{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_46970/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_46970","id":"gutenberg_46970","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46970","summary":null,"tags":["Bible -- History of Biblical events","Bible stories, English","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Parenthood & Family Relations","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Readers -- Bible"],"text":"[Transcriber's Notes: Bold text is surrounded by =equal signs= and\nitalic text is surrounded by _underscores_.\n\nThis first part of this text has sections of text to be copied in\ncursive. These sections are wrapped in brackets and preceded by the\nword \"cursive\".\n\nThese sections also have small illustrations to aid in easy reading\nthese illustrations are signified by [*] in the text.]\n\n\n[Illustration:\n\n    Lovingly\n    Presented to\n    ________________________________\n    by\n    ________________________________\n    With kindest wishes\n    for a life of usefulness.]\n\n[Illustration: THE GOOD SHEPHERD]\n\n\n\n\n\nBest Stories from the Best Book\n\n    AN ILLUSTRATED\n\n    Bible Companion for the Home\n\n    BY\n    JAMES EDSON WHITE\n\n    With an Introductory Department of\n    Easy Lessons for Children\n    BY ELLA KING SANDERS\n\n    Over 875 Thousand Sold\n\n    SOUTHERN PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION\n    Fort Worth, Texas       Nashville, Tennessee    Atlanta, Georgia\n\n    Printed in the United States of America.\n\n    COPYRIGHT 1900, BY J. E. WHITE\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nTHIS little book is divided into two parts. The First Department is\nthe children's very own. It is for them to study under the guidance of\nteacher, mother, brother, or sister. It has been prepared with great\ncare by one who has had many years' experience as a teacher of children.\n\nThe Second Department is for the entertainment of children both young\nand old. Its lessons are taken from God's Word. While the children are\nlearning to read from the \"Easy Lesson\" department, let the parents and\nolder brothers and sisters read to them the Bible stories which follow,\nshowing and explaining to them the beautiful pictures which accompany\nthem. Lessons taught in this manner will never be forgotten.\n\n\nTO TEACHERS AND PARENTS.\n\nGod speaks to us through His Word, by His Spirit, and through nature.\nBy interesting children in nature, which is all about them, it is hoped\nthey will find pleasure in studying God's open book, and thus be led to\nlove and study His written Word.\n\nBLACKBOARD TEACHING.--The crayon and the blackboard are very essential\nin the work with children. Let the first lessons be given in script\nfrom the blackboard. The simple sentences may be drawn from the child\nby questioning. Then tell the child that you will write what he has\nsaid. Then ask, \"Now can you read it?\" The lesson should be about some\nthing which the child can see, and in which he is interested.\n\nFor a review lesson, if the idiom, \"I see,\" has been learned, many\nsentences may be made by drawing the objects, as \"I see a *\" (here\ndraw a leaf or some other object). Use the idioms, \"I have,\" \"This\nis,\" etc., in the same way. The earlier lessons in this book should be\nlargely supplemented from the blackboard in this way, or by variation\nof the different sentences.\n\nFrom the first let the children write on the board, where there can be\nfree movement of the arm. Original work should be aimed at from the\nstart. The child soon learns to write the idiom, \"I see;\" then he is\nprepared to do original work on the board or on paper. The blackboard\nwork on page 33 is suggestive of what may be done in original work.\n\nSENTENCE READING.--The words of a sentence should not be read\nseparately. At first the sentences are short, and the words are soon\neasily known at sight. Until the thought is known, the sentence should\nnot be read aloud. Hence silent reading should always precede oral\nreading with children. \"_Read as you talk_,\" is a good rule.\n\nWRITING.--The script capitals and small letters on page 6 are for\nreference. The letters are not to be written separately, but to be used\nin words. For practice in writing, use the simple sentences found in\nthe lessons. If written _many times_, the words will be memorized, and\ncan be used in original work.\n\nDRAWING.--Allow free hand drawing. Use outline drawings of objects, as\non pages 13 and 49. Lay sticks, then draw them. Provide children with\nsticks of different lengths. The kindergarten colored sticks are best.\nThey are inexpensive, and can be used in many ways.\n\nEncourage picture illustrations of simple stories. Also the\nillustration of Bible lessons. Many or all of them may be crude, but\nthoughts are expressed, and the lesson more deeply impressed.\n\nREVIEWS.--Observe the suggestion about silent reading first. If the\nthought is not easily gotten, the words are not familiar--not well\nlearned. The child should use the words many times. As reiteration is\nthe only way in which words are learned through the ear, so it is the\nonly way they are learned through the eye. The use of the blackboard is\nan invaluable help in making impressions through the eye.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n    A B C D E F G H I J\n    K L M N O P Q R S\n    T U V W X Y Z\n\n    a b c d e f g h i j k l m\n    n o p q r s t u v w x y z\n\n    [cursive: A B C D E F G H I J\n    K L M N O P Q R S\n    T U V W X Y Z]\n\n    [cursive: a b c d e f g h i j\n    k l m n o p q r s\n    t u v w x y z]\n\n\n\n\nEASY LESSONS.\n\n\nLESSON ONE.\n\nI see a bird.\n\n[Cursive: I see a bird.]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nI see an apple.\n\n[Cursive: I see an apple.]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nI see a tree.\n\n[Cursive: I see a tree.]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIs it an apple tree?\n\n[Cursive: Is it an apple tree?]\n\n\nLESSON TWO\n\n    The [*]     The [*]\n\n        birds.        apples.\n\n    The  [*]   God made [*]\n      apple tree.    the birds.\n\n    God made [*] the trees.\n\n\n\n\nLESSON THREE.\n\n\n    See the  [*]    See the  [*]\n            bee.            butterfly.\n\n    The butterfly has      The bee has\n      [*]                 [*]\n                               wings.\n       wings.      God made them all.\n\n\nLESSON FOUR.\n\n    God made the birds.\n\n        God made the apples.\n\n            God made the apple tree.\n\n    God loves the birds.\n\n                 I love the birds.\n\n[Cursive: God made the birds and trees.]\n\n\nLESSON FIVE.\n\n    I have [*]\n           [Cursive: I have a box.]\n\n    I have [*]\n           [Cursive: I have a tree.]\n\n    John made the box.\n\n          God made the tree.\n\n\nLESSON SIX.\n\n                          I have a [*]\n\n    [cursive: I have a rose.]\n\n                         This is a [*]\n\n    [cursive: This is a leaf.]\n\n    God made the rose and the leaf.\n\n       rose    leaf     box     tree\n\n\nLESSON SEVEN.\n\n                       See the little [*]\n\n    [cursive: See the little bees.]\n\n    The bees love the rose.\n\n    [cursive: The bees love the rose.]\n\n    The bees are on the rose.\n\n    [cursive: The bees are on\n                     the rose.]\n\n    [*]\n\n    bees     little     on     are\n\n\nLESSON EIGHT.\n\n    [Illustration]\n\n    See the beautiful rose.\n\n    It is red.\n\n    I love the beautiful rose.\n\n    God made it beautiful.\n\n    [Illustration]\n\n        This leaf is red.\n\n    [cursive: This leaf is red.]\n\n    [Illustration]\n\n        This leaf is green.\n\n    [cursive: This leaf is green.]\n\n\nLESSON NINE.\n\n      This is a butterfly.\n\n    [cursive: This is a butterfly,]\n\n      He has two wings.\n\n    [cursive: He has two wings.]\n\n      The bird has two wings.\n\n    [cursive: The bird has two wings.]\n\n      The bird can fly.\n\n    [cursive: The bird can fly.]\n\n      The butterfly can fly.\n\n    [cursive: The butterfly can fly.]\n\n      I love to see the butterfly.\n\n    [cursive: I love to see the butterfly.]\n\n    The butterfly loves the rose.\n\n    [cursive: The butterfly loves the rose.]\n\n    He     has     can     butterfly\n             fly      wings\n\n\nLESSON TEN.\n\n    [cursive: The butterfly has two wings.\n\n    God made the butterfly.\n\n    I love the butterfly.\n\n    The butterfly loves the rose.\n\n    The bees love the rose.\n\n    The bees are on the rose.\n\n    The bee has wings.\n\n    The bird has wings.\n\n    The butterfly has beautiful\n      wings.\n\n    The red rose is beautiful.\n\n    The grape vine has green\n    leaves.]\n\n[Illustration: =Drawing Lesson.=]\n\n\nLESSON ELEVEN.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n      See this vine.\n\n    [cursive: See this vine.]\n\n      It is a grape vine.\n\n    [cursive: It is a grape vine.]\n\n      I see the grapes.\n\n    [cursive: I see the grapes.]\n\n      The grapes grow on the vine.\n\n    [cursive: The grapes grow on the vine.]\n\n            Jesus said,\n    I am the true Vine.\n\n\nLESSON TWELVE.\n\n    [cursive: kitties]     Do you\n\n    [cursive: them]        kind\n\n    [cursive: They]        care\n\n[Illustration]\n\nDo you know me?\n\n[cursive: Do you know me?]\n\nI love the kitties.\n\n[cursive: I love the kitties.]\n\nI take care of them.\n\n[cursive: I take care of them.]\n\nI am kind to them.\n\n[cursive: I am kind to them.]\n\n\nLESSON THIRTEEN.\n\nI see the bird.\n\nI love the beautiful birds.\n\nGod loves the beautiful birds.\n\nJesus loves the birds.\n\nThe rose is beautiful.\n\nI see three apples.\n\nThe apples are on the tree.\n\nI see two birds.\n\nI see the box. John made it.\n\nGod made the birds and the trees.\n\nGod made the grape vine.\n\nJesus is the true vine.\n\nThe roses and birds are beautiful.\n\n\nLESSON FOURTEEN.\n\n\n=Holy Bible.=\n\nThe Bible is God's holy Book.\n\nWho wrote the Bible?\n\nHoly men wrote the Bible.\n\nGod told them what to write.\n\n\n    I\n    love\n    God's\n    holy\n    Book.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n    Do\n    you\n    love\n    the\n    Bible?\n\n\nCan you read the Bible?\n\nHoly Book. [Cursive: God's holy Book.]\n\n    wrote  write   [Cursive: wrote    write]\n\n[Cursive: Can you read? Do you see?]\n\n[Cursive: What do you see?]\n\n\nLESSON FIFTEEN.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n      Happy little kitties!\n\n    [Cursive: Happy little kitties!]\n\n      Who takes care of them?\n\n    [Cursive: Who takes care of them?]\n\n      What do they see?\n\n    [Cursive: What do they see?]\n\n      Look at their eyes.\n\n    [Cursive: Look at their eyes.]\n\n      Are they like yours?\n\n    [Cursive: Are they like yours?]\n\n\nLESSON SIXTEEN.\n\n\n=The Bees.=\n\n[Illustration]\n\n    Mary, see the little bees.\n\n    See the bee on the flower.\n\n    What is he doing?\n\n    He is getting honey.\n\n    He is a busy little bee.\n\n    Watch him fly to\n      his home.\n\n    Do you know where his\n      home is? I can hear the\n      bee buzz.\n\n\nLESSON SEVENTEEN.\n\n=Bible Verses.=\n\n    The Lord is good to all.\n\n    Praise ye the Lord.\n\n    Praise ye Him, sun and moon.\n\n    Praise Him, all ye stars of light.\n\n    Let them praise the name of the Lord.\n\n    O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good.\n\n    Sing praise upon the unto our God.\n\n    I will praise the Lord with my whole heart.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nLESSON EIGHTEEN.\n\n    This is a family of [Illustration]\n\n    They are little black ants.\n\n          The ants work.\n\n        They live in the ground.\n\n      Watch the ants make a house.\n\n    The house is made in the ground.\n\n    They make rooms in the house.\n\n      Watch the ant carry food.\n\n    The Bible says, \"Watch the ant\n    and be wise.\"\n\n\nLESSON NINETEEN.\n\n\n    See this [*]\n\n    [Illustration]\n\n    How do\n      you do,\n        pretty butterfly?\n\n    I see your beautiful\n            wings.\n\n    You love the rose.\n\n    Can you get your dinner\n        in the rose?\n\n    I love to watch you.\n\n    Do you remember when\n    you were a [*]?\n\n    You are pretty now.\n\n         [cursive: Pretty butterfly.\n    Beautiful wings.]\n\n\nLESSON TWENTY.\n\n    geese [Illustration] legs\n\n    walk                 boat\n\n    swim                 back\n\n    body                 dinner\n\nWatch the geese walk.\n\nThey can swim better than they can walk.\n\nTheir body is the shape of a boat.\n\nTheir legs are set far back on the body.\n\nDo you know why?\n\n[cursive: Watch the geese get their dinner in the water.]\n\n\nLESSON TWENTY-ONE.\n\n    Here is a\n               spider.\n\n    [Illustration]\n\n    This spider\n            made a web.\n\n    [Illustration]\n\n    The web is his home.\n\n    Do you see his\n                  home?\n\n    [Illustration]\n\n    Do you see the spider?\n\n    The spider loves to work.\n\n    Watch a spider make a web.\n\n    Do all spiders make webs?\n\n    to work   webs\n\n    home   his\n\n\nLESSON TWENTY-TWO.\n\n=Number Story.=\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nLESSON TWENTY-THREE.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nHere is a beautiful vine.\n\nIt came from a tiny black seed.\n\nIt is a morning glory vine.\n\nDo you see the pretty buds?\n\nCan you find a morning glory flower in the evening?\n\nWho gives the morning glory life?\n\n[cursive: Morning glory.\n\na tiny black seed.\n\nevening.]\n\n\nLESSON TWENTY-FOUR.\n\n=The Flood.=\n\nOne time God let it rain for many days.\n\nThe water was very deep. It covered all the earth. All the trees were\ncovered with water.\n\nAll the mountains were covered.\n\nIn one place the people were safe.\n\nYes, in the ark.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nGod had told Noah to make the ark.\n\nNoah loved God. He believed what God told him.\n\nThe people did not love God. They did not believe what God told Noah.\n\nThey did not believe that God would send a flood.\n\nBut the flood came.\n\nNoah and his family were safe in the ark.\n\n\nLESSON TWENTY-FIVE.\n\n=The Bean's Story. I.=\n\n[Illustration]\n\n    Here I am in my warm bed.\n\n    John made the box.\n\n    He put the dirt into the box.\n\n    Mary put me in my bed.\n\n    Then she covered me with dirt.\n\n    The sun made the bed warm.\n\n    The children wanted me to wake up.\n\n    They gave me some water.\n\n    They said, \"This will wake her up.\"\n\n    I love the warm sun and the water.\n\n    The children knew this.\n\n    children    knew    wanted    water\n    covered     warm     wake     gave\n\n\nLESSON TWENTY-SIX.\n\n=The Bean's Story. II.=\n\n[Illustration]\n\nGood morning, children.\n\nYou see I am awake now.\n\nI am getting out of my white coat.\n\nI put my feet out first.\n\nYou call my feet roots.\n\nMy roots help me to stand.\n\nDid you know that I have mouths in my roots?\n\nI cannot run about to get my food.\n\nI get food out of the ground.\n\n    good    morning    awake    mouths\n    white    coat    help    stand    roots    feet\n\n\nLESSON TWENTY-SEVEN.\n\n=The Bean's Story. III.=\n\n[Illustration]\n\nI am glad the children like to watch me.\n\nThis morning they can see my tiny leaves.\n\nShall I tell the children about the mouths in my leaves? I get food out\nof the air.\n\nMy leaves have work to do.\n\nIn this, they are like your hands.\n\nI shall have many hands by and by.\n\n    shall    hands    leaves    about    air\n    like    glad    by and by\n\n\nLESSON TWENTY-EIGHT.\n\n=The Bean's Story. IV.=\n\n[Illustration]\n\nDo you see my long stem?\n\nI can stand up now.\n\nI shall reach up toward the sun.\n\nCan you draw my pretty leaves?\n\nSee the bud at the end of my stem.\n\nWatch for the leaves that are in that bud.\n\nIt will open soon.\n\nCan you make it open?\n\n    stem    reach    toward    that\n    up    end    bud    open\n\n\nLESSON TWENTY-NINE.\n\n=The Bean's Story. V.=\n\nWhat do you think of me now?\n\nI have grown big and tall.\n\nHere are two little bean pods.\n\nYou see the tiny beans in the pod.\n\nHere are some white flowers.\n\nThey will soon fall off.\n\nWatch for more bean pods.\n\nBy and by the tiny beans will grow big.\n\nWhat will they look like?\n\nMy work will soon be done.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThink what I have done for you.\n\nYou may thank Him who gave me life.\n\n\nLESSON THIRTY.\n\n[Illustration: Cursive: We planted a bean.\n\nIt looked like [*]\n\nOne day it looked [*] like this. By and by it had leaves.\n\nThen it looked [*] like this. Mary.]\n\n\nLESSON THIRTY-ONE.\n\n=The Lily.=\n\n[Illustration]\n\nLook at this pure white lily.\n\nJesus wants us to think how the lilies grow.\n\nHe said, \"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.\"\n\nWho made the beautiful white dress for this lily?\n\nIf God cares for the lily, will He not care for us?\n\nHe wants us to obey Him as the lily does.\n\nThen He will clothe us as He does the lily.\n\nHe will make our lives pure and beautiful.\n\n\nLESSON THIRTY-TWO.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nHere are grapes, an apple, and bananas.\n\nWhich do you like best?\n\nCan you tell where bananas grow?\n\nDo not be afraid to eat plenty of good, ripe fruit.\n\nAll who obey God shall eat fruit from the tree of life in the earth\nmade new.\n\n\nLESSON THIRTY-THREE.\n\n=A Friend of Ours.=\n\nYes, the sheep is a friend.\n\nYour warm dress was made from her coat. She gives it away in the\nspring. In the fall you are glad to put it on.\n\nThe sheep are timid.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThey need some one to care for them.\n\nThe man who cares for the sheep is the shepherd.\n\nThe little sheep are lambs.\n\nJesus calls us His lambs.\n\nSo you can say, \"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.\"\n\nA good shepherd would give his life for his sheep.\n\nJesus gave His life for us.\n\nKing David was a shepherd. One time a lion was going to kill one of his\nlambs. David killed the lion.\n\nSome day the lion and the lamb shall live together. Yes, and a little\nchild shall lead them.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nLESSON THIRTY-FOUR.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSee how that girl carries the milk.\n\nLook at the girl who is milking.\n\nI never saw any one milk from that side of the cow.\n\nI do not think those girls live in this country.\n\nThis must be a milking scene in some country far across the water.\n\nThey have some strange ways of doing things in those countries.\n\n\nLESSON THIRTY-FIVE.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nI need not tell you our name.\n\nThe children say we look like faces.\n\nDid you ever see any of us look cross?\n\nWe are always smiling and happy.\n\nGive us the right kind of food and our size will please you.\n\n[cursive: Think of our smiling faces when things do not please you.]\n\n\nLESSON THIRTY-SIX.\n\n=The Lion.=\n\nHere is the lion.\n\nIs he not fine looking?\n\nOther beasts are afraid of him.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nHe is called the king of beasts.\n\nA lamb is not safe with him now.\n\nBy and by GOD will make all things new. Then the lion will eat straw\nlike the ox.\n\nThe Bible says that the wolf and the lamb, the lion and the calf, shall\nlie down together.\n\nThen other beasts will not be afraid of the lion.\n\nThen you can pet the lion as you do your cat now.\n\nDo you want to live in that home?\n\nOnly the pure in heart shall live in the earth when it is made new.\n\n[Illustration: Here are some cousins of the lion.]\n\n\nLESSON THIRTY-SEVEN.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThese little bunnies are having a fine time.\n\nThey know good food when they find it.\n\nDo you know what kind of food bunnies like best?\n\nLook at their eyes. Are they like kitty's eyes?\n\n\nLESSON THIRTY-EIGHT.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nI think this must be the home of our bunnies.\n\nDoes it look like the country homes you have seen?\n\nLook at the road and the trees.\n\nAre the trees alike?\n\nDo you think it would have been nice if God had made all trees alike?\n\n\nLESSON THIRTY-NINE.\n\n=Wheat and Tares.=\n\nDo you know what is made from wheat? If you do not, ask some one to\ntell you.\n\nWhen Jesus was on earth, He talked about wheat. At the same time He\ntalked about some bad plants, called tares.\n\n[Illustration: WHEAT.]\n\nHe said that a man sowed some good seed in a field. Then some one came\nand sowed tares in the same field. The good seed was wheat.\n\nSo the wheat and tares were growing in the same field.\n\nThe servant wanted to root up the tares. The man said, \"No; let them\ngrow together until the harvest.\"\n\nWhy did Jesus tell this story? See what He says about it:--\n\n\"The field is the world. The good seed are the children of the kingdom.\nBut the tares are the children of the wicked one. The harvest is the\nend of the world. The reapers are the angels.\"\n\nThe harvest is very near.\n\nThat is when Jesus comes in the clouds of heaven.\n\n[Illustration: TARES.]\n\nThe reapers will take the children of the kingdom home to heaven.\n\nThe children of the wicked one will be destroyed.\n\nAre we wheat or tares?\n\n\nLESSON FORTY.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nHere is a shepherd with his flock.