{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_72839/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_72839","id":"gutenberg_72839","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/72839","summary":null,"tags":["Bible stories, English -- New Testament -- Juvenile literature","Bible stories, English -- Old Testament -- Juvenile literature","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"Transcriber's note: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed.\n\n[Illustration: THE FINDING OF MOSES.]\n\n\n                        THE PROMISED LAND\n\n\n                       BIBLE STORIES RETOLD\n\n\n                               BY\n\n                         CATHARINE SHAW\n\n\n Author of \"Suffer Little Children,\" \"Long Ago in Bible Lands,\"\n           \"Stories from the Book of Books,\" Etc.\n\n\n\n                  JOHN F. SHAW (1928) & CO. LTD.\n                3, Pilgrim Street, London, E.C.4.\n\n                      BRITISH MANUFACTURE.\n\n\n\n                           CONTENTS.\n\n   I. THE SLAVE BOY\n\n   II. JOSEPH AS A VICTOR\n\n   III. THE GOOD LITTLE SISTER\n\n   IV. SAMSON\n\n   V. THE CHARIOT OF FIRE\n\n   VI. IN THE CAVE\n\n   VII. MOSES IN THE LAND OF MIDIAN\n\n   VIII. A GOOD REPORT OF THE LAND\n\n   IX. MOSES HIDDEN IN THE CLEFT OF THE ROCK\n\n   X. AARON'S ROD THAT BUDDED\n\n   XI. TO THE CITY OF REFUGE\n\n   XII. THE LETTER THAT WAS LAID BEFORE THE LORD, AND THE LORD'S ANSWER\n\n   XIII. THE QUEEN OF SHEBA\n\n   XIV. THREE COMMANDMENTS ABOUT EARTHLY THINGS\n\n   XV. THREE COMMANDMENTS ABOUT OUR HANDS\u2014OUR TONGUES\u2014AND OUR HEARTS\n\n   XVI. TAKEN FROM THE BROOK\n\n   XVII. THE FIRST AND SECOND COMMANDMENTS: AND HOW THEY WERE BROKEN\n\n   XVIII. THE NEXT TWO COMMANDMENTS: AND HOW THEY MAY BE KEPT\n\n   XIX. THE POTTER'S VESSEL\n\n   XX. JEHOSHEBA, THE GOOD AUNT\n\n   XXI. GOD FEEDS ELIJAH\n\n   XXII. RUTH\n\n   XXIII. ON MOUNT GILBOA\n\n   XXIV. ABSALOM\n\n   XXV. THE DISOBEDIENT PROPHET\n\n   XXVI. THE LORD ANSWERS ELIJAH BY FIRE\n\n   XXVII. JOSHUA'S COURAGE\n\n   XXVIII. THE FIERY FURNACE\n\n   XXIX. QUEEN ESTHER'S REQUEST\n\n   XXX. A GREAT RAIN, AND A TIRED PROPHET\n\n   XXXI. SOLOMON'S WISDOM AND SOLOMON'S TEMPLE\n\n   XXXII. JEHU\u2014THE ELEVENTH KING OF ISRAEL\n\n   XXXIII. A STORY OF VICTORY\n\n   XXXIV. THE GREAT FEAST\n\n   XXXV. DANIEL IS A CAPTIVE\n\n   XXXVI. THE SECRET IS REVEALED TO DANIEL\n\n\n\n                       THE PROMISED LAND\n\n[Illustration]\n\nI. THE SLAVE BOY\n\nGENESIS, CHAPTERS 39 TO 50\n\nGOD prepares wonderful things for those who love Him!\n\nSome of the things we see now, in this life. Some of them we must be\ncontent to wait for, till we go to be with God in Heaven.\n\nGod says in Isaiah 64 that \"Since the beginning of the world, men have\nnot heard . . . neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside Thee, what He\nhath prepared for him that waiteth for Him.\"\n\nBut even in this life, if we love God, and watch to see the answers\nto our prayers, we shall see numbers of things which God our Heavenly\nFather helps us in\u2014numbers of pleasures which He puts in our lives;\nnumbers of dangers that He saves us from; numbers of times when He\nbrings good out of what seemed to us to be only disappointment and\ntrial.\n\nWell! That was how it was with Joseph!\n\nYou remember about his dreams and the jealousy of his brothers? You\nremember how he was sent by his father Jacob, quite a long journey, to\ncarry messages to his brothers, and to bring back word whether they and\ntheir flocks were well and in safety.\n\nJoseph was seventeen at this time, and he went, willingly enough, for\nhe did not know that his brothers' hearts were full of hatred towards\nhim.\n\nAt last he found the place where they were feeding their flocks; and\nas they saw him coming, they said to each other, \"Behold this dreamer\ncometh!\" And they at once began to plan his death!\n\nNothing was easier, all that long distance away from his father, in\na wild uninhabited country where but few strangers passed, and where\nthere were caves and pits in which evil deeds might easily be hidden.\n\nBut all this while, unknown to those cruel brothers, God was watching\nover Joseph.\n\nWhen his eldest brother, Reuben, heard the others plotting to kill him,\nhe advised their putting him into a pit, instead of taking away his\nlife, intending to come back himself, and to take him out, and deliver\nhim safely to his father.\n\n[Illustration: Sold him for twenty pieces of silver.]\n\nBut while Reuben was away tending his flocks, Joseph came to the rest\nof his brothers, and they at once stripped him of the beautiful coat\nhis father had made for him, and then they cast him into an empty pit.\nBut they sat down to eat a meal themselves!\n\nPresently they saw a band of Merchants coming towards them on camels,\nand Judah said to his brothers, \"Let us not kill Joseph, but let us\nsell him to these Ishmaelites!\" So they drew Joseph up from the pit,\nand sold him for twenty pieces of silver.\n\n[Illustration: JOSEPH SOLD BY HIS BRETHREN.]\n\nThen the Ishmaelites passed on with their camels; but they did not know\nthat they were carrying away one whom the holy God was watching over.\n\nSo the brothers were left, and the coat of many colours was left too.\n\nBut when Reuben came back, and looked into the pit, and found it empty,\nhis heart failed him.\n\nHe tore his clothes, exclaiming, \"What shall I do?\" For he knew how\ndearly old Jacob loved this boy of his, and how could he go back to his\nfather and tell him the truth?\n\nBut the other brothers killed a kid and dipped Joseph's coat in the\nblood, and sent it to their father, saying that they had found it like\nthis, and that probably some evil beast had devoured him.\n\nThen Jacob grieved for his son, with bitter grief, and said he should\ngo to his grave mourning for him.\n\nNow God loved Jacob very much; and though He allowed him to pass\nthrough this great sorrow, yet He was, in His own way, preparing a\ngreat joy for him in the future. For that young lad who was carried\naway on those camels, down to Egypt, was bought by a kind master, and\nlived happily in his house for years.\n\nIt is true that after a time, troubles came; for Joseph was falsely\naccused, and was cast into prison for two years.\n\nBut God was with him there (as He is always with those who love and\nserve Him), and Joseph behaved so nicely, that the Keeper of the\nprison began to trust him, and at length gave him the care of all the\nother prisoners. Everything that Joseph did was prospered, because God\nblessed him so much.\n\nBy and bye Pharaoh, King of Egypt, had a dream which he could not\nunderstand, and as they all knew in the prison, that Joseph could tell\nthe meaning of dreams, Pharaoh was told about him, and the Great King\nsent for him, and explained his trouble to him.\n\nThen God told Joseph the meaning of Pharaoh's dream, which was, that\nthere would be seven years of rich harvests, and then seven years of\nvery poor harvests.\n\nSo Joseph advised Pharaoh to look out a wise man to save up all the\ncorn in the plentiful years, so that the people might have food in the\nscanty years.\n\nAnd Pharaoh chose Joseph to be over everything, and to see to the corn,\nand save it up; and Pharaoh dressed Joseph in beautiful clothes, and\nput a ring on his hand.\n\nJoseph was very humble, and he loved God very much. He kept on telling\nPharaoh that it was God who helped him to do all these wonderful things.\n\nAt length the seven years of plenty were over, and the famine came into\nall the countries round Egypt, and everybody came to Egypt to buy corn\nof Joseph. And among them his ten brothers came too!\n\nYou can read in your Bibles in the 45th and 46th Chapters of Genesis,\nhow Joseph forgave his brothers, and how he told them how God had meant\nit for good to save much people alive.\n\nThen he gave his brothers food; and sent wagons to Canaan to fetch his\ndear old father down to Egypt to live near him, and be taken care of.\n\nAnd this was how God brought it about, that old Jacob saw his beloved\nson again.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\nII. JOSEPH AS A VICTOR\n\nYou have all heard of Joseph, and remember very well about his being\nJacob's favourite son; and how jealous his ten brothers were that their\nfather made him a beautiful coat of many colours.\n\nJoseph was a kindly young fellow of seventeen, and he did not bear\nany grudge against his brothers, but talked to them and told them his\ndreams, as any boy would now-a-days.\n\nBut these dreams made his brothers even more angry than their father's\nlove for him, and they hated him.\n\nWhen people begin to cherish hatred in their hearts, it is not long\nbefore it comes out in their actions.\n\nSo when Jacob sent Joseph a long journey to see if all was well with\nhis brothers and the flocks, they saw him coming from afar, and began\nto plan how they could get rid of him and his dreams.\n\nBut there was one thing those ten brothers did not think of. They had\nmade a clever plan to murder their brother when he was so far away\nfrom home, but they did not remember that their father Jacob's God\nwas Joseph's God as well; and that He was watching over that boy of\nseventeen, and had a glorious work for him to do by and by.\n\nSo God put it into Reuben's heart to advise that Joseph should not be\nkilled, but be put into a pit; intending presently to take his brother\nback to their father.\n\nBut while he was away, a company of merchants came by on camels, and\nthe brothers at once decided to take Joseph out of the pit and sell him\nas a slave.\n\nWhen Reuben came back, the camels had passed on their way down to Egypt\ncarrying Joseph with them. The pit was empty, Jacob's darling boy was\ngone!\n\nAnd when the cruel sons brought the coat of many colours, all stained\nwith the blood of a kid, Jacob felt sure some evil beast had killed\nJoseph, and that he should go down to the grave mourning for him.\n\nDo you think those brothers ever had a truly happy moment for years and\nyears?\n\nWe read afterwards how they said one to another in Egypt, when\nGod brought their sin to their remembrance: \"We are verily guilty\nconcerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he\nbesought us, and we would not hear.\" And how Reuben had answered them,\n\"Did I not speak to you saying, 'Do not sin against the child,' and ye\nwould not hear?\"\n\n\n\nSo the Midianites and their camels came down to Egypt, and Joseph was\nsold to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and Captain of the Guard.\n\nIt would take too long to tell you here, and you can read it for\nyourselves in the beautiful account of it in Genesis, chapter xxxix,\nhow God took care of Joseph in every way. How he was raised to favour\nin his master's house; how he was falsely accused and cast into prison;\nhow again after being put in fetters and irons (as we read in Psalm cv.\n18), he was brought into the favour of the keeper of the prison; how he\nlistened to the prisoners' dreams, and told them the meaning of them;\nhow, in consequence of the interpretation of these dreams coming true,\nhe was taken before Pharaoh to explain to the great king his dream; and\nhow God gave Joseph an insight into the future that made him know that\nthere would be seven years of plenty, and then seven years of famine;\nand how he advised Pharaoh to lay up a store of corn for the scarcity\nthat was coming.\n\n[Illustration: He was taken before Pharaoh\n to explain to the great King his dream.]\n\nPharaoh was so pleased with Joseph, and found his advice so good, that\nhe raised him to great honour. He put his own ring on Joseph's hand and\ndressed him in beautiful clothes, and gave him a chariot to ride in,\nand made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.\n\nWhat Joseph had predicted surely came to pass; and when the scarcity\ncame, all the nations around came to buy Pharaoh's corn, which Joseph\nhad so carefully stored up; so that Pharaoh became very rich.\n\nWhy do you suppose all this happened to Joseph?\n\nIt was because God loved Joseph; he had been His faithful servant all\nhis life. Because He had purposes of mercy not only to the brothers who\nhad been so cruel, but to the world, in which a dreadful famine was\ncoming; and also to the sorrowing father, who had lost the light of his\neyes when Joseph was taken from him!\n\nAh! If we only look out for God's ways, and ponder over them, we shall\nunderstand more of \"the loving-kindness of the Lord.\"\n\nAnd now, because there was corn in Egypt, and because there was a\nfearful famine in the land of Canaan, it came to pass that the shepherd\nbrothers went down to buy corn, and Joseph, the great ruler, instantly\nrecognized them; and he sent them back with corn for their families,\nand by and by to fetch his dear old father to come to him till the\nfamine was over. And that was how it was God gave His servant Jacob his\nheart's desire. You can just imagine with what joy Joseph set out in\nhis chariot to meet his father!\n\nJacob, who was now a hundred and thirty years old, lived near his dear\nson Joseph for seventeen years, till his death.\n\nThen the brothers were afraid, that now their father was gone, Joseph\nmight requite the wrong which they had done him. So they went to him,\nand earnestly asked him to forgive them.\n\nAnd Joseph wept at their words, and freely forgave them; and said that\nGod had turned their thoughts of evil into good, to keep much people\nfrom dying of famine.\n\nAnd this is how \"the Children of Israel\" came to settle down in Egypt\nfor four hundred and thirty years.\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIII. THE GOOD LITTLE SISTER\n\nEXODUS 2.1-10\n\nYEARS and years ago, there was a little girl standing by the\ngreat River Nile, which as you know, runs through Egypt into the\nMediterranean.\n\nThere she stood, quite alone, first glancing back to see if anyone\nmight be coming that way, and then looking earnestly towards the river,\nfringed at that place with bulrushes, which sometimes grew as high as\nten or twelve feet.\n\nWhy was the girl looking so earnestly at those bulrushes as they swayed\nin the breeze? Or why did she again turn anxiously to see if any\nEgyptian Soldier should be coming down to the River's brink?\n\nDid she know of something which was hidden there? Something very, very\nprecious?\n\nPerhaps, wearied with standing and watching in two directions, Miriam\nsat down, and resting her elbows on her knees, looked only towards the\nriver; and as she sat so silently and patiently there, her mind went\nover the past months of anxious fears, which had almost overwhelmed the\nfamily of Israelites of whom she was the only daughter.\n\nShe knew that about 400 years before, the Children of Israel, whom the\nEgyptians called the Hebrews, and we now call the Jews, travelled down\nfrom the land of Canaan (Palestine) to the land of Egypt.\n\nThey were the children of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob; and\nbecause of a great famine in all the countries round, these Israelites\ncame down to Egypt to buy corn. You have all heard the story of Joseph\nwho was sold into Egypt by his brothers? Well, God had sent this Joseph\nto Egypt, on purpose, to store up the corn for the famine which was\ncoming.\n\nSo Joseph gave his brothers as much corn as they needed, and sent them\nback to fetch his dear old father Jacob. And that is how the Israelites\ncame down into Egypt, and settled there with their flocks and herds,\nfor they were Shepherds.\n\nBut by and bye the Egyptians began to get jealous of them. They\nincreased in numbers so fast, and were so prosperous, because God\nblessed them abundantly, that the King of Egypt sent out a command that\nall the little boys who were born to the Israelites must be killed, and\nonly the little girls saved alive.\n\nThis was a very cruel command, and the Israelitish women were very\nsorrowful at having all their baby boys thrown into the river.\n\nAt length, one baby boy was born, whom his Mother managed to hide in\ntheir little home for three long months; but he was a beautiful, strong\nchild, and soon, his mother found that it was impossible to hide him.\n\nShe and her husband loved and served God, and we read in the 11th\nChapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews and the 23rd verse, that it was\n\"by faith\" that they hid him so long, looking up to God in Heaven to\nsave their darling boy.\n\nThen Jochebed made a sort of basket-cradle of the reeds from the\nRiver, and she daubed it with slime and made it water-tight. And then\nshe called her little daughter Miriam to her side, and they laid the\nbeautiful baby in his little bed, and Miriam took the basket and\ncarried it down to the water's edge. And, when no one was looking,\nshe hid it in the thick bulrushes which grew there. Then she sat at a\ndistance and watched.\n\nBy and bye Miriam saw Pharaoh's daughter, the Princess, and her\nmaidens, come down the road towards the water, and though her heart\nbeat fast, and she was dreadfully afraid, she found they had only come\nto bathe in the river.\n\nThen she saw as they walked along by the edge, that Pharaoh's daughter\nnoticed something strange among the rushes, and sent her maid to fetch\nit. And when the Princess opened the basket, there was the beautiful\nbaby crying, and Pharaoh's daughter was grieved to see it cry, and\nshe said: \"This is one of the Hebrews' children!\" How all the maidens\ncrowded round to gaze at the beautiful baby!\n\nIt seems as if Miriam had been coming nearer and nearer, till she stood\namong the group of maidens who were gazing down at the sweet baby; and\nshe said, looking up into the Princess's face, \"Shall I go and call\nto thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for\nthee?\"\n\nAnd here I notice two or three things about this young girl. First, I\nthink she loved God, and like her Father and Mother, she trusted Him.\n\nNext, I see that she was a patient little girl, and an obedient girl.\nShe did what her mother had told her most faithfully. She also used\nthe common sense God had given her; and in spite of her awe of the\nPrincess, she bravely did the wisest thing she could have done.\n\nShe saw that Pharaoh's daughter had taken a great liking to her baby\nbrother, and I think she thought this might be God's way of saving him\nfrom death.\n\nSo the Princess said \"Go!\" And Miriam ran, like an arrow from a bow,\nstraight to her Mother, to tell her to come and see after her own baby!\n\nYou can think of that Mother's joy. God had seen the faith of that\nHebrew Father and Mother, and had answered their prayers to save their\nchild.\n\nAnd when Jochebed hurried to the River side, and lifted the baby from\nits cradle into her safe arms, Pharaoh's daughter said to her, \"Take\nthis child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages.\"\n\nOh! How thankfully did the mother carry her baby back to their little\nhome!\n\nThere she took care of him till he was old enough to be taken to the\nKing's Palace, where he was called \"the son of Pharaoh's daughter.\" It\nwas she who gave him the name of Moses, \"Because,\" she said, \"I drew\nhim out of the water.\"\n\nLong afterwards, when God chose Moses to bring the Children of Israel\nout of Egypt, his sister Miriam went with him.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIV. SAMSON\n\nAFTER Joshua was dead, the Children of Israel began to be very slack in\nserving God; and worse than all, they set up other gods, and worshipped\nthem, as the heathen did around them.\n\nGod was very longsuffering, and He raised up Judge after Judge who\ndelivered them from their enemies; but soon the people fell into\nidolatry again.\n\nAt length, God was so grieved at their evil ways that He delivered them\ninto the hands of the Philistines for twenty years. And then He raised\nthem up another Judge.\n\nThere was a man who served God, whose name was Manoah; and he had a\ngodly wife, but they had no children.\n\nOne day, the Angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah's wife, and he told\nher that she would have the joy of having a little son, who, when he\nwas grown, should deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.\n\nBut the angel gave Manoah's wife very strict instructions. Neither she,\nnor her child, were to take any wine or strong drink, and the boy was\nnot to have a razor come on his head from the day of his birth to the\nday of his death! He was to be what was called \"A Nazarite unto God.\"\n\nAnd Manoah prayed earnestly that God would send the angel to them again\nto tell them how to bring up the child who was to come to them.\n\nAnd God listened to Manoah's prayer; and as the woman was in the field,\nthe Angel came again to her; and she ran hastily to Manoah, and told\nhim.\n\nThen Manoah begged the man to let him dress a kid and offer him\nfood-but the man said he would take no food, but they could offer a\nsacrifice to God, if they wished it.\n\nAnd when the sacrifice was offered, and the smoke arose from the Altar,\nthe Angel of the Lord went up toward heaven, and ascended in the flame\nfrom off the Altar.\n\nThen Manoah said, \"We shall surely die, because we have seen God!\"\n\nBut his wife argued from all that had happened, that if the Lord had\nintended to kill them, He would not have accepted their offering,\nneither would He have showed them all these things.\n\n[Illustration: It was lying by the path, and the bees were swarming\naround.]\n\nAt length the child came, and they called him Samson. As he grew to\nmanhood, he found that God was giving him wonderful strength.\n\nOne day a young lion came out and roared against him. And the Spirit of\nthe Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent the lion, and killed him,\njust as he might have rent a kid; for he had no weapon in his hand.\n\nWhen Samson next passed that way, he looked for the carcase of the\nlion, and there it was lying by the path, and the bees were swarming\naround, as they had built a honey-comb in the body of the lion.\n\nSo he ate some of the honey, and took the rest to his father and\nmother; but he did not tell them that he had killed the lion.\n\nThen Samson made a great feast for seven days, for he had married a\nPhilistine girl, to the great sorrow of his parents. And while they\nwere feasting, he and the thirty young men who were his companions,\nSamson gave them a riddle to find out, promising that he would give a\nlarge prize if they could discover it; but if not, they were to give\nhim a prize.\n\nThis was the riddle: \"Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the\nstrong came forth sweetness.\"\n\nThe young men puzzled for several days, and at last they persuaded\nSamson's young wife to get the secret from him. And at length she\nbegged so hard that he told her the answer.\n\nThen she went to her people, the Philistines, and told them.\n\nWhen the seven days were up, the young men gave the answer: \"What is\nsweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion?\"\n\nBut Samson was very angry when he found that they had persuaded his\nwife; and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty Philistines, and\nbrought the spoil and divided it among the young men who had answered\nhis riddle. And then in fierce anger, he returned to his father's house.\n\nBut his wife was given to one of the companions who used to be his\nfriend, and Samson never saw her again.\n\nSamson judged Israel for twenty years, and by his great personal\nstrength and courage, he gained many victories over the Philistines.\n\nBut he made a great mistake, which resulted in his death.\n\nThe Philistines at once took advantage of this, and promised a heathen\nPhilistine woman great riches if she would find out, and tell them, the\nsecret of his wonderful strength. In an evil moment, he told her that\nit was because he was a Nazarite, and that no razor had ever come upon\nhis head!\n\nSo, when he was asleep, Delilah managed to cut off his hair; and then\nshe sent for the lords of the Philistines, who hurried to the spot.\nThey easily bound Samson because his strength was gone from him; and\nthey put out his eyes, and sent him to grind in the prison-house.\n\nIt would take me too long to tell you how his hair began to grow again,\nand his strength began to return. Or how he was taken out to make sport\nfor the Philistines, and how he begged the boy who led him to let him\nfeel the pillars of the house where three thousand Philistines were\nwatching him from the roof.