{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_39282/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_39282","id":"gutenberg_39282","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39282","summary":null,"tags":["Bible stories -- Old Testament","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Moses (Biblical leader) -- Juvenile literature"],"text":"Produced by Michael Gray, Diocese of San Jose\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: \"Moses strikes the rock.\"]\nMOSES STRIKES THE ROCK\n\n\n  ALTEMUS'\n  CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE SERIES\n\n\n  THE ADOPTED SON\n\n  BY\n\n  J. H. WILLARD\n\n\n  ILLUSTRATED\n\n\n  PHILADELPHIA\n  HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY\n\n\n\n  Altemus' Illustrated\n  Children of the Bible Series\n\nThe Boy who Obeyed\n         The Story of Isaac\nThe Farmer Boy\n         The Story of Jacob\nThe Favorite Son\n         The Story of Joseph\nThe Adopted Son\n         The Story of Moses\nThe Boy General\n         The Story of Joshua\nThe Boy at School\n         The Story of Samuel\nThe Shepherd Boy\n         The Story of David\nThe Boy who would be King\n         The Story of Absalom\nThe Captive Boy\n         The Story of Daniel\nThe Boy Jesus\n\n  Fifty Cents Each\n  Copyright, 1905\n  By Henry Altemus\n\n\n[Illustration: Moses brings the Ten Commandments down from Mount\nSinai.]\n\n\n\n  THE ADOPTED SON\n  THE STORY OF MOSES\n\n\nABRAHAM, a descendant of Shem, one of the sons of Noah, was the\nfather and founder of the great Israelitish, or Hebrew, nation. God\nchose him from all the people living on the earth at that time, for\nthis purpose, promising that He would make his name great and that\nhis descendants should have for their own the land of Canaan, a\ncountry in Palestine lying west of the river Jordan and the Dead Sea.\n\nAbraham had a son named Isaac, who became the father of Jacob, and\nJacob was the father of twelve sons, among whom was Joseph, who was\nsold into slavery by his brothers when but a boy. Joseph was taken to\nEgypt and in time rose from a slave to be the governor of that\ncountry under Pharaoh, its king.\n\nJacob, with his eleven sons and their families, settled in Egypt at\nthe invitation of Pharaoh, and after the death of their father his\nsons continued to live there, and became prosperous. After the death\nof Joseph they increased rapidly in numbers, and from shepherds and\nherders of flocks became masters of various crafts and occupations.\nAt this time they began to be called \"The Children of Israel.\"\n\nThey lived in towns and villages in the land of Goshen, on the\neastern border of Egypt, industrious and contented. The king who had\nbeen so friendly to Joseph was now dead, and another Pharaoh ruled\nthe land. He watched with much distrust the growing wealth and\ngreatness of the children of Israel and determined to prevent any\npossible harm they might do him by making them work for him instead\nof for themselves.\n\nSo Pharaoh began to treat the Israelites like slaves. Under the\ndirection of his officers he set them at work making bricks and then\nhad them build two cities to hold his treasures. From a prosperous\npeople they were now reduced to the condition of common laborers,\nworking without pay day after day in the burning heat of that\ncountry.\n\n[Illustration: \"Working without pay day after day.\"]\n\"WORKING WITHOUT PAY DAY AFTER DAY.\"\n\nBut in spite of their hardships the Israelites increased in numbers,\nand, to further crush them, Pharaoh ordered that all their boys\nshould be destroyed as soon as they were born. But the people would\nnot obey this order, and then Pharaoh commanded that all boys should\nbe flung into the Nile, the sacred river of Egypt, immediately after\ntheir birth.\n\nAt this time a child was born among the Israelites whose life was to\nbe one of the most remarkable that history has recorded for us. His\nfather's name was Amram and his mother's Jochebed, and they belonged\nto the tribe of Levi, the third son of Jacob. They had two older\nchildren, a son named Aaron and a daughter named Miriam.