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IN BIBLE DAYS

By GERTRUDE HARTMAN

THE WORLD WE LIVE IN
and how it came to be

THESE UNITED STATES
and how they came to be

MEDIEVAL DAYS AND WAYS

MACHINES
and the men who made the world of Industry

IN BIBLE DAYS

IN BIBLE DAY&

By
GERTRUDE JHAR^MAN

Illustrations by
KATHLEEN VOUTE

New York The Macmillan Company
1948

Copyright, 1948 by
GERTRUDE HARTMAN
All rights reserved no part of this book
may be reproduced in any form without
permission in writing from the publisher,
except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief
passages in connection with a review written
for inclusion in magazine or newspaptr.

First Printing

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

FOREWORD

Lying along the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea in
southwestern Asia is Palestine. It is a small country, about
the size of the state of Vermont. Its eastern border is the
Jordan River, which flows south into the Sea of Galilee,
a sparkling blue lake, and then continues on further south
into the Dead Sea, a body of water so salt that nothing can
live in it. To the east of Palestine stretches for thousands of
miles the vast Arabian desert.

In the early days of the world there settled in this land a
people who came to be known as Hebrews, "those who
crossed over," so named because they had come there from a
place far across the desert. They were a shepherd people, liv-
ing in tents and wandering about seeking food and water for
themselves and their flocks. In the course of time their de-
scendants formed a nation.

As a long, narrow strip of land between the sea on the
west and the desert wilderness on the east, Palestine, or
Canaan as it was called in early times, formed a sort of land-
bridge between the great empire of Egypt, in northeastern
Africa, and those powerful nations Assyria, Babylonia, and
Persia which arose in southwestern Asia. In days of peace
long caravans of heavily laden camels made their way across
this land-bridge, carrying back and forth the choice products
of the fertile valleys of the Nile and the Euphrates rivers.
In time of war the armies of ambitious empire-builders wish-

v - .s*

ZW'C.MI

VI FOREWORD

<y : extend their dominions, passed through this land.
"As v they lived on the main passageway of trade and war,
the people of Palestine were often conquered by stronger
nations; possession of Palestine was important to the rulers
of these nations for the protection of their caravan routes
and the safe passage of their warriors. One invader after
another led destroying armies into that little country. At
different times it became a part of the empires of Assyria,
Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome.

In ancient times most peoples of the world believed in
many gods. The religion of the Hebrews, or Jews as they
were called in later days, differed greatly from those of all
other nations. They believed that there was but one God, a
God of justice and mercy, who forgave those that repented
of wrongdoing and tried to live good lives. They were con-
scious of his constant presence with them, believing that he
spoke directly to their leaders, enabling them to guide the
people in right ways of living. In no other nation has the
whole life of the people been so closely bound up with their
religion. The history of the Hebrews, their way of life, their
laws and customs, their literature and songs, their heroes
and leaders, were all inspired by a great faith.

Although the people of Palestine never became powerful
politically, as some of the neighboring nations did, what
happened in that country was to influence the lives of people
in the world long after the power and glory of the other
ancient nations had passed away. In that little land arose
two of the world's great religions, that of the Jews and that
of the Christians, which all through the ages down to our
own time, have brought comfort and hope to many people
in many lands and have helped them to lead better lives.

FOREWORD Vll

The story o those religions is told in the Bible, which is
the greatest expression of man's idea of the beauty of holi-
ness. It is really not one book, but a collection of books, writ-
ten by a number of men over a long period of time. Much
of it was not put in writing until centuries after the events
recorded had taken place.

The holy scriptures of the Jews are to be found in that
part of the Bible which Christians call the Old Testament.
The sacred writings of the Christians include both the Old
Testament and the New Testament.

CONTENTS

IN THE BEGINNING

God Made Heaven and Earth 3

The Garden of Eden 9

Noah and the Flood 13

TALES OF EARLY HEBREWS

Abraham, the Great Forefather 21

The Children of Israel 28

Joseph and His Brothers 33

IN THE LAND OF EGYPT

Seven Years of Famine 41

Let My People Go 45

Out of Bondage 52

THROUGH THE WILDERNESS

Crossing the Desert 61

At Mount Sinai 65

The End of the Wandering 72

THE PROMISED LAND

The Conquest of Canaan 79

In the Days of the Judges 83

THE UNITED KINGDOM

The Kingdom Established 93

David, the Hero King 99

Solomon in All His Glory 104

ix

A CONQUERED LAND

The Kingdom Divided 113

Great Prophets 118

By the Rivers of Babylon 125

JESUS OF NAZARETH

In the Little Town of Bethlehem 135

Jesus Increased in Wisdom and Stature 140

The Coming of the King 145

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

The Ministry of Jesus 153

Jesus and His Disciples 159

Opposition to Jesus Grows 166

THE LAST DAYS OF JESUS

The Last Supper 173

In Gethsemane 178

Go Ye, Therefore, and Teach All Nations 182

IN THE BEGINNING

JL N SIX days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea,
and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: where-fore
the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.

EXODUS XX: 11

GOD MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth/'
These are the opening words of the Bible. In reading the
story which follows them there comes to us a sense of the
majesty of God, as, step by step, he creates the world and
everything in it.

At first, "the earth was without form, and void." There
was nothing but dark, seething water. "The spirit of God
moved upon the face of the waters/* and through the dark-
ness shone the first light. There followed a time of light,
which God named day, and a time of darkness, which he
called night.

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the
light from the darkness.

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.
And the evening and the morning were the first day.

On the second day God created the vast expanse of the
sky. In it were clouds which drew moisture from the water
covering the earth.

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the
waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which

3

4 IN BIBLE DAYS

were under the firmament from the waters which were above
the firmament: and it was so.

And God called the firmament Heaven.

And the evening and the morning were the second day.

The next day more mighty changes took place. The great
masses of land which form the continents took shape, and
the water which, in the beginning, had covered the whole
earth, flowed into the deep places in its uneven surface to
make the seas*

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered
together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it
was so.

GOD MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH 5

And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together
of the waters called he Seas; and God saw that it was good.

There was nothing living in the world; the earth was still
a barren waste. God covered the bare surface of the earth
and made it beautiful with grass, with flowers of many kinds,
with plants, and trees.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding
seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed
is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after
his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself,
after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

And the evening and the morning were the third day.

In the sky God set two great lights, the sun and the moon.
The sun rose in the east, traveled across the vast dome of
the heavens, and set in the west. The time between its rising
and setting marked a day. As the days passed this time be-
came longer and longer, then gradually shorter and shorter,
thus making the seasons and the year. The moon first ap-
peared in the sky as a crescent. Night after night it grew
larger until it became a beautiful ball of light. Gradually
it became smaller and smaller until it disappeared from the
sky for a time. Then it appeared again as a crescent and
again began its course in the night sky. This time of the
changing moon from a crescent until its disappearance rep-
resented a month.

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven
to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and
for seasons, and for days, and years:

5 IN BIBLE DAYS

And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to
give light upon the earth: and it was so.

And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the
day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light
upon the earth.

And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the
light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

In the waters of the earth, living creatures developed
great whales, and fish of many kinds; and through the air
flew the first birds.

And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the mov-
ing creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the
earth in the open firmament of heaven.

And God created great whales, and every living creature that
moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their
kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that
it was good.

And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and
fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

Animals, great and small, came into existence on the
land. Cattle grazed in the meadows, and mighty beasts
roamed the forests.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after
his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after
his kind: and it was so.

GOD MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH 7

And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle
after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth
after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Last of all, on the sixth day, God created man. He was dif-
ferent from all other living things. "God created man in
his own image/' says the Bible, with the spirit of God
within him. He "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and man became a living soul."

Man was to have dominion over all the other living crea-
tures of the earth.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our like-
ness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the
earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the
earth. .

So r "*God created man in his own image, in the image of God
created he him; male and female created he them.

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful,
and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air,
and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing
seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in
the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for
meat.

And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and
to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life,
I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

In six days God had created the heavens, and the earth,
and "all the host of them. As he gazed upon each thing he

8 IN BIBLE DAYS

had made, "behold, it was very good/ 5 His great work of
creation was finished, and he rested.

And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made;
and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he
had made.

And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that
in it he had rested from all his work which God had created
and made.

Thus in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, the book of
beginnings, the Hebrews expressed in beautiful and simple
words their idea of the way all things came into existence.
They knew that the creation of the world was not some-
thing which happened just by chance. They saw in it the
magnificent, orderly plan of God, the great ruler of the
universe.

According to the Bible story the work of creation was
accomplished in six days. Modern scientists believe that it
took millions of years for the earth to develop into the form
in which the first people knew it. The early inhabitants of
Palestine were a poetic people, and possibly they did not
mean the word "day" to be interpreted exactly. Very likely
tney thought of it as representing an indefinite period of
time, for one of their psalmists said of God, "a thousand
years in thy sight are but as yesterday/'

As God had rested on the seventh day of the week, the
Hebrews held that day sacred; on it no work was to be done.
It was to be devoted to the worship of the great God, who
had made them and everything in the world. One of their
commandments said:

THE GARDEN OF EDEN 9

Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh
day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do
any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant,
nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is
within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and
earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh
day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

THE GARDEN OF EDEN

God named the man he had created Adam, and made for
him a beautiful place, the Garden of Eden, in which to
live. To this garden God brought all the living creatures
he had made, and Adam named them and had dominion
over them.

In the second story of the Bible an account is given of
how God made the first woman. Adam was lonely. He
longed for a companion, and God said, "It is not good that
the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for
him." He caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep, and while
he slept "took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead
thereof/' Out of this rib God made a woman to be the wife
of Adam. The name of this first woman was Eve.

In the garden which God had made were many beautiful
trees. On them grew delicious fruits which Adam and Eve
could eat. There was one tree, however, the tree of knowl-
edge of good and evil, which Adam and Eve were not to
touch. "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat,"
God said, "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
thou shalt not eat of it."

10 IN BIBLE DAYS

God warned Adam and Eve that dreadful punishment
would follow if they disobeyed. "For in the day that thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die/' he said.

Adam and Eve lived happily in the beautiful garden.
They obeyed God and knew nothing of wickedness and
wrongdoing. One day, however, when Eve was alone, she
was tempted by the spirit of evil in the form of a serpent.

"Hath God said, 'Ye shall not eat of every tree of the
garden?" asked the serpent.

"We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden," re-
plied Eve, "but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst
of the garden, God hath said, 'Ye shall not eat of it, neither
shall ye touch it, lest ye die/ "

"Ye shall not surely die/' the serpent assured Eve, "for
God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your
eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good
and evil/'

Eve was persuaded by the evil serpent to taste the fruit
she had been forbidden to eat. She also gave some of it to
Adam.

It was the custom of God to walk in the garden in the
cool of the evening and Adam and Eve always walked with
him. In the evening of the day they had tasted the forbidden
fruit, they knew that they had done wrong and they were
afraid to meet God. When they heard him coming, they
hid among the trees.

"Where art thou?" God called to Adam. Adam and Eve
came from their hiding place and Adam confessed to God.
"The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me
of the tree, and I did eat/* he said.

God spoke to Eve. "What is this that thou hast done?"

"The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat/' replied Eve.

12 IN BIBLE DAYS

In anger God drove the unhappy pair from the garden
because they had disobeyed him. Henceforth they were to
live in the harsh world beyond it and were to learn the
meaning of sorrow and suffering. All the rest of their lives
they were to make their living by hard work. 'In the sweat
of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the
ground/' declared God, "for out of it wast thou taken: for
dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

In order that Adam and Eve should never again enter
the garden, God placed at the entrance angels and a flaming
sword which whirled around in all directions.

In the story of Adam and Eve the Hebrews explained how
the first people sinned by disobeying God. Because of their
wrongdoing, sorrow and suffering came into the world.

Some time after Adam and Eve were driven from the
garden, two sons, Cain and Abel, were born to them. When
they grew up, Abel tended the sheep in the fields, and Cain
became a tiller of the soil.

One day the brothers brought offerings to the Lord. Abel
brought a newborn lamb as an offering, and Cain brought
fruit. God was pleased with Abel's gift but not with that
of Cain. Cain was angry at this.

God rebuked Cain, saying, "Why art thou wroth? And
why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou
not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the
door/'

After that Cain grew jealous of Abel because he was
favored by God. One day in a fit of blind rage he struck his
brother and killed him. Immediately he heard the voice of
God saying, "Where is Abel thy brother?"

"1 know not," replied Cain. "Am I ray brother's keeper?"

NOAH AND THE FLOOD 13

God said, "What hast thou done? The voice of thy
brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground/'

Cain was to be severely punished for his wicked deed.
"Now art thou cursed from the earth. . . . When thou till-
est the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her
strength/' said God. "A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou
be in the earth/'

"My punishment is greater than I can bear/' cried Cain
in terrible anguish. "Behold, thou hast driven me out this
day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be
hid . . . and it shall come to pass, that every one that
findeth me shall slay me/'

God replied, "Whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall
be taken on him sevenfold/' He put a mark on him to warn
those who saw him that they should not kill him.

Wretched, guilty Cain, branded as a murderer, went from
the presence of God. For the rest of his life he lived in the
wilds of Nod, a land to the east of Eden.

Adam and Eve had other children, and in the course of
time their descendants populated the earth.

NOAH AND THE FLOOD

As time passed, evil spread throughout the world. The
earth was filled with violence; there was no peace or safety
anywhere.

When God saw the wickedness in the world he regretted
that he had made man. He decided that the only way to rid

14 IN BIBLE DAYS

the world of evil was to destroy all the people in it and begin
the world all over again. "I will destroy man whom I have
created from the face of the earth/' he declared, "both man,
and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air;
for it repenteth me that I have made them/'

One man "found grace in the eyes of the Lord" because
he was good. His name was Noah. He and his family were
to be saved.

One day God told Noah what he planned to do. "Behold
I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to de-
stroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life/' he said, "and
everything that is in the earth shall die."

God directed Noah to build a large ship called an ark,
and take into it with him his wife, his three sons Shem,
Ham, and Japheth and their wives. Two of every beast
of the field, every bird of the air, and every living thing on
the ground were also to go into the ark.

Noah and his sons hewed mighty cedar trees and shaped
them into beams and planks. Out of these they built the ark
according to the directions God had given Noah. At length
the ark was finished and Noah and his family went into it.
From near and far came all sorts of living creatures, two
by two, who made their way into the ark.

In a few days storm clouds gathered, the sky grew dark,
and rain began falling in torrents. For forty days and nights
the rain fell without stopping. Higher and higher the water
rose on the land until it was above the peaks of even the
highest mountains. "And every living substance was de-
stroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man,
and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the
heaven/ 1 says the Bible account.

NOAH AND THE FLOOD 15

As the water rose over the earth, the ark was lifted up and
floated along on its surface with Noah and his family and all
the living creatures within it safe.

After about a hundred and fifty days the water began
going down. Noah realized that the ark was no longer mov-
ing. It had come to rest on the top of a high mountain,
Mount Ararat. After a while Noah opened the window and
looked out. He saw that the high land nearby was dry. As
he wanted to make sure that the water had gone down far
enough so that it would be safe to venture out of the ark,
he sent out a raven and a dove. The raven did not come
back, but the dove "found no rest for the sole of her foot"
and returned to the ark.

After waiting seven days Noah again sent out the dove.
When she returned, "lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf/'
Noah was happy when he saw the leaf for it showed that the
flood had gone down below the level of the treetops and that
olive trees were putting forth their leaves again.

Seven days later Noah sent the dove out once more. This
time she did not return and Noah believed that the flood
had subsided. He took the top off the ark, looked out, and
was overjoyed to find that all the ground as far as he could
see was dry. However he decided to wait until he heard the
voice of God telling him what he should do. One day God
spoke to him, saying, "Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy
wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee. Bring forth
with thee every living thing that is with thee."

As Noah and his family came out of the ark they saw a
new and beautiful world, a fitting place to be the home of
man. The door of the ark was opened wide so that all the
animals could come out. They scattered all over the land.

16 IN BIBLE DAYS

In gratitude to God for saving him and his family, Noah
built an altar on which he placed offerings. God was pleased
with Noah's act of devotion and promised that never again
would he destroy the world by flood. "While the earth re-
maineth," he said, "seed time and harvest, and cold and
heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not
cease."

As a sign of the promise he had made, God set a beautiful,
many-colored rainbow in the sky. It was a promise of future
happiness. "I do set my bow in the cloud/' he said, "and it
shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the
earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud, and I will
remember my covenant, which is between me and you and
every living creature."

Noah and his wife and his sons and their wives became the
ancestors of a new race of people. Thus the life of man
began anew and in the course of time the whole world was
peopled again.

The Hebrews knew that the people of the world spoke
different languages and they wondered how these languages
came to be. Their explanation is given in the story of the
Tower of Babel.

In the early days of the world all the people spoke the
same language. The men of those early days became dissatis-
fied with their life and held wicked counsel together. "Let
us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto
heaven," they said.

According to the ancient belief this was rebellion against
the rule of God over the world. God did not allow the people
to finish building the tower. He confused their speech so

NOAH AND THE FLOOD 17

that they forgot their common language. Each one spoke a
different language and no one could understand what the
others said. There was nothing but a babble of voices. The
confusion which followed prevented the people from finish-
ing the tower.

The tower which the people had tried to build was called
the Tower of Babel because of the babble of voices which
was created when it was being built. After that God scat-
tered the people all over the world. In that way mankind
was divided into different nations speaking different lan-
guages.

Underneath these stories about the beginning of the
world we can see the basic ideas of the Hebrew religion. In
them it is made clear that God made man "in his own
image/' and created a good world for him to live in. Over
and over again in the Bible the idea is brought out that God
demands right living on the part of those who believe in
him. So long as man obeys God he will live in happiness
and peace; but sorrow and suffering will surely come to
those who disobey God. One of the Ten Commandments
said, "I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and
fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy
unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my com-
mandments."

TALES OF EARLY HEBREWS

OW the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out
of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's
house, unto a land that I will show thee.

GENESIS XII: 1

ABRAHAM, THE GREAT FOREFATHER

The Hebrews belonged to a large group of ancient peoples
known as Semites, who were supposed to be the descendants
of Shem, the oldest son of Noah. In their earliest days they
lived in the Arabian desert, near the ancient city of Ur,
which was not far from the mouth of the Euphrates River.
Their great forefather was Abraham, sometimes called
Abram, who is thought to have lived about 2000 B.C.

At the time of Abraham most of the people of the world
believed in many gods. They made idols of them which they
worshiped. Terah, the father of Abraham, made idols for the
temples.

Abraham came to believe that there was but one true
God. One day it seemed to him that he heard the voice of
God urging him to leave his home and travel westward to
the land known as Canaan to make a new home there. "Get
thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy
father's house, unto a land that I will show thee/* said God,
promising to make the descendants of Abraham into a great
nation.

With his wife Sarah, and his nephew Lot, and Lot's wife,
their flocks and herds and many herdsmen, Abraham set
out on the long, hard journey over the vast Arabian desert.

On the way there was trouble between the herdsmen of
Abraham's cattle and those of Lot's cattle. Abraham there-
fore proposed to Lot that they separate and each take a

21

22

IN BIBLE DAYS

joxtrney of
early Hetrewd? to tke

of CANAAN

portion of the land. "Let there be no strife, I pray thee,
between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy
herdsmen; for we be brethren/' he said. 'Is not the whole
land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me;
if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right;
or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the
left."

Lot chose a fertile piece of land in the valley of the Jordan
River not far from two cities, Sodom and Gomorrah. Abra-
ham took other land further away. God said to Abraham,
"Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou
art northward, and southward, and eastward, and west-
ward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it."

ABRAHAM, THE GREAT FOREFATHER 23

The people of Sodom and Gomorrah were wicked; they
did not believe in the true God. When those cities were
destroyed by an earthquake, the Hebrews thought that this
disaster was caused by the wickedness of the inhabitants.
Just before it occurred, angels appeared to Lot and urged
him and all his people to leave. "Escape for thy life/* they
said, "look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the
plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

Lot did as he was directed. In a short time God rained
down fire and brimstone on the wicked cities and utterly
destroyed them. Overcome with curiosity, Lot's wife lin-
gered behind the others and stopped a moment to look
back; in that moment the fire and brimstone overcame her
and she was turned into a pillar of salt.

In their old age a son was born to Abraham and Sarah.
They named him Isaac, which means Laughter. 'Tor/' said
Sarah as she gazed happily at the newborn babe, "God hath
made me to laugh/*

The story is told that when Isaac had grown to be a sturdy
boy, God decided to test Abraham's faith. "Take now thy
son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee
into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt
offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee
of/ 1 he said.

Though filled with sorrow at the thought of losing his
son, Abraham made ready for the sacrifice, and taking Isaac
with him, set forth on his sad journey. Isaac carried on his
shoulders the wood for the sacrifice, and in his hands a pan
full of fire, and a knife. When they reached the place of
which God had told Abraham, the father built a rough
altar.

24 IN BIBLE DAYS

Isaac wondered why his father had not brought a lamb for
the sacrifice. "My father, behold the fire and the wood/' he
said, "but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"

"My son/' replied Abraham. "God will provide himself
a lamb for a burnt offering/'

Abraham built an altar, laid the wood on it, bound his
son, and laid him on the wood. He was taking up the knife
to slay Isaac when suddenly he heard a voice from heaven
calling, "Abraham! Abraham!"