\n\nSamson asked God to give him strength for this, once more; and then he\nbowed himself with all his might, clasping the pillars in his arms, and\nthe house fell, and he, and all the three thousand Philistines, were\nburied beneath the ruins.\n\nWhat a difference there was between Manoah's godly wife, and Samson's\nheathen!\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\nV. THE CHARIOT OF FIRE\n\nBUT now the time had come when the Lord was going to take Elijah up to\nHeaven in a whirlwind.\n\nSo Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal, and as they journeyed, he said\nto him: \"Stay here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel.\"\n\nBut Elisha would not allow him to go alone, so they went to Bethel\ntogether.\n\nWhen they reached Bethel, the sons of the prophets who lived there came\nout to meet Elisha, and they said to him: \"Do you know that the Lord is\ngoing to take your master away from you to-day?\"\n\nAnd Elisha said: \"I know it; but hold your peace.\"\n\nAnd so it went on till they reached Jericho, and here again the sons of\nthe prophets came to Elisha with their question: \"Do you know that the\nLord will take your master from your head to-day?\"\n\nAnd again Elisha sorrowfully answered: \"Yes, I know it; hold ye your\npeace.\"\n\nThen Elijah said to him: \"Stay here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath\nsent me to Jordan.\"\n\nBut Elisha gave the same answer to him as he had given before, that he\nwould not on any account leave him. So they went on together.\n\nThe sons of the prophets evidently knew that something very wonderful\nwas going to happen, and as they saw the two men going towards Jordan,\nfifty of them gathered together and stood to view from afar.\n\nSo they came to the river Jordan, and Elijah wrapped his mantle\ntogether and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and\nthither, and they two passed over on dry ground.\n\nThen Elijah said to Elisha: \"Ask what I shall do for thee, before I am\ntaken away from thee.\"\n\nAnd Elisha said: \"I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be\nupon me!\"\n\nElijah answered him that was a great thing he had asked, but if Elisha\nsaw him when he was taken away, then he would know that his request was\ngranted.\n\nAnd as they were talking, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses\nof fire, and they were parted from each other; and Elijah went up by a\nwhirlwind into Heaven.\n\nAnd Elisha saw it, and he cried: \"My father, my father, the chariot of\nIsrael and the horsemen thereof.\"\n\nAnd he took Elijah's mantle that fell from him, and smote the waters of\nJordan again, and they were divided before him, and he passed over.\n\nThen the sons of the prophets begged to be allowed to go to search for\nElijah, or to find his body, but Elisha was unwilling, and begged them\nnot to go, for he knew it would be useless.\n\nBut fifty of them went out and searched for three whole days, but did\nnot find him.\n\n[Illustration: Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.]\n\nHow could they, when he was gone up to heaven in a chariot of fire?\n\n\n\nAnd now in the New Testament, nine hundred years after that chariot of\nfire, which took Elijah to Heaven, we read of him again on the top of a\nmountain talking to Jesus while He was on earth!\n\nIt was not long before our Lord's death on Calvary that He took His\nthree disciples, Peter, James, and John, up to a high mountain and was\ntransfigured before them.\n\nYou will perhaps ask: \"What does transfigured mean?\" It means\u2014changed,\naltered\u2014made exceedingly bright and beautiful.\n\nThe Lord Jesus had been on earth for thirty-three years. He had gone\nabout when He was young like an ordinary boy, and afterwards like an\nordinary man; except that He did no sin, and was perfectly holy and\nloving; and was full of mercy and kindness to every one He met.\n\nBut now the time had come for Him to suffer on the Cross, to bear the\npunishment of our sins. And our Heavenly Father wished to give those\nthree disciples a glimpse of the glory which Jesus had left when He\ncame to earth, and to which He was going back, when He had done all the\nwork which His Father had given Him to do.\n\nSo when they reached the top of the mountain with Jesus, suddenly they\nfound that His face was changed into a face of glory, and His clothes\nbecame white and glistening. And soon they saw that Jesus was talking\nwith two men\u2014Moses and Elijah\u2014who had come down from the glory of\nHeaven to talk with Him about His death which would soon happen at\nJerusalem.\n\nCan we not imagine the joy of Moses and Elijah, and the adoring worship\nof their hearts, as they talked with their beloved Lord? No wonder that\nPeter said in one of his Letters afterwards in speaking of this scene:\n\n\"We . . . were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God\nthe Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice from the\nexcellent glory: 'This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.'\nAnd this Voice which came from Heaven we heard, when we were with Him\nin the holy mount.\"\n\nThen a bright cloud overshadowed them, and when it had passed away,\nMoses and Elijah were no longer there, but Jesus only!\n\nAnd Jesus came and touched them, and told them not to be afraid.\n\nAnd then as they went down from the mountain, He explained to them that\nHe would very shortly have to die; but that they were not to tell of\nthe Vision they had seen, till after He was risen from the dead.\n\n\n\nJesus said Himself to two of His friends after His resurrection: \"Ought\nnot Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?\"\nAnd beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them all\nthrough the Bible the things which were written there about Himself.\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nVI. IN THE CAVE\n\nAFTER David had conquered the giant, and had brought his head to the\nking, Saul for a while was very proud of his young soldier, and made\nmuch of him in every way. And David behaved himself wisely; and Saul\nset him over his men of war, and he became very popular among the\npeople.\n\nMeanwhile Jonathan, Saul's son, thought there was no one in the world\nlike David! He loved him as his own soul.\n\nHe took off his own beautiful clothes, which belonged to him as the\nking's son, and put them on David, even presenting him with his sword,\nhis bow and his girdle.\n\nBut a jealous feeling began to rankle in the breast of the king.\n\nHe heard the women singing who came out to meet him from the cities,\nafter David's slaughter of the giant, and these were the words they\nsang: \"Saul has slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands.\"\n\nThis made the king very angry, and from that day forth, he determined\nto kill David.\n\nSo King Saul hunted David up and down the land. Jonathan was devoted\nto him, and helped him to escape many times. He endeavoured to be a\npeacemaker, and assured his father that David had no evil designs\nagainst him. But it was all of no use. Jealousy, which the Bible says\nis \"cruel as the grave,\" had entered into Saul's heart, and it poisoned\nall his thoughts.\n\nThen David again had a great victory over the Philistines, and Saul was\nso jealous that he threw his javelin at him. David, however, escaped,\nand the javelin went into the wall, where he had been sitting playing\nhis harp to Saul.\n\nHe fled down to his house, but Saul sent men to watch for him and to\nkill him in the morning. So Michal, his wife, persuaded him to fly that\nnight, for she was sure he would be slain.\n\nMichal was Saul's daughter, and she loved David. So she let him down\nthrough a window, and he escaped.\n\nThen Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a\ngoat's-hair pillow for a bolster and covered it with a cloth.\n\nAnd when Saul's messengers came to take David, Michal said: \"He is\nsick.\"\n\nThen Saul sent back the messengers and ordered them to bring David in\nhis bed!\n\nBut when the messengers came in, there was only an image in the bed,\nand David was far away!\n\nSo it went on, till David was hunted from place to place, all over the\nland, and driven, with the men of war who followed him, to live in the\nmountains, and among rocks and caves, to get away from Saul's vengeance.\n\nOne day, as Saul was pursuing hotly after David, who he heard was in\nthe wilderness of Engedi, he was very weary with travel, and finding a\nlarge dark cave, he entered it, and lay down to get some sleep.\n\nLittle did Saul guess, that the man he had come to seek was close to\nhim, and that in the darkness of the cave, and hidden by the jutting\nsides, David and his men were quietly watching him.\n\nWhen Saul had fallen into a deep sleep, David's men whispered to him\nthat the day had come when the Lord had delivered his enemy into his\nhand!\n\nSo David went forward, and as he approached Saul, he saw that his\nrobe, with which he had covered his feet, lay partly on the ground.\nSo he softly cut off the skirt of Saul's robe, and went back to his\nhiding-place.\n\nBut David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's robe; and he\nhastily forbade his men to touch the king, for was he not the Lord's\nanointed?\n\nPresently Saul awoke from his sleep and went out of the cave, and David\nfollowed him and called out to him, \"My lord the king!\"\n\nAnd when Saul looked behind him, David stooped and bowed low before him.\n\nAnd David said to Saul: \"Why do you regard men's words, telling you\nthat I seek your hurt? Look, how this very day the Lord has delivered\nyou into my hand in the cave, and some bade me kill you; but my eye\nhas spared you, and I said, 'I will not put forth my hand to hurt the\nLord's anointed!' Moreover, see, my father, here is the skirt of your\nrobe in my hand! Surely you know now that I have not tried to hurt you,\nand yet you have hunted my soul to take it! The Lord is judge between\nus; He will plead my cause, and will deliver me out of your hand!\"\n\nWhen David had said these gentle and brave words, Saul said: \"Is this\nthy voice, my son David?\" and Saul lifted up his voice and wept.\n\nThen he said to David: \"You have been more honourable than I have, for\nyou have rewarded me with good, and I have rewarded you with evil.\nTherefore may the Lord reward you good for what you have done to me\nthis day.\"\n\nAnd then he went on to tell David that he knew he would be king one\nday, and he earnestly begged him to be merciful to his father's house\nand not let his name perish out of the land.\n\nSo David promised him, before the Lord.\n\nThen Saul went to his home, and David returned to his stronghold.\n\nSaul later on again attempted to capture David, taking with him three\nthousand men.\n\nDavid heard where Saul was camped, and taking Abishai with him, entered\nSaul's camp by night.\n\nThey found Saul asleep with his captain in a trench, with his men lying\nall around.\n\nAbishai wished to kill Saul, but David refused, saying, \"Destroy him\nnot: for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord's anointed and\nbe guiltless?\"\n\nSo they took Saul's spear and water-bottle that was against his head\nand got away without anyone seeing them.\n\nSo David again spared the life of the man who for years had tried to\nkill him.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nVII. MOSES IN THE LAND OF MIDIAN\n\nEXODUS 2.13-25\n\nMOSES grew up from that little babe who had been hidden in the flags or\nreeds of the Nile, and he had been educated in all the learning of the\nEgyptians, as if he had been the real son of Pharaoh's daughter.\n\nGod was watching over Moses all the time, and preparing him for the\ngreat and wonderful work he was to do.\n\nDo we all sometimes feel it very hard to learn difficult tasks? Do we,\nas we grow older, sometimes wonder what work God is getting us ready to\ndo for Him?\n\nI remember when I was young, how I was asked to stay for a fortnight\nat a lady's house whom I had never seen, or heard of, before. She\ncalled on my father, and said she should like to know his two eldest\ndaughters, and would he allow us to come and stay with her?\n\nSo we went; we were about nineteen and twenty at that time, and we felt\nvery homesick and strange at first. But do you know? That was one of\nthe best things that ever happened to both of us!\n\nThat dear, kind old lady, had a heart full of love to Jesus our\nSaviour; and she used her money, and her house, and her influence, to\nhelp young people to love Him too. And when we got to know her, we had\nsuch a happy time, and set to work ourselves to try to bring others to\nlove Jesus. Well, that was God's love in training us for what He wanted\nus to do afterwards. So, with Moses; he went in and out of Pharaoh's\nCourt, and learned many things which were most useful to him, all his\nlife, in God's Service.\n\nThe Children of Israel, or the Hebrews as they were called at this\ntime, were slaves in Egypt, and one day Moses saw an Egyptian using one\nof the Hebrews very badly. So Moses interfered, and killed the Egyptian\nwho was ill-treating one of God's people.\n\nThis made Pharaoh very angry, and he tried to kill Moses.\n\nSo Moses fled, and by and bye, he reached the land of Midian, where he\nsat down by a Well, and rested himself.\n\n[Illustration: MOSES IN THE LAND OF MIDIAN.]\n\nThis Well belonged to the Priest, or Prince of Midian; and he had seven\ndaughters, who every day came to the Well, and filled the troughs for\ntheir father's flocks to drink.\n\nBut some shepherds came and drove the girls away, wishing, I suppose,\nto use the trough to water their own flocks, without waiting for the\nmaidens to finish their task.\n\nBut Moses stood up and helped them, so that they watered their father's\nflock very quickly.\n\nWhen they came home, their father asked them how it was that they\nreturned so soon?\n\nAnd they said: \"An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the\nshepherds, and also drew water for us!\"\n\nIn the East, people are very hospitable, and ready to entertain\nstrangers; and directly Reuel (or Jethro) heard what his daughters\nsaid, he exclaimed: \"Where is he? How is it that you have left the man?\nCall him, that he may eat bread.\"\n\n[Illustration: By and by, Moses and Zipporah had a little son.]\n\nSo Moses was very happy to stay with Jethro, and soon he married one of\nJethro's daughters, named Zipporah. And by and bye Moses and Zipporah\nhad a little son, whom Moses named Gershom.\n\nBut while all this was going on in Midian, the plight of the Hebrews\nwho were in Egypt grew worse and worse.\n\nThe King, who had wanted to kill Moses, had died, and the Children of\nIsrael sighed under the cruel bondage that the Egyptians put upon them.\n\nAnd their cry came up to God.\n\nAnd God looked down out of heaven upon the poor, hardly-used slaves,\nand He came down from heaven and spoke to Moses about them.\n\nAnd the words He said are full of the tenderest comfort to all who are\nin trouble. For God sees it, whatever it is. Also He listens to our\ncry, when things are too hard for us. But best of all, He knows just\nwhat is in our hearts, which nobody else can see or hear, and to this\nsorrow He says, \"I, even I, am He that comforteth you.\"\n\nSo God said to Moses, \"For I know their sorrows; and I am come down to\ndeliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up\ninto a good land ... flowing with milk and honey.\"\n\nAnd God chose Moses, whom He had so wonderfully trained, to be His\nServant, who should deliver the Children of Israel from their hard\nslavery.\n\nMoses knew all about Egypt. He could speak the language of the\nEgyptians: he understood all about the Court of Pharaoh, and the\ncustoms of the Egyptians. So God sent him straight down to Egypt to\ndeliver His people, and He gave him this great and beautiful promise to\ncheer his heart:\n\n   \"Certainly I will be with thee.\"\n\nThen God explained to Moses that Pharaoh would not let them go, but\nthat He would shew great wonders in Egypt by His Mighty Hand, and after\nthat, Pharaoh would be so frightened, that he would let them go.\n\nAll this came to pass; for God sent plague after plague on the\nEgyptians, until at last, in a marvellous way, God delivered the whole\nof the Israelites, with all their possessions and flocks and herds,\nright out of the hand of Pharaoh. And God brought them through the Red\nSea on dry land, while the great army of the Egyptians who followed\nhard after them, with their Chariots and horses, were drowned in the\ndeep waters, so that there was not one left!\n\nAnd afterwards, God led His people through the wilderness, and did\nbring them into the Land of Canaan as He had promised.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\nVIII. A GOOD REPORT OF THE LAND\n\nTHE Children of Israel\u2014the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob\u2014had\ncome down to Egypt in consequence of the seven years of famine. Joseph\nwas there, and was great in the eyes of Pharaoh, and the king made old\nJacob and his sons, with their families and their flocks, welcome to\nlive in the land of Goshen.\n\nFor a time, they were very happy and prosperous, and God blessed them\nand they increased in numbers and riches.\n\nBut by and by, the Egyptians began to look round upon these Children of\nIsrael, and jealousy of their success filled their hearts.\n\nThe Pharaoh who had made them so welcome for Joseph's sake, was dead.\nAnd another king arose who had forgotten all about Joseph, and he began\nto lay burdens on the Children of Israel, and to force them to build\nhis palaces and cities.\n\n[Illustration: He began . . . to force them to build his palaces and\ncities.]\n\nAt length, the cruelty and the burdens became intolerable, and the Lord\nGod in Heaven saw their affliction, heard their groaning, and sent down\nto deliver them.\n\nMoses was His chosen servant, and under him, after many wonderful\ndeliverances, the people were brought right out and set free, and were\ntaken back to the borders of the land which God had promised to give to\nAbraham and his children after him.\n\nBut the Children of Israel were disobedient, and forgetful of all the\nwonders that God had shown them, in delivering them from Egypt. He had\nmade a way for them to walk dry-shod through the Red Sea; He brought\nwater out of a rock for their thirst; and He sent down manna every day\nfor their food.\n\nBut because of their murmuring, complaining spirit, God told Moses that\nHe could not let them go into the land of Canaan just yet.\n\nSo He led them about in the wilderness; spreading His cloud over them\nin the day to shield them from the sun's scorching rays; and by night\nHe put a pillar of fire to give them light and comfort.\n\nAt length, in the second year after they came out of Egypt, they\nreached the wilderness of Paran. And now God told Moses to take one\nchief man out of each of the twelve tribes of Israel, and he was to\nsend them into the land of Canaan to bring back a report of what they\nfound there.\n\nThere were twelve men chosen, but of these only two, Caleb and Joshua,\nwere faithful to God all through.\n\nThe twelve men set out, and at the end of forty days they returned with\ntheir report of all they had seen.\n\nThey brought with them pomegranates and figs; and the grapes were so\nplentiful, that from one place called Eshcol they brought a bunch which\nrequired two men to carry it on a pole between them.\n\nFor God had promised when they left Egypt, that He would bring them to\na land flowing with milk and honey, and that He would drive out all\ntheir enemies before them.\n\nIf only they had remembered this!\n\nSo the messengers began to tell their tale. They said that indeed it\nwas a rich land, flowing with milk and honey. \"And see,\" said they,\n\"here is some of the fruit of it.\"\n\nYou can imagine for yourselves how Caleb and Joshua stood by, listening\nto the eager words of the other ten.\n\nAnd now came another word, which made those two faithful men\ntremble\u2014and it was an unbelieving, faithless word!\n\n\"Nevertheless,\" the ten spies went on, \"the cities are walled, there\nare giants there, and numbers of enemies dwell on every side; we are\nnot able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we\nare!\"\n\nThen you can imagine Caleb and Joshua starting forward to still the\npeople, and they cried: \"Let us go up at once and possess the land, for\nwe are well able to overcome it!\"\n\nBut the ten spies persisted that they could not go up, and all the\npeople mourned and wept, and told Moses that they had better return to\nEgypt, for they would die in the wilderness, and their wives and their\nchildren would be a prey for their enemies.\n\nOh, how sad is want of faith! They forgot the power of God and the\npromises of God! They let Satan whisper in their hearts that, after\nall, God would fail them, and though the land was beautiful and full of\nfood and plenty\u2014\"Nevertheless\" there were too many enemies to face.\n\nGod was very grieved at the unbelief of the people, and He said that\nnone of those who had distrusted Him should enter into the land of\nCanaan, but their children should in due time enter in and possess it.\n\n\n\nThis is a solemn lesson for us all. There are right times to say\n\"Nevertheless.\"\n\nPeter said to Jesus: \"Nevertheless at Thy word I will let down the\nnet,\" and they got a great draught of fishes!\n\nPaul said: Nevertheless the Lord stood by me, \"and strengthened me,\"\nand he fought a good fight to the end!\n\n\n\nGod did not forget the faithfulness of Caleb and Joshua; for Joshua\nwas chosen, years afterwards, to lead the people into the land and to\nfight the Lord's battles; and Caleb, \"because he had wholly followed\nthe Lord,\" entered with his children into the Promised Land, and had a\nhappy possession in it.\n\nIt was true of them both: \"None of them that trust in Him shall be\ndesolate.\"\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIX. MOSES HIDDEN IN THE CLEFT OF THE ROCK\n\nEXODUS 33.17-23\n\nFOR forty years, Moses, the little boy who had been taken out of the\nwater by Pharaoh's daughter, was brought up in Pharaoh's Palace in\nEgypt, where he learned the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in\nword and deed.\n\nHe evidently knew that he belonged to the Israelites or Hebrews, as\nthey were called; but it was not till he had reached forty years of age\nthat he began to look upon the sad plight of his own people.\n\nThe Egyptians had gradually made the Hebrews into slaves, and were\nusing them with great cruelty; but at length Moses understood that God\nwas going to deliver the people by his hand.\n\nHowever, the first effort he made, was that he killed an Egyptian who\nwas hurting a Hebrew man; and this came to the ears of Pharaoh, and he\nwas so angry that Moses fled away, and never stopped till he reached\nthe land of Midian.\n\nHere he remained for another forty years. He married a wife and had two\nsons, and he tended the flocks of his father-in-law, and lived a very\npeaceful life.\n\nBut one day God came down and spoke to him. He told Moses that in\nEgypt, the condition of God's people was getting worse and worse, and\nthat He had chosen Moses to be their deliverer.\n\nGod said that He would go with him, and help him through; and promised\nthat they should all serve God on this very Mountain in Horeb, where\nGod was now speaking to him.\n\nIt would take too long to tell you all the wonders that God had to do\nto set His people free from their bondage; but at length they escaped\nfrom Egypt\u2014every one of them\u2014they went through the Red Sea on dry land,\nbecause God kept back the water on each side of them; and as they\npassed in to the dry pathway God had made for them, He took His Pillar\nof Cloud, which used to lead them, and He put it behind them, so that\nit was between them and their enemies. And it was a cloud of darkness\nto the Egyptians, but it was a bright light to the Israelites, all\nnight.\n\nWhen they had passed over, God took the cloud away, and the Egyptians\nfollowed through the Sea, but God let the waters go back on Pharaoh and\nhis host, and they were all drowned in the sea, and the Israelites were\nall safe on the other side.\n\nThis is a glorious lesson for us, to show us how God will conquer our\ngreat enemy, Satan, and will bring us safely through, if we trust Him.\n\nWhen the Children of Israel came to Horeb, God called Moses up on the\nMountain to receive His Commandments, and to listen to all that God\nwished him to do; but the people began to get restless and disobedient.