Part 4

So the people went to work, and every man woman and child had a part in the building of the tabernacle.

THE TABERNACLE.

The tabernacle was made of boards, with bars put across; and these bars and boards were made of shittim wood and covered with gold. Within the tabernacle, under the upper end, were four more pillars; a beautiful covering, called the vail, was hung over them; and this hid the inside, which was the most holy place, "the Holy of Holies," it was called. None could go in there but the High Priest; and he went only once a year. In the Holy of Holies was placed the ark. The ark was a chest, or box, made of shittim wood, covered with gold; and there were rings in the sides for poles to be put in when the ark was moved. The top of the ark was called the mercy-seat; two golden angels, called cherubim, were placed one on each side of the mercy-seat; they looked over it, and their wings covered the top. In the ark were afterwards kept the tables of the commandments, Aaron's rod, and afterwards a golden pot full of manna, which God commanded to be put there. Outside the vail was the altar, on which the holy bread, called shew-bread, was placed, and the great gold candlestick. The tabernacle stood in a large open court; pillars of brass surrounded it, and curtains were hung upon them. The brazen altar for burnt offerings, and the great laver where the priests washed, stood in this court. There were coverings and curtains to the tabernacle and court.

Over the boards of the tabernacle was thrown a covering of fine linen, beautifully worked in scarlet, and purple, and blue; over the linen was a covering of goat's hair; over this, a covering of ram's skins dyed red; and another covering of thick skins was over all. The people were not allowed to go into the tabernacle; but the priests went in every morning to offer incense, and every evening to light the lamps; and on the Sabbath, to take away the old shew-bread from the table, and to put on new. The sacrifices were offered in the court, where the people stood.

Now, when the tabernacle was set up, Moses made Aaron the High Priest and clothed him in the sacred garments of his office,--the coat, the girdle, the robe, the ephod, the breastplate, and the mitre. The coat was a long linen robe, with sleeves, and having a girdle worked in blue and purple and scarlet. The robe was a long, blue linen garment, without sleeves.

Around the skirts were golden bells, which sounded whenever the High Priest went into the Holy Place.

The ephod was a short robe, worked also in blue, purple and scarlet; and around the waist was worn a girdle of gold.

The breastplate was made of cloth, and was very thick. It had four rings to join it to the ephod, and twelve beautiful stones were set in it; and on these stones were cut the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, that is, the twelve sons of Jacob.

The mitre was a linen turban; and on the front of it were the words, _Holy of Holies_!

When all was ready, the children held a sacred feast, and Moses anointed Aaron with oil.

The tabernacle established, the Israelites were now ready to move on towards Canaan.

THE PROMISED LAND.

Twelve men were chosen, one from each tribe, and sent ahead to see what manner of place Canaan was, if there was land enough, and if the people dwelling there were friendly.

The twelve men set out, and after forty days came back again to the camp, bringing rich fruits which they had gathered there. "The land of Canaan is a beautiful country," they said, "and it is filled with fruits and corn; but we fear the people there, for they are fierce and warlike."

At this many of the Israelites were frightened. Again they forgot God's promises and began to upbraid Moses for having taken them from their comfortable home in the wilderness.

Then God was angry with them; and he spoke to them in tones of thunder, telling them that for their wickedness they should never be permitted to see the promised land of Canaan; that they should die in the wilderness; and that only the children and the few faithful elders should live to reach the Promised Land.

This was a most grievous punishment to the people; but in a few days they had forgotten it, and again rebellion arose among them.

Three men, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, grew jealous of the power of Moses and Aaron, and asked why all glory should be theirs.

Moses, worn with the faithlessness of his people, fell upon his face and wept when these jealous men spoke thus to him. His heart ached with the injustice of it, and he despaired ever of teaching his people.

The next day Korah and all his people came and stood before the tabernacle, as Moses had bid them. Then the voice of the Lord spoke, bidding the people move away from the tabernacle, leaving the three doubting men and their families standing alone.

Then there came a burst of thunder; the earth rocked and groaned; then a great gulf opened beneath the feet of Korah and Dathan and Abiram, and they, with all their children, were swallowed up.

Then God commanded Moses to take twelve rods; and upon the rods to write the names of the twelve tribes. On the rod of the tribe of Levi he was to write the name of Aaron, because Aaron was of that tribe.

"Place now the rods in the tabernacle; and the rod bearing the name of him I appoint High Priest shall bud and blossom."

And when the morning came, behold the rod of Aaron had budded and blossomed. Then the people were content; and the rod was kept ever after in the tabernacle.

For a time peace was in the camp, and more than once the Israelites came near unto the Promised Land. But it had been said they should never reach it; and so many, many times they fell back and turned away.

