived twenty-six years in the land of the Philistines; then
he went to Hebron, and there his servants dug wells, and there they
encamped.
When Abimelech’s servants heard of these wells that they had dug, they
came with their flocks, and desired to use them also, and the largest
of the wells they claimed as their own. But Abraham’s shepherds said,
“Let the well belong to those to whom it gives water. The Lord shall
decide between us!”
To this the servants of Abimelech agreed. And when the flocks of
Abraham came to drink, the well sprang up and overflowed; but when the
flocks of Abimelech drew near, the water sank and disappeared.
Now when Abimelech heard of the strife, he came with Phicol, his chief
captain, to seek Abraham, and to be reconciled with him. “God is with
all that thou doest,” said Abimelech; “He protected thee when Sodom was
destroyed. He has given thee a son in thine old age. He rescued thy
first-born when perishing in the desert. Swear to me, as I have offered
thee my whole land, my own palace not excepted, in which to dwell, that
thou wilt show equal love and liberality to my descendants to the third
generation.”
Abraham swore to him, and they made a covenant together.[323]
And Abraham set apart seven lambs as a witness and token, that just as
the well had sprung up when his flocks had come to water at it, so, in
after days should it spring up to water the descendants of Abraham; as
it is said, “_From thence they went to Beer, that is, the well whereof
the Lord spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give
them water Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto
it._”[324]
But such condescension and courtesy ill became Abraham in his dealings
with a rude and savage people, and therefore there came to him a voice
from heaven which said: “Because thou hast given these seven innocent
lambs into the hands of a barbarous nation, therefore seven of thy
descendants shall be slain by their hands (Samson, Hophni and Phinehas,
Saul and his three sons); also seven dwellings that thy people shall
raise to my Name shall they destroy (the Tabernacle, Gilgal, Nob,
Gibeon, Shiloh, and twice the Temple at Jerusalem), and seven months
shall the ark of my covenant remain in the land of the Philistines.”
9. THE GROVE IN BEER-SHEBA.
“_And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the
name of the Lord._”[325] The reason was as follows:--
Once Abraham asked Shem the son of Noah, otherwise called Melchizedek,
king of Salem, what service he and his father and brethren rendered to
the Lord in the ark, which was so acceptable to God that He preserved
them alive and brought them in safety to Ararat; and Shem answered,
“The service we rendered to God, all the time of our sojourn in the
ark, was charity.”
And when Abraham wondered and asked how that could possibly be, as
there were none in the ark save themselves and the beasts, Shem
answered,--
“Even so; we showed charity and forethought and hospitality to the
animals. We fed them regularly, and we slept not at night; so busy were
we with them in making them comfortable. Once, when we had delayed
somewhat, the lion was hungry and bit Noah, my father.”
Then said Abraham to himself, “In very truth, if it was reckoned to
Noah and his sons as so great righteousness, that they fed and tended
the dumb and senseless beasts, how much more pleasing must it be to the
Most High, to be kind and generous to men who are made in His image,
after His likeness!”
Filled with this thought, Abraham settled at Beer-sheba, where was an
abundant spring of fresh water, and there he resolved to do service
acceptable to the living God, and to honor His name, as Noah and his
sons had done Him service and honored Him in the ark.
So Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, one hundred ells long and one
hundred ells broad, and he planted it with vines and figs, pomegranates
and other fruit trees; and he built a guest-house adjoining this
garden, and he made in it four doors, one towards each quarter of the
heavens; and when a hungry man came by, Abraham gave him food; if there
came a man who was thirsty, he gave him drink; if one who was naked, he
clothed him; if one who was sick, he took him in and nursed him; and he
gave to every man who passed by what he most needed for his journey.
He would receive neither thanks nor payment; and when any one thanked
him, he said hastily, “Give thanks, not to me the servant but to the
Master of this house, _who openeth His hand, and filleth all things
living with plenteousness_.”
Then when the traveller asked, “Who, and where is this Master?”
