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1
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6
JOSEPH SOLD BY HIS BRETHREN,
paS'
THE
wv]
CJ
OYAL TREASURY
OR
JEWELS OF THE BIBLE
BBINQ A
pascinatin| )vlarrati\)Gof \\iq ManJellous and ^f?rillin^ GOenfs ir\ Sacred
^isiory from \\iq (Jreation of fl^e C^orld.
I eOMPRiaiNO
* ■ i' . -.
THE SUBUME STORY OF THE GOSPELS ; A VIVID PANORAMA OF PATHETIC, TRAGIC
AND CAPTIVATING SCENES AND INCIDENTS IN THE LIVES OF THE GREAT
PROPHETS, APOSTLES, AND FOUNDERS OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH ;
GLOWING DESCRIPTIONS OF HEROES AND MARTYRS,
WITH ENTRANCING VISIONS OF THE
CELESTIAL CITY.
LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS ; JOSEPH AND THE ROYAL HOUSE OF EGYPT ; WANDERINGS
IN THE WILDERNESS ; HOLY WARS AND CONQUESTS ; JERUSALEM AND ITS
MAGNIFICENT TEMPLE ; THE SERMON OX THE MOUNT ; PARABLES
AND MIRACLES ; GETHSEMANE AND THE CROSS ; THE GOLDEN
DAWN OF CHRISTIANITY, ETC., ETC.
TO WHICH ARE ADDED
Ci55.I=XIVjOLTIlSlG BIBLEL SXOAIES FOIi THE 'YOUlSlCt.
HENRY DAVENPORT NORTHROP, D.D.,
Author o/"lVonderso/ the IVorld," "Earth, Sea and Sky,"
"Crown Jewels," etc., etc.
Emlielligbed IvM moiie than Thfee Handled ^npePli EngiiBVing^ bij Mz
AMD OTHER CELEBRATED ARTISTS.
JOHN S. BROWN,
PAKIS. ONTARIO. CANADA.
Eatered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1890, by
HENRY DAVENPORT NORTHROP,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D.C
PREFACE.
ROYAL TREASURY; or, JEWELS OF THE BIBLE, contains all the captivating
features which give immortal interest to the Scripture narrative. It is rich in vivid descrip-
tions, gems of inspired thought, scenes that thrill the heart, and records of strange adventure
and romance which have more power to entrance than the creations of fiction.
The narrative begins with the new earth and heavens, and portrays the sublime work of
creation, over which " the morning stars sang together." The expulsion of our first parents
from the floral bowers of Eden ; the first murder which stained with blood the virgin world ;
the mighty deluge that rolled its dark waters over mountain summits, and engulfed in awful
destruction the inhabitants of the earth ; the lonely ark of Noah, riding upon the billows of
the "vasty deep;" and the sudden overthrow of the visionary tower of Babel — these, with
other momentous events, form the first part of this very attractive volume.
Then follow the great transactions recorded in the history of the Hebrews, such as
Abraham offering his son; Isaac meeting the fair maid Rebecca; Jacob reconciled to his
brother Esau ; the thrilling story of Joseph at the court of Ph.^.raoh ; and the finding by the
Egryptian princess of the babe in the rushes, that was destii r>] to become one of the most
majestic heroes of the Old Testament.
The wanderings of Israel in the wilderness are depicted — the woes that fell upon plague*
stricken Egypt ; the miraculous passage of the Red Sea ; the triumphant song of Miriam
and the Jewish maidens ; the awful scenes surrounding cloud-capped Sinai ; and the death
of Moses on Nebo, when, according to Jewish legend, the winds wailed, and the earth cried,
" We have lost the Holy One !"
The period of Joshua and the judges is treated in the same masterly manner. Portrayed
in vivid colors, the reader sees the falling walls of Jericho ; brave Gideon, with his wonderful
fleece and dauntless little army ; valiant Jephthah fulfilling his rash vow ; mighty Samson,
rending the lion's jaws, carrying the massive gates of Gaza, and heaving from their sockets
the gigantic pillars of the Philistine temple.
The fascinating story of Ruth, gleaning in the fields of Boaz and becoming the ancestress
of David and his greater Son, is told in all its simple beauty and pathos.
Towering up in rugged proportions, that strange man Saul comes into view, and then
David, the ruddy shepherd boy, appears with the sling that carries swift death to boastful
Goliath. Exchanging the shepherd's staff for the kingly sceptre, the dazzling glory of the
Hebrew nation bursts upon us, and the line of illustrious kings commences.
Very thrilling are the events during the reigns of David and Solomon, including the
rebellion of Absalom and the grief of his heart-broken father; the building of that most
famous of all edifices, the Temple at Jerusalem ; and the visit of the beautiful Queen of
Sheba to the court of Solomon.
Then, with the swiftness of the whirlwind, the prophet Elijah appears. The reader
n
PREFACE.
beholds one of the most striking figures in history. He follows this mysterious propht.t to
the brook Cherith and the poor widow's home at Sarepta ; sees his triumphant defeat of
Baal's prophets on Carmel, and then the chariot of flame which bears him through the cloven
heaven beyond mortal sight He beholds the sweet face of the little Jewish captive in
Syria, and sees her haughty master, I>}aaman, at the door of Elisha, and rising from the
waters of Jordan, healed of his leprosy.
f He finally comes to the charming story of Queen Esther, her patriotic devotion and over-
throw of Haman's fiendish plot. The no less interesting story of Job follows, his sudden afflic-
tions, his sympathizing friends, and their renowned discussions on the problems of human life.
All the prominent features of the Psalms and Proverbs are fully described. The helpful
sayings of the wise man are mingled with the songs of the sweet singer of Israel.
We have next the spirited account of the captivity ; the grandeur of ancient Babylon,
and the startling dreams and fiery handwriting which terrified her kings; the brave, invincible
Daniel, himself more than a kingdom, whom neither lion's den nor fiery furnace could appall ;
and at length the capture of the proud city by the army of Cyrus. The magnificence of
ancient Nineveh is described, together with the visit of that strange prophet, Jonah, and also
the modern excavations which have given a resurrection to the buried city.
The valorous exploits of Judas Maccabeus, that patriotic hero who achieved the inde-
pendence of the Hebrew nation, are told in glowing language.
But the reader has not yet reached the climax ; he is yet to stand upon the loftiest summit,
Coming to the Life of Christ, which is complete in all its peerless beauty, he beholds the
Child Wonderful in Bethlehem's manger ; the white-robed chorus singing peace and good-
will ; the adoring shepherds and Persian sages, and all the graphic and illustrious scenes
connected with the baptism of Christ; His temptation in the wilderness; the calling of the
Galilean fishermen ; the parables, which, like windows, let in celestial light ; and the stupen-
dous miracles which healed the sick, hushed the wild tempest, and even rent the tomb ! His
myriad deeds of compassion ; His sweet words of love; His calm majesty in persecution and
suffering; His radiant glory of transfiguration ; His agony in the garden and death upon the
cross, when even mute nature felt the pang and was moved to sympathy — all this, and vastly
more which cannot here be stated, is fully depicted.
The reader will find a peculiar charm in the resplendent history of the Apostles — the
labors, sufferings and sublime sacrifices of those noble men, " of whom the world was not
worthy." He is dazzled by the bright light that falls upon majestic Paul, and traces the
brilliant career of this great Apostle to the Gentiles. He keeps company with the Apostle
in his missionary journeys; hears his midnight song in the dungeon at Phil-; pi; his burning
words as he faces Roman governors ; the clanking of his chains as he stands before King
Agrippa, and his grand speech on Mars' Hill, that masterpiece of sacred eloquence.
The teachings of the apostles are followed by the vision of John in Revelation, with its
majestic imagery and beautiful descriptions of the heavenly Jerusalem. No Raphael nor
Angelo ever gave the world such paintings in colors as are here given in inspired words.
Then comes one of the most interesting and attractive parts of the volume, consisting of
Biographies of the Great Men of the Bible and Captivating Bible Stories for the Young.
The work embraces the most interesting of all subjects, forms in itself a library of choicest
information, and an exhaustless source of entertainment, such as was never attempted in any
other book.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE NEW EARTH AND HEAVENS.
The Work of Creation— Life and Beauty— The First Man— The Garden of Eden— The First Woman
— Perfect Happiness — The Tempter — Death and Woe — The World Cursed — Banishment from
Eden — Cain and Ab»l — Keeping Sheep and Tilling the Ground — A Quarrel — Abel is Slain —
Fliglit of Cain — The Land of Nod — The First Household — Long Life — Seth and his Family — A
Race of Evil-Doers — A Flood Threatened — Noah Commanded to Build an Ark — A Preparation
of One Hundred and Twenty Years for the Flood — Entering the Ark — The Terrible Deluge —
Sending Forth the Dove — Horrors of the Flood — Waters Subside — A Memorable Sacrifice — The
Second Beginning of the World — The Rainbow — Promise not to Send Another Deluge . 17
CHAPTER IL
ABRAM AND LOT.