\n\nThe mother of this little boy managed to keep him out of sight for\nthree months, and then she made a little boat of the water-reeds\ncalled papyrus, fastening them together with clay and pitch. It was\nnot much more than a basket, but she put the baby into it and placed\nit among the rushes at the edge of the river Nile, leaving her\ndaughter Miriam to see what became of her baby brother.\n\nThe Egyptians had many beliefs which appear very strange to us now.\nOne of them was that anything surrounded by papyrus would be safe\nfrom the crocodiles which infested the river. Possibly Jochebed had\nsome faith in this superstition, for during the time when the\nIsraelites were living contentedly in the land of Goshen, many of\nthem had fallen into the customs of the Egyptians, worshipping Ra,\nthe sun-god, Apis, the sacred calf, and others of their national\ndeities.\n\nWhile Miriam was watching the little boat and its precious burden,\nthe daughter of Pharaoh, with her attendants, came to the river to\nbathe. She saw the little boat floating among the rushes and ordered\nit to be brought to her. As she looked down at the baby it cried,\nand, while she must have known that it was the child of Israelitish\nparents, her heart went out to it in pity, and she declared that she\nwould bring it up as if it had been her own child.\n\n[Illustration: \"It was not much more than a basket.\"]\n\"IT WAS NOT MUCH MORE THAN A BASKET.\"\n\nMiriam then came forward and asked if she might find a nurse for the\nchild. The princess sent her on this errand and the little girl\nhastened to bring her mother. Then the princess gave the baby into\nthe charge of its own mother, and promised her that she should be\npaid for taking good care of the child.\n\nWhen the baby had grown to be quite a boy the princess took him to\nher palace and treated him as if he had been a son of her own. She\nnamed him Moses, which means \"drawn out,\" because she had taken him\nfrom the water.\n\nThen the princess had him trained and taught as though he were really\nto be a prince. He was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians\nand became learned and powerful. All the pleasures and honors of\nPharaoh's court were open to him, and from them he could have\nselected what pleased him most.\n\nBut the misery and degradation of his own people appealed to him more\nstrongly than the splendor and preferments of the Egyptian court. His\nspirit was especially stirred one day when he saw an Egyptian\noverseer abusing an Israelite in the fields where that oppressed\npeople were still making bricks.\n\nIn his anger at this sight he killed the Egyptian and buried the body\nin the sand. The next day he interfered in another quarrel--this time\nbetween two of his own people, but all he received for his efforts as\npeacemaker was the knowledge that they knew he had killed the\nEgyptian the day before.\n\nFor this reason, and also because Pharaoh suspected him of scheming\nto deliver the Israelites from their bondage, Moses felt that his\nlife was not safe in Egypt, so he left the court and went to the land\nof Midian. He was then forty years old.\n\nOne day when he was resting by the side of a well, the seven\ndaughters of Jethro, the chief and priest of Midian, came there to\nwater their father's sheep. Some shepherds, who also wanted to use\nthe well, drove them away, but Moses took the part of the maidens and\nwatered their flocks for them.\n\nWhen Jethro heard of this he invited Moses to be his shepherd and to\nlive in his house. Moses accepted the home offered him, and in time\nmarried Zipporah, one of Jethro's daughters. They had two sons, one\nnamed Gershom, a word which means \"stranger,\" and Eliezer, or \"God is\nmy help.\"\n\nFor the next forty years Moses led the life of a shepherd in the land\nof Midian, in gradual preparation for the great work he was to do\nlater. He certainly learned patience and must have become familiar\nwith the country through which he was to lead the children of Israel\nwhen the time of their deliverance from Egypt came. During this time\nthe afflictions of the Israelites had been increased. Another Pharaoh\nruled the land, but his reign brought no relief to the nation toiling\nunder cruel taskmasters.\n\nOne day Moses was feeding his flocks on a mountain called Horeb, when\nhe saw a bush of wild thorn, or acacia, apparently on fire. He looked\nmore closely but could see no smoke, neither were the leaves and\ntwigs blackened or consumed.