\n\nI think he must be a kind shepherd.\n\nSee how tenderly he carries the little lamb.\n\nJesus is our Shepherd. Isaiah says of Him, \"He shall gather the lambs\nwith His arms.\"\n\nSo He will tenderly care for all His lambs now.\n\nSoon He will come to take them to the home He is preparing.\n\n\nLESSON FORTY-ONE.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWill they reach the shore?\n\nI wonder what they think?\n\nOnce Jesus was with His disciples on the lake.\n\nThere came a great storm. Jesus was asleep.\n\nThe disciples worked like these men are working.\n\nAt last they called to Jesus.\n\nWhen He awoke He spoke to the wind, and there was a calm.\n\n\nLESSON FORTY-TWO.\n\n=Washing Dishes.=\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Good morning, Mary! How can you sing while washing dishes? I always\nfeel cross, for I do not like to wash dishes.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Mary, \"I must tell you my secret. I used to feel cross,\ntoo. Now I think about the lesson I am to learn while washing dishes.\nJesus said that we should make the inside of the cup clean as well as\nthe outside.\"\n\n\"Oh, yes, mama tells me to wash the dishes clean, but I get so tired\nof them.\"\n\n\"But, Nellie, you do not see the lesson we are to learn. You know we\ntry to look very pretty when people see us. We want them to think that\nwe are pure and clean. When I am washing dishes, I think how Jesus\nmakes my heart pure and clean. He says, Though your sins be red, I will\nmake them white as snow.\"\n\nNellie went home happy. Do you think she can sing now while washing\ndishes?\n\n[Illustration: Drawing Lesson.]\n\n\nLESSON FORTY-THREE.\n\n=Creation. I.=\n\n\"In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.\"\n\nThe earth did not look as it does now. Every thing was very beautiful.\n\nGreen grass covered all the valleys, hills, and mountains.\n\nThere were lovely lakes and rivers.\n\nThe air and water were clear and pure.\n\nThere were no swamps nor deserts, and there were no weeds. The most\nbeautiful flowers were seen in every place.\n\nWe cannot think how lovely every thing was at that time. The earth was\nfull of the love of God.\n\n\"And God saw every thing that He had made, and it was very good.\"\n\n\nLESSON FORTY-FOUR.\n\n=Creation. II.=\n\nGod did not make the earth as man makes things.\n\n\"He spake, and it was done.\" He was six days in making the heaven and\nthe earth.\n\n\"And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.\"\n\nThis was on the first day.\n\nThe second day He made the air.\n\nAt this time water covered all the earth.\n\nThe third day He made the dry land appear. He called the dry land earth.\n\nThen the rivers, lakes and seas were made.\n\nHe spake, and all the earth was covered with green grass.\n\nThen came the herbs and trees.\n\nThe herbs were bearing seed.\n\nThe trees were bearing fruit.\n\nThe seed and fruit were to be food for man.\n\n\nLESSON FORTY-FIVE.\n\n=Creation. III.=\n\nOn the fourth day He said, \"Let there be lights in the heaven.\"\n\nThe sun, moon, and stars were to give light upon the earth.\n\nHe made the sun to rule the day.\n\nHe made the moon to rule the night.\n\nNow there was light; there was air, there was water.\n\nBut there were no birds in the air.\n\nThere were no fishes in the water.\n\nOn the fifth day He made all the birds and fishes.\n\nNow there were animals in the air.\n\nThere were animals in the water.\n\nBut there were no animals on the land.\n\nOn the sixth day God made all the land animals.\n\nThe same day He said, \"Let us make man in our image.\"\n\nHe gave them the seed of the herbs and the fruit of the trees for food.\n\n\"And God saw every thing that He had made, and it was very good.\"\n\nThus the heavens and the earth were made.\n\n\nLESSON FORTY-SIX.\n\n=Creation. IV.=\n\nOn the seventh day God rested from all His work.\n\nHe blessed it and made it holy.\n\nHe calls the Sabbath His holy day.\n\nOn the seventh day He looked at the things He had made and called them\nvery good.\n\nOn the Sabbath we should stop our work and our play. God wants us to be\nhappy on that day.\n\nIt makes us happy to look at the lovely things He has made for us.\n\nHe wants us to remember Him and thank Him for His love.\n\nHe told us to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.\n\n\nLESSON FORTY-SEVEN.\n\n=Creation. V.=\n\nGod loved Adam and Eve. He wanted them to be very happy. So He gave\nthem every thing that was good for them.\n\nHe planted a garden in Eden. That was their home. We have never seen\nsuch a lovely home as that was. But if we live in the earth made new,\nwe shall see the Garden of Eden. In that garden was \"every tree that\nwas good for food,\" and pretty to look at. All the fruit was perfect.\n\nThen there was the river to water the garden. By the river was the tree\nof life.\n\nThe Lord put Adam into the garden to care for it. So there was a happy\nfamily in a lovely home.\n\n[Illustration: \"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all\nthe host of them.\" Genesis 2:1.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Covering Cherubim on the Ark in the Earthly Sanctuary.]\n\nLucifer, Son of the Morning.\n\n\nSATAN was once a beautiful, powerful angel in Heaven. His name then was\nLucifer, which means, \"Son of the Morning,\" or, \"Shining One, Son of\nthe Dawn.\" His position in Heaven, his beauty, power, and final end,\nare well described in Ezekiel 28:12-19.\n\nLucifer, or Satan, is, next to God and Christ, the wisest being in the\nuniverse, for God said, \"Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom.\"\nVerse 12.\n\nHe was a very beautiful being, for the text says he was \"perfect in\nbeauty.\" Verse 12.\n\nHe has been in the Eden home of Adam and Eve. \"Thou hast been in the\ngarden of God.\" Verse 13.\n\nHe was a great musician, and doubtless led the music and singing of\nthe hosts of angels in their morning and evening songs of praise to\nGod. Verse 13 says, \"The workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes\nwas prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.\"\n\nThe above text shows that he was \"created\" by the power of God. All the\nangels were created full grown, and not born as children. Hence this\ntext is describing some heavenly being.\n\n\"Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so.\"\nVerse 14. Lucifer's position was by the throne of God, with his wings\noutstretched above it.\n\nThe ark built by Moses was a type of heavenly things. On the top of\nthis ark were two cherubim with their wings covering the ark where\nthe glory of God rested. See Exodus 25:20. This represents Lucifer's\nposition as covering cherub, close to the throne of God in heaven.\n\nLucifer was \"the anointed cherub.\" Anciently the prophets of the\nLord anointed the kings to show that they were appointed of God to\ngovern and command. Lucifer was, next to the Son of God, the anointed\ncommander of the hosts of heavenly angels.\n\n[Illustration: Lucifer after the Fall.\n\n\"Prince of the power of the air.\"]\n\nAll his wisdom, beauty, power, and position were given him by God who\nhad created him. The Creator fitted him for the work He wished him to\ndo, and the place He desired him to occupy. Lucifer owed everything\nwhich he possessed to his Lord.\n\nBut, like some people who have riches and power, he become proud of his\nglory. He forgot that it was all the gift of God. The text says, \"Thine\nheart was lifted up because of thy beauty.\" Eze. 28:17.\n\nThe Son of God was above him, and equal with His Father. Lucifer was\nsecond to Christ; but, considering his beauty and power, he decided\nthat he ought to be equal with God.\n\nThe prophet Isaiah says of him, \"Thou hast said in thine heart, I will\nexalt my throne above the stars of God: I will be like the Most High.\"\nChapter 14:13, 14.\n\nBut Jehovah could not permit this. The very thought of it by Lucifer\nwas sin, for it was pride and the exaltation of self. Only the Son of\nGod could be equal with the Father.\n\nThen rebellion came into the heart of Lucifer. He went among the angels\nand told his story. They loved him as their leader, and many took sides\nwith him.\n\nThe loyalty of all the angels was tested. Nearly one-half their number\ntook sides with Lucifer. Then there was open rebellion in Heaven.\nLucifer had a vast army at his command, and he felt strong enough to\ndefy God.\n\nBut rebellion could not be allowed in Heaven. The rebel host must be\ndisposed of in some way. God could destroy them at once, for if He\ncould create them He could also destroy them.\n\nBut Lucifer had charged God with being partial and severe, and claimed\nthat the laws of Jehovah were not needed in Heaven. So God allowed the\nrebellion to develop and do its work, that all the universe might see\nthe awful results of sin, and the final fate of sinners. This will be\nan object lesson through all eternity.\n\n    Note.--The twenty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel tells of the\n    overthrow of the prince of Tyrus, or the city of Tyre, which\n    was a very strong, wealthy, proud, and wicked city on the\n    Mediterranean Sea, near Palestine.\n\n    But by reading verses 12-15, it will be seen that this\n    chapter has a double application, and that these verses\n    refer more especially to some being standing at one time in\n    a high position in heaven. It shows him to have been very\n    wise, beautiful, and powerful, and near the presence of the\n    Almighty God.\n\n    Such a description can apply only to Lucifer, now known as\n    the devil, and Satan, described in the accompanying lesson.\n    The Bible is full of object lessons; and kingdoms, men, and\n    events are often taken to teach important lessons. Christ\n    did much of His teaching by parables. He took things as He\n    found them in the world to illustrate and make forcible\n    great Gospel truths.\n\n    In this chapter the power and beauty, the pride and\n    wickedness, and the final overthrow of Tyre were taken to\n    represent the high position of Lucifer in heaven, his sin of\n    pride and rebellion, and his final fall.\n\n\n[Illustration: \"I beheld Satan as lightning fall from Heaven.\"]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Satan Marshaling His Host.]\n\n\n\n\nSatan, Prince of Darkness.\n\n\nLUCIFER and his angels had become God's enemies, or rebels against His\ngovernment. They could not be allowed to remain in Heaven.\n\nThe Son was appointed by the Father to take command of the true angels,\nand drive out the rebel host. Lucifer took command of the angels who\nhad rebelled with him, and was determined to hold his place in Heaven.\n\nThen \"there was war in heaven: Michael [Christ] and His angels fought\nagainst the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels.\" Revelation\n12:7.\n\nWhen Lucifer sinned and fell, his character and work were so changed\nthat the beautiful name he had in Heaven was also changed. In\nRevelation 12:9, he is called \"the dragon,\" \"that old serpent,\" \"the\ndevil,\" and \"Satan.\"\n\nOf course Satan could not win in such a warfare. \"He was cast out into\nthe earth, and his angels were cast out with him.\" Revelation 12:9.\n\nIn Isaiah 14:12, we read, \"How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer,\nSon of the Morning! how art thou cut down to the ground.\"\n\nChrist refers to this when He said to His disciples, \"I beheld Satan as\nlightning fall from Heaven.\" Luke 10:18.\n\nWhen Satan knew that he had lost Heaven forever, his heart was filled\nwith anger and hatred for all that was good. His history since then\nshows that from that time his motto was, \"Evil, be thou my good.\"\n\nRevenge filled his heart in which the love of God once abode, and all\nhis wonderful powers were turned against God and His work. Every artful\ndevice of evil angels has been used since then to lead men to follow\nthem in sin and rebellion against God.\n\nIt is well for man to know the strength of the foe he has to meet.\nSatan and his angels have on earth the same wisdom which they had\nin Heaven before their fall. To this is added six thousand years of\nexperience in their awful work.\n\nIn Heaven Satan's influence was so great that he was able to deceive\nand lead into rebellion nearly half the angels. His power to deceive\nman is very great.\n\n[Illustration: \"How art thou fallen, O Lucifer, Son of the Morning.\"]\n\nWith such power and influence at his command, we can never overcome\nthe devil in our own strength. When we let go our hold upon God we go\nonto the enemy's ground, and are \"taken captive by him at his will.\" 2\nTimothy 2:26.\n\nBut Christ has twice conquered this foe,--once in the great battle in\nheaven when Satan was cast out, and again as a man on earth when He met\nall his temptations and came off victorious.\n\nHence Satan is to Christ a conquered foe. If we trust our Lord fully\nHe will give us strength in every hour of need, and thus we may become\n\"more than conquerors through Him that loved us.\" Romans 8:37.\n\nPaul calls Satan \"The prince of the power of the air.\" Ephesians 2:2.\nHe it is who causes the terrible cyclones, the tidal waves, and other\nawful disasters. Only the restraining hand of God prevents him from\nbringing destruction to the world more awful than it has yet known.\n\nIn Hebrews 2:14, we learn that the devil has \"the power of death.\" This\nis so because sin brought death, and Satan is the author of sin. He\nclaims all who die as his. Only the power of God can bring them from\n\"the land of the enemy\" at the resurrection.\n\nBut some glad day sin and death and Satan will be destroyed. Paul\ndeclared that Christ, by His death, opened the way by which He \"might\n_destroy_ him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.\" Hebrews\n2:14.\n\nThe Lord says through the prophet Ezekiel, \"I will bring forth a fire\nfrom the midst of thee, it shall _devour_ thee, and I will bring thee\nto _ashes_.... Thou shalt be a terror, and _never shalt thou be any\nmore_.\" Ezekiel 28:18, 19.\n\nThen, with the stain of sin entirely removed, God will have a clean\nuniverse, as free from sin as it was before rebellion entered heaven.\n\n[Illustration: The Dominion of All Created Things Was Given to Man.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe First Dominion.\n\n\nIN six days the Creator formed the earth and fitted it up as the home\nof mankind. When finished it was very beautiful with trees, flowers,\nand fruits.\n\nBefore man was created, God also made the birds, fishes, and all the\ndumb animals and creeping things. The world was then ready for its\nmaster,--man.\n\n\"And God said, Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.... So\nGod created man in His own image.\" Genesis 1:26, 27.\n\nMan was the last and most perfect work of the great creation week. He\nwas in the \"image of God.\" He looked like his Creator.\n\nSome, at least, of the wisdom of God was given to him. He could talk,\nand think, and reason. As we study God's Word, and learn about Him, He\nhelps us and teaches us. Thus we grow more like Him, and He gives us\nmore of His wisdom.\n\nAfter creating man, God made for him a beautiful garden which was to be\nthe home of Adam and Eve. This was a sample of what their children were\nto make of the rest of the world.\n\nThis home was called the \"Garden of Eden.\" It was very beautiful,\nfor \"out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is\npleasant to the sight, and good for food.\" Genesis 2:9.\n\n\"God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is\nupon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit\nof a tree yielding seed.\" This shows what is the best kind of food for\nman to eat. \"And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the\nair, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is\nlife, I have given every green herb for meat.\" Genesis 1:29, 30. This\nwas a perfect diet. The Lord did not intend that His creatures should\nbe killed and eaten for food.\n\nA beautiful \"river went out of Eden to water the garden.\" The tree of\nlife was also there. This tree had wonderful power. It would preserve\nlife, and so long as one should eat of it he would never die.\n\n[Illustration: \"Heavenly visitors taught them about God.\"]\n\n\"And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden\nto dress it and to keep it.\" Genesis 2: 15. Man was not to live in\nidleness, but must care for the beautiful home which God had prepared\nfor him.\n\nAfter all was completed the Lord gave to man the earth and all that was\nin it. David said, \"The earth hath He given to the children of men.\"\nPsalms 115:16.\n\nMan was also to be ruler of all that was on the earth. For the Lord\nsaid, \"Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and _subdue_\nit; and _have dominion_ over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl\nof the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.\"\nGenesis 1:28.\n\nEven the beasts loved man and delighted to obey him. There was no fear\nin that wonderful home. All was love, and happiness, and peace.\n\nChrist and the beautiful angels from Heaven often visited the happy\npair in Eden.\n\nThese heavenly visitors taught them about God and His love, and gave\nthem such instruction as would help them to take proper care of their\nearthly home.\n\nBefore Satan could reach them with his temptations, angels were sent\nfrom Heaven to warn them of his fall, and of his desire to bring ruin\nupon then, as he had already done upon the angels who sinned with him.\nIn this the loving, tender care of God for His creatures was manifested.\n\n[Illustration: Satan Entering Eden.]\n\nGod is love. He did not wish sin to enter the world; yet He made man\nfree so that he could choose wrong doing if he preferred it to God's\nway, after knowing of the dreadful results of sin.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Dominion Lost.\n\n\nTHE love and obedience of every intelligent being must be tested. Tests\nmake character. If we obey God's laws and walk in His ways, we become\nin character like God and sinless angels.\n\nWe must have a good character before we are fit to enjoy the beautiful\nhome Christ is preparing for those who are faithful. God will give us a\ngood character, and help us to obey, if we ask Him.\n\nIf we refuse to let God help us do right, we are out of harmony, or\nat war with Him and Heaven. We then come into harmony, or union, with\nSatan and his angels, and when sin is destroyed we must perish with it.\n\nSin makes people unhappy, and God hates it because He loves everybody.\nHappiness can be found only in obedience, or doing right.\n\nBefore sin reached Eden, Adam and Eve knew nothing of evil. So their\nonly test was in regard to one special tree planted in the garden. It\nwas called the \"tree of knowledge of good and evil.\"\n\nGod said of the fruit of this tree, \"Ye shall not eat of it, neither\nshall ye touch it, lest ye die.\" Genesis 3:3. If they kept away from\nthis tree they would never know evil. At that tree was the only place\nwhere Satan could meet them to tempt them.\n\nOne day the curiosity of Eve led her to come near the forbidden tree.\nBy so doing she placed herself where Satan could tempt her, and he\nwas there to meet her as he always meets us when we go in the way of\ntemptation.\n\nSatan did not come in his own form, but in the shape of a beautiful\nSerpent. Eve would have known him in his real person, for angels had\ntold the first pair about the rebellion of Satan and his angels. Satan\nnever comes to us as he really is. He comes as a deceiver, just as he\ncame to Eve in the garden.\n\nThe serpent told Eve that the forbidden fruit was good, and began to\neat some of it. Probably he told her that it gave him power to talk.\nEve looked at it and thought about it. The more she looked at it the\nmore she wanted some of it.\n\nBut she told the serpent that the Lord had forbidden them to eat of it,\nfor if they did they should \"surely die.\"\n\n[Illustration: Angels sent to tell the first pair about the rebellion\nof Satan and his angels.]\n\nBut the serpent said, \"Ye shall not surely die.\" \"See, I am eating of\nit and it does me no harm. In fact, I feel better all the time I am\neating of this fruit.\"\n\n\"For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall\nbe opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.\" Genesis 3:5.\n\nThe devil's statement was partly true and partly a lie. And in all his\nwork he will mix enough truth with his lies to deceive those who do not\nknow him and his ways well enough to see the difference.\n\nIt is true that the fruit of that tree would make those wise who ate of\nit. It would make them wise in the knowledge of evil, and the Lord did\nnot want them to know anything of evil. Such knowledge brings death.\n\nBut Satan lied when he said, \"Ye shall not surely die,\" and he knew it.\nHe has been telling this lie ever since. The Lord has said, \"The soul\nthat sinneth it shall die.\"\n\nEve believed the devil instead of God. She ate of the fruit and gave to\nAdam, and he ate of it.\n\nThe first result of their sin was shame. They saw that they were naked.\nThen they made themselves aprons of fig leaves, and hid themselves so\nthat none should see them. Sin always brings shame.\n\nBut they could not hide from God. He called them and asked what they\nhad been doing.\n\n[Illustration: Hiding from God.]