\n\nMoses had been on the Mountain for forty days, and they said to Aaron,\nthe brother of Moses, who was the High Priest, \"Up! Make us gods, which\nshall go before us, for as for this Moses we know not what is become of\nhim!\"\n\nThen Aaron made a Golden Calf for them to worship!\n\nWhen Moses came down from talking with God, and found what had\nhappened, he threw the slabs of stone on which God had written His law,\nover the edge of a precipice, and they were broken in pieces beneath\nthe mountain.\n\nThe Lord was very grieved and angry at the disobedience of the people.\nAnd Moses besought the Lord to forgive them; and he even asked God to\nblot his name out of the Book where He had written it, sooner than that\nthe whole Congregation should perish.\n\nAnd God heard his prayer for the forgiveness of the people, and told\nMoses to go forward and lead them to the Land. And God said, \"My\nPresence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.\"\n\nNow Moses loved God very much, and he answered the Lord, \"If Thy\nPresence go not with me, carry us not up hence, for wherein shall it be\nknown here, that I and Thy people have found grace in Thy sight? Is it\nnot in that Thou goest with us?\"\n\nAnd the Lord said unto Moses, \"I will do this thing also that thou hast\nspoken.\"\n\nAnd then Moses, emboldened by God's wonderful kindness in answering\nhis prayer, made a yet further request. \"I beseech Thee, show me Thy\nGlory!\" he said.\n\nAnd the Lord promised to shew Moses all His Goodness, and all His\nMercy; but God told him he could not see His face, for the Glory of it\nwould be too much. The Lord pointed out a place on the mountainside\nwhere there was a clift, or cleft, in a rock, and He told Moses he\nmight stand within that cleft, and God would put His hand over him, so\nthat the glory of His face should not be seen.\n\nSo Moses hastened into that cleft of the rock, and the Glory of the\nLord passed by, and after He had passed by, Moses was allowed to see\nHis back, but His face might not be seen.\n\nIt is a wonderful story; and I think it should dwell in our hearts,\nthat the Holiness of God is great beyond what any words of ours can\npicture.\n\nThere is a prayer of the Lord Jesus in the Gospel of John, which is\nvery comforting when we think with solemn awe about the Holiness of God.\n\n\"Father I will that they also, whom Thou hast given me, be with me\nwhere I am: that they may behold my glory, which Thou hast given me;\nfor Thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.\"\n\nGod gave His own beloved Son, Jesus our Lord, to wash away our sins,\nand make us fit to see his Glory by and bye.\n\nAnd in the Book of the Revelation we are told, that in Heaven, God's\nservants shall serve Him, and they shall see His face.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: MOSES SEES THE GLORY OF GOD.]\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nX. AARON'S ROD THAT BUDDED\n\nNUMBERS 16 AND 17\n\nBEFORE we begin to talk about the pleasant happy story of Aaron's Rod,\nand how it came out into buds and flowers, there is a very dark and\nsorrowful story which we must think of first.\n\nThe Lord told Moses to make a beautiful Tabernacle or Tent, where He\nwould speak to him face to face; and He appointed the different Tribes\nto pitch their tents round it.\n\nGod choose Aaron, the elder brother of Moses, to be the High Priest.\nAaron was the head of the tribe of Levi, and his family were the only\nones who were allowed to approach God in the offerings which were to be\npresented for sin; and to offer the sweet Incense on the Golden Altar\nof Incense, which was in the Holy Place in the Tabernacle.\n\nGod said this Incense was to be made in a special way, and no one was\nto make any like it. And the Lord warns the people that \"the stranger\nthat cometh nigh shall be put to death.\"\n\nEven Aaron's two elder sons, Nadab and Abihu, died before the Lord in\nthe wilderness of Sinai, when they took their censers, \"and put fire\ntherein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the\nLord, which he commanded them not.\"\n\nThese things were well known, and understood by the Israelites; but\nso evil are men's hearts and so easily excited to jealousy, that\nthree men named Korah, Dathan and Abiram, gathered together a number\nof the Princes of the Congregation, and came to Moses and Aaron with\ncomplaints, that Moses and Aaron were taking too much upon themselves,\nand that all the Congregation were equally fit to draw near to God, and\nto do those parts of the Holy Service, which God had appointed that\nonly Aaron and his sons should do.\n\nMoses was dreadfully grieved, and he fell on his face in bitter sorrow.\n\nThen he told Korah and the Princes that they were to present themselves\nat the door of the Tabernacle on the following day.\n\n[Illustration: The earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up Dathan and\nAbiram.]\n\nHe said to them, \"This do: Take you censers, Korah and all his\ncompany, and put fire therein, and put incense in them before the Lord\nto-morrow.\"\n\nBut Moses warned them that the Lord would choose who was holy, and who\nshould draw near to Him.\n\nKorah and his company would not heed the warning. They had time to\nthink over and repent of their sin, for the Lord is a God ready to\npardon. But they went on in their proud arrogance, and oh! to what a\ndreadful end it led them.\n\nSo the next day Korah gathered all the Congregation together against\nMoses and Aaron, at the door of the Tabernacle. But Dathan and Abiram,\nwho specially strove against the authority of Moses, would not come up,\nbut remained in their tents.\n\nThen the Lord told Moses and Aaron to separate themselves quickly from\nthe Congregation that He might consume them all in His anger.\n\nBut once more Moses and Aaron fell on their faces, and interceded with\nthe Lord for those people who had not joined in the rebellion; and\nthe Lord heard their prayer, and told Moses to send the people to a\ndistance, lest they should be consumed in the sins of these rebellious\nmen.\n\nSo the people fled from round about the tents of Korah, Dathan, and\nAbiram.\n\nAnd then God sent an earthquake, and the Earth opened her mouth, and\nswallowed up Dathan and Abiram, and their families and their tents.\n\nAnd as the Congregation fled still further from the awful cry of them,\na fire came out from the Lord, and destroyed Korah, and the two hundred\nand fifty Princes, who had offered Incense.\n\nIt is an awful thing to risk God's punishment.\n\nThis is a very, very sad story; but it is written down in the Bible, to\nshow that we must obey God's commands, and seek Him in the way He has\nprovided.\n\nIn the Old Testament times, the way to approach God was by the Priests\nwhom God had appointed to present the Offerings for sin, and to burn\nthe Incense; but now, since God sent His dear Son, Jesus Christ, to\nmake atonement for our sins, Jesus is the Way to God. He is \"the Lamb\nof God which taketh away the sin of the world.\"\n\nAfter all these dreadful things happened, the Lord spoke to Moses\nagain. God told him that each of the Princes at the head of the Twelve\nTribes, was to bring a rod, with his name clearly marked on it, and\nMoses was to take the twelve rods and place them in the Tabernacle\nbefore the Ark of the Testimony.\n\nAaron the High Priest was the head of the Tribe of Levi, and his rod,\nwith his name on it, was to be sent in with the others.\n\nAnd God said, \"The man's rod whom I shall choose, shall blossom; and I\nwill make to cease the murmurings of the Children of Israel, whereby\nthey murmur against you.\"\n\nMoses did this, and went in on the morrow to look at the rods; and\n\"behold the rod of Aaron, for the house of Levi, was budded, and\nbrought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded Almonds.\"\n\n[Illustration: AARON'S ROD THAT BUDDED.]\n\nThen Moses carried all the rods out for the children of Israel to see,\nand the Lord said, \"Bring Aaron's rod again before the Testimony, to\nbe kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away\ntheir murmurings from me, that they die not.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\nXI. TO THE CITY OF REFUGE\n\nWEARY and spent, the man ran; traversing the hot desert roads in the\ndaytime; and hurrying on through the night if perchance there were a\nmoon or stars to guide him; or else crouching in some corner behind\nsome rock, till daylight enabled him to hurry forward once more!\n\nWhy was the man running over the ground at his topmost speed? Was he\ncarrying a message, or bringing bad news, or what could it be?\n\nNo, he was hurrying to a place of safety!\n\nBut why? you may ask. Was he being pursued, or what was it?\n\nYes, he was being pursued by a man who was called \"The Avenger of\nblood.\"\n\nFor God's law was, that a man who had hated his neighbour and had\nplanned to kill him and had carried out his purpose should surely be\nput to death.\n\nSo if any one was killed among the Children of Israel, at once \"the\nAvenger of blood\" hurried to the spot and seized the murderer, who was\nthen examined before the priests and the judges; and witnesses were\ncalled to give evidence as to whether the prisoner had intended to kill\nhis neighbour, so that the judges might decide whether he were guilty\nor not. God's law made it necessary that there should be more than one\nwitness before a man could be condemned.\n\nBut if a death were caused by an accident, God provided a way of escape\nfor the manslayer, and it is this way of escape that I am going to tell\nyou about.\n\nWhen the Children of Israel had wandered in the wilderness for forty\nyears\u2014for their murmuring and disobedience, as God had said\u2014they came\nat length to the land of Canaan; and here God told Moses to divide the\nland among the different tribes, and instructed him to separate Six\nCities in different parts of the land, three on one side of the River\nJordan, and three on the other side.\n\nThese six cities were to be called \"cities of refuge,\" and God told\nMoses to make good roads leading to them, so that if any one killed\na man by accident or at unawares, he might flee to one of those six\ncities, at his utmost speed, and not lose his way in his haste; for\nwhen once there, he would be sheltered, and in safety, so that the\nAvenger of blood might not catch him and kill him.\n\nYou will find in the 19th chapter of Deuteronomy the wonderful\ndirections which God gave Moses about these cities.\n\nGod said, that any one who killed his neighbour ignorantly, and had not\nintended to hurt him, might flee to the city of refuge, and be safe.\n\nIf a man and his neighbour went into a wood to cut down a tree, and the\naxe-head of one of them flew off and struck the other man, so that he\ndied, then the manslayer as he was called could flee to one of those\ncities, and live! Or if a man let a stone fall upon his neighbour by\naccident, and it killed him, he could flee to the city of refuge, and\nlive!\n\n[Illustration: For when once there, he would be sheltered and in\nsafety.]\n\nAs soon as he entered the city of refuge, the elders of the city\ncame forward and inquired into the circumstances which had made him\nfly there; and so soon as they were satisfied that the death of his\nneighbour was an accident, and that he was not worthy of death, they\nmade him welcome to their city, and henceforward the city of refuge was\nto be his shelter.\n\nBut if any man hated his neighbour, and laid in wait for him, and rose\nup against him, and smote him mortally, so that he died, and were to\nflee into one of these cities, then the elders of his city should send\nand fetch him from there, and deliver him unto the hand of the Avenger\nof blood that he should die. These were the rules which God made.\n\n\nThe man who hurried to that city of refuge knew in his own heart\nwhether he was guilty or not; and if he knew that it was an accident\nwhich had happened, then when he reached the city how gladly did he\npass the gate, and get safely inside!\n\nYou can imagine how he sank down breathless and faint within that\nportal, and how thankful he was in his own heart that God had provided\na way of escape for him!\n\nIn this city of refuge, he must stay; nor was he free to leave it for a\nsingle moment, till the death of the High Priest who might be living in\nthose days. It might be many years, or it might be only a short time;\nbut whether long or short there was no safety for him outside those\nwalls. If he ventured out, if the Avenger should meet him, he would\ncertainly be killed.\n\nAnd it seems to me that there are one or two lessons which we may learn\nfrom this story, which God has written for our learning.\n\nMay we not think of Jesus Christ our Saviour as our City of Refuge?\n\nAnd if He is, shall we not, beneath the Sheltering Walls of His\nSalvation, be at rest from all our fears?\n\nWe read, in the 6th of Hebrews: \"That . . . we might have a strong\nconsolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set\nbefore us.\"\n\n\nThat man, running from the Avenger, wanted life!\n\nAnd if we fly to Jesus Christ to get life, we find that He, Himself, is\nthe Way\u2014the plainly marked, loving path to safety.\n\nHe is the Truth, for His promises are faithful.\n\nHe is the Life, for there is no eternal life apart from Him.\n\nHow tenderly He says to us: \"Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are\nheavy laden, and I will give you Rest.\"\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nXII. THE LETTER THAT WAS LAID BEFORE THE LORD,\n AND THE LORD'S ANSWER\n\nHEZEKIAH, King of Judah, did that which was right in the sight of the\nLord. He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none\nlike him among all the Kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.\n\nImmediately after he came to the throne, he destroyed all the high\nplaces where the people had worshipped false gods, and he broke their\nimages; and he followed the commandments of the Lord with all his heart.\n\nAnd the Lord was with him, and he prospered in all he set his hand to.\n\nHe defeated the Philistines, and rebelled against the yoke of the King\nof Assyria, and refused to serve him.\n\nMeanwhile, however, Hoshea, who was then King of Israel, was very\nmuch harassed by the Assyrians, and God permitted them to come into\nthe land of Israel and besiege Samaria for three years. They took it,\nand carried numbers of captives into the land of Assyria, because His\npeople had transgressed His commandments.\n\nThe Assyrians, having gained these victories, turned their attention to\nthe land of Judah, over which the good King Hezekiah reigned, and they\nfought against and took some of the fenced cities.\n\nThen Hezekiah sent a present to the King of Assyria, hoping to bribe\nhim not to pursue the war any further.\n\nTo make this payment Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the\nTemple of the Lord, and sent all the money that was in the Treasury.\n\nBut the riches which were known to belong to the Kings of Judah and\nIsrael were an immense attraction to their enemies: so that instead of\nturning back, the King of Assyria sent his greatest generals with a\nhost of soldiers to surround Jerusalem and besiege it.\n\nWhen they reached the conduit of the upper pool, which supplied water\nto the city, Rabshakeh called to King Hezekiah to come out to them.\n\nThen Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah came forward to hear what Rabshakeh\nhad to say.\n\nAnd Rabshakeh's first words were full of pride and threatening: \"Thus\nsaith the great King, the King of Assyria, 'What confidence is this\nwherein thou trusteth? In whom dost thou trust? If ye say, \"We trust in\nthe Lord our God,\" Hezekiah has broken down His altars and told Judah\nthey are to worship in Jerusalem!'\n\n\"Now therefore ... I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou\ncanst on thy part put riders upon them!\"\n\nThen Hezekiah's messengers begged Rabshakeh to speak in the Assyrian\nlanguage, and not in Hebrew, which the people understood.\n\nBut Rabshakeh was more insulting than ever; and told all who listened\nto him, that it was vain for Hezekiah to say \"The Lord will deliver\nyou!\" Sennacherib had conquered other nations, and their gods had not\ndelivered them! And the Lord would not deliver Jerusalem out of his\nhand.\n\nBut Eliakim told the people not to answer a word. Then they returned to\nthe king with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.\n\nThen Hezekiah rent his clothes and put on sackcloth, and went up into\nthe house of the Lord, and sent his messengers to Isaiah the Prophet,\nsaying that it was indeed a day of trouble, and surely the Lord had\nheard the words of Rabshakeh.\n\nBut the Prophet Isaiah sent this message to Hezekiah: \"Thus saith the\nLord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the\nservants of the King of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold, I will send\na blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his\nown land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.\"\n\nSo Rabshakeh returned, and when he found fresh troubles in his own\nland, he sent a message by letter to Hezekiah, saying they were not to\nrejoice that they had escaped their enemy! For they would surely come\nand fight against them another time!\n\nThen Hezekiah received the letter and read it, and carried it up into\nthe House of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. And he prayed to\nthe Lord, and told Him it was quite true that other nations had been\ndefeated by the cruel King of Assyria, but they had not the Lord God\nof Israel to trust in; and then he ended with these words: \"O Lord\nour God, I beseech Thee, save Thou us out of his hand, that all the\nkingdoms of the earth may know, that Thou art the Lord God, and Thou\nonly!\"\n\nAnd then the Lord gave His long glorious answer: \"Thus saith the Lord\nconcerning the King of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor\nshoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank\nagainst it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and\nshall not come into this city, saith the Lord. For I will defend this\ncity, to save it, for Mine Own Sake, and for My servant David's sake.\"\n\n\"And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out,\nand smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and eighty-five\nthousand men: and when they arose early in the morning they were all\ndead corpses.\"\n\nSo Sennacherib, King of Assyria, departed and returned to Nineveh; and\nas he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch, his god, his two sons\nsmote him and killed him.\n\nGod's words had come true.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nXIII. THE QUEEN OF SHEBA\n\nWHEN David grew old, one of his sons, named Adonijah, exalted himself,\nto make himself king instead of his father.\n\nHe conferred with Joab the captain and with Abiathar the priest, and it\nwas arranged that all the sons of the king should be invited to a great\nfeast; but when the invitations were given, it was found that he had\nnot included his brother Solomon, nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaiah the\nsoldier, nor Nathan the prophet, who were all devoted friends of King\nDavid.\n\nSo Nathan the prophet spoke to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, and\nbegged her to go to King David and tell him that Adonijah had set\nhimself up as king; and to remind David that he had promised her that\nhe would give the kingdom to Solomon his son.\n\nDavid was very much troubled with what Bathsheba and Nathan told him,\nand he solemnly assured them that God had promised the throne to\nSolomon, and to no one else; and he then sent for Zadok, and he told\nhim and Nathan to anoint Solomon King over Israel at once, and to blow\nwith the trumpet and say, \"Solomon is King!\"\n\nAnd he told them that Solomon was to ride on the king's own mule, and\nsit on the king's throne.\n\nSo they took a horn of oil out of the Tabernacle and anointed Solomon.\nAnd they blew the trumpet, and all the people said: \"God save King\nSolomon!\" And the people came up after him, rejoicing with music and\ngreat joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.\n\nThus Solomon was established in his kingdom, and reigned over all\nIsrael and Judah.\n\nNow Solomon loved the Lord\u2014and it says \"the Lord loved Solomon.\"\n\nOne day he went up to the high place at Gibeon to sacrifice to the Lord\nthere; and he offered a thousand burnt offerings upon the altar. And\nthe Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream; and God said:\n\n   \"Ask what I shall give thee!\"\n\nThen Solomon thanked God for the great kindness which He had shown\nDavid his father, in giving him a son to sit on his throne; and\nacknowledged how David had walked before the Lord in uprightness of\nheart. And then he added: \"O Lord my God . . . I am but a little\nchild . . . give me therefore an understanding heart to judge Thy\npeople; for who is able to judge so great a people?\"\n\nAnd the Lord was pleased with Solomon's request, and He told him that\nbecause he had asked this thing, and not asked for himself riches or\nhonour or long life, God would grant his prayer for an understanding\nheart, and would add besides riches and honour, so that there should be\nno king like Solomon in all the world, nor ever would be again.\n\nAnd then, after these gracious and wonderful assurances, the Lord God\nadded this warning\u2014and it seems to me that the warning comes home to\nevery one of us now: \"If thou wilt walk in My ways to keep My statutes\nand My commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen\nthy days.\"\n\nThen Solomon awoke from his dream, and he came to Jerusalem and offered\nburnt offerings unto the Lord there.\n\nHe at once set about ruling his kingdom and exercising the wonderful\nwisdom which God had given him.\n\nAnd this was why, when he had built cities and palaces, and gathered\ngold and silver and spices in abundance; when he had been permitted to\nbuild a magnificent Temple for the Lord, the Queen of Sheba heard of\nhis fame, concerning the Name of the Lord, and travelled many hundreds\nof miles from the south below Egypt, to prove Solomon with hard\nquestions and to see the glories of his kingdom.\n\n[Illustration: She gave Solomon gold, and a very great store of spices.]\n\nAnd Solomon answered all her questions, and showed her all his work and\nhis riches. When she had seen the house he had built and the food daily\nspread on his table, and the number of his servants, and the ascent\nwhich he had built to go up to the House of the Lord, the queen seemed\nto have no more strength in her, and she exclaimed:\n\n   \"It was a true report that I heard in mine own country, but the half\nwas not told me!\"\n\n   \"Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand\ncontinually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.\"\n\n   \"Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighteth in thee, to set thee\non the throne of Israel . . . to do judgment and justice.\"\n\nAnd she gave King Solomon gold, and a very great store of spices and\nprecious stones, which she had brought on her camels from afar.\n\nAnd Solomon gave her whatever she asked of him, besides the royal\npresents which, as a great king, he bestowed upon her unasked.\n\n\nThere is a verse in Isaiah and another in the Psalms which I love to\nread, which seem to remind us not only of the Queen of Sheba, but of\nthat glorious day which is coming by and by for those who are the\nchildren of God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ:\u2014\n\n\"For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived\nby the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside Thee, what He hath\nprepared for him that waiteth for Him.\"\n\n\"Thou wilt show me the path of life; in Thy presence is fullness of\njoy: at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\nXIV. THREE COMMANDMENTS\n     ABOUT EARTHLY THINGS\n\n     _V. \"Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long\nupon the land which the Lord thy God hath given thee.\"_\n\nOUR best and most beautiful example of this loving, dutiful obedience\nis given us in the early days of our Lord's life on earth.\n\nWe read of it in the second chapter of Luke.