Abraham answered, “He is the God who rules over heaven and earth; He is
Lord of all; He kills and makes alive; He wounds and heals; He forms
the fruit in the mother’s womb, and gives it life; He makes the plants
and trees to grow; He brings man to destruction, and raises him from
his grave again.”
Thus Abraham instructed those whom he relieved. And if a traveller
asked further, how he was to worship the great God, Abraham answered,
“Say only these words, Praised be the Eternal One who reigns over
heaven and earth! Praised be the Lord of the whole world, who filleth
all things living with plenteousness.” And no traveller went on his way
without thanking God.
Thus that guest-house was a great school, in which men were taught the
true religion, and gratitude to the Almighty God.
10. THE OFFERING OF ISAAC.[326]
Abraham loved the son of his old age, and Isaac grew up in the fear
of God, and his good conduct heightened the love Abraham bore him; but
the Patriarch thought in his heart, “I prepare gifts to give of my
abundance to every man that asks of me, and to every passer-by; but to
my Lord and God, the Giver of all good things, have I given nothing!”
There was a day when the sons of God (the angels) stood before the
Eternal One, and amongst them was the accusing angel, Satan or Sammael.
The Lord asked them, “Whence comest thou?”
“From walking to and fro upon the face of the earth,” he replied.
“And what hast thou beheld there of the doings of the sons of men?”
The accuser answered, “I saw that the sons of earth no longer praise
Thee, and adore Thee; when they have obtained their petition, then they
forget to give Thee thanks. I saw that Abraham, the son of Terah, as
long as he was childless, built altars and proclaimed Thy name to all
the world: now he has been given a son at the age of a hundred, and he
forgets Thee. I went to his door as a beggar, on the day that Isaac was
weaned, and I was turned away without an alms. I have seen him strike
alliance with the king of the Philistines, a nation that knows Thee
not, and to him has he given seven lambs. He has built a large house
and he gives to strangers, but to Thee he gives no sacrifice of value.
Ask of him any sacrifice that is costly, and he will refuse it.”
“What shall I ask?” inquired the Almighty.
“Ask of him now his son, and he will refuse him to Thy face.”
“I will do so, and thou shalt be confounded,” answered the Holy One.
The self-same night God appeared to Abraham, and addressed him gently
so as not to alarm him, and He said to him, “Abraham!”
The patriarch in deep humility answered, “Here am I, Lord what willest
Thou of Thy servant?”
The Lord answered, “I have come to ask of thee something. I have saved
thee in all dangers; I delivered thee out of the furnace of Babylon; I
rescued thee from the army of Nimrod; I brought thee into this land,
and gave thee men-servants and maid-servants and cattle and sheep and
horses, and I have given thee a son in thine old age, and victory
over all thine enemies, and new temptations await thee, for I must
prove thee, and see if thou art grateful in thy heart, and that thy
righteousness may be manifest unto all, and that thy obedience may be
perfected. Take therefore thy son--”
Abraham answered trembling, “Which son? I have two.”
_The voice of God._--“That son which alone counteth with thee.”
_Abraham._--“Each is the only son of his mother.”
_The voice of God._--“The one you love.”
_Abraham._--“I love both.”
_The voice of God._--“The one you love best.”
_Abraham._--“I love both alike.”
_The voice of God._--“Then I demand Isaac.”
_Abraham._--“And what shall I do with him, O Lord?”
_The voice of God._--“Go to the place that I shall tell thee, where,
unexpectedly, hills shall arise in sight out of the valley bottom. Go
to that place whence once My Light, My Teaching issued, which My eye
watches over untiringly, and where the smoke of incense shall arise
to Me, to the place where prayer is heard and sacrifice shall be
offered, where at the end of time I shall judge the nations, and cast
the ungodly into the pit of Gehinom;--to the land of Moriah that I
shall show thee, there shalt thou take thy son Isaac as a whole burnt
offering.”
_Abraham._--“Shall I bring Thee such an offering as this, O Lord? Where
is the priest to prepare the sacrifice?”