\n\nThen they began to make excuses and to blame others, just as we often\ndo when it is found out that we have done wrong; but they could not\ndeceive their Creator. He told them they should have a life of toil\nand trouble, and would finally die. Then they were driven from their\nbeautiful garden home.\n\nAfter that the earth was to be the battle ground between good and\nevil, between Satan and the Gospel. The Garden of Eden contained so\nmany of the beautiful things of God that it was too sacred to become\nsuch a battle ground. Sin must not mar it. So man was driven from it to\nbuild for himself, as best he could, a new home which he must keep in\norder by hard work.\n\nThe earth was cursed with weeds and thistles; but this was not a real\nevil to fallen man; for while sin is in the world even hard work is a\nblessing because it helps to keep people out of mischief. It has been\ntruly said that Satan always finds work for idle hands to do.\n\nBy disobeying God and obeying Satan man became the servant of sin\nand Satan. Paul says, \"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves\nservants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey?\" Romans 6:16.\n\n[Illustration: Driven from Eden.]\n\nBy obeying Satan man lost his dominion of the earth, and it passed\ninto the hands of Satan. Thus he became \"the god of this world.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"To them, bowed low with grief for sin, the shining\nones made known the way to heaven.\"]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe Promised Redeemer.\n\n\nWHEN one person is owned by another person, and has to work for him, he\nis called a slave, or a bond-servant, because he is in bondage, and not\nfree to do what would be best for himself.\n\nSo it is with one who lets himself be controlled by the evil instead\nof by the good. The word devil is like the word evil, and means the\nsame. To do evil is to do as the devil wishes us to do. Put _d_ before\n_evil_, and you will see where evil comes from.\n\nA slave can not get free from a cruel master. He has no money to buy\nhis own freedom, and no power to get away. If he tries to escape, he\nis followed and caught, and brought back again to work for his hateful\nowner.\n\nAdam and Eve really sold themselves to Satan--the evil, the devil--by\ndoing as he wanted them to do. They traded their happiness for the\nknowledge of wrong which he promised them, and which he gave them.\n\nThus he became their owner, or master, instead of God who had made\nthem, and to whom they really belonged.\n\nNow they could not get free, and as the wages, or end of sin, is death,\nthey must serve Satan all their lives and then die, without any hope of\nanother life beyond this one.\n\nGod and Christ and the angels all pitied man in this sad condition,\nand Christ offered to leave Heaven and come to this earth and give His\nlife for man's life.\n\nOnly in this way could He buy back, or redeem man (meaning everybody),\nso that all who want to be free from the service of Satan and sin can\nescape death, which is \"the wages of sin.\"\n\nSometimes a rich man buys a slave from his cruel master, so that the\npoor man can be free and happy. So Jesus did for us.\n\nWe get free from Satan by thanking God for this plan to save us, and\nasking Him, for Christ's sake, to forgive our sins and help us to live\na good life, away from our old master, the evil.\n\nThis is what the word Redemption means. It is buying back something\nthat has been sold into bondage. Jesus bought us back after we had sold\nourselves to Satan.\n\n\"Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price,\" \"the precious\nblood [the life] of Christ.\" 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20; 1 Peter 1:18, 19.\n\nThis \"good news,\" or Gospel of Salvation, was told to Adam and Eve as\nwell as to the shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem hundreds of years\nafterward, so that all could have a chance to obey God by being made\nfree from the power of Satan.\n\n[Illustration: \"They traded their happiness for the knowledge of\nwrong.\"]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe First Brothers.\n\n\nCAIN and Abel were the first brothers who ever lived on the earth.\nCain, the elder brother, was a farmer. Abel was a shepherd, and cared\nfor his father's sheep.\n\nThe Bible does not tell us about them when they were boys, but when\nthey were grown it says they both brought offerings to the Lord. Abel\nbrought a lamb as his offering, but Cain brought the fruits of the\nground.\n\nThe Lord had told them to bring a lamb for an offering, because it\nwould cause them to think of Christ, for He was \"the Lamb of God\" who\nwas to die for the sins of the world.\n\nBefore Jesus came to die, men showed their faith in Him by bringing\na lamb for their sins. God accepted the offerings of all who were\nsorry for their sins, and forgave them. This was the Gospel in the Old\nTestament. Christ was the \"Lamb slain from the beginning of the world,\"\nbecause, before the world began the plan was laid that He should die\nfor man if he sinned.\n\nAbel had faith in God. His heart was filled with love because a way had\nbeen made by which sinners could return to God, receive pardon, and\nfinally be taken to a new Eden home.\n\nAbel brought a lamb from his flock, and offered it to God for his\nsins. Looking at the lamb of his sacrifice he saw Christ, the dying\nLamb, on the mountain of Calvary. His faith was \"counted to him for\nrighteousness,\" meaning that God called him good. His sins were\nforgiven. God was pleased with the offering brought by Abel, and so He\nsent down fire from heaven and burned up the sacrifice; but not so with\nCain's fruit.\n\nThen the heart of Cain was like the heart of Satan,--filled with hatred\nand rebellion against God. He could see the beautiful Garden of Eden\nwhich had been the home of his parents, but he could not enter it. An\nangel with a flaming sword guarded the gateway.\n\nIn his heart he charged God with cruelty in shutting them out of the\ngarden, and dooming mankind to a life of labor and sorrow. He did not\naccept with gratitude the wonderful sacrifice made by the Son of God to\nredeem the world.\n\n[Illustration: The Offerings of Cain and Abel.]\n\nHe preferred to talk of what he called the cruelty of the Creator in\npunishing the race. Instead of offering in sacrifice a lamb, which only\ncould represent the sacrifice of Christ, he brought the fruits of the\nground. He thought as sometimes people do now, that what we have to\noffer is good enough, even if it is not just what the Lord calls for.\n\n[Illustration: \"The next act was to kill his brother.\"]\n\nIn Cain's offering there was nothing to point to the offering of\nChrist. There was no blood showing that death follows sin, and that\nChrist was to bear it for us. It was in every way contrary to God's\nplan, and so it showed no faith. There was therefore no Gospel in it,\nand no salvation. The Lord did not accept Cain's offering, and there\nwas no answering fire.\n\nAs Cain saw the difference, he charged God with partiality, and then\nbegan to hate his brother, as all wicked people hate the good. The next\nact was to kill his brother, which was the result of his hatred.\n\nThen the Lord spoke to Cain and asked him, \"Where is thy brother Abel?\"\nCain tried to cover up his sin by lying about it, as some people try to\nget out of trouble now. He said, \"I know not; Am I my brother's keeper?\"\n\nBut the Lord knew all about it, for Cain could not hide his sin from\nthe Lord any more than we can hide ours. The Lord sent him forth as a\nwanderer in the earth, and a hateful look marked his face as long as he\nlived. Faces show character.\n\n[Illustration: Outside the Ark.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nDestroyed by a Flood.\n\n\nBEFORE the flood men lived to be nearly a thousand years old. They were\nmuch larger and stronger than they are now. Living so long they became\nvery wise and very rich.\n\nFor many years there were those who believed in God and obeyed Him. But\nin time most of the people forgot Him and became very wicked.\n\n\"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and\nthat every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil\ncontinually.... And the earth was filled with violence.\" Genesis 6:5,\n11.\n\nSo the Lord said He would bring a flood of waters on the earth to drown\nall the wicked people.\n\nBut Noah and his family were faithful to God. So He told Noah to build\na great boat, called the ark. It was so large that it would hold all\nhis family, and some of all kinds of animals and birds. It also had\nroom to hold food for them for many days.\n\nThe world was warned in regard to the flood, for Noah was one hundred\nand twenty years building the ark. Part of this time he preached,\ntelling the people of the coming flood, and part of the time he worked\non the ark.\n\n[Illustration: Entering the Ark.]\n\nBut the people were too busy and too wicked to heed the preaching of\nNoah. They only laughed at him for wasting his time and money building\nsuch a great boat so far from water deep enough to float it.\n\nWhen the ark was finished, the Lord caused the animals from the\nforest, and the birds of the air, to come to it. They came two and\ntwo, and went to their places in perfect order. The angels of the Lord\nwere leading them, although none could see them. It must have been a\nwonderful sight.\n\nWhen all were in the ark, the Lord shut the heavy door. Then the rain\ncame down and the thunder rolled. The crust of the earth was broken up,\nand the water under the surface was thrown up in great water-spouts.\n\nThe water rose higher and higher. It rained forty days and forty\nnights. Men and animals climbed to the tops of the highest mountains.\nBut finally these were all covered. Then all the human beings, the\nbirds, and the animals on the whole earth were drowned.\n\nBut all that were in the ark rode safely on the waters. The power of\nGod protected the ark through all this terrible time.\n\nThen the Lord caused a wind to blow, which dried up the water. After\nfloating one hundred and fifty days, the ark rested upon the top of\nMount Ararat.\n\nAfter this Noah waited forty days, and then he opened the window in the\ntop of the ark and sent out a raven and a dove. But they found no place\nto rest, and so returned to the ark.\n\nSeven days after, he sent out another dove, and in the evening it\nreturned with an olive leaf in its mouth. After another seven days, he\nagain sent out a dove, but it did not return.\n\nFinally the water was fully dried up, and God told Noah that he and\nall the birds and animals could leave the ark. They must have been very\nglad to be on the land once more, for they had been in the ark a year\nand seventeen days.\n\nNoah was very thankful to God for saving their lives. \"And Noah builded\nan altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast, and of every\nclean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.\" Genesis 8:20.\n\n[Illustration: Noah's Sacrifice.]\n\nThe Lord was pleased with this offering, for it showed that Noah was\nstill true to God, and had faith in Jesus Christ, the great Sacrifice\nfor the sins of the world.\n\nThen the Lord said that He would not again destroy the earth with a\nflood. And as a covenant, or pledge in regard to this promise, He set\nthe beautiful rainbow in the clouds.\n\nAs all the wicked were destroyed from the earth, the Lord made a new\nstart with the family of faithful Noah, to raise up a people that would\nobey Him and be finally redeemed, or brought back to the first dominion.\n\nJesus said, \"As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of\nthe Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they\nwere eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the\nday that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came\nand took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.\"\nMatthew 24:37-39.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe Tower of Babel.\n\n\nNOT long after the flood, some of the descendants of Noah forgot God\nwho had saved their fathers in the ark. They began to worship idols as\nthe people did before the flood.\n\nThen Nimrod gathered these wicked people together and went with them to\nthe plain of Shinar. Nimrod was a grandson of Ham, and a great grandson\nof Noah. He was a mighty hunter, and became famous in the earth.\n\nThe Lord wanted the people to move in small companies into different\nplaces all over the earth. In this way it could be best settled and\nsubdued, or cultivated.\n\nNimrod wanted to build large cities and keep the people together. In\nthis way he wished to establish a government that would finally rule\nthe world.\n\n\"The beginning of his kingdom was Babel.\" In this city they decided to\nbuild a great tower that would be the wonder of the world. They thought\nthey would make the tower so high that they could go to the top of it\nand be safe if ever there came another flood.\n\nGod had promised that He would never again destroy the world by a\nflood, but these people did not believe God. They forgot that if God\ncould bring a flood on the earth He could also destroy any city and\ntower that man could build.\n\nFor a long time the work of building this great tower went forward\nrapidly. It was finished inside into many rooms, some of which were\nused as temples for idol worship.\n\nHow long they were at work on this tower we do not know, but it reached\nto a great height. The builders were much pleased with their work, and\npraised the gods of silver and gold. They believed that these idols\nwere giving them success.\n\n[Illustration: \"Then the people were scattered abroad in the earth.\"]\n\nThen the Lord interfered with their work. He would teach the people\nthat He was the true and all-powerful God. He would show to the world\nthat their idols could not help them nor give them any real success.\n\nIt is always best to trust and obey the true God. He alone can give\ntrue happiness and success. Some people now trust in their riches. Some\ntrust in their strength. Some trust in their education. But almost\nevery day we hear of some rich man who has lost his wealth, some strong\nman who loses his strength by sickness, some educated man who has\nfailed in his work.\n\nBut the man who obeys God and walks in His ways in this world, is sure\nof success. He may not be rich, nor strong, nor have great learning,\nbut he will have true happiness and a reward by and by greater than all\nthe world can give.\n\nBefore building the tower of Babel the whole world spoke one language,\nand the people could understand one another easily. But when their work\nseemed most successful, the Lord made them speak different languages.\nNone could understand what the others were saying.\n\nSoon all was confusion. If the workmen ordered brick sent to them, they\ngot mortar. If they ordered stone, perhaps they got wood. This made the\nworkman very angry, and their work ended in disappointment and strife.\n\nThen the people were scattered abroad in the earth as God intended they\nshould be. The tower was then called the tower of Babel, which means\ntower of confusion.\n\nMany years afterward the city of Babylon was built around this tower,\nand the tower was used as a temple of their god Belus. The tower was\nthen named the Temple of Belus.\n\n[Illustration: \"And he went out, not knowing whither he went.\"]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Call of Abraham.\n\n\nAFTER the people were scattered from Babel, they became more wicked\nthan before. Nearly all turned from the true God, and worshiped idols.\nAbraham remained true to God; but even his father's household were\nbeginning to worship false gods. The world then was about as wicked as\nbefore the flood.\n\nThen God chose Abraham to represent Him in the earth. He would call him\nthe father of the faithful, which means those who have faith, or who\nbelieve God. He would give His truth a new start, as He did when He\nchose Noah before the flood.\n\nGod would not destroy the sinners, as He did at the flood, but would\ncall Abraham out from among them. Then through Abraham He would give to\nthe world the knowledge of the only true God.\n\nBut the Lord must separate Abraham from his own kindred and friends,\nand teach him, and fit him to be the father of a nation that should\nserve Him. Hence Abraham must leave his home, and go where the wicked\nlives of his friends and relatives would not lead him away from God.\n\nAnd God said, \"Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and\nfrom thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee.\" Genesis\n12:1.\n\nAbraham obeyed at once. \"And he went out, not knowing whither he\nwent.\" He loved his home, but he loved to obey God more than he loved\nhis home or friends. He did not even know where he was going. He simply\ntrusted God.\n\nThe Lord led him to the land of Canaan, or Palestine. Lot, who was his\nnephew, was the only one of his relatives who went with him.\n\nAbraham was very rich. He had vast flocks and herds and a large number\nof servants to care for them. Lot had also large flocks and many\nservants.\n\nWhen Abraham finally pitched his tents in Canaan, he was distressed\nto find the country filled with idolatry. Idols were worshiped in the\ntemples and groves, and human beings were sacrificed upon the hills.\n\nBut the Lord appeared to him in the night and said, \"Unto thy seed\nwill I give this land,\" and, \"I will multiply thy seed as the stars of\nheaven.\"\n\nThis gave him hope and courage, \"And there builded he an altar unto the\nLord who appeared unto him.\" Genesis 12:7. He did the same as Abel and\nNoah. He offered a lamb. This shows that he believed in Jesus who was\nto die for the sins of the world.\n\nThe Lord prospered Abraham in Canaan, and his wealth, his flocks and\nherds, increased wonderfully. By the example of his life the Canaanites\nlearned of the true God.\n\nWherever he pitched his tent he built an altar to the true God, and\nmorning and evening called his large family together to sacrifice and\nprayer.\n\nThus the Canaanites learned of the God of Abraham. They saw that the\nLord was with him. But idol worship had so strong a hold upon them that\nfew turned to the true God.\n\nBy and by there came a great drought in Canaan. The rain ceased to\nfall, the streams were dried, and the grass withered. It seemed that\nhis whole encampment must perish.\n\nThen Abraham journeyed to Egypt where he remained until the rains\nagain filled the streams and caused the grass to grow in Canaan.\n\nBy this visit to Egypt the people there learned of the true God. Thus,\nin His own way the knowledge of a promised Saviour was taken by Abraham\nto the great countries of Canaan and Egypt.\n\nIt was God's plan that through Abraham and his descendants the whole\nworld should learn of the \"good news\" of salvation from sin and death,\nthrough Christ who was to suffer for men, and thus buy them back to God\nand happiness.\n\n[Illustration: The Departure of Hagar.]\n\nBut Abraham had no children, and Sarah, his wife, did not believe that\nGod would give her a son. So she got Abraham to marry her Egyptian\nmaid, Hagar. But the Lord said that His promise was not to be fulfilled\nthrough Ishmael, the son of this woman, but through a son whom He would\ngive Sarah. So after Isaac was born, Hagar and Ishmael were sent away;\nfor the Lord had said, \"In Isaac shall thy seed be called.\"\n\n[Illustration: The Flight from Sodom.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe Destruction of Sodom.\n\n\nABRAHAM returned from Egypt \"very rich in cattle, in silver, and in\ngold.\" Lot was still with him, and their flocks and herds became so\ngreat that they could not find pasture for them all together.\n\nSo Abraham said to Lot, \"Is not the whole land before thee? Separate\nthyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take the left hand, then I\nwill go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will\ngo to the left.\"\n\nAbraham was the elder, and the choice should have been his. But he was\nnot selfish, and so gave the choice to the younger man, his nephew.\n\nLot selfishly chose the plain of Jordan. This was the most beautiful\nand productive portion of all the land of Canaan. And he \"pitched his\ntent toward Sodom.\"\n\nBut Lot did not stop to consider that Sodom and the other cities of the\nplain were very wicked. He thought only of his own interests, and was\nsoon living in the city of Sodom itself. His daughters married wicked\nmen of Sodom, and so forgot God. Lot could now see the evil of choosing\nhis home among wicked people.\n\nAt last Sodom and some of the other cities near it became so wicked\nthat God would not suffer them to remain. He must destroy them from off\nthe earth. But first the Lord would tell Abraham what He was about to\ndo.\n\nOne day when it was very warm, Abraham sat in the door of his tent.\nSoon he saw three strangers coming toward him. He ran to them and asked\nthem to come and sit under a tree and rest while he prepared some food\nfor them to eat.\n\nAfter they had eaten, two of the men went toward Sodom, but the third,\nwho was the Lord, or Christ, remained to tell Abraham that He was about\nto destroy Sodom.\n\nThen Abraham began to plead for Sodom. He made many requests of the\nLord, and finally gained the promise that if ten righteous people could\nbe found in Sodom the city would be saved.