"Here am I/' answered Abraham.

"Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any-
thing unto him/' said God, "for now I know that thou
fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine
only son from me."

Abraham happened to see a ram caught by his horns in
the underbrush of a nearby thicket. He seized it and offered
it as a sacrifice instead of his beloved son. Then Abraham
and Isaac returned home with joy and thanksgiving in their
hearts.

When Isaac was grown, the time came for him to have a
wife. Calling to him an old and trusted servant, Abraham
bade him go to the land of his brother to try to find a suit-
able young woman.

With several camels and many costly gifts for the bride-
to-be and her family, the old servant set out on his journey.
It was evening when he reached his destination. The camels
knelt down by the well in the city. At that time of day
maidens came to the well, carrying on their shoulders or
balancing on their heads large jars, which they filled with
water.

Earnestly the old servant prayed to God to send him a

ABRAHAM, THE GREAT FOREFATHER 25

young woman who would be the right kind of wife for
Isaac:

"Behold I stand here by the well of water; arid the daugh-
ters of the men of the city come out to draw water/* he said.
"And 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 she shall say, 'Drink, and I will give thy camels drink
also/ let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy
servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast
showed kindness unto my master/'

Just at that moment a maiden by the name of Rebekah
came to the well, carrying her water-jar on her shoulder.
She was very fair to look upon. When she had filled her jar
the servant went up to her and said, "Let me, I pray thee,
drink a little water of thy pitcher/'

Taking her jar from her shoulder, Rebekah answered
courteously, "Drink, my lord," and she added, "I will draw
water for thy camels also/'

The servant gave Rebekah golden earrings and bracelets
and said to her, "Tell me, I pray thee, is there room in thy
father's house for us to lodge in?"

Rebekah replied, "We have both straw and provender
enough, and room to lodge in."

Believing that his quest was ended, the faithful servant
bowed his head and gave thanks to God, saying, "Blessed
be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left
destitute my master of his mercy and his truth."

Rebekah ran ahead and told her family v what had hap-
pened. When Abraham's servant arrived at the house, food
was set before him but he said, "I will not eat, until I have
told mine errand."

ABRAHAM, THE GREAT FOREFATHER 27

After he had finished telling his story, he said, "And now
if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and
if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the
left."

"Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and
let her be thy master f s son's wife, as the Lord hath spoken/'
was the reply of Rebekah's family.

They called Rebekah and said to her, "Wilt thou go with
this man?*'

"I will go," she replied.

With the blessings and good wishes of her family Rebekah
started out on her long journey. After many days, the
travelers reached the place where Isaac lived. It was eve-
ning and it happened that Isaac was out in a field, as it was
his custom to go out in the evening to meditate and pray.
He saw camels approaching and knew that he was soon to
see the young woman who was to be his wife.

Happening to catch sight of Isaac, Rebekah said to the
servant, "What man is this that walketh in the field to meet
us?"

"It is my master," replied the servant.

Rebekah got down from her camel and went to meet
Isaac. He took her to the tent of his mother. A short time
later they were married.

THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL

Isaac and Rebekah had two sons, Esau and Jacob. The two
brothers were quite different in appearance and character.
Esau, the older brother, grew up to be a hunter and lived
much in the open. He had red hair and a ruddy complexion
and his skin was covered with thick hair. He was easygoing
and good-natured. Jacob preferred to work among the tents
and with the sheep. He was clever and willing to stoop to
trickery to gain his ends. Esau was the favorite of his father,
while Jacob was his mother's favorite.

One day Esau came home from hunting, tired and hungry.
He found Jacob preparing a stew, or pottage as it was
called, of little red lentils. The appetizing odor from the
steaming food seemed delicious to the hungry hunter and
he said to Jacob, "Feed me, I pray thee, with that red pot-
tage, for I am faint."

As the oldest son of Isaac, Esau would become the head
of the family after his father's death, and would inherit most
of his father's property. That was his birthright. Jacob, the
younger brother, would have a smaller portion of the prop-
erty.

Seeing how hungry his brother was, Jacob decided to
make a bargain with him. "Sell me this day thy birthright/'
he said.

Esau, thinking more about the food than about his birth-
right, agreed, and Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentils.
Thus Esau gave up his birthright for a mess of pottage.

28

THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL 29

Years passed. Isaac was growing old and feeble and he
could not see. As he felt that he might not live much longer,
it seemed to him that the time had come for him to hand
down the blessing of Abraham to his oldest son. He sent
for Esau and said to him:

" Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death:
now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver
and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some veni-
son: and make me savory meat, such as I love, and bring it
to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I
die/'

Rebekah happened to overhear this conversation. She
wanted her favorite, Jacob, to inherit Isaac's property and
to have the privileges which belonged to the oldest son.
Calling Jacob to her, she said:

"I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,
'Bring me venison and make me savory meat, that I may eat,
and bless thee before the Lord before my death/ Now there-
fore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I com-
mand thee. Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence
two good kids. I will make them savory meat for thy father,
such as he loveth; and thou shalt bring it to thy father, that
he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death/*

Jacob was afraid his father would know that he was not
Esau. "Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth
man," he said. "My father peradventure will feel me, and
I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse
upon me, and not a blessing."

"Upon me be thy curse, my son," replied his mother.
"Only obey my voice, and go fetch me them/'

Jacob brought the kids to his mother and she made the

30 IN BIBLE DAYS

savory meat. She found some of Esau's clothes and Jacob
put them on. She tied the skins of the kids on Jacob's arms
and hands in such a way that they would feel rough and
hairy if Isaac touched them.

Jacob took the savory meat to his father saying, "My
father, here am I."

"Who art thou, my son?" asked Isaac.

"I am Esau thy firstborn," replied Jacob. "I have done
according as thou badest me; arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of
my venison, that thy soul may bless me."

Old Isaac was puzzled. "Come near, I pray thee," he said,
"that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son
Esau or not."

Jacob went up close to his father and Isaac felt of his
hands and arms and found that they were hairy like Esau's.
"The voice is Jacob's voice," he said, "but the hands are the
hands of Esau."

Still not satisfied, Isaac asked, "Art thou my very son
Esau?"

"I am," replied Jacob.

"Come near now, and kiss me, my son," said Isaac.

As Jacob kissed his father, Isaac smelled the garments of
Esau which Jacob wore and said, "See, the smell of my son
is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed."

Isaac ate the savory meat, then Jacob knelt and his father
gave him his blessing:

God give thee of the dew of heaven,
And of the fat places of the earth,
And plenty of corn and wine.
Let peoples serve thee,
And nations bow down to thee.

THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL 31

Be lord over thy brethren,
And let thy mother's sons bow down to thee.
Cursed be every one that curseth thee,
And blessed be every one that blesseth thee.

Shortly afterwards Esau returned from hunting and made
some savory meat for his father, as his father had asked him
to do. He took it to his father saying, "Let my father arise,
and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me."

In great surprise the blind father asked, "Who art thou?"

"I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau," replied Esau.

"Who?" repeated his bewildered father. "Where is he
that hath taken venison, and brought it to me, and I have
eaten it before thou earnest, and have blessed him?"

Realizing that Jacob had deceived his father, Esau cried
out bitterly against his brother. "He hath supplanted me
these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold,
now he hath taken away my blessing."

Esau begged his father to bless him also. "Hast thou but
one blessing, my father?" he asked. "Bless me, even me,
also."

It was impossible to undo what had been done. Bowed
with sorrow, Isaac replied, "Thy brother came with sub-
tilty, and hath taken away thy blessing. Behold, I have made
him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given him for
servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him."

Esau hated Jacob for his deception and vowed that he
would kill him. When Rebekah heard this, she was fright-
ened and she decided to send Jacob to the land where her
own people lived.

Jacob traveled over valleys and mountains and through
forests and fields. One night he was very weary and lay

32 IN BIBLE DAYS

down to sleep under the open sky. He dreamed that a great
ladder of light rose from the earth, its top reaching to
heaven. On the highest rung stood God, who said to Jacob:

"I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God
of Isaac: the land whereupon thou liest, to thee will I give
it. ... And thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to
the east, and to the north, and to the south. . . . And be-
hold, I am with thee and will keep thee in all places whither
thou goest, and will bring thee again unto this land."

Thus God renewed to Jacob the promise he had made to
Abraham and Isaac that the land of Canaan should belong
to their descendants.

For many years Jacob lived in the land of Rebekah's
people. There he met Rachel and married her. In the course
of time they had twelve sons. He came to be very rich, own-
ing many flocks and herds.

Jacob decided to return home. Fearing that Esau had not
forgotten the wrong done him, he sent servants ahead with
a gift of many sheep and cattle for him. When he was near-
ing Canaan he saw Esau coming toward him. Everything
turned out well. When Esau saw Jacob, he ran to meet him,
threw his arms about him, and embraced him. Long before
that he had forgiven his brother and was happy to see him
again.

It was said that on the way home Jacob had a vision in
which God appeared to him and said, "What is thy name?*'

"Jacob/' replied Jacob.

Then God said to him, "Thy name shall be called not
any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name."

After that Jacob was known as Israel, and the Hebrews
called themselves Israelites, or the children of Israel. They

JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS 33

were divided into twelve tribes, each tribe bearing the name
of one of Jacob's sons.

JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS

Of all his sons Jacob loved Joseph best. He favored him
in all things and gave him many presents. One time he
made for him a beautiful coat, woven with yarn of many
colors, similar to those worn by people of importance.
Joseph's brothers were envious of him because of the favors
bestowed upon him by his father.

One night young Joseph had an unusual dream which
he told his brothers. "Hear, I pray you, this dream which I
have dreamed/' he said. "Behold, we were binding sheaves
in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright;
and your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance
to my sheaf/'

The brothers tried to think what the dream meant. "Shalt
thou indeed reign over us? Or shalt thou indeed have do-
minion over us?" they asked in alarm.

A short time later Joseph had another dream which he
told his brothers. "I have dreamed a dream more/' he said.
"And behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars
made obeisance to me/'

Jacob was annoyed and rebuked his son. "What is this
dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and
thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee
to the earth?"

34 IN BIBLE DAYS

After hearing these dreams Joseph's brothers hated him
more than ever.

Jacob's sons spent most of their time in the field tending
their father's sheep. In order to find good pastures for them
they often had to go quite a distance. One time the older
sons were away from home for several days. As Jacob did not
know where they had gone, he grew anxious about them.
Calling Joseph to him, he said, "Go, I pray thee, see whether
it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and
bring me word again/*

Joseph put on his bright-colored coat and set forth. He
searched in the fields until he found the place where his
brothers were. When they saw him far off, one of them said,
"Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let
us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say,
'Some evil beast hath devoured him/ "

Reuben, the oldest brother, persuaded his brothers that
it would be better not to kill Joseph. "Let us not kill him,"
he said. "Shed no blood but cast him into this pit that is in
the wilderness/'

When Joseph came up to his brothers, they seized him,
stripped off his beautiful coat, and threw him into the pit.

At that time a wonderful civilization had developed in
Egypt along the banks of the Nile River, in northeastern
Africa. It happened that some merchants on their way to
Egypt to sell their goods passed by the place where Joseph's
brothers were. Judah, one of the brothers, suggested that
they sell Joseph to the merchants and the others agreed. They
lifted Joseph out of the pit and sold him to the merchants
for twenty pieces of silver. Then they dipped his coat in the
blood of a goat they had killed and took it back to their

JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS 35

father, saying, "This have we found: know now whether it
be thy son's coat or no/*

When Jacob saw Joseph's beautiful coat all stained with
blood, he was heartbroken. "It is my son's coat," he cried.
"An evil beast hath devoured him."

For many days the father mourned for his beloved son
and could not be comforted.

In Egypt Joseph was sold as a slave to Potiphar, the cap-
tain of the guard in the palace of the Pharaoh, as the king
of Egypt was called. He was a faithful servant and his master
was much pleased with him. After a time he gave Joseph
charge over his entire household.

Unfortunately for Joseph, Potiphar's wife tried to make
him unfaithful to Potiphar. When he refused to listen to
her, she made false charges against him to her husband.
Potiphar believed his wife and had Joseph put in prison.

It happened that there were in the prison at that time the
chief butler and the chief baker of the Pharaoh, who had
offended him in some way. One day, as they were awaiting
sentence, they were greatly disturbed by dreams they had
had the night before. At that time people believed that im-
portant messages were sometimes sent to them in dreams and
they tried to find out their meaning.

"Wherefore look ye so sadly today?" asked Joseph one
morning.

"We have dreamed a dream and there is no interpreter of
it," replied the butler and the baker.

"Do not interpretations belong to God?" said Joseph.
"Tell me them, I pray you."

First the butler told him his dream. In it he had seen
three clusters of grapes hanging on three branches o a vine.

36 IN BIBLE DAYS

He squeezed the grapes into a cup and gave the juice to the
Pharaoh, who drank it. Joseph explained that the dream
meant that in three days the butler would be released from
prison and restored to his place In the palace of the Pharaoh.

The chief baker then told his dream. He had dreamed
that there were three white baskets on his head. In the top
basket were all kinds of baked things he had made for the
Pharaoh's table. Birds were eating them. After considering
this dream, Joseph told the baker it meant that he had only
three days to live.

Both dreams were fulfilled in the way Joseph had fore-
told. In three days' time the butler was allowed to return
to the palace and serve the Pharaoh once more, and that
same day the baker was hanged.

Two years passed and Joseph was still in prison. Then it
happened that the Pharaoh had a strange dream. In it he
was standing on the bank of the Nile River. Out of the river
came seven cows, well fed and fat. They grazed peacefully
in the nearby meadows. While they were feeding, seven
thin, lean cows came out of the river. They fell upon the
seven fat cows, and devoured them.

The Pharaoh woke from his dream, but soon fell asleep
again and had another dream. This time he saw seven ears
of corn growing on a stalk. They were large and strong.
Seven thin, withered ears were growing on another stalk.
The seven thin ears ate up the seven good ears of corn.

Much troubled, the Pharaoh sent for his wise men and
asked them to explain his dreams, as he felt that they had
some deep meaning he ought to know. No one could give
him an explanation.

The chief butler remembered that Joseph had explained

JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS 37

his dream and suggested that the Pharaoh send for him.
Messengers were hurriedly sent to the prison and Joseph
was brought to the Pharaoh, After the Pharaoh had related
his dream to Joseph, he was able to explain it to him.

The people of Egypt were entirely dependent for their
life and health on the great river Nile which flows through
that land. Usually, once a year, the Nile overflowed its
banks and the water of the river spread far over the low-lying
land on each side of it; then the water gradually went down
again. When the river had returned to its banks, a thick
layer of rich black earth covered the river valley. In this
fertile soil the Egyptians were able to raise ample crops to
supply the needs of all the people.

Sometimes, however, the water of the river did not rise
high enough to overflow its banks. When that happened
Egypt was dry and barren, and nothing would grow. At
such times there was famine throughout the land, causing
much suffering among the people.

Joseph told the Pharaoh that the seven fat cows and the
seven good ears of corn he had seen in his dreams meant
that there would be seven years of good crops in Egypt. The
seven thin cows and the seven withered ears of corn repre-
sented seven years of famine which would follow the seven
years of plenty.

The Pharaoh was greatly impressed by Joseph's explana-
tion and asked him what should be done. Joseph advised
him to have people plant as much corn as possible in the
next few years. The surplus grain should be stored so that
everyone would have enough to eat during the years of
poor crops. Joseph's plan seemed to the Pharaoh an excellent
one and he decided to adopt it.

38 IN BIBLE DAYS

Joseph also suggested that the Pharaoh appoint someone
to have charge of gathering the grain and storing it. "As
God hath shown thee all this/' said the Pharaoh, "there is
none so discreet and wise as thou. . . . According unto thy
word shall all my people be ruled, only in the throne will I
be the greater than thou."

Taking from his finger a ring with his seal on it, the
Pharaoh gave it to Joseph as the symbol of his power. He
arrayed him in robes of finest linen and put a gold chain,
the emblem of high rank, around his neck. He gave him one
of the royal chariots to use on his travels, and decreed that
everyone was to bow to him as he passed by.

Thus Joseph became a great man in Egypt, next to the
Pharaoh in power and honor.

IN THE LAND OF EGYPT

.ARVELLOUS things did he in the sight of their
fathers, in the land of Egypt.

He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he
made the waters to stand as an heap.

In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the
night with a light of fire. . . .

And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the
sea overwhelmed their enemies.

PSALM 78.

SEVEN YEARS OF FAMINE

Every year for seven years the water of the Nile over-
flowed its banks, making the river valley so fertile that "the
earth brought forth by handfuls." During those years Joseph
was busy seeing that the surplus crops were stored in enor-
mous storehouses which he had built.

In the following seven years the Nile River flowed slug-
gishly through the land. The earth in the valley of the river
was parched and dry, and each year the harvests failed. Un-
able to raise enough food the people cried to the Pharaoh
for bread.

"Go unto Joseph/' the Pharaoh said to them, "what he
saith to you, do."

Because of Joseph's foresight the Egyptians were not to
suffer from hunger during the years of famine. The royal
granaries were full of corn which Joseph sold to the people.

There was famine in other countries as well as in Egypt.
The wells dried up, flocks and herds suffered, and many
people died. In Canaan the earth was parched and the crops
failed. Old Jacob, hearing that there was grain in Egypt,
said to his sons, "I have heard that there is corn in Egypt:
get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we
may live, and not die."

Joseph's ten older brothers made their way down to
Egypt. Benjamin, the youngest brother, did not accompany
them, as Jacob feared that something might happen to him

41

42 IN BIBLE DAYS

on the journey. In due time the brothers appeared before
the great man who gave out grain. Seeing him dressed in
fine linen, with the king's signet ring on his finger, and the
gold chain about his neck, they recognized him only as some
high Egyptian official and they bowed low before him. They
had no idea that he was the brother they had sold into
slavery years before.

Joseph immediately recognized his brothers; but he gave
no sign that he knew them.

''Whence come ye?" he asked.

"From the land of Canaan to buy food/' replied the
brothers.

Joseph pretended that he did not believe this. "Ye are
spies," he said in a harsh tone. "To see the nakedness of the
land ye are come."

The brothers protested, saying that they were not spies,
but peaceful shepherds living with their father in Canaan.
"Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in
the land of Canaan; and the youngest is this day with our
father, and one is not," they said.

"Ye are spies," repeated Joseph. "Hereby ye shall be
proved; ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest
brother come hither. . . - Bring your youngest brother
unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not
die/-
Joseph gave his brothers the grain they needed, but de-
cided to keep one of them, Simeon, as a prisoner until the
others returned. Their sacks were filled with corn and
loaded on donkeys and the brothers started out on their
journey home. On the way they stopped at an inn and one
of the brothers opened his sack. What was his surprise to

SEVEN YEARS OF FAMINE 43

find that the money he had brought to pay for the grain was
stowed away in his sack.

When the brothers arrived in Canaan they related to
their father all that had happened. They told him that the
great man in Egypt had kept Simeon in prison and had said
that they would be given more grain if they needed it, but
only on condition that Benjamin accompany them to
Egypt.

Jacob refused to let Benjamin go. "Joseph is not, and
Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away/' he said.
Then the famine grew worse in Canaan and Jacob said to
his sons, "Go again, buy us a little food."

His son Judah replied, "If thou wilt send our brother with
us, we will go down and buy thee food: But if thou wilt not
send him, we will not go down/'

Finally the father agreed to let Benjamin accompany his
brothers. In due time they arrived in Egypt and made their
way to Joseph.

"Is this your younger brother of whom ye spake unto
me?" asked Joseph. Turning to Benjamin, he said, "God
be gracious unto thee, my son." Then, overcome with emo-
tion at seeing his young brother, he left the room.

The next day Joseph had the sacks filled with grain and
ordered a servant to put the little silver cup he had used as
a child into Benjamin's sack. The brothers had not gone far
on their way home when the servant overtook them and told
them that a cup belonging to his master was gone and that
he had been sent to see whether they had stolen it. The
sacks were opened and the cup was found in Benjamin's
sack.

Once more the brothers returned to Joseph and Joseph

44 IN BIBLE DAYS

said that Benjamin must remain with him as a slave. Judah
told Joseph that it would break his father's heart if Ben-
jamin did not return and offered to be a slave in his place.

Joseph could no longer pretend that he did not know his
brothers and he told them who he was. "I am Joseph, your
brother, whom ye sold into Egypt/' he said.

When the brothers heard this, they were overcome with
shame; but Joseph reassured them. "Be not grieved nor
angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither. . . . God
sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth,
and to save your lives. So now it was not you that sent me
hither, but God," he said.

As he knew that there would be five more years of famine,
Joseph urged his brothers to go back and tell their father
to bring his family to Egypt to live. "Thou shalt dwell in
the land of Goshen," he promised them, "thou and thy
children and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy
herds, and all that thou hast. . . . Make haste and bring
down my father hither."

The Pharaoh was much pleased when he heard about
Joseph's family. He told Joseph to say to his brothers, "Go,
get you unto the land of Canaan, and take your father and
your households, and come unto me; and I will give you
the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat of the fat of
the land. Take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your
little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and
come. The good of all the land of Egypt is yours."

