Part 1

STORIES OF THE BIBLE

THE PEOPLE

OF THE

CHOSEN LAND

BY

MYLES ENDICOTT

ILLUSTRATIONS FROM DORÉ AND OTHER EMINENT ARTISTS

VOLUME I.

EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO

COPYRIGHTED

By EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY

1897

STORIES OF THE BIBLE.

THE CREATION.

Many, many years ago there was no earth. There were no plants, nor animals; no sun; no moon; neither were there any people.

All was darkness.

Then God looked into the darkness and said, "Let there be light." And light came. And out of the new light God created the blue sky, the deep sea, the beautiful grass-covered earth, the plants, the trees, and the many-colored flowers.

And in the blue sky he placed the golden sun, the silver moon, and the stars that shine like jewels in the sky.

Then, in the water he placed the fishes; on the earth, the animals; and in the tree tops the birds sang their praises.

"This shall be for a home for man," the Creator said; and so, one morning, there woke to life in the Garden of Eden a man and woman--beautiful and good and pure.

To the animals God had given strength and speed, and fur for protection from the wind and rain. To the birds he had given plumage, brilliant and warm. To the fishes, fins and scales.

Then man came; and to him was given intelligence, and reason, and power to grow in wisdom; for by these was he to protect himself from the elements and gain dominion over all the earth,--the fishes, the birds, and the animals thereof.

Then God blessed everything he had made; for he loved what he had made, and surrounded it with all that was beautiful and good.

"Of every tree in the garden ye may eat," He had said to Adam and Eve, "except the tree of Knowledge-of-Good-and-of-Evil. Of that eat not lest ye die."

THE CREATION.

The spacious firmament on high, With all the blue ethereal sky, And spangled Heavens, a shining frame, Their great Original proclaim. The unwearied sun, from day to day, Does his Creator's power display, And publishes to every land The work of an almighty hand.

Soon as the evening shades prevail, The moon takes up the wondrous tale, And nightly to the listening earth Repeats the story of her birth; Whist all the stars around her burn, And all the planets, in their turn, Confirm the tidings as they roll, And spread the truth from pole to pole.

What though in solemn silence all Move round this dark terrestrial ball! What though no real voice or sound Amidst their radiant orbs be found!-- In reason's ear they all rejoice, And utter forth a glorious voice; Forever singing as they shine, "The hand that made us is Divine."

--_Joseph Addison._

THE GARDEN OF EDEN.

When Adam and Eve looked out upon the world round about them; when they saw the flowers and the grasses; when they heard the splashing of the sun-lit waters, and the rustling of the soft branches,--then their hearts were filled with love for each other, for their home, and for the Father who had made all this joy for them.

For a long time they wandered up and down the Garden of Eden, singing songs, and ready always to hear the voice of God when he spoke to them in the soft winds that played among the tree tops.

Now, there was a wicked angel, named Satan. He had been cast out from heaven, down, down from the blue sky. And in his own unhappy home he dwelt now, alone, wretched and revengeful. And when he saw this happy man and woman, so good and pure, their hearts bounding with love to God and joy in right doing, his cruel face grew black.

"Such happiness shall not last," he said. So he crept into the Garden, took on the form of a serpent and spoke to Eve.

"Eat of the fruit of this tree," he said, "and give it to Adam that he may eat too."

"But we are forbidden," Eve said.

"The fruit is like no other. Eat! Ye shall not die," the serpent answered.

Then Eve gathered the fruit and ate of it. It was sweet, even as the serpent had said. Then she gathered more, and Adam, too, ate of it.

Then darkness fell upon the earth. A great wind arose, the thunder rolled, and God drove Adam and Eve out from the Garden of Eden; and at the entrance He placed cherubims and a flaming sword for no one who had sinned could dwell in a land so beautiful and free from sorrow.

But God pitied these children of his; and, although they had sinned against him, he saw that, after long years of suffering, One should be born, who would bring back to earth the joy and peace and happiness that had once been theirs, and which would have been to all their children in all the time to come, had not these parents sinned.

And so Adam and Eve went out into the world to work and struggle and build homes for themselves.

By and by two baby boys were born to them,--Cain and Abel. Pure and kind and good these children should have been. But now they were born into a world of sin, and of the nature of sin they too partook.

When these children were grown men, Cain hated his brother. He grew sullen and revengeful towards him. The serpent that had tempted Adam and Eve now tempted him. He listened; and one day, when they were at work together in the field, Cain slew Abel and hid him in the earth.

Then a great storm gathered across the sky; and a voice said, "Cain, where is thy brother?"

Cain trembled with fear; for he knew it was the voice of God. But he raised his wicked face towards the heavens and cried, "Why should I know? Am I my brother's keeper?"

And the voice said, "Thou art thy brother's keeper."