Over and over again they rebelled at Moses and Aaron, until the patience of those two was exhausted. They forgot themselves to ask for guidance, and once, unable to endure greater trial, they cried out, "O ye rebels! ye rebels!" and there was anger in their hearts as they spoke.

By and by the time came for Aaron to die. So Moses took the priestly garments from him and gave them to Eleazer. Then Aaron died, and the Israelites mourned for him thirty days.

Then the people wandered on and on. Once they were bitten by serpents; and that they might be healed, Moses lifted a brazen serpent in the wilderness and bade the suffering ones to look upon it and live.

But now the forty years were nearly at an end; Canaan, too, was very close; and, although the elders knew that it was not for them to see the Promised Land, yet their children would; and so there was joy in the camp.

But now the death of Moses was at hand. He was one hundred and twenty years old, and had wandered forty years, leading the rebellious Israelites in the wilderness. So God said to Moses, "Come thou up into Mt. Pisgah. From there thou shalt see the fair land of Canaan spread out before thee, although thou mayst never go thither."

So Moses called his people together and told them that his end was at hand. He told them of all God had done for his people, and how wonderfully they had been led forth from bondage. He then bade them take Joshua for their leader; for he it was who should lead them into the Promised Land.

The people wept most bitterly, and many prostrated themselves before the good man who had borne so much for them.

Then Moses turned and went up into Mt. Pisgah. There lay the fair land of Canaan at his feet, with its fertile valleys and rich fruits and abundant harvests of corn.

Upon this fair scene Moses gazed; then, raising his face towards God, thanked Him that the wanderings of the children of Israel were now at an end.

Then he laid himself down and died. The Lord buried him, but no man knew how or where.

And when the children of Israel knew he would come no more to them, they wept too for him thirty days upon the plains of Moab.

THE BURIAL OF MOSES.

By Nebo's lonely mountain, on this side Jordan's wave, In a vale in the Land of Moab there lies a lonely grave. And no man knows that sepulchre, and no man saw it e'er, For the angels of God upturned the sod, and laid the dead man there.

That was the grandest funeral that ever passed on earth; But no man heard the trampling, or saw the train go forth-- Noiselessly as the daylight comes back when night is done, And the crimson streak on ocean's cheek grows into the great sun.

Noiselessly as the spring-time her crown of verdure weaves, And all the trees on all the hills open their thousand leaves; So without sound of music, or voice of them that wept, Silently down from the mountain's crown the great procession swept.

Perchance the bald old eagle, on gray Beth-Peor's height, Out of his lonely eyrie looked on the wondrous sight; Perchance the lion stalking, still shuns that hallowed spot, For, beast and bird have seen and heard that which man knoweth not.

But when the warrior dieth, his comrades in the war, With arms reversed and muffled drum, follow his funeral car; They show the banners taken, they tell his battles won, And after him lead his masterless steed, while peals the minute gun.

Amidst the noblest of the land we lay the sage to rest. And give the bard an honored place, with costly marble drest, In the great minster transept where lights like glories fall, And the organ rings, and the sweet choir sings along the emblazoned wall.

This was the truest warrior that ever buckled sword, This the most gifted poet that ever breathed a word; And never earth's philosopher traced, with his golden pen, On the deathless page, truths half so sage as he wrote down for men.

And hath he not high honor,--the hillside for a pall, To lie in state while angels wait with stars for tapers tall, And the dark rock-pines like tossing plumes, over his bier to wave, And God's own hand, in that lonely land, to lay him in the grave?

--_Alexander._

THE STORY OF JOSHUA.

Then Joshua led the Israelites forth; but when they came to the River Jordan, again their courage failed them.

Although they had been led through the Red Sea in the times of their fathers, and though all their lives they had been told of that wonderful deliverance, still, when now they came to the River Jordan, their hearts grew heavy, and fear took possession of them. But there lay the country, fair and beautiful. They could see it; and, with Joshua so brave and true to lead them on, they gathered up their courage, and the great company marched down to the river banks.

Again the miracle of the parting of the waters was repeated; for the waters roared and rushed, and heaped themselves, like great walls, on either side while the Israelites passed through.

Meantime Joshua had sent forward two men into the city of Jericho to learn what manner of people were there; for Jericho was one of the cities upon which the Israelites must make war. These people of Canaan were not likely to give the country into the hands of a new people without a struggle. That the Israelites well knew. Then, too, these were in the days when all nations were at war with each other, and the possession of a country was always a matter of force and strength,--one people overcoming the other.

When the two Israelites came into Jericho, they sought the house of a woman named Rahab; and from her learned all those things about the city that they needed to know.