\n\nJesus was twelve years old, and He knew that His Heavenly Father had\ngiven Him a great work to do here in this world. One day in Jerusalem\nHe had stayed in the Temple talking to the learned Doctors of the\nLaw, and Joseph and His mother missed Him from among the company who\nwere journeying homewards to Nazareth; and when they found Him in the\nTemple, His mother said, \"Thy father and I have sought Thee, sorrowing!\"\n\nAnd His gentle answer is a pattern to all of us: \"Wist ye not\u2014\" (Did\nyou not know)\u2014\"that I must be about My Father's business?\" He was\nreminding her then of God, Who had sent Him, His only begotten Son,\ninto the world to save sinners.\n\nBut with all that in His heart, the Bible goes on to tell us, \"Jesus\nwent down with them to Nazareth, and was subject unto them.\" That means\nthat He was perfectly obedient in His earthly home.\n\nThen we have the sweet example of Ruth the Moabitess.\n\nHer husband was dead. But Ruth was devoted to her mother-in-law, and\nwhen Naomi wished to return to the land of Israel, though all Ruth's\nfriends lived in Moab, she entreated to be allowed to take that long\njourney with Naomi, and to stay with her always.\n\nAnd as you can read for yourselves in the Book of Ruth, she was\nwonderfully blessed through her goodness to her mother-in-law. God\nwatched her sweet and dutiful behaviour, and He gave her the great\nhonour of being one of the ancestors of King David, and then, through\nhim, of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was born at David's city, Bethlehem,\nthirteen hundred years afterwards.\n\nThus the Commandment that contained a promise of blessing was fulfilled.\n\n\n     _VI. \"Thou shalt do no murder.\"_\n\nWhat is murder? It is hatred in the heart, cherished and unpardoned,\nunconfessed to God, which ends in a cruel deed.\n\nIf we find in our own hearts an unforgiving spirit\u2014a grudge against any\none\u2014a wish, perhaps, to do them harm or pay them back\u2014let us beware!\n\nOur Lord says: \"When ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught\nagainst any one!\"\n\nNow I am going to tell you about a murder, which was a very sad one.\n\nDavid, as you know, loved God very much; but he had grown very rich\nand powerful, and he had begun to value earthly things more than God's\nCommandments.\n\n[Illustration: Uriah, in the forefront of the battle.]\n\nHe wanted to get rid of one of his soldiers, who was at the war\nfighting for him. Why did he want to get rid of him? Because David had\ntaken from him something which that soldier valued beyond all other\nthings! I will tell you what that thing was afterwards.\n\nSo David told his great captain, Joab, to set this soldier, called\nUriah, in the forefront of the battle, and then to retire from him,\nso that he should get killed. So Joab, who was an unscrupulous,\nuntrustworthy man, did as the king commanded him. Then he sent back\nword to David at Jerusalem about the great battle, and mentioned that\nUriah was killed.\n\n\"But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.\"\n\nThe precious possession which David had taken for himself, while Uriah\nwas at the war, was Uriah's dearly loved wife: and David had broken two\nof God's direct commands\u2014one was, \"Thou shalt do no murder,\" the other\nwas:\n\n\n     _VII. \"Thou shalt not commit adultery.\"_\n\n\u2014Which is taking another man's wife away from him.\n\nThen there came another messenger to David. Not from the battlefield,\nwhere Uriah lay dead, but a message from God Himself, sent by the\nProphet Nathan to the king.\n\nAnd the Prophet told David this story: \"There were two men in one city:\none was rich, and the other poor.\"\n\n\"The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: the poor man had\nonly one little ewe lamb, that he had brought up at home, and that\nplayed with his children and drank out of his own cup.\"\n\n\"And a traveller came to see that rich man; and the rich man grudged to\ntake any out of his own flocks to feed the traveller, but took the poor\nman's ewe lamb!\"\n\nWhen David heard this story he was very angry with the rich man, and\ntold Nathan he ought to be punished.\n\nAnd then Nathan said to the king: \"Thou art the man!\"\n\n\"Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil\nin His sight? Thou hast killed Uriah with the sword, and hast taken his\nwife to be thy wife.\"\n\n\"Therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house.\"\n\nThen David was dreadfully sorry. He saw his great sin in the sight of\nthe Lord, and he earnestly asked to be forgiven.\n\nIf you read the fifty-first Psalm you will see how sorry he was.\n\nAnd the Lord did forgive him; but David had to bear the effects of his\nsin the whole of his life afterwards.\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nXV. THREE COMMANDMENTS\n    ABOUT OUR HANDS\u2014OUR TONGUES\u2014AND OUR HEARTS\n\n     _VIII. \"Thou shalt not steal.\"_\n\nPERHAPS you draw back, and say, \"Steal! Surely no one would think I\nwould steal!\"\n\nBut when we come to think it over, there are a good many ways of\nstealing; or being tempted to steal. There are little unfairnesses\nthat many practise, without in the least realizing that they lead to\ndishonesty. A boy who cheats over his lessons goes very near the mark!\nA girl who borrows from her class-mate a sixpence to buy a hair ribbon,\nand does not return it, goes very near the mark too!\n\nSatan is so wary, and we are so un-wary!\n\nI heard of a dear, good woman the other day.\n\nShe had a very hard life to make both ends meet. And one day, the\nperson who was lodging with her left her purse on the table.\n\nThe woman would never have thought of opening the purse and taking out\nher neighbour's money! Oh no!\n\nSatan was too wary to suggest that!\n\nThe dear woman went to move the purse to a place of safety, and it was\nvery full of money, and fell open, and the contents in a moment lay\nscattered on the floor: shillings, sixpences, half-crowns!\n\nThen Satan saw his opportunity. As the dear woman stooped to gather\nthe money, the thought crossed her heart: \"She would never miss one of\nthese coins! And I do need them so\u2014\"\n\nAnd then the dreadfulness of the temptation came upon her, and she fell\non her knees.\n\n\"Dear Lord, forgive me!\" she murmured, and hurried to gather up the\nmoney, and to restore the purse to its owner. God had helped her to be\nbrave!\n\nWhat made Judas betray his Lord?\n\nWas it not that he was a thief, and had the bag, and carried about with\nhim what was in it?\n\nHe thought if the chief priests would give him those thirty pieces of\nsilver, he would be a rich man all his days instead of a poor man!\n\nDid he ever enjoy those thirty pieces of silver?\n\nThere was a boy I heard of lately, who was tempted: and he took an\norange from a greengrocer's shop. But his heart smote him; and that\nevening he wrote this letter to the greengrocer's wife in a round,\nboyish hand:\u2014\n\n   \"Dear Madam,\u2014I am very sorry for stealing an orange from you\nyesterday, while in your shop. I must apologize as I am a Christian,\nbut was tempted.\"\n\n                               Signed . . .\n\n   \"I enclose a penny stamp for the cost of same.\"\n\nThat confession must have cost that boy a great deal to do! But he was\n\"more than conqueror through Him who loved him!\"\n\n\n     _IX. \"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.\"_\n\nHow did the wicked queen Jezebel manage to get Naboth's vineyard for\nher husband? It was by means of false witnesses!\n\nShe sent letters sealed with the king's seal to the nobles and elders\nwho were in the city where Naboth lived, and ordered them to proclaim a\nfast, to set him up on high where all the people could see him, and to\nget two wicked men to give false witness against him, to accuse him of\nblaspheming God and the king. Then he was to be carried out of the city\nand stoned.\n\nSo the elders did as Jezebel told them, and poor Naboth, who had done\nno wrong, was cruelly killed.\n\nAnd now I am going to tell you the story of the sin which brought this\nabout.\n\n\nGod said in His Tenth Commandment\u2014\n\n     _X. \"Thou shall not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shall not\ncovet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant,\nnor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is his.\"_\n\nCovetousness is one of the sins that hides deep in a man's heart, and\nif given way to may spoil all his happiness.\n\nKing Ahab had a palace at Jezreel; and near to the palace was Naboth's\nvineyard, which was his family possession.\n\nAs the king passed to and fro, he began to covet the vineyard of Naboth\nin order to make himself a garden; and at length he asked Naboth to\nexchange his vineyard with him for another better one, or offered to\nbuy it from Naboth for money.\n\nThis seemed at first sight a reasonable offer; but Ahab knew perfectly\nwell that no Jew would sell his father's inheritance, and that he\nvalued it almost like his own life.\n\nSo Naboth refused, and the king went back to his palace heavy and\ndispleased, and went and lay upon his bed and would not eat.\n\nWhen Jezebel found out what was the matter, she begged Ahab to get up\nand eat; and she promised that she would get the vineyard for him!\n\nAnd this was how it came to pass that those false witnesses swore away\nNaboth's life!\n\nWhen Ahab knew that Naboth was dead, he went down to take possession of\nthe vineyard.\n\nBut the Lord sent this message to the king by Elijah, His Prophet\u2014\n\n\"Thus saith the Lord: Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? Thus\nsaith the Lord: In the Place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth,\nshall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.\"\n\nIt is a very solemn thing to break God's commands. Shall we not pray,\nas we think of them: \"With my whole heart have I sought Thee: O let me\nnot wander from Thy Commandments!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nXVI. TAKEN FROM THE BROOK\n\nI SAMUEL 17.12-52\n\nA GREAT Giant had come out of the land of the Philistines to fight\nagainst the Israelites.\n\nHe was about 11 feet high-that is higher than a tall doorway, and no\nordinary man could attempt to fight with him, with any hope of victory,\nbe he ever so brave.\n\nThis Giant, Goliath of Gath, appeared every day for forty days, defying\nthe Armies of Israel, and challenging them to send out a man to fight\nwith him.\n\nThe Giant struck terror into the hearts of the Armies of Israel.\n\nNow there was a youth named David, ruddy and beautiful, who was on the\nMountains of Palestine, tending his father's flocks.\n\nAs he sat watching the sheep, the Holy Spirit taught him many of the\nPsalms we all love, such as, \"The Lord is my Shepherd.\"\n\nOne day a lion came out of his lair and took a lamb of the flock, and\nDavid, knowing that God was his strong Helper, went out after the lion,\nand smote him and got the lamb out of his mouth, and when the lion\nturned on him, David caught him by the beard and killed him. And a bear\ncame in the same way, and he killed him too.\n\nOne day David's father, Jesse, sent him to see how his brothers, who\nwere at the war, were getting on; and when he reached the Camp, the\nfirst thing that he heard was the news of this dreadful Giant, who was\ndefying the Israelites every morning and every evening.\n\nAnd David said, \"Who is this heathen Philistine, that he should defy\nthe Armies of the Living God?\"\n\nDavid's eldest brother was angry with him for what he said; but David's\nwords were heard by the other soldiers, and they repeated them to King\nSaul.\n\nAnd Saul sent for him, and when David came into his presence, he said\nto the King, \"Let no man's heart fail him because of the Giant, I will\ngo and fight with him!\"\n\n[Illustration: The giant struck terror into the hearts of the armies of\nIsrael.]\n\nBut Saul looked at David and said, \"You are not able to fight with the\nGiant.\"\n\nThen David told the King about the lion and bear, and he said, \"The\nLord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw\nof the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.\"\n\nSo Saul agreed to his going, and put some armour on him; but David told\nthe King he could not go with these, for he was not used to armour.\n\nThen David took his staff in his hand, and went to the brook and chose\nout five smooth stones, and he put them in his shepherd's bag that hung\nat his side.\n\nBefore we go on to what David did with those stones, there are two\nor three interesting things in this story which we shall do well to\nnotice; for they will be, if we think of them, a great help to us in\nour own lives.\n\nWe all have, like David, a tremendous enemy to face. This is Satan; and\nhe comes to us every day, like the Giant Goliath, and he tries to make\nus afraid. He wants us to live without thinking about God; he wants us\nto forget that there is a great Helper for us in every time of need.\n\nBut David truly loved God with his whole heart, and he was very brave;\nbut it was in God's strength that he had determined to meet the Giant.\n\nSo he went to the brook, and chose some of the smooth stones that he\nwas accustomed to use.\n\nIt was a very simple weapon; and doubtless he had often practised\nslinging stones, as he sat watching his sheep, and knew how to aim well.\n\nAnd, if we want to conquer Satan when he tempts us to do wrong, we must\ntake the weapon God has given us to use\u2014which is His own word. Just\nsay, \"Lord, help me!\" or \"Lord, save me!\" and Satan will be driven away.\n\nI shall never forget being called to comfort a dear dying girl, who was\nmuch worried by Satan's suggestions. I stood by her bedside and quietly\nrepeated these words of God to her, from Isaiah 59.19: \"When the enemy\nshall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a\nstandard against him.\"\n\nIn a moment the cloud of sorrow and fear passed from her face; and God\nnever let Satan worry her again!\n\nSo you will find God's words will be just like David's smooth stones,\nwhen he went up to meet the Giant!\n\n[Illustration: DAVID GOES TO MEET GOLIATH.]\n\nAnd Goliath said, \"Am I a dog that thou comest to me with staves? Come\nto me, and I will give thy flesh to the fowls of the air, and to the\nbeasts of the field!\"\n\nThen David answered, \"Thou comest to me with a sword and with a shield,\nbut I come to thee in the Name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the\narmies of Israel whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver\nthee into my hand . . . and I will smite thee, and take thy head from\nthee. For the battle is the Lord's.\"\n\nSo, as the Giant came forward towards David, David ran to meet him, and\nput his hand into his bag and took a stone, and slang it, and it hit\nthe Giant on his forehead, so that he sank down on the ground on his\nface. Then David ran, and took Goliath's own sword, and cut off his\nhead with it.\n\nAnd when the Philistines saw that their Champion was dead, they fled,\nand the Israelites followed after them and the Victory was won.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\nXVII. THE FIRST AND SECOND COMMANDMENTS:\n      AND HOW THEY WERE BROKEN\n\n\"I am the Lord thy God, Which have brought thee out of the land of\nEgypt, out of the house of bondage.\"\n\n     _I. \"Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.\"_\n\n     _II. \"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any\nlikeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth\nbeneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow\ndown thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a\njealous God.\"_\n\nTHE Children of Israel had left Egypt. God had brought them out with a\nstrong hand. They had left their enemies the Egyptians, some of them\ndead in their houses, for all the firstborn were dead; and some of\nthem overwhelmed in the Red Sea, where they had attempted to follow\nthe Israelites, for whom God had made a way on dry ground, through the\nmidst of the waters.\n\nAnd now God had led them about in the wilderness, for they were\nobstinate and disobedient, and He could not let them go into the\nPromised Land of Blessing, because their hearts were too hard to learn\nHis great lessons.\n\nIn the third month after leaving Egypt, they came into the wilderness\nof Sinai, and the whole congregation camped before the mount.\n\nThen God called Moses to come to Him to the top of the mountain; and\nhere God spoke to him, and sent him down to repeat to the congregation\nall the words which He had told him.\n\nAnd God told Moses that it was a very solemn thing for Him to speak in\ntheir hearing, so they were to set bounds round the mount, that no one\nshould come too close.\n\nGod said that He would come to Moses in a thick cloud; but that the\npeople should hear His Voice when He spoke, and should believe Moses\nfor ever.\n\nWhile God was telling Moses all these Commandments, on the top of the\nmountain, there were thunderings and lightnings, and the voice of a\ntrumpet exceeding loud, so that all the people in the camp trembled.\n\nMount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord Jehovah descended\nupon it in fire; and even the mountain trembled at the Presence of the\nHoly God.\n\nAnd this was the First Commandment\u2014\n\n\"Thou shalt have no other gods before ME!\"\n\nNothing else in the world nearer and dearer to us than God!\n\nI heard the other day of a terribly injured soldier, who sent this\nmessage to one who had written to sympathize in his great deprivation:\n\"Don't pity me; the sacrifice has been worth it; for I have found God!\"\n\nOh! What it is to learn that!\n\nNow we come to the Second Commandment\u2014\"Thou shalt not make unto thee\nany graven image.\"\n\n[Illustration: Moses cast down the two Tablets which God had written.]\n\nWhen the Children of Israel stood round that mount, and heard God say\nthat, if they would obey His voice, they should be a peculiar treasure\nto Him, they promised that they would faithfully keep all that the Lord\nsaid.\n\nBut I am sorry to tell you that they soon forgot their promises, and\ndid the very thing God had told them not to do. And this was how it all\nhappened.\n\nMoses was up on the mount with God for forty days and forty nights,\nand God gave Moses the two Tablets of stone, on which God Himself had\nwritten His Ten Commandments.\n\nBut forty days and forty nights seemed a long time to the thousands\nof people waiting below on the plains; and they \"gathered themselves\ntogether unto Aaron, and said, Up! make us gods, which shall go before\nus; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of\nEgypt, we do not know what has become of him!\"\n\nThen Aaron bade them bring him gold from their ornaments, and he cast\nthe gold into the fire, and it melted down into a great piece of gold,\nwhich looked like a calf.\n\nAaron took a tool and moulded it, and the people said, \"These be thy\ngods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!\"\n\nThen they offered sacrifices to the golden calf, and feasted, and rose\nup to dance.\n\n\"And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for the people\nhave turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. Now,\ntherefore . . . let Me alone, that I may consume them!\"\n\nBut Moses besought the Lord most earnestly to turn from His anger,\nand asked Him to remember His servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and\nbegged Him to forgive the sin of His people.\n\nSo Moses went down the mountain with God's Law in his hands. But when\nhe and Joshua, who was with him, saw from the mount what had happened,\nand that the people had already broken God's two first commandments,\nMoses cast down the two Tablets which God had written with His own\nHand, and they fell beneath the mountain and were broken to pieces.\n\nAnd the Lord sent a sore punishment to the people who had sinned, and\nthree thousand of them died.\n\nThe next day Moses went up to the Lord again, and his words of entreaty\nare most touching\u2014\n\n\"Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of\ngold. Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin\u2014; and if not, blot me, I\npray thee, out of Thy Book which Thou hast written.\"\n\n\"And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him\nwill I blot out of My Book.\"\n\nThis is an awfully solemn story. We do not read that the people\nthemselves repented\u2014if they had, the Holy God would have forgiven them\nout and out.\n\nFor He says in the 55th of Isaiah\u2014\n\n\"Let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to\nour God, for He will abundantly pardon.\"\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nXVIII. THE NEXT TWO COMMANDMENTS:\n       AND HOW THEY MAY BE KEPT\n\n     _III. \"Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord My God in vain;\nfor the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His Name in vain.\"_\n\nTHINK of the name of the person whom you love the best in the world,\nand then think how you would feel if you heard any one speak against\nthat name. Would not you feel grieved? Would you not turn away from\nthe one who spoke against that loved name? And say: \"I cannot hear you\nspeak like that\u2014I love that name above any on earth.\"\n\nYes; if you think of it, you will see that it is so.\n\nAnd if we feel so about an earthly love, and an earthly name, what\nought we to feel about that \"Name which is above every name\"?\n\nNo wonder God says in His Holy Law: \"Thou shalt not take the Name of\nthe Lord thy God in vain!\"\n\nAnd our Lord, in the Prayer which He has told us all to use, says\u2014\n\n\"Our Father, which art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name!\" It is the\nfirst request of that wonderful prayer.\n\nDo you see the baby boy in your home? He has hurt himself, or got into\nsome difficulty. He can just say one single word, and that word is\nthe only name he knows; and you hear him calling out in his distress,\n\"Mother! Mother!\" Over and over, till she comes running in, and in a\nmoment he is in her arms!\n\nAnd this brings me to a text I am very very fond of: \"The Name of the\nLord is a Strong Tower! The righteous runneth into it and is safe.\"\n\nA few years ago a sister of mine was walking on a lonely road, and just\nas she was crossing a railway bridge between two brick walls a man\nsprang out and seized her watch and chain.\n\nNo one was in sight, and she knew she was utterly helpless, and that\nthe man's strength would soon wrench the watch away.\n\nThen she bethought herself of the Name of Jesus! And she called to Him\naloud, \"Lord, help me!\"\n\nIn an instant the man relaxed his hold, dropped the watch and chain,\nand made off as fast as he could, and she saw him no more! Surely to\nher the Name of the Lord had been a strong tower, she had run into it\nand was safe!\n\nAnd this is only one instance of very many that I have known, when the\nHoly Name of our God, or of our dear Saviour, is all-powerful to help\nus in our greatest need.\n\nIf we hallow the Name of our God in our lives now, there will be a time\nwhen we shall see His Face, and His Name shall be in our foreheads, as\na token that we are His for ever.\n\n\nAnd now we come to another thought, about another Commandment\u2014\n\n     _IV. \"Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou\nlabour and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the\nLord thy God . . . For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth . . .\nand rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day,\nand hallowed it.\"_\n\nYou will see it begins with the one word\u2014\n\n\"REMEMBER!\"\n\nWhat are we to remember? A father goes out in the morning, and as he\nturns away, he says, \"Remember, children, what I have told you to do!\"\n\nSo our Heavenly Father says to each one of us, about the Sundays that\ncome every week: \"Remember! This is My Day\u2014it is the Sunday of the Lord\nthy God!\"\n\nThen let us rejoice that such a day is given us. A rest from our\nlessons; a rest from our work; a time when we can read a nice book in\nwhich we find something to help us about pleasing God.\n\nSunday is given us to do good in. Think how our Lord, when He was on\nearth, went about healing and comforting on the Sabbath Day! And He\ntold the people \"it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath Day.