Then God put a brand upon the brow of Cain, and drove him forth into the wilderness, to be a fugitive and a vagabond.

THE CURSE OF CAIN.

O, the wrath of the Lord is a terrible thing!-- Like the tempest that withers the blossoms of spring, Like the thunder that bursts on the summer's domain, It fell on the head of the homicide Cain.

And, lo! like a deer in the fright of the chase, With a fire in his heart, and a brand on his face, He speeds him afar to the desert of Nod,-- A vagabond, smote by the vengeance of God!

All nature, to him, has been blasted and banned, And the blood of a brother yet reeks on his hand; And no vintage has grown, and no fountain has sprung, For cheering his heart, or for cooling his tongue.

The groans of a father his slumber shall start, And the tears of a mother shall pierce to his heart, And the kiss of his children shall scorch him like flame, When he thinks of the curse that hangs over his name.

--_Knox._

THE FLOOD.

Earth shall be ocean! and no breath, Save of the winds be on the unbounded wave! Angels shall tire their wings, but find no spot: Not even a rock from out the liquid grave Shall lift its point to save, Or show the place where strong despair hath died, After long looking o'er the ocean wide For the expected ebb which cometh not; All shall be void, destroyed.

--_Byron._

It was many, many years after Adam and Eve were driven out from the Garden of Eden that the flood came.

There were thousands of people in the world now, and they were scattered here and there through the fertile valleys and along the rivers of the country far and wide.

There were rich farms everywhere, and shepherds watched their flocks on the hillsides. There were towns and cities; many of them where people dwelt together and made their laws and appointed their law-givers.

But in all these years the people had been growing more and more away from the simple, honest life that God had first shown Adam and Eve.

They had grown selfish and greedy; they were cruel to each other; they cared nothing for the rights and comforts of the community; and more than all this, they had forsaken the simple faith of their fathers and become worshippers of idols.

There was one good man dwelling among these people, many, many years before, whose name was Enoch. Now, it was not the will of God that Enoch should suffer for the sins of the people; and so, when the flood was about to come upon the earth to destroy them, God came and stood by Enoch and said, "Come with me."

Now there was another good man upon the earth, a great grandson of Enoch's, and a man who had never forgotten God, and who had reared his children always in the simple faith which had been his own.

Although God meant to send a flood that should destroy the cities, and separate the people so that the wickedness of the earth might be destroyed, still it was not his wish that the race should perish wholly. And so again God went down to the earth, and said to this good man, Noah, "Build thou an ark, and into it bring all thy family, and also two of every kind of bird and beast and animal. For a great flood shall come upon the earth, and those in the ark only shall be saved."

Noah was a simple hearted man. It was a strange thing for him to be told to build an ark and place within its shelter his family and two of every living thing upon the face of the earth.

He told the people what God had said to him; and he urged them to do likewise. But the people only laughed at him, and called him a fool.

But Noah doubted not the word of God and set to work at once,--his three sons, Ham, Shem, and Japheth helping him to build an ark, and to gather together the birds and beasts and animals of the earth.

Every morning the four men set out as soon as the sun had risen, and kept at their work until darkness fell at night.

At last the ark was finished, and Noah, with his wife, his three sons and their wives, journeyed to the mountain side. The people in the valley laughed at them and threw stones at them, but the trustful little band kept on their way and entered the ark, taking with them, as they had been told, two of every kind of bird and beast.

Then the clouds began to gather in the south,--great black rolls of cloud. The wind rose, the clouds scattered over the whole sky; and so black and thick were they that the light of the sun was shut out. It was like night.

Then the rain fell. In great sheets, like rivers, it poured upon the valleys. The thunders rolled, the lightnings flashed, the rivers overflowed their banks. The winds howled, and great trees were torn up by the roots.

For forty days this storm continued--forty days and forty nights. Every living thing left upon the face of the earth was drowned. But the ark, with its inmates, was borne up by the waters in safety. At last, one morning when Noah and his people awoke, they could see that the storm had ceased; the clouds were separating, and the sun was sending its rays down through the mist upon the flooded earth below.

Then came the beautiful rainbow, spanning the heavens in the west, and reflecting its wonderful colors in the great sea below.

THE RAINBOW.

Triumphal arch, that fill'st the sky When storms prepare to part, I ask not proud philosophy To teach me what thou art.

Still seem as to my childhood's sight, A midway station given, For happy spirits to alight Betwixt the earth and heaven.

How glorious is thy girdle cast O'er mountain, tower, and town, Or mirror'd in the ocean vast, A thousand fathoms down.

As fresh in yon horizon dark, As young thy beauties seem, As when the eagle from the ark First sported in thy beam.

For faithful to its sacred page, Heaven still rebuilds thy span, Nor lets the type grow pale with age, That first spoke peace to man.