\n\nIn his child-like faith Abraham felt safe when this promise was made.\nIn the household of Lot alone he thought there must be at least ten who\nwere true to God. But the evil surroundings of Sodom had corrupted even\nthe family of Lot.\n\n[Illustration: \"And the Lord appeared unto Abraham in the plains of\nMamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; and he lift\nup his eyes, and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him; and when he\nsaw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself\ntoward the ground.\" Genesis 18:1, 2.\n\nThe Three Angels.]\n\nThe two angels who left Abraham came to Lot and told him to take his\nsons and daughters, and flee from the city. But these young persons,\nwho were married to the people of Sodom, would not heed the warning.\n\nEarly the next morning the angels told Lot to take his wife and the\ntwo daughters who were with him, and hasten out of the city.\n\nBut Lot lingered, for he was sorry to know that some of his children,\nhis friends, the beautiful city, and all his wealth must be destroyed.\nSo the angels took hold of them and hastened them out of Sodom.\n\nThen the angel said to them, \"Escape for thy life; look not behind\nthee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest\nthou be consumed.\" And then the angel adds, \"For I can not do anything\ntill thou be come thither.\"\n\nThe angel had said, \"Look not behind thee.\" But the treasure of Lot's\nwife was in Sodom. She did not heed the warning of the angel. She loved\nher beautiful home and the riches of Sodom more than she loved God. She\nproved unworthy of the deliverance that the angels of God had brought\nto them, and she turned and looked back to see if God really meant what\nhe said. That very moment she became a pillar of salt, dead and white\nlike a marble statue.\n\nWhen Lot and his daughters were far away, the Lord rained a horrible\ntempest of fire and brimstone upon the cities of the plain, and they\nwere utterly destroyed. The very ground where they stood is now covered\nby the Dead Sea.\n\nThus God showed His hatred of their awful wickedness. They loved sin,\nand were not thankful that God had paid the great price of the life of\nHis only Son in order to save them from doing wrong, if they would only\nask Him for help to do right. Holding on to sin they perished with it,\nas many will perish in the last great \"lake of fire\" \"prepared for the\ndevil and his angels.\" That fire is not being prepared for man; heaven\nis being fitted up for him. Oh that all would accept it!\n\nJesus said, \"In my Father's house are many mansions; I go to prepare a\nplace for you.\" Which place are we preparing ourselves for? We are to\nmake the choice.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nAbraham and Isaac.\n\n\nGOD had promised Abraham that he should be the father of a great\nnation, and that the land of Canaan should be their home. This was not\nto come through Ishmael, but through another son.\n\nGod had also promised that \"in thy seed shall all nations of the earth\nbe blessed.\" Genesis 22:18. Paul says, in Galatians 3:16, that the\n\"seed\" here mentioned is Christ; so Genesis 22:18 is a promise that\nChrist shall come through the family of Abraham. In Christ all nations\nof the earth are blessed, although not all of them accept the blessing.\n\nAbraham was called \"The friend of God,\" because he loved and served the\nLord so faithfully.\n\nHe had a son named Isaac, whom he loved very much. God had told Abraham\nthat Isaac should be his heir, or have all that was Abraham's when he\ndied. All the blessings promised to Abraham were to come to his son\nIsaac.\n\nBut a great trial was to come to Abraham to test his faith in God. The\nLord said to him, \"Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou\nlovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for\na burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.\"\nGenesis 22:2.\n\nWhat a terrible test this was! How could God's promise be fulfilled\nif Isaac should die? But Abraham did not distrust God nor question His\ncommand. He believed that if Isaac should die God would \"raise him up,\neven from the dead.\" Hebrews 11:19.\n\nEarly the next morning Abraham took Isaac and two of his servants and\nprepared for the long journey. They cut the wood and bound it to the\nback of his beast, and started for the place of sacrifice.\n\nNone but Abraham knew of the awful command of God. His heart was very\nsad as they journeyed three days in silence.\n\n[Illustration: Ascent of Mount Moriah.]\n\nOn the third day they came in sight of the mountain God had appointed\nas the place of sacrifice.\n\n\"And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I\nand the lad will go yonder and worship.\n\n\"And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon\nIsaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they\nwent both of them together.\" Genesis 22:5, 6.\n\nAs the two walked on in silence, Isaac finally asked, \"My father,\"\n\"behold the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt\noffering?\"\n\nThis was the first time this question had been asked on the journey.\nWhat pain it must have brought to the heart of the loving father! He\ncould not tell him yet, so he said, \"God will prepare himself a lamb\nfor a burnt offering.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"Lay not thine hands upon the lad.\"]\n\nAt last they came to the appointed place. They built an altar and\nplaced upon it the wood. Abraham must now tell his son the command that\nGod had given. He could keep it no longer.\n\nIsaac heard the message of his fate in sorrow, but he did not resist.\nAbraham was a hundred and twenty years old, and weak from grief. Isaac\nwas twenty years old, and strong and vigorous. He could have escaped\nif he had desired to do so, but he, too, had faith in God, and was\nobedient to his parents.\n\nIsaac let his aged father bind him down to the wood upon the altar,\njust as Jesus was to let Himself be nailed to a cross of wood. The last\ngood-bye had been said, and the last tender words spoken. Then Abraham\nraised the knife to slay his son.\n\nBut before the stroke could fall, an angel calls to him from Heaven,\n\"Abraham, Abraham!\" And the patriarch answers, \"Here am I.\"\n\nThen the angel said, \"Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou\nanything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou\nhast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.\" Genesis 22:12.\n\nWhat a joyful command! How easy it was to obey it! Then Abraham saw\na ram caught in the bushes. This he took and offered upon the altar\nin the place of his son. Then they journeyed back to their home with\njoyful hearts. The Lord blessed Abraham still more because he had\nobeyed Him.\n\n[Illustration: The Lord Directs Abraham's Servant In Selecting a Wife\nfor Isaac. Genesis 24.]\n\nAbraham was willing that Isaac should die, believing it to be best,\njust as God was willing that Jesus should die for us, knowing it to be\nbest.\n\nIsaac was willing to lay down his own life, just as Jesus was willing\nto lay down His life for us.\n\nAbraham was spared the awful sorrow of seeing his son die. Another\nvictim was found. But no one could take the place of Jesus. His Father\nand all the angels in Heaven had to see His dreadful death; and it was\nall for us.\n\n[Illustration: Jacob Deceiving His Father.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nJacob and Esau.\n\n\nISAAC had two sons, named Jacob and Esau. Esau was a little older than\nJacob, and was a hunter of wild animals. Jacob was a shepherd, and\ncared for his father's sheep.\n\nEsau, the daring hunter, was very dear to his father; but Rebekah loved\nJacob most because he was so kind and careful.\n\nGod had said to Rebekah that \"the elder shall serve the younger.\" So\nshe knew that the Lord would especially bless Jacob, and finally give\nhim the birthright, which meant that he was to have a double portion of\nhis father's wealth, and also become the head of the family when his\nfather died.\n\nThe birthright usually went to the eldest son, but the birthright in\nthe family of Isaac must go to the son who would obey God. He was to be\nthe father of God's people,--the children of Israel.\n\nJacob loved God, and was willing to obey Him. He greatly desired the\nblessing which the birthright would bring to him. But Esau did not love\nGod nor care to serve Him. He would rather live the wild, free life of\na hunter, and do as he chose, than have the birthright.\n\nJacob did not trust God as he should, for he feared that Esau would\nhave the birthright because he was the eldest son of Isaac. So he\nstudied all the time to find some plan to get it away from Esau.\n\n[Illustration: Jacob's Dream.]\n\nOne day Esau had been in the fields hunting, but had found nothing.\nOn the way home he became very hungry. Coming to the tent of his\nbrother he found him preparing his dinner of pottage. \"And Esau said to\nJacob, Feed me I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint.\"\n\nJacob forgot that he ought to be kind to his brother. He only thought\nthat this was the chance he had been looking for. \"And Jacob said, Sell\nme this day thy birthright.\"\n\n\"And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die; and what profit shall\nthis birthright do to me?\" So he sold his birthright to his brother for\na good dinner.\n\nYou see Jacob took a mean advantage of his brother when he was faint\nand hungry. This made it easier for him afterward to do another great\nwrong, and deceive his father. One wrong act always makes it easier to\ndo another.\n\nWhen Isaac was very old he became blind. He was still determined to\ngive the birthright to Esau. So one day he told him to go into the\nfield and kill a deer and make some savory meat, and then he would\nbless him.\n\nBut Rebekah heard it, and she was afraid the Lord would let Esau have\nthe birthright. She thought she must do something to help the Lord keep\nHis promise that Jacob should be head of the family.\n\nSo she told Jacob to kill two young goats, and she made savory meat,\nsuch as Esau made from venison. Then she dressed Jacob in Esau's\nclothes, and sent him in to deceive his blind father.\n\nThis was very wicked, for Jacob told lies to his father to make him\nthink that he was Esau. So through falsehood Jacob got the blessing\nwhich made him head of the family.\n\nWhen Esau returned and learned what Jacob had done, he was very angry.\nFearing that his brother would kill him, Jacob fled from his father's\nhouse, and went to Mesopotamia, where his mother's family lived.\n\nHe felt very sorrowful on his journey. He was afraid that his sin was\ntoo great to be forgiven. But one night he confessed it all to God, and\nthen laid his head on a stone for a pillow, and went to sleep.\n\nIn the night the Lord gave him a beautiful dream. In it he saw a ladder\nwhich reached from earth to heaven. On this ladder there were angels\nascending and descending.\n\nAt the top of the ladder Jacob saw his Saviour, who told him that He\nwas the God of Abraham and Isaac, and that He would be his God, and\nmake him the father of a great nation. This was because Jacob was sorry\nfor his sins. The Lord promised to go with him on his journey, and\nfinally bring him back again, and that his children should have the\nland of Canaan for their home.\n\nFrom this place Jacob journeyed until he came to the home of Laban, his\nmother's brother. Here he worked hard twenty years.\n\nOne night the Lord came to him in a dream, and said, \"Arise, get thee\nout of this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.\" Then Jacob\nprepared immediately to return to Canaan.\n\n[Illustration: Jacob and Rachel.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nJacob Returns to Canaan.\n\n\nJACOB had become very rich in sheep and cattle, and had many servants\nto care for them. His journey back to Canaan was slow. He was very sad\nbecause of his sin in deceiving his father.\n\nAs he neared his old home he learned that Esau was coming against him\nwith four hundred armed soldiers. Jacob had no soldiers, and was much\nafraid.\n\nThen Jacob divided his band into two companies, thinking that at least\none might escape. He then sent servants with splendid presents to Esau,\nhoping thus to touch the heart of his brother.\n\nJacob had now done all that he could do. Then he went by himself to\nspend the night in prayer. He knew that God could touch the heart of\nhis brother, and this was his only hope.\n\nWhile praying he suddenly felt a hand laid upon him. He thought it was\nan enemy seeking his life. He put forth all his strength to escape, but\ncould not. Jacob struggled and wrestled until near morning.\n\nThen the stranger touched him on the hollow of his thigh, and his thigh\nwas put out of joint. Then Jacob knew that he had been struggling with\nan angel, and not with a man. It was the Lord, his Saviour.\n\n[Illustration: The Meeting of Jacob and Esau.]\n\nJacob ceased to struggle, and clung to the Angel. He knew he must\nhave divine help or perish. Unless God should work for him, his brother\nEsau would overcome and destroy him.\n\nBut Jacob's faith must be fully tested. The Angel said, \"Let me go, for\nthe day breaketh.\" With the realizing sense of his sins and of his deep\nneed, he clung to his Lord the closer, and cried, \"I will not let Thee\ngo, except Thou bless me.\"\n\nAnd \"he had power over the Angel, and prevailed; he wept and made\nsupplication unto Him; he found Him in Bethel.\" And the Angel said unto\nhim, \"What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And He said, Thy name shall\nbe called no more Jacob, but Israel [A prince of God]; for as a prince\nhast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.\"\n\nIf we come to God as Jacob did, with confession, with tears, and a\nperseverance that will not be denied, we can prevail with Him also.\n\nThe Lord sent an angel to soften the heart of Esau. At sight of Jacob\n\"Esau ran to meet him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him; and they\nwept.\"\n\nJacob journeyed to the Jordan, which he crossed, and \"came in peace to\nthe city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan.\" Here he erected\nan altar which he named \"El-elohe-Israel,\" which means, \"God, the God\nof Israel.\"\n\n[Illustration: Jacob and the Angel.]\n\n[Illustration: The Two Dreams of Joseph.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nJoseph in Bondage.\n\n\nJACOB had twelve sons. The ten elder sons were shepherds. They often\nwent far from home to find grass and water for their father's flocks.\nJoseph and Benjamin, the two younger sons, remained at home with their\nfather.\n\nThe elder sons were quarrelsome, and gave their father much trouble.\nBut Joseph was gentle, kind, and truthful. And Jacob \"loved Joseph more\nthan all his children.\" To show his love, Jacob made him a beautiful\ncoat of many colors. These things made his brothers jealous, and they\nhated him.\n\nBut the Lord was pleased with Joseph because he loved to do right and\nobey his father. God had a great work for Joseph to do. So He gave him\ntwo dreams which came true many years afterward.\n\nIn his first dream Joseph saw himself and his eleven brothers in the\nfield binding grain into bundles, or sheaves. And his bundle arose and\nstood upright, and his brothers' bundles bowed down to his bundle.\n\nProbably Joseph did not know what his dream meant. Had he known, he\nwould not have told it to his brothers. When he did tell it to them\nthey hated him more than ever, and said, \"Shalt thou indeed rule over\nus?\"\n\nSome time after this Joseph dreamed another dream. In this dream he\nsaw the sun, moon, and eleven stars. And they all bowed down to him. He\ntold this dream to his father and to his brethren. And his father said\nto him, \"Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow\ndown ourselves to thee to the earth?\" But years after, when the famine\ncame, the father, brothers, and their families had to depend on Joseph\nfor even the food which they ate.\n\nOne day Jacob sent Joseph to find his brethren, for he wanted to know\nif they were well. They were many miles away caring for the sheep.\n\nWhen they saw Joseph coming, these wicked brothers said one to another,\n\"Behold, this dreamer cometh. Let us slay him, and cast him into some\npit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him; and we shall\nsee what will become of his dreams.\"\n\n[Illustration: Sold to the Ishmaelites.]\n\nBut Reuben would not consent to have Joseph killed, so they took off\nhis beautiful coat, and cast him alive into a pit. Soon a company of\nIshmaelites came along on their way to Egypt. Then the brothers drew\nhim out of the pit and sold him to be a slave.\n\nAfter Joseph was gone, the brothers began to think of their father,\nand what they should tell him. Then to hide their sin they did another\nwicked thing. They killed a young goat and put its blood all over\nJoseph's coat, so it would look as though some wild beast had slain him.\n\nSome of the brothers then took the coat to their father, and told him\nthey had found it. They said they had brought it to him to see if it\nwas Joseph's coat.\n\nAnd Jacob said, \"It is Joseph's coat; some evil beast hath devoured\nhim.\" And Jacob rent his clothes and mourned for his son many days. The\nwicked brothers deceived their father then, but many years afterward\nthe truth came out, and they had to confess their sin.\n\n[Illustration: \"And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath\nshewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art.\"]\n\nJoseph was sold to a rich man in Egypt, by the name of Potiphar. The\nLord blessed Joseph, and Potiphar saw that whatever he did prospered.\nSo he made him steward of all that he had.\n\nBut God had a higher place for Joseph, and he must reach it through\naffliction. In all his troubles it was the Lord who was giving Joseph\njust the training he needed to fit him for the great work before him.\n\nThrough a wicked and false charge of Potiphar's wife, Joseph was cast\ninto prison. But by his honesty he gained the confidence of the keeper\nof the prison, and was given charge of the prisoners.\n\nOne morning he met the chief butler and the chief baker of the king.\nThey had been cast into prison for some offense, and were looking very\nsad. He kindly asked the cause, and each said that he had dreamed a\nstrange dream, and could not tell what it meant.\n\nJoseph then said, \"Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them,\nI pray thee.\" Then they told their dreams, and the Lord told Joseph\ntheir meaning. In three days the butler was to go back to his place\nwith the king, but the baker would be put to death.\n\nThen Joseph told the story of his wrong treatment to the butler, and\nasked him to tell the king, and try to get him out of prison. But the\nbutler was like many other people who soon forget those who were their\nfriends in trouble. When he got out of prison he forgot all about\nJoseph and his request.\n\nBut God was working all the time in His own way. The king had two\ndreams in one night, which seemed to mean the same thing. He wanted to\nunderstand them, so he called in the wise men of his kingdom, but they\ncould not tell what the dreams meant.\n\nNow get your Bible and read the forty-first and forty-second chapters\nof the book of Genesis, and see what these dreams were, and how the\nLord got Joseph out of prison and made him ruler of Egypt.\n\nWhen the dreadful famine came, he had corn saved up to keep the\nEgyptians from starving. Thus the Lord often uses good people to\nprovide for the needs of those who are evil.\n\nBut God had another reason for delivering Joseph from prison. What do\nyou think it was?\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nJoseph and His Brethren.\n\n\nWHEN food began to be scarce with Jacob's family, he sent his ten sons\nto Egypt to buy corn. Joseph knew his brethren when he saw them, but\nthey did not know him. He did not look like the boy whom they had sold.\n\nAs they bowed before him, the ruler of Egypt, he remembered his dreams\nof many years before. He saw them fulfilled completely. As the sheaves\nhad bowed to his sheaf, so his brethren were now bowing to him.\n\nHis heart went out in love for them, but before he should tell them who\nhe was, he wanted to know if they were still wicked, or if their hearts\nhad been changed since he had been separated from them.\n\nJoseph accused them of being spies. But they denied the charge, and\nsaid that they were true men, and a family of twelve brethren. Ten were\nin Egypt, the youngest was with their father, and one was dead. They\nhad never heard of Joseph since they had sold him, and supposed he was\ndead.\n\nBut Joseph still accused them of being spies, and shut them all up in\nprison for three days. These days in prison were days of sorrow. They\nfelt that they were being punished for their cruel treatment of Joseph.\n\nFinally Joseph called them from prison. He told them that all but one\ncould return to their father. He would keep Simeon in prison until they\nshould come back to Egypt, but they must bring their youngest brother\nwhen they came, or Joseph would not even see them.\n\nJoseph chose Simeon to remain because he had been the chief actor in\ntheir cruelty to him in the past. They returned to their home with\nheavy hearts.