\"\n\nIf we look out for opportunities, we can think of things to do that\nwill help others. We can paint texts to send to invalids or to\ncottages; we can put sacred pictures, if we have any, into scrap-books\nfor the Children's Hospital, or we can paste some white paper on a used\npicture post-card, and write neatly a verse or two of a hymn, and send\nthe cards, when done, to cheer the wounded soldiers! Such a hymn as\n\"Fight the good fight,\" or \"Jesu, Lover of my soul,\" or \"I heard the\nvoice of Jesus say.\"\n\nAn elder sister, perhaps, can show the little ones a Bible\npicture-book, and tell them some simple stories about Little Samuel or\nJoseph. Or she can read aloud a Sunday story-book to the others, while\nthey paint or chalk some outlined texts.\n\nIn a large family I know, this was a very favourite occupation.\n\nThen singing hymns! Oh, how children love hymns!\n\nAs you begin to \"remember\" to make God's Day a holy, happy one, you\nwill find that there are things to do in it, for His sake, that will\nmake you happy, too.\n\nIt is a day for worship, for rest, for peace, and for loving\nministrations for others, and you will find that \"in keeping His\nCommandments there is great reward.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nXIX. THE POTTER'S VESSEL\n\nTHOSE who have visited the East tell us that even to-day the potter\nstill sits at his work, making jars and jugs to carry the precious\nwater from the wells.\n\nNow we must suppose ourselves entering the little courtyard where the\npotter sits at work, or bending our heads to enter the shady little\nbuilding or shed, where the rays of the mid-day sun cannot reach him.\n\nHe has just brought a lump of clay, and placed it on the middle of his\nwheel, and with his feet, he gives the wheel a twist, and begins to\nmould the great lump of clay into a round sort of mass.\n\n[Illustration: THE POTTER'S WHEEL.]\n\nSo the visitor ventures to say: \"May I ask what you are making, sir?\"\n\nAnd the potter looks up, with a half-smile, as he answers: \"I am going\nto make a lovely jar,\" and then his feet twist the wheel round and\nround, and the visitor stands by watching.\n\nThe potter puts his thumb into the place where the neck of the jar will\nbe, and as he twists and moulds, the visitor sees before his eyes the\nugly bit of clay coming into an elegant shape.\n\nAt length the jar is done, and the visitor asks another question. \"What\nwill you do, now?\" he says.\n\n\"I shall paint it with beautiful colours\u2014\"\n\n\"And then?\"\n\n\"Then I shall put it into the oven and bake it, so that the shape and\nthe colours will stand fast.\"\n\nThe visitor hesitates. At length, he asks, \"You do not make them all\nalike? Some are plain and homely; some are beautiful, and I suppose\ncostly?\"\n\nThe potter smiles, as he rises and places his jar on a shelf out of\nharm's way.\n\n\"Well, sir,\" he says, \"it's just as I choose to make them! Some are\nso precious in my eyes that I love to look at them; some turn out so\nbadly, that I have to mould the clay over again. Just as I like, sir;\njust as I like! It is my clay, and my work; but I want the pieces that\nI make, to come out beautiful and lovely.\"\n\n[Illustration: I shall paint it with beautiful colours.]\n\nSo the potter takes another lump of clay, and goes to his wheel again;\nand the visitor, thanking him very much for his kindness, turns away\nthoughtfully.\n\nHad he not read somewhere in his Bible about the Clay and the Potter?\n\n\"Yes,\" he said to himself at length. \"It was in Jeremiah, and when I\nget back to my Hotel, I will look it up.\"\n\nAnd he found what he wanted, in the 18th Chapter of Jeremiah, where the\nLord told the Prophet to go down to the potter's house, that He might\ntell him there, what he was to say to the Jewish people, who at that\ntime were sadly disobedient, and had turned away from God.\n\nSo Jeremiah went down to the Potter's house; and behold, he was making\nsomething on his wheel.\n\nBut as he made it, the vessel which he was moulding was marred, or\nspoilt, under his hand; so he turned, and made the piece of clay into\nanother shape, as it seemed good to the potter to make it.\n\nAnd the Prophet stood and watched him.\n\nThen the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, and the Lord told him he\nwas to go to the people of Israel and tell them His message. That if\nthey continued in their evil ways, He would take them out of their own\nland, and from their beloved City, Jerusalem, and He would send them to\nbe Captives in a distant land.\n\nAnd God said, \"O house of Israel, cannot I do with you, as this potter\nhas done with his clay?\"\n\nFor God loved the Children of Israel, and He wanted to make them good\nand beautiful, like the potter wanted to make his jars.\n\nBut the Children of Israel rebelled against God; and though He had\nsent great deliverances many times, and brought them right out of the\nbondage of Egypt, and into the beautiful land of Canaan, they very\nquickly forgot Him again.\n\nThey forgot all His love towards them, and began to serve other gods,\nwhich they made with their own hands; and they even sacrificed and\nburned their own sons on their altars.\n\nSo God sent Jeremiah with His message to them\u2014that if they would turn\naway from their evil ways and come back to Him, He would forgive them\nand give them every blessing; but if they refused, then Jerusalem\nshould be destroyed, and God would send those who were left after the\nbattles into a far country where they should be Captives for seventy\nyears.\n\nYet even with all these solemn warnings, the Children of Israel\u2014the\nJews\u2014refused to obey God; and very shortly those things came to pass\nwhich Jeremiah had told them.\n\nBut God has given great promises to the Jews, and He is very patient\nand longsuffering.\n\nBy and by after seventy years, He brought them back in a wonderful way\nto their own Land, which they again inhabited, and built cities and\nlived in them.\n\nBut it was not very long before they again began to depart from God's\nlaws; they ceased to obey those things which were plainly written in\nthe Old Testament Scriptures; and at last, when Jesus Christ came to\nearth to be their Messiah and King, they did not remember all God\nhad said in the Bible about Him, and they rose up against Him, and\ncrucified the Lord of Glory!\n\nAnd so, again the Heavenly Father, who calls Himself the Potter, has\nhad to send the Jews out of their Land, and He is moulding them now by\ntrials and sorrows, so that by and by they may be purified and restored\nto His favour.\n\nFor when Jesus comes back to Earth, as He surely will, \"they will look\non Him whom they have pierced,\" and will turn to Him, and be saved.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\nXX. JEHOSHEBA, THE GOOD AUNT\n\n2 KINGS 11.1-21. 2 CHRONICLES 22, 23, AND 24\n\nQUEEN ATHALIAH, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, was a very wicked\nwoman.\n\nHer son Ahaziah only reigned one year in Jerusalem, and she was his\ncounsellor to do evil. But at the end of the year he was slain by Jehu,\nand the Throne of Judah became empty.\n\nThen Queen Athaliah determined to destroy all the Royal Princes, and\nordered all the sons of Ahaziah to be killed, in order to reign over\nthe Kingdom herself.\n\nBut while these terrible scenes were happening, and the Princes of\nJudah were being killed one after another, there was a Princess,\nAhaziah's sister, who made a brave resolve, and carried it out most\nsuccessfully.\n\nShe knew that one of the King's sons, whom Athaliah had intended to\nkill, was a baby of a year old, and she determined that she would do\nher utmost to rescue him from the soldiers who were ordered to carry\nout this wicked scheme. This Princess was called Jehosheba, and she\nwas the wife of the High Priest, and evidently could go into the outer\nrooms of the Temple.\n\nSo while the shouts of the soldiers, and the cries of those who were\nbeing murdered, were filling the air with terrible sounds of confusion,\nJehosheba stole swiftly to the place where she thought she should find\nthe baby boy, and hiding him under her beautiful robes she bore him\ninto the Temple, far away from the noise and turmoil, and she hid him\nin a bedchamber, under the care of his trusted Nurse.\n\n[Illustration: BORE HIM INTO THE TEMPLE.]\n\nThe bedchamber was probably a little room where the mats and bedding\nfor the priests who lived in the Temple, were kept, and at night they\nwere brought out and laid upon the floor in the larger chambers; for\nthat is the custom in the East.\n\nNo one missed the little child, for Athaliah believed that all the\nRoyal Princes were slain. So she immediately put herself on the Throne,\nand reigned over the kingdom, practising all her wicked ways as before,\nin defiance of the Commands of God.\n\nYou will not wonder that she came to a very sorrowful end, as we shall\nhear presently.\n\nMeanwhile, Joash, the little heir to the throne, was kept hidden safely\nin the Temple. You can picture to yourselves how Jehosheba would have\noften gone to that far-off bedchamber to play with her little nephew,\nand how she would teach him all she could, to prepare him for the\nKingdom.\n\nIt is evident also, when we read the accounts, that her husband,\nJehoiada, the High Priest, was often with the child: for by and by\nwhen six years had passed away, and little Joash was seven years old,\nJehoiada determined that he should be crowned King.\n\nSo he called the Captains of the army, and they started out all over\nthe land of Judah, and gathered the Levites from all the cities, and\nthe chief fathers of the people, and they all came up to Jerusalem.\n\n[Illustration: Then Jehoiada . . . put the crown on his head.]\n\nJehoiada shewed them the little King, and made arrangements for their\nguarding him on the Coronation Day. He also armed them with spears and\nshields and bucklers which had been King David's, and said to them,\n\"Behold the King's son shall reign, as the Lord hath said of the sons\nof David.\"\n\nSo the Captains and the Levites did exactly as Jehoiada told them, and\nstood on guard about the King, with their weapons in their hands.\n\nThen Jehoiada brought forward the little son of King Ahaziah, and put\nthe crown on his head, and the roll of the Testimony in his hand, and\nthey made him King, and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him; and those\nabout him clapped their hands with joy, and said, \"God save the King!\"\n\nBut when Athaliah, the wicked Queen, heard the shouting and rejoicing,\nshe hurried into the House of the Lord, and when she saw the King\nstanding by a pillar, and the Princes and the trumpeters around him,\nand all the people rejoicing, and sounding the trumpets, she rent her\nclothes and cried, \"Treason! Treason!\"\n\nBut Jehoiada quickly commanded the Captains to seize Athaliah, and\ntake her out of the Temple, and to kill her with the sword outside the\nCourts; and there she was slain.\n\nThen Jehoiada made a covenant with the King and all the people, that\nthey should be the Lord's people, and not idolaters any more; and they\nwent into the house of the idol Baal, and broke it down; and they broke\nup the altars of Baal, and his images into small pieces, and killed the\npriest of Baal.\n\nSo all the people rejoiced greatly, and they brought the King to the\nKing's house, and he sat on the Throne of Judah.\n\nAs long as the faithful High Priest lived, Joash was a good King.\nJehoiada was his counsellor and friend, and under his advice Joash did\nmuch to repair the Temple of God.\n\nBut when Jehoiada died, Joash fell into evil company. The Princes of\nJudah came and persuaded him to go to the Groves and Idols; and the end\nwas, that he brought misery on himself, and also on the Kingdom which\nhe ruled.\n\nGod sent Prophet after Prophet to implore the people to return to the\nLord, but Joash went on in his wrong-doing, even to killing the son of\nJehoiada, his old friend and protector.\n\nJoash fell very sick at this time, whether from wounds or from illness,\nthe Bible does not say; but the servants who waited on him conspired\nagainst him, and killed him in his bed.\n\nOh! What a sorrowful death! No love, no tender pity, but hatred for all\nthe evil he had done to the Kingdom, over which he might have reigned\nso gloriously, had he only kept close to the Lord God, who would surely\nhave established his throne.\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nXXI. GOD FEEDS ELIJAH\n\nELIJAH was a great Prophet of the Lord; and to him were given more\nwonderful honours than were conferred on any other Prophet.\n\nWe talk much now-a-days about deeds of bravery, and about the honours\nwhich are given to the men who have thus distinguished themselves;\nand these honours are given them by our King, and the brave deeds are\nspoken of from one end of the world to the other!\n\nYou will like to know what honours Elijah had?\n\nHe was allowed to go to Heaven without dying; and he was allowed long\nafterwards to come back from the glory to talk with the Lord Jesus on\nthe Mount of Transfiguration.\n\nThese wonderful \"distinctions\" were not given him by any earthly king,\nbut by God Himself; and as we follow out the story of Elijah's life, we\nshall ourselves, perhaps, have a peep into that glory which Jesus is\neven now preparing for those who love and follow Him.\n\nI have read that Elijah's name means \"My God is Jehovah!\" and it\nseems to me that this is a brave motto for each one of us, \"My God is\nJehovah!\" \"For in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.\"\n\nThe first mention we have of the Prophet Elijah, who came from the land\nof Gilead, was in the reign of King Ahab.\n\nGod chose Elijah, who was very brave, to rebuke the king for his many\nacts of wickedness. We read that Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God\nthan any of the other kings before him.\n\nOne day Elijah went to Ahab and told him: \"As the Lord God of Israel\nliveth, before Whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these\nyears, but according to my word.\"\n\nThis loss of rain was doubtless sent as a great punishment for the\nidolatry and sin into which the whole people of Israel had fallen.\n\nThen the Word of the Lord came to Elijah, saying, \"Turn thee eastward,\nand hide thyself by the brook Cherith that is before Jordan.\"\n\nGod did not forget His faithful servant in the famine that was coming;\nand He told him He had commanded the ravens to feed him, and that he\nwould be able to drink of the brook.\n\nHere, amidst the rocks and fastnesses, he was safe from the wrath of\nAhab and of Jezebel, Ahab's wife, who hated Elijah with all her heart.\n\nAnd the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread\nand flesh in the evening, and he drank of the brook.\n\nBut when the hot days came the brook began to grow less and less,\nbecause there had been no rain, and at last the brook dried up;\nand then the Word of the Lord came to him again: \"Arise and go to\nZarephath, near Sidon: I have commanded a widow woman to feed thee\nthere.\"\n\nSo Elijah went the long journey to Zarephath, and just outside the\ngate he saw a woman gathering sticks; and, too thirsty to wait till he\nreached her side, he called to her: \"Fetch me, I pray thee, a little\nwater to drink!\"\n\nAnd as she was going to fetch it, he called again: \"And bring me a\nmorsel of bread in thine hand!\"\n\nBut she quickly answered: \"I have not any bread! I have nothing but a\nlittle meal in the bottom of the barrel, and a little oil in a cruse;\nand I was gathering a few sticks to bake a little loaf for me and my\nson, that we may eat it and die!\"\n\nThe famine was so bad in the land that this was the last bread that\npoor widow would be able to get.\n\nBut God knew all about it, and He had arranged it all in His loving way.\n\nSo Elijah, hungry and thirsty as he was, gave her God's message.\n\n\"Fear not,\" he said; \"go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof\na little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and\nfor thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel: The barrel of meal\nshall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day\nthat the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.\"\n\nAnd she went and did as the Prophet told her, and he, and her house,\nhad enough to eat all the while the famine lasted.\n\nAnd since then there are many widows, and many distressed and anxious\nfamilies, who have found the God of Elijah the same loving, providing\nGod that this poor widow did.\n\nBut by and by there came a still harder trial to that widow's heart.\nHer precious little boy, who had been kept alive all through the\nfamine, was very ill, and died.\n\nThen the poor widow was utterly hopeless, and she blamed Elijah and\nsaid it was his fault that this dreadful sorrow had come to her.\n\nDoubtless Elijah had told her much about the Holy God who cannot bear\nsin, and she began to look at her past life, and one particular sin\ncame up before her! She told him that he had come to bring this sin to\nremembrance, and to slay her son!\n\nBut Elijah said, \"Give me thy son.\" And he took him out of her bosom\nand carried him up to the loft where he lived, and laid the child upon\nhis own bed.\n\nAnd Elijah cried to the Lord. (You see he was a man who lived in close\ntouch with God!) And he said: \"O Lord my God, hast Thou brought evil\nupon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?\"\n\nThen he stretched himself upon the child three times. And again he\ncried to the Lord God, and said: \"O Lord my God, I pray Thee, let this\nchild's soul come into him again!\"\n\n\"And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came\ninto him again, and he revived.\"\n\n\"And Elijah took the child, and brought him down . . . and delivered\nhim unto his mother, and said, 'See! Thy son liveth!'\"\n\n\"And the woman said to Elijah, 'Now by this I know that thou art a man\nof God, and that the Word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.'\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nXXII. RUTH\n\nA LONG time ago we read of something most interesting about Bethlehem.\n\nIn the time of the Judges of Israel, before Saul or David had been made\nkings, there was a man living at Bethlehem whose name was Elimelech. He\nhad a wife called Naomi, and two sons called Mahlon and Chilion.\n\nBut there came a famine in Bethlehem, and Elimelech and his wife and\ntwo sons went out of Canaan and journeyed into the land of Moab.\n\nHere the family of Elimelech settled down for ten years.\n\nBut Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons. These sons\nmarried wives in Moab, but both of them died, and Naomi was then left a\ndesolate widow.\n\nBy and by she heard that the famine was over in the land of Canaan, and\nshe started with her two daughters-in-law to return to Bethlehem.\n\nBut after they had set out on their journey, Naomi advised Orpah and\nRuth to go back to their mothers, and prayed that, as they had been so\nloving and kind to her sons who had died, God would take care of them,\nand bless them in Moab.\n\nThen she kissed them, and they all wept together. And they said,\n\"Surely we will go back with thee to thy people!\"\n\nBut Naomi did everything she could think of to dissuade them, and at\nlast, with many tears, Orpah wished her good-bye; but Ruth clung to her.\n\nThen Naomi used another argument: \"Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone\nback to her people and to her gods\u2014return thou after her.\"\n\nBut Ruth said: \"Entreat me not to leave thee or to return from\nfollowing after thee, for whither thou goest I will go; thy people\nshall be my people, and thy God shall be my God!\"\n\nSo Ruth chose the God of Israel to be her God. And that God Whom she\nhad chosen, watched over her all her life long, and gave her great\nhappiness and honour, as I shall tell you by and by.\n\nWhen Naomi found that Ruth was determined that \"naught but death\"\nshould part them she left off persuading her, and they two journeyed on\ntill they came to Bethlehem.\n\n[Illustration: So Boaz spoke kindly to Ruth.]\n\nThe arrival of strangers at a little town in those days was a great\nevent, and all the people flocked out of their houses to see who it\ncould be.\n\nAnd they said, \"Is this Naomi?\"\n\nBut Naomi's heart failed her. She had gone out with husband and sons,\nand she had returned desolate; and in her grief she said, \"Do not call\nme 'Naomi'\" (that meant pleasant), \"but call me 'Mara'\" (which means\nbitter), \"for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me!\"\n\nPoor Naomi! She forgot her sweet daughter Ruth; she forgot the God of\nIsrael whom they both trusted. For a little while her grief swept over\nher.\n\nThere lived in Bethlehem a rich man, whose name was Boaz, and he was a\nrelation of Naomi's husband, Elimelech.\n\nWhen they found that the barley harvest had just begun, Ruth said to\nher mother-in-law, \"Let me go into the fields to glean corn!\"\n\nAnd when she reached the fields she happened on a field belonging to\nBoaz; but Ruth did not know that he was her relative.\n\nWhen Boaz saw Ruth among the women who had come out to glean, he asked\nhis servant who was set over the reapers whose damsel she was? And the\nservant told him that she had come from Moab with Naomi, and he had let\nher glean among the reapers.\n\nSo Boaz spoke kindly to Ruth, and bade her keep near his maidens; and\nif she were thirsty she was welcome to take some of the water which his\nyoung men had drawn.\n\nThen Ruth bowed herself to the ground, and thanked Boaz for his\nkindness to a stranger.\n\nBut Boaz told her that he had heard all about her love to her\nmother-in-law, and how she had left father and mother to come to a\nstrange land. And then he asked the Lord God of Israel, under Whose\nwings she had come to trust, to bless her, and to give her a full\nreward for all she had done.\n\nSo Boaz told her to come at meal-times and share the food they had;\nand he gave her parched corn, some of which she saved to carry to her\nmother-in-law; and when she had had sufficient, she went back to her\ngleaning. And Boaz told his young men to let fall handfuls on purpose\nfor her, so that by evening she had gathered quite a good quantity.\n\nWhen Naomi heard all the kindness of Boaz, she told Ruth that he was\na near relation, and she realized that, after all, the Lord had not\nforsaken her, though in her grief she had almost thought He had!\n\nShe told Ruth to keep fast by the maidens of Boaz. So day after day,\ntill the harvest was over, Ruth did as Naomi bade her; and as Boaz went\nto and fro among the reapers, he saw the modest and sweet behaviour of\nthe young stranger girl, and he determined to ask her to be his wife.\nSo they were married; and by and by a dear little son was given to them.\n\nAnd the women said to Naomi: \"Bless be the Lord, which hath not left\nthee without a kinsman, that his name should be famous in Israel.\"\n\nSo Naomi was comforted, and became a nurse to the babe who was so\nprecious to her.\n\nAnd his name was famous! For the child was called Obed, and he was in\ndue time the father of Jesse; and Jesse was the father of David, and\nthrough David, years afterwards, came our Blessed Lord!\n\nDo you not remember how the blind man cried out?\u2014\"Jesus, Thou son of\nDavid, have mercy upon me.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\nXXIII. ON MOUNT GILBOA\n\nAs David left Saul, and went back to his stronghold at Engedi, he said\nto himself: \"I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul! There is\nnothing better for me than that I should escape into the land of the\nPhilistines, and Saul will cease to look for me.\"\n\nSo he went with the six hundred men who followed him, and dwelt with\nAchish, the king of Gath, for a year and four months.\n\nBut, after a time, the Philistines determined to go to battle against\nthe Israelites, and as David and his men were very friendly with\nAchish, they marched in the rear of the army which was gathered\ntogether against Saul.\n\nBut when the princes of the Philistines found David and his men among\nthe warriors, they very much objected, telling Achish that when the\nbattle was joined, David would go over to the other side and fight\nagainst the Philistines.\n\nAchish tried to persuade them that David and his men were their\nfriends, but the lords of the Philistines would not consent; and David\nhad to go back to Ziklag. It would take too long to tell you here how\nhe found that other enemies had invaded his home, or how he and his men\nwent after them, and how the Lord helped them to recover their wives\nand children and all the spoil that those enemies had taken.