When the brothers arrived in Canaan they told their
father the wonderful news about Joseph. "Joseph is alive 1"
they said. "He is governor over all the land of Egypt."

Old Jacob was almost overcome. "Joseph, my son, is yet

LET MY PEOPLE GO 45

alive!" he cried out. "I will go and see him before I die/*

Jacob and his family and many other Israelites made their
way to Egypt with their flocks and herds and all their posses-
sions. Joseph rode out in his chariot to meet them. When
the aged father and his son met, they fell into each other's
arms. "Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because
thou art yet alive/' cried Jacob.

When Joseph presented his family to the Pharaoh, the
Pharaoh said to Joseph, "The land of Egypt is before thee;
in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to
dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell."

Thus the Hebrews received as their new homeland the
land of Goshen, a very fertile part of Egypt near the delta
of the Nile River.

Joseph lived in Egypt for many years. Before he died he
called his kindred to him and said to them, "I die; and God
will surely remember you, and bring you up out of this
land unto the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac,
and to Jacob. And ye shall carry up my bones away hence
with you."

Joseph's wish that his bones should be taken to the Holy
Land was fulfilled hundreds of years later when the Israelites
left Egypt.

LET MY PEOPLE GO

For four hundred years the children of Israel lived hap-
pily in the land of Goshen. They prospered and increased

46 IN BIBLE DAYS

in numbers until "the land was filled with them/' Then
came changes which brought them terrible suffering. There
was on the throne of Egypt a Pharaoh who "knew not
Joseph." All that he had done for the Egyptian people dur-
ing the time of famine long before was forgotten. It is
thought that this Pharaoh was Rameses II, who reigned
from about 1292 to 1225 B.C.

Rameses looked upon the Hebrews with suspicion and
distrust. He was afraid they would become so strong that
they might rise up against him. To his people he said,
"Behold, the people of Israel are more and mightier than
we. Come on, let us deal wisely with them lest they multiply,
and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war,
they join also our enemies and fight against us."

The Egyptians believed in many gods. Rameses built vast
temples to the gods and monuments to himself, hewn from
mighty blocks of granite. The Hebrews were made to work
as slaves on these great structures. They hewed and cut the
stone in the quarries and dragged huge blocks of stone on
wooden rollers over long distances. Some of them were set
to work making bricks. They dug the clay, they carried the
water in jars to moisten it, they kneaded it and mixed it with
chopped straw to hold it together. Then they forced it into
molds to form bricks which were baked in the sun. Always
the slaves labored under the lash of the cruel overseers.

In spite of this harsh treatment, the Hebrews continued
to increase in numbers. Then the Pharaoh decreed that all
baby boys born to them should be thrown into the Nile
River to drown.

At that time there was born a Hebrew boy who, in later
life, was to become a great leader of his people and was to free

48 IN BIBLE DAYS

them from slavery. When the account of his life was written
down many centuries afterward, the story was told that his
mother, when she heard the cruel decree of the Pharaoh,
determined to try to save her little son. From the reeds
which grew along the banks of the Nile River, she wove a
little basket, and she laid him in it. She hid the basket
among the tall reeds, hoping that someone would find it
and take care of the baby.

It happened that the daughter of the Pharaoh came with
her maidens to bathe in the river near the place where the
basket was. Noticing it among the reeds, she sent one of the
maidens to bring it to her. The princess knew about the
cruel decree her father had passed. When she saw the baby,
her heart was touched with pity. "This is one of the
Hebrews* children," she said. She decided to adopt the
baby and bring him up as her son. She named him Moses,
which means "out of the water," because, she said, "I drew
him out of the water."

Although Moses was brought up as an Egyptian he knew
that he was an Israelite. He often went among his own
people, and when he saw their suffering, he was unhappy
and longed to help them. One day as he was wandering alone
in the desert, it seemed to him that a voice said to him:

"I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. ... I have surely seen
the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have
heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters. . . . And I
am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the
Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a
good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and
honey. . . . Come now, therefore, and I will send thee

LET MY PEOPLE GO 49

unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the
children of Israel out of Egypt/'

Moses went to the Pharaoh and said, "Thus saith the Lord
God of Israel, 'Let my people go, that they may hold a feast
unto me in the wilderness/ "

The Pharaoh did not wish to free the Hebrew slaves who
were so useful to him. "Who is the Lord that I should obey
his voice ^ let Israel go?" he said. "I know not the Lord,
neither will I let Israel go/*

That day the Pharaoh summoned the taskmasters of the
Hebrews and directed them to increase the people's work.
Those who made bricks had been given the straw they
needed. Now the Pharaoh said to the taskmasters, "Ye shall
no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore;
let them go and gather straw for themselves/'

After that the Hebrews had to go out into the fields and
hunt for straw. This meant many more hours of labor, yet
they were required to make as many bricks as they had made
when the straw was supplied to them. If they failed to do so
they were beaten by their taskmasters*

"Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people?**
said Moses. "Why is it that thou hast sent me? For since I
came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil
to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at
all/'

God replied, "Now shalt thou see what I will do to
Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and
with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land. I
am the Lord/'

The hot damp valley of the Nile was frequently subject
to pestilences and it was afflicted by several at that time.

50 IN BIBLE DAYS

First the waters of the Nile River, upon which the Egyptians
were so dependent, turned red like blood. All the fish in the
river died and the Egyptians could not drink the water.

In spite of this calamity, the Pharaoh refused to let the
Hebrews go.

Again Moses went to the Pharaoh and said, "Thus saith
the Lord, Xet my people go that they may serve me/ "

Once more the Pharaoh refused, and another disaster
came upon the Egyptians, There were many frogs in the
shallow waters near the banks of the Nile River. They came
out of the river in great numbers and hopped all over the
land and into the houses of the Egyptians.

The Pharaoh sent for Moses and begged him to ask God
to stop the plague, promising that he would let the Hebrews
leave. Moses did so; but as soon as the frogs were gone, the
Pharaoh forgot his promise.

Then came another plague. This time it was lice, which
spread everywhere in the land, on people and on animals.
Again Moses went to the Pharaoh and warned him that there
would be more plagues if he did not set the children of
Israel free; but the Pharaoh would not listen to him.

Soon swarms of flies filled the air, causing sickness among
the Egyptians and their cattle. Again the Pharaoh pleaded
with Moses to ask his God to do away with the plague.

Moses prayed to God and the swarms of flies disappeared.
When they were gone the Pharaoh once more broke his
promise.

A terrible disease struck all the cattle of the Egyptians and
many of them died. Only the cattle of the Hebrews were
saved. Still the Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let his slaves
go.

LET MY PEOPLE GO 51

Another misfortune followed. The bodies of all the Egyp-
tians were covered with terrible sores which no one could
cure. Moses gave the Pharaoh God's message: "Let my
people go that they may serve me/' But again the Pharaoh
"regarded not the word of the Lord."

There came a terrible hailstorm, ruining all the crops
which were ready to be harvested. Lightning struck the
houses and barns in which the grain for the following year
was stored. Only in the land of Goshen where the Israelites
lived, was there no hail.

The Pharaoh was frightened. Calling Moses to him, he
said, "I have sinned this time: the Lord is righteous, and I
and my people are wicked. Intreat the Lord that there be
no more mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you

go."

Moses appealed to God and the thunder and hail ceased.
When the Pharaoh saw this, he changed his mind and again
refused to let the Hebrews leave.

Once again Moses went to the Pharaoh and said to him:

"Thus saith the Lord God, *How long wilt thou refuse
to humble thyself before me? Let my people go, that they
may serve me. Else, if thou refuse to let my people go,
behold, tomorrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast, and
they shall cover the face of the earth.' "

But again the Pharaoh refused to allow the Israelites to
leave. Soon locusts swarmed over the land. They flew down
to the ground and filled the houses of the Egyptians and
devoured every green thing in the fields.

The Pharaoh called Moses to him and said, "I have sinned
against the Lord your God, and against you. Now there-
fore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat

52 IN BIBLE DAYS

the Lord your God, that he may take away from me this
death only/*

Moses asked the Lord to take away the locusts and a strong
west wind blew them into the Red Sea. When they were
gone, the Pharaoh hardened his heart against God's people.

Sweeping in from the desert came a violent sandstorm.
The air was so full of sand that the light of the sun was
obscured. For three days all of Egypt except the land of
Goshen was in complete darkness.

Filled with dismay at this new disaster, the Pharaoh sent
for Moses. "Go ye, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and
your herds be stayed/'

Moses refused this condition. "Our cattle also shall go
with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof
must we take to serve the Lord our God/' he said.

In anger the Pharaoh cried out, "Get thee from me, take
heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou
seest my face thou shalt die/*

"Thou hast spoken well/' replied Moses. "I will see thy
face again no more/'

OUT OF BONDAGE

After the last refusal of the Pharaoh, God brought upon
the Egyptians the most terrible punishment of all. Through
Moses he communicated his plan to his people: "About mid-
night/' he said, "will I go out into the midst of Egypt: and
all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-

OUT OF BONDAGE 53

born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the
firstborn of the maidservant; and all the firstborn of beasts.
And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of

Egypt."

The children of Israel were to be saved from this awful
disaster. God directed them to kill young lambs and smear
the blood on the side posts and the upper post of the doors
of their houses. "And the blood shall be to you for a token
upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I
will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to
destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt," he told them.

That night God smote the first-born in every Egyptian
family. But wherever the angel of death found the lamb's
blood on the doorway of a house, he passed by, knowing
that it was the home of a Hebrew family.

There was mourning and despair throughout Egypt,
"for there was not a house where there was not one dead."

The Pharaoh no longer refused to let the Israelites leave
Egypt. "Rise up, and get you forth from among my people,"
he said to Moses, "both ye and the children of Israel. . . .
Also take your flocks and herds, as ye have said, and be
gone/'

The Hebrews made hurried preparations for their jour-
ney. They were so afraid the Pharaoh would change his
mind that they did not take time to bake the bread they
had been making, but took with them the unleavened
dough. Gathering together their possessions and piling them
on beasts of burden, they assembled in groups with their
flocks and herds.

Soon a great caravan was moving eastward toward the
Red Sea. Ahead went a leader carrying a long pole on the

54 IN BIBLE DAYS

top of which was a brazier filled with smoking coals. In
the daytime the smoke, rising in the clear atmosphere of
the desert, could be seen at a great distance. Thus all the
people of the long caravan could tell where their leader
was and in what direction they were to go. Even those who
straggled far behind would not be lost. At night the bright
red light rising from the glowing coals in the brazier served
as guide. To the ancient writer who described the scene, it
seemed that "the Lord went before them by day in a pillar
of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of
fire, to give them light."

When the Pharaoh discovered that the Hebrew slaves had
gone, he was sorry he had given them permission to leave.
"Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from
serving us?" he asked.

Hastily summoning his captains, the Pharaoh bade them
gather together their charioteers, and go after the Israelites
and bring them back. Six hundred chariots were soon on
their way.

As the fleeing Hebrews were approaching the Red Sea,
they saw clouds of dust rising in the desert, they heard the
rumbling of chariots, they saw the flashing of spears in the
sunlight, and they realized that they were being pursued
by the Egyptians. Terrified, they cried out to Moses,
" Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth
out of Egypt? ... It had been better for us to serve the
Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness."

Moses, strong in his faith in God, replied, "Fear ye not,
stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will
show to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen
today, ye shall see them again no more for ever."

OUT OF BONDAGE

55

Then Moses stretched forth his hand over the Red Sea
and a high wind blew so strongly over it that the waters were
forced back, leaving a shallow passageway. Through this
the Hebrews made their way safely across.

Soon afterward the Egyptians reached the Red Sea and
attempted to cross it. Again Moses stretched forth his hand,
the wind changed, and "the waters returned, and covered
the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh
that came into the sea after them; there remained not so
much as one of them*"

"Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand
of the Egyptians/* concludes the Old Testament account.

56 IN BIBLE BAYS

In joy and gratitude, the Hebrews sang a song of thanks-
giving to God.

I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously:
the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. . , .

The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a
stone. . .

The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the
spoil. . . .

Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they
sank as lead in the mighty waters.

Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like
thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? . . .

Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast
redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy
holy habitation. . . .

The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.

Miriam, the sister of Moses, beat upon a timbrel. All the
women danced and Miriam sang:

Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously;
The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

This time of liberation from slavery was to be observed
by all future generations of Hebrews. "And this day shall be
unto you for a memorial: and ye shall keep it a feast through-
out your generations/' commanded God. "And when your
children shall say unto you, 'What mean ye by this service?'
ye shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who
passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt
when he smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses/ "

OUT OF BONDAGE 57

Thus arose the feast of the Passover, one of the sacred
festivals of the Hebrew year, which is still celebrated today
by Jewish people all over the world. It is a week-long festi-
val, with certain ceremonials in homes and synagogues. It
begins with a very special family meal, the Seder. On the
table are certain foods as a reminder of the harshness of the
time of bondage in Egypt. There is a plate of apples,
almonds, and raisins, finely chopped and mixed with cinna-
mon and wine. This represents the clay from which the
children of Israel made bricks. There is lamb, prepared in
a certain way in remembrance of the blood of the lamb
which marked the doors of the houses of the Israelites, when
God smote the Egyptians. Matzoth, unleavened bread, "the
bread of affliction/* is also served, because the Hebrews, in
their hurried flight from Egypt took with them the un-
leavened dough of the bread they had been baking. A dish
of bitter herbs is a reminder of the bitter life of the people
during the time of slavery. As part of the home ceremony,
prayers are said, and the head of the house tells how God
saved the children of Israel and made them a free people.

THROUGH THE WILDERNESS

HEY wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way;
"hey found no city to dwell in.
Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he
delivered them out of their distresses.
And he led them forth by the right way . . .

PSALM 107.

CROSSING THE DESERT

Working through Moses, God had led his people out of
bondage. They were now free, but they were wanderers
without any settled place in which to live. They were no
longer in a land where there were streams of water and an
abundance of food; on all sides of them stretched a vast
desert, a region of bare rocks and shifting sands. In this
new land they would have to depend for food and water on
what they could find in the few fertile spots called oases.
Through this barren region the Hebrews set out on their
pilgrimage to Canaan, which God had promised to their
ancestors.

In this strange unknown land the wanderers were forced
to meet many new difficulties and dangers. During their
long, hard journey they suffered from blistering heat in the
daytime and intense cold at night. Sometimes their food gave
out; at other times they had no water, for there were only
a few springs in the desert and those were often far apart.
Many times in the course of their wanderings the people
forgot all they had suffered in the land of Egypt and wished
they were back there again.

The travelers had not gone far when they came to a place
where the water was so bitter they could not drink it.
Because of the bitter water they called the place Marah
which means "bitterness/* They blamed Moses for bringing
them out into the desert to die. "What shall we drink?" they
demanded.

61

62

IN BIBLE DAYS

Moses called on God for help and God directed him to
throw into the water some branches o a laurel tree. These
sweetened the water so that the thirsty travelers were able
to drink it.

For a time after that all went well. The wanderers came
to a wonderful oasis where there were twelve springs and
many palm trees which gave welcome shade. They set up
their tents and camped for a long time near the cool springs.

Then came a new hardship. The food which had been
brought from Egypt was gone and the people suffered from
hunger. "Ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to
kill this whole assembly with hunger," they complained to
Moses.

CROSSING THE DESERT 63

God sent a message to his people. "At even ye shall eat
flesh, and In the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and
ye shall know that I am the Lord your God/'

That evening a large flock of quail came flying Into the
camp and the promise of meat was fulfilled. In the morning
the ground was covered with small white flakes, like snow,
or frost. The Hebrews had never seen anything like it be-
fore. "Manhu?" they asked, "What is It?"

Moses replied, "This is the bread which the Lord hath
given you to eat. Gather of it every man according to his
eating."

This food came to be known as manna. Modern students
of the Bible think that it may have been the sugary sap of
the tamarisk trees which dripped to the ground during the
heat of the day and solidified during the cold night.

From this breadlike food the people were able to make
excellent little cakes. Every morning except the Sabbath
day they gathered as much as they needed. On the sixth day
of the week they gathered enough for two days so they would
not have to work on the Sabbath. After a while, however,
they tired of having nothing but manna to eat. They wished
they were back in Egypt where food was plentiful. "We re-
member the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely," they
said, "the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and
the onions, and the garlic; but now there is nothing at all,
beside this manna, before our eyes."

Later on, the wanderers came to a place where there were
few springs and they suffered from thirst. Again they turned
against Moses. "Wherefore is this, that thou hast brought us
up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle
with thirst?" they cried.

64 IN BIBLE DAYS

Moses called upon God for help. "What shall I do unto
this people? They be almost ready to stone me."

The Lord made known to Moses that if he struck a cer-
tain rock with his staff he would find a spring. Moses beat
the rock many blows with his heavy staff; in a short time a
stream of water gushed forth and there was plenty for every-
one to drink.

"Behold! he smote the rock that the waters gushed out
and the streams overflowed/ 7 joyously chanted the people,
rejoicing at the sight.

So far in their journeying the Hebrews had met no
enemies. But a new danger arose when they were attacked by
the Amalekites, a fierce desert tribe. Moses summoned to
him Joshua, a young captain, and bade him lead the best
men to fight the enemy. During the battle Moses prayed
to God on a nearby hilltop. So great was the victory
of the Israelites over the Amalekites that Moses built
an altar to mark the spot and gave the place the name
Jehovah-nissi, which means, "The Lord is thy standard-
bearer/'

Often there were disagreements and quarrels among the
people. At first Moses decided who was right and who was
wrong. But this came to be a heavy burden, so he divided
the people into groups. In charge of each group he placed an
able man, who was to act as judge, to hear complaints and
settle disputes, so that the people might live peaceably
together as good neighbors.

"Hear the causes between your brethren/' said Moses to
the judges, "and judge righteously between every man and
his brother and the stranger that is with him/'

Only the most important matters were to be left for

AT MOUNT SINAI 65

Moses to decide. "The cause that Is too hard for you, bring
it unto me and I will hear it," he told the judges.

Again and again in the course o the long journey there
were complaints because of lack of water, scarcity of food,
and other hardships. Forgetful of past mercies, ungrateful
and rebellious, the Hebrews blamed Moses for every misfor-
tune which befell them. Once, in despair, he cried out to
God, "Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? And
wherefore have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou
layest the burden of all this people on me? I am not able to
bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me and
if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if
I have found favor in thy sight; and let me not see my
wretchedness/*

The task of Moses was indeed no easy one; but always he
sought to lead his people in the ways of righteousness. Al-
ways he comforted and encouraged them, and he gave them
his blessing:

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:

The Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious
unto thee:

The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee
peace.

AT MOUNT SINAI

Now that the Hebrews were free they must learn how
God wished them to live and how they could best serve him*

66 IN BIBLE DAYS

Moses led them through a barren wilderness to a bleak,
rocky height. Mount Sinai. Towering above the desert,
with its summit almost always veiled in clouds, it was an
awe-inspiring sight. There Moses was to receive from God
the laws by which his people were to be governed. At the
foot of the mountain a great encampment was made.

God said to Moses, "Thus shalt thou say to the house of
Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: 'Ye have seen what
I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles'
wings, and brought you unto myself. Now, therefore, if ye
will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye
shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for
all the earth is mine/ "

Moses called the people together and told them what
God had said to him and they answered, "All that the Lord
hath spoken we will do."

Shortly after that Moses made his way up the holy moun-
tain and remained there jfor forty days communing with
God, who gave him Ten Commandments, which were
carved on two tablets of stone.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not
make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing
that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that
is in the water under the earth.

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:
for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth
generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto
thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain;
for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in
vain.

AT MOUNT SINAI 67

Remember the sabbath day, to keep It holy. Six days shah
thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day Is the
sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any
work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor
thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within
thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the
sea, and all that in them Is, and rested the seventh day: where-
fore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.

Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long
upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

Thou shalt not kill.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Thou shalt not steal.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not
covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maid-
servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neigh-
bor's.

While Moses was up on the mountain, a terrible thing
happened. He had remained away so long that the people
thought he had forsaken them and would never return.
When they were in Egypt they had seen the Egyptians wor-
shiping idols and they wanted an image of a god, to whom
they could pray. They went to Aaron and said, "Make us
gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man
that brought us up out o the land of Egypt, we know not
what is become of him."

Aaron weakly yielded to this plea. The people brought
him all kinds of golden ornaments, and these Aaron melted
in a hot fire into a mass of gold. From this he fashioned a

68 IN BIBLE DAYS

golden calf similar to the idols worshiped by the Egyptians.
He built an altar on which he set the idol, and proclaimed
a feast day.

'These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out
of the land of Egypt!" shouted the people and they pros-
trated themselves before the golden image. Then, following
the rites of the Egyptians, they brought offerings to then-
new god and danced around the altar, singing wildly.

As the sound of the wild singing came up the mountain,
God said to Moses, "Go, get thee down; for thy people,
which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have cor-
rupted themselves/*

Moses returned to the camp, carrying with him the two
tablets of stone on which were inscribed the Ten Command-
ments. When he saw his people worshiping a heathen idol
he was filled with horror. In anger he threw down the stone
tablets and they broke into many pieces. Then he pulled
down the golden image and ground it into powder.