--_T. Campbell._

Never was rainbow so beautiful! Then the voice of God spoke from out the skies to Noah, "This shall be to you a bow of promise. Never again shall the earth and the people be destroyed by water."

But nowhere, as far as eye could reach, was there any sign of land; there was only the peak of Ararat with the ark upon it, standing out above the water.

Noah sent out first a raven, and it returned not. Then he sent out from the ark a dove; and the dove came back after a long, long flight across the waters and fell fluttering at Noah's feet.

Seven days went by. Then again Noah sent out a dove; and this time it returned with an olive leaf. Noah knew now that the flood was subsiding, and that he might lift the cover of the ark and step out upon the mountain top.

Then Noah and his family went forth, together with all the creatures that had gone into the Ark with them.

And so thankful was Noah that he built a great altar, and he and his family offered sacrifices to God in gratitude for his loving care of them.

THE TOWER OF BABEL.

Children were born to Ham, Shem, and Japheth; and when these children became men and women, children were born to them, until, after many, many years, the valley was again filled with people,--all descendants from Noah and his three sons.

Now, there came a time, long after Noah had died, and so could guide his people no longer into the paths of right, that the people again grew wicked and selfish to one another.

They boasted of their power, and said among themselves, "We will build a tower that shall reach into heaven itself. Then who in heaven or earth shall be greater than we?"

Now, God was angry that these people should have forgotten the God of their fathers, and that the trustful, humble soul of Noah should so have departed from them.

So, while all the people were at work upon the tower, now risen above the trees and hill-tops, God touched them; and behold, from that instant each spoke a language of his own; nor could one of them understand any other.

Confusion followed, the building of the tower was forsaken, the people scattered up and down the valley; and so the tower of Babel was left to crumble into ruins.

ABRAHAM.

In the pleasant valley of Mesopotamia there lived a good man, whom the people loved, and who was called Abram.

Now, the people of this valley were idolaters, and though Abram often pleaded with them to return to the faith in one God, they would not listen to him. "Go thou your way, and we will go ours," they would say.

But God would not permit it to be that Abram's life should be spent upon a people who cared not for the good spirit that Abram shed everywhere about him. So He called to him and said, "Leave this valley. Go thou with thy people to the land of Canaan. There a son shall be born to you, and your descendants shall govern the land of Canaan."

Abram, simple hearted and trustful like Noah, gathered his possessions together, and with his wife, Sarah, and his nephew, Lot, set forth across the country towards the land of Canaan.

Now, Abram was a man of great wealth. He had silver and gold, and camels, and sheep and cattle, and armies of servants.

Lot too had great wealth; and when the two families came into Canaan, Lot declared there was not land enough for them all. So Lot went on towards Jordan, where there were fertile valleys and broad rivers.

"Here," said Lot, "shall I find pasturage for my flocks and food for my servants."

"But God bade us dwell here," said Abram; and he was grieved that so great greed should have fallen upon Lot.

Lot went to live in the city of Sodom, a city so wicked that God finally visited it with fire and destroyed it.

Lot was not happy in Sodom. The people were idolaters, and laughed bitterly at Lot for his religion. For, though Lot had disobeyed God, he still kept the worship of Abram.

By and by a great king besieged the city of Sodom, and stole away its riches. Lot himself was made prisoner, and his wealth was divided among the soldiers of the conquering king.

Abram, living happily in the land of Canaan, heard of the downfall of Sodom, and of Lot's imprisonment. So he gathered together his own great army and marched against the king. He recaptured the wealth of Sodom, returning it to its rightful owners, and freed all the people from prison.

"Wilt thou come now to dwell in Canaan?" Abram asked of Lot. But Lot was stubborn and would not.

Then Melchizedek, the ruler of Salem, came out to meet Abram, bringing bread and wine. For Melchizedek was a priest as well as a ruler; and, as he poured the wine, he said, "Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be the most high God, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hands."

Then Abram gave to Melchizedek one tenth of all his wealth, in token of his love for him; and after that he rode back into his own Land of Canaan.

ABRAHAM'S VISIONS.

Angels of life and death are His; Without his leave they pass no threshold o'er; Who, then, would wish or dare, believing this, Against his messengers to shut the door.

--_Longfellow._

One night Abram went out beneath the sky and looked up at the stars. Then God's voice spoke and said, "Thy descendants shall be in number like the stars."

Now, Abram had no children, and had his faith been less firm he might have doubted the words he heard. But he had never forgotten the promise that in the Land of Canaan a child should be born to him, and that from him should descend a nation.

And that same night God spoke again to Abram in a vision. He showed him an altar with a burning lamp. And he said to Abram, "For four hundred years your descendants shall journey in a strange land and suffer affliction; but, at the end of that time, they shall again come into Canaan and possess the land."