Land of Shinar — Site of Ancient Babylon — A High Tower — ^The Language Confused — The People
Scattered — Hills of Ruin — Nimrod — A Mighty Hunter — Abram — Abram's Wife — Land of Ca-
naan — ^Trying to Read the Stars — Ur of the Chaldees — The Father of Abram — Story about Idols
— Abram Directed to Leave his Country — A Wonderful Promise — Abram's Moral Courage —
Sarah's Beauty — Sarah Taken by the King of Egypt — Lot and his Family — Pitching the Tent
Toward Sodom — Invasion by the Assyrians — Judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah — Lot Rescued
—Fate of Lot's Wife— The Dead Sea 30
CHAPTER m.
TRIAL OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH.
Birtii of Isaac — Sarah's Anger on Account of Ishniael — Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away — Peace in the
Tents of Abraham — Command to Sacrifice Isaac — The Old Man's Faith — Death of Sarah — Sep-
ulchre of Machpelah — Abraham Seeking a Wife for Isaac— The Fair Rebekah — A Hearty Recej)-
tion — ^A Happy Marriage 40
CHAPTER IV.
JACOB AND ESAU.
One Hundred Years in the Land of Canaan — Death of Abraham — Peculiarities of Jacob and Esau —
Isaac in a Strange Land — Wells of Water — Hostility of the Philistines — Prosperity of Isaac —
Esau Loses his Birthright — Jacob Leaving Haran — Vision at Bethel — Rachel — Serving Fourteen
Years for a Wife — Birth of Joseph — Jacob's Riches — Jealousy on Account of Jacob's Prosperity
— A Charge of Theft — Friendly Meeting of Jacob and Esau — Wrestling with the Angel — Death
of Rachel — ^Jacob's Return to Isaac 47
CHAPTER V.
THE THRILLING STORY OF JOSEPH.
Founders of the Twelve Tribes of Israel — ^Jacob's Fondness for Joseph — ^A Coat of Many Colors —
Joseph's Dream — Hostility of Joseph's Brethren — A Caravan of Arabian Merchants — ^Joseph
Sold into Egypt — Interpreting Dreams — ^Joseph Made Ruler — Providing for Famine — Ornaments
of Gold — Riding in a Chariot of State — Monuments of Stone — The Nation Crying for Bread—
(iii)
F
Iv CONTENTS.
Jacob Sends his Sons to Egypt— Meeting the " Lord of the Country "—Jacob's Sons Accused
of Being Spies— An Affecting Scene — Taking Back the Money — Singular Customs — The Silver
Cup — Joseph Making Himself Known — Jacob Meeting his Son 53
CHAPTER VI.
EARLY LIFE OF MOSES.
Oppression of the Hebrews— Pliaraoh's Order to Slay the Male Children — The Little Life-Boat —
Finding Moses — A Motherly Princess — Tradition Concerning Moses — A Good Sister — Miriam's
Device for Saving her Brother — Moses at the Court of Egypt — The Smiter Smitten — Moses in
Flight 66
CHAPTER VII.
THE DELIVERER OF ISRAEL.
The Burning Bush — Glad Tidings for the Hebrews — Tiie Great Lawgiver and Leader — Demand that
Pharaoh Shall Release the Hebrews — A Stubborn King — Wonders Performed by Magicians —
Plagues — Terrible Calamities — Death of the First-Born — Mercy for Israel — The Destroying
Angel — The Blood-Mark on the Doorpost ji
CHAPTER VIIL
THE LAST NIGHT IN EGYPT.
A Hasty Departure — Fleeing Toward the Red Sea — The Waters Divide for the Hebrews — Pharaoh's
Host Overwhelmed — Miriam's Song — Music and Thanksgiving — Moving Toward Sinai — Bitter
Waters of Marah — Halt at Elim — Murmuring Against Moses — Bread from Heaven — No Water —
A Fountain Bursting from a Rock — Meeting Enemies — A Battle with Amalek — Moses and Jethro
— The Solemn Covenant 81
CHAPTER IX.
SUBLIME SCENES AT SINAI.
The Prophet on the Mountain — ^The Divine Appearance — Forty Days and Nights Within the Cloud
— Moses Supposed to be Lost — The Golden Calf — Jewels for the Idol — The Ten Commandments
— The Hebrews Pressing Forward — Death of Aaron — The Brazen Serpent — Og, the Giant of
Bashan . . 94
CHAPTER X.
BALAAM AND THE ANGEL.
The King of Moab — Balak and Gold — An Angel in 'he Path — Plots and Snares — Divine Anger^
Trouble with the Midianites — Victors and Spoil — Number of Israelites — ^Joshua Appointed to
Succeed Moses — The Lawgiver's Last Address — Affecting Words — Threatenings Against Diso-
bedience — The Death-Song — Forty Years of Hist»»ry — Moses on Pisgah — Death at the Age of
One Hundred and Twenty — A Rare Man 105
CHAPTER XI.
ENTERING THE PRO MISED LAND.
Mourning for Moses — Crossing the Jordan — The Fall of Jericho — Setting up a Memorial — Attack
upon the Town of Ai — Sin of Achan — Deception -^f the Gibeonites — Sun and Moon Standing
Still — Pushing on the Conquest — Death of Five K\*ij{s-"Jabin, King of Hazor — ^Joshua's Bril-
liant Successes — ^The Captured Cities no
CHAPTER XII.
JOSHUA DIVIDING THE r-\ND.
Petty Kings of Canaan — Driving Out the Enemy — Caleb's ClaiiP — Othniel — Surveying the Land —
The Distribution — Cities of Refuge — Sending Back the Two Trib<»r and a Half— A Suspiciour
Transaction — An Ancient Hero — Joshua's Successful Mission - ^ ■ . *«<r
CONTENTS. ▼
CHAPTER XIII.
REMARKABLE HEBREW WOMEN.
Capture of Jerusalem — Story of a Hebrew Woman — Tribe of Dan — Justice Resisted — Eighty Years
of Peace and Safety — Ruth and Naomi — Famine at Bethlehem — Moab — Naomi and her Daiigh*
ters in Affliction — Ruth's Affection — Gleaning in the Harvest Field — Ruth Wedded to Boaz —
Israel Delivered by Deborah — A Song of Triumph 123
CHAPTER XIV.
A MAN OF VALOR.
The Midianites— Caves and Strongholds — A Deliverer— The Sword of the Lord and of Gideon — A
Marvelous Fleece — Let Baal Plead for Himself— Getting an Army — Cowards not Wanted — The
Valiant Three Hundred — Gideon Destroying Idols — The Avenger — Abimelech Slain — Jephthah's
Rash Vow— A Father's Sacrifice — ^The Hebrew Judges 131
CHAPTER XV.
MARVELOUS FEATS OF SAMSON.
Human Sacrifices — Ephraim in Arms — Birth of Samson — Samson's Enormous Strength— The Damsel
of Timnath — Samson Slays a Lion — Guessing a Riddle — Foxes and Firebrands — ^The Philistines
Take Revenge — Samson Betrayed — The Giant Breaks the Fetters — Locks of Hair Shorn Off-
Grinding in a Prison House — Samson Shakes Down the Philistine Temple . . •141
CHAPTER XVI.
THE PROPHET SAMUEL.
Eli, the High-Priest — Hannah's Prayer— The Child Brought to the Temple — ^A Remarkable Boy—
The Voice in the Temple — A Prophet and Judge — Excitement in the Hebrew Camp— Ark Taken
by the Philistines — Fall of an Idol — Judgment upon Ashdod — ^The Ark Returned — A Severe
Judgment — Samuel's Great Influence — A King Desired — The People Discontented — A Divine
Protest . . 149
CHAPTER XVII.
THE FIRST KING OF ISRAEL.
Clamoring for a King — Saul, the Son of Kish — Samuel Anoints Saul — Head and Shoulders Above
Others — " Long Live the King ! " — Saul's Great Victory — Thunder and Rain — Agag Spared—
The Son of Jesse — A Comely Person — David and Goliath — ^The Maiden's Song of Triumph-
Saul's Anger — David and Jonathan — A Timely Escape — The Priests Slain — Saul Spared by
David— The King of Gath— Saul and the Witch of Endor — Defeat in Gilboa . , i 155
CHAPTER XVIII.