\n\nWhen the food brought from Egypt was nearly gone, Jacob said to his\nsons, \"Go again, buy us a little food.\" But they dared not go unless\nBenjamin should go with them. To this the father at last consented,\nand they again went to Egypt, taking with them presents for the great\ngovernor.\n\nAs they started, the sorrowful father raised his hands to heaven and\nprayed, \"God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send\naway your elder brother, and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children,\nI am bereaved.\"\n\nWhen they reached Egypt, their brother Simeon was released, and all\nwere brought to dine at the house of the governor. According to the\ncustoms of Egypt, Joseph must eat at a table by himself, and the eleven\nbrothers at a table by themselves. They had been jealous of Joseph in\nhis home, and he wanted to know if they had become better men. So he\nsent five times as much food to Benjamin. They showed no jealousy now.\n\nBut Joseph desired to test them once more. So when the sacks were\nfilled with corn he had his silver drinking cup put secretly into\nBenjamin's sack.\n\nThe eleven brothers departed joyfully, and felt that they had escaped\nall the perils which they feared. But they had hardly left the city\nwhen they were overtaken by the governor's steward.\n\nHe said to them, \"Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?\" He then\naccused them of stealing the cup. They all denied taking it, and felt\nso sure that they said if it was found with one of them he should die,\nand all the rest would become servants of the governor.\n\nBut the steward would not agree to this. He said, \"He with whom it is\nfound shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless.\" So all the sacks\nwere opened, and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.\n\nWhat will the brothers do now? If still selfish, they will leave their\nbrother to his fate, and go back home. But no, they were changed men.\nThey would now face any peril to save their brother. They rent their\nclothes to show their grief, and all went back with him to the city,\nand met the governor.\n\nThen Judah offered to become a slave in the place of Benjamin. This\ntest was enough. Joseph now _knew_ that his brothers were changed.\n\n[Illustration: \"I am Joseph, your brother.\"]\n\nDid he make slaves of them because they had sold him into bondage when\nhe was a boy?\n\nFind the forty-fifth chapter of Genesis and read what he did, and\nhow the king felt about it when he heard the news, and what became of\nJoseph's brothers and their father's family.\n\n[Illustration: Building the Pyramids]\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nMoses.\n\n\nAFTER the death of Joseph \"there arose up a new king over Egypt, which\nknew not Joseph.\" This king did not wish to remember the good that\nJoseph had done.\n\nThe children of Israel had increased in numbers; \"and the land was\nfilled with them.\" The Egyptians feared that if there was a war the\nIsraelites would join their enemies and fight against them.\n\nSo the king made them slaves, and set taskmasters over them to make\nthem work. \"And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in\nmortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field.\"\n\nThey thought that by their cruelty and the hard work in the fields,\nthey would stop the Israelites from increasing in the land. \"But the\nmore they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.\"\n\nThen the cruel king commanded that all the boys should be killed at\ntheir birth. But even this plan did not succeed. The Israelites still\nincreased in the land.\n\nIt was at this time that Moses was born. For three months he was\ncarefully hidden at home and cared for by his mother. But she dared not\nkeep him there any longer. So she made an ark of bulrushes, and laying\nthe babe in it, hid it among the flags by the river.\n\nHis sister Miriam anxiously watched the little ark while the mother\nprayed earnestly that her child might not be destroyed. God heard the\nmother's prayer, for the babe in the little ark was to be used by the\nLord to deliver Israel from bondage.\n\nOne day the daughter of the king came to the river to bathe. She saw\nthe ark, and sent one of her maids to bring it. When she opened it and\nsaw the beautiful child, she knew why it was there, and said, \"This\nis one of the Hebrews' children.\" And the child wept, and Pharaoh's\ndaughter pitied it.\n\nThen Miriam came near and said to Pharaoh's daughter, \"Shall I go and\ncall to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child\nfor thee? And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and\ncalled the child's mother.\n\n\"And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse\nit for me, and I will give thee thy wages.\"\n\nHow glad the mother was to again have the care of her own child. He was\nnow safe, for he was the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter. And better\nstill, he was in the home of his own parents.\n\nThe mother had the care of her boy until he was about twelve years\nold. During these years she taught him carefully about the true God.\nThese lessons he never forgot. They kept him pure and free from the\nwickedness and idolatry which surrounded him in after years.\n\nFrom his humble home he was taken to the royal palace, and became the\nson of Pharaoh's daughter. \"And she called his name Moses,\" which\nmeans, _drawn out_. For, she said, \"I drew him out of the water.\" In\nhis royal home he was trained in all the learning of the Egyptians.\n\nThis training fitted him for the highest position in all Egypt. He\nwas the leader in Pharaoh's army, and became a great general. Pharaoh\ndetermined that when he died, his daughter's adopted son should be\nking. But all the plans of man were \"overruled by God for the training\nand education of the future leader of His people.\" Moses was not to\nshine as king of Egypt.\n\nOne day, when Moses was forty years old, he saw an Egyptian smiting an\nIsraelite. He thought the time had come for him to help his people, so\nhe slew the Egyptian and buried him.\n\nHere Moses made a mistake. He took into his own hands the work which\nGod had promised to do. He supposed his people were to be delivered by\nwarfare, and that he, a skillful general, was to be the leader of the\nHebrew armies.\n\nBut God had a different plan. By His own hand He would bring His\npeople out of bondage. In the delivering of Israel, He would teach the\nEgyptians the knowledge of the true God by such wonders and plagues as\nthey could never forget.\n\n[Illustration: Pharaoh's Daughter finds Moses in the Ark of Bulrushes.]\n\nWhen King Pharaoh learned that Moses had killed the Egyptian, he\ncommanded that he should be slain. But Moses fled toward Arabia, and\nthe Lord led him to Jethro the prince of Midian, whose flocks he cared\nfor during the forty years in which God was preparing him to lead the\nIsraelites out of bondage.\n\n[Illustration: Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Plagues of Egypt.\n\n\nONE day as Moses was leading Jethro's flocks near Mount Horeb, he saw a\nstrange sight. A bush was on fire, but it did not burn up. So he went\nto see what it should mean.\n\nAs he came near, a voice from the bush said to him, \"Put off thy shoes\nfrom off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.\"\nThen Moses knew that it was the Lord who was talking to him from the\nbush.\n\nThe Lord told Moses that the time had come for the Israelites to go\nfree from their bondage in Egypt. He told Moses to start for Egypt, and\nthat his brother Aaron would meet him on the way and go with him.\n\nThey were then to go to Pharaoh and tell him that the God of Israel had\nsent them to him, and that he must let His people go. And he gave Moses\nwonderful signs to show to Pharaoh, so that he would know that God had\nsent them.\n\nWhen Moses and Aaron came before Pharaoh and told him what the Lord had\nsaid, he answered, \"Who is the Lord that I should let Israel go?\" The\nHebrew slaves were very valuable to the Egyptians, and they wanted to\nkeep them, and make them do their hard work.\n\nPharaoh asked them to show a miracle to prove that their God had sent\nthem. Then they performed one of the wonders that the Lord had given to\nMoses. Aaron cast down his rod, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh\ncalled in his sorcerers, who were wicked men claiming to have power to\ndo wonderful things. He showed them what Aaron had done with his rod,\nand asked them if they could turn their rods into serpents.\n\nThen the sorcerers cast down their rods, and they appeared to become\nserpents also. But while they were looking at them, Aaron's serpent\nswallowed the serpents of the sorcerers.\n\nBut the work of the sorcerers was only a deception of their master, the\ndevil. God only could really give life to the staff of Aaron. Neither\nthe devil nor his servants can give life to anything. But the sorcerers\nhad deceived the people and made their work look like God's work.\n\nBy thus deceiving Pharaoh they destroyed the effect of God's miracle,\nand so the king's heart was hardened against letting Israel go. Satan\nis ever counterfeiting, or imitating, the work of God. He often makes\nhis lies appear like God's truth. In this way he leads many away from\nGod.\n\nThen God sent ten terrible plagues upon the land of Egypt. Each one\nwas more awful than the one before it. They were sent to teach the\nEgyptians that the God of Israel was the only true God, and to punish\nthem for refusing to obey Him.\n\n_The First Plague._--The River Nile, which they worshiped, was turned\nto blood.\n\n_Second Plague._--An army of frogs, which the Egyptians considered\nsacred, came up from the river. They went into all the houses, and even\ninto the ovens and the troughs where they made their bread.\n\n_Third Plague._--The very dust of Egypt became lice on both man and\nbeast.\n\n_Fourth Plague._--Swarms of flies came up until \"the land was\ncorrupted\" because of them.\n\n_Fifth Plague._--A \"grievous murrain\" came upon the cattle, so that a\ngreat many of them died.\n\n_Sixth Plague._--Moses sprinkled dust into the air, and it became boils\non man and beast.\n\n_Seventh Plague._--An awful hail, mingled with fire, smote the land,\nand killed all men and beasts that were not under shelter.\n\n_Eighth Plague._--Clouds of locusts came up and ate every green thing.\n\n_Ninth Plague._--\"Darkness which might be felt\" covered the land for\nthree days. It was so dark that the people did not dare to go out of\ntheir houses.\n\nThrough nine plagues Pharaoh's heart had remained hard and rebellious\nagainst God. Egypt was a ruined country because of this. Now the Lord\ntold Moses that He would send one more plague, more terrible than all\nthe others, and then they would be glad to let His people go.\n\nBut before it came, the Hebrews were to \"borrow\" from the Egyptians\n\"jewels of silver and jewels of gold.\" For many years they had toiled\nwithout wages. What they received at this time was only a partial\npayment for their long years of service. This silver and gold would be\nneeded when they should build the tabernacle in the wilderness.\n\n_Tenth Plague._--At midnight the angel of the Lord was to pass through\nEgypt and slay the first-born in every house, and the first-born of\nbeasts.\n\nNone of the other plagues had come near to the land of Goshen where the\nchildren of Israel dwelt. But now they had a part to act or they would\nsuffer with the Egyptians when the destroying angel should pass through\nthe land.\n\nIn order to escape, the Israelites must separate from the Egyptians,\nand come into their own houses. They were to kill a lamb, and, with a\nbunch of hyssop, strike some of its blood upon the door-posts of their\nhouses. Wherever this was done the destroying angel would \"pass over\"\nthe house, and all within it were safe.\n\nThey were also to roast the lamb whole, and eat it at midnight, while\nthe destroying angel was doing his awful work among the Egyptians. They\nwere to eat it standing, their shoes on their feet, their staff in\nhand, ready for flight.\n\nThis most solemn ceremony was called the \"passover,\" because the\ndestroying angel passed over the houses of those who had faith in God's\ncommands and had put the blood upon the door-posts of their houses. The\nchildren of Israel were commanded to keep the passover each year as a\nmemorial of their preservation in Egypt.\n\n[Illustration: Death of the First-born.]\n\nThe passover was also a type of Christ, the Lamb of God. As the blood\nof the passover lamb upon the door-posts saved those in the house from\ndeath, so all will be saved now who confess their sins, believing that\nthe blood of Jesus was shed to save sinners just as surely as the blood\nof the passover lamb saved those who trusted in it.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nOut of Bondage.\n\n\n\"AND it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the\nfirst-born in the land of Egypt; ... and there was a great cry in\nEgypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.\"\n\nAnd Pharaoh \"called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up,\nand get you forth from among my people.\" And he hurried them out of the\nland of Egypt with their flocks and herds and all they possessed.\n\nWhen Jacob went into Egypt his whole company numbered only seventy.\nWhen Israel left Egypt there were six hundred thousand men, beside\nwomen and children. The whole number must have been nearly three\nmillions.\n\nThe Lord went before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of\nfire by night. And the children of Israel went forward and camped by\nthe Red Sea.\n\nAfter Israel had left Egypt, Pharaoh became angry because he had let\nthem go. So he took a very large army and pursued after them, and\novertook them as they were camped by the Red Sea.\n\nThere seemed to be no way of escape for the Israelites. They were\nhedged in between the mountain and the Red Sea, and behind was the army\nof Pharaoh. But the Lord had brought them there to test their faith,\nand show once more how He would deliver them from their enemies.\n\n[Illustration: The Egyptians Overthrown In the Red Sea.]\n\nMoses was commanded to stretch forth his rod, and as he did so the\nsea parted and left a dry road through which the Israelites passed\nover and were safe. And so blind and foolish was Pharaoh that he and\nhis army followed after. When Israel was safe on the other side, Moses\nagain stretched forth his rod, and the sea came back and drowned\nPharaoh and all his army.\n\nThe Lord cared for his people wonderfully on their journey. At Marah\nthe water was bitter, and they could not drink it. The Lord showed\nMoses a tree, and told him to cast it into the water; and when he did\nso it was made sweet and good.\n\nBy and by the food which they had brought from Egypt began to fail.\nThe Lord wanted them to learn to trust Him, and so He was willing they\nshould have difficulties to test them. But they did not trust the Lord.\nThey began to complain and find fault with Moses. God had promised\nto care for them, and if they had only believed Him they would have\nlearned precious lessons and received great blessings.\n\nThen the Lord said to Moses, \"I will rain bread from Heaven for you.\"\nIn the morning they found it on the ground, and called it Manna. Each\none gathered just enough to last through the day. This manna would keep\nfresh and sweet only one day. So they all had to depend on the Lord\nevery day for the food they ate.\n\nIn Egypt the people had forgotten the Sabbath. Now the Lord would have\nthem remember it. So on the seventh day no manna was given. But on the\nsixth day the people gathered enough for two days.\n\nAnd the Lord kept it sweet for them over the Sabbath. This was a\nSabbath lesson for them every week. The Sabbath was made for man, and\ngiven to him at creation as a memorial of God's great work of making\nthe world in six days. But Israel had forgotten. God wants His Sabbath\nkept holy now as well as in the time of Israel in the wilderness.\n\n[Illustration: Water from the Rock.]\n\nWhen they came to Rephidim there was no water, and the people\ncomplained again to Moses. And the Lord told Moses to go to Mount Horeb\nand smite the rock with his staff. When he did so, water burst from the\nrock, enough for the whole camp. It was Moses who smote the rock, but\nthe Lord made the waters to flow.\n\nWhenever the camp was pitched after this they found good water flowing\nfrom the rock for them. This rock was to make them and us think of\nChrist, and the water flowing from it represents the living water of\nthe Word of God which He gives to all who want it.\n\nSoon a new danger arose. The Amalekites came out to attack them. Joshua\nled the armies of Israel against them. While the battle was going on,\nMoses stood on a hill and raised his hands to God and prayed for the\nsuccess of Israel. When he became weary and lowered his hands, the\nAmalekites were successful. Then Aaron and Hur held up the hands of\nMoses until the sun went down, and Israel gained the victory.\n\nThis was to teach Israel that the victory came from God, and that he\nwould hear and answer prayer. It also taught them that they should help\ntheir leader, Moses, in the great work he had to do.\n\n[Illustration: The Camp and Tabernacle in the Wilderness.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nMount Sinai.\n\n\nFROM Rephidim Israel journeyed to Mount Sinai. Here God would give His\nlaw to the people, and here they were to build the tabernacle for His\nholy service.\n\nBefore this time these people had no books to read. God's Word and His\nlaw had been told from father to son, and so remembered. But during the\nslavery in Egypt this instruction had been forgotten by many, until\nthey had become like the heathen around them.\n\nDuring their journey God had spoken to Israel only through Moses. But\nat this time all the people were called together, and God spoke His law\nto them with His own voice.\n\nThe scene which the people saw was terribly grand. There was a thick\ncloud on the mount, and amidst it were thunderings and lightnings. The\nwhole mountain was shaken with an earthquake.\n\nThere was a loud blast of a trumpet from the mount, \"so that all the\npeople that was in the camp trembled.\" Then God spake His law to the\npeople,--the ten commandments recorded in Exodus 20:3-17.\n\nThe children of Israel were always to remember this scene. It was to\nimpress upon their minds the greatness and power of God, the importance\nof His law, and the necessity of obeying it.\n\nMoses was called up into the very presence of God, on the top of the\nmountain. Here God gave him two tables of stone on which He had written\nwith His finger the same ten commandments that He had spoken in the\nhearing of all Israel.\n\nGod's law is as enduring as the stone on which it was written. These\ntwo tables are called \"the tables of the covenant.\" Deuteronomy 9:11.\nThe ten commandments are called God's covenant with His people. \"And He\nwrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.\"\nExodus 34:28.\n\nDavid said that His covenant, or law, was \"commanded to _a thousand\ngenerations_.\" Psalms 105:8. It will _continue forever_. Christ Himself\nsaid, \"Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no\nwise pass from the law.\" Matthew 5:17, 18.\n\nAgain He said, \"Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least\ncommandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least (or,\nof no account) in the kingdom of heaven.\" Matthew 5:19.\n\nThe Apostle James said, \"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and\nyet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.\" James 2:10. Keeping nine\nof the commandments will not save us. If we break _one_ commandment,\nthe law will condemn us as surely as if we broke all the ten.\n\nMan can not change _one single commandment_ of God's law. If he tries\nto do so, it is then only a commandment of men. The worship of those\nwho make or keep such commandments is useless, for God will not accept\nit. Christ said of those who do so, \"But in vain do they worship Me,\nteaching for doctrines the commandments of men.\" Matthew 15:9.\n\nThe only safe course is to take God's law _just as He gave it_ on\nSinai, and obey it _as_ He gave it. Of those who will be alive when\nChrist comes it is written, \"Here are they that keep the commandments\nof God.\" Revelation 14:12.\n\nHeaven will be filled with commandment-keeping people; for it is\nwritten, \"Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have\nright to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the\ncity.\" Revelation 22:14.\n\nWe can not keep these commandments ourselves any more than the children\nof Israel could in the wilderness. It is for this that Christ died on\nCalvary. Through Him we can have forgiveness for our sins, and receive\nhelp to overcome sin and obey the law of God.\n\nWhile Moses was in the mount God gave him instructions for building\nthe sanctuary. It was to be like the one in heaven. In it the Lord\nwould meet His people and give them such instruction as they needed.\nProvision was also made in it for sacrifices and offerings, all of\nwhich were to show their faith in the Saviour to come.\n\nMoses was in the mountain one-ninth of a year. The faith of the people\nwas not strong enough to endure the long separation from their leader.