\n\n[Illustration: \"A bush of acacia apparently on fire.\"]\n\"A BUSH OF ACACIA APPARENTLY ON FIRE.\"\n\nThen a Voice which seemed to come from the bush called, \"Moses,\nMoses.\" Understanding that it was the Voice of God, Moses answered,\n\"Here am I.\" Then God told him to come no nearer, and to take off his\nshoes and stand with bare feet, for His presence made the spot holy\nground.\n\nMoses tremblingly obeyed and stood with covered face while God told\nhim that He had heard the cries and seen the affliction of the\nchildren of Israel, and that He would set them free from their\nbondage in Egypt. He told Moses that He had chosen him to be the\ndeliverer of His people and their leader to the land of Canaan, which\nHe had promised to Abraham.\n\nMoses felt unequal to this great undertaking and tried to excuse\nhimself on various grounds. He said that the Israelites would not\nlisten to him unless he could, by means of signs and wonders,\nconvince them that he was the divinely appointed leader, and he also\nsaid that he was not a ready speaker.\n\nBut God told him just what he had to do and that his brother Aaron\nshould be his spokesman. He bestowed upon him the power to do\nwonderful things and promised His own protection and help. Moses\ncould refuse no longer, and accepted the divine commission. Then the\nVoice ceased, the vision of the burning bush faded away, and Moses\nwas alone again with his flocks.\n\nWhen Moses returned to his home he told Jethro that he wished to go\nto Egypt, and in the speech of those days Jethro replied, \"Go in\npeace.\" So Moses set out on his journey and on the way met his\nbrother Aaron, whom God had sent to meet him.\n\nThen Moses related to Aaron all that God had said to him from the\nburning bush, told him the part he was to take in God's plan, and\nshowed him the rod which he was to use in performing the wonderful\nthings by which the Israelites were to be convinced that he was their\ndivinely appointed deliverer from the land of Egypt. Then the two\nbrothers went on their way together.\n\nAs soon as Moses and Aaron arrived in Egypt, they called the people\ntogether and told them that God was going to deliver them from their\nbondage and give them the land of Canaan. At first the Israelites\nwere very thankful for the message, but after the first failure of\nMoses to get Pharaoh's consent to let them go they began to doubt it,\nespecially as from that time the King imposed harder tasks than ever\nupon them.\n\nThen Moses and Aaron went a second time to Pharaoh. Aaron threw down\nhis rod and it became a serpent. The magicians of the court did the\nsame thing, and threw down their rods, which became serpents, but\nAaron's rod swallowed theirs. Then the King once more refused to let\nthe people go.\n\n[Illustration: \"Aaron threw down his rod and it became a serpent.\"]\n\"AARON THREW DOWN HIS ROD AND IT BECAME A SERPENT.\"\n\nThen, one after another, God sent terrible plagues upon the Egyptian\npeople to show Pharaoh that He was the one Living and True God and\nthat the children of Israel must be allowed to go to the land He had\npromised them.\n\nThe first of these plagues was the changing of the waters of the Nile\ninto blood. The Egyptians were a very cleanly people, paying great\nattention to their bodies, and were generally dressed in white. They\nwere accustomed to bathe in the Nile, and its appearance at this time\nmust have filled them with loathing. But Pharaoh again refused to let\nthe people go.\n\nThen one after another eight more plagues were sent upon the land.\nThey were equally disgusting to such a people and gave them the\ngreatest discomfort possible, but, while Pharaoh relented from time\nto time, he persisted in his refusal to let the children of Israel\ndepart from his kingdom.\n\nDuring all this time the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived,\nwas exempt from these inflictions. Pharaoh must have known this and\nhe must have begun to understand that their God punished those who\nrefused to do as He told them, but he was obstinate and still refused\nhis consent. It required another and a more severe judgment before\nPharaoh consented to let the children of Israel go.