KING DAVID.
David at Hebron— A Bloody Battle — David Proclaimed King — A Marvelous City— David's Mighty
Men— Extent of Territory — Dazzling Magnificence— The Warrior King — A Rough Diamond —
An Extraordinary Crown — Absalom — Plot to Obtain the Throne — A Traitor — Absalom's Death
— David's Grief— Poem by Willis— A Famine — Seventy Thousand Men Perish — Joab's Revenge
— Numbering the People — The King Sleeps with his Fathers— David's Prosperous Reign . 175
CHAPTER XIX.
SOLOMON IN ALL HIS GLORY.
David's Successor— Solomon Offers Sacrifices — Seeking Wisdom — ^The Two Mothers — A Sagacious
Judgment — An Illustrious Reign — Royal Magnificence — An Embassy from the King of Tyre —
Tyrian Presents for Solomon — Building the Temple — Immense Number of Workmen — ^Trans-
porting Stones and Wood — Style of Architecture — The Ark and Furniture — Superb Decorations
vi CONTENTS.
—Dedication of the Temple— Costly Sacrifices— The King's Treasures— Solomon's Gorge.. i...
Throne— How Wealth was Employed— Fine Horses and Horsemen— Solomon's Renown— \isit
from the Queen of Sheba— The Splendor Tarnished—" Vanity of Vanities " . . • r jo
CHAPTER XX.
THE PROPHET ELIJAH.
King Rehoboam — Two Kingdoms— Idolatry and National Corruption — King Asa— Ahab Comes to
the Throne — Infamous Jezebel— Elijah's Sudden Appearance— The Prophet at the Brook— Fed
by Ravens— The Widow of Sarepta— Fire on Mount Carmel— Baal's Prophets Overthrown—
Fleeing from Jezebel— Elijah at Horeb— The Still, Small Voice— Ahab's Warning— The King
Alarmed— A Prophet Imprisoned— Elisha—" The Chariot of Israel and the Horsemen
Thereof" ao8
CHAPTER XXI.
THE YOUNG HEBREW CAPTIVE.
Elisha's Miracles— The Children of Bethel— Army of Israel Crossing the Jordan— A Human Sacrifice
— Death in the Enemy's Camp — Palace and Temple Plundered — Befriending a Poor Widow-
School of the Prophets — The Captive Maid— Naaman Visits Elisha — Dipping in the Jordan—
Naaman Cured of Leprosy 2*8
CHAPTER XXII.
DESTRUCTION OF THE ASSYRIAN HOST.
A Royal Marriage — King of Damascus — Sennacherib's Vast Army — Judah Invaded — Prophecy of
Isaiah — Destruction of Sennacherib's Host — Lord Byron's Poem — Great Display of Wealth— ■
Death of Hezekiah — Manasseh's Evil Reign — A Wicked Ruler — The Captive King — Young
Josiah — Imposing Ceremonies — Startling Words — Celebrating the Passover — ^Jehoahaz Loses his
Crown — A King in Disguise — Old Abominations — Death of Josiah — The Coming Downfall —
Babylon on the March 230
CHAPTER XXIII.
CAPTIVITY AND RETURN OF THE JEWS.
Seventy Years of Exile — ^The Hebrew Land Despoiled — The Chaldeans at Jerusalem — The Temple
Plundered — Persian Kings — Exiles Returning — King Cyrus — Crossing the Desert — Marrying
Foreign Women — A Magnificent Feast — Esther Chosen Queen — Queen Vashti Dethroned —
Haman's Anger — Horrid Massacre Decreed — Esther Risks Her Life — Haman Erects a Gallows
— Jews Saved from Death — Feast of Purim — A Hebrew Patriot — Nehemiah Rebuilds Jerusalem
— Ezra Reading the Law 241
CHAPTER XXIV.
JOB AND HIS FRIENDS.
Land of Uz — A Famous Man — Large Flocks — Satan Arrives — Job's Dreadful Afflictions — Seven
Days' Mourning — Job Charged with Wickedness — Job's Answer — Job Reproached by Eliphaz— <
A Remarkable Book 264
CHAPTER XXV.
THE PSALMS AND PROVERBS.
Hebrew Songs — Lavid and his Harp — ^The Shepherd of Israel— Green Pastures— Choral Service —
Sweet Melodies — Stringed Instruments — A Grecian Legend — Religious Processions — Ancient
Trumpets — Sacred Lyrics — Songs of Solomon — Book of Proverbs — Wise Sayings — Water as an
Emblem— An Ancient Well-Sweep— A Novel Sight— Swinging Bucket— The Babbler— Egyptian
Asp — Lions — Storks — Strange Superstition 270
CONTENTS.
Tii
n's Gorgeous
;no\vn — \'isit
. 1 90
ab Comes to
Brook— Fed
)verthro\vn—
J— The King
le Horsemen
. 308
man Sacrifice
oor Widow—
the Jordan —
. 233
-Prophecy of
' of Wealth^
King — Young
ihaz Loses his
Downfall —
. 230
-The Temple
rt — Marrying
Dethroned —
:ts a Gallows
Ids Jerusalem
. 241
:tions — Seven
by Eliphaz—
. 264
ral Service —
Dns — ^Ancient
-Water as an
er — Egyptian
. 370
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE WEEPING PROPHET.
Objections to Prophesying — Pleading Youth and Inexperience — Jeremiah Carried to Egyjit — Disor-
ders in the Kingdom of Judah — Jeremiah's Patriotism — The Roll of Prophecies — A Sad Prophet
— Lofty Thought — Simple Language — ^Jerusalem's Calamity — Zedekiah Taken Captive — Deeds
of Cruelty — Invasion by the Babylonians — Resisting the Chaldaeans — Terrible Effects of tlie
Siege — Murder and Flight — Gedaliah — Horrible Barbarity — Renowned Tyre — Cedars of Leb-
anon — Costly Sails for Ships — Corn of Judaea — Oil of Palestine — Ornaments of Dress-
Utensils and Gewgaws — "Wool of the Wilderness" — Slaves and Vessels of Brass — Beau-
tiful Circassians — Fall of Tyre 301
CHAPTER XXVII.
DANIEL IN BABYLON.
Four Young Hebrews — Pulse and Water — Hale and Hearty on Simple Diet — Belief in Astrology-
Divination by Flying Birds — A Startling Dream — Daniel Interprets the Dream — The Image of
Gold — Idolatry Commanded — The Fiery Furnace — Miraculous Deliverance — Dream of a Tree —
The Glory of Babylon — Wonderful Hanging Gardens — The King Stricken with Insanity — Rea-
son Restored — Belshazzar's Tyrannical Reign — The King Terrified — Weighed and Found Want-
ing — Babylon Overthrown — Striking Fulfilment of Prophecy — The Den of Lions — Daniel's Great
Age — The Prophet's Last Days — Daniel's Visions — A Mysterious Visitor — Body Like
Beryl — Face the Appearance of Lightning — Voice Like the Sound of Many Waters — The
Prophet Overawed — Touched by the Angel — Message from Above — Directed to Trust in
the God of Israel — " Be Strong, Yea, Be Strong" — The Vision Vanishes . . .317
CHAPTER XXVIII.
JONAH AT NINEVEH.
Joash Repairs the Temple — Amaziah's Reign — The Threshing Floor — ^Amaziah's Army — Brilliant
Victories — An Insulting Letter — Prophecies of Jonah — A Famous City — Important Discoveries
— Exploits of Sennacherib — Nineveh's Overthrow — Destruction by Fire — A Mag. ificent City —
Assyrian Sculptures — Prophecy of Nahum — Invading Army — Chariots and Horsemen —
Cavalry of Media — Inhabitants Slain by the Sword — Chief Places Set on Fire — Story of
Nineveh's Ruin — Predictions Strikingly Fulfilled — An Empire Dug from its Sepulchre . 334
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS.
The Young Macedonian — Alexander at Tyre — Privileges Granted to Jews — Conquests of the Greeks
— A Man Unlike all Others — Attempt to Seize the Sacred Treasures — Terror in Jerusalem — Fall
of Heliodorus — Treachery Suspected — Crime Avenged — A Murderer Punished — Jerusalem
Stormed and Captured — Temple of Olympian Jove — Undaunted Heroism — Mad Antiochus —
Magnificent Achievements — Religious Zeal — Maccabsean War of Independence — A Bold Con-
fessor — Marvelous Triumphs — A Camp on Fire — Conquerors Rejoicing — Exploits of the Macca-
bees^Elephants in Battle — One in White Clothing — Horrid Massacre — Swift Punishment —
Death of Judas Maccabseus — ^A Patriot and Hero — Rival Rulers — A Priest-Prince — Terrilile De-
struction — Jonathan Put to Death — Independence Secured — A Renowned High-Priest — Family
Murders — Contending for the Holy City — Patriots and Martyrs — ^A Roman King . . 344
CHAPTER XXX.