Then the Lord changed the name of Abram to Abraham, which means Father of a People. And his wife's name he changed to Sarah, which means a Princess. And again God said unto Abraham and Sarah, "A child shall be born to you; and he shall be great among the nations of the earth."

A third time God came to Abraham; and he told him that the destruction of Sodom was near at hand, because of its wickedness.

Then Abraham thought of Lot, and prayed to God to save the city for Lot's sake.

And God answered, "If ten righteous people only be found in the city, I will not destroy it for Lot's sake."

But ten righteous people were not to be found in the city, and so the angels of destruction were sent down upon it.

Lot sat in the gateway of the city and looked out upon the country. And when he saw the angels of destruction, he rose and led them to his house and gave them food.

Then the angels said, "Whatsoever thou hast in this city bring out; for we are come to destroy this place."

Then Lot went and told his people; but none of them would listen to him. In the morning the angels came and woke Lot and his wife and said to them, "Arise, and hasten from the city. Escape for thy life, and look not behind thee."

So Lot and his wife and their two daughters fled from the city; and the shower of fire came down to purify it. But when they were far out on the plain, Lot's wife, still loving her old home, turned back to look upon it. Too late the angels' words came back to her, "Look not behind thee."

Her feet were rooted to the spot; her voice refused to come; sight left her; sound was shut out; and in one instant she was changed to a pillar of salt.

Then Lot and his two daughters hurried on. They reached a great cave, and ran and hid themselves in it. The city was now a blackened ruin. Lot's wealth was destroyed. He had no silver, no gold, no cattle, no home--only the cave, and grateful was he that he had even that.

HAGAR.

Who can speak a mother's anguish, Painted in that tearless eye, Which beholds her darling languish, Languish, unrelieved, to die!

It was not very long after the destruction of Sodom that there was born into the home of Abraham and Sarah a beautiful little baby boy--even as God had promised.

There was great rejoicing among the people of Abraham's household. Feasts were held, sacrifices were offered up, and Abraham gave the child the name of Isaac.

One of Sarah's maids, whose name was Hagar, had a son, too, called Ishmael. One day this boy mocked at Isaac, and Sarah said he and his mother must be sent away.

So Abraham called Hagar and told her she must go, and he gave her some bread and a bottle of water, and sent her forth into the wilderness.

Poor Hagar and her child sorrowfully set forth in the burning heat; but when all their water was gone, her little one began to droop; he grew weaker and weaker, and she thought he would die. She laid him in the shade and went away to weep. The mother could not bear to see her poor boy die.

She looked above--the heavens shone still Unclouded, bright and clear; She listened but not fount nor rill Poured music on her ear. Thence once again her child she eyed-- His cheek wore death's pale hue; "Alas! and is it thus," she cried; "Doth God forsake me too, And with my earthly foes combine To work such ill for me and mine?"

The Angel of God heard her and told her not to fear, but to take up Ishmael and hold him in her arms. Then she saw, all at once, a well near her; she gave the child a drink, and soon he grew strong and well.

ISAAC.

Isaac grew up a fine, healthy, noble boy loved by all his father's people; and to his, father and mother, now old people, he was their joy and life. Never a day passed that Abraham and Sarah did not offer thanks to God for their beautiful child. Most carefully they taught him the religion of his people, and bade him follow it all the days of his life.

"When God speaks, obey, O my son!" the old father would say. And one day there came to Abraham, and Isaac too, a trial of their faith.

A vision came again to Abraham. And in the vision the Lord spoke, saying, "Arise, Abraham, and go and prepare an altar upon the mountain. And when the altar is ready, place thy son Isaac upon the altar; for I would that he be sacrificed--a burnt offering--to me."

Poor old Abraham! There was nothing in all the world so dear to him as this child, Isaac; but although his heart was sore and heavy, the old man rose and did as he was bid. And when the altar was ready, he called Isaac and told him what the vision had said.

For a minute the brave boy's cheek grew pale; his heart beat fast. Then he permitted his father to bind him hand and foot and lay him upon the altar. Abraham lifted the knife to slay the boy; when, lo! his hand was held, and a voice said, "Harm not the lad; for now I do know that thou lovest God more than all else beside."

With trembling hands Abraham unbound the cords that held Isaac, and the boy leaped down from the altar. Then, with tears of gratitude, they knelt and thanked God for his mercy. Then the voice spake again: "Because you have done this thing I will bless thee; and all nations shall be blessed through thy children."

One day Abraham's wife, Sarah, lay down and died, and Abraham bought the field of Machpelah and made for her a burial place.

"Now," said Abraham to Isaac, "it is right that you should find a wife and bring her to dwell in our tent. But take not a wife from the people of Canaan, for they are idolaters. Go rather to Mesopotamia, and there take the wife that God may allot thee."