\n\nIt was now the month of Nisan or Abib, which means the \"month of\ngreen ears,\" and in consequence of what occurred at that time Abib\nhas ever since been the first month of the Hebrew sacred year. By\nGod's command the blood of a lamb was to be sprinkled upon the sides\nand top of the doorway to every Israelitish home. The lamb itself was\nto be roasted and eaten by the family, who were to be dressed for a\njourney and ready to start on it at a moment's notice.\n\nAt midnight the tenth and last judgment fell on the Egyptians. A wail\nof anguish rose from every home in the land, for the first-born child\nin every home lay dead. The angel of death had entered the palace of\nthe King and the hovel of his poorest subject alike, sparing only the\nhomes where the blood-sprinkled doorways told of God's protection.\n\nConvinced at last that he could not successfully combat the God of\nthe Israelites, Pharaoh now begged Moses to hasten their departure,\nand the Egyptian people were so anxious to have them out of the land\nthat they gave them jewels and clothing to induce them to go quickly.\n\nSo the whole Israelitish nation--some six hundred thousand men\nwithout counting the women and children--set forth, on foot and in\nthe night, under the leadership of Moses, for the land of Canaan.\nWith them they took the coffin containing the embalmed body of\nJoseph, which had been carefully kept in Egypt since his death. And\nGod showed them the way they were to go by having a cloud move before\nthem in the daytime, and gave it the appearance of fire at night.\n\n[Illustration: \"The appearance of fire at night.\"]\n\"THE APPEARANCE OF FIRE AT NIGHT.\"\n\nThe shortest way to the Promised Land, which lay along the eastern\ncoast of the Mediterranean Sea, led through the country of the\nPhilistines, a warlike people who afterwards became the inveterate\nenemies of the Israelites, but with whom they were not now able to\ncontend. So they traveled in a southeasterly direction until they\ncame to that part of the Red Sea which is now called the Gulf of\nSuez.\n\nPharaoh in the meanwhile had recovered from his terror and remorse,\nand with a mighty army was pursuing the Israelites, intending to take\nthem back to Egypt. He first came in sight of them encamped upon the\nAfrican border of the Gulf. When the Israelites knew that they were\npursued they turned angrily upon Moses and Aaron for taking them away\nfrom Egypt. But Moses told them to trust God for He would not let\nPharaoh overtake them.\n\nThen Moses lifted his rod and stretched it out over the waters, and\nGod sent a strong east wind which forced them back and left a passage\nfor the wandering people to cross to the other shore. So on they\nmarched in the fury of the storm, while Pharaoh and his host were\noverwhelmed by the waters, which rushed back again after the children\nof Israel had reached the further side.\n\n[Illustration: \"Pharaoh and his host were overwhelmed.\"]\n\"PHARAOH AND HIS HOST WERE OVERWHELMED.\"\n\nThen the Israelites broke out into songs of praise and thanksgiving\nto God, who had so marvelously preserved them from Pharaoh's anger,\nled by Miriam, the sister of Moses, the one who had watched him as a\nbaby in his little papyrus boat among the rushes on the bank of the\nNile.\n\nDuring the next three days of their journey no water was found. Then\nthey came to a well, but the water was not fit to drink. Again they\nfound fault with Moses, but he threw a tree which God showed him into\nthe well and the water at once became sweet and good.\n\nBefore long they were traveling in a desert country and their stock\nof food gave out. As before, the Israelites accused Moses of having\nled them from Egypt to die in the wilderness. But God sent them great\nflocks of quails, upon which they fed, and covered the ground every\nmorning with a curious substance, round and white, which was good to\neat. In wonder the Israelites exclaimed \"Man-hu?\" which meant \"What\nis it?\" and so this mysterious food began to be called manna.\n\n[Illustration: \"Covered the ground with a curious substance.\"]\n\"COVERED THE GROUND WITH A CURIOUS SUBSTANCE.\"\n\nThen they got out of the desert and camped at a place called\nRephidim. But here there was no water, and the people became so angry\nwith Moses that they were ready to kill him. Then God told Moses to\nstrike one of the rocks with his rod and water poured out in\nabundance.