THE CHILD IN THE MANGER.
The Fulness of Time — Imperial Rome — King Herod — Mary Visited by an Angel — Marriage Cus-
toms — Elizabeth Congratulated — A Song of Praise — Birth in a Stable — Humble Surroundings —
The Angelic Chorus — Chapel of the Herald Angel — Adoratior^ of the Shepherds — Strange
Legends — The Name of Jesus — Impressive Scene in the Temple — ^The Star in the East — Herod
Decrees Murder — The Galilean Peasant — Wise Men Presenting their Gifts — Journey to Jerusa-
lem—The Jewish Doctors— The Child Jesus in the Temple— The Teacher a.nd the Taught
>|ajl!W |il j t , ii . ii i.. r"
yiii
CONTENTS.
—"How is it that ye Sought Me?"— The Father's Business— Jesus Again at Naiareth—
Filial Obedience— Increising in Wisdom and Stature— Sacred Palestine . . .369
CHAPTER XXXI.
JESUS BEGINS HIS MINISTRY.
John the Baptist— Preparing " the Way of the Lord"— Jesus Baptized in the Jordan— The Voice
from Heaven— Temptation in the Wilderness— John's Testimony to Jesus— Philip and Nathan-
ad— The First Miracle— Jesus at Cana— The Marriage Feast— Jealousy of John's Disciples —
Jacob's Well— The Woman of Samaria— Water of Life— A Son Restored to Health— Jewish
Worship— Excitement at Nazareth— A Remarkable Prophecy— Deliverance for Captives— Hos-
tility Excited— Jesus Escapes from His Foes— The City of Capernaum .... 386
CHAPTER XXXII.
JESUS IN GALILEE.
Capernaum— A Sabbath in the Synagogue — Casting Out an Evil Spirit — ^An Impressive Spectacle-
Tender Compassion— The Unsuccessful Fishermen — A Multitude of Fish — ^The Peopli Aston-
ished at Christ's Teaching — The Leprosy — An Outcast Restored — Difficulties Overcome — The
Paralytic Cured— Receipt of Custom — Matthew Called— Pool of Bethesda — Sabbath Ob-
servance — Plucking the Ears of Com — ^The Man with a Withered Hand — Herod Antipas — A
Malicious Plot — Ceremonial Cleansings — The Law of Traditions — ^The Pharisees Offended—
iesus in the Throng — ^The Twelve Chosen — Sermon on the Mount — ^A Roman Soldier — Startling
liracles 403
CHAPTER XXXIII.
A CLUSTJER OF PARABLES.
Social Customs of the Jews — ^Jesus Reclining at Supper — ^A Woman with a Box of Ointment — ^A Sin-
ner Forgiven — Jesus Cures a Demoniac — ^The Fowls and Lilies — Divine Providence — Fall of the
Siloam Tower — Parable of the Sower — Parable of the Tares — ^A Beautiful Jewel — Parable of the
Goodly Pearl — ^Jesus on the Sea — " Peace, be Still I " — Casting out Demons — Dwellers in Tombs
— Astonished Swineherds — Eating with Publicans and Sinners — Feast Made by Matthew —
Fault-Finding Pharisees — "They that be Whole Need Not a Physician" — Concerning
Fasting — Children of the Bridechamber — New Wine and Old Bottles — Skin Bags . . 429
CHAPTER XXXIV.
WONDERFUL WORKS.
A Ruler of the Synagogue — Piteous Appeal for Help— The Woman with an Issue of Blood — ^The
Touch of Faith — ^The Woman Cured — Jesus at the House of Jairus — The Daughter's Death —
"Little Maid, Arise ! "—The Cry of Two Blind Men— "Let there be Light I "—Failure to
Perform Miracles — ^The Blessing of Peace — Patient Endurance — The Purim Festival — ^Vengeance
on Herodias — Herod Perplexed — Feeding the Multitude — The Shore of Galilee — ^The Waiting
Throng — Barley Loaves and Fishes — An Impressive Miracle — Boat in the Tempest — A Voice in
the Storm— Loyalty of the Disciples — Visiting the Gentiles — Coasts of Tyre and Sidon — ^An
Agonizing Petition — ^The Victory of Faith — The Dumb Speak — Hearing Restored— Giving Sight
to a Blind Man — ^Taking the Man by the Hand — "I See Men as Trees Walking" — An-
other Touch — Perfect Sight— The Man Sent to his own House — Directed to Tell No One
— ^Jesus Avoids the Herodian Towns — No Sympathy with Idolatry 444
CHAPTER XXXV.
JESUS TEACHING AND HEALING.
Simon Bar Jona— Peter Reprehends his Master — A Severe Reproof— The Transfiguration — A Strange
Glory — Paying Tribute — Ambitious Disciples — Children of the Kingdom — The Forgiven Servant
—The Man Born Blind— The People Amazed — The Parents Questioned — ^The True Sabbath —
The First Confessor— True and False Shepherds— The Good Samaritan— Return of the Seventy
—The Mustard Seed— The Lost Sheep— The Prodigal Son— The Compassionate Father — Beauty
of the Parable— The Shadow of Doom— When the Son of Man Should Come— The Slave of
CONTENTS. Is
Mammon — Prudent Foresight — Thrift Commended — A Shrewd Scheme — The Greater Riches-
Open Derision — The Law of Divorce — Chief Seats — Dives and Lazarus — An Impassable Gulf —
Approaching Conflicts — Love and Forgiveness — Prayer for Faith — Master and Servant — The
New Kingdom — Days of Trouble — Startling Predictions — Sons of Thunder — Priests and Lepers
— A Happy Company — Pharisee and Publican — The Sisters of Bethany — A Joyous Festival —
Christian Patriotism 464
CHAPTER XXXVI.
DISCOURSES AND MIRACLES.
Lazarus Sick — Appeal to Jesus — Devotion of Thomas to Christ — Jesus at the Tomb — Death Van-
quished — The Resurrection and the Life— Scene at the Sepulchre — •' Lazarus, Come Forth I " —
Another Outbreak of Hostility — ^Jesus and the Little Ones — ^The Disciples Rebuked — An Eager
Inquirer — The Rich Young Man — An Unexpected Answer — ^The Camel and the Needle's Eye —
A Striking Parable — Laborers in the Vineyard — The Eleventh Hour — The Mother of Zebedee's
Children — Places of Honor — A Strange Request — Jesus at Bethany — Entry into Jerusalem —
Symbols of Suffering — ^The Publican Zaccheus — "Hosanna in the Highest" — Fruit-Bearing —
Withered Fig-Tree — A Cunning Snare — Questioners Confounded — Responses of the Two Sons
— ^The Husbandman and Vineyard — ^The Beloved Son — Parental Affection — The Wedding Gar-
ment — Plain Truths — The King's Son — Who the Herodians Were — ^A Fresh Attack — Roman
Taxes — Cunning Hypocrites — Husband and Wife — Imperial Caesar — ^Jerusalem's Doom — Christ
Weeping over the City — True and False Giving — Contempt for the Poor — ^The Widow's Mite —
Splendor of the Temple — Not One Stone Left Upon Another — Seeking a Sign — ^The Sudden Ap-
pearing — ^The Ten Virgins — ^The King and his Servants — The King's Return — ^A Sacred Trust —
The Approaching Passion — ^I'he Mount of Olives — A Historic Spot 499
CHAPTER XXXVII.
CLOSING SCENES IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
The Last Passover — ^Judas — Peter's Rash Refusal — An Act of Humility — Startling Announcement —
Peter Warned— The Sifting of Satan — ^The Base Denial— "The Stranger and His Friend " — A
Beautiful Discourse — The Heavenly Comforter — ^The Cross and Crown — An Impressive Prayer —
Christ's Love for His Disciples — Agony in the Garden — ^Jesus Betrayed — The House of the High-
Priest — Charged with Blasphemy — False Witnesses — Peter's Denial — Remorse of Judas — Accused
of Sedition — ^Jesus Before Pilate— -"Art Thou the King of the Jews?" — Pilate's Great Question
— Barabbas Released — Jesus Scourged — Pilate Alarmed — " Crucify Him I " — Lingering Torture
— ^The Cross and its Victim — Devoted Women — Jesus Prays for His Enemies — The Two Thieves
— Startling Phenomena — Burial in Joseph's Tomb— The Sepulchre Guarded — The White Mes-
senger — ^The Stone Rolled Away — Walk to Emmaus — Jesus on the Shore of Galilee — Peter
Questioned — ^Joyful Revelation — A Gracious Blessing — The Great Commission . . 540
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE APOSTLES AT JERUSALEM.