_The voice of God._--“I have taken from Shem his priesthood, and thou
art clothed therewith.”
_Abraham._--“But in that country there are many hills; which shall I
ascend?”
_The voice of God._--“A mountain on which shall rest my Glory; there
shall it be told thee further what thou must do.”
Abraham prepared to fulfil the command of God, but he dreaded the
separation between Sarah and her son. If he took Isaac away secretly,
then he feared that, in the excess of her distress, she would do
herself harm. At last he decided on this course; he went to Sarah’s
tent, and he said to her, “My dearest, prepare this day a little
banquet, that in our old days we may rejoice our hearts.”
Sarah answered, “Wherefore this day, my husband? Are you about to lose
any thing this day?”
Abraham said, “Think, my wife, Sarah! how good God has been to us;
therefore it behoves us to thank Him all the days of our life.”
Sarah did as Abraham had commanded.
As they sat and ate, Abraham said, “Thou knowest well, dear wife, that
I knew the one true God from the time that I was three years old. Isaac
is older, and it behoves him to know more of the law of God. Therefore
I design to take him with me to Shem and Eber, our ancestors, who live
not far from here, that they may instruct him. Hast thou any thing to
object to this, Sarah?”
She answered, “No; do that which is pleasing in thine eyes; only let
not Isaac be away too long, for thou knowest how precious the sight of
him is to me.”
Then Sarah put her arms round her son, and kissed him, and they parted
with many tears; and she exhorted Abraham to have great care of the
youth, that the journey might not be too great for him.
Next morning, very early, Abraham rose, and he saddled the ass himself,
though he had many slaves, for he was eager to be gone, and to go where
the Lord called him. This was the ass, born of the she-ass created by
God on the eve of the sixth day, upon which Moses afterwards rode when
he went to Egypt:[327] it is the ass which spake to Balaam, and it is
the ass of which the prophet Zechariah has spoken, that on it Messiah
shall ride.[328]
This ass was of a hundred colors.[329]
Sarah clothed Isaac in the garment that Abimelech had given her,
and placed a jewel-studded fillet about his head. She provided the
travellers with food for their journey, and accompanied them with her
maids, till Abraham bade them return. Then she clasped Isaac once more
to her breast, and said with tears, “God be gracious to thee, my son;
how know I that I shall see thee again?”
Abraham had two to accompany him, Eliezer and Ishmael; he had cut fig
and palm wood and made a fagot. On the way this discourse took place
between Eliezer and Ishmael.
Ishmael said, “I perceive clearly that my father is about to offer
Isaac as a whole burnt offering; therefore I, his eldest son, will
inherit his possessions.”
But Eliezer said, “That is false: I am his trusty servant! Did not thy
father drive thee away from home? He will leave all to me.”
Whilst they thus spake, there came a voice from heaven, “O ye fools!
neither of you knows the truth.”
Abraham in the mean time walked forward. Then came Satan to him in the
form of an old man bowed upon a staff, and said to him, “Whither goest
thou?”
He answered, “I go to offer up my prayers.”
“Wherefore this knife, and fuel, and fire?” asked Satan.
“I take them in case we have to spend much time on the mountain, that
we may bake bread and slay beasts.”
“Old man, thou deceivest me,” said Satan. “Was I not by when a voice
bade thee slay thy son, thine only son; ane now, what art thou about to
do? Thinkest thou that thou shalt have another son, now that thou art a
hundred years old? Art thou then about to cut down with thine own hands
the main pillar of thy tent, the staff on which thou mayest lean in
thine old age? Knowest thou not the proverb, ‘He who destroys his own
goods, how shall he get more?’ That was not the voice of God, it was
the voice of the Tempter, and thou didst listen to it. Dost thou think
that God, who promised to make of thee a great nation, and to bless all
generations through Isaac, would thus persuade thee to make void His
own promises?”
Abraham answered, “No, it was not the Tempter who spake, it was the
voice of God; therefore I will not hearken to thy words, but walk on
still in mine uprightness.”