There was turmoil in the camp.

"Who is on the Lord's side?" cried Moses. "Let him come
unto me!"

The men of the tribe of Levi gathered about Moses.
Sternly he ordered them to fall upon those who had brought
disgrace upon the people. About three thousand of those
who had worshiped the golden calf were slain.

The next day Moses said to the people, "Ye have sinned
a great sin; and now I will go up unto the Lord; peradven-
ture I shall make an atonement for your sin/*

Once more Moses made his way to the summit of the
holy mountain. He pleaded with God for the people and
God forgave them. When he returned to the camp he

70 IN BIBLE DAYS

brought with him two new tablets of stone on which were
carved the same Ten Commandments as those on the tablets
he had destroyed. These became the most important laws of
the Hebrews.

Many more laws Moses, inspired by God, gave the people.
In later times new laws were added to those of Moses as
they were needed. There were laws governing the kinds of
food to be eaten and the way they were to be prepared, laws
concerning family life and the care of children, laws protect-
ing the health of the people, laws on ways of worshiping
and on the observance of feast days, and so on. When these
laws were written down many centuries later, they were all
thought to be the work of Moses, and he was always looked
upon by his people as their great lawgiver.

God directed Moses to make a place where the people
could assemble to worship. "Let them make me a sanctuary;
that I may dwell among them/' he said.

On the outskirts of the camp Moses set up a large tent,
which was called the Tabernacle, or the Tent of Meeting. It
was oblong in shape and was divided into two parts, sepa-
rated by heavy curtains. In the outer half, called the Holy
Place, was set up an altar where burnt offerings could be
made. The inner part, the Holy of Holies, was the most
sacred part of the Tabernacle. In it was kept a beautiful
chest, called the Ark, made of fine wood overlaid with gold.
Over it were two cherubims with outstretched wings, beauti-
fully made of beaten gold. The two tablets of stone on which
were carved the Ten Commandments were kept in the Ark.

God said to Moses, * 'Speak unto the children of Israel,
that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it
willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering." The

AT MOUNT SINAI 71

people brought their most precious possessions for the
adornment of the house of God. Some brought linen beauti-
fully embroidered, others brought oil for the lighting, and
fragrant spice for the incense used in the services. Those who
were skilled workers in gold or silver fashioned beautiful
things for the altar. The women wove fine stuffs of blue and
purple and scarlet for the hangings. So generous were the
people with their work that Moses had to send word through
the encampment, "Let neither man nor woman make any
more work for the offering of the sanctuary."

When all was finished, "the glory of the Lord" filled the
Tabernacle and a high pillar of cloud floated over that part
where the sacred Ark was kept. The people believed that
as long as the cloud rested above the Tabernacle, they
should remain encamped where they were. When the cloud
rose and drifted away, they journeyed to the place to which
it led them.

At the beginning of a journey, Moses lifted up his hands
and prayed to God:

Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered;
And let them that hate thee flee before thee.

When an encampment was made, the tent of meeting was
set up, the Ark was placed in the Holy of Holies, and Moses
prayed:

Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel.

The Israelites remained at Mount Sinai for nearly a year.
Then the cloud above the Tabernacle lifted and began to
move slowly away. The people took down their tents and
continued on their way across the desert.

THE END OF THE WANDERING

For many years the Hebrews wandered through the desert
wilderness. The Bible tells us that forty years passed before
they came to the end of their journey. At length they
reached the border of the land of Canaan.

Many tribes had gone to Canaan from less favorable
regions. These the Israelites would have to overcome
before they could gain possession of the Promised Land.

Realizing that he knew very little about the land his
people were to conquer, Moses sent out some young men
as spies to find out about it. "See the land, what it is/' he
said to them, "and the people that dwelleth therein, whether
they be strong or weak, few or many; and what cities they
be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strongholds/*

After some time the men returned, bringing with them
fruits from Canaan pomegranates and figs, and a branch
with a cluster of grapes on it so heavy that two men were
needed to carry it on a staff slung between them. They re-
ported that the land was very fertile. "We came unto the
land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk
and honey/' they said, "and this is the fruit of it."

Bad news for the travelers the spies also reported. "The
people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are
walled, and very great. We be not able to go against the
people; for they are stronger than we. . . . All the people
that we saw in it are men of a great stature/*

The Hebrews had spent many years in the desert wilder-

72

THE END OF THE WANDERING 73

ness and had endured many hardships. Always they had
dreamed of reaching a land where life would be easier. Dur-
ing the long years of wandering a new generation had grown
up. Some of these had not been born during the time of
suffering in Egypt; others were so young at the time that
they had forgotten it. When they heard about the people
they would have to conquer before they could enter Canaan
they were disheartened.

f 'Wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to
fair by the sword, that our wives and our children should
be a prey?" they cried. "Let us make a captain, and let us
return into Egypt." And they plotted together to overthrow
Moses and choose another leader who would take them back
to the land of Goshen.

In vain Moses pleaded with them and the spies tried to
reassure them. "The land, which we passed through to
search it, is an exceeding good land/* said the spies. "If the
Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and
give it us. . * . Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither
fear ye the people of the land; their defence is departed from
them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not."

The people refused to listen to the spies and threatened
to stone them. The patience of the Lord was exhausted.
"How long will this people provoke me?" he said to Moses.
"And how long will it be ere they believe me? I will smite
them with the pestilence, and disinherit them."

Moses interceded with God on behalf of the people, say-
ing, "Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people
according unto the greatness of thy mercy and as thou hast
forgiven this people, from Egypt even unto now."

God listened to the plea of Moses, and forgave his rebel-

74 IN BIBLE DAYS

llous people. When Moses told them what God had said they
were repentant. "We will go up unto the place which the
Lord hath promised/' they said, "for we have sinned/'

Moses was not to accompany the Hebrews into the Prom-
ised Land. His great work was finished. Throughout his
long life he had served his people whom he loved so well. He
had freed them from bondage, he had given them their laws
and had appointed judges to rule over them, he had given
them the principles of their faith and had taught them how
God wished them to live. Now he had brought them to the
border of their new homeland. He felt that a younger man
should take up the task of leadership.

The aged leader called the people together and made a
solemn farewell speech, in which he told them the many
things they should remember when they came to live in
Canaan. He reminded them of all that God had done for
them. He gave them wise counsel, urging them to observe
the Ten Commandments and all the other laws God had
given them.

"Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him and
shalt swear by his name," he said. "Ye shall not go after other
gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you,
lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee,
and destroy thee from off the face of the earth. . . .

"Thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight
of the Lord: that it may be well with thee, and that thou
mayest go in and possess the good land which the Lord swore
unto thy fathers. . . .

"And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently
unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and do all
commandments which I command thee this day that the

THE END OF THE WANDERING 75

Lord thy God will set tfaee high above all nations on the
earth/'

Much more the great leader said to his people in his last
message to them. At the close of it he lifted his hands and
gave them his blessing:

The eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the
everlasting arms.

After that Moses made his way alone to Mount Nebo.
From its summit he gazed westward across the blue waters
of the Jordan River to the land which his people were to
inherit. In the clear atmosphere, mountains, plains, and
valleys spread out before him. Here and there on the hill-
tops were villages and towns, enclosed by white walls. In the
fertile valleys were olive orchards, and vineyards, and fields
of waving grain. In the broad pastures sheep and cattle
grazed. It was a goodly land and fair to look upon.

God said to Moses, "This is the land which I promised
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. I have caused thee to see it
with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither."

There on that lonely mountain, Moses, "the servant of
the Lord," died. The people mourned for their lost leader,
"whom the Lord knew face to face/' They buried him in
the land of Moab; but, says the Bible writer who wrote of
this much later, "no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this
day."

THE PROMISED LAND

HE Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a
land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths springing forth
out of -valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, and vines
and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive-trees and honey.
And thou shall eat and be satisfied, and bless the Lord thy
God for the good land which he hath given thee.

DEUTERONOMY VIII: 7-10

THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN

When, shortly before his death, Moses realized that he
was too old to lead the Hebrews any longer, he had sum-
moned to him Joshua, who was trusted by the people, and
said to him, "Be strong and of a good courage: for thou
must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath
sworn unto their fathers to give them: and thou shalt cause
them to inherit it."

After the death of Moses, It seemed to Joshua that God
spoke to him, saying, "As I was with Moses, so I will be with
thee, I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of
a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for
an inheritance the land, which I swore unto their fathers to
give them."

Beyond the Jordan River was the important city of
Jericho with its strong, protecting walls. On its downfall
depended the taking of the land beyond it. Joshua sent out
spies to find out what they could about the city and how it
could best be attacked. When the spies returned they re-
ported that the people of Jericho dreaded the invaders and
would make no effort to resist them. "Truly the Lord hath
delivered into our hands all the land," they said, "for even
all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us/'

Joshua called the people together and ordered them to
cross the Jordan River. "The Lord will do wonders among
you/* he told them. As soon as the priests bearing the sacred

79

80

IN BIBLE DAYS

Ark reached the river, the waters divided, allowing the
Israelites to pass over a dry pathway to the western bank.
God had told Joshua how the city was to be taken. "Ye
shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about
the city once," he said. "Thus shalt thou do six days. And
seven priests shall bear before the Ark seven trumpets of
rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city
seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.
And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast
with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the
trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and
the wall of the city shall fall down flat."

THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 81

Joshua ordered the priests to do as God had directed. To
the people he said, "Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise
with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your
mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout/'

The next day and every day following for six days the
priests carrying the Ark on their shoulders inarched around
the city, followed by the people. On the seventh day, after
they had marched around the city seven times, the priests
blew on their rams* horns and Joshua cried out to the
people, "Shout; for the Lord hath given you the city/*

The people shouted a great shout, and "the wall fell down
flat," so that the invaders could enter the city.

With the taking of Jericho began the long struggle for
the possession of Canaan. Once in an important battle the
enemies of the Hebrews realized that if they could hold out
a few hours longer it would be night and they might be able
to escape. Joshua knew that he must be victorious in the
battle or much that had been gained would be lost. The day
was passing all too quickly; in a few hours darkness would
settle down. According to the old tradition the leader of the
Hebrews called upon the sun and the moon to stand still so
that there would be longer daylight. "Sun stand thou still
upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon," he
cried out.

The sun and the moon obeyed Joshua. "So the sun stood
still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not o go down
about a whole day," says the old account, "and there was no
day like that before it or after it."

With longer daylight the Hebrews were able to continue
the attack and by the time the sun finally went down they
were victorious in the battle.

82 *N BIBLE DAYS

Battle after battle was won by the children of Israel and
numerous cities were taken. So the tide of conquest swept
over the Land of Promise. Joshua divided the conquered
land among the twelve tribes, giving each tribe a portion of
it in which to settle.

Years passed. Joshua was an old man; his work was done.
Gathering the tribes together, he gave them his farewell
message. "Ye have seen all that the Lord your God hath
done unto all these nations because of you; for the Lord your
God is he that hath fought for you. . . . Thus saith the
Lord God of Israel: I have given you a land for which ye
did not labor, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in
them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not
do ye eat. Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in
sincerity and truth/

"Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all
that is written in the book of the law of Moses/' urged
Joshua, "that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand
or to the left. ... If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange
gods, the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you until
ye perish from off this good land which the Lord your God
hath given you."

Solemnly the people answered Joshua, "God forbid that
we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods. . . . The
Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we
obey/'

Joshua wrote those words in the book of the law. Then he
took a great stone and set it up under an oak tree, telling
the people that it would be a reminder of the promise they
had made. Shortly after that Joshua died.

At the time of the death of Joshua the Hebrews had by

IN THE DAYS OF THE JUDGES 83

no means conquered all of Canaan. Rich parts of the land
were still in the possession of their enemies. The conquest
of the various peoples inhabiting that land was to be a long
and difficult task, and many years were to pass before all of
Canaan was subdued.

The return to the land of Canaan brought great changes
in the lives of the people. They no longer lived in tents and
wandered about from place to place in search of food and
water for themselves and their flocks and herds. They be-
came a settled people, living in houses of stone or baked
clay. Some of them became farmers. Vineyards and olive
groves flourished on the hillsides and grain grew in the fer-
tile valleys. On many hilltops were walled villages and
towns, and town life developed. Far away from the settled
regions, however, shepherds still lived with their flocks.

IN THE DAYS OF THE JUDGES

For a long time after the Hebrews settled down in Canaan
they had no king. They were still divided into separate
tribes, each one ruled over by a local leader called a judge.
During that, time other peoples made almost constant war
on them. Among their enemies were the Philistines, a strong
people and fierce fighters, who lived on the coast of the
Mediterranean Sea, southwest of Canaan.

One of the legends of the time when the judges ruled
was that of a young man of tremendous strength named
Samson, who lived near the border between the Israelites

84 IN BIBLE DAYS

and the Philistines. As he had never been allowed to have
his hair cut, it grew long and fell about his shoulders. The
longer it grew, the stronger Samson became.

Samson loved a Philistine woman named Delilah and took
her for his wife. The Philistines attacked the Hebrews, but
Samson prevented them from being successful. The leaders
of the Philistines went to Delilah and said, "Entice him,
and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means
we may prevail against him." They promised Delilah a
large sum of money if she would get this information for
them.

Delilah flattered Samson about his great strength. "Tell
me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth/' she
begged, "and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict
thee."

Samson replied, laughing, "If they bind me with seven
green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak,
and be as another man/'

The leaders of the Philistines brought seven green withs,
the tough stems of vines difficult to break. While Samson
was asleep, Delilah bound them about him. Then she
wakened him saying, "The Philistines be upon thee, Sam-
son/*

In a few moments Samson broke the tough withs*

"Behold thou hast mocked me, and told me lies/' said
Delilah. "Now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest
be bound/'

Samson replied, "If they bind me fast with new ropes,
then shall I be weak, and be as another man/'

Soon Delilah found an opportunity to bind Samson with
strong, new ropes. Then she cried out, "The Philistines be

IN THE DAYS OF THE JUDGES 85

upon thee, Samson/' But to Delilah's disappointment Sam-
son broke the rope as easily as if it had been thread.

Again Delilah questioned Samson and he answered,, "If
thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web/'

Delilah wove Samson's locks into some cloth she was weav-
ing and fastened them with a large pin. But Samson walked
away unharmed.

"How canst thou say, T love thee/ when thine heart is
not with me?" asked Delilah. "Thou hast mocked me these
three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength
lieth."

Day after day Delilah made Samson's life miserable with
her questions. At last he decided to tell her the truth. His
great strength, he said, came from his long hair. "If I be
shaven/' he said, "then my strength will go from me, and
I shall become weak, and be like any other man/'

In high spirits the wicked Delilah sent for the leaders of
the Philistines, saying to them, "Come up this once, for he
hath showed me all his heart/'

The Philistines came and Delilah waited until Samson
had fallen asleep. After one of the Philistines had shaved
off his hair, she cried exultingly, "The Philistines be upon
thee, Samson/*

When Samson woke, he found that his strength was in-
deed gone. In vain he struggled against the deadly weak-
ness that had come upon him. The Philistines fell upon
him, bound him, put out his eyes, and carried him away to
prison.

Not long after that, great crowds of Philistines gathered
together in one of their temples to give thanks to their god,
"for/* they said, "our god hath delivered into our hands the

86 IN BIBLE DAYS

destroyer of our country which slew many of us." They
called for Samson and the blind champion was led to the
temple,

Samson said to the boy who was leading him, "Suffer me
that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth,
that I may lean upon them." Then he asked God to grant
his one final prayer: "O Lord God, remember me, I pray
thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God,
that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines."

While Samson was in prison his hair had grown again and
his strength had returned to him. Taking hold of the two
middle pillars supporting the roof, he cried, "Let me die
with the Philistines!" He bent over and pulled on the pil-
lars with all his strength. They gave way and with a great
crash the roof fell, killing all the people who were in the
temple.

Very different from the story of Samson is another tale of
the time when the judges ruled, the beautiful story of Ruth
and Naomi. At one time during that period there was a
severe famine in the land of Judah. A certain man who had
been living in Bethlehem, heard that there was plenty
of food in the land of Moab, across the Jordan River.
He and his wife, Naomi, and their two sons went there to
live.

Naomi's husband died, and her sons married Orpah and
Ruth, two young women of the land of Moab. In time both
sons died. Naomi was left alone in a strange land. In her
sorrow and loneliness she felt a deep longing for her native
land and the little town where she had been born, and she
decided to return to Bethlehem to live. She bade her daugh-
ters-in-law farewell, saying, "Go, return each to her mother's

88 IN BIBLE DAYS

house: the Lord deal kindly with you as ye have dealt with
the dead and with me."

Orpah and Ruth loved Naomi and were sad when they
learned her decision to return to her own land. They could
not bear to be parted from her. "We will return with thee
to thy people/' they said.

Naomi would not consent to this as she thought that her
daughters-in-law would be happier if they remained with
their people. Orpah did as Naomi asked and sorrowfully
went back to her family to live; but Ruth refused to leave
Naomi.

Embracing her tenderly, Naomi said to Ruth, "Thy sister-
in-law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods:
return thou after thy sister-in-law/*

"Entreat me not to leave thee/' pleaded Ruth, "or to
return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I
will go; and where thou lodges t, 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/'

Naomi could say no more, and the two women traveled
together to Bethlehem. When they arrived there, it was the
beginning of the harvest season. The reapers were busy in
the fields, cutting the ripe grain and binding it into sheaves.
As it was necessary to get food, Ruth asked Naomi's per-
mission to go out into a field to gather some grain. It
was the custom of that time to allow anyone in need to
gather the loose grain which had not been bound into
sheaves by the reapers.

"Go, my daughter," said Naomi, and Ruth went out into
a nearby field and gathered grain to grind and make into
enough bread for Naomi and herself. It happened that this

IN THE DAYS OF THE JUDGES 89

field belonged to Boaz, a young man of wealth and a kins-
man of Naomi's husband.

Boaz came into the field where Ruth was, to watch the
reapers at work. Noticing the beautiful stranger, he asked
one of the reapers, " Whose damsel is this?"

"It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi
out of the country of Moab," replied the reaper. "She said,
'I pray you let me glean and gather after the reapers among
the sheaves/ "

Boaz called Ruth to him. "Go not to glean in another
field/* he said, "neither go from hence, but abide here."

Ruth bowed low and asked, "Why have I found grace
in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me,
seeing I am a stranger?"

Boaz answered, "It hath fully been showed me, all that
thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of
thine husband; and how thou hast left thy father and thy
mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a
people which thou knewest not heretofore." Then he
blessed her, saying, "The Lord recompense thy work, and
a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under
whose wings thou art come to trust."

"Let me find favor in thy sight, my lord; for that thou
hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly
unto thy handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine
handmaidens," replied Ruth in gratitude for the kindness
Boaz had shown her.

Boaz invited Ruth to eat with his reapers. "At mealtime
come thou hither and eat the bread, and dip thy morsel in
the vinegar," he said. So Ruth sat with Boaz and the
reapers and shared their meal.

90 IN BIBLE DAYS

After Ruth had left the table to go back to the field, Boaz
said to his reapers, "Let her glean even among the sheaves,
and reproach her not: And let fall also some of the handfnls
of purpose for her and leave them, that she may glean
them."

All day long Ruth gleaned. When evening came she took
to her mother-in-law the grain she had gathered.

"Where hast thou gleaned today?" asked Naomi.

"The man's name with whom I wrought today is Boaz,"
answered Ruth.

Naomi was delighted when she heard that Ruth had been
gleaning in the field of her husband's kinsman and told
Ruth the good news. "The man Is near of kin unto us," she
said, "one of our next kinsmen."

"He said unto me also, thou shalt keep fast by my young
men, until they have ended all the harvest," Ruth told her
mother-in-law.

Every day after that Ruth gleaned in the fields of Boaz
until all the grain was harvested. All through the time of
harvesting Boaz treated her with great courtesy. He came
to love her and later on he made her his wife. Naomi re-
joiced at the happiness that had come to her beloved daugh-
ter-in-law.

THE UNITED KINGDOM

m ND I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless
thee, and make thy name great.

GENESIS XII: 2

THE KINGDOM ESTABLISHED

The greatest of the judges was Samuel. For many years
he ruled faithfully, hearing the grievances of the people
and dealing with them justly. He wanted his sons to be
judges after him, but they were not upright and holy like
their father. The elders of the people were troubled. They
wanted someone to rule over them who would unite the
different tribes into one strong kingdom. "Behold, thou art
old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways/* they said. "Now
make us a king to judge us like all the nations."

Samuel was uncertain whether God would approve of a
king. He sought help in prayer as he had done since his
childhood. The Lord answered him in these words:
"Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say
unto thee."

The aged leader gathered the people together and warned
them what might happen to them if a king ruled over them.
"He will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your
oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his
servants. . . . And he will take the tenth of your sheep:
and ye shall be his servants," he said.

But the people realized that with powerful enemies
around them they were always in danger so long as they
were divided into small tribes and not united under the
leadership of one man. They refused to listen to Samuel.
"Nay; but we will have a king over us," they said, "that we

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94 IN BIBLE DAYS

also may be like all the nations; and that our king may go
out before us, and fight our battles/'

After again consulting the Lord, Samuel replied, "It shall
be as ye require." He called an assembly of the people and
brought before them Saul, "a choice young man and godly,"
saying, * f See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen." Joyously
the people shouted, "God save the king!"