One Hundred and Twenty Disciples — Joseph and Matthias — Casting the Lot — The Feast of Pente-
cost — The Tongue of Fire — Three Thousand Converts — A United Band — "Rise Up and
Walk ! " — The Cripple Cured — Peter and John Arrested — A Generous Giver — Barnabas — Lying
Punished — Death of Sapphira — Escape from Prison — Choosing Deacons — First Christian Martyr
— Stephen Assailed — Stephen's Vision — Saul at the Martyrdom — Rapid Progress of the Church
— Conflict and Glory — ^The Martyr Spirit — Baptism of Blood — Triumph Born of Suffering
— Christianity Changing the Face of the Earth — The Rose in the Wilderness — Stephen's
Strange Fate — Rough Road to the Gate of Pearl — Sweet Peace After Stormy Conflict — The
Cost and the Reward 569
CHAPTER XXXIX.
SAUL'S REMARKABLE CONVERSION.
A Man of Tarsus — Gamaliel — Philip and the Ethiopian — Baptism of the Eunuch — Saul Struck Blind —
A Visit from Ananias — Keble's Poem on Saul — The Apostle's Life in Danger — Saul at Tarsus
— Dorcas — A Remarkable Vision — Peter at Csesarea — Cornelius— Good News for all Men — Peter
r\-
i i
X CONTENTS.
Opposed by Jewish Converts— Saul's Name Changed to Paul— A Storm of Persecution— Herod
Smitten witli Death— The Apostles at Cyprus— Broken Chains— An Impressive Address— Paul
Heals a Cripple— Trials and Dissensions— James' Proposal— Message to the Churclies— Young
Timothy— Paul and Barnabas at Antioch— Paul in Phrygia— The Apostle's Infirmity— In Prison
—Luke, the Historian— Paul's Remarkable Character— A Thousand Men in One— A Man
whom History does not Dwarf— A Majestic Figure as Seen through the Vista of Time-
Poetical Description of the Apostle in his Prison 579
CHAPTER XL.
PAUL AT PHILIPPI AND ATHENS.
An Important Place — A Dealer in Purple — A Notorious Damsel — Profitable Business — The Spirit Cast
Out — Paul and Silas Roughly Treated — Thrust into Prison — A Startling Earthquake — Paul and
Silas Released— The Apostle Working at his Trade — "Turning the World Upside Down" —
Tumult at Bersea — Supreme Court of Athens — Hannah More's Tribute to Paul — Eloquent Ad-
dress to the Athenians — Ignorant Worship — Athenian Idolatry — Magnificent Works of Art —
Sanctuary of the Gods — Bold Announcement — Paul at Corinth — An Enterprising Tent-Maker —
Harsh Accusation— Gall io's Advice— Successful Labors — Paul at Ephesus — Jugglers Confused-
Magical Books Burned — Temple of Diana — Great Excitement — Corinthian Games — Figures
Taken from Racing, Boxing and Wrestling — Corruptible Crowns — Fighting with Beasts at
Ephesus — Boldness in Christian Warfare — ^The Great Hero of the Early Church — Flaming
Zeal — Undaunted in Conflict — Righteous Resentment 598
CHAPTER XLI.
PAUL AND HIS PERSECUTORS.
Second Journey into Greece — Patient Endurance — Meeting Titus — Gifts of Gentile Churches — Paul
Restores Eutychus — An Affecting Parting — Renowned Tyre — Caesarea — A Celebrated Cit)' —
Prophecy of Agabus — Paul Bound in Chains — Furious Mob — Address Before the Council — The
Apostle Cheered by a Vision — A Terrible Vow — A Roman Governor — Felix Trembles — Power-
ful Address — King Agrippa — Resurrection of the Dead — A Hard Doctrine — " I am Not Mad,
Most Noble Festus ! " — "King Agrippa, Believest Thou the Prophets?" — Almost Per-
suaded to be a Christian — Paul's Wish for Agrippa — Decision that the Apostle has Done
Notiiing Worthy of Death — ^Appeal to Caesar — Sent to Rome — Paul Destined to Appeal
before the Emperor 615
CHAPTER XLII.
LAST DAYS OF PAUL.
Appeal to Rome — Voyage on the Mediterranean — Contrary Winds — The Ship in a Gale — Quick-
sands and High Seas — Tlie Siiipwreck — Cargo Thrown Overboard — Escaping to tiie Shore —
Paul and the Viper — Taking Another Ship — At Syracuse — Remains of a Magnificent City — The
Voyage Ended — The Apostle Met by Friends— Chained to a Soldier — Paul Two Years in Prison
at Rome — Character of the Great Apostle — Untiring Zeal — Probable Release of Paul — An An-
cient Tradition — Last Journeys — The Crown of Life — Final Scene — Historic Dungeon — A
Heroic Soul — Character not Changed by Circumstances and Condition — The Man and his
Mission — The Gospel for all Men — The Moses of the New Testament — Not a Self-Sefking
Man — Traditions Concerning his Death — A Fate that was Undeserved — Mysteries of Prov-
idence in the History of the Church and the World — Those of whom the World was not
Worthy — Need of Heroic Confessor;, — Tlie Richest Legacy of Mankind — Great Service
Rendered to After Ages — An Immortal Man 625
CHAPTER XLIII.
TEACHINGS OF THE APOSTLES.
Self-Sacrifice — Peter and Nero— James and Herod— First Pagan Persecution—" Burnt for Torches to
the City" — Persecutions in Britain— Death Preferred to Dishonor — Binding the Strong Man—
The "Legend of Roses "—" Doomed to the Death"— The Heavy-Laden— Eloquent Extract
CONTENTS. :rt
from Dr. Guthrie — Value of a Friend — Power of Sympathy — Objects of Charity — Reward of
Well-Doing — Birds Rescuing Their Mates — The Golden Rule — Entertaining Angels — The Master
Virtue — Faith Needs to be Trained — Faith and Works — The Boat and Two Oars . . 639
CHAPTER XLIV.
THE VISION OF JOHN.
A Remarkable Book — The Beloved Disciple — Zebedee and Salome — Early Years of John— A Son of
Thunder — Put in Charge of the Virgin Mother — Peter's Ardent Nature — John's Missioflary
Field — Tradition Concerning John — ^A Christian Confessor — Persecution and Banishment — Sin-
gular Legends — The Soaring "Eagle" — Closing Scene — The Angelic Messenger — Messages to
the Churches — Patience Commended — Stern Reproof— The Celestial Throne — Terrible Phe-
nomena — Sounding the Trumpets — War in Heaven — Vision of the Glorified — Vials of Wratii —
Great Babylon— The White Horse— " Faithful and True"— The Old Serpent— Second Death-
Gog and Magog — New Jerusalem — River of Life — The First and the Last — Who Are Blessed —
The Quick Coming — ^Amen 655
BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
The Fall of Our First Parents — Adam and Eve Driven Out of Paradise — After the Banishment from
Paradise — Sacrifice of Cain and Abel — Death of Abel — Building the Ark — Leaving the Ark-
Noah's Thank-Offering — Noah Curses Ham — Tower of Babel — The Promised Land — God's^
Promise to Abraham — Leaving Sodom — ^Jacob's Departure for Canaan — Wrestling with the
Angel — Destroying the Tables of the Law — Death of Moses — Joshua Dividing the Land — Jeph-
thah and his Daughter — Samson and the Lion — Samson Shorn of his Strength — The Giant's
Death — Ruth and Boaz — David and Jonathan — Saul and th" Witch — Elijah — The Chariot and
• Horsemen — Daniel Among Lions — Judith and Holofernes — John the Baptist — Birth of Christ —
Flight into Egypt — Jesus in the Temple — Woman of Samaria — Miracles of Healing — Peter on
the Water — Good Samaritan — The Prodigal — Blessing Children — Washing the Disciples' Feet —
A Traitor — The Crucifixion — "He is Risen" — ^The Ascension — Paul and Barnabas — Seventh
Seal — The New Jerusalem — ^The River that Flows from Beneath the Throne . . .671
A<
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Ja.
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En
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Aa
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Bal
Mc
Th
^ ■ a) ' '
Adam and Eve Driven Out of Paradise
Tragic Deatli of Abel . .