“But if God were to ask of thee some further sacrifice, wouldst thou
grant it?”
“Of a truth would I,” answered Abraham.
“Thy piety is folly,” said Satan impatiently. “To-morrow God will
punish thee for this murder thou art about to commit, since thou wilt
shed the blood of thine own son.”
But when Satan saw that Abraham was not to be moved from his purpose,
then he took the form of a blooming youth, and joined himself to Isaac,
and asked him the object of his journey.
Isaac replied that he was going to receive instruction in the law of
the Most High.
“Art thou going to receive this instruction living or dead?” asked
Satan, scornfully.
_Isaac._--“Can a man receive instruction after he is dead?”
_Satan._--“O thou son of a mother much to be pitied, knowest thou not
that thy father is leading thee to death?”
_Isaac._--“Nevertheless I shall follow him.”
_Satan._--“Then all the tears and prayers of thy mother, beseeching
Heaven to grant her a son, end in this! All the pains and grief in
child-bearing! All the afflictions she laid on Hagar and Ishmael! All
the care she has taken of thy youth! All the love she has expended upon
thee! All these things for nothing!”
_Isaac._--“As my father wills.”
_Satan._--“Then the inheritance passes to Ishmael. How he will glory
in being the first-born, and his mother Hagar will despise Sarah, and
maybe will drive her out!”
_Isaac._--“I obey the command of my father and the will of God, be they
what they may.”
But these words were not without some effect on Isaac. With piteous
voice he urged his father to suspend or delay what he had undertaken.
But Abraham exhorted his son not to listen or give credence to the
words he had heard, for they were the temptations of Satan to draw him
from the path of obedience and the fear of God.
They went a little further and came to a broad stream. Abraham, Isaac,
and their followers sought to wade it; the water at first reached their
knees, but when they were in the middle, it rose to their necks.
Abraham, who knew well the spot, and that there was neither brook
nor river there by nature, recognized this as a deception of Satan,
to divert them from the right way. He told Isaac that this was his
opinion, and raising his eyes to heaven he prayed; “Thou, O Lord, didst
declare to me Thy will, that I should take Isaac my son and offer
him to Thee in pledge of my obedience. I did not hesitate, I did not
refuse, and now the water overwhelms us and we sink; how then can I
perform that which Thou badest me do?”
The Lord answered, “Fear not, through thee shall My Name be known.”
Then the stream vanished away, and they stood upon dry land.
But now Satan made another attempt to turn Abraham from his purpose.
He drew him aside and said, “The object of thy journey has failed. I
caught a whisper in heaven, and it was this--God will prepare a lamb
for the sacrifice, and not thy son.”
Abraham answered, “Even if thy words be true, it matters not; for this
is the penalty of liars, that when they speak the truth they are not
believed.”
Abraham journeyed on the rest of that day, without seeing his appointed
place. Next day he retraced his steps, but could find no signs of the
place. The Almighty had so ordered it, that men might not say Abraham
was hasty and acted precipitately, but might see that he had leisure
and time for reflection on what he was about to do.
On the morning of the third day,[330] they reached the height of
Zophim, and thence Abraham saw a beautiful mountain-land, and on the
top of one of the mountains was a fiery pillar, which reached from
earth to heaven,--it was the Glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud.
When Abraham asked Isaac if he beheld this sight, he answered that he
did so: but when he asked his other companions, they replied that they
saw nothing save the brown hills and purple valleys. Some say they
answered that one hill was to them like every other hill.
From this, Abraham concluded that God was well pleased with Isaac as a
victim. Then he said to Eliezer and Ishmael:
“Tarry ye here with the ass, for you are not worthy to behold the
Shekinah nearer. But I and the youth will go on, _so many_ only shall
go.”
Now, as he said these words, it suddenly came to his mind that God had
promised him a great people descended from Isaac, _so many_ as the
stars for multitude, and with prophetic voice he said, “If the Lord
will, _so many_ as go on, _so many_ shall return.”