Thus about the year 1025 B.C. the rule of the judges came
to an end and the Hebrew nation was established with Saul
as Its first king.

At that time there was growing up In Bethlehem a boy,
David, who in later life was to play a most Important part in
the history of his people. He was the son of Jesse, the
grandson of Ruth and Boaz.

David spent most of his time in the fields tending his
father's sheep. He carried with him a bag filled with things
to eat, a staff to help to guide the sheep, and a rod, or club,
to use against animals which might attack the sheep. As he
was musical he often carried a small harp.

As the sheep browsed in the meadows David sometimes
sang beautiful songs which he composed. The lovely Shep-
herds' Psalm is thought to be one of these.

The Lord Is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me
beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths of righteous-
ness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy stafi
they comfort me.

THE KINGDOM ESTABLISHED 95

Thou prepares! a table before me In the presence of mine
enemies: them anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

King Saul was "tormented by an evil spirit." He was
melancholy and was haunted by bad dreams. It was thought
that music might soothe him. Someone remembered David,
the shepherd boy, who could sing and play on the harp, and
he was sent for. When the evil spirit came upon the king,
David played and sang to him, and the music refreshed Saul
and eased his distress of mind. Saul grew to love David as
a son.

During the reign of Saul, the Hebrews were once more
at war with the Philistines. Among the Philistines was a
champion fighter, a giant named Goliath. How David over-
came the giant and won a victory for his people is one of
the best-known Old Testament stories.

Goliath challenged the Hebrews: "Why are ye come out
to set your battle in array? Am not I a Philistine and ye
servants to Saul? Choose you a man for you, and let him
come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill
me, then will we be your servants: but i I prevail against
him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve
us. I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that
we may fight together/*

When the Israelites heard this challenge they were filled
with terror, as they had no one who was a match for Goliath.

It happened that the three oldest sons of Jesse were fight-
ing against the Philistines and Jesse had sent David to take
food to them. He arrived at the camp of the Hebrews just

96 IN BIBLE DAYS

at the time when Goliath roared his challenge to them.
When he heard It, David cried out, "Who is this Philistine,
that he should defy the armies of the living God?" And he
offered to fight the giant.

David's words were reported to Saul and the king sent
for him. Again David offered to fight Goliath.

"Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight
with him," said the king, "for thon art but a youth, and he
a man of war from his youth/'

David pleaded earnestly with the king and finally per-
suaded Saul to let him fight the giant.

**Go* and the Lord be with thee," said the king.

David chose five smooth stones from a brook and put them
into his shepherd's bag. With his sling in his hand he made
his way to the camp of the Philistines.

When little David ran toward Goliath, the giant, brand-
ishing his spear, shouted scornfully, "Am I a dog, that thou
comest to me with staves? Come to me, and I will give thy
flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field."

Clear and strong rang out David's reply:

"Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and
with a shield; but I come to thee In the name of the Lord of
hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast de-
fied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand;
and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; that
all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel/*

Goliath rushed at David, expecting to overcome him
with a single blow of his spear, but David circled nimbly
around Goliath and before he had a chance to raise his spear,
sent a stone from his sling. So true was his aim that the stone
struck Goliath in the middle of the forehead. Stunned by

THE KINGDOM ESTABLISHED 97

the blow, he fell headlong to the ground. David took
Goliath's sword and slew him.

When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead,
panic seized them and they led. The Hebrews pursued
them, and won a great victory over them.

After killing the giant, David returned to King Saul, who
took him into his service. "Thou shalt remain with me and
be my man/' said the king. "I cannot spare thee to thy
father's house/'

Jonathan, the oldest son of Saul, to show his friendship
for David, took off his princely robe and threw it around
David's shoulders. He gave him his jeweled girdle, his
sword, and his bow. From that time on Jonathan and David
were devoted friends.

Young David soon became the hero of the people. When
the Hebrew army returned after overcoming the Philistines,
the women went out to meet them, dancing and playing
on musical instruments. As they danced they chanted:

Saul hath slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands.

Saul was afraid the people might want to make David
king and his affection for the young hero turned to jealousy.
"They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me
they have ascribed but thousands/' he said to himself. "What
can he have more but the kingdom?"

Twice, Saul hurled his javelin at David, but David was
able to avoid being hit. Jonathan, however, remained faith-
ful to his friend. Greatly grieved when he found that the
king had tried to kill David, he said to his father, "Let not
the king sin against his servant, David; because he hath not

98 IN BIBLE DAYS

sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-
ward very good; for he did put his life in his hand, and slew
the Philistine, and the Lord wrought a great salvation for
all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then
wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without
a cause?"

In spite of the pleadings of his son, Saul still sought to
kill David, Realizing that his friend's life was in danger,
Jonathan persuaded David to flee into the desert. There he
remained for some time, becoming a wanderer in the wilder-
ness.

Once more war broke out between the Philistines and the
Hebrews. In a terrible battle both Saul and his son Jonathan
were slain. When David heard of this he sorrowed greatly.
In spite of the cruel way Saul had treated him, he mourned
for the king, and he was heartbroken at the death of his
devoted friend Jonathan.

In later years the beautiful words of David's lament for
Saul and Jonathan were written down and preserved for us.

The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places:
How are the mighty fallen!

******

Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives,
And in their death they were not divided:
They were swifter than eagles,
They were stronger than lions.

Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,

Who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights;

Who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel.

How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle!
O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places.

DAVID, THE HERO KING 99

I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan:

Very pleasant hast thoii been unto me:

Thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.

How are the mighty fallen,

And the weapons of war perished!

DAVID, THE HERO KING

Saul had laid the foundation upon which the two kings
who followed him built up the Hebrew nation. After his
death, David was anointed king. He succeeded in routing
the Philistines and by conquering enemy tribes added more
land to his kingdom.

David thought that the new nation should have as its
capital a city which would be strong enough to protect the
people from their enemies. There was in the middle of
his kingdom an ancient city, Jerusalem, still held by other
tribes. It was built on a high hill and surrounded by a strong
wall. The Hebrews had never been able to capture it. David
determined to gain possession of it. His warriors stormed
this stronghold and succeeded in taking it. And David made
it his capital. From that time on it was the greatest city in
Palestine. It was often referred to as "the City of David/'

David decided to build a great palace which would be in
keeping with his dignity as king. There were no good build-
ing materials in the land of the Hebrews, but northwest of
Canaan was the kingdom of Phoenicia, which could provide
them. On the slope of the Lebanon Mountains grew tall

100

IN BIBLE DAYS

ffljotyis^^

cedars and other trees. David's friend, Hiram,, king of Tyre,
one of the principal cities of Phoenicia, agreed to supply
him with timber and stone for the building and with
skilled carpenters and stonecutters.

Jerusalem was to be the great religious center of the king-
dom. David decided to bring there the Ark, the sacred chest
containing the Ten Commandments. He built a tabernacle
or tent of meeting where it could be kept.

Great was the rejoicing of the people when they learned
that the Ark was to be brought to the City of David. On the
appointed day a great procession of people, led by the priests

DAVID, THE HERO KING 101

bearing the sacred relic, approached the city gates, which
were closed. They raised their voices, chanting:

The earth Is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof;
The world, and they that dwell therein.

For he hath founded It upon the seas,
And established It upon the floods.

Priests within the city asked:

Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who shall stand in his holy place?

Those outside replied:

He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart;
Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity,
Nor sworn deceitfully.

He shall receive the blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

The whole procession o people broke Into a joyous
chorus:

This is the generation of them that seek him,
That seek thy face, O Jacob.

The priests outside the gates asked permission to enter
the city with the Ark:

Lift up your heads, O ye gates;

And be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors;

And the King of glory shall come in.

102 IX BIBLE DAYS

The priests within the gates asked;
Who is this King of glory?

From the people outside came the answer;

The Lord strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in battle.

Again the priests at the head of the procession demanded
admission:

Lift up your heads, O ye gates;

Even lift them up, ye everlasting doors;

And the King of glory shall come in.

Again came the question from within the gates;
Who is this King of glory?

Once more came the answer;

The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory.

The gates of the city were thrown open and with great
reverence the Ark was set up in the place which had been
prepared for it.

David placed burnt offerings on the altar and blessed the
people in the name of the Lord. Then the priests made
music with cymbals and harps and lutes, and David sang a
song of thanksgiving;

O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good;

For his mercy endureth for ever.

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for ever and ever.

DAVID, THE HERO KING 103

It was David's dream to build a beautiful temple In
Jerusalem as a more fitting place for the Ark than the Taber-
nacle. "I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for
the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and had made ready
for the building/' he said to the chief men of the kingdom.
However that dream was not to be fulfilled. The honor of
building the temple was to be given to David's son, Solomon,
who reigned after him.

The last years of David's reign were disturbed by rebel-
lions. One of these was led by his own son, Absalom, who
conspired against his father and tried to make himself king.
The rebellion spread and David was forced to flee from
Jerusalem. At last the insurrection was put down; but in
the uprising Absalom had been slain.

When David heard of the death of his son he was over-
come with grief and cried out, "O my son, Absalom, my son,
my son, Absalom! Would God I had died for thee, O Ab-
salom, my son, my son/'

David reigned for forty years. When he realized that his
life was coming to a close, he called a great assembly of the
people and proclaimed his son, Solomon, king. He asked the
blessing of God for his people and for Solomon:

O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep
this for ever in the Imagination of the thoughts of the heart of
thy people, and prepare their hearts unto thee:

And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy
commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes.

Shortly after this David "slept with his fathers/' He was
buried in Jerusalem, the "City of David/'

In later ages David became one of the great heroes of the

104 IN BIBLE DAYS

Hebrews and was regarded as their Ideal king. They looked
back on Ms reign as the greatest In their history. Although
temptations had come to the king, and he sometimes did
wrong things, the people forgot his shortcomings; but they
never forgot his heroic deeds.

David was revered not only as a king; his fame spread also
as a poet and a singer. He was often called "the sweet singer
of Israel/' and was thought to be the author of many of
the psalms. Although he composed a number of these,
many more were ascribed to him which were probably writ-
ten after his time.

SOLOMON IN ALL HIS GLORY

During the reign of Solomon the Hebrew kingdom
reached Its highest glory. Solomon decided to make Jerusa-
lem into a splendid city. Shortly after he became king he
built a palace. It was an enormous building with a great
hall of state in which was the king's throne made of ivory
and gold. Six steps led up to it, each side of them adorned
with lions sculptured from stone. There were many other
rooms, richly decorated, and there were open courts with
beautiful gardens In which fountains played.

Surrounded by every luxury Solomon lived in great splen-
dor. At the table all the dishes were made of pure gold. Dur-
ing mealtimes harpists played sweet music. There were forty
thousand horses in the king's stables for the chariots of the
king and twelve thousand charioteers in his service.

106 IN BIBLE DAYS

Many new roads were laid out by Solomon. Over them
caravans of camels brought from other countries their most
valuable wares. His ships sailed on the Great Sea, now called
the Mediterranean, and on the Red Sea, laden with luxuries
of distant lands. Thus during the reign of Solomon the
Hebrews gained importance as traders and merchants.

The fame of Solomon spread far and wide. Kings and
queens and other important people came from foreign lands
to see the splendor of his court. The most famous of these
was the queen of Sheba, a country in Arabia regarded as
one of the richest lands in the world.

For a long time the queen had been hearing about Solo-
mon and she wanted to see for herself whether all the won-
derful tales she had heard were true. With a long train of
camels laden with costly gifts rich spices, rare perfumes,
gold and silver, and precious stones she made her way to
Jerusalem, Solomon entertained her in a manner befitting
her importance.

The queen was greatly impressed by the rich display and
magnificence she saw on every side, and expressed to Solo-
mon her admiration for all that he had accomplished. "It
was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy
acts and of thy wisdom/' she said, "Howbeit I believed not
the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and,
behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and pros-
perity exceedeth the fame which I heard. . . . Blessed be
the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on
the throne of Israel/'

Solomon decided that the time had come to carry out
David's dream of building a temple. "I purpose to build an
house unto the name of the Lord, my God/* he said, "as

SOLOMON IN ALL HIS GLORY 107

the Lord spake unto David, my father, saying: 4 Thy son,
whom I will set upon thy throne, he shall build an house
unto my name/ s>

For seven years a host of workmen labored in the build-
ing. The walls were of stone, lined on the inside with fra-
grant cedar wood, elaborately carved with flowers and palm
trees, and winged angels. The altar was rich with decorations
of gold and silver. On it were the things used in the service,
all beautifully made.

Like the Tabernacle the Temple had an inner sanctuary,
the Holy of Holies. Its walls were overlaid with gold. In it
stood two golden cherubims with wings meeting in the
center of the room, but so wide that when outstretched the
wing of one touched one wall and the wing of the other
touched the other walL Between them was placed the sacred
Ark containing the two stone tablets on which were carved
the Ten Commandments.

Around the building was a spacious courtyard where the
people could assemble on great feast days.

At last the glorious Temple was finished and Solomon
called the people together to take part in a solemn ceremony
to dedicate it.

Reverently the Ark was borne into the Holy of Holies
by the priests and placed under the widespread wings of the
cherubims. Then in hushed silence Solomon, standing
before the altar, offered a prayer to God for his people:

Lord God of Israel, there is no god like thee, in heaven above,
or on earth beneath. . . . Hearken unto the cry and the prayer
which thy servant prayeth before thee today. . . .

Forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their
transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee. . . .

108 IN BIBLE BAYS

For they be thy people. . . . For thou didst separate them from
among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as
thou spakest by the hand of Moses, thy servant, when thou
broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.

When Solomon finished praying he blessed the people
and made a peace offering to God. The minstrels played on
harps and lutes, the priests sounded their trumpets, and all
the people raised their voices In the hymn of praise and
thanksgiving:

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with
singing.

Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us,
and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his
pasture.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with
praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth
endureth to all generations.

From that time on the Temple was the pride and joy of
the Hebrews and the center of their religious life. There
the priests conducted the services, explaining the holy laws
to the people. There several times a year great religious
festivals were held to which people came from all parts of
Palestine.

For forty years Solomon reigned. After his death legends
grew up about the wisdom of the king. Shortly after he
became king he had a dream in which God appeared to him
and said, "Ask what I shall give thee." Solomon answered,

SOLOMON IN ALL HIS GLORY 109

"Thou hast showed unto thy servant, David, my father,
great mercy, according as he walked before thee In truth,
and In righteousness. . . * And now, O Lord my God, thou
hast made thy servant king instead of David my father:
and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or
come In. ... Give therefore thy servant an understanding
heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good
and bad."

This answer was pleasing to God, and he replied, "Be-
cause thou hast asked this thing and hast not asked for thy-
self long life, neither hast asked riches for thyself . . .
I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so
that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee
shall any arise like unto thee."

Thus, says the Old Testament writer, <4 God gave Solomon
wisdom and understanding exceeding much."

Many wise sayings In the Book of Proverbs were at-
tributed to Solomon. It seems likely, however, that these
were collected over a long period of time. Here are some of
them which are well known today:

A soft answer turneth away wrath, but a grievous word stirreth
up anger.

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a
fall.

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom and the man that getteth
understanding.

He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that
ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.

110 IN BIBLE DAYS

Where there Is no vision, the people perish.

A wise son maketh a glad father; but a foolish son Is the heavi-
ness of his mother.

A CONQUERED LAND

THE rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea 3
we wept, when we remembered Zion.

We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
For there they that carried us away captive required of us a
song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying,
Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

PSALM 137.

THE KINGDOM DIVIDED

Sad to say, the kingdom built up to such magnificence by
Solomon was not to last. Even during his reign all was not
well in the kingdom. The many ambitious undertakings
of the king and the luxury of his court had to be paid for by
heavy taxes, and the poor people suffered. Discontent spread
among them, and at one time there was threat of a rebellion,
but Solomon was able to prevent an uprising.

Solomon was followed on the throne by his son, Reho-
boam, who cared little for the welfare of the people. Soon
after he became king, t^ie people made known to him their
grievances and begged him to lighten their burdens. "Thy
father made our yoke grievous/' they said. "Now therefore
make thou the grievous service of thy father, and the heavy
yoke he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee/'

"Depart yet for three days, then come again to me/'
replied Rehoboam.

The king consulted some of his older councilors. "How
do ye advise that I may answer this people?" he asked.

As these councilors realized that there was great unrest
among the people, they advised the king to be lenient. "If
thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and answer
them, and speak good words to them/* they said, "then
they will be thy servants for ever/*

Rehoboam was not satisfied with this advice and consulted
some of his younger advisers. They were not so wise as the

113

114

IN BIBLE DAYS

older men, and they urged the king to be harsh. When the
people returned to him on the third day, the king followed
the advice of the young men and spoke to them harshly.
"My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your
yoke/' he said sternly. "My father also chastised you with
whips,, but I will chastise you with scorpions/'

When the people heard these cruel words, they knew that
they could expect no justice or mercy from the new king
and most of them rose up in rebellion against him. The ten
tribes who lived in the north formed an Independent king-
dom, Israel, and chose a young man named Jeroboam as
their king. The capital of the new kingdom was the city of
Samaria.

THE KINGDOM DIVIDED 115

Through his folly Rehoboam had lost the greater part of
his kingdom. Only two tribes remained faithful to him.
They formed the kingdom of Judah In the south, with
Jerusalem as the capital.

Thus the brief life of the united Hebrew kingdom came
to an end. Thereafter, instead of one strong kingdom, there
were two weak kingdoms.

There was bitter feeling between the two kingdoms and
frequently they were at w T ar with each other. Had they
remained united, they might have been able to maintain
their independence. Divided as they were, they were at the
mercy of the more powerful nations of the region and in
time were conquered by them.

Northeast of Palestine, in the northern part of the land
between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was Assyria, a
strong military nation. The Assyrians were a cruel, warlike
people, ruled by ambitious kings, who constantly made war
on other nations in order to extend their dominions. They
were greatly feared by other peoples, for whenever their
armies invaded a country, they left ruin and destruction
behind them.

Early in the eighth century B.C. the Assyrians swept down
upon the kingdom of Israel. For three years the people
defended their capital, Samaria, against the invaders, but in
the year 721 B.C. it was captured. All the best inhabitants
were sent to Assyria as captives; only the poor people were
allowed to remain in Israel. The Assyrians sent colonists to
Samaria who intermarried with the Hebrews there. Their
descendants, a mixed race, were called Samaritans.

Thus came to an end the kingdom of Israel. The people
who had been taken captive by the Assyrians never returned

116 IN BIBLE DAYS

to their homeland. They were scattered and mingled with
other peoples. For that reason they were often referred to
in later days as the 'lost tribes of Israel/*

The little kingdom of Judah continued its independent
existence for about a hundred years. During that time the
Hebrews came to be known as Judeans, or Jews.

In the year 617 B.C. the Assyrian empire, the terror of the
ancient nations, came to an end when it was conquered by
Babylonia, the nation in the southern part of the land be-
tween the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. After the fall of
Assyria, Babylonia under a great king, Nebuchadnezzar,
became the greatest empire of the time.

Nebuchadnezzar made Babylon, the capital of Babylonia,
into one of the most magnificent cities of his day. Through
the city flowed the Euphrates River. Along its banks were
built splendid palaces, brilliant with gaily colored bricks
and tiles. At the doorways were immense stone figures which
had the bodies of bulls, the wings of eagles, and the heads
of men.

For the pleasure of his queen, the king built the wonder-
ful hanging gardens of Babylon, which were famous
throughout the ancient world. These were a series of ter-
races, built one above another on arches of brickwork, each
one planted with beautiful trees and flowers.

The Babylonians believed in many gods and built temples
in honor of them. They were like square towers built up in
tiers, each story somewhat smaller than the one below it.
At the top of the tower was a small temple which was
thought to be the dwelling place of the god.

To protect Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar built massive walls
all around the city. They were so thick that on the roadway

118 IN BIBLE DAYS

on top of them, two four-horsed chariots could pass each
other without danger.

Nebuchadnezzar wanted to have possession of Judah to
protect his western frontier. In the year 586 B.C. Jerusalem
was attacked by the Babylonians. The city was captured,
the Temple was destroyed, its treasures carried off to Baby-
lon. The greater part of the inhabitants of the kingdom were
sent into exile in Babylonia. This brought to an end the
independence of Judah.

For fifty years the Jews remained in Babylonia and
gradually adapted themselves to their life there. But they
remained faithful to the religion of their forefathers and
they never forgot Jerusalem, the city of God. "If I forget
thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning/'
they said. "If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave
to the roof of my mouth/*

GREAT PROPHETS

In the days after the kingdom was divided, evil kings
reigned in both Israel and Judah and the people fell away
from the faith of their forefathers. During that time there
arose men of godly spirit, who believed that they were
directed by God to lead their people back to the ways of
righteousness. These great religious leaders were called
prophets.