\n\nBut it seems very wonderful that, in the great battle of the\nPhilistines in which Saul was killed, the Lord had sent David far away\nin another direction!\n\nSo the Philistines gathered themselves to the battle, and Saul and his\nsons and all the men of Israel came out against them.\n\nBut the night before the battle Saul had gone to a witch at Endor,\nand asked her to bring up Samuel to speak to him. Both he and the\nwitch were very frightened when Samuel came up\u2014an old man wrapped in a\nmantle\u2014and Samuel told Saul that God had given the kingdom to David,\nand that he and his sons would be killed on the morrow.\n\n[Illustration: Both he and the witch were very frightened when Samuel\ncame up.]\n\nSo the battle took place the next day on Mount Gilboa; and the\nPhilistines followed hard upon Saul and his sons, and Saul was sore\nwounded by the archers.\n\nThen Saul besought his armour-bearer to kill him with his sword lest\nhis enemies should come and mock him. But his armour-bearer would not,\nfor he was sore afraid.\n\nThen King Saul took his own sword and fell upon it and died. And when\nhis armour-bearer saw that he was dead, he fell upon his sword too, and\ndied with him.\n\nSo Saul died, and his three sons and all his men, that day together.\n\nWhen the rest of the army who were on the other side of the valley and\non the other side of Jordan saw that Saul and his sons were dead, they\nfled, and forsook their cities, and the Philistines came and dwelt in\nthem.\n\nOn the next day, the Philistines came to the battlefield to strip the\nslain, and when they found the king and his sons, they cut off Saul's\nhead and stripped off his armour, and sent the news to all the country\nround; and they published it in the houses of their gods and made a\ngreat rejoicing.\n\nThey hung the dead bodies of Saul and his sons on the wall of Bethshan;\nbut when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of what the Philistines\nhad done, all the valiant men arose and travelled all night and took\nthe bodies of Saul and his sons down from the wall; and the men of\nJabesh burnt the bodies, and buried their bones under a tree in Jabesh,\nand made a great mourning for their fallen king for seven days.\n\n\nThis is a very sorrowful story. Saul had set out well, and he had\neverything in life before him.\n\nHe was a great warrior; he had fought many battles against the\nPhilistines and other enemies on every side; but he spoilt all by one\ngreat sin. This was the sin of disobedience. He had disobeyed God's\ndirect command.\n\nNot long after Saul was made king, God told him to go and utterly\ndestroy the Amalekites, leaving none behind, not even flocks and herds,\nor anything that was theirs.\n\nBut though Saul went, and gained a great victory over them, he\ndisobeyed God in the end; for he saved alive the king and the best of\nthe flocks and herds, and all that was good, he kept.\n\nThen the Lord sent Samuel to Saul. And Saul hastened to meet him\nwith the words: \"Blessed be thou of the Lord! I have performed the\ncommandment of the Lord!\"\n\nBut Samuel answered: \"What meaneth then the bleating of sheep in my\nears?\"\n\nAnd Saul answered: \"The people spared the best of the flocks to\nsacrifice to the Lord.\"\n\nAnd Samuel said to Saul: \"Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord has\nsaid to me this night.\"\n\n\"When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made head over\nthe tribes of Israel? And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said,\n'Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against\nthem until they be consumed.'\"\n\n\"Wherefore then didst thou fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the\nsight of the Lord?\"\n\n\"Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as\nin obeying the voice of the Lord?\"\n\n\"Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He also hath rejected\nthee from being king.\"\n\n\nThis is the reason why God gave the kingdom to David, and allowed Saul\nto be killed on Mount Gilboa.\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nXXIV. ABSALOM\n\nTHE story of Absalom cannot be anything but a sad one.\n\nHe was the third son of David, and his mother's name was Maachah, who\nwas the daughter of the King of Geshur.\n\nHe inherited great beauty from both his father and his mother, and\nwas evidently the idol of David's heart. But with all his fascinating\nbeauty, he was not a good man.\n\nHis mother was a heathen princess, and Absalom had not been taught in\nher home the justice, the purity, the forbearance, the love, and the\nfear of God, which ought to be the ruling-spring of our lives.\n\nHis one thought was how to please himself, no matter what impediments\nstood in his way.\n\nBy and by he had cause to be angry with his half-brother Amnon, who had\nacted very wickedly; but instead of bringing him to be judged by the\nlaw, Absalom secretly plotted to kill him.\n\nFor this purpose, he invited all the king's sons to be present at a\ngreat feast; and he gave his servants orders to set upon Amnon and kill\nhim, when he gave a sign to do so after supper.\n\nWhen the rest of the king's sons saw this dreadful deed, they all fled\non their mules in hot haste; but while they were on their way back to\nJerusalem, the tidings reached David that all his sons were dead!\n\nThe sorrowful king tore his clothes, and lay upon the earth, and all\nhis servants stood by with their clothes rent.\n\nBut Jonadab, David's nephew, tried to comfort the king, by assuring him\nthat only Amnon was dead.\n\nWhile Jonadab was persuading the king that it was not as bad as had\nfirst been told him, they saw a great company coming down the hillside,\nand Jonadab said to the king:\n\n\"See, it is as I said; there are the king's sons!\"\n\nThen all David's sons wept for the sad thing which had happened, and\nDavid and his servants wept very much.\n\nBut Absalom had fled, and had gone to his mother's relatives at Geshur,\nwhere he stayed three years. And David mourned for his son every day.\n\nAt length Joab, the captain of the host, saw that David's heart\nwas bound up in Absalom, and he persuaded David to send for him to\nJerusalem. But though David allowed him to return, he did not see his\nface for two whole years.\n\nThis made Absalom very angry, and because Joab would not carry his\nmessages to the king, Absalom told his servants to set fire to a whole\nfield of Joab's wheat: at last Joab consented to speak to the king, and\nfinally Absalom was allowed to see his father: and David kissed him.\n\nBut what do you think Absalom did to that loving, devoted father?\n\nHe at once set about trying to seize the kingdom for himself!\n\nHe sat in the gate of the city and told the people who passed in\nand out, that if he were king he would see that every grievance was\nrighted; and he kissed the people as they came and went, and stole\ntheir hearts!\n\nThen Absalom asked permission to go to Hebron, and he sent spies all\nthrough the land to tell every one that at the sound of the trumpet\nevery one was to say, \"Absalom is King in Hebron!\"\n\nThus the conspiracy grew and grew; and I cannot tell you how many\nsorrowful and wicked things were done while Absalom tried to get the\nkingdom!\n\nDavid was indeed at his wits' end; but he remembered that the Lord was\nhis Refuge, and he prayed that the Lord would defeat the counsel of\nthose who were plotting against him.\n\nAnd God answered his prayer.\n\nAt length Absalom came out against his father with a large army. There\nwas a great battle: but the people begged David not to go to the battle\nhimself, but to let them fight for him, and for the kingdom.\n\nSo David sat in the gate: and as his armies passed through ready for\nbattle, he said to Joab, and to all the captains of the host: \"Deal\ngently with the young man, even with Absalom!\" And the people heard him.\n\nSo the soldiers went forth into the country, and by and by the battle\nwas chiefly fought in a large wood, where many of Absalom's army were\nkilled.\n\nAs Absalom was riding quickly in the wood to escape from the soldiers,\nhe went under an overhanging tree in his haste, and his head caught in\nthe boughs and he could not extricate himself. The mule went on and he\nwas left hanging there.\n\nSome one hurried to Joab and told him, and Joab, disregarding the\nearnest entreaty the king had given him, took three darts and thrust\nthem through Absalom's heart.\n\nSo he died, and they put his body in a pit in the wood and threw a\ngreat heap of stones upon it.\n\nAbsalom had built himself a great tomb in the King's Dale, but he was\nnever laid in it. Oh, the sorrow of that ending!\n\nWhen the messengers came in from the battle, as David sat near the gate\nand watched, his first question to each runner was: \"Is the young man\nAbsalom safe?\" And when they broke it to him, that Absalom had died and\nthe victory had been complete, David turned from them, and made his way\nup, weeping, to the chamber over the gate, and as he went, he said:\n\n\"O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would God I had died for\nthee, O Absalom, my son, my son!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nXXV. THE DISOBEDIENT PROPHET\n\n1 KINGS 13\n\nLONG ago, soon after the Children of Israel came out of Egypt, they\nasked Aaron to make a Golden Calf for them to worship, which could be\ncarried in front of them, and would, they hoped, lead them into the\nPromised Land. But we know how dreadfully they sinned in this.\n\nAnd five hundred years after that, Jeroboam, King of Israel, made\ntwo Golden Calves, and built two altars, one in Dan at the North of\nPalestine, and the other in Bethel at the South of his Kingdom.\n\nHe told the people of Israel that it was too far for them to go to\nworship at Jerusalem, three times in the year, and that they could go\ninstead to worship his Golden Calf, and could offer sacrifices upon the\naltars he had built.\n\nNow God had told the Jews that Jerusalem was the place He had appointed\nfor Worship; and also that only God's Priests, the sons of Aaron, were\nto offer either Sacrifices or Incense to Him.\n\nOne day, when King Jeroboam was himself offering incense on the altar\nhe had made in Bethel, a Prophet of the Lord was sent to him with a\nmessage from God.\n\nAnd this was the message\u2014That one day, on this; very altar, the priests\nwhom Jeroboam had made from the lowest of the people, should be\noffered, and their bones should be burnt upon this altar.\n\nGod gave a Sign, by which King Jeroboam should know that the Prophet's\nwords were true, and that he had been sent by God.\n\nThis was the Sign. This altar of Jeroboam's should be rent\u2014torn in\npieces\u2014and the ashes should be scattered on the ground.\n\nKing Jeroboam was very angry at the message, and he tried to seize the\nProphet, but his hand dried up, and he could not use it.\n\nAnd the Sign came to pass at once, for the altar fell to pieces and the\nashes were scattered.\n\nJeroboam was very frightened, and begged the Prophet to ask the Lord to\nrestore his hand.\n\nAnd the Prophet did; and Jeroboam's hand was made quite well again.\n\n[Illustration: A Prophet of the Lord was sent to him with a message\nfrom God.]\n\nThen the King pressed the Prophet to come in to refresh himself, and to\nreceive a reward.\n\nBut the Prophet answered that the Lord had strictly forbidden him to\neat bread or drink water in that place. So he turned away, to go back\nby another road, as the Lord commanded him.\n\nBut now a great temptation met him.\n\nFor as the Prophet was turning away from Bethel, an old Prophet who\nlived there, thought he would ask him to come back and rest at his\nhouse. He had heard how the Prophet had cried against the Altar, and he\nlonged to hear all about it.\n\nBut the Prophet again explained that the Lord had forbidden him to eat\nand drink in that place.\n\nThen the Old Prophet lied to him, and said that an Angel had told him\nhe was to ask him home to refresh him.\n\nSo the Prophet listened to his fellow-prophet, instead of obeying God,\nand he turned back and went in, and ate and drank.\n\nBut when he had finished the meal, the Word of the Lord came to the Old\nProphet, with a terrible message to the disobedient man.\n\n\"Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the Lord, and hast not kept the\nCommandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee . . . thy carcase\nshall not come to be buried in the sepulchre of thy fathers.\"\n\nSo the Old Prophet gave the message, and he sorrowfully saddled the ass\nof the disobedient Prophet, and sent him forth on his return journey.\nBut very soon a lion met him in the way, and slew him; and his body lay\nby the roadside, and the lion and the ass stood by, but the lion did\nnot eat either of them.\n\nBy and by people passed that way, and they hastened to the city to tell\nwhat they had seen.\n\n[Illustration: THE DISOBEDIENT PROPHET.]\n\nThen the Old Prophet told his sons to saddle his ass, and he hurried\nalong the road until he came to the spot where the dead Prophet lay.\nAnd he found all as he had been told, and saw that the Lord had not\nallowed the lion to touch the dead man, or the ass.\n\nThen the old man laid the body of the Prophet on his ass, and brought\nhim back to bury him in his own grave; and he mourned bitterly for him,\nfor he knew he had tempted him, and had been the cause of his death.\n\nHe charged his sons, that when he came to die, they were to bury him in\nthe same grave with the Prophet; and he added a solemn assurance that\nthe words of God which the Prophet had uttered against King Jeroboam's\naltar in Bethel, and against the other idolatrous places which he had\nbuilt, should surely come to pass.\n\nAll this was literally fulfilled three hundred years after, in the\nreign of Josiah, the good young King. We read the account of it in\nthree verses in 2 Kings 23.15-18.\n\nBut King Jeroboam, knowing of this Prophecy, remembering as he must\nthat his withered hand had been healed by God, did not set his heart to\nseek God and to find forgiveness.\n\nHe went on in his evil ways all his life, until at length we read in\nthe Bible the name by which he was known after his death, \"Jeroboam,\nthe son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.\"\n\nThis long ago story speaks an ever-living lesson.\n\nThe God who commands will enable us to obey. Let us seek Him with all\nour hearts: let us learn His will in the Bible, and then the promise to\neach one of us will come true\u2014\n\n\"To him that soweth righteousness, shall be a sure reward.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\nXXVI. THE LORD ANSWERS ELIJAH BY FIRE\n\n1 KINGS 18, 19\n\nTHEN after a long time, the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the\nthird year of the famine, saying to him, \"Go, show thyself to Ahab; and\nI will send rain upon the earth.\"\n\nSo Elijah went back from Zarephath, and came down to Samaria to show\nhimself to Ahab; and the famine was very sore there.\n\nAhab had a trusted servant called Obadiah, who was governor of his\nhouse; and this man \"feared the Lord greatly.\"\n\nThat meant, he did that which would please God, and earnestly obeyed\nHim in all things. Once, when the wicked queen, Jezebel, tried to kill\nall the Prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took fifty of them and hid them\nin a cave, and fed them with bread and water, and so saved their lives.\n\nSo because the famine was very terrible in Samaria, Ahab called\nObadiah, and told him that they would both go out into the country with\nthe horses and mules and find all the brooks and streams that were\nleft, where a little grass might be growing, to save the horses alive.\n\nAhab went one way and Obadiah another, and as Obadiah was seeking for\nwater, he met Elijah, who was on his way to Ahab, as the Lord had told\nhim. When Obadiah saw him, he bowed himself to the earth before God's\nProphet; and then Elijah said, \"Go and tell thy lord that Elijah is\nhere.\"\n\nObadiah hesitated very much to carry this message, as he was afraid\nthat the Spirit of the Lord might carry Elijah away, so that he could\nnot be found. He reminded Elijah that he had \"feared the Lord\" since he\nwas a child, but that Ahab would certainly slay him if he carried such\na message to him as that!\n\nThen Elijah promised him, that he would surely show himself to Ahab\nthat very day.\n\nSo Obadiah went and told Ahab, and the king came out to meet Elijah.\n\nThen Ahab said to him, \"Art thou he that troubleth Israel?\"\n\nAnd Elijah answered, \"It is thou and thy father's house that have\ntroubled Israel, because ye have forsaken the Lord's commandments and\nhave worshipped Baal!\"\n\nThen he told Ahab to gather together the people, and all the four\nhundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of\nthe grove, who sat down daily at Jezebel's table, and to take them to\nMount Carmel, and meet him there.\n\nSo a number of the people, and all the prophets of Baal, came together\nto Mount Carmel.\n\nAnd Elijah came to the people, and he said, \"How long do you mean to\nhalt between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow Him! but if Baal,\nthen follow him.\"\n\n[Illustration: Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt\nsacrifice.]\n\nAnd the people did not answer a word.\n\nThen Elijah said, \"I am the only Prophet of the Lord, and Baal's\nprophets are four hundred and fifty. Let them therefore give us two\nbullocks, and let them choose one for themselves and slay it, and dress\nit, and put it on the altar, with no fire under.\"\n\n\"And I will slay and dress the other bullock, and put it on the altar,\nand put no fire under. And the God that answereth by fire, let Him be\nGod!\"\n\nSo the priests of Baal took their bullock and did as Elijah had said;\nand they cried unto the name of their god from morning until noon,\nsaying, \"O Baal, hear us!\"\n\nBut there was no voice nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the\nAltar which was made.\n\nThen Elijah mocked them, and told them to cry aloud, as their god was\ntalking, or on a journey, or asleep, and must be awaked! And they cried\naloud, and cut themselves with knives. And thus they went on till the\ntime of the evening sacrifice. But there was neither voice, nor any to\nanswer, nor any that regarded.\n\n\nThen Elijah said to all the people, \"Come near unto me.\"\n\nAnd he repaired the Altar of the Lord that was broken down, and built\nit up with twelve stones for the twelve tribes of Israel; and he cut\na deep trench round the Altar, and put the wood in order, and cut the\nbullock in pieces and laid him on the wood.\n\nThen he told the men to fill four barrels with water, and to pour it\non the burnt sacrifice and on the wood; and this he ordered to be done\nthree times, so that the water ran all about the Altar; and he filled\nthe trench with water.\n\nElijah knew what his God, Jehovah, was going to do, and what a glorious\nending there would be!\n\nSo at the time of the evening sacrifice Elijah drew near to the Altar\nand prayed: and he said, \"Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel,\nlet it be known this day that Thou art God . . . and that I am Thy\nservant, and that I have done all these things at Thy word.\"\n\n\"Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and\nthe wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that\nwas in the trench.\"\n\n\"And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they\nsaid, The Lord, He is the God; the Lord, He is the God!\"\n\n\"And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal, let not one\nof them escape! And they took them and brought them down to the\nbrook Kishon.\" And they were all killed. The children of Israel had\nacknowledged their God at last!\n\nThen Elijah turned to Ahab the king, who, like the people, had cast\nhimself in awe and reverence upon the ground. And he said to Ahab,\n\"Arise, and eat, for there is a sound of abundance of rain!\"\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nXXVII. JOSHUA'S COURAGE\n\nJOSHUA 1.1-18\n\nAfter the death of Moses, when the Lord, Himself, had buried His\nfaithful servant, the Lord came to Joshua and told him that he was to\nbe the one who should lead the Children of Israel into the Promised\nLand.\n\nWe hear of Joshua many times as we read the life of Moses.\n\nHe shared the glorious triumph when the Children of Israel were brought\nout of Egypt; and soon after that, Moses chose Joshua to lead the\npeople to fight against Amalek.\n\nNext we hear of him as the trusted servant (or minister, as it is\ncalled in the Bible), who went up with Moses to the Mountain called\nSinai, when Moses received the Ten Commandments from God.\n\nJoshua did not go all the way with Moses, but waited somewhere on the\nmountain till Moses should come down from talking with the Holy God.\n\nAnd as they went down again, it was he who saw the Children of Israel\nworshipping the golden calf below.\n\nNext, Joshua was one of the twelve spies who were sent to search out\nthe Land; and you will doubtless remember that ten of these spies\nbrought a bad report, and only two of them, Caleb and Joshua, brought a\ngood report.\n\nWe see Joshua's splendid courage through all these circumstances.\n\nHe trusted God with all his heart, and the Lord was his sure Refuge and\nconstant Helper.\n\nAnd it is very wonderful to remember, that among the Israelitish men\nwho came out of Egypt and wandered in the Wilderness for forty years,\nthe only two who entered the Promised Land were Caleb and Joshua, the\ntwo faithful spies! All the rest of the Israelitish men who came out\nof Egypt died in the Wilderness for their disobedience, and only their\nchildren entered the Promised Land.\n\nIt is a very solemn thing to be disobedient to God.\n\nSo as I said, the Lord came and spoke to Joshua, and told him he was to\nlead the people into the Land of Canaan.\n\nOne day soon after this, Joshua sent two spies to bring back word\nwhat kind of a land it was which he had to conquer. When they came to\nJericho they came to the house of a woman named Rahab, and lodged there.\n\nBut the King of Jericho heard of it, and sent to Rahab to give up the\nmen to be killed.\n\nBut Rahab had heard of all the wonders that the Lord had done for His\npeople, in bringing them out of Egypt; how He had dried the Red Sea for\nthe people to pass over, and of other great victories; and instead of\ngiving up those two Israelites to the King of Jericho, she quickly hid\nthem on the flat roof of her house, under a lot of flax stalks, and\nwhen the messengers from the King came, they did not find them, and\nRahab told the King's soldiers that they had better seek the men on the\nroad to Jordan, as quickly as they could.\n\nSo the King's men went away to look for them, and the City gates were\nshut, and all was quiet again.\n\nThen Rahab went up to the roof and told the spies that they must escape\nat once; and she begged them to promise her faithfully, that when God\nhad given them the Victory, which she was sure He would do, that they\nwould save her life.\n\nSo the men told her to bind a scarlet cord in her window which was on\nthe outer wall, that they might recognise the place; and she let them\ndown in the night through this window, and they got away.\n\nAll this the men faithfully carried out, and we read in the 11th of\nHebrews, written nearly 1500 years after, that it was by faith that\nRahab saved the spies, and by this saved her own life too.\n\nGod loves for us to have faith in Him! And it was this faith in God\nwhich made Joshua courageous all his life.\n\nSo Joshua and the people crossed the Jordan and entered into the Land,\nand came to Jericho; and one day when Joshua was standing viewing the\nstrength of the City, suddenly he found Someone by him with a drawn\nsword in His hand.\n\nSo Joshua went to him at once, and asked \"if he were going to fight for\nthe Israelites or for their enemies?\"\n\nAnd the Stranger said: \"Nay, but as Captain of the Lord's Host am I now\ncome.\"\n\nThen Joshua fell on his face and worshipped, for he knew that this was\nthe Lord Who was speaking to him, and Who had taken the Supreme Command!\n\nNo wonder that when Joshua was old, and knew he was going to die, that\nhe called all the Israelites together, and rehearsed all the wonderful\ndoings of the Lord; and that he begged them with all his strength to\nserve and obey the Lord with all their hearts.\n\n[Illustration: CHOOSE YE THIS DAY.]