But the king of Jericho heard that two Israelites were in the city, and at once he suspected them of being spies. Accordingly he sent messengers to seize them and put them in prison. The messengers came, bearing with them the authority of the king; but the two men were hid away by Rahab, and the messenger went away.

"I know," Rahab said, "that this land belongs to you; that God hath promised it to you; for I have heard of the wonderful things that God hath done for you and your people. Because of this I have hidden you beneath the flax on the housetop; and now, when your people come to take the city, forget not me. Tell your people the protection given you in this house; then shall your soldiers spare me in the downfall of the city."

Then the Israelites promised that, in the ransacking of the city, this woman Rahab should be spared.

"When we are gone," they said, "fasten a red cord upon the window of the house. Then, when we enter the city, the house in whose window the red cord is, shall be spared."

At night the woman let the Israelites down from the roof of the house by a rope, and they hurried away to join the Israelites.

In a few days the army of the Israelites appeared before the walls of Jericho. The gates were closed, and the king's armies within were ready to resist the attack.

What were the Israelites to do? Should they attack the city with battering rams and meet the people with spears and swords?

This was the way of besieging cities in those days; and it was for this kind of an attack that the people within were prepared. But this was not the way the Israelites were to do their work; for God had told them, even while in the wilderness, that the walls of Jericho were to be beaten down in a way most strange. They were to take their Ark up to the walls of the city. They were to draw up their soldiers in line. The priests were to bear the Ark, and together all were to march around the city, the priests blowing their trumpets as they passed before the Ark.

Not a spear was to be thrown; not a sword was to be drawn. For seven days they were to do this; but on the seventh day they were to march seven times around the city. Then, amid the shouting of the people and the blowing of the trumpets, the walls would fall; and so the city would lie open before them. All this the Israelites did; and on the seventh day it came about even as Joshua said it should,--the walls fell with a terrible crash. Then the Israelites marched in and took the city. The house of Rahab they did not forget. They brought her and all her family out from the burning city and placed her in safety among their own women and children.

Great loads of gold and silver and brass and iron they took from the city. All of this they saved for the building of a temple; for they had been warned to save no part of the city's wealth for their own use.

In all this the Israelites obeyed, save one man. He, Achan, thinking no one saw him, took some of the riches and carried them away and hid them. Now, Joshua knew nothing of all this; but the next day, when the army went against the little city of Ai, behold the Israelites were driven back defeated. Even Joshua's heart was heavy. He could not see why it should have been; but when he knelt before God, God said to him, "Never can I fight for my people while there is sin among them. Go find Achan; he hath hidden gold in the tent. Accuse him before the people and put him to death. Then again shall success be with the Israelites."

Joshua went before his people and told them what God had said to him. Then Achan was called before the Israelites and put to death.

"Now," said Joshua, "let us go against the city of Ai again." They went; and this time the city was taken, and the people bowed before the power of the Israelites, acknowledging them as their masters. THE GIBEONITES.

The sun stood still, the moon it stayed Till Israel's vengeance was allayed Upon his enemy, Pausing all that awful day And glowing brilliantly.

While these cities were being taken, the Gibeonites had heard of the coming of the Israelites and of their great conquests. Now, these Gibeonites were a strong people; and so, when they heard these things, they made preparations for the attack which they feared. First, they sent messengers to Joshua.

"We wish to make peace with you," the messenger said.

"If you are Canaanites," said Joshua, "we can make no peace with you."

"But we are not Canaanites," the messengers said. "Behold we come from a great distance. Do you not see how dry our bread is, and how broken our bottles are? Our shoes, too, see how they are worn! All these were new when we began our journey; but we have been so long on the road, they are worn. We have heard of your coming, as have all the kings round about our country. We know how great is your power; and that is why we have come to beg you to be at peace with our people."

Now, this story was in no wise true; but Joshua believed it, and the Gibeonites went away pleased indeed that they had succeeded so well.

But a few days after, Joshua learned that these Gibeonites had been untrue to him, and that they dwelt in the very midst of the country of Canaan.

"Why have you deceived us?" he asked of their leaders.

The leaders could make no reply. They could only say, "But you promised not to slay us."

"That is true," Joshua replied. "And we will not break our promise. We will not slay you; but we will take all prisoners, and you shall serve us as slaves all the days of your life."

The Gibeonites were heavy hearted indeed. They had fallen into their own pit; for they would rather have died than become slaves. But now there was no hope for them, and they could only bow their proud heads beneath the yoke.

Hardly had the Israelites and the Gibeonites made peace with each other in this way, when down came the Amorites upon the Gibeonites to fight them.

The Gibeonites, frightened at the appearance of the great army, fled to Joshua for help.

"We shall protect you as our servants and slaves," was the answer. And so, when the Amorites came, it was the Israelites that marched out against them.