During the reign of one evil king the worship of a heathen
god, Baal, became widespread in Israel. His followers be-

GREAT PROPHETS 119

lieved that this god brought the sunshine and the rain which
made all green things grow. When crops failed, they thought
that failure was due to neglect of Baal. They set up images
of the god in groves and on hilltops where sacrifices were
offered and festivals were held in his honor. Thus the people
of the northern kingdom became idol-worshipers and broke
one of the Ten Commandments God had given his people.

From the wild region east of the Jordan River came to the
northern kingdom the prophet Elijah. Dressed in a rough
garment of sheepskin, with long, shaggy locks falling over
his bare shoulders, he attracted crowds wherever he went.
He was a man of mystery. Suddenly he would appear in the
market place of a town, speak to the people, and then would
disappear as suddenly as he had come. A few days later he
would appear in another place.

Elijah decided that the people of Israel must be made to
understand that Baal was not the true God and could d<\
nothing for them. He summoned the followers of the
heathen god to Mount Carmel and told them to choose
which God they would worship. "If the Lord be God, follow
him," he said, "but if Baal, then follow him/*

At the suggestion of the prophet two altars were built,
one to Baal and one to the God of Elijah. Wood was laid on
each altar, and a bullock which was to be offered as a
sacrifice.

Elijah challenged the followers of Baal to prove the
power of their god. "Call ye on the name of your gods," he
said, "and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the god
that answereth by fire, let him be God."

The people agreed to this plan. "It is well spoken/* they
said.

GREAT PROPHETS 121

All day the followers of Baal appealed to their god, im-
ploring him to set fire to the wood on their altar; but there
came no answer to their prayers. Elijah stood nearby watch-
ing them. <% Cry aloud/' he said mockingly, "for he is a god;
either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey,
or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked/ 9

That evening Elijah prayed to his God: "Lord God of
Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that
thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that
I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord,
hear me/ 7

Almost immediately came the answer to Elijah's prayer.
Lightning struck the altar which Elijah had built to God,
burning the bullock which he had offered as a sacrifice.
When the people saw the power of the God of Elijah they
were convinced that he was the true God. Falling down on
their knees they cried out, "The Lord he is the God! The
Lord, he is the God!"

Thus, through the work of Elijah the influence of the
heathen god, Baal, over the people of Israel was broken.

Throughout his long life Elijah preached fearlessly
against the evils of his day. He was the first of many fearless
and inspired religious leaders who at different times carried
on their work of reform in both the northern and the
southern kingdoms.

In the eighth century B.C. another prophet in sheepskin
appeared in Bethel, a city of the northern kingdom. This
was Amos, a simple herdsman, who had come from the
hills of Judah. During the long hours while he was watching
his sheep as they grazed on the hillside, he had much time
for thought. He often went to the market towns of both

122 IN BIBLE DAYS

Judah and Israel to sell the wool of his sheep or the fruit
of sycamore trees. There he saw wealthy people enjoying
every luxury while the poor lived In misery. Those who were
powerful took advantage of the weak and helpless. Mer-
chants gave false weight and short measure, judges were
dishonest, rendering decisions in favor of those who gave
them money. There was no chance for poor people to get
justice in the courts.

Filled with grief at what he saw, Amos came to believe
that he had been chosen by God to speak out against the
wickedness of his time. In stirring words he denounced the
rich people for their selfishness and their hardheartedness
toward the poor and needy. "Forasmuch therefore as
your treading is upon the poor ... ye have built houses
of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have
planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine
of them. For I know your manifold transgressions, and
your mighty sins. . . .

"Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel, for, lo, he that
formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and de-
clareth unto man what is his thought . . . the Lord, the
God of hosts, is his name."

Many people thought that if they attended the services in
the Temple or the synagogues and laid expensive offerings
on the altars, they were doing all that was required of them.
Amos preached against this empty following of outward
forms and ceremonies, in which the true spirit of religion
was lacking. According to him God said, "I hate, I despise
your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn
assemblies. Yea, though ye offer me burnt offerings and
your meat-offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I

GREAT PROPHETS 123

regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away
from me the noise of thy songs; and let me not hear the
melody of thy psalteries. But let justice well up as waters,
and righteousness as a mighty stream/ 1

"Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so the
Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you," pleaded Amos.
"Hate the evil and love the good and establish justice in
the gate/'

The noblest of the prophets was Isaiah. For forty years
this great statesman-prophet taught in Jerusalem. He gave
his people this promise God made if they would repent and
live in the way he wished them to live:

Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings
from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;

Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge
the fatherless, plead for the widow.

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though
they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

More than any other prophet Isaiah was filled with a sense
of the greatness of God. He dreamed of a golden age in the
future when the ways of men would be the ways God had
taught them, and all injustice and wrong would be swept
away.

And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great
shall be the peace of thy children.

In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far
from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror, for
it shall not come near thee. . . .

124 IN BIBLE DAYS

No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and
every tongue that shall rise against thee thou shalt condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord.

This blessed time was to be not only for the Hebrews but
for all mankind. When it came, the terrible scourge of war
\vould be banished from the earth. "The nations shall beat
their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning
hooks," prophesied Isaiah. "Nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

There were other prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and
others. One and all, these great reformers sought to lead
the people in the ways of righteousness. There must be a
society in which there was justice for all men and one's
duty toward one's neighbors must be carried out in the
daily life of the people. "Have we not all one father? Hath
not one God created us? 1 ' cried the prophet Malachi. "Why
do we deal treacherously every man against his brother?"

Throughout the ages the lofty teachings of the prophets
have influenced the hearts and minds of men. They have
significance for the world today, as they had in the days in
which the prophets lived. Today, as in those olden times,
the words of Micah are true: "He hath showed thee, O man,
what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but
to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with
thy God?"

BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON

Sometimes the refusal of the Jews to worship the gods of
Babylonia while they were In captivity there, brought
severe punishment. Centuries later, stories were told of the
miracles that had happened to those who remained faithful
to their religion In spite of suffering and persecution.
Among the best known of these stories are those about
Daniel and his three friends, whom the Babylonians named
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

At one time King Nebuchadnezzar commanded his most
skilful craftsmen to make a golden image which was set up
on a pillar of cedar w r ood. The king called together the
governors of the various provinces and a herald proclaimed:
"At what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, and all
kinds of music, ye shall fall down and worship the golden
Image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up, and whoso
falleth not down shall be cast in the midst of a burning fiery
furnace/*

At the appointed times all the people of Babylon gathered
to worship the golden image. Some of the priests complained
to Nebuchadnezzar that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
refused to worship it. Angered that anyone dared to disobey
his command, the king ordered the three men brought to
him and warned them that if they continued to disobey him
they would be cast into a fiery furnace.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, "Our God
whom we serve Is able to deliver us from the burning fiery

125

126 IN BIBLE DAYS

furnace and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O King."

Then Nebuchadnezzar commanded that Shadrach, Me-
shach, and Abednego should be bound and cast into a fiery
furnace. So fierce were the flames that the soldiers who cast
the men into the fire perished.

Nebuchadnezzar watched the carrying out of his decree.
As he watched he was filled with astonishment at what he
saw. "Did not we cast three men bound Into the midst of the
fire?" he asked his councilors.

"True, O King/' they replied.

"Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the
fire and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like
the Son of God/' said the king.

Nebuchadnezzar bade Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-
nego come out. When they appeared, It was seen that they
were unharmed, "nor was an hair of their head singed/*
The king blessed the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-
nego who had saved those who trusted in him, and had
"yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship
any god, except their own God/' He passed a decree order-
ing that anyone who spoke evil of the God of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego should be severely punished, and
he gave them positions of honor in Babylon.

Years passed. King Nebuchadnezzar died, and after his
death the power of Babylonia declined. In the land east of
the Euphrates valley a new nation, Persia, was growing
strong. In the year 539 B.C. Cyrus, king of Persia, decided to
conquer Babylonia.

An interesting story is told of how Cyrus took possession
of Babylon. At that time Babylonia was governed by a weak
king, Belshazzar.

BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON 127

One night, so the story goes, Beishazzar was giving a
banquet for a thousand of his nobles in the great hall of his
palace. They feasted and drank wine from the gold and
silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had brought to Baby-
lonia years before from the Temple at Jerusalem. Although
it was known that the Persians were outside Babylon, every-
one felt secure because of the massive walls which protected
the city.

When revelry was at its height, silence suddenly fell on
the merrymakers and everyone stared at something which
was taking place high up on one of the walls of the hall.
There the fingers of an armless hand traced several mysteri-
ous vfordsMENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSINznd
disappeared.

The king was terrrified. What did the strange words
mean? Hastily he summoned his wise men and said to them,
"Whoever shall read this writing, and show me the inter-
pretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have
a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler
in the kingdom."

Unfortunately, none of the wise men could explain the
meaning of the words. The queen remembered that Daniel
could interpret dreams and suggested that he might be able
to tell what the mysterious words meant. Daniel was hastily
brought into the banquet hall and shown the writing. He
said to the king:

**O thou King, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar
thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honor.
All people and nations trembled and feared before him.
. . . And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled
thine heart, but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of

128 IN BIBLE DAYS

heaven. . . . Then was the part of the hand sent from
him; and this writing was written."

Daniel then gave the king the interpretation of the writ-
ing. It was a message of doom. MENE meant, "God hath
numbered thy kingdom and finished it." TEKEL meant,
"Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting/'
UPHARSIN meant, "Thy kingdom is divided and given to
the Persians/'

Thus Daniel foretold the fate of Babylonia, which meant
the death of Belshazzar and the capture of his kingdom by
the Persians.

Events quickly followed which proved that what Daniel
had said was true. King Cyrus had devised an ingenious
plan by which Babylon might be taken in spite of its strong,
protecting wall. His soldiers turned most of the water of the
Euphrates River, which flowed under one part of the wall,
into a canal which they dug outside the wall. When the
water of the river was shallow enough, the Persian soldiers
crept under the wall and made their way along the river
bed. The city of Babylon was captured and Belshazzar was
slain. Thus in the year 539 B.C., the Persians became masters
of Babylonia.

Cyrus appointed Darius as king of the country. Under him
were a hundred officials and over them Darius set three to
whom they were accountable. One of these was Daniel. So
well did Daniel carry out his duties that in time he was
given charge of the whole kingdom.

The Persian officials were envious of Daniel and plotted
to overthrow him; but they were unable to find anything
wrong with his work. At length they thought of a way by
which they could bring punishment upon him. They per-

BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON 129

suaded Darius to issue a decree that anyone who made a
petition to any god or man except the king should be cast
into a den of lions. Without realizing that he was bringing
death to his faithful public servant, Darius issued the decree.

Although Daniel knew of the decree, he remained faithful
to his religion. With his windows wide open he knelt down
three times every day and prayed to God as it had always
been his custom. One day his enemies broke in upon him,
found him on his knees praying, and charged him with
breaking the decree Darius had issued.

Darius was unhappy when he realized what had hap-
pened, but he had to punish Daniel. He hoped, however,
that Daniel's God would save him. "Thy God, whom thou
servest continually, he will deliver thee," he said to Daniel.

Daniel was thrown into a den where there were several
lions. A heavy stone was placed at the mouth of the den
and sealed with the royal seal so that no one could roll it
away.

That night Darius could not sleep. Very early the next
morning he hastily made his way to the den. Breaking the
seal and rolling away the stone, he called out, "O Daniel,
servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest
continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?"

From within the den Daniel answered, "O King, live for
ever. My God hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have
not hurt me/'

Rejoicing, Darius had Daniel brought out of the den.
He had the men who had tried to take Daniel's life, thrown
into the den and they were devoured by the lions.

In the year 538 B.C., King Cyrus allowed the Hebrews to
return to their native land and take with them the treasures

130 IN BIBLE DAYS

of the Temple which had been brought to Babylon. Singing
the songs of Zion, a great caravan of people made their way
over the desert and after months of travel reached their
beloved homeland. There they found widespread desola-
tion. Jerusalem had been destroyed and the Temple lay In
ruins.

At once the returned exiles began the work of restoring
the Temple. The foundations were relaid, the walls rebuilt,
and an altar set up. For years the people labored, and at
last the Temple was finished and the beautiful treasures of
gold and silver brought back from Babylon were placed in
it.

The younger people "shouted with a great shout/' but
many of the older people who had known the old Temple
"wept with a loud voice, so that the sounds of joy could not
be told from that of the weeping."

At that time Jewish scholars among the returned exiles
collected the ancient writings of their people, which had
come down from earlier ages, and gathered together all
the old laws. These collected works became the first part of
the scriptures.

For the services in the Temple was made a remarkable
collection of a hundred and fifty hymns. In later days these
made up the book of the Psalms in the Bible. In them is
expressed in beautiful and poetic language the noblest
thoughts of the Hebrews, their sense of the greatness of
God, and their gratitude for his loving care of them.

In later times additions were made to the sacred writings
of the Jews. They were divided into three parts: the Torah
or the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings.
The Jews remained under Persian rule until Persia was

BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON 131

conquered by Alexander the Great In 334 B.C. After the
death of Alexander there was almost ceaseless strife and
turmoil in Palestine for about two centuries. At last, in 63
B.C., Roman legions under Pompey captured Jerusalem and
Palestine became a part of the Roman Empire. Herod, who
was partly Jewish, was made king of the Jews; but he
reigned only under the authority of the Roman governor of
Palestine, Pontius Pilate.

JESUS OF NAZARETH

'NTO us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and
the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counsellor., The mighty God^ The
everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

ISAIAH IX: 6

IN THE LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM

Toward the end of the reign of Herod there was born in
Bethlehem, Jesus Christ, who, when he was grown, became
the founder of a new religion. We gain our knowledge of
Jesus from the first four books of the New Testament called
the Gospels, an old English word which means, "good
tidings." These accounts were written by Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John. Each one told the story in his own way,
stressing those parts which seemed to him to be the most
important. Although the accounts differ somewhat in details
from one another, from them as a whole we are able to get
a fairly clear picture of the life and teachings of Jesus.

Joseph and Mary, the parents of Jesus, lived in Nazareth,
a little village in Galilee, as the northern part of Palestine
was called. Shortly before the birth of Jesus, the Roman
emperor ordered that a list should be made of all the families
in Palestine so that the tax collectors would know who paid
their taxes. Everyone was to be registered in the place from
which his ancestors came. As Joseph was descended from
David, who had come from the town of Bethlehem, he and
Mary had to go there to be registered.

When the travelers reached Bethlehem the little inn was
full and they could find no place to stay. They were obliged
to seek shelter in a grotto in a nearby hillside which was
used as a stable for cattle and beasts of burden. There Jesus
was born.

135

IN THE LITTLE TOWN OB' BETHLEHEM 137

Beautiful stories were told about the birth o Jesus. One
of the loveliest was that about some shepherds who were
watching their flocks that night in the fields not far from
Bethlehem. All around them stretched the dark, silent
meadows. Suddenly it seemed to the shepherds that the sky
was ablaze with dazzling light and in the light appeared a
glorious angel.

The shepherds were frightened, but the angel said to
them:

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior,
which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe
wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

Then it seemed that there was with the angel a whole
company of heavenly beings praising God and joyously
singing:

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will
toward men.

The singing died away, the angels disappeared, the glori-
ous light in the heavens faded, and darkness settled down
once more upon the wondering shepherds.

"Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing
which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known
unto us/' said one of the shepherds.

Making their way to the little town, they found Mary
and Joseph in the stable and the newborn babe in a manger,
wrapped in swaddling clothes, just as the angel had said.

138 IN BIBLE DAYS

Filled with awe they knelt down and worshiped the infant.
Then they returned to their flocks, "glorifying and praising
God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it
was told unto them."

Another story was that of three magi, who set out for
Bethlehem that night. In the East it was the custom of some
learned men to study the stars, as it was believed that they
had great influence on the lives of men. By studying them
men could see into the future and foretell things that would
happen. Such men were called magi, which means "wise
men."

One night some wise men who were watching the stars
as they moved across the vast space of the heavens, in a land
far to the east of Palestine, were startled by the sudden
appearance of a strangely brilliant star they had never seen
before. They believed that this star signified the birth of a
king, and they decided to follow it as it moved westward
across the sky, to find out where it would lead them.

Taking with them as gifts the choicest products of their
land gold, frankincense, and myrrh the magi followed
the star westward. When they arrived in Jerusalem they in-
quired, ''Where is he that is bom king of the Jews? For we
have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him."

When news of this reached King Herod, he was alarmed.
What did those strangers from a distant land mean? Would
someone, someday, dare to set up another king in his place?
Hastily he gathered together his most learned men and
asked them where such a future king might be born.

"In Bethlehem of Judaea/' answered these learned men,
"for thus it is written by the prophet, 'And thou, Bethle-
hem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes

IN THE LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM 139

of Juda; for out of thee shalt come a governor, that shall rule
my people Israel/ )y

Herod called the magi to him and directed them to go
to Bethlehem. He did not let them know his thoughts, but
pretended that he too wanted to worship the newborn child.
"Go and search diligently for the young child/' he said,
"and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that
I may come and worship him also/*

The magi traveled south to Bethlehem and, according to
the Bible story, the star which they had seen in the east,
"went before them, till it came and stood over where the
young child was/' They followed where it led them, "And
when they were come into the house, they saw the young
child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped
him/' When they had opened their treasures, they pre-
sented him with their gifts of gold, and frankincense, and
myrrh.

For some days Herod waited for the magi to return to
Jerusalem to give him the information he sought about
Jesus; but they did not appear. They had been warned in
a dream that they should not go back to Herod, so they
returned to their own country by another route.

When Herod realized that the magi were not returning
to Jerusalem he was very angry. In order to make sure that
no one in Bethlehem should grow up to claim his throne,
he issued a cruel decree that all the children of that town
under two years of age should be killed.

Herod's slaughter of the little children of Bethlehem was
in vain, for Jesus was not slain. An angel had appeared to
Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, and take the young child
and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until

140

BIBLE DAYS

I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to
destroy him."

Joseph and Mary went to Egypt as the angel had directed
them to do. A short time after this Herod died and they

returned to their home in Nazareth.

JESUS INCREASED IN WISDOM AND STATURE

The Bible does not tell us much about the childhood of
Jesus, but Joseph and his family probably lived the simple
life of poor Jewish people of that time. Along the narrow

JESUS INCREASED IX WISDOM AND STATURE 141

streets of Nazareth were rows of little, one-story, flat-roofed
houses built of stones which were whitewashed. The women
were busy all day with their many household tasks. They
ground grain and baked the bread which they made from it
on hot stones on the hearth and prepared the other things
for the simple meals. They wove cloth and dyed it for
clothes and for other household uses. They drew water
from the village well and filled their jars with it. The men
were busy in the nearby fields sowing and reaping the grain,
or in the vineyards caring for the grapes to be used for mak-
ing wine, or in the meadows tending their flocks and herds.
Some of them engaged in simple trades.

In their home Mary and Joseph followed the old Jewish
customs of family life and they no doubt brought up Jesus
in the way prescribed for the children of devout Jewish
parents. When he was a little boy his mother told him
stories of Hebrew heroes of Abraham, the forefather of the
Jewish people; of Moses who had led their ancestors out
of bondage and had given them their laws; of David, the
shepherd boy who became a great king. She told him about
God and his loving-kindness to his people, and she taught
him to say the words Moses had given them many centuries
before: "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, is one Lord:
And thou shah love the Lord thy God with all thine heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy might."

"These words/' Moses had said at that time, "shall be in
thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy
children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine
house,"

Perhaps Mary taught her little boy to chant some of the
beautiful psalms, especially the Shepherd Psalm of David,

142 IN BIBLE DAYS

and those sung by the people when they traveled to Jeru-
salem for the celebration of one of the Jewish feasts.

When Jesus was older, he went to the school in Nazareth,
which was in the synagogue. There he and the other chil-
dren of the village were Instructed by the rabbi. From a long
scroll covered with Hebrew writing, the rabbi read pas-
sages from the holy scriptures. These the scholars repeated
over and over until they could say them from memory.
Later on they studied important parts of the sacred writings.

Every Sabbath Jesus accompanied his parents to the serv-
ice in the synagogue. At the beginning the whole congre-
gation said together the words Jesus had learned from his
mother:

Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord:

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

After that prayers were said and parts of the sacred writ-
ings were read by the rabbi. Then followed a discussion of
what had been read. If an important stranger happened to
be present he might be asked to speak. The service closed
with the beautiful benediction of Moses:

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:

The Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious
unto thee:

The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee
peace.

Each year Joseph and Mary made the long journey to
Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of the Passover. When Jesus

JESUS INCREASED IN WISDOM AND STATURE 143

was twelve years old he was taken with them. It was the
custom for a number of families from the same neighbor-
hood to travel together. Some rode on camels, some on
donkeys, many walked. As they traveled along they sang the
well-known and well-loved psalms. When they started on
the journey they sang:

I was glad when they said unto me,
Let us go Into the house of the Lord:
Our feet shall stand at thy gates,
O Jerusalem.

As they approached a beautiful hill perhaps they repeated
the words of another psalm:

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh
my help.

My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and
earth.

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth
thee will not slumber.

Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor
sleep.

The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy
right hand.

The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve
thy soul.

The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coining in
from this time forth, and even for evermore.