\nThey did not think he would return to them. They said, \"As for this\nMoses, ... we wot not what has become of him.\"\n\nThey came to Aaron and said to him, \"Up, make us gods, which shall go\nbefore us.\" They would make to themselves a calf as their leader to\ntake the place of Moses, and then go on to the promised land without\nhim. The old habits of idol worship in Egypt had come back to them.\n\nSo Israel brought their ornaments of gold to Aaron, and he made of them\na golden calf. The calf represented Apis, the god held most sacred by\nthe Egyptians.\n\nWhen it was done the people gathered around it and cried, \"These be thy\ngods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.\" Exodus\n32:4.\n\nHow could they so soon forget the wonders and plagues brought by the\nLord upon Egypt! How could they forget the terrible day when God spake\nto them His law from the top of Mount Sinai!\n\nAnd the Lord said to Moses, \"Get thee down, for thy people have\ncorrupted themselves.\" As Moses came in sight of the camp of Israel,\nand saw their heathen worship, he was filled with horror and anger.\n\nIn his hands he bore the tables of the sacred law which they were\ntransgressing. He threw them down, and they were broken in pieces at\nthe foot of the mount. This was to remind the Israelites that they had\nbroken God's law which they had promised to obey. In consequence of\nthis they could not claim the promise He had made them.\n\nThrough the pleading of Moses, God spared Israel at this time, but the\nrebellion and evil must be put away from among them.\n\nMoses called for a separation in the camp. Some had not joined in the\nidolatry, but through it all had remained true to God. These were asked\nto take their place at the right hand of Moses. Many others saw how\nwicked they had been, and repented. These took their stand at the left.\n\nOthers were stubborn and would not repent, and would not come by the\nside of Moses at all. About three thousand of the leaders in wickedness\nperished at the command of the Lord, and the camp was cleansed.\n\n[Illustration: The Ark of the Covenant.\n\nAnd thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: ... And thou shalt put\nthe mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the\ntestimony that I shall give thee. Ex. 25:17, 21. And He gave unto Moses\n... two tables of testimony, written with the finger of God. Ex. 31:18]\n\nAaron confessed his sin in making the golden calf, and was forgiven.\nThe calf was ground to powder and scattered in the waters of the brook\nfrom which they drank.\n\nAt the command of God, Moses hewed out two more tables of stone, and\ntook them up to Sinai. On these God again wrote His law. When the\nsanctuary was completed, these tables were placed in a beautiful ark,\noverlaid with gold. For this reason it was called \"The Ark of the\nCovenant.\"\n\nThis ark was the most sacred thing in all the earthly sanctuary. It was\nsacred because it contained the tables on which God had written His\nlaw. It was deposited in the most holy place, into which none but the\nhigh priest ever entered.\n\nOn the top of the ark was the mercy seat, and here was where the glory\nof God rested, and from this place He spake to His people.\n\nWhen the children of Israel were taken captive by the Babylonians, the\nark disappeared, and the Bible makes no mention of it since that time.\n\n[Illustration: Moses Breaking the Tables of the Law.]\n\n[Illustration: The Return of the Spies.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Twelve Spies.\n\n\nAFTER all the work on the tabernacle was done, the Israelites again\ntook up their march toward the promised land. In eleven days they\nreached Kadesh, near the borders of Canaan.\n\nHere twelve spies--one from each tribe--were sent to view the land.\nThey were gone forty days, and on their return brought samples of the\nfruit of Canaan. They brought one cluster of grapes, so large that it\nwas carried on a pole between two of the men.\n\nIn their report to Moses they said, \"We came unto the land whither thou\nsentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the\nfruit of it.\" Numbers 13:17.\n\nOh, if they had only been willing to stop there in their report! But\nthey went on to tell that the land was filled with strong nations.\nThere were walled cities that could not be broken down, and there were\ngiants, the sons of Anak.\n\nThen Israel lost all hope and courage, \"And all the congregation ...\ncried; and the people wept that night.\" And they murmured against Moses\nand Aaron, and said, \"Would God we had died in Egypt! or ... in the\nwilderness.... Let us return to Egypt.\" Numbers 14:2, 4.\n\nWhere now was their faith and trust in God? They had forgotten the\nwonders and plagues and the deliverance from Egypt. They had forgotten\nthe many times God had done wonderful things for them on their journey.\nSurely a God who could do such things could give them the victory over\ntheir enemies in Canaan.\n\nOnly two of the twelve spies kept their faith in God. Caleb and Joshua\ntold the people that God was able to give them the land. \"And Caleb\nsaid, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to\novercome it.\" Numbers 13:30. But the people would not listen to them.\n\nThen God spake to Moses, and told him that Israel had been so\nrebellious that those who came out of Egypt should never enter the land\nof promise. They should wander in the wilderness forty years until they\ndied, and when their children were grown He would bring them into the\nland.\n\nBut Caleb and Joshua had been faithful to God. These two were excepted,\nand of all the men that left Egypt, only these two should finally enter\nCanaan. The other ten spies, who had caused Israel to sin, were smitten\nby the plague, and died in the sight of all Israel.\n\nAll the next night Israel spent in mourning. They now realized what\nthey had lost. But in the morning a new hope came to them. They would\nmake up for their lack of courage. They would now go up and take the\nland.\n\nThe armies of Israel gathered, but Moses said to them, \"Go not up, for\nthe Lord is not among you.\" They had lost their opportunity, and if\nthey went up God would not fight for them.\n\nBut the army of Israel was a vast multitude of over half a million\nsolders. They now felt able to attack their enemies. So against the\ncommand of God they went up to battle with the armies of the Canaanites\nthat had come out to meet them.\n\nBut the ark of God remained in camp, and so did Moses and Aaron, Caleb\nand Joshua. Without a leader, and forsaken of God, the army of Israel\nwas defeated with great slaughter.\n\nThen the Israelites turned back to the wilderness.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Brazen Serpent.\n\n\nTHE Israelites wandered in the wilderness nearly forty years. Then, at\nthe command of the Lord, they again turned their faces toward Canaan.\n\nOn this journey they were permitted to meet many difficulties, that\ntheir faith and trust in God might be tested. They were sometimes short\nof food to eat and water to drink, and as they neared the promised land\ngreat armies came out to destroy them. But the Lord helped them in\nevery trouble, and gave them the victory over their enemies.\n\nPart of their way lay through a hot, sandy desert, where they suffered\nfrom heat and thirst. But, instead of being patient, they rebelled\nagainst God, and found fault with Moses.\n\nThen the Lord let serpents come into the camp, whose bite was like\nfire, and brought sure death. Some in almost every tent were bitten.\n\nThis punishment showed them their sin, and they came to Moses and said,\n\"We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee.\nPray unto the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.\" Numbers\n21:7-9.\n\nIn answer to the prayer of Moses the Lord told him to make a serpent of\nbrass, and raise it up on a pole, so that all in the camp could see it.\nThose who were bitten were told to look at this Serpent and they would\nbe healed. The serpent could not heal them, but to look required faith,\nand faith brought the healing power.\n\n[Illustration: The Brazen Serpent.]\n\nThe Lord could have healed them with a word, but the lesson must\nbe complete. The lifting up of the serpent was to them a type of the\nlifting up of Christ on the cross, for through Him only could they\nreceive pardon and relief from the consequences of sin. The brazen\nserpent was an object lesson to lead the children of Israel to look to\nChrist.\n\nThe Hebrews had the same Gospel, or good news of pardon and salvation\nthrough Christ, that we have. Speaking of them in the wilderness, the\nApostle Paul says, \"For unto us was the Gospel preached as well as unto\nthem.\" Hebrews 4:2.\n\nEvery sacrifice they made for sin, every lamb slain, was to show their\nfaith in \"the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.\"\nJohn 1:29. The blood of the offering was a type of the blood of Christ.\n\nJesus Christ is the great central figure of the Gospel. It was Christ\nwho was with Israel in all their journey from Egypt to the promised\nland.\n\nChrist was the \"Spiritual Rock\" which followed them. He was in the\npillar of cloud by day, and in the pillar of fire by night. He was the\n\"Angel\" that went before Israel; for Jehovah said, \"My name is in Him.\"\n(See Exodus 23:21, 22.) No being bears the name of God but His Son.\n\nSo, in the history of the world, it has not been as some have supposed,\nGod the Father in the Old Testament, and Christ the Son in the New\nTestament. It has been Christ with His people all the way.\n\nIn the Old Testament Christ was their \"Spiritual Rock.\" In the New\nTestament, \"God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.\" 2\nCorinthians 5:19.\n\nBoth the Father and the Son have ever worked for the salvation of man;\nbut Christ has been the active agent in this work. It was God who \"so\nloved the world that He gave His only begotten Son\" for our redemption.\nIt was Christ who made the terrible sacrifice for our salvation.\n\n[Illustration: The Israelites Crossing the Jordan.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nEntering the Promised Land.\n\n\nAS Israel neared the promised land, both Moses and Aaron died. Joshua\nwas then made commander in the place of Moses.\n\nSoon they came to the River Jordan, which they must cross. Here again\nthe Lord made a way for them. He told Israel to go forward, and as the\nfeet of the leaders touched the water, the river stopped flowing from\nabove, and the bed of the stream was left dry. Then the people passed\nover on dry ground, as their fathers had crossed the Red Sea forty\nyears before.\n\nThe book of Joshua tells of the battles that Israel fought with the\ninhabitants of the land of Canaan. These were very wicked nations, who\nwere as bad as the people who lived before the flood. So the Lord used\nthe armies of Israel to destroy those wicked people.\n\nThe first city overthrown was Jericho. This city had very strong and\nhigh walls, and the Hebrews were not able to break them down. But the\nLord could do what man could not.\n\nOne day Joshua saw a man near the camp, with a sword drawn in his\nhand. \"And Joshua went unto him and said, Art thou for us or for our\nadversaries?\n\n\"And he said, Nay; but as Captain of the host of the Lord am I come.\"\nJoshua 5:13-15. Then Joshua knew that it was Jesus Christ, for He is\nthe Captain of the Lord's host.\n\n[Illustration: Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still.]\n\nThe Lord told Joshua what to do. Each day, for six days, all the army\nof Israel was to march around the city. The soldiers were to go ahead,\nthe priests with the ark of God were to come next, and all the rest of\nthe people were to follow.\n\nOn the seventh day they marched around the city seven times. \"And\nit came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the\ntrumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the Lord hath given\nyou the city.\" Joshua 6:16.\n\nAnd when the people shouted, the walls of Jericho \"fell down flat,\"\nand the soldiers went into the city and utterly destroyed it as the\nLord had told them to do. This was to show to all nations that God was\nfighting for Israel.\n\nThe tenth chapter of Joshua also tells of a very wonderful battle\nbetween Israel and five of the kings of Canaan. All day the battle\nlasted, and God fought for Israel, sending down great hailstones upon\ntheir enemies. More were killed by these hailstones than were slain by\nthe Israelites.\n\nAs the conflict raged, Joshua saw that the day would be too short to\nfinish the battle. Then, led by the Spirit of God, he commanded the sun\nand moon to stand still until the work should be fully done.\n\n\"So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go\ndown about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or\nafter it.\" Joshua 10:13, 14.\n\nIn this battle the armies of the wicked Canaanites were utterly\ndestroyed, and their kings slain.\n\nWhen the nations of Canaan were fully conquered, the land was divided\nup and given to the different tribes of Israel, as their home.\n\n[Illustration: Gideon's Three Hundred.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Judges of Israel\n\n\nAFTER the death of Joshua, Israel was governed by judges for many\nhundred years. Sometimes these judges were wicked men, and led the\npeople into the worship of idols.\n\nThen the Lord, although He still loved them, allowed their enemies to\nafflict them, that they might remember that He alone could save them\nfrom their foes and from sin.\n\nThen when they returned to Him, confessed their sins, and put away\ntheir idols, He would choose good and wise men to be their judges. He\nwould then go with their armies to battle, defeat their enemies, and\ndeliver them.\n\nAt one time the armies of Midian afflicted Israel for seven years. At\nharvest time they would come \"as grasshoppers for multitude,\" and take\nfrom Israel \"all the increase of the earth.\" During these attacks the\npeople fled to the dens, and caves, and strongholds of the mountains.\n\nThen Israel cried to the Lord for help, and He raised up Gideon to\ndeliver them. One day an angel appeared to him, as he was threshing\ngrain in secret for fear of the invaders. And the angel told him that\nhe was chosen to \"save Israel from the hand of the Midianites.\"\n\nGideon then prepared food and brought it to the angel. He also asked\nfor a sign that he might know that the words spoken by the angel came\nfrom the Lord. So instead of eating the food, the angel said to Gideon,\n\"Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock,\nand pour out the broth.\"\n\nWhen Gideon had done as he was told, the angel touched the food with\nthe rod in his hand, and fire came out of the rock and burned it. Then\nthe angel disappeared, and Gideon knew that it was the Lord who had\nspoken to him.\n\nAnd the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he made a call for\nsoldiers. But before he dared take command of the army that gathered,\nhe asked for other signs that he might be sure that God had really\nchosen him and would go with him.\n\nSo one night he spread a fleece of wool on the floor, and asked the\nLord that if He had chosen him to lead Israel, to let dew fall on the\nfleece, and the rest of the floor be dry. And in the morning he found\nit so.\n\nThe next night he asked that the dew might fall on the floor and dampen\nit, and the fleece remain dry. This also was done. Then Gideon knew\nthat the Lord had called him to lead the armies of Israel.\n\nGideon's army numbered only thirty-two thousand men, but their enemies\nwere \"like grasshoppers for multitude.\" Yet the Lord told Gideon that\nhis army was too large. The Lord would show all Israel that He would\ndeliver them if they would trust him.\n\nSo Gideon was told to let all who were fearful go back to their homes.\nAs a result, twenty-two thousand men returned, leaving only ten\nthousand.\n\nYet _these_ were too many. The army must be so small that every one\nwould know that it was God alone who gave the victory. So at the\ncommand of the Lord they were led to a brook to drink.\n\nThose who kneeled down and drank were sent home. But there were three\nhundred men whose thoughts were only on the work before them. They\ndipped up the water in their hands, and drank as they went on, with\ntheir faces toward the enemy.\n\nThese three hundred men were then armed for their work, and in a\nstrange manner. Each man was given a trumpet, a pitcher, and a blazing\ntorch hidden in the pitcher. This little army was then divided into\nthree companies, and, in the darkness of night, approached the hosts of\nMidian from three sides.\n\nAt a signal from Gideon, all three companies gave a blast of their\ntrumpets to awaken the sleeping enemy. Then they broke the pitchers and\nlet their torches flame up, and gave the battle cry,--\"The sword of\nthe Lord, and of Gideon.\" To the Midianites it appeared that they were\nsurrounded by a great army.\n\nIn their fear they fled for life. They mistook their own companions for\nenemies, and killed one another. The news of the victory spread, and\nthousands of Israel joined in pursuit of their retreating foes, and the\ngreat army of Midianites was utterly destroyed.\n\nThe strongest and most wonderful Judge of Israel was Samson. According\nto instruction given his mother from the Lord, he was a \"Nazarite\" from\nhis birth. This meant that he was to drink no wine, and the hair of his\nhead was never to be cut.\n\nAs he grew up, the Lord gave him wonderful strength. One day as he was\npassing through a vineyard of the Philistines, a young lion met him. He\nhad no weapons with him, but with his bare hands he tore the lion and\nkilled him.\n\nSoon after this a great army of Philistines came out against Israel.\n\"And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon Samson.\" His only weapon\nwas the jaw bone of an ass; but with this he defeated the whole army of\nthe Philistines, and slew a thousand of them.\n\n[Illustration: Samson Carrying the Gates of Gaza.]\n\nHere was another lesson of what the Lord could do for His people.\nGideon had three hundred men when he fought the hosts of Midian; but\nat this time one man alone won the battle against an army of the\nPhilistines.\n\nAt another time Samson stayed part of a night in a city of the\nPhilistines, called Gaza. And the dwellers in Gaza shut the gates, and\nset men to watch them, so that when he should come out they might kill\nhim.\n\nBut before morning Samson arose, tore down the great gate of the city,\ncarried it on his shoulders to a hill, and left it there.\n\nAll the wonderful things that Samson did, and how he finally died, a\nprisoner to the Philistines, are recorded in Judges 13-16.\n\nAbout fifty years after Samson's death, Samuel was born, who was to\nbe both a judge and a prophet. His mother was a good woman. The Bible\nsays, she \"lent him to the Lord as long as he liveth.\" 1 Samuel 11:28.\n\nEli was priest at this time in the temple of the Lord, and \"the child\nSamuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli.\"\n\nWhile Samuel was a small boy, it came to pass one night, ere the lamp\nof God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was,\nand Samuel was laid down to sleep, that the Lord called Samuel, and he\nanswered, \"Here am I,\" thinking Eli had called him.\n\nThree times this occurred. Then Samuel said, \"Speak, Lord; for Thy\nservant heareth.\"\n\nLet us answer the Lord as did Samuel. He speaks to each of us in His\nword, the Bible.\n\n[Illustration: The Child Samuel.]\n\n[Illustration: The Parting of David and Jonathan.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Kings of Israel.\n\n\nUNTIL the days of Samuel, Israel was not governed by kings. Jehovah had\npromised to be their Ruler and King. Had they been true to Him they\nwould have been prospered and given every needed blessing.\n\nBut the people wanted to be like the nations around them. So the elders\ncame to Samuel and said, \"Make us a king to judge us like all the\nnations.\"\n\nSamuel was a prophet of the Lord, and had been the judge of Israel for\nmany years. Their demand for a king displeased him, for he felt that\nthe people had rejected him.\n\nBut the Lord told Samuel to do as they asked, \"for they have not\nrejected thee, but they have rejected Me.\" And the Lord chose Saul, of\nthe tribe of Benjamin, to be king.\n\nAt the command of the Lord, Samuel anointed Saul as king. A little\nlater he called the people together and presented their new-made king\nto them. And they shouted, \"God save the king!\"\n\nBut Saul soon became proud, and many times refused to obey the Lord.\nThen the Lord rejected Saul and chose David, a young shepherd boy, to\nbe king when Saul should die. And Samuel anointed David to be king in\nthe place of Saul.\n\n[Illustration: David and Saul at the Cave.]\n\nWhen Saul heard of this he was very angry, and tried many times to\nkill David. Saul wanted his son Jonathan to be king when he died. How\nfoolish it was for Saul to try to kill David, when God had said he\nshould be king over Israel!\n\nSo David fled from Saul, and for many years lived among strangers, and\nin the dens and caves of the mountains. But Saul hunted him so many\ntimes that David had to change his hiding place very often.