\n\n[Illustration: \"Water poured out in abundance.\"]\n\"WATER POURED OUT IN ABUNDANCE.\"\n\nThen a new trouble came upon the wandering nation. A people called\nthe Amalekites attacked them, and for the first time since leaving\nEgypt they were obliged to defend themselves by fighting.\n\nMoses chose a young man named Joshua to be the leader of a selected\nband and sent him to do battle for the children of Israel, while he\nheld up his hands in prayer to God to help His people. So long as\nMoses' hands were uplifted Joshua was victorious, but when from\nweariness he let them fall then the Amalekites prevailed. So Aaron on\none side and Hur on the other supported his weary arms and at sunset\nJoshua had won the battle.\n\nShortly after this Moses was visited by Jethro, his father-in-law,\nwho brought with him Moses' wife and two sons, who had remained with\nhim in Midian for safety. Moses welcomed them and told Jethro all the\nwonderful things God had done for His people. Then Jethro said, \"Now\nI know that the Lord is greater than all gods.\"\n\nFrom Rephidim the Israelites passed into the desert of Sinai and from\nthe top of Mount Sinai God gave Moses a message for them. Among\nclouds from which lightning gleamed and thunder muttered, Moses was\ngiven the Ten Commandments, which were to be kept by the Israelites\nand their children, and laws which they were to observe.\n\n[Illustration: \"Among clouds from which lightning gleamed.\"]\n\"AMONG CLOUDS FROM WHICH LIGHTNING GLEAMED.\"\n\nA second time Moses was called to communion with God on Mount Sinai,\nand Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of the children of\nIsrael were permitted to accompany him a part of the way, while he\nand Joshua, the young leader of the Israelites in their first battle,\nwent on further.\n\nAfter waiting for six days Moses went alone nearer to the top of the\nmountain and staid there forty days and forty nights while God\ndisclosed to him His purposes regarding the children of Israel, and\ndelivered into his hands two tables or tablets of stone upon which He\nhad graven the Ten Commandments.\n\nWhen Moses came down from Mount Sinai a strange sight met his eyes.\nIn his absence the fickle Israelites had persuaded Aaron to make them\nan idol such as they had seen in Egypt and which they could worship.\nThey had given Aaron their jewels of gold and he had made of them a\ngolden calf, to which they were now bowing down and offering\nsacrifices. In his anger Moses cast the tablets of stone from him and\nin their fall they were broken.\n\nThen after reproaching Aaron for what he had done, Moses destroyed\nthe golden calf by fire and by grinding it to powder, and strewed the\nashes and powder upon water, which he made the Israelites drink.\n\nThen he stood at the gate of the camp and called for all those who\nwere on the Lord's side to come and stand beside him. The children of\nLevi, the third son of Jacob, answered this call, and Moses told them\nto go through the camp and slay every man they met. This they did,\nand three thousand Israelites fell at that time.\n\nAfter this God told Moses to make two tablets of stone like those he\nhad broken, and with them come alone to Him on Mount Sinai, where He\nwould engrave upon them the words which were on the first tablets.\nMoses did this, and when he came down from the mountain his face\nshone so that Aaron and the people were afraid to speak to him until\nhe had put a veil over it.\n\nFor more than a year the Israelites remained near Mount Sinai, and\nduring that time Moses told them, among other things which God had\nimparted to him, how the Tabernacle was to be made, who its priests\nwere to be, and how the services were to be conducted. The people\nbrought him all the material they had that was suitable for those\npurposes, and skilful men built the beautiful and costly Tabernacle,\nin which was placed the Ark of the Covenant, which they were also\ninstructed to make.\n\nAaron was appointed high priest and his four sons were made priests\nto assist him in the services. The Sabbath or seventh day was to be\nstrictly kept, and various feasts and ceremonies were instituted.\nParticularly the feast of the Passover was enjoined upon the\nIsraelites to commemorate God's mercy in passing over their homes\nwhen the first-born of the Egyptians were slain.