A terrible battle followed. For a time no one could have told which army was to be victorious. Many were falling among the Amorites; still their army was pressing forward.

If only the day would not come to an end! If only the darkness would not fall! If only they might keep on with the battle till the Amorites, exhausted, should fall back! To give up the battle and begin again in the morning would be to give the Amorites opportunity to regain strength and courage.

Then the thought came to Joshua, "Why _should_ night come? Why should not the sun and the moon stand still in the heavens until this battle is finished and the Amorites are driven back?"

And as he thought, lo! the prayer was answered, and the sun and the moon did stand still.

Hour after hour passed; the two armies fought on; the Amorites grew weaker and weaker. Why did not the sun go down? Why did the darkness not come to give them rest?

At last the Amorites could hold out no longer. The army turned and fled. The Israelites pursued. The kings hid themselves in a great cave. But Joshua pursued these still. He rolled great stones up before the cave and held them there prisoners. Then, when the Amorites had been scattered, Joshua came back to the cave, brought out the offending kings and slew them all.

So the contention for the possession of the land of Canaan went on. One by one the tribes were overcome; and at last Canaan was in the control of the Israelites.

But now Joshua had grown to be an old man. He knew that the end of his life was near at hand. So he called the people together and told them, even as Moses had told them, of all the wonderful things that had happened to God's chosen people in all the four hundred years since they had come out of Egypt.

Then he appealed to them in the name of God, who had led them safely into the land of Canaan; he begged them never to forget that they were the Children of Israel, and that the religion of the people into whose land they had come, an idolatrous religion, was not for them. Then the people all promised to be true to the religion of their fathers; and Joshua, taking the great book of the law, wrote their promise in it. More than that, he rolled a great stone up beneath an oak tree and said, "Look at the great stone. It has heard your promise that you will serve always the one God. Guard that stone; and let it be a remembrance to you of the promise you have made."

The people went away sad at heart; for they knew they should never look again upon their patient leader and teacher, who had been so faithful and true to them in all the years he had been with them.

EHUD AND DEBORAH.

For a few years the Israelites remembered their promise; but alas! they were very prone to sink back into the idolatry which surrounded them. And it was not very long before they were worshipping idols, even as were the heathen tribes round about them.

And again God sent cruel enemies to fight against them; again they cried to Him, and He heard them. For eighteen years they served Eglon, the cruel, wicked king of Moab. But at last God sent the Israelites a man to help them, whose name was Ehud.

Ehud told them to send a present to Eglon, and he would be its bearer. The Israelites did this, and Ehud, making a dagger, and hiding it under his clothes, went to Moab. When he came to the king he said, "I have a secret to tell and must see the king alone." So Eglon sent away his servants. When they were alone, Ehud took out his dagger and thrust it into the king's body. Then Ehud ran out from the room, locked the doors after him, and so escaped.

No one saw Ehud go; and when the servants found the doors locked, they thought their master had fallen asleep, and so they made no attempt to go in. Many hours passed. At last the servants began to wonder why the king did not send for them. Night came on. Still the king did not awake; and so, at last, they took a key and opened the door.

What did they see? There lay the king upon the ground,--dead!

Ehud, meantime, had come back again, bringing many soldiers with him; and the Israelites fought against the Moabites and conquered them.

For some time after this the people held firmly to their faith, and Ehud led them. But Ehud died; and then the Israelites again rebelled against God. Again God, to punish them, sent Jabin, king of Canaan, to fight against Israel; and he conquered them. This king was very cruel, and they suffered much under his power for twenty long, terrible years. Now, there was a very good woman living at that time, named Deborah. She dwelt under a palm tree, between Ramah and Bethel. There she prayed and sang, and talked to, and taught all the people who came to see her. Deborah was a very wise woman and had the gift of prophecy. And so it came about that, when the Israelites began to cry to God, Deborah, at His command, sent for a brave man named Barak, and said to him, "Go now and call men out of the tribes of Zebulon and Naphtali, and take them to fight against Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army. God promises to give us the victory." Barak said, "If thou wilt go with me, I will go." So Deborah, with Barak and 10,000 men, went to fight against Sisera. "Do not kill Sisera," Deborah said; "for God will give the wicked captain into the hands of a woman."

So Barak and his army went and fought against Sisera. Very soon the Israelites won the victory, for it was as Deborah had prophesied. Then Sisera came down from his chariot and fled from Barak.

There was a man named Heber, who was at peace with Jabin; and Sisera ran to Heber's tent for safety. When the man's wife, Jael, saw Sisera coming, she went out to meet him and said, "Come in, come in, and fear not." So Sisera came in and lay down; and Jael covered him with a mantle. He asked for water; and she gave him milk, which he drank; and then he lay down again.