\n\nOne time Saul lay down to sleep in the very cave where David was\nhidden, not knowing he was there. Some of the men who were with David\nwanted him to kill Saul, but he would not do it. He only crept up to\nthe king and cut off a piece of the robe which he wore.\n\nWhen the king had gone, David called to him and showed him the piece he\nhad cut from his garment. Saul saw at once that David could have killed\nhim as easily as he cut a piece from his garment.\n\nThen Saul promised David that he would not again try to destroy him.\nBut David did not trust his promises; and it was well he did not, for\nSaul was soon hunting him as wickedly as before.\n\nNotwithstanding David was hated by Saul, his son Jonathan loved David.\nThey were as brothers to each other. Jonathan was a true servant of\nGod. He was always true to David, and whenever he could aid him in\nescaping from his father, he did so, notwithstanding he knew that David\nwas to be made king instead of himself. This shows that he was one of\nthe most generous and lovable characters recorded in the Bible.\n\nFinally there was a great battle between Saul's army and the\nPhilistines. In this battle Jonathan was slain, and Saul fell on his\nown sword and killed himself.\n\nSoon after this David was made king. In most things he was a good\nking, and obeyed the Lord and ruled Israel well. He was a great\nwarrior, and subdued the enemies of his people.\n\n[Illustration: Solomon and the Queen of Sheba]\n\nAt the death of David, his son Solomon was made king. He was a very\nwise man and a good king. It was he who built at Jerusalem the\nwonderful temple for the service of the Lord.\n\nThe wisdom and riches of Solomon were so wonderful that his fame was\nspread abroad in all the earth. And the queen of Sheba, in Arabia, came\nto see if all the reports she had heard were true.\n\nAnd the queen asked Solomon hard questions; but he was able to answer\nevery one of them. She was then shown the riches and wonderful works of\nSolomon.\n\nWhen ready to return to her own land she told Solomon that she had\nheard wonderful reports about him and his kingdom, but she had not\nbelieved them. Now, she said, \"Mine eyes have seen it; and, behold, the\none-half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me.\" 2 Chronicles\n9.\n\nAfter the days of Solomon, Israel was ruled by many kings. Some of them\nwere good, and their rule brought the blessing of God to their people.\nBut many were wicked men who led Israel into sin and idolatry. Then the\nLord could not protect them, and their enemies would afflict them.\n\nThe history of Israel is a sorrowful story. God wanted to bless them\nand make them the light of the world. He wanted to show the whole world\nwhat wonderful things He would do for those who were faithful to Him.\nBut they preferred their own way, and in consequence perished as a\nnation.\n\nThe apostle Paul says that \"all these things happened unto them for\nensamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends\nof the world are come.\" 1 Corinthians 10:11.\n\n[Illustration: Daniel in the Den of Lions]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Prophets of Israel.\n\n\nAFTER Samuel, the sixteen prophets whose writings bear their names in\nthe Bible, may be classified as follows:--\n\n(1) Those before Israel's Babylonian captivity, namely: Jonah, Joel,\nAmos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah.\n\n(2) Those near to, and during the captivity: Nahum, Zephaniah,\nHabakkuk, Jeremiah, Daniel, Obadiah, Ezekiel.\n\n(3) Those after the return from the captivity in Babylon: Haggai,\nZachariah, Malachi.\n\nThe books which bear these names in our Bible are not arranged in the\norder in which they were written; but in the order of their supposed\nimportance. But man can not tell which part of God's word is most\nvaluable. \"All scripture is given by inspiration of God.\"\n\nPeter says that \"the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man;\nbut holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.\" 2\nPeter 1:21.\n\nWe will refer to a few prophecies which have been fulfilled:\n\nIsaiah mentions by name the Persian prince, Cyrus, 200 years before he\nwas born, and tells what he should do. Compare Isaiah 44:28 with Ezra\n1:1, and notice the dates in the margin of your Bible.\n\nIsaiah also foretold and described the sufferings of Jesus. Compare\nthe fifty-third chapter of Isaiah with Luke 22:37; John 1:10, 11;\nMatthew 8:17; 1 Peter 2:24, 25; Acts 8:32-38; Luke 22:37; Matthew\n27:57-60.\n\nForty-seven of the sixty-six chapters in Isaiah are referred to in the\nNew Testament, and Jesus twice mentioned Isaiah by name. Matthew 13:14;\nMatthew 15:37.\n\nJeremiah prophesied that Jerusalem should be destroyed, and that during\nthe siege the famine should be so great that the Jews should \"eat the\nflesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters.\" Jeremiah 19:9.\n\nThis prophecy was given six hundred and five years before Christ, and\nit was fulfilled when the Roman army surrounded Jerusalem, A. D. 70,\nthirty-six years after the crucifixion of Jesus.\n\nSome of the most wonderful of the prophecies are in the book of Daniel.\nThe history of the world since his time is given plainly in chapters\ntwo, seven and eight.\n\n[Illustration: Daniel Interpreting the King's Dream.]\n\nIn the second chapter the Lord foretold, by a dream, what should come\nto pass from that time to the end of the world.\n\nDaniel, a prophet of the Lord, was given wisdom to tell the king his\ndream, which he had forgotten, and also its meaning, after the false\nprophets had confessed that they could not do so.\n\nDaniel said: \"There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and\n_maketh known_ to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the _latter\ndays_.\" Daniel 2:28.\n\nSo the interpretation is for us, because \"the secret things belong unto\nthe Lord our God; but _those things which are revealed belong unto us\nand to our children_.\" Deuteronomy 29:29.\n\nProphecy is history told in advance. The Lord is the only one who can\ndo this without making a mistake.\n\nTurn to Daniel 2:31-36, and read the dream. Verses 37 to 45 interpret\nit plainly, showing that the four parts of the image mean four great\nkingdoms.\n\nHistory tells us that the Babylonian kingdom, symbolized by the head\nof gold, was conquered B. C. 538 (five hundred and thirty-eight years\nbefore the time of Christ), by the Medo-Persians, represented by the\nbreast and arms of silver. Cyrus was their general.\n\nThe Medo-Persians were overcome by the Grecians, under Alexander, 331\nB. C. The brass thighs of the image represent their kingdom.\n\nThe Romans, \"strong as iron,\" signified by the legs of iron, subdued\nthe Grecians in the year 168 B. C.\n\nThe feet and toes of the image represent the ten parts into which the\nRoman empire was divided between the years 351 and 476 after the birth\nof Christ.\n\nThese parts of Rome exist in Europe to-day, under the names, England,\nGermany, France, Spain, Italy, etc., and will continue separate (see\nverse 43) until the kingdom of Christ is set up, represented by the\nstone \"cut out of the mountain without hands,\" which \"shall break in\npieces and consume all these kingdoms, and shall stand for ever.\" Jesus\nsaid, \"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.\"\n\n[Illustration: Swords and Plowshares, Spears and Pruning Hooks.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: They that take the Sword shall Perish with the Sword....]\n\n\n\n\nWhat the Bible Says About War.\n\n\nTHE great Teacher said, \"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you,\ndo good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use\nyou.\" Matthew 5:9, 39-44.\n\nWhen everybody does this, there will be no war. All will be righteous;\nfor \"love is the fulfilling of the law,\" God's standard of right-doing.\n\nBut no person can love everybody without a change of heart. \"Ye must be\nborn again,\" said Jesus. This change, or new life, comes by _believing_\nthat God will change us. It is only when we stop believing right that\nwe stop doing right.\n\nIf the world would believe, the world would be converted, or changed;\nbut the parable of the tares and the wheat (Matthew 13:36-43), and\nwhat Jesus said about the \"many\" in the broad way and the \"few\" in\nthe narrow way (Matt. 7:13, 14), show that \"many are called, but few\nchosen.\"\n\nYet thousands of people are prophesying \"peace and safety\" (1\nThessalonians 5:1-5), forgetting that \"evil men and seducers shall wax\nworse and worse, deceiving and being deceived\" (2 Timothy 3:13), and\nthat the \"tares,\" or sinners, are finally to be destroyed instead of\nbeing changed over into wheat. \"Ye will not come unto Me,\" said Jesus.\n\nOne of the prophecies of Isaiah (2:2-5) says that \"many people\" \"in\nthe last days\" shall talk about peace as if it were coming soon by the\nconversion of the world. The marginal reading of Isaiah 2:16, calls\nsuch talk \"pictures of desire,\" and says they shall \"be brought low\"\n(verse 12).\n\nVerses three to five tell what the \"_people_\" are saying. Verses six to\ntwenty-two are the _prophet's_ declarations because of what the people\nhave said. He foretells destruction for those who do not repent, the\nsame as does the prophet Joel. It will be a time of general war. Here\nare the _people's_ sayings and the _Lord's_ sayings, side by side. They\nare direct opposites; yet both refer to \"the last days,\" when \"the day\nof the Lord is near:\"\n\n\"It shall come to pass in _THE LAST DAYS_ that ... _MANY PEOPLE_ shall\nsay, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the\nhouse of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we\nwill walk in his paths:...\n\n\"And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people:\nand they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into\npruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither\nshall they learn war any more.\n\n\"O house of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord.\"\nIsaiah 2:2-5.\n\nProclaim ye this among the Gentiles. Prepare war, wake up the mighty\nmen, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:\n\n\"Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears:\nlet the weak say I am strong.... Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest\nis ripe: come, ... for their WICKEDNESS is great.\n\n\"Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the\nLord is near in the valley of decision.\" Joel 3:9-16.\n\nThe _DAY OF THE LORD_ \"shall come as _A DESTRUCTION_ from the\nAlmighty.\" Isaiah 13:6-11.\n\n[Illustration: John the Baptist by the Jordan.]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Birth of Jesus.\n\n\n\"THERE was a man sent from God, whose name was John.\n\n\"The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all\nmen through Him might believe.\n\n\"He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.\"\nJohn 1:6-8.\n\n\"As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send My Messenger before\nThy face, which shall prepare Thy way before Thee.\n\n\"The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the\nLord, make His paths straight.\n\n\"John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of\nrepentance for the remission of sins.\n\n\"And there went out unto him all the land of Judea, and they of\nJerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan,\nconfessing their sins.\n\n\"And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin\nabout his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;\n\n\"And preached, saying, There cometh One mightier than I after me, the\nlatchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.\n\n\"I indeed have baptized you with water; but He shall baptize you with\nthe Holy Ghost.\" Mark 1:2-8.\n\n[Illustration: The Wise Men Following the Star.]\n\nIn ancient times, when a king made a visit to another country, he sent\nmessengers before him. These messengers would see that there was a good\npath for him to travel, and that the people where he was going were\nready to receive him.\n\nJohn the Baptist was God's messenger, sent to arouse the people of this\nworld, and prepare them to receive Jesus when He should come to visit\nthem.\n\nBefore Jesus came to this earth He was a great King in heaven. Paul\nsays He was \"equal with God.\" Philippians 2:6.\n\nWe can never understand how the Son of God, the great King of heaven,\ncould come to this earth as a babe. This is one of God's great\nmysteries.\n\nBut he did come in just this way. He was born in a manger in Bethlehem.\nComing in this humble manner, the priests and rulers of Israel were not\nready to receive this Babe as their Saviour. They were looking for Him\nto come as a great King, in pomp and splendor.\n\nBut there were on the plains of Bethlehem some humble shepherds who\nwere looking and waiting for the promised Messiah. To them angels were\nsent to tell of the birth of Jesus.\n\nAnd the angel said, \"Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling\nclothes, lying in a manger.\" And they went to Bethlehem in haste, and\nfound the infant Jesus as the angel had told them.\n\nGod meant that others, as well as the Jews, should know that the\nSaviour had come to begin His work on earth. Away off in the Eastern\ncountry there were wise men who had read the prophecies about the\nMessiah, and believed that He would soon appear.\n\nOne night these men saw a wonderfully bright star in the sky, moving\ntoward the land of Judea. They believed this to be a sign that the\nMessiah had come. So they followed the star, and it brought them to the\nmanger in Bethlehem.\n\n\"And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child\nwith Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him; and when they\nhad opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and\nfrankincense, and myrrh.\n\n\"And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to\nHerod, they departed into their own country another way.\n\n\"And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth\nto Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and His\nmother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word:\nfor Herod will seek the young child to destroy Him.\"\n\n[Illustration: The Shepherds Worship Jesus.]\n\nFind the second chapter of Matthew, and read about the flight into\nEgypt, and why they finally went to Nazareth, in Galilee, instead of to\na city of Judea. Verses 15 and 23 tell the reason.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Childhood of Jesus.\n\n\nTHE early life of Jesus was spent in Nazareth, a small city in the\nnorthern part of Palestine. His parents were very poor, and He had only\nwhat poor children have.\n\nHis father was a carpenter, and Christ learned the carpenter's trade\nand worked with him. From His earliest days He was a pattern of\nobedience and industry. He was used to a life of hardship and toil, and\ncan comfort all those who must work for a living.\n\nOf the childhood of Jesus it is written, \"The child grew, and waxed\nstrong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon\nHim.\" Luke 2:40.\n\nThe mother of Jesus was His first earthly teacher. From her lips, and\nby reading the prophecies, He was taught of heavenly things and of His\nmission to this world.\n\nThe wonderful truths which He Himself had spoken to Moses and the\nprophets, He was now taught by His mother. The Holy Spirit gave her\nwisdom to teach Him aright. All parents should teach their children as\nJesus was taught, that every child may obtain knowledge as Jesus did.\n\nJesus left all His glory and power when He came to earth as a babe. He\ntook His place by the side of the fallen men of earth. He came \"in the\nlikeness of sinful flesh.\" He was subject to all the temptations and\nweakness of our fallen race.\n\n[Illustration: Jesus among the Teachers of the Law.]\n\nYet by the power of God He was kept from yielding to the temptations\nwhich surrounded Him. This power He gained by earnest prayer to His\nFather in Heaven. This power every child and man can obtain in the same\nway.\n\nIn His humble life, as the child of poor parents, He faithfully did\nHis part of the work. Ever obedient and cheerful, He was as a pleasant\nsunbeam in the home circle.\n\nOnce a year His parents went up to Jerusalem to attend the passover.\nWhen Jesus was twelve years of age He went up with them.\n\nWhen the feast was over, Joseph and Mary started for home with a\ncompany of friends, but Jesus remained in Jerusalem. They supposed He\nwas in the company, and did not miss Him until they had journeyed a\nwhole day. Then they turned back to find Him.\n\n[Illustration: Jesus in the Carpenter Shop.]\n\n\"And it came to pass, that after three days, they found Him in the\ntemple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and\nasking them questions.\" Luke 2:46. These doctors were learned men in\nthe Scriptures, yet they were astonished at the questions and answers\nof Jesus. They soon saw that He had a deeper knowledge of the Word of\nGod than they had, although He was so young.\n\nJesus seemed to know the Scriptures from beginning to end. He repeated\nthem in such a way that their true meaning shone out. His knowledge of\nthe Scriptures made them ashamed.\n\n\"Though Christ seemed like a child that was seeking help from those who\nknew a great deal more than He did, yet He was bringing light to their\nminds in every word He spoke.\" While appearing to instruct Jesus, these\ndoctors were asking questions and learning Bible truths which they did\nnot understand.\n\nAnd while Jesus was thus teaching others, \"He Himself was receiving\nlight and knowledge about His own work and mission in the world; for it\nis plainly stated that Christ 'grew in knowledge.'\"\n\nWhen Mary found Him she said, \"Son, why hast Thou thus dealt with\nus? Behold, Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing.\" And Jesus\nanswered, \"How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be\nabout My Father's business?\"\n\nHis parents could not understand Him then, but when He began His\nministry it was plain to them.\n\n\"And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto\nthem; but His mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus\nincreased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.\" Luke\n2:41-53.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\nThe Early Ministry of Jesus.\n\n\nWHEN Jesus was about thirty years of age, He went to be baptized by\nJohn in the River Jordan. He was not baptized because He was a sinner,\nbut to set an example for all to follow.\n\nWhen He came out of the water the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove,\ndescended from Heaven upon Him. Then the voice of God was heard, saying\n\"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.\"\n\nThe descent of the dove upon Christ was His anointing for the work of\nthe ministry that was before Him. From the Jordan the Spirit led Him\ninto the wilderness, where He fasted forty days, and where the devil\ntempted Him in many ways, as recorded in Matthew 4:1-11.\n\nFrom the wilderness He returned to the Jordan, and began to choose His\ndisciples. We next hear of Him at the marriage at Cana of Galilee,\nwhere He performed the wonderful miracle of turning water into wine.\n\nSoon after this, Jesus went to Jerusalem to attend the feast of the\npassover. As He entered the temple where God was worshiped, He found\nthe court filled with cattle, sheep, and birds, for sale to those who\nwould buy sacrifices for their sins.\n\nCheating and robbery were carried on in the very temple court. Even\npriests and rulers were engaged in this unholy traffic. As Jesus stands\non the temple steps His eye views the whole scene. His countenance\nchanges, and all seem compelled to look upon Him.\n\n[Illustration: Jesus Drives the Buyers and Sellers from the Temple.]\n\nAll trading ceased, and there was silence in the temple court. Then,\nraising a whip of small cords, He cried, \"Take these things hence; make\nnot My Father's house an house of merchandise.\" John 2:16.\n\nPriests, and rulers, and merchants fled in terror from the temple. They\ncould not endure the look on His face nor the power of His voice. The\ndivine power had flashed through the humanity of Christ.\n\nAfter a time the crowd that had fled at the words of Jesus came slowly\nback; but what a change had taken place! Instead of unholy trade, they\nsaw the Saviour healing the sick who were pressing around Him.\n\nOn every side was heard the urgent, pitiful appeals, \"Master, bless\nme.\" All were healed who came to Him. The lame were made to walk, the\ndumb to speak, and the blind to see.\n\nThe mothers brought their children to be healed and blessed. The little\nsufferers were returned to their mother's arms with the bloom of health\nand the smile of happiness on their faces.\n\nJesus loved the children because they were so pure and innocent and\nsimple in their ways. He took them as an example of the purity and\nsimplicity that should show in the lives of those who should follow Him.\n\nOne day some mothers brought their children to Jesus, hoping that He\nwould bless them. But He had worked a long time, and needed rest. So\nHis disciples rebuked the mothers, and told them not to trouble the\nMaster.\n\n\"But when Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said unto them,\nSuffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not; for of\nsuch is the kingdom of God.\" Mark 10:14.