Then Abraham laid the wood of the sacrifice on his son Isaac, and took
the fire and the knife in his hand; and they went on both together,
Abraham joyous, and Isaac without fear or thought.
But after they had gone some way, Isaac turned to his father and said,
“Father, whither are we going alone?”
_Abraham._--“My son, we go to offer a sacrifice?”
_Isaac._--“But art thou a priest to execute this undertaking?”
_Abraham._--“Shem, the High Priest, will prepare the victim.”
A great fear fell upon Isaac when he saw that they had no animal with
them to offer, and he said, “Here are the fire and the wood, but where
is a lamb for the whole offering?”
_Abraham._--“The lamb which is to be offered is foreknown to the
Almighty. He will provide the lamb; and if none other is here, then
must thou be the offering, my son.”
Isaac was silent, for the fear of death came over him. But presently he
recovered himself and said, “If God chooses me, I place my soul in His
hands.”
_Abraham._--“My son! Is there any blemish in thee within? For the
offering must be without blemish of any sort.”
_Isaac._--“My father! There is none. I swear by God and by thy life,
that in my heart there is not the least resistance to the Divine will.
My limbs do not tremble, and there is no quaking at my heart. With
gladness do I say, The Lord be praised, who has chosen me for a whole
sacrifice.”[331]
_Abraham._--“O my son, with many a wish wast thou brought into this
world. Since thou hast been in it, every care has been lavished on
thee. I hoped to have had thee to follow me and make a great nation.
But now I must, myself, offer thee. Wondrous was thy coming into this
world, and wondrous will be thy going out of it![332] Not by sickness,
not by war, but as a sacrifice. I had designed thee to be my comfort
and stay in old age; now God himself must take thy place.”[333]
_Isaac._--“It were unworthy of thee were I to think to withstand the
decree of God, and of thee. Had the decision been thine alone, I would
have obeyed.”
When they reached the top of Moriah, God said to Abraham,--
“This is the place where once Adam, when driven out of Paradise, built
an altar to My name. Here also Cain and Abel offered their sacrifice.
Then came the Flood, and when it was passed away, Noah offered victims
to Me here. When the people were scattered from the tower of Babel,
then this altar was overthrown. Now it is for thee, friend of God, to
set it up again!”
Abraham built the altar, and Isaac brought him the stones. But,
according to some authors, this was not so. Abraham hid his son in a
cave, lest Satan should take advantage of the opportunity, with a stone
or clod of earth, to blemish him.
And when all was ready and the wood laid in order, then Isaac said to
his father, “Bind me hand and foot, lest in the fear of death I start
and thou wound me, and so I be blemished. Fold thy garments together,
and gird thy loins, and bare thine arm, and strike me with the knife
and then burn me to ashes, and lay up my ashes in a coffer, and let
this coffer be preserved as a memorial of me in thy house, before my
mother; and when thou passest by it, bid her remember me. But remind
her not of it near a well, or on the edge of a precipice, lest she cast
herself down in her grief.”[334]
And he continued, “When thou returnest home, how wilt thou console my
mother?”
Abraham answered, “Well I know that he who comforted us before thou
camest, will comfort us after thou art gone from us.”[335]
Abraham now stood over his son, who was bound with his hands to his
feet, upon the wood laid in order; and the eyes of Abraham rested on
the eyes of his son. But Isaac looked up into heaven, and saw the Angel
hosts crowded about God’s throne. Abraham saw not this, and he lifted
the knife; but he trembled and the knife fell from his hand, and he
cried aloud, “O my son! Would that another offering were found instead
of thee! But my help cometh only from the Lord who hath made heaven and
earth?”
Then he gathered up his resolution, and took the knife and held it once
more to strike; and Isaac’s spirit left him, and he swooned away.
But the angels of God, who stood round about His throne, announced to
the Most High all that took place, and they cried and wept, and even
the fiery seraphim exclaimed, “Woe! He slays his son.” And the tears of
the angels fell upon the face of Isaac, and made him ever after sad of
countenance.