Animals Entering the Ark .
Return of the Dove to the Ark .
Noah's Sacrifice
Building the Tower of Babel
The Egyptian King Taking Sarah
Fleeing from Burning Sodom
Hagar and Ishmael in the Desert
Abraham Offering Isaac . .
Isaac Welcoming Rebekah .
Jacob's Vision of Angels . .
Meeting of Jacob and Esau .
Joseph's Dream ....
Joseph Sold into Egypt . .
Joseph Making Himself Known .
Embalming the Body of Joseph .
Moses in his Little Life-Boat .
Moses before Pharaoh's Daughter
The Burning Bush
Aaron's Rod Changed to a Serpent
The Plague of Locusts
The Mark of Blood upon the Door-Post
The Destroying Angel
Miraculous Passage of the Red Sea
Miriam's Song of Triumph
Smiting the Rock
Holding Up the Hands of Moses
Meeting of Moses and Jethro
Worshipping a Strange God
Moses with the Tables of the Law
Moses Rehearsing his Song to the Hebrews
Balaam Met by the Angel .
Balak's Sacrifice
Moses Viewing the Promised Land
The Fall of Jericho .
rAOB
19
22
24
26
28
31
34
38
41
43
44
48
SI
54
56
59
63
67
70
73
75
77
79
82
84
86
89
91
92
95
97
100
104
"5
109
III
FAOI
Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still . 114
Joshua Dividing the Land by Lot • .117
Fleeing to a City of Refuge . . . 118
Joshua Sending Back the Tribes . . .120
The Harvest Field of Boaz . . .124
Ruth Gleaning 126
Ruth 128
Gideon's Fleece 132
Gideon Destroying the Idols of Baal . '134
Abimelech Slain by his Armor-Bearer . . 137
Samson Slaying the Lion . . . •143
Samson and Delilah 145
Samson Grinding in the Prison-House . . 147
The Child Samuel in the Temple . .150
Welcoming the Return of the Ark . -^53
Storm in the Harvest Season . . •157
David Anointed by Samuel . . . 159
David at the Brook . . . t .161
David Slaying Goliath .... 163
Saul Attempts the Life of David . . .165
David and Jonathan 167
David Spares the Life of Saul . . .169
Saul Searching for David . . . • 171
The Hagarites Expelled by the Reubenites . 173
David's Three Mighty Men . . -177
David Proclaimed King . . . •179
The Nurse Fleeing with Mephibosheth . 182
David Pardoning Absalom . . . 185
David Instructing Joab to Number the
People 188
Solomon's Coronation . . . .191
The Judgment of Solomon . . . 193
Hiram of Tyre Sending Presents to Solomon 195
Magnificent Temple of Solomon . . 197
The Ark and Furniture of the Temple . 199
Fire from Heaven at the Temple Dedication 202
rziU)
ziv
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Iliri
The Queen of Sheba at the Court of Solomon 207
King Asa Destroying Idols at Kidron .
Elijah and the Widow of Sarepta
Elijah Visited by an Angel
Elijah Casting his Mantle on Elisha
Elijah and Ahab in Naboth's Vineyard
The Translation of Elijah
The Children of Bethel
Naaman's Captive Maid
Naaman at the Door of Elisha
Sennacherib Slain by his Sons
Hezekiah Exhibiting his Treasures .
King Josiah Destroying the Idols
Shaphan Reading the Law before Josiah
Death of King Josiah ....
King Cyrus Bringing Forth the Vessels of
the Lord's House
Artaxerxes Giving the Letter to Ezra .
Queen Vashti Refusing to Obey the King .
Queen Esther Touching the King's Sceptre .
Mordecai Refusing Homage to Haman
Ahasuerus Orders the Execution of Haman .
Celebrating the Feast of Purim
Nehemiah Collecting Money
Building the Walls of Jerusalem
Job Receiving the Tidings of his Ruin
Job and his Comforters
Harvest Scene in Ancient Palestine
Going Forth to Labor
Ancient Musical Instruments
Jewish Captives in Babylonia
The Sweet Singer of Israel
" He Heapeth up Riches, and Knoweth not
Who Shall Gather Them "
The Good Wife
"A Little Child Shall Lead Them "
Proverbs . . . • .
Proverbs
Proverbs
Proverbs
Proverbs . . , • ,
Proverbs
Proverbs
Proverbs
Ancient Jerusalem
Zedekiah Carried Away Captive
209
311
"5
316
318
330
333
336
338
231
233
235
237
339
243
344
247
250
252
25s
257
259
260
266
368
271
273
275
277
278
281
283
28s
287
389
391
392
394
396
298
300
302
304
Jeremiah Buying his Kinsman's Field
Jeremiah Warns the Remnant
The Moabites Taken into Captivity .
The Prophet Ezekiel ....
The Capture of Tyre
The Hebrews in the Fiery Furnace
Daniel Interpreting the Dream .
Belshazzar Seeing the Handwriting
Daniel Interpreting the Writing .
Babylon Taken by Cyrus .
Daniel Touched by the Angel
Jonah Cast into the Sea
Jonah Preaching at Nineveh
Royal Palace at Nineveh
Selling the Children of Jewish Captives
Assyrian Winged Bull
Repulse of Heliodorus in the Temple
Punishment of Antiochus .
Angel Sent to Deliver Israel
Jonathan Destroying the Temple of Dagon
The Annunciation ....
Birth of John the Baptist .
Writing the Name on the Tablet
The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds
Adoration of the Shepherds
The Offering of Purification
The Wise Men Presenting Gifts
Christ in the Temple . .
Jesus of Nazareth ....
The Temptation on the Mountain
Driving Money-Changers from the Temple
The Woman at the Well
Healing the Nobleman's Son
Deliverance for the Captive
Attempting to Cast Jesus Down from the
Brow of the Hill ....
The Miraculous Draught of Fishes
Jesus Teaching by the Seaside
The Final Call of Peter .
Healing the Palsied ....
Healing the Impotent Man at the Pool
Christ and his Disciples in the Corn-Fields
Priests Take Counsel with the Herodians
Jesus Healing the Multitude
Sermon on the Mount
The Widow's Son Restored to Life
fAoa
306
308
310
313
3>S
3»9
321
324
326
328
331
335
337
339
341
343
348
355
358
363
371
373
374
376
378
380
38a
384
387
389
391
394
397
399
401
404
406
408
413
415
417
419
433
424
426
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
XV
the
306 9
Sowing the Good Seed . . . .
rAoi
433
The Angel at the Tomb
rAca
. 562
308 s
Sowing Tares
435
"He is Risen" . . . .
• 564
310 fl
Finding Hidden Treasure . . . .
437
Peter and John at the Beautiful Gate .
• 572
313 r9
The Pearl of Great Price . . . .
439
Martyrdom of Stephen
• 576
315 9
Jesus Eats with Publicans and Sinners .
443
The Conversion of Saul
. 582
319 s
Healed by Touching Christ's Garment
445
Ananias and Saul . . . .
. 584
321 .|H
Christ Raising the Daughter of Jairus
447
Deliverance of Peter from Prison
. 588
334 ^m
Christ Feeding the Multitude
452
Paul Commanding the Cripple to Stanc
I Up 591
326 WM
Peter Saved by Jesus
457
Paul and Barnabas at Antioch
• 593
328 ^H
The Syro-Phoenician Woman
459
Paul Writing his Epistles in Prison
• 596
331 nn
Jesus Leads the Blind . . . .
461
Macedonian Christians Bringing their
Gifts
335 aM
Teaching Humility by a Little Child .
466
to Paul
. 600
337 .w|
The Cruel Servant
468
Paul on Mars' Hill . . . .
. 603
339 ^M
Healing the Man Born Blind
471
Ancient Corinth . . . .
. 608
341 ;9
The Good Shepherd
473
Paul Preaching at Ephesus .
. 61?
343 .^B
The Good Samaritan
475
Paul Parting from the Elders of Ephes
us . 618
348 '^9
Finding the Lost Sheep . . . .
478
Paul's Address Before the Council
. 630
355 :^9
The Prodigal's Return . . . .
480
Paul Before Felix
. 633
358 ifl
The Parable of the Prodigal
482
Ancient Ships ....
. 637
363 i:^
The Unjust Steward
484
Paul Bitten by a Serpent
. 639
371 JH
The Parable of the Unjust Steward
486
Ancient Rome ....
• 633
373 ^^B
The Rich Glutton and Lazarus, the Beggar .
490
" I Am Now Ready to be Oflfered "
. 636
374 i^^
Lazarus at the Rich Man's Gate
493
" Doomed to the Death " .