\n\nAnd Joshua set up a great Stone to be a Witness to them, that they had\npromised to love and obey God; and he said the Stone would remind them,\nlest they should forget their promise and turn back from serving God.\n\nSo the Israelites promised to be faithful, and while the elders who\noutlived Joshua were alive, they did follow the Lord. But after a time\nthey began to forget, and this brought a great deal of sorrow upon them.\n\nPerhaps you think within yourselves, \"I should like to obey God, and\nfollow Him! I wonder how I could begin?\"\n\nThink of Joshua. He followed the Lord wholly\u2014which meant with all his\nheart. That was the first thing. So you can pray, \"Take my heart, Lord\nJesus, and help me to follow Thee!\"\n\nThen he obeyed whatever God told him to do. And whatever Command you\nfind in the Bible, as shewing you God's Will\u2014do it!\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nXXVIII. THE FIERY FURNACE\n\nNEBUCHADNEZZAR'S dream of the Great Image had been explained to him by\nDaniel and his three companions; but the king soon forgot the wonderful\ninterpretation which God had sent him, containing such an unfolding of\nthe future which, in due time, has come to pass.\n\nOne great dynasty after another\u2014Babylon, the Medes and Persians,\nGreece, and Rome, have arisen and passed away, till at length, up\nto now, only the Feet of the Vision of the Great Image wait to be\naccomplished.\n\nAnd when history shows us that all has been fulfilled except the Feet\nof iron and clay, we know that we must be very near to the coming of\nthe Wonderful Stone, which by and by is to fill the whole earth.\n\nYou will some of you understand what I mean when I say that this is\nSymbolical language. That means, that it is a picture of Heavenly\nThings which is to teach us about earthly things.\n\nThat Stone is a symbol of our Lord Jesus Christ when He comes back from\nHeaven to reign over the whole earth. We read in the seventh chapter\nof Daniel these words: \"I saw in the night Visions, and behold one\nlike the Son of man came with the clouds of Heaven . . . and there was\ngiven Him dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations\nand languages should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion\nwhich shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be\ndestroyed.\"\n\n\nKing Nebuchadnezzar remembered the part of his dream of the Great Image\nthat applied to himself\u2014he knew he was the head of gold.\n\nThis probably made him think of making a real image, and setting it up\nin the plain of Dura for every one to worship.\n\nSo the heralds went forth and told the people that at the sound of any\nmusical instrument they were instantly to fall down and worship the\nGolden Image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.\n\nAnd in order to force compliance, this mighty king made a terrible\nthreat, that whoever refused to worship it, should be cast into a\nburning fiery furnace.\n\n[Illustration: The most mighty men in his army were to bind Shadrach,\nMeshach, and Abednego.]\n\nBut the Chaldeans, who were very jealous that Shadrach, Meshach, and\nAbednego had been set up over the affairs of the kingdom, came near and\ntold Nebuchadnezzar that the Jews refused to bow down and worship the\nGolden Image which he had set up.\n\nThen Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach,\nMeshach, and Abednego before him.\n\nSo he asked them: \"Is it true that you will not worship the Golden\nImage which I have set up? If you are ready to worship, well; but\nif not, you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of the fiery\nfurnace. And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hand?\"\n\nBut the three young men were strong in the might of their God, and they\nanswered\u2014\n\n\"We are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God\nwhom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and\nHe will deliver us out of thine hand, O King. But if not, be it known\nunto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the\nGolden Image which thou hast set up.\"\n\nThen Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and he ordered that they should\nheat the furnace seven times hotter than usual, and that the most\nmighty men in his army were to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,\nand to cast them into the fiery furnace.\n\nAnd because the king's command was urgent and the furnace exceeding\nhot, the flames killed the men who had to throw Shadrach, Meshach, and\nAbednego into the fire.\n\nAnd the three young men fell down, bound, into the midst of the furnace.\n\nThe king was watching the dreadful scene; but suddenly a great fear\nshook him, and he turned to his counsellors with the question, \"Did not\nwe cast three men, bound, into the fire?\"\n\nAnd his counsellors said that it was true, they had.\n\nThen King Nebuchadnezzar said: \"Lo! I see four men, loose, walking\nin the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the\nfourth is like the Son of God.\"\n\nThen Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the furnace, and he said:\n\"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come\nforth and come hither!\"\n\nThen Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth of the midst of the\nfire.\n\nAnd the Princes, Governors, and Captains, and the King's Counsellors,\nwho were gathered together watching, saw these men upon whom the fire\nhad no power; nor was a hair of their heads singed, neither were their\ncoats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.\n\nThen Nebuchadnezzar spake and said: \"Blessed be the God of Shadrach,\nMeshach, and Abednego, Who hath sent His angel and delivered His\nservants who trusted in Him, and have changed the king's word, and\nyielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god\nexcept their own God.\"\n\nSo Nebuchadnezzar made another decree, that if any one said anything\nagainst the God of these three young men, he should be cut in pieces\nand his house destroyed\u2014\"because there is no other god that can deliver\nafter this sort.\"\n\nAnd the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province\nof Babylon.\n\n\nThis is a glorious chapter of one of the greatest deliverances of the\nBible; and there are plenty more!\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\nXXIX. QUEEN ESTHER'S REQUEST\n\nESTHER 8.3-6\n\nESTHER was a very beautiful girl, and Ahasuerus the great King of the\nMedes and Persians chose her to be his Queen, and he loved her very\nmuch.\n\nEsther was not only beautiful in face, but she had a very beautiful\ncharacter.\n\nShe belonged to the people of God, called the Jews, who had been\ncarried away captives from Palestine, and were now living in Persia.\n\nAmong these Jews was a man called Mordecai, who was much respected for\nhis goodness, and he sat in the King's Gate.\n\nWhen Esther's father and mother died, Mordecai took the little girl and\nbrought her up as his own daughter. He taught her about God, and Esther\nwas very obedient, and loved Mordecai very dearly.\n\n[Illustration: Mordecai took the little girl and brought her up.]\n\nThen Esther was made Queen, and things went on peacefully; until\none day Mordecai heard that there was a plot forming to kill King\nAhasuerus. He at once secretly told Esther, and she told the King; and\nthe two conspirators were both hanged. But the King forgot to thank\nMordecai, though it was written down in the Chronicles of the Kingdom.\n\nAbout that time the King took a great fancy to a man called Haman, who\nhated the Jews, and especially Mordecai, because he did not bow down to\nhim when he passed.\n\nSo Haman obtained leave from the King to fix a day when all the Jews\nshould be killed in the whole Kingdom.\n\nBut the City Shushan was much perplexed; for they knew, though the King\ndid not, that his beloved Queen was a Jewess!\n\nWhen Mordecai found out all that was happening, he was bitterly\ngrieved, and sent an urgent message to Esther, and implored her to go\nin and tell the King, and beg him to spare her people.\n\nBut Queen Esther sent back a message to Mordecai, to remind him that if\nanyone ventured to go in to the King's inner Court, that person would\ncertainly be put to death unless the King should hold out his Golden\nSceptre.\n\nSo Mordecai sent another urgent message to tell Esther that perhaps she\nhad come to be Queen, to do this very thing. But if she did nothing,\nthen she and all the Jews would perish!\n\nThen Queen Esther begged Mordecai to gather all the Jews together who\nwere in Shushan, and to bid them fast and pray for three days; and she\nand her maidens would fast too; and at the end of that time, she said,\n\"I will go in to the King, which is not according to the law, and if I\nperish, I perish.\"\n\nEsther was brave because she knew that she had God on her side; and she\nbelieved that He would answer the prayers they were all offering up.\n\n[Illustration: QUEEN ESTHER BEFORE AHASUERUS.]\n\nSo on the third day Queen Esther put on her Royal robes, and went into\nthe Inner Court and stood before the King.\n\nWhen King Ahasuerus saw his beautiful young Queen standing there so\nmeekly, he held out the Golden Sceptre which was in his hand. And she\ndrew near and touched the top of the sceptre.\n\nAnd when he asked her what request she had to make, the King must\nhave been astonished at her reply, for she only asked that the King\nand Haman should come to a banquet which she had prepared for them.\nSo when they came to the Banquet, the King asked the Queen again what\nher petition was? And she said if the King and Haman would come to a\nBanquet with her, again to-morrow, she would then tell the King what\nher request was.\n\nSo Haman went out from Queen Esther's Banquet very proud; and he told\nhis wife and his friends of his second invitation, but he said that\nnothing was any pleasure to him, so long as Mordecai, the Jew, sat in\nthe King's Gate.\n\nThen his wife and his friends advised him to make a gallows fifty feet\nhigh, and to get the King to let him hang Mordecai on it.\n\nBut that night the King could not sleep, and one of his servants\nfetched a roll of the Chronicles of the Kingdom, and he read to him how\nMordecai had once saved the King's life.\n\nAnd in the morning the King asked Haman what would be suitable to do to\n\"the man that the King delighted to honour?\"\n\nBut Haman little thought that when he proposed to set the man on the\nKing's own horse, dressed in the King's Royal clothes, that it would be\nMordecai who was to be honoured, and not himself!\n\nBut the King told Haman to lead Mordecai round the town, and to\nproclaim: \"Thus shall it be done to the man whom the King delighteth to\nhonour.\"\n\nAfter this Haman went to the Banquet that Esther had prepared. He\nlittle knew what the Queen's request was going to be! For Esther told\nthe King that a great plot had been made to destroy her and all her\npeople, and that this wicked Haman was the one who had planned it all!\n\nThen Haman was afraid before the King and Queen.\n\nYou can picture the anger of the King, and when he was told of the\ngallows which Haman had prepared for Mordecai, he ordered that Haman\nshould be hanged there at once.\n\nThen the Queen begged that letters might be sent to stop all the Jews\nbeing killed, and Ahasuerus sent urgent posts on mules and horses and\nswift dromedaries to tell the Jews that they might stand up for their\nlives, and destroy any enemies who rose up against them.\n\nThus God answered the prayers of that young Queen and her maidens, and\nof the Jews who joined with her in fasting and praying, and sent them a\ngreat deliverance, the remembrance of which has been handed down from\ngeneration to generation ever since.\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nXXX. A GREAT RAIN, AND A TIRED PROPHET\n\nSo Ahab ate and drank\u2014but Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, and cast\nhimself upon the earth with his face between his knees, and he said to\nhis servant: \"Go up now and look towards the sea.\"\n\nAnd the servant returned, saying he could not see anything.\n\nThen Elijah said: \"Go\u2014\" seven times. And when he came back the seventh\ntime, he said he could see a little cloud in the sky, no bigger than a\nman's hand.\n\nSo Elijah hurriedly sent a message to the king, to prepare his chariot,\nand get to his home quickly, or the rain which was coming would stop\nhim!\n\nAnd as he spoke, the heavens became black with clouds, and there was a\ngreat rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.\n\nAnd the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he ran before Ahab's\nchariot, right to the entrance of Jezreel.\n\nBut when Ahab told his wife, the wicked queen, Jezebel, that all her\nprophets were dead, Jezebel sent a message to Elijah that she would\nkill him, as he had done the prophets of Baal, by that time the next\nday!\n\n\nAnd now, Elijah, who had been so wonderfully strong and full of faith\nfor this great scene, fled for his life when he heard the threat of\nQueen Jezebel!\n\nHungry, thirsty, tired-out, he fled till he had passed Beersheba, and\nhad gone a whole day's journey into the desert, before he felt he might\nbe safe from Jezebel! Here he cast himself under a juniper tree, and\nasked the Lord to let him die!\n\nPoor Elijah! For one brief moment his faith failed him! If God had\nanswered his prayer, Elijah would have missed the great honour of going\nup to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire without death at all!\n\n\nAnd let us pause here, just to think for a moment about our own prayers.\n\nIt seems to me that we are encouraged to tell God everything; and then\nwe are wise to leave the choice with Him: asking Him to do that which,\nin His wisdom and love, He knows to be best for us.\n\n\nSo the poor wearied Prophet prayed that he might die; and then\noverpowered with fatigue, he fell asleep. And meanwhile God was\npreparing for him, while he slept\u2014as He does so often for His faithful,\nand sometimes faithless, children\u2014and behold! An angel touched him, and\nsaid to him: \"Arise and eat!\"\n\nAnd when he looked up, there was a little cake of bread, freshly baked,\nand a cruse of water standing ready by his pillow!\n\nAnd he ate and drank; and then, still so weary that he could hardly\nhold up his head, he slept again!\n\nThen the angel of the Lord came the second time and touched him, and\nsaid: \"Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee!\"\n\nOh, the compassion of God, Who knows just how we feel! So Elijah\nobeyed; and he went in the strength of that food, for forty days and\nforty nights, till he reached Horeb, the Mount of God, where he found a\ncave and lodged there.\n\nBy and by he heard a Voice from the Lord speaking to him, and it said:\n\"What doest thou here, Elijah?\"\n\nThen Elijah said: \"I have been very jealous for the Lord, but now the\nChildren of Israel have forsaken my God, and I, even I, am the only one\nleft, and they are going to kill me!\"\n\nAnd the Lord said: \"Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.\"\n\nThen the Lord passed by, and a great wind tore the rocks and the\nmountains, and there was a great earthquake; but the Lord was not in\nthe earthquake nor in the fire that came afterwards; and then there was\na still, low voice. And when Elijah heard that voice, he wrapped his\nface in his mantle and went out and stood by the mouth of the cave.\n\nThen the voice spoke to him again: \"What doest thou here, Elijah?\" And\nagain Elijah said that he was the only Prophet left!\n\nBut the Lord told him that He had seven thousand Israelites who had\nserved Him faithfully, and had never bowed down to Baal!\n\nThen the Lord told him to go and anoint two kings; and also to anoint\nElisha, the son of Shaphat, as a Prophet instead of himself.\n\nSo Elijah went to Abelmeholah, and found Elisha ploughing in the\nfields; and as he passed by him, he cast his mantle upon him.\n\nThen Elisha left his oxen and ran after him, and said: \"Let me go and\nkiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee!\"\n\nElijah said: \"What have I done to thee?\"\n\nBut I think Elisha knew what the Prophet had meant by casting his\nmantle upon him!\n\nSo Elisha took a yoke of oxen, and with the ploughing instruments for\nhis fire, he boiled their flesh, and gave to the famine-stricken people\nto eat, and then he went after Elijah and became his devoted servant.\n\nThen many years passed on, and there were great wars between Ahab and\nthe King of Syria.\n\nBut Ahab did not leave off his wicked ways, and at length God sent\nElijah to Samaria to warn him that God's judgment would come upon him\nin the very spot in which he and Jezebel had sinned against Him.\n\nI have not space to tell you here about Ahab coveting Naboth's\nvineyard, nor how Jezebel had Naboth killed in order that Ahab might\npossess it.\n\nBut God's judgments always come true, and though Ahab was killed by\na chance bow-shot in a great battle, yet, as God had said by Elijah,\n\"dogs licked up his blood\" in Naboth's vineyard, which was close by the\nking's palace in Samaria, where the men were washing out his chariot\nafter the battle!\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nXXXI. SOLOMON'S WISDOM\n      AND SOLOMON'S TEMPLE\n\nSOLOMON, the son of David, was anointed King, as the Lord had promised\nDavid.\n\nSolomon loved the Lord; and when he was made king, the Lord appeared to\nhim in a dream, and told him he might ask for anything he wanted.\n\nAnd the Lord was very pleased with Solomon's choice; for he asked that\nGod would give him an understanding heart, that he might have wisdom to\nrule the people over whom he reigned.\n\nSo God abundantly answered his prayer, as he was the wisest king who\nhad ever reigned; but God gave him besides, riches and honour and\neverything that could make him happy. At the same time the Lord warned\nhim to walk in His ways, and keep His commandments that it might be\nwell with him all his days.\n\nThen Solomon awoke from his dream; and he hastened to Jerusalem and\nstood before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt\nofferings and peace offerings to the Lord, Whom he loved and worshipped.\n\nVery soon the young king had to use the wisdom which God had so freely\ngiven him.\n\nAs he sat with his servants and soldiers round him, ready to judge\nanything that was brought to him, there came two women before him to\nplead their cause.\n\n\"And the one woman said, 'O my Lord, I and this woman dwell in one\nhouse, and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the\nhouse, save we two in the house. And this woman's child died in the\nnight because she overlaid it.'\"\n\n\"'And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while I\nslept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.\nAnd when I arose in the morning to feed my child, behold it was dead;\nbut when I had considered it in the morning, behold it was not my son!'\"\n\n\"And the other woman said, 'Nay; but the living is my son, and the\ndead is thy son.' And this said, 'No; but the dead is thy son, and the\nliving is my son!' Thus they spoke before the king.\"\n\n[Illustration: He was the author of three thousand proverbs.]\n\n\"Then said the king: 'The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and\nthy son is dead; and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and\nmy son is the living.'\"\n\n\"And the king said, 'Bring me a sword.' And they brought a sword before\nthe king.\"\n\n\"And the king said, 'Divide the living child in two, and give half to\nthe one, and half to the other.'\"\n\nThen the woman, who was really the mother of the living baby, said to\nthe king, for she was heart-broken to think that her child should be\nkilled, \"O my Lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it!\"\n\n\"'But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.'\"\n\nThen the king turned to the first woman, and gave his verdict: \"Give\nher the living child,\" he said, \"and in nowise slay it: she is the\nmother thereof!\"\n\nAnd all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and\nthey saw that the wisdom of God was with him to do justice among them.\n\nAnd it was not only in the affairs of the State that Solomon was so\nwise.\n\nHis fame spread to all the nations round about; and his wisdom exceeded\nall the wisdom of the East. He was the author of three thousand\nproverbs and many songs. He was learned in trees\u2014from the great cedars\nof Lebanon to the hyssop that springs out of the wall.\n\nHe understood all about beasts and birds and insects and fishes. He\nknew what those words in the hundred and eleventh Psalm meant: \"The\nworks of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure\ntherein.\"\n\n\nBy and by Hiram, King of Tyre, who had always loved David, on hearing\nthat David's son was king, sent his servants to convey his greetings to\nSolomon.\n\nThen Solomon sent back a message to Hiram, asking him to allow his\nservants to help him in hewing cedar trees from Lebanon, as he was\npurposing to build a beautiful Temple for the Lord.\n\nHe explained to Hiram that it had been in David's heart to build\nthe Lord's House; but he had been a man of war; and though the Lord\naccepted the desire of David's heart, He told him that his son Solomon\nshould be a man of peace, and should build Him a House.\n\nBut the Lord had allowed David before his death to collect a vast\nnumber of materials of all sorts, as we read in the 22nd chapter of the\nFirst Book of Chronicles.\n\nDavid had employed clever masons to hew wrought and polished stones;\nhe had prepared iron in abundance for the gates and hinges, and brass\nwithout weight.\n\nThen Hiram sent abundance of cedar and fir trees, for as David had\nsaid, \"The House that is to be builded for the Lord must be exceeding\nmagnifical.\"\n\nThat is a long and a strange word, and it is only used that once in all\nthe Bible! But it conveys this one lesson to us\u2014that if we want God to\ndwell in our hearts, we must spare no pains to make them ready for His\nabode!\n\nJesus says: \"If any man love Me, My Father will love him, and We will\ncome unto him, and make Our abode with him!\"\n\n\nSo Solomon began to build with all his heart, and such a Temple as he\nraised to the Lord was a glory and a joy to all beholders.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\nXXXII. JEHU\u2014THE ELEVENTH KING OF ISRAEL\n\nWE read of Jehu first in the time of Elijah, when God commissioned the\nProphet to anoint Jehu as a future King of Israel, and announced that\nhe would be used to punish Ahab and the Children of Israel for their\nidolatry and departure from the Lord.\n\nFor some reason which is not told us in the Bible, it was not Elijah,\nbut Elisha, who was in the end sent to anoint Jehu. We read the story\nof this in the 9th chapter of the Second Book of Kings.\n\nElisha was now the Lord's Prophet in Israel.\n\nOne day he said to one of the younger prophets with whom he lived:\n\"Prepare yourself for a journey, and take this box of oil in your hand,\nand go to Ramothgilead.\"\n\n\"When you get there, find Jehu, the son of Nimshi, and ask him to come\nwith you into an inner chamber away from the rest of the company, and\nwhen you are there, take the box of oil and pour it on his head, and\nsay: 'Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Israel.' Then\nopen the door and flee, and do not wait a moment.\"\n\nSo the young man went to Ramothgilead, and when he got there he found\nall the captains of the host sitting round Jehu.\n\nSo he said: \"I have an errand to thee, O Captain!\"\n\nAnd when Jehu understood that the secret message was to him, he went\ninto a private room.\n\nSo the young prophet did as Elisha bade him, and anointed Jehu king of\nIsrael, telling him that God had appointed him to execute His judgments\nagainst the house of Ahab, and that the dogs should eat Jezebel in\nJezreel, as the Prophet Elijah had told Ahab years before.\n\nThen the young man opened the door and fled.\n\nSo Jehu came back amongst the other captains, and they inquired: \"Why\ndid this mad fellow come to you?\"\n\nSo Jehu said he expected that they knew the errand. But they assured\nhim they did not, and asked what the news was.\n\nThen Jehu told them the young man's solemn message, and that he ended\nby saying: \"Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Israel.\"\n\nThen the soldiers and those around him spread their garments for him\nto step on, in token that they accepted him as king, and they blew a\nspecial blast of the trumpets, saying \"Jehu is King!