\n\nThe pen of Julia Gill has given the following beautiful description of\nthis scene:--\n\n[Illustration: Jesus Blessing the Children.]\n\n\n\n\nChrist and the Little Ones.\n\n\n    \"THE Master has come over Jordan,\"\n      Said Hannah, the mother, one day,\n    \"He is healing the people who throng Him,\n      With a touch of His finger, they say.\n\n    \"And now I shall carry the children--\n       Little Rachel, and Samuel, and John,\n     I shall carry the baby, Esther,\n       For the Lord to look upon.\"\n\n    The father looked at her kindly,\n      But he shook his head and smiled;\n    \"Now, who but a doting mother\n      Would think of a thing so wild?\n\n    \"If the children were tortured by demons,\n       Or dying of fever, 'twere well,\n     Or had they the taint of the leper,\n       Like many in Israel.\"\n\n    \"Nay, do not hinder me, Nathan--\n       I feel such a burden of care;\n     If I carry it to the Master,\n       Perhaps I shall leave it there.\n\n    \"If he lays His hand on the children,\n       My heart will be lighter, I know,\n     For a blessing for ever and ever\n       Will follow them as they go.\"\n\n    So over the hills to Judah,\n      Along the vine-rows green,\n    With Esther asleep on her bosom,\n      And Rachel her brothers between,\n\n    'Mong the people who hung on His teaching,\n      Or waited His touch and His word,\n    Through the row of proud Pharisees listening,\n      She pressed to the feet of the Lord.\n\n    \"Now, why shouldst thou hinder the Master,\"\n      Said Peter, \"with children like these?\n    Seest not how, from morning till evening,\n      He teacheth, and healeth disease?\"\n\n    Then Christ said, \"Forbid not the children--\n      Permit them to come unto Me.\"\n    And He took in His arms little Esther,\n      And Rachel He set on His knee;\n\n    And the heavy heart of the mother\n      Was lifted all earth-care above;\n    And He laid His hands on the brothers,\n      And blest them with tenderest love.\n\n    As He said of the babes in His bosom,\n      \"Of such is the kingdom of heaven,\"\n    New strength for all duty and trial\n      That hour to her spirit was given.\n\n[Illustration: At the Home of Mary and Martha]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nJesus in the Home.\n\n\nON earth Jesus had no home of His own. He said of Himself, \"The foxes\nhave holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man\nhath not where to lay His head.\" See Matthew 8:20.\n\nHe never remained long in one place. We read of His beautiful teachings\nand wonderful miracles in all parts of Palestine. At one time He is on\nthe shore of the Sea of Galilee. At another time He is in Jerusalem,\ncleansing the temple and healing the sick. Then He is by Jacob's well,\nin Samaria, teaching the people of Sychar the way to everlasting life.\n\nHe had no home of His own, but many were glad to receive Him as a loved\nand honored guest. When in these homes He more than repaid them for\ntheir care, by the beautiful lessons He taught, and the sorrows He\ncomforted.\n\nAnd we can have Jesus in our homes to-day just as truly as they had Him\nwhen He was on earth. If we invite Him, He will come into our homes and\ndwell with us, and teach us, and help us in all our trials, and comfort\nus in all our sorrows.\n\nIn the little town of Bethany, near Jerusalem, was the home of Lazarus\nand his sisters Mary and Martha. At this pleasant home the Saviour was\nalways welcome. This whole family believed in Jesus and His mission,\nand eagerly listened to the words which He spake.\n\nIn this peaceful home Jesus often found rest. When weary, and feeling\nthe need of human sympathy, He was glad to escape from the throngs of\npeople, and the contentions of the wicked Pharisees, for the quiet and\npeace of this humble home.\n\nAt the time of His first visit to Bethany, His disciples came with Him\nto the home of Lazarus. Here He had no enemies to watch his words, and\nHe taught the great truths of the gospel plainly, and not in parables.\n\nPrizing these lessons, Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, an eager listener\nto the wonderful words of life. But Martha was busy preparing food for\nthe guests. She was very anxious that they should be comfortably cared\nfor.\n\nMartha felt that her sister was not helping in the work as she ought,\nand came to Christ, and said, \"Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister\nhath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.\"\n\nBut Jesus answered, \"Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled\nabout many things; but one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen that\ngood part which shall not be taken away from her.\" Luke 10:40, 41.\n\nThe most important thing in this world is to learn the great lessons\nwhich Jesus teaches. There is need for the Marthas with their zeal and\ncarefulness for the work and servants of God. But first they should,\nlike Mary, learn at the feet of Jesus.\n\n    \"Happy the home where Jesus' name\n       Is sweet to ev'ry ear;\n     Where children early lisp His fame,\n       And parents hold Him dear.\n\n    \"Lord, may we in our homes agree,\n       This blessed peace to gain;\n     Unite our hearts in love to Thee,\n       And love to all will reign.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Miracles of Jesus.\n\n\nDURING His mission on earth, Jesus performed many wonderful miracles.\nHe healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, made the deaf to hear,\ncleansed the lepers, raised the dead, stilled the storm, and did many\nother wonderful works.\n\nAt one time Jesus had been teaching all day in a desert place. As the\nnight came on the disciples asked Him to send the people away that they\nmight go into the villages and buy food to eat.\n\nBut Jesus answered, \"Give ye them to eat.\" They were astonished at\nthis, for there were five thousand people to be fed, and they had only\nfive loaves and two small fishes.\n\nThen Jesus took the loaves and fishes and blessed them, and divided\nthem among the people. \"And they did all eat, and were filled. And they\ntook up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes,\" Mark\n6:39-44\n\nAt another time four of the disciples fished all night on the Lake\nof Gennesaret, or Galilee, and had caught nothing. And Jesus said to\nPeter, \"Launch out into the deep, and let down your net for a draught.\"\n\nBut Peter was discouraged, and said, \"Master, we have toiled all the\nnight and have taken nothing; nevertheless at Thy word I will let down\nthe net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude\nof fishes; and their net brake.\" Luke 5:1-7.\n\n[Illustration: The Net Full of Fishes.]\n\nThen Peter and Andrew called to James and John to come with their boat\nand help them. And both boats were filled with the fish.\n\nSome time after this miracle, Jesus and the disciples were crossing\nthis same lake, and a terrible storm arose. But Jesus was lying asleep\non one of the hard seats of the boat.\n\nThe disciples worked hard to save the boat; but when it began to fill\nwith water, they awoke Him, and said, \"Master, Master, we perish.\" And\nthe Saviour rebuked the storm, and it ceased, and the waters became\nstill.\n\nEvery miracle performed by Jesus had a lesson for us. These miracles\nshow that the Lord can control every element for the good of His people\nand work. They also show that He can provide for all our wants.\n\nWherever Jesus went, the sick and the suffering were brought to Him,\nand He never turned them away. By a touch the blind received their\nsight. By a word the deaf were made to hear, and the lame to walk.\n\nTo the appeal of the lepers He said, \"I will, be thou clean,\" and they\nwere cured of their loathsome disease. At His command the devils were\ncast out, and those having all manner of diseases were healed.\n\nAll sickness and suffering are the result of sin. When the same dear\nhand that healed the sick on earth shall destroy sin, all sickness and\nsuffering shall be forever ended.\n\nAmong the many miracles of Jesus, even the dead were raised to life.\nThe daughter of Jairus, a ruler in Israel, was sick, and before Jesus\nreached her she died. Yet He took her by the hand, and said, \"Damsel, I\nsay unto thee, arise.\" And she was raised to life and perfect health.\nSee Mark 5:22-43.\n\nThe son of the widow of Nain was raised from the dead as he was being\ntaken to the place of burial. See Luke 7:11-15.\n\nBut the greatest exhibition of divine power was in the raising of\nLazarus, who had been dead four days. He had been dead so long that no\none even thought of his being raised.\n\nBut when the stone was rolled away, Jesus cried, \"Lazarus, come forth!\"\nAt the call of the Life-giver, he that had been dead came to the door\nof the sepulcher. And Jesus said, \"Loose him, and let him go.\" These\nmiracles show that Jesus can break the power of death. When He shall\nagain come to this earth He will bring the final reward to His people.\nSee Revelation 22:12.\n\n[Illustration: The Mighty Healer.]\n\nPaul based his future hope on the resurrection. \"For if the dead rise\nnot, then is not Christ raised; and if Christ be not raised, your faith\nis vain, ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which have fallen\nasleep in Christ are perished.\" 1 Cor. 15:16-18.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Parables of Jesus.\n\n\nMUCH of the teaching of our Saviour was made plain by the use of\nparables, or object lessons. He took the things of every-day life, with\nwhich all were familiar, to illustrate the truths of eternal life.\n\n\"And He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves\nthat they were righteous, and despised others:\n\n\"Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the\nother a publican.\n\n\"The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank Thee,\nthat I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or\neven as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all I\npossess.\n\n\"And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his\neyes unto Heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to\nme a sinner.\" Luke 18:9-13.\n\nOur own righteousness is nothing but \"filthy rags.\" Our own good deeds\ncan never save us. Prayer is simply coming to God as our Father. It is\ntelling Him of our needs, and thanking Him for His blessings.\n\nThe Pharisee felt no need, and so received no blessing. The publican\nknew he was a sinner, and asked for the mercy of God. Hence he went\nfrom the temple forgiven, \"justified,\" made just before God. His record\nwas made clean on the books of Heaven.\n\n[Illustration: The Pharisee and the Publican]\n\nIn another parable Jesus said, \"There was a certain rich man, which\nwas clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day.\n\n\"And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his\ngate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell\nfrom the rich man's table.\" See Luke 16:19-31.\n\nThe rich man died and was punished, because he had not made God his\nhope and trust. But Lazarus, although poor and afflicted, had been a\nservant of the Most High God. He also died, but received the glorious\nreward which God has in store for all who obey Him.\n\nThis parable teaches that riches are no sign of God's favor; neither\ndoes poverty indicate that one is rejected of God. At another time a\nlawyer asked Jesus, \"Who is my neighbor?\"\n\n[Illustration: The Rich Man and Lazarus.]\n\nJesus answered with a parable. A man traveling from Jerusalem to\nJericho was met by thieves, who beat him, and robbed him, and left him,\nsupposing he was dead.\n\nA priest came that way, but passed by on the other side of the road. A\nLevite also came and looked at him, and then went away without giving\naid. But at last, one of the Samaritans (a people despised by the Jews)\ncame along. When he saw the wounded man, he bound up his wounds, lifted\nhim onto his beast, took him to an inn, and cared for him.\n\nThen Jesus asked, \"which now of these three, thinkest thou, was\nneighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?\" And the lawyer could\nonly answer, \"He that showed mercy on him.\" Then Jesus said, \"Go, and\ndo thou likewise.\" See Luke 10:25-37.\n\n[Illustration: The Good Samaritan.]\n\nOur neighbor is any human being in need. A man despised may be living\nout the principles taught by Christ, better than the ones who despise\nhim.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Death and Resurrection of Jesus.\n\n\nAFTER three years and a half of ministry, Jesus came to Jerusalem to\neat the last passover. From the supper room He went with His disciples\nto the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus knew that the time for His suffering\nand death had now come, and He went to the garden for one last season\nof prayer to His Father.\n\nWe can never understand the terrible sufferings of Christ in\nGethsemane. He was to suffer for the sins of the world. He must feel\nthe displeasure which God has for sin.\n\nSo great was His mental agony that drops of blood, like sweat, stood\nupon His face. Three times He prayed to the Father for strength and\nsubmission for the awful trial before Him.\n\nAfter each prayer He came to the disciples for sympathy; but each time\nfound them asleep. Had they watched and prayed with the Master, they,\ntoo, would have received strength for the trial and sorrow before them.\n\nAfter the last prayer, He said to the disciples, \"Rise, let us be\ngoing; behold he is at hand that doth betray Me.\" Matthew 26:45, 46.\nThey were then met by the throng that had come to take Jesus, and Judas\nbetrayed His Master with a kiss.\n\n[Illustration: In Gethsemane.]\n\nThat same night Jesus was examined before the high priests and\nthe Sanhedrim, and in the morning He was taken before Pilate for\ncondemnation. Pilate was a Roman governor, and no one could be put to\ndeath unless he commanded it.\n\nWhen Pilate saw Jesus, he did not believe he was a criminal. He saw a\nman of noble, dignified bearing, with no appearance of crime about Him.\n\nBut men had been hired by the priests to testify falsely against Jesus.\nPilate listened to them, and then questioned the Saviour. He then gave\nhis decision, \"I find no fault in the Man.\" Pilate wished to release\nHim: but the priests were determined that he should be put to death.\n\nThen Pilate sent Jesus bound to Herod, for Herod was ruler of Galilee,\nand the home of Jesus had been in that country. The soldiers mocked and\nderided Him, and then Herod sent Him back to Pilate.\n\nPilate was angry when Jesus was brought back to Him for final trial.\nSo he said, \"I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go.\" But the\npriests would not consent, and all cried out, \"Away with this man.\"\nNothing less than the death of Jesus would pacify them.\n\nAt this time God sent a warning to Pilate. An angel troubled the mind\nof Pilate's wife, and she sent word to her husband, \"Have thou nothing\nto do with that just Man; for I have suffered many things this day in a\ndream because of Him.\" Matthew 27:19.\n\nBut Pilate feared to displease the Jews. So he washed his hands before\nthe people, to show that he would not be responsible for the death\nof Jesus. And yet Pilate condemned Him to death, and He was taken to\nCalvary and crucified between two thieves.\n\nTender, loving hands took Him down from the cruel cross, and laid Him\naway in Joseph's new tomb. But the tomb could not hold Him.\n\n[Illustration: The Dream of Pilate's Wife]\n\nEarly on the morning of the first day of the week, a powerful angel\nwas sent from the courts of Heaven. The stone was rolled away from the\ntomb, and the angel cried with a loud voice, \"Jesus, Thou Son of God,\ncome forth, Thy Father calls Thee!\" And Christ came from the tomb, a\nconquerer over sin, Satan, death, and the grave.\n\nWhen the women came that morning, to care for the body of Jesus, they\nfound a shining angel at the tomb. And he said to them, \"Fear not ye;\nfor I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.\n\n\"He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come and see the place\nwhere the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is\nrisen from the dead; and, behold, He goeth before you into Galilee;\nthere shall ye see Him; lo, I have told you.\n\n[Illustration: \"He is not here; for He is risen.\"]\n\n\"And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy;\nand did run to bring His disciples word.\" Matthew 28:1-8.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Dominion Restored.\n\n\nAFTER the resurrection Jesus appeared to His disciples at different\ntimes and places. They were thus strengthened for the work that was\nbefore them.\n\nAt His last visit, forty days after the resurrection, He walked with\nthem from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives. Here He gave the blessed\npromise, so dear to every child of God, \"Lo, I am with you alway, even\nunto the end of the world.\" Matthew 28:20.\n\nAnd then, with hands raised in blessing, He rose from among them. As\nthey gazed upward, \"a cloud [of heavenly angels] received Him out of\ntheir sight.\"\n\nHad they lost their Saviour forever? Oh, no! Two shining angels had\nbeen sent to comfort them, and said, \"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye\ngazing up into Heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you\ninto Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into\nHeaven.\" Acts 1:9-11.\n\nJesus Himself has said, \"I will come again, and receive you unto\nMyself; that where I am, there ye may be also.\" John 14:1-3.\n\nThe angels told the disciples that He would \"so come in like manner as\nye have seen Him go into Heaven.\" He ascended bodily, in plain sight of\nthe disciples. When He returns, \"every eye shall see Him.\" Revelation\n1:7.\n\nPaul, in describing Christ's second coming, says, \"For the Lord\nHimself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the\nArchangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise\nfirst. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together\nwith them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we\never be with the Lord.\" 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17.\n\nPaul calls the Christian's hope \"that blessed hope, and the glorious\nappearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.\" Titus 2:13.\n\nThe hope of the Christian depends on the second coming of our Lord, for\nHe says, \"Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give\nevery man according as his work shall be.\" Revelation 22:12.\n\nYes, Jesus is coming again. And when He comes the righteous dead will\nbe raised from their graves, and all that have been faithful and true\nwill be rewarded with everlasting life in the paradise of God.\n\n[Illustration: The Ascension.]\n\nThe reward is worth receiving. A beautiful crown is waiting; for Paul\nsays, \"Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,\nwhich the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and\nnot to me only, but unto _all them also that love His appearing_.\" 2\nTimothy 4:6-8.\n\nThis is called a \"crown of life,\" in James 1:12, and Revelation 2:10.\nPeter calls it a \"crown of glory,\" and says it is to be given \"when the\nChief Shepherd shall appear.\" 1 Peter 5:4.\n\nAnd this earth, cleansed and purified from sin and the effects of the\ncurse, is to be our home. Peter says of it, \"Nevertheless we, according\nto His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth\nrighteousness.\" 2 Peter 3:10, 13.\n\nThe New Jerusalem, which Christ is preparing in heaven, shall come down\nto earth and be its capital city. The apostle-prophet John said he \"saw\nthe holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven.\"\n\n\"And I saw no temple therein; for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb\nare the temple of it.... The Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations\nof them which are saved shall walk in the light of it.\"\n\n\"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be\nno more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any\nmore pain; for the former things are passed away.\"\n\n\"He that overcometh shall inherit _all things_; and I will be his God,\nand he shall be My son.\" Revelation 21:7.\n\nThe earth and the dominion of it were given to man at creation. These\nwill be restored to him at redemption.\n\nThe prophet Micah said to the \"daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it\ncome, even the first dominion.\" Micah 4:8.\n\nThen Eden lost will be Eden regained, and the lost dominion will be\n\n    The Dominion Restored.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\nObvious punctuation errors repaired\n\nPage 84, \"happines\" changed to \"happiness\" (give true happiness)\n\nPage 107, \"Benjaman\" changed to \"Benjamin\" (Benjamin, the two)\n\nPage 119, \"Egyptains\" changed to \"Egyptians\" (to the Egyptians)\n\nPage 121, \"recieved\" changed to \"received\" (What they received)\n\nPage 123, \"posessed\" changed to \"possessed\" (all they possessed)\n\nPage 130, \"Whosover\" changed to \"Whosoever\" (Whosoever therefore shall)\n\nPage 158, \"chapthers\" changed to \"chapters\" (plainly in chapters two)","title":"Best Stories from the Best Book: An Illustrated Bible Companion for the Home","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":30329}