. 643
376 |H
The Importunate Widow . . . ,
495
Bear Ye One Another's Burdens .
. 645
378 |H
Mary and Martha
497
The Strong Supporting the Weak
. 648
380 am
Christ Blessing Little Children .
502
Angels Unawares
• 650
382 ^3
Hiring Laborers for the Vineyard
506
Faith
. . 653
384 ^1
Salome's Request for her Sons .
508
The Apostle John at Patnios
. 659
387 fl|
Zaccheus Called by Jesus .
510
Vision of the Golden Candlestick
. 66i
389 ^1
Christ's Entry into Jerusalem
5"
The Angel with tlie Book .
. 664
391 •;
The Withered Fig-Tree
. 514
The Angels with the Vials
. 666
394 '
Responses of the Two Sons
.516
The River of Life
. . 669
397
The Speechless Guest
. 518
The Fall of our First Parents
. 671
399 '(%
The Parable of the Vineyard
• 520
Adam and Eve Driven Out of Paradis
e . 671
The Tribute Money . . . „
. 523
Banishment from Paradise .
. . 672
401 .|
Christ Weeping over Jerusalem .
• 525
Sacrifice of Cain and Abel .
. . 672
404 1^
The Widow's Mite ....
• 527
Death of Abel ....
. . 673
406 ,j
The Virgins
. 531 ! Noah Commanded to Build the Ark
. . 673
408 i
The Parable of the Ten Virgins .
• 533
Noah Leaving the Ark . .
. . 674
413 '^:%
The Talents
• 53S
Noah's Thank-Offering
. 674
■ 415 I'll
Tile Parable of the Talents
• 537
Noah Curses Ham
• 675
• 4^7 -'" :]
The Last Supper ....
• 541
The Tower of Babel .
. . 675
.419 j
Jesus Washing Peter's Feet
• 543
Entering the Promised Land .
. 676
. 423 --;«
Christ in the Garden . . .
• 549
God's Promise to Abraham
. 676
• '*''* "1
CI 'ist Carrying His Cross .
• 555
Leaving Sodom ....
• 677
• 436 ' 'M
The Crucifixion
• 559
Jacob's Departure for Canaan
• 677
1 1
3
d
1
I
?
I
i
XVI
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
WresMng with the Angel .
FAQK
. 678
Moses Destroying the Tables
. 678
The Death of Moses .
• 679
Dividing the Land among the Tribes
• 679
Jephthah's Rash Vow
. 680
Samson Slaying a Lion
. 680
Samson Slays the Philistines
. 681
Samson Shorn of his Strength .
. 681
Samson's Vengeance and Death .
. 682
Ruth Gleaning in the Field of Boaz
. 682
Parting of David and Jonathan .
. 683
David and Abigail . . . .
. 683
Saul and the Witch of Endor .
. 684
The Widow's Son Restored to Life ,
. 684
God Appearing to Elijah . .
. 68s
The Translation of Elijah .
. 68s
Daniel in the Lions' Den . •
. 686
Judith Beheads Holofernes . .
. 686
Birth of John the Baptist . . .
. 687
The Angel and Shepherds .
. 687
The Birth of Christ . . . .
. 688
The Flight into Egypt
. 688
Death of the Children of Bethlehem ,
. 689
The Presentation in the Temple . .
. 689
Christ Teaches in the Temple , ,
. 690
Jesus Drives Out the Money-Changers
Mot
. 690
Ciirist Teaches Nicodemus . .
. 691
Christ and the Woman of Samaria
. 691
Ciirist Raises the Widow's Son .
. 692
Christ Raises the Daughter of Jairus
. 692
Sending Forth the Twelve Apostles
. 693
Jesus Saves Peter from Sinking .
• 693
The Good Samaritan .
. 694
The Return of the Prodigal Son .
. 694
Jesus Blessing Little Children
• 695
Mary Anointing Jesus
• 695
Christ's Entry into Jerusalem
. 696
Christ Washes His Disciples' Feet
. 696
Christ Bearmg His Cross . . ,
. 697
Christ Falls Under His Cross . ,
• 697
The Crucifixion
. 698
The Burial of Christ . . . ,
. 698
The Resurrection . . . ,
• 699
The Women at the Tomb of Christ .
• 699
Christ Appears to Two of His Disciple
1 . 700
The Ascension
. 700
Paul and Barnabas at Lystra
. 701
Paul Taking Leave of the Elders
. 701
Opening the Seventh Seal . .
. 702
The New Jerusalem . . • .
. 70?,
% — -
ey-Changers
PAQl
. 690
3 .
. 691
Samaria
. 691
i Son .
. 692
r of Jairus
. 692
Apostles
• 693
king .
• 693
• •
. 694
al Son .
• 694
Ten
. 695
• •
. 695
em
> . 696
es' Feet
. 696
• • 1
. 697
OSS . ,
• 697
• • 1
. 698
• • f
. 698
• • i
• 699
of Christ .
. 699
His Disciples
1 . 700
• • •
. 700
ra
. 701
Elders
. 701
• • •
. 702
• • •
. 70?
MODERN JERUSALEM.
i.-tu cuMiui vunm.
i MItlk'i (taUe.
I lAlla Conrent.
5 Church of Holy Sepulohn.
4 Greek Convent.
6 Coptic Convent.
8 KuinBofSt. Jobn'i) Uoipttal.
7 Greek Church. St. John'a.
8 Residence of the Christian Biahop
Church of the Grnuk SchiKmatlca.
10 Tower of liippicus. Daviil's Tower.
11 Supposed Site of the Tuner o<' I'bauxlw
U Tb* Pnuiian Oontulate.
U Modem Stuic«Uc«i (jannn.
U Boipital ud lyiiu OonTral.
U.-rai ARHBNIAN QUAETII.
U Amentan Cooveut, with the Choreh if
8t. Jamei.
The only building t'n Jerusalem vMch
prnmli any appearance afeaaifvU.
16 Nunnery of St. George.
17 Barracks.
III.-TUE JEWS' QDAKTER
77i« most wretched in the citv
18 Syrngogue of the Shevardini
i BTnigogu* of tb« PortnguM* Jtvs.
I Moiqa*,
nr.-THB MOHAimiDAI QDAHML
fl Khan and Bazaar.
13 Mineral Bath.
23 Convent and ^choola.
S4 Institnte for Blind Derrtah'-
2A Moepital of St. Helena.
26 Reputed site of the IIousii .,( the Rich Man
27 Reputed site of the House of St, Varonica.
28 Residence of the Turkish Paaha
20 Arch of the " Erre Homo ''
SO Place of the " Scala Saneta,' tha H0I7 Btalrcai*.
81 Pilate's Bpou.
S2 Flacaof Fliwellatlon.
33 Boini of a Church. Houie of Siman tha Itiailan
34 ChnrohofSt. Anna.
86 Hoou of Herod. Dervish's Moaqna.
V.-4HB MOORS' OrARTER.
a Armenian Convent. House of Calaphaa
b American Burial Ground,
c David's Tomb.
d PlHce of Wailing of the Jowl.
JiUt Titkin Zioi?$ OaU are wretched abodet a^bnw
mgmmm
ROYAL TREASURY
OR.
JEWELS OF THE BIBLE.
CHAPTER I.
THE NEW EARTH AND HEAVENS.
^ GRAPHIC descrip-
tion of the work of
creation is given in
the first part of Gen-
esis. When the new
world rises to our
view it is without the
wonderful forms of
life and beauty which
we now oee everywhere around
us. By successive stages the
great work was finished. The
expansive oceans were separated
from the wide and fertile plains ;
mountains lifted their heads in
lofty grandeur toward the sky;
rippling rivulets and majestic rivers
flowed through deep valleys; lovely land-
scapes, framed in hills and painted with floral
beauties, smiled in the soft sunlight; and
tender verdure carpeted the new-bom world.
At length, when the earth was arrayed in
all its vegetable glories, and when the land,
the air and the sea were filled with living
creatures, God made man also " in His own
likeness " and " after His own image " — man,
perfect in beauty and glorious in intellect — to
inherit this rich possession, to bear rule over
all its inferior creatures, and eventually to
render all its elements subservient to his use.
The infancy of human life needed some
care from the Divine Creator. The first man,
to whom was given the name of Adam, was
therefore not placed upon the cold mountains,
nor amidst melancholy deserts, but in a gar-
den watered by four perennial streams. By
a garden is understood, in the East, a large
plantation of fruit-bearing and pleasant trees,
among which are interspersed the flowering
shrubs and beds of flowers ; and the whole
watered by reservoirs and running streams.