\n\nThen the pillar of cloud, which, with the pillar of fire, had never\nceased to show the Israelites the way they were to go in their\njourneys, rested over the Tabernacle, and at this sign that they were\nto resume their march to the land of Canaan, the children of Israel\nmarched forth once more and in time came to Kadesh-barnea, near the\nborders of the promised land.\n\nThen a man was chosen from each of the twelve tribes to see what the\nland of Canaan was like and to find the best way of entering it. They\nwere gone for forty days, and when they returned their accounts\ndiffered. All agreed as to the exceeding fruitfulness of the land, in\nproof of which they brought back a bunch of grapes so large that it\ntook two men to carry it. But only two advised an immediate advance\ninto the land. These were Joshua, the young general, and a man named\nCaleb.\n\n[Illustration: \"A bunch of grapes that took two men to carry it.\"]\n\"A BUNCH OF GRAPES THAT TOOK TWO MEN TO CARRY IT.\"\n\nThe ten remaining messengers frightened the people by their account\nof the giants and warlike tribes they would have to encounter and the\nmany dangers that would have to be met, and the people, fickle as\never, believed these reports and again reproached their faithful\nleader.\n\nBut their punishment was swift and severe. The ten messengers of evil\ndied on the spot, and God commanded Moses to tell the people that,\nfor their doubting and faultfinding, not one of them over twenty\nyears old except Joshua and Caleb should enter the land of Canaan.\nTheir children might do so, but they could never set foot in it. They\nwere to wander in the desert until they died.\n\nAfter thirty-eight years the wandering nation, which during this time\nhad been fed with manna and so cared for by God that they were\nneither footsore, neither did their clothes wear out, was again\nencamped at Kadesh-barnea. In the interval great numbers of the\npeople had died, and here Miriam, the sister of Moses and of Aaron,\ndied and was buried. Water was again scarce, and the people, as\nformerly, heaped reproaches upon Moses and Aaron, who asked God what\nto do.\n\nGod told them to speak to one of the rocks and it would produce water\nin plenty. Instead of doing exactly what they were told, Moses and\nAaron first rebuked the people and then Moses struck the rock with\nhis rod. An abundant supply of water followed, but for this act of\ndisobedience and this display of irritation, both of the brothers\nwere forbidden to enter the land of Canaan.\n\nBefore long Aaron died at the age of one hundred and twenty-three\nyears and was buried in Mount Hor. After mourning him for thirty\ndays, the people again broke out into discontent and in punishment\nwere bitten by venomous serpents, which were sent among them for that\npurpose. Many died in this way, and then the people turned to Moses,\nwho prayed to God in their behalf. God told Moses to make a serpent\nof brass and raise it upon a pole high above the heads of the people,\nand every one who looked upon this serpent, although he had been\nbitten, was healed at once.\n\nAt last the Israelites came within sight of their inheritance and\nMoses' work was nearly done. He appointed Joshua to succeed him and\nlead the children of Israel into the land of Canaan. Then he gathered\nthe people together and made them an affectionate farewell address.\nHe wrote down for them all the words of the laws which God had given\nhim for them and gave them to the priest.\n\n[Illustration: \"Moses made them a farewell address.\"]\n\"MOSES MADE THEM A FAREWELL ADDRESS.\"\n\nThen Moses went up from the plains of Moab onto a mountain from which\nhe could look over the land of Canaan, which he was not to enter, and\nthere he died. He was one hundred and twenty years old, yet we are\ntold that his eyesight was undimmed. Where he was buried no one\nknows. The Bible says, \"The Lord buried him in a valley in the land\nof Moab, over against Bethpeor.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"He looked out over the land of Canaan.\"]\nHE LOOKED OUT OVER THE LAND OF CANAAN.\n\n[Illustration: \"And there he died.\"]\n\"AND THERE HE DIED.\"","title":"The Adopted Son: The Story of Moses","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":4480}