144 IN BIBLE DAYS

The roads near Jerusalem were thronged with pilgrims
from all parts of Palestine. When the Holy City came into
view, the whole company joyously burst out in song:

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,

And into his courts with praise:

Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before his presence with singing.

Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

The first visit of Jesus to Jerusalem made a deep impres-
sion on the twelve-year-old boy. He saw for the first time
the beautiful Temple surrounded by its spacious courts.
Within the Temple he heard the most learned men of the
time explain the laws which the people were to obey. He
took part in the sacred ceremonies connected with the
solemn festival of the Passover.

The days of the Passover passed quickly and at the end
of the week Mary and Joseph with their neighbors from
Nazareth started out on their journey homeward. Jesus
was not with them, but they were not disturbed for they
thought he was with some of their friends. When the pil-
grims encamped for the night, however, Jesus was nowhere
to be found.

After an anxious night, Mary and Joseph returned to
Jerusalem. They searched everywhere for the missing boy
and on the third day they came upon him in the Temple.
He was seated among the learned rabbis, deep in a religious
discussion, listening to them and answering their questions.
"And all that heard him were astonished at his understand-
ing and his answers/' says the Bible account.

Sadly Mary said to Jesus, "Son, why hast thou thus dealt

THE COMING OF THE KING 145

with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrow-
ing."

Jesus seemed surprised that his parents did not under-
stand. He had not meant to give them trouble, but his duty
to find out more about God was above all other duties.

"How is it that ye sought me?" he asked. "Wist ye not
that I must be about my Father's business?"

Jesus returned to Nazareth and lived happily with Joseph
and Mary in their simple home. Joseph was a carpenter and
Jesus helped him with his work. Evidently he obeyed his
parents as a good son should, for the Bible tells us he was
"subject unto them/'

So Jesus grew to manhood in the little village of Nazareth.
As the years went by he grew strong in mind and body and
it became apparent that he had unusual spiritual qualities.
As St. Luke put it in his account, Jesus "increased in wisdom
and stature, and in favor with God and man."

THE COMING OF THE KING

During their long time of suffering under foreign con-
querors, the Jews had dreamed of the coming of a messiah,
the "anointed one." That term was applied to a king be-
cause it was the custom to anoint a new king with oil. Many
centuries earlier the prophets had foretold a time when
God would send the Hebrews a wonderful king under
whom they would find peace and happiness. The great
Isaiah had prophesied the coming of such a messiah. "The

146 IN BIBLE DAYS

spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him/' he said, "and the
spirit of wisdom and understanding/'

This king was to be a descendant of David. "Behold,"
said the prophet Jeremiah, "the days come, saith the
Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and
a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment
and justice in the earth/' According to another prophet the
king was to be born in Bethlehem.

Although for hundreds of years the Jews looked forward
to the realization of their dream, centuries passed and no
king appeared. Now, when they were suffering under the
Romans, the people looked forward even more eagerly to
the fulfilling of the ancient prophecies. Many believed that
at last the day of deliverance was at hand. Everywhere, in
homes, in village inns, in the market places, in the syna-
gogues wherever people gathered together they discussed
the coming of the messiah, the anointed one. "When will he
come?" they asked.

From the time of the birth of Jesus some people had
thought that he was the longed-for messiah. When the wise
men from the East came to Jerusalem, they spoke of Jesus
as "King of the Jews/' A short time after his birth, when
Jesus was taken to the Temple in Jerusalem, an old man,
Simeon, saw him. He had been told by God that he was not
to die until he had seen the messiah. Taking the infant
Jesus in his arms, Simeon gave thanks to God, saying, "Lord,
now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to
thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which
thou hast prepared before the face of all people."

At the time when Jesus was born, there lived an elderly
couple, Zacharias and Elizabeth. To them was born a son,

THE COMING OF THE KING 147

who was later known by his Greek name, John, When John
grew to manhood he became a prophet, wearing a garment
of camel's hair fastened with a leather girdle, and eating
simple desert foods.

John went about preaching to the people in the syna-
gogues and in the market places, telling them that the
messiah was coming. He believed that the Jews were not
ready for this great event. They must first repent their sins.
Always his message to them was, "Repent ye: for the king-
dom of heaven is at hand." As the outward sign that they
had repented they were baptized, that is, they confessed their
sins and were dipped in the waters of the River Jordan.
This ceremony was the symbol that the person was cleansed
of all sin.

John's fame spread far and wide and throngs of people
came from all parts of Palestine to hear him preach and to
be baptized. Some of those who came under his influence
thought that he was the messiah. John, however, believed
that he was merely the messenger, sent by God to tell the
Jews that the messiah was coming. "I indeed baptize you
with water," he said, "but one mightier than I cometh, the
latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose. 5 *

News of John's preaching reached Nazareth and Jesus
went to the Jordan River to be baptized by him. When
Jesus presented himself to John, John expressed surprise.
"I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?"

Jesus replied, "Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh
us to fulfil all righteousness." Then John baptized Jesus.

As Jesus was coming out of the river, a strange thing hap-
pened which changed the course of his life and had a tre-
mendous influence upon the whole future history of the

148 IN BIBLE BAYS

world. From his earliest childhood he had felt his nearness
to God. Now it seemed to him that the heavens opened and
that he saw the spirit o God descending in the form of a
dove. He heard a voice saying to him, "This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Throughout his life Jesus had heard people talking about
the coming of a messiah. The idea came to him that he was
to be the messiah, chosen by God to save his people. Over-
come by this suggestion he felt the need of being alone, to
think and to pray to God for guidance. He went to a quiet
place in the nearby wilderness where he remained for forty
days. During that time he did not eat and after his long
fast he was hungry. There came to him the thought, "If thou
be the Son of God, command that these stones be made
bread." In the words of the Bible, Jesus was tempted by
Satan.

For a moment the idea appealed to Jesus. He soon
realized, however, that the real test of his power was not
whether he could turn stones into bread, but whether he
could carry out the will of God and lead others to follow
it. Recalling the words of the Bible, he replied to Satan,
"It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

Again temptation came to Jesus. Satan took him up to
the top of a high mountain where he could see all the king-
doms of the world, and said to him, "All this power will
I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto
me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore
wilt worship me, all shall be thine/' Thus the advantages
of power and glory were presented to Jesus and he wrestled
with the temptation to gain earthly power. Should he drive

THE COMING OF THE KING 149

the Romans out of Palestine and thus make himself king?

Once more Jesus overcame temptation. Sternly he an-
swered Satan, "Get thee behind me Satan: for it is written,
thou shalt worship the Lord, thy God, and him only shalt
thou serve."

Still Satan persisted. Taking Jesus to Jerusalem, he set
him up on a high pinnacle of the Temple and said, "If
thou be the son of God, cast thyself down from hence; for
it is written, *he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep
thee and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any
time thou dash thy foot against a stone/ "

This temptation Jesus also resisted, saying to Satan, "It
is said, thou shalt not tempt the Lord, thy God/*

Jesus returned from his long vigil in the wilderness, "in
the power of the Spirit/' He had decided what his work
in the world was to be. He would devote his life to the loving
service of his fellow men. He would try to bring about a
change in the hearts and minds of people, helping them to
live as God wished them to live. Instead of seeking political
power he would undertake the great task of leading people
through his preaching to an understanding of the kingdom
of God, a kingdom based not on force, but on love. He
believed that as the spirit of the brotherhood of man spread
among people, there would gradually grow up a society in
which the spirit of God would prevail.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

HOU shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the
prophets.

MATTHEW XXII: 37-40

THE MINISTRY OF JESUS

Jesus began his ministry at the Jordan River near the
place where John had been preaching. To the crowds who
gathered to hear him he gave a message similar to that of
John: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at
hand: repent ye, and believe the good news."

Soon Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in the northern
part of Palestine on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. As he
was preaching there one Sabbath it happened that an insane
man was in the synagogue. At that time it was thought that
the world was full of spirits, some good and some evil. An
evil spirit could enter into a person, take possession of him,
and make him insane.

As the insane man listened to Jesus he was deeply stirred
and in great excitement he shouted, "Let us alone; what
have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou
come to destroy us?"

Jesus rebuked the man, saying, "Hold thy peace/' Then
as if speaking to the evil spirit within him, he said, "Come
out of him."

Uttering a terrible cry, the man was restored to sanity.
The people were amazed, and said, "What new doctrine is
this? For with authority commandeth he even the unclean
spirits and they do obey him."

After that Jesus traveled about through the towns and
villages of Galilee, preaching in synagogues, on the streets,

153

154

IN BIBLE DAYS

at the seashore, and on the mountainside anywhere that
people would listen to him. Always he tried by his words
and his example to make those who heard him understand
the nature of the kingdom of God which he hoped to see

established on earth. This kingdom was not the kingdom
they expected; it was not to be gained by rebellion against
their enemies. It was to come through a change in the hearts
of men so that they would learn to live together in loving
kindness. "The kingdom of God is within you/' he taught.
Deeply touched by poverty and suffering, Jesus "went

THE MINISTRY OF JESUS 155

about doing good/* His heart went out to the oppressed and
downtrodden. To them he gave the comforting message,
"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and
I will give you rest." Humble folk found new hope in this
message and turned eagerly to him.

One incident of the travels of Jesus through Galilee was
the curing of a person afflicted with leprosy, a terrible skin
disease. Any person having that disease was considered un-
clean and whatever he touched became unclean. He had to
live apart from family and friends, and wherever he went
along the street he had to cry, "Unclean! Unclean!" so that
no one would go near him. Thus the lepers lived lives of
hopeless misery.

A leper knelt before Jesus, seeking his help. "Lord, if
thou wilt, thou canst make me clean."

Jesus stretched out his hand to the suffering man and
said, "I will; be thou clean."

To the astonishment of those who were present, the man
was immediately cured.

The fame of Jesus as one who had the power to heal,
spread rapidly. All kinds of people thronged to him to be
healed. He restored sight in the blind, brought back hear-
ing to the deaf, and speech to dumb people. And he healed
"many that were sick with divers diseases, and cast out many
demons."

As time passed, many tales grew up about the powers of
Jesus. It was said that he was able to feed several thousand
people with five loaves of bread and two small fish, that he
walked upon the sea, that he brought the dead back to life,
and performed many other miracles. In those days people
easily believed in miracles. To their simple minds anything

156 IN BIBLE DAYS

seemed possible and stories of boundless marvels were told
in all ancient religions about holy men.

Often Jesus made clear great truths by means of parables.
These were simple stories which everyone could understand.
They usually dealt with incidents from everyday life with
which the people were familiar.

At one time when Jesus was preaching by the Sea of Gali-
lee, so many people gathered to hear him that he had to go
out in a fishing boat and preach from it. He told the follow-
ing story, trying to make his listeners understand how
knowledge of the kingdom of God grows in men's hearts.

Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

And when he had sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and
the fowls came and devoured them up:

Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth:
and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness
of earth:

And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because
they had no root, they withered away.

And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and
choked them:

But others fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit,
some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

The sower was one who preached the word of God. To
some people who heard the word, temptation came and the
good which had been sown in their hearts was lost. Other
people heard the word, but it fell "on stony ground." As
they had no deep roots within themselves the effect could
not last and it "withered away/' Still others heard the word,

THE MINISTRY OF JESUS 157

but deceitfulness and desire for riches choked out its good
effects. Fortunately some seeds "fell on good ground." These
were the people who received the word of God gladly and
made use of it in their daily lives.

In the hot valley of the Jordan River plants grow luxuri-
antly. There the mustard plant sometimes grows to a height
of ten or fifteen feet. In a parable Jesus compared the
growth of the kingdom of God in men's hearts to that of the
mustard plant from a tiny seed, "which indeed is the least
of all seeds." Day by day the plant grows. No one can see the
change going on within it, but in the course of time it "be-
cometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great
branches: so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the
shadow of it."

So it is with the growth of the kingdom of God in the
heart of a person; it grows "he knoweth not how/' said Jesus.

One day a lawyer said to Jesus, "Master, what shall I do
to inherit eternal life?"

Jesus answered by asking the lawyer another question:
"What is written in the law? How readest thou?"

The lawyer knew the laws of the Hebrews and immedi-
ately answered in the words from the Bible: "Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and
thy neighbor as thyself/'

"Thou hast answered right/' said Jesus. "This do and
thou shalt live/'

The lawyer was not satisfied. He questioned further.
"And who is my neighbor?"

To answer that question Jesus told the parable of the
Good Samaritan.

158 IN BIBLE DAYS

A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and
fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and
wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

And by chance there came down a certain priest that way:
and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and
looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was;
and when he saw him, he had compassion on him.

And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil
and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an
inn, and took care of him.

And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence,
and gave them to the host, and said unto him, "Take care of
him: and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again,
I will repay thee."

When the story was ended, Jesus asked the lawyer,
"Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor
unto him that fell among the thieves?"

"He that showed mercy on him," replied the lawyer.

Jesus said simply, "Go, and do thou likewise."

In order to understand the full meaning of the story of
the Good Samaritan we must realize that those who gave no
help to the suffering man were men high up in religious
circles. The man who aided him was from Samaria. Most
Jews looked down upon the inhabitants of that part of
Palestine because the people in that region were the mixed
race which grew up after Assyria had sent colonists there
many centuries earlier. By this parable Jesus showed that
even such a person is truly religious if he carries out the

JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES 159

commandment, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,"
and the Golden Rule, "Whatsoever ye would that men
should do to you, do ye even so to them/*

JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES

As Jesus walked along the shore of the Sea of Galilee one
day shortly after he began his teaching, he came upon two
fishermen, Simon, sometimes called Peter, and his brother
Andrew. They were busy washing their nets. Jesus said to
Simon, "Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets
for a draught.'*

Simon answered, "Master, we have toiled all the night,
and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let
down the net."

When the net was brought up it was so full of fishes that
it broke, and Simon and his brother had to get some other
fishermen to help them. Simon fell down on his knees
before Jesus, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful
man, O Lord."

Jesus replied, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers
of men/'

The two brothers left their nets and followed Jesus.

A little further on Jesus saw two more fishermen, two
brothers, James and John, in a ship with their father, mend-
ing their nets. He called to them, and immediately they left
the ship and followed him.

The following day Jesus found Philip and said to him,
"Follow me/' Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We

160 IN BIBLE BAYS

have found him o whom Moses in the law, and the prophets,
did write, Jesus o Nazareth, the son of Joseph/'

Nathanael replied, "Can there any good thing come out
of Nazareth?' '

Philip answered, "Come and see."

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said, "Be-
hold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile/'

Nathanael was surprised and asked, "Whence knowest
thou me?"

Jesus replied, "Before that Philip called thee, when thou
wast under the fig tree, I saw thee/*

Nathanael cried, "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou
art the King of Israel/'

Jesus said, "Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the
fig tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than
these/'

These men became the first disciples of Jesus, his faithful
followers, who accompanied him wherever he went. Some
months later, Jesus decided to increase the number of his
disciples to twelve. He went up on a mountain and called
to him many men. From these he selected those who were
to help him in his work.

There on the mountain he preached a sermon to his
disciples which came to be known as the Sermon on the
Mount. It opens with the beautiful verses, sometimes
called the Beatitudes.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteous-
ness: for they shall be filled.

162 * N BIBLE BAYS

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the
children of God.

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you,
and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Jesus wanted to make his disciples understand that he had
no desire to do away with the ancient laws of the Hebrews.
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the
prophets/' he said. "I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or
one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be ful-
filled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least
commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called
least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and
teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of
heaven. 5 *

What was to be their relationship to their fellow men?
"Ye have heard that it hath been said, 'Thou shalt love thy
neighbor and hate thine enemy/ " said Jesus. "But I say
unto you, 'Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do
good to them that hate you and pray for them that despite-
fully use you and persecute you; that ye may be the children
of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to
rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the
just and on the unjust/ "

Later on in the sermon Jesus gave the rule for the finest
way for people to live together, when he said, "All things

JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES 163

whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye
even so to them/' This is known as the Golden Rule.

He taught those who would live as God wished them to
live, how they should pray. "When thou prayest," he said,
"enter into thy closet and when thou hast shut thy door, pray
to thy Father which is in secret/ 7 He suggested that they use
words like these:

Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in
heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for
ever. Amen.

This short, simple prayer came to be known as the Lord's
Prayer and has been a part of the service in most Christian
churches down to our own day.

Jesus warned his disciples that not every person who lis-
tened to his teachings would enter into the kingdom of
heaven; only those who carried them out in their daily lives.
To illustrate what he meant he told about the wise man and
the foolish man who built houses:

Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them,
I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon
a rock:

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was
founded upon a rock.

164 IN BIBLE DAYS

And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth
them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his
house upon the sand:

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the
fall of it.

Many more things Jesus taught his disciples. He told them
that they were "the light of the world/' He pleaded with
them: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may
see your good works and glorify your Father which is in
heaven/*

Such was the instruction Jesus gave his disciples in the
Sermon on the Mount, as told by St. Matthew and St. Luke.
Jesus no doubt instructed them many other times with re-
gard to their duties. The account of the Sermon on the
Mount, as given by St. Matthew, is quite long, and it is
thought by Bible scholars that he included in it things which
Jesus said at other times.

In the course of time Jesus attracted many more devoted
followers. He sent a number of them out, two by two, to
preach. They were to take no thought as to what they should
eat, or drink, or wear, for, he said:

Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they
reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth
them. Are ye not much better than they? . . .

And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of
the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory
was not arrayed like one of these.

JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES 165

Wherefore, If God so clothe the grass of the field, which
to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not
much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or,
What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? . . .

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.

Jesus loved children. One day some mothers brought their
children to him that he might bless them. The disciples,
thinking that Jesus had more important things to do, re-
buked the mothers; but Jesus said to his disciples: * 'Suffer
little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for
of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, who-
soever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child
shall in no wise enter therein." Then he put his hands upon
the children and blessed them.

Another time the disciples asked Jesus, "Who is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

Jesus called a little child to him, and taking him up in
his arms, said: "Verily I say unto you, except ye be con-
verted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into
the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such
little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend
one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better
for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and
that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

OPPOSITION TO JESUS GROWS

At the time when Jesus lived, a certain class of men,
called Pharisees, had become very influential. They were
the great religious teachers of the day. They were strict in
their views and were opposed to any changes in the old laws
and customs.

Although Jesus had great respect for the ancient laws and
customs, he believed that there must be a new spirit in
religion and that this spirit must express itself in new ways.
In his preaching he frequently began what he had to say
with the words, "Ye have heard that it was said by them of
old time/' quoting some ancient law; then following this
with the words, "But I say unto you/' giving his own inter-
pretation of that law. These new interpretations of the
sacred texts shocked the Pharisees.

Jesus did many other things which seemed wrong to these
religious teachers. One Sabbath when he was teaching in a
synagogue, a woman who had been ill for eighteen years was
there. Jesus called her to him and said, "Woman thou art
loosed from thine infirmity." As he laid his hands on her she
was immediately made well.

The ruler of the synagogue was indignant at this because
he thought that Jesus was breaking the commandment God
had given Moses that no work should be done on the Sab-
bath. He said to the people in the synagogue, "There are
six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore
come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day/*

166

OPPOSITION TO JESUS GROWS 167

"Doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox
or his ass from the stall and lead him away to watering?"
replied Jesus, defending his action. "And ought not this
woman whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be
loosed from this bind on the sabbath day?"

Jesus frequently made friends with people who were
despised by the Pharisees. He welcomed the opportunity
to give them his message. As he was walking along the shore
of the Sea of Galilee one day, he came upon a tax collector
named Matthew, at a toll place. Although the tax collectors,
or publicans as they were called, were Jews, they were very
unpopular because they collected the taxes for the Romans.
The Jews hated to pay their hard-earned money to the
Roman government, and any Jew who became a publican
was looked upon as a traitor to his people.

Matthew invited Jesus to his home where he gave a feast
to which he invited a number of other publicans. Some
Pharisees who happened to pass by while the feast was going
on were horrified to see Jesus eating in the house of a
publican.

"How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans
and sinners?" they asked.

The explanation Jesus gave was: "They that are whole
have no need of a physician, but they that are sick. I came
not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Another time those who were regarded as sinners by the
Pharisees gathered around Jesus to hear him preach. Again
the Pharisees criticized Jesus, saying, "This man receiveth
sinners, and eateth with them."

Jesus replied by telling the following parable:

168 IN BIBLE DAYS

What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one
of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness,
and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders,
rejoicing.

And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends
and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have
found my sheep which was lost.

"Likewise," said Jesus, "joy shall be in heaven over one
sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just
persons, which need no repentance/'

Jesus then told the parable of the Prodigal Son, which
showed how a loving father forgave his son who had sinned.
A certain rich man had two sons. The younger son was fond
of gay times and, tiring of the quiet life he led at home, took
his share of his father's wealth and went to live in a dis-
tant land. There he spent all his money and soon was in
want.

"How many hired servants of my father's have bread
enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger," he said to
himself. "I will go to my father and will say unto him,
'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and
am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of
thy hired servants/ "

When the son was approaching his father's house, his
father saw him and ran out to meet him. Rejoicing at his
return, the father called to the servants, "Bring forth the
best robe, and put it on him: and put a ring on his hand,
and shoes on his feet, and bring hither the fatted calf that
we may eat and be merry."