\"\n\nSo Jehu charged the soldiers that no news should be carried to Jezreel,\nwhere King Joram was lying to be healed of his wounds received in\nbattle against Hazael, King of Syria.\n\n[Illustration: Then the soldiers spread their garments for him to step\non.]\n\nThen Jehu rode in a chariot, and hastened to Jezreel, and there he\nfound Ahaziah, King of Judah, who had come to visit the wounded king.\n\nNow on the Tower of Jezreel there stood a watchman who told Joram: and\nas Jehu came fast in his chariot, Joram sent a messenger to meet him\nwith these words: \"Is it peace?\"\n\nBut the watchman said: \"The messenger has not returned; he came to them\nbut has not come again. And the driving is like the driving of Jehu the\nson of Nimshi, for he driveth furiously.\"\n\nThen Joram got into his chariot, and Ahaziah got into his, and they\nstarted to meet Jehu. But they only got as far as the vineyard of\nNaboth when they met Jehu face to face.\n\nAnd Joram said: \"Is it peace, Jehu?\"\n\nAnd Jehu answered: \"What peace can there be so long as thy mother\nJezebel and her wickedness remain?\"\n\nThen Joram turned and fled, crying out: \"There is treachery, O Ahaziah!\"\n\nAnd Jehu took an arrow and drew the bow to its full strength, and aimed\nit at Joram's heart. So Joram sank down in his chariot.\n\nThen Jehu told Bidkar his captain to throw the king's body into the\nfield of Naboth, \"for remember that when I and thou rode with Ahab his\nfather, the Lord laid this burden upon him.\"\n\nThen Jehu followed after Ahaziah and smote him, and he was carried in\nhis chariot to Jerusalem and died there, and was buried in his own\nsepulchre.\n\nSo Jehu came into Jezreel, where Jezebel lived; and when she heard all\nthat had happened, she painted her face and put ornaments on her head,\nand came and looked out of a window.\n\nAnd as Jehu entered in at a gate she tauntingly said: \"Had Zimri peace,\nwho slew his master?\"\n\nThen Jehu looked up to the window and said: \"Who is on my side? Who?\"\n\nAnd two or three of the queen's chamberlains looked out at him.\n\nSo he said: \"Throw her down!\"\n\nAnd they threw her down, and some of her blood was sprinkled on the\nwall, and on the horses, and he trode her underfoot.\n\nThen Jehu came in, and he ate and drank; and when he rose up from table\nhe said: \"Go, and see now this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a\nking's daughter.\"\n\nAnd they went to bury her, but found nothing left of her body but the\nskull and the feet and the palms of her hands.\n\nSo they returned to Jehu and told him.\n\nAnd he answered in these solemn words\u2014\n\n\"This is the Word of the Lord, which He spake by His servant Elijah the\nTishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of\nJezebel: and the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of\nthe field in the portion of Jezreel: so that they shall not say, This\nis Jezebel.\"\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nXXXIII. A STORY OF VICTORY\n\nKING SAUL had disobeyed God, and the Lord had rejected him from being\nking.\n\nThe Prophet Samuel had set his heart on this first King of Israel, and\nhe grieved terribly that the Lord had reject him. So he went down to\nhis house and mourned over all that had happened.\n\nBut at length the Lord spoke to Samuel and He said words like these:\n\"How long will you mourn for Saul? Take your horn of oil and go to\nBethlehem, for I have provided me a king among the sons of Jesse the\nBethlehemite.\"\n\nSo Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and took with him a heifer for\na sacrifice to the Lord, and called Jesse and his sons to share in the\nsacrifice.\n\nSamuel did not know which of Jesse's sons was to be the king, and as\none and another passed before him, the Lord told him that He had not\nchosen that one.\n\nAt length Samuel said to Jesse: \"Are these seven all thy sons?\"\n\nAnd Jesse answered: \"There is still the youngest, and he is with the\nsheep.\"\n\nSo David was sent for, and the Lord said to Samuel: \"Arise, anoint him:\nfor this is he.\"\n\nAnd the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that time forward.\n\nBy and by the Philistines, who were enemies of Israel, gathered their\narmies together to battle, and Saul and the men of Israel went out to\nmeet them; and the two armies stood on two mountain sides, opposite to\neach other with a valley between them, ready to begin to fight.\n\nThen the Philistines sent out a great giant as a champion, and he\ndefied the armies of Israel, telling them to choose one of their men to\nfight with him; and promising if their champion was able to kill him,\nthen the Philistines would be their servants: but if he killed their\nchampion, the Israelites would have to serve the Philistines.\n\nWhen Saul and his soldiers heard these words, they were dismayed and\ngreatly afraid.\n\nAnd day after day for forty days, the giant came out and defied the\nChildren of Israel.\n\nDavid's father, Jesse, had three sons at the war, and one day Jesse\ntold David to go and see how his brothers were, and to carry a present\nof food to the captain of their thousand.\n\nWhen David got near to the trench, he found that the armies were\npreparing for a battle.\n\nThen his brothers told him about the giant and his threats, and how\nSaul had made great promises to any one who should be brave enough to\nkill him.\n\nAnd David said indignantly to every one he met: \"Who is this\nPhilistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?\"\n\nAt length Saul heard of the words that David had said in the camp, and\nhe had him brought before him; but when he saw how young he was, he\ntold him it would be impossible for him to fight the giant.\n\nBut David said: \"When I was keeping my father's sheep, there came\na lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock. I went after\nhim, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he\narose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew\nhim . . . The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and\nout of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this\nPhilistine!\"\n\nSo Saul offered him some armour, but when David had tried it, he took\nit all off, and chose instead five smooth stones out of the brook, and\nwith his sling in his hand, he went to meet the giant.\n\nYou can imagine that great, tall man with his heavy armour, looking\ndown on the young and beautiful youth before him, and disdaining him!\n\nSo the giant came on and drew near to David, and he said to him: \"Am\nI a dog, that you come to me with stones? Come to me, and I will give\nyour flesh to the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field!\"\n\nBut David's courage was not of earth, as his brave words show\u2014\n\n\"Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield:\nbut I come to thee in the Name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the\narmies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver\nthee into mine hand! And I will smite thee, and take thine head from\nthee: and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this\nday unto the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the earth, that all\nthe earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly\nshall know, that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the\nbattle is the Lord's!\"\n\nThen he ran swiftly towards the giant, and put his hand in his bag and\ntook out a stone and slung it, and it struck the Philistine in his\nforehead, so that he sank down on the ground with his face to the earth.\n\nSo David ran and stood upon the giant, and took the giant's sword from\nits sheath and slew the Philistine, and cut off his head.\n\nThen the men of Israel arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines\ntill they reached the gates of Ekron. Then they returned and took all\nthe spoil from the tents of their enemies.\n\nAnd David was brought before Saul, carrying the head of the giant in\nhis hand.\n\n\nNo wonder that King David in after years wrote in the 18th Psalm:\n\"I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my\nfortress, and deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my\nbuckler and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call\nupon the Lord . . . so shall I be saved from mine enemies!\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nXXXIV. THE GREAT FEAST\n\nDANIEL 5.1-31\n\nBELSHAZZAR was the last King of the Chaldeans, and though he little\nsuspected that this was the last Feast he would ever make, the time had\nsuddenly come when his proud reign was ended, and his enemies would be\nvictorious.\n\nBut all this was among the hidden things of the very next day. It is\nonly God who knows the end from the beginning, unless He makes it known\nto His own servants, who serve and love Him.\n\nSo it came to pass that Belshazzar made a great Feast to a thousand of\nhis lords, and he drank wine before his lords.\n\nWhile he was drinking the wine, he thought that he would show off some\nof the Holy Vessels, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought from God's Temple\nat Jerusalem.\n\nAnd Belshazzar knew very well that these Vessels had been made entirely\nfor the Service of the Great God, the King of the whole earth.\n\nBut knowing this, he went on in his profane determination to have the\nVessels brought into the feast; and he and his princes, and his wives\nand concubines, drank wine in them, and praised their gods of gold, and\nof silver, and of brass, and iron, of wood and of stone.\n\nBut there fell a sudden hush on the great assembly, for without the\nslightest warning, there appeared the fingers of a man's hand which\nwere writing on the plaster of the Wall, just above the candlestick of\nthe King's Palace; and the King saw the part of the hand that wrote.\n\n[Illustration: THE WRITING ON THE WALL.]\n\nThen his face grew white with fear, and his knees trembled and smote\none against another, for he could not control his terror.\n\nSo he called aloud to fetch the soothsayers, and promised, that if any\none could tell him the meaning, he should be clothed in purple, and\nhave a chain of gold, and be made the third ruler in the Kingdom.\n\nThen all the wise men hurried in, but they could not read the writing,\nnor give the interpretation.\n\n[Illustration: Belshazzar commanded his servants to clothe Daniel in\nscarlet.]\n\nBelshazzar was very frightened. Then the Queen hastened into the\nBanqueting Hall, and told him not to be frightened, as there was one\nman in his Kingdom who could tell dark sayings, and in whom there was\nthe spirit which, she supposed, could only come from the gods.\n\nShe little knew that this man of whom she spoke, loved and served the\nonly True and Great God, who lives in Heaven.\n\nSo Daniel was brought in before the King, and Belshazzar asked him\nif he were one of the Captives whom Nebuchadnezzar had brought from\nJerusalem? And the King hurried on to tell him of all the gifts which\nhe should receive, if he could tell him the meaning of the writing.\n\nThen Daniel answered before the King: \"Let thy gifts be to thyself, and\ngive thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing to the King,\nand make known the interpretation.\"\n\nThen Daniel went on to explain to the King that the God who lived in\nheaven had given Nebuchadnezzar a Kingdom and majesty: but when his\nheart was lifted up with pride, he was deposed from his throne, and he\nhad to live with the wild beasts, till he knew that the most high God\nruled in the Kingdom of men, and gave it to whomsoever He willed.\n\nAnd then Daniel went on to say that Belshazzar had not humbled his\nheart, but had lifted up himself against the Lord of heaven, and had\neven taken His holy vessels to be used at the feast, and had praised\nthe gods of silver and gold \"which see not, nor hear, nor know.\" And\nDaniel added these solemn words: \"And the God in whose hand thy breath\nis, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified.\"\n\nThen was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was\nwritten.\n\n   MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN\u2014\n\n   \"This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE\u2014God hath numbered\n    thy kingdom and finished it.\"\n\n   \"TEKEL\u2014thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.\"\n\n   \"PERES\u2014Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.\"\n\nThen Belshazzar commanded his servants to clothe Daniel in scarlet, and\nto put a chain round his neck, and make a proclamation that he should\nbe the third ruler in the kingdom.\n\nBut in that very night, Belshazzar, the King of the Chaldeans, was\nslain, and Darius, the Mede, entered into the City and took the kingdom.\n\nThat writing on the wall, written more than two thousand years ago,\ncontains a living lesson to all of us to-day.\n\nIt was God who sent that message to Belshazzar: \"Thou art weighed in\nthe balances and art found wanting.\" For God judges every one's life.\nWe read in the Revelation, \"There shall in no wise enter into His\npresence, anything that defileth.\"\n\nBut there is another Writing, not like the one on Belshazzar's Wall\u2014and\nthat is in a Book in heaven, which is called \"The Lamb's Book of Life.\"\n\nDo you wonder what is written there?\n\nIt is the name of each one who has come to \"The Lamb of God, which\ntaketh away the sin of the world.\"\n\nLet each one of us ask God to wash away all our sins, and to write down\nour name in that Book of Life.\n\nThat is the writing which will mean endless happiness and joy.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\nXXXV. DANIEL IS A CAPTIVE\n\nTHE people of Israel\u2014the Jews\u2014had so departed from serving and obeying\nGod, that at length, in the reign of Jehoiakim, God allowed the King\nof Babylon to come up against Jerusalem with a great army and to\nbesiege it, and eventually to take the city. He carried away not only\nJehoiakim, the king, but afterwards Zedekiah (whom Nebuchadnezzar\nhad set up in Jerusalem instead of Jehoiakim), and with him, he took\nall the nobles who were not killed in the siege, and every smith or\ncraftsman who might be useful in Babylon.\n\nHe carried away also the whole of the sacred and precious vessels from\nthe Temple of God, and put them into the house of his own idol in\nBabylon.\n\nThus the city of Jerusalem and the Temple were completely destroyed;\nand none were left in the land but the very poorest of the people.\n\n\nSo now you must picture to yourselves how Nebuchadnezzar instructed his\nlords and officers to choose, out of the ten thousand captives whom\nthey had brought to Babylon, all the best of the young men: all that\nwere skilful in wisdom or clever in science, who should be brought into\nthe king's palace and should be taught the learning and language of the\nChaldeans.\n\nThese young men were given into the charge of Ashpenaz, one of the\nking's trusted chamberlains, and Nebuchadnezzar ordered them to be\nfed from the king's table, and nourished, so that at the end of three\nyears, they should be able to stand before the king.\n\nNow among these high-born young men were four, whose names in Judah had\nbeen Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; but Ashpenaz named them\nafresh, and called them Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.\n\nSo you will now understand why these young men were sometimes called by\none name and sometimes by another in the Book of Daniel.\n\nWhen the orders came, and Daniel was told that he and his companions\nwere to be fed with the king's food, Daniel purposed in his heart that\nhe would not defile himself with it, nor with the wine which the king\ndrank.\n\nThe reason of this was, that the food was not prepared as the Jews'\nfood was; for God had given them strict rules as to how their meat\nwas to be killed; and also, the wine of these heathen kings was often\noffered to their idols before they tasted it themselves, and thus, in\nthe Jews' sight, was defiled.\n\nSo Daniel spoke to Ashpenaz, and begged him earnestly to excuse him and\nhis companions from eating the king's food.\n\n[Illustration: Their wisdom and understanding was far beyond that of\nany of the others.]\n\nNow God Himself, Who was watching over His servants, these captives in\nBabylon, had great purposes which they were to carry out, not only for\nthe Jews, but by and by for the whole world.\n\nBut as God takes care of the little things as well as the great things,\nHe had softened the heart of Ashpenaz, so that he tenderly loved Daniel.\n\nAnd when he heard Daniel's request, he did not speak roughly to him, as\nthose great princes generally did in those days, but explained to him\nhow difficult it would be for him to comply with what he asked.\n\nHe told Daniel that if he did not give them the king's food, they would\nnot look as well fed or handsome as the other captives, nor as the king\nwould expect them to look; and if he yielded to Daniel's request, he\nmight endanger his own head to the king! For in those days, life was\nof no value in the eyes of the great sovereigns. They did exactly as\npleased them at the moment.\n\nThen Daniel explained it all to Melzar, who was the man whom Ashpenaz\nhad set over them to control these smaller matters, and asked him to\n\"prove\" them by allowing them to have only \"pulse to eat, and water to\ndrink\"; and if, after ten days, they looked less well than the others\nwho were having the rich food from the king's table, then Daniel and\nhis friends would do what Melzar wished.\n\nI think Daniel knew that his God would make it all right for them!\n\nAnd so it proved; for at the end of ten days their countenances\nappeared fairer and fatter than the others did, who ate the king's\nmeat. And Melzar took away the wine and the good food, and gave them\npulse and water, as they had asked.\n\nAs for these four young men, God gave them skill to learn; and He gave\nDaniel the power to understand visions and dreams.\n\nSo at the end of the three years the prince of the eunuchs\nbrought them, and a number of the other captives, in before King\nNebuchadnezzar; and the king communed with them; and among them all, he\nfound none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. So they remained\nnear the king, and when anything was wanted of them, they were there to\ndo it.\n\nThe king found, when he talked with them, that their wisdom and\nunderstanding was far beyond that of any of the others, and ten times\nbetter than all the magicians and astrologers that were in his kingdom.\n\nThese four young men, captives in a strange land, eating and drinking\nnothing but bread and water, were brave, faithful and obedient.\n\n\"They had set the Lord always before them.\" Their one aim was to please\nHim; and as we go on with their story, we shall see that God was with\nthem, and enabled them to be \"more than conquerors through Him Who had\nloved them.\"\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nXXXVI. THE SECRET IS REVEALED TO DANIEL\n\nIN those days, dreams and their meanings were much thought of, and\ngreat kings had their soothsayers and sorcerers, their magicians and\nastrologers, who were always at hand to explain doubtful or hard\nquestions, and to pretend to look into the future.\n\nMany of them were extremely clever, and from long practice and\nobservation, many of their answers and explanations seemed very\nplausible.\n\nSo when Nebuchadnezzar, the great king, had a perplexing dream, which\nworried him very much, he sent for these soothsayers and magicians; and\nthey at once, of course, asked what the dream had been, so that they\nmight furnish the interpretation.\n\nBut Nebuchadnezzar had to confess, that though the dream troubled him,\nhe could not recall what it was!\n\nSo the magicians were greatly alarmed; as they said, no king would ask\nhis magicians to tell the dream, as well as the interpretation!\n\nBut the king was angry and furious; and at length sent out an order\nthat all the magicians and soothsayers in Babylon were to be destroyed.\n\nSo the decree went out that all the \"wise\" men, meaning astrologers and\nsoothsayers, were to be slain: and with them, Daniel and his companions\nwould perish!\n\nThen Daniel with gentle wisdom, which God gave him, said to Arioch, the\ncaptain of the king's guard, who was sent out to kill the wise men:\n\"Why is the king's decree so urgent?\"\n\nSo Arioch explained to Daniel that the king wanted not only the\nexplanation of his dream, but the dream itself! And that the magicians\ncould not tell it.\n\nBut Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, and he would\nshow the king the interpretation.\n\nThen he went to his house, and told Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, and\nasked them to pray to God to show them this secret, so that they and\nall the wise men in Babylon should not perish.\n\nWe must pause here for one moment to remember that God gives wonderful\nanswers to \"united prayer\"! We see it over and over again throughout\nthe Bible; and we see it over and over again in our own experience,\nwhen we trust Him!\n\nSo Daniel and his companions prayed, and the answer came.\n\nThen was the secret revealed to Daniel in a vision in the night.\n\nAnd what did Daniel do the first thing after he knew the secret?\n\nHe blessed the God of Heaven! He thanked Him for giving him wisdom to\nunderstand, and that He had made known what they had desired of Him.\n\nThen Daniel went to Arioch, and told him the good news, and he brought\nhim to the king in haste, saying: \"I have found a man among the\ncaptives of Judah, who will tell you the interpretation!\"\n\nSo the king said to Daniel: \"Can you make known the dream, and the\ninterpretation?\"\n\nAnd Daniel answered: \"The secret which the king requires, the\nastrologers and magicians cannot answer. But there is a God in Heaven\nthat revealeth secrets, and maketh known to King Nebuchadnezzar what\nshall happen in the latter days.\"\n\nAnd then he added: \"This secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom\nthat I have . . . but for their sakes who make this interpretation\nknown to the king, and that the king may know the thoughts of his\nheart.\"\n\nWe see here an evidence of Daniel's humility; no wonder that God could\ntrust him with Vision after Vision about the future, which we read in\nthe later chapters of this wonderful Book of Daniel.\n\nThis was the dream, and Daniel told it to the king in words like these\u2014\n\n\"The king saw a great Image whose brightness was excellent and his form\nterrible.\"\n\n\"The head of the Image was of Gold:\"\n\n\"The breast and arms of Silver:\"\n\n\"The belly and thighs of Brass:\"\n\n\"The legs of Iron; and the feet part of Iron and part of Clay.\"\n\n\"The king looked at this Image till a Stone, cut without hands, smote\nthe Image upon his feet, and brake them to pieces. Then the whole Image\nfell to pieces, and was scattered like chaff before the wind, and the\npieces were carried away, so that they could not be found.\"\n\n\"And the Stone which smote the Image became a Great Mountain, and\nfilled the whole earth.\"\n\nThen Daniel went on to say: \"This is the dream\u2014and we will tell the\ninterpretation of it.\"\n\n\"Thou, O King, art this head of gold! And after thee shall arise\nanother kingdom inferior to thee; and another third kingdom of brass.\nAnd a fourth kingdom which shall be strong as iron; and the toes of the\nfeet shall be part of iron and part of clay.\"\n\n\"And in the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a\nkingdom which shall never be destroyed . . . and it shall stand for\never.\"\n\n\"The great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass\nhereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof\nsure.\"\n\nThen King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face before Daniel and said: \"Your\nGod is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a Revealer of secrets!\"\n\nThen the king gave Daniel great gifts and made him ruler over the whole\nprovince of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men\nof Babylon.\n\nAnd Daniel asked the king to remember his three companions, and\nNebuchadnezzar set Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego over the affairs of\nthe province of Babylon.\n\nBut Daniel sat in the gate of the king\u2014which was evidently a place of\ngreat honour.\n\n[Illustration]","title":"The promised land : $b Bible stories retold","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":35802}