OPPOSITION TO JESUS GROWS 169

The older son was at work in a nearby field. Hearing
merrymaking in the house, he called a servant and asked
what it meant.

"Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted
calf, because he hath received him safe and sound/' replied
the servant.

When the older brother heard this, he was very angry
and said to his father, "Lo, these many years do I serve thee,
neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment; and
yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry
with my friends/'

The father replied, "Son, thou art ever with me, and all
that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry
and be glad; for this thy brother was dead, and is alive
again; and was lost and is found again/*

In the story of the Prodigal Son Jesus taught that God
forgives those who repent wrongdoing and return to him.

At that time it was thought that sickness was sent to
people by God as punishment for their sins. One day when
Jesus was preaching, some men brought to him lying on a
bed a man who had palsy and could not move. When Jesus
saw him, he said, "Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be for-
given thee/'

Some Pharisees who were nearby were horrified because
Jesus was assuming the right to forgive sins. "Why doth
this man thus speak blasphemies?" they said to one another.
"Who can forgive sins but God only?"

Jesus said to the sick man, "That ye may know that the son
of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, I say unto thee,
'Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine own
house/"

170 IN BIBLE DAYS

Immediately the man rose, took up the bed on which he
had been lying, and made his way to his home.

As time passed the gap between the Pharisees and Jesus
widened. Alarmed at his rapidly growing influence on the
people, the Pharisees became convinced that Jesus was a
dangerous man. "What do we do?" they said. "This man
doeth miracles. If we let him thus alone all men will believe
on him and the Romans shall come and take away both our
place and our nation/'

In an effort to get Jesus to say something for which he
could be condemned, several Pharisees went to him and
asked him a question. They hoped that by his answer he
would prove that he was against the Roman government.

"Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the
way of God in truth/' said one of the Pharisees. "Is it lawful
to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Shall we give or shall we
not give?"

Understanding the motive of the Pharisee in asking the
question, Jesus replied, "Why tempt ye me? Bring me a
penny that I may see it."

On that small coin was stamped the head of the Roman
emperor. When he was given a penny, Jesus asked, "Whose
image and superscription hath it?"

"Caesar's," replied a Pharisee.

Then Jesus said, "Render to Caesar the things that are
Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

In this answer Jesus had said nothing on which a charge
of disloyalty to the Roman government could be based. He
had made it clear, however, that loyalty to that government
should not interfere with anyone's religious belief.

THE LAST DAYS OF JESUS

JL NEW commandment I give unto you, That ye love one

another. ... ,_, T.

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have

love one to another.

JOHN XIII: 34-35

THE LAST SUPPER

The time for the celebration of the Passover was ap-
proaching. The Pharisees hoped that Jesus would come to
Jerusalem and that they might have an opportunity to arrest
him. As they needed someone to help them, they gave out
word that anyone who saw Jesus in Jerusalem should report
to them. Although Jesus knew that his life was in danger,
he decided to go to Jerusalem to take part in the sacred
feast.

At Bethany, a village not far from Jerusalem, he bor-
rowed a donkey belonging to a friend and rode on it into
the Holy City. Jerusalem was crowded with pilgrims. As
Jesus made his way through the streets, crowds gathered
around him. Many people remembered the ancient prophe-
cies that the messiah would be a descendant of David and
that he was to come from the town of Bethlehem. One of
the prophets had said that he would enter Jerusalem riding
on a donkey. These people knew that Jesus, through his
father, Joseph, was descended from David, and that he had
been born in Bethlehem. When they saw him was it not
natural for them to think that the messiah had come to
release them from the oppression of the Romans and declare
himself king?

When a king was proclaimed, rugs were spread before
him to walk on. As the people had no rugs, some of them
took off their cloaks and threw them down on the road

173

THE LAST SUPPER 175

before Jesus, others cut down the leafy branches of nearby
palm trees and strewed them along his path. "Hosanna!"
they shouted joyously. "Hosanna to the son of David!"
"Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord! Hosanna
in the highest!"

The sound of the shouting reached people farther away.
They wondered what was happening. "Who is this?" they
asked.

"This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee," was
the reply. Excitement spread through the city.

Shortly after this triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus
went into the Temple. The Jews sacrificed animals as burnt
offerings on the altar of the Temple. As many worshipers
came from a distance to take part in the great Jewish festi-
vals, the custom had grown up of having for sale in one of
the outer courts of the Temple many sacrificial animals so
that pilgrims might buy them there. It had also become
necessary to have in the court men who changed the many
kinds of coins brought by pilgrims into Jewish coins called
shekels, which was the only money accepted by the priests
for the support of the Temple.

During these times of celebration this Temple court was
a place of noise and confusion. Crowds of pilgrims were
hurrying to and fro and gathering about the money-changers
and the men who had the sacrificial animals for sale. Around
the stalls of the animals there was much bickering and hag-
gling over prices as those who sold them tried to make as
high a profit as possible. Sometimes they cheated the poor
people out of their hard-earned savings. At such times the
Temple court seemed more like a market place than a part
of the house of God.

176 IN BIBLE DAYS

To Jesus all this seemed wicked. He quoted the words of
Isaiah: "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all
nations/' Turning to the traders and money-changers he
added, "Ye have made it into a den of thieves/' and he drove
them out of the court.

At that time there came to one of the disciples, Judas
Iscariot, a terrible temptation, to which he yielded. He
decided to betray Jesus. Knowing that the chief priests
wanted to be informed as to his whereabouts, he went to
them and asked, "What will ye give me, and I will deliver
him unto you?"

The priests agreed to give Judas thirty pieces of silver. He
accepted their offer and awaited an opportunity to seize
Jesus*

On the first day of the Passover the disciples said to
Jesus, "Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou
mayest eat the passover?"

To two of them Jesus said, "Go ye into the city, and there
shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water; follow him.
And wheresoever he shall go in, say to the goodman of the
house, 'The Master saith, "Where is the guestchamber,
where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?" ' and he
will show you a large upper room furnished and prepared
there make ready for us/'

The disciples did as they had been directed and made
ready the sacred meal. That evening Jesus sat down with
his disciples to what was to be his last supper with them.
There was lamb, prepared in the same way as it had been
for centuries, and unleavened bread, and bitter herbs, and
wine. As the disciples took their places at the table Jesus
said to them, "I have desired to eat this passover with you

THE LAST SUPPER 177

before I suffer. . . . For I say unto you, I will not drink
thenceforth of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of
God shall come."

Sadly Jesus continued, "Verily I say unto you, that one of
you shall betray me/'

In consternation the disciples looked at one another, not
knowing whom he meant. One after another sorrowfully
inquired, "Lord, is it I?"

Jesus knew about the treachery of Judas. He dipped some
of the bitter herb in a dish of sauce and as he passed the dish
to Judas he answered, "It is one of the twelve, that dippeth
with me in the dish. The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is
written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son is
betrayed! It had been good for that man if he had not been
born."

In confusion Judas cried, "Master, is it I?"

"Thou hast said/' replied Jesus.

Judas hurried from the room and left the house.

On this his last night with his disciples, Jesus wanted
to leave with them some ceremony by which, in future
years, they would remember his life and his work with them.
Taking some bread, he blessed it, broke it into pieces, and
passed it about to them, saying, "Take, eat: this is my
body/' Taking a cup of wine he gave thanks for it, and said,
"Drink ye all of it. Do this in remembrance of me."

After that Jesus sat for some time with his disciples, speak-
ing to them lovingly like a father taking leave of his chil-
dren. "Little children," he began, "yet a little while I am
with you. . . . Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I
say to you, a new commandment I give unto you, that ye love
another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another/'

178 IN BIBLE DAYS

Many more beautiful things Jesus said to his disciples.
Tenderly he said to them, "Let not your heart be troubled.
Ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house
are many mansions. ... I go to prepare a place for you/'
Toward the end of his talk he said, "As the Father hath
loved me, so have I loved you. ... If ye keep my com-
mandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I abide in
my Father's commandments and abide in his love. . . .
This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I
have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends/'

They sang a hymn together and then, as they were pre-
paring to leave the room, Jesus said, "All ye shall be
offended because of me this night."

Peter spoke up, "Though all men shall be offended be-
cause of thee, yet will I never be offended/'

Jesus replied, "Verily I say unto thee, that this night,
before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice."

Again Peter declared, "Though I should die with thee,
yet will I not deny thee."

It was late at night. Jesus and his disciples made their way
through the quiet streets of Jerusalem to the Mount of
Olives beyond the city walls to a secluded spot which was
called Gethsemane.

IN GETHSEMANE

When Jesus and his disciples reached Gethsemane, he
said to them, "Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder." Peter,

IN GETHSEMANE 179

James, and John, however, he took with him. After going a
short distance, he said to them, "My soul is exceeding sor-
rowful even unto death; tarry ye here, and watch with me."
Then he went on a little farther and sought strength and
courage in prayer: "O my Father, if it be possible, let this
cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as thou
wilt/'

Jesus continued praying for a long time. When he re-
turned to the three disciples he found them sleeping. Sadly
he said to Peter, "What, could ye not watch with me one
hour?" Then he added gently: "The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak/'

A second time Jesus went away and prayed: "O, my
Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I
drink it, thy will be done/' When he came back he found
his disciples asleep. Looking down on the sleeping men,
he said, "Sleep on now, and take your rest. Behold, the
hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the
hands of sinners/' Then he went away for a third time to
pray.

In the meantime Judas Iscariot was carrying out his plan
to betray Jesus. He knew that Jesus and the other disciples
would go to Gethsemane after the supper. He led the
Temple guards and a detachment of soldiers to the place
where they were. Jesus had just returned for a third time
to his disciples when through the trees could be seen the
flickering of many torches. He roused his disciples, saying,
"Arise, let us be going: behold he is at hand that doth betray
me."

As Jesus spoke, Judas, followed by Temple guards, and
soldiers armed with swords and staves, approached. He had

180 IN BIBLE DAYS

arranged a signal to let the Temple guards know which one
in the group was Jesus. "Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same
is he: hold him fast/* he had told them.

"Hail, Master/' said Judas going up to Jesus and kissing
him.

Jesus said to him reproachfully, "Judas, betrayeth thou
the Son of man with a kiss?"

To those who had come to seize him he said, "Are ye come
out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me?
When I was daily with ye in the temple, ye stretched forth
no hands against me; but this is your hour, and the power
of darkness/'

The Temple guards seized Jesus, bound him, and led him
back to Jerusalem to the palace of the high priest where he
was to be tried. All the disciples except Peter had fled. Peter
followed the crowd at a distance.

While Jesus was being examined, Peter was sitting by a
fire in the hall. A maidservant happened to notice him, and
after looking at him more closely, said to him, "Thou also
wast with Jesus of Galilee."

Peter was overcome by panic. He knew it was dangerous
to be a friend of Jesus, and he denied that he had ever known
him. "I know not what thou sayest," he replied.

In a short time another maid noticed Peter and said to
those who were with her, "This fellow was also with Jesus
of Nazareth/'

Again Peter denied this, saying angrily, "I do not know
the man/'

A man, noticing that Peter spoke like a person from
Galilee, said to him, "Surely thou also art one of them; for
thy speech betrayeth thee/'

IN GETHSEMANE 181

A third time Peter denied knowing Jesus, saying, **I know
not the man/'

Night was turning into day. The sky was streaked with
the gray light o dawn. From somewhere in the distance
came the sound o a cock crowing. Peter recalled the words
o Jesus a few hours earlier; "Before the cock crow, thou
shalt deny me thrice/' He remembered he had assured Jesus
that he would always be faithful to him. Overcome with
shame, he left the house weeping bitterly.

That same morning Judas Iscariot realized what a terrible
thing he had done. He took back to the priests the thirty
pieces of silver he had received, saying, "I have sinned in
that I have betrayed the innocent blood/' Tortured by
remorse and shame, he could endure life no longer, and he
went out and hanged himself.

Jesus was taken before the Roman governor, Pontius
Pilate, who questioned him for a long time* Finally he was
convicted and sentenced to be crucified.

Two robbers were to suffer the same punishment as
Jesus. One of them said to him, "If thou be Christ, save thy-
self and us/ 5

His companion rebuked him, "We receive the due re-
ward of our deeds; but this man hath done nothing amiss/'
Then, turning to Jesus, he said, "Lord, remember me
when thou comest into thy kingdom/'

Jesus comforted the robber, "Verily I say unto thee,
today thou shalt be with me in paradise/'

After hours of suffering on the cross, Jesus died. His last
words were, "Father into thy hands I commend my spirit/ 1
A Roman officer in charge of the soldiers whose duty it
was to keep watch during the crucifixion heard these

182 IN BIBLE DAYS

words and said, "Truly this man was the Son of God/'
Shortly after the death of Jesus, a rich man from Ari-
mathaea, named Joseph, asked Pontius Pilate to allow him
to place the body of Jesus in a tomb he had recently had
made for himself and his family, and his request was
granted. Joseph wrapped the body in fine white linen and
reverently laid it in the newly made tomb. Across the front
of the tomb he rolled a great stone for protection.

A little group of faithful women who had followed Jesus
from Jerusalem watched from a distance to see where Jesus
was buried. Then they went away weeping, returning to
their homes to prepare spices and ointments with which
to anoint the body.

GO YE, THEREFORE, AND TEACH ALL NATIONS

Thus, after a few brief years of preaching and helping
people to lead better lives, the life of Jesus came to an end.
But his influence on the hearts and minds of men was to
live on.

Early in the morning of the first day of the week following
the death of Jesus, the women who had prepared spices to
anoint his body made their way back to the tomb. As they
were approaching it, one of them, remembering the heavy
stone at the entrance, asked, "Who shall roll us away the
stone from the door of the sepulchre?" As they came closer
they were amazed to find that the stone had been rolled
away. They saw that the body of Jesus was not in the tomb
and they were frightened.

GO YE, THEREFORE, AND TEACH ALL NATIONS 183

From within the tomb a figure in white spoke to them,
saying, "Be not affrighted. Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which
was crucified: he is risen; he is not here; behold the place
where they laid him. But go your way, tell the disciples
that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see
him."

The women hurried away with their wonderful news.
With deep joy the disciples received the great tidings. They
had been overwhelmed with grief at the death of Jesus and
thought that his work had come to an end. Now they knew
that the spirit of their beloved master would remain with
them. They remembered he had told them that he would
rise again. "He is indeed risen!" they cried joyously.

The disciples made their way to Galilee as they had been
directed to do and there Jesus spoke to them, telling them to
carry on the work for which he had died. "Go ye therefore,
and teach all nations," he said, "teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am
with you alway, even unto the end of the world."

Carrying out the will of Jesus, the disciples traveled about
Palestine preaching and making many converts. Gradually
a new sect grew up. As its members believed that Jesus of
Nazareth was the rnessiah, they called themselves Nazarenes.
They lived together simply as they thought Jesus would
want them to live, sharing with one another all they pos-
sessed, and helping the poor and oppressed.

Most of the Jewish people did not accept Jesus as the
messiah. As time passed the differences between those who
followed the Jewish faith and those who believed in the
teachings of Jesus became greater and greater. The followers
of Jesus called him by his Greek name Christ, and them-

184 IN BIBLE DAYS

selves Christians. Thus a second religion, Christianity,
gradually developed in Palestine.

Through the work of devoted missionaries Christianity
was to spread beyond Palestine among Gentiles, people who
were not Jews. The greatest of the early missionaries was
Saul, later known as Paul.

Saul grew up in Tarsus, an important city of Asia Minor.
As a boy he learned the trade of tentmaking, weaving mate-
rial for tents from goats' hair. He was brought up strictly
in the Jewish religion and as a young man was sent to Jeru-
salem to study in the Temple with a famous rabbi.

At first Saul was violently opposed to the Christians and
joined in the persecution of them. One day, however, an
amazing thing happened to him, which entirely changed his
life. Hearing that a band of Christians were spreading their
religion in Damascus, he decided to bring them back to
Jerusalem to be punished. As he was traveling along a lonely
road near the city, suddenly a dazzling white light shone all
about him and he heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou me?"

Saul fell to the ground, crying out, "Who art thou, Lord?"

The voice answered, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.'*

Trembling, Saul asked, "Lord, what wilt thou have me
to do?"

The voice commanded, "Arise, and go into the city, and
it shall be told thee what thou must do."

Saul rose and was led by his companions to Damascus,
as he had been blinded by the brilliant light. For three days
he remained there fasting and praying and unable to see. On
the third day a holy man came to him and said, "Brother
Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the

GO YE, THEREFORE, AND TEACH ALL NATIONS 185

|g%gg@g2g5ga^g^ga*g5g%Cg^^

way as thou earnest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive
thy sight." He told Saul that he had been chosen to carry the
message o Christ to many people.

Saul's sight was restored and immediately the man who a
short time before had persecuted the Christians, began
preaching in the synagogues "as the servant o Christ."

Those who heard Paul, as he was now called, were amazed.
"Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this
name in Jerusalem, and came hither that he might bring
them bound unto the chief priests?" they asked.

Some of the Jews looked upon Paul as a dangerous man
and decided to kill him. Day and night they watched at the

186 IN BIBLE DAYS

city's gate to seize him. To save him, his friends let him
down outside the wall of the city at night in a basket.

Paul's life was a full one. He gave himself up wholly to
his work of carrying the message of Christ to all who
would listen to him. Everywhere he went he organized little
groups of Christians and established churches. He kept in
touch with these groups by writing them letters, or epistles
as they are called in the Bible. He traveled not only through
all parts of Asia Minor, but in the important countries of his
day in Europe.

In the beautiful city of Athens in Greece, Paul found the
people worshiping idols and noticed on an altar an inscrip-
tion TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

Certain philosophers who had heard about Paul said
to him, "May we know what this new doctrine, whereof
thou speakest, is? Thou bringest certain strange things
to our ears: we would know therefore what these things
mean/'

On Mars Hill Paul addressed the people, "Ye men of
Athens/' he said, "I perceive that in all things ye are too
superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld ( your devotions,
I found an altar with the inscription TO THE UN-
KNOWN GOD/' The true God, Paul said, was not to be
worshiped by means of idols "of gold, or silver, or stone,
graven by art and man's device/' Long and earnestly he
spoke to them of God "that made the world and all things
therein/'

Some of Paul's hearers mocked him; some treated him
with indifference. Discouraged by his failure to impress the
people of Athens, he went to Corinth. Afterwards he wrote
letters to the people of that city. In one of these is a passage

GO YE, THEREFORE, AND TEACH ALL NATIONS 187

explaining what he meant by charity, which is considered
by many people as his finest message:

Though I speak with the tongues o men and of angels, and
have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling
cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all
mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so
that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am

nothing.

* * *

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not;
charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.

Does not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not
easily provoked, thinketh no evil.

Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things,

endureth all things.

# # *

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the
greatest o these is charity.

In the year 61 AJD. Paul went to Rome to organize a Chris-
tian church. By his preaching he won many converts. He
was arrested and charged with treason. For two years he
languished in prison, then he was released. He continued to
preach, and in the year 67 A.D. he was arrested again, tried,
and executed. Shortly before his death, he wrote his last
letter from his prison cell, to his friend, Timothy, a young
man whom he loved as his own son. In it he said: "The time
of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I
have kept the faith."

188 IN BIBLE DAYS

In later times both the religion of the Christians and that
of the Hebrews spread to all parts of the world.

For nearly three hundred years the Christians were
cruelly treated by the Romans. Many of them were cast into
prison, others were burned at the stake, and still others were
thrown to wild beasts in the arena of the Coliseum. In spite
of all persecution, however, the new religion continued to
spread. In the year 313 A.D. the Roman emperor became a
Christian. After that the worship of the old Roman gods was
forbidden and Christianity became the official religion of
the widespreading Roman Empire.

The religion adopted by Rome was to flourish long after
the splendor of the Roman Empire had passed away. Age
after age the teachings of Christ and his message of the
brotherhood of man were carried to the people of many
lands through the work of zealous Christian missionaries.
In the course of time Christianity became a world-wide
religion.

The Hebrew religion also was to spread far beyond the
boundaries of Palestine. The Roman governors in Palestine
treated the Jews so cruelly that they were in despair. In the
year 66 A.D. open rebellion flared up. Roman legions under
Rome's ablest generals were sent to Palestine to put down
the uprising. For four years the conflict raged. Finally Jeru-
salem was captured by the Romans and destroyed. A few
years later the Jews were forced out of Palestine and were
scattered through many parts of the world. Thus the life
of the Jews in their own land came to an end, and they
became a people without a country.

It might seem as if all that was great in Hebrew history
was to be lost to the world. But with the scattering of the

GO YE 7 THEREFORE, AND TEACH ALL NATIONS 189

Jews there began a new chapter in their life. Often in the
countries in which they had settled they were persecuted;
but in spite of centuries of oppression they remained faithful
to the religion of their forefathers. Generation after genera-
tion in many lands they followed in their everyday life the
old Jewish traditions and customs, they gathered in syna-
gogues to hear the holy scriptures read, and they observed
the great Jewish feast days. In this way the rich religious
heritage of the Jews was handed down from age to age and
preserved.

Thus it came about that the two great religions which
had their early development in Palestine, lived on through
the ages. Today in many lands they are a source of spiritual
strength to millions of people, seeking to understand their
relationship to God and to their fellow men.

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