The concise narrative in Genesis gives us
little information respecting the feelings by
which the new man was influenced ; but from
the result we may be sure that he longed for
the intercourse of a congenial mind, of an equal
being, and without this felt desolate, even in
Paradise. The gracious Creator, who had
allowed His new creature to feel this want,
probably that he might the more highly prize
its gratification, th.n declared that " it was not
good for man \o be alone," and gave to htm
a?)
18
THE FLATTERING TEMPTER.
I: •
!;(
the first of women, Eve, as a helpmate for him.
We may conceive the joy, the fulness of heart,
with which the first of men thenceforth walked
hand in hand through Eden with the first of
wonien, in perfect purity and innocence.
Man's Fatal Fall.
Perfectly happy, alone in the earth, without
the provocatives to or even the means of vice,
what was there to give to the new pair a con-
sciousness of moral responsibility and a sense
of obedience to a bountiful Creator? This had
not been overlooked. There was one tree of
the garden, distinguished as " the tree of
knowledge," whose fruit they were forbidden
to touch under grievous penalties, although
of all else that grew in that spacious garden
they might partake freely. This was estab-
lished as the test of obedience; and if the
abounding evil which has grown up in the
peopled world disposes the mind to think
lightly of such a test, it will be well to recol-
lect that, as Adam and Eve were then circum-
stanced, disobedience to some necessarily
arbitrary restriction of this nature was the
highest crime which it was in their power to
coiiimit. The crimes against men which
numan laws deem worthy of death they could
not commit, seeing that they were alone in the
world ; and there could be no crime against
God but through the infraction of some such
positive command as this.
What might have been the lot of the first
human pair had they continued firm in their
obedience is impossible to .say, and perhaps
useless to speculate. They fell, and by that fall
" lirDUght deatli into the worlil, .tiuI all our woe."
Tempted by the flattering lies of the old ser-
pent, under whom Satan is supposed to have
been represented, the woman took of the for-
bidden fruit, and prevailed upon her hu.sband
to share her sin. Hitherto they had been
upright, knowing neither good nor evil, for
j^ood is only a relative quality, and only recog-
nizable in the comparison with existing evil.
But now their eyes were at once " opened to
know both good and evil " — to know good
lost, and evil won. The innocence which be-
fore had covered them as a robe was gone,
and " they saw that they were naked." Before
this, in their innocence of soul, " they were
naked and not ashamed ; " but now the same
fact became to them a matter of shame and
confusion of fajce. Their first impulse was to
seek wherewith to cover them ; and they
twisted fig-leaves together, " and made them-
selves aprons," for that purpose. The same
impulse of conscious guilt led them to hide
themselves among the trees, where " they
heard the voice of the Lord God walking in
the garden in the cool of the day." That
voice they had never before heard without
gladne.ss; but now it was the voice of their
Judge.
After a mystical judgment on the beguiling
serpent, and after pronouncing the pangs of
childbirth as the doom of the woman, He
turned to Adam and said, "Cursed is the
ground for thy sake ; in sorrow shalt thou eat
of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also, and
thistles shall it bring forth to thee ; and thou
shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat
of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou
return unto the ground ; for out of it wast thou
taken : for dust thou art, and unto du.st thou
shalt return." This sentence involved expul-
sion from Eden : and subjected the guilty pair
to the physical conditions which brought
death upon them, and upon all who sprang
from them. Yet this sentence, extorted fron;
the Divine justice, was accompanied by miti-
gating intimations ; and promises, not perhaps
intended to be then clearly understood, were
held out of some mighty deliverance from
the penalties of sin through one born of woman.
The geographical position of Eden is purely
conjectural ; different writers have pi. iced it in
various positions, and nothing can now be
known with certainty concerning its locality.
It has been placed by some on the Lower
Euphrates, near the junction of that rixcr
with the Tigris and the Gulf of Persia. 1^\-
others it has been described as situated in
Media, Armenia, or the North of Mesopo-
tamia, all mountain tracts of extreme beauty
and fertility. It has also been imagined that
■M
THE NEW EARTH AND HEAVENS.
19
I robe was gone,
; naked." Before
ioul, " they were
»ut now the same
ter of .shame and
St impulse was to
hem ; and they
' and made tliem-
pose. The same
ed them to hide
:s, where " the}-
God wali<ing in
the day." That
e heard without
he voice of their
on the beguiling
ng the pangs of
the woman, He
" Cursed is the
3W shalt thou eat
Thorns also, and
thee; and thou
Id. In the sweat
bread, till thou
ut of it wast thou
1 unto dust thou
involved e.xpul-
id the guilty pair
which brought
all who sprang
:e, extorted from
iipanied by miti-
ises, not perhaps
jnderstood, were
leliverance from
e born of woman.
)f Eden is |Mircly
have pi. iced it in
ng can now be
ling its locality.
: on the Lower
n of that river
f of Persia, l^y
i as situated in
rth of Mesopo-
extreme beauty
n imagined that
the ancient site of Eden is now covered by utmost importance to the whole human race:
Lake Arissa. All this, however, is simply Milton, in his immortal epic, indulges his
AD'AM AND EVE DRIVEN OVT OF PARADISE. — Genesis iii. 23.
speculative, while the events which therein vivid and powerful imagination in depicting
occurred were of vast magnitude and of the the unalloyed happiness, unsullied purity, and
20
THE GARDEN IN THE EAST.
cliaste love of our first parents ; they freely
conversed with angels and the Lord of
angels; they knew neither hatred nor fear,
until, in an unhappy hour, they, under strong
temptation, broke through a restriction placed
upon them, and were expelled from their
Paradise to lives of labor and sorrow. This
statement agrees in the main outline with the
narrative given in Genesis, and is to be traced
with more or less likeness in many of the
traditions of ancient civilized nations and
even those of modern savages.
Whither, after their expulsion, the unhappy
couple directed their steps, is entirely un-
known : there is no evidence to throw any
light upon the matter. How long they
wandered before they resolved on some settled
habitation is equally uncertain ; but we learn
that two sons were born to Adam ; Cain, the
eldest-born, sharing his father's labor, and
tilling the ground in the sweat of his face,
while Abel, the younger, devoted himself to
tending the flocks. It is a beautiful Arcadian
picture, although the brighter glories of
Paradise are withdrawn.
How simple the habits and mode of life in
those early days! Eden was lost, and the
world was, hard and rough. Man was doomed
to bend to his work like the ox to the yoke.
The brow on which the image of God was
stamped would be wet with sweat. Paradise
blasted, and the new home cursed with thorns 1
It was taught thus early that if the world
would do us any good, we must go out and
master it.
And the beneficent effects of the law of
labor are seen in changing the face of the
earth, and transforming it into a second Para-
dise. We have sunlight and rain such as fell
upon the Eden of old, and still the blossoms
with rainbow colors and lovely perfumes deco-
rate the fields, and harvest fruits bear eloquent
testimony to the bounty of nature. Man
shows his nobler qualities in conquering the
earth, and making it yield him riches of un-
measured value.
" I have gotten a man from the Lord,"
were the words of Eve on the birth of
the first child that was born into the world.
He was called Cain, which is the Hebrew
word for " gotten." What a wonder to Adam
and Eve must have been the first child I
They had never been children themselves;
they had never seen a child ; but here was
their own image, helpless, guileless, innocent.
Cain and Abel.
Cain was not old when another child was
born. The wonder had now ceased. The
second child was nothing compared with the
first. He was not the man from the Lord,
not the promised seed, so he was called Abel,
or " vanity." The effects of this partiality of
the parents, grounded on this misunderstand-
ing, were soon manifest. Cain was proud,
fierce, selfish; Abel, on the other hand, was
humble and gentle, and is known as the
" righteous " Abel. They grew up together.
Other children doubtless were born, but Cain
and Abel were natural companions. They
had the world before them for enterprise and
invention. The thoughts most natural to
men would be the first to rise in their minds,
and we might have imagined their circum-
stances to have made and kept them innocent
and happy. But the blight of sin had fallen
and its taint was in the heart of man.
Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was
a tiller of the ground. The curse had come.
The ground needed tillage. This was Adam's
occupation, and naturally his elder son was
taught to follow the same. In some respects
the curse was converted into a blessing. Work
was needed for the exercise of the body and
a check on the disposition to evil. It is good
for man to be occupied. Abel, the gentle
brother, kept sheep. This was the next em-
ployment after tilling the ground. It is re-
markable that their occupations should have
been distinct. We might have expected both
to have done the same things by turns or as
circumstances required. But it may have
been that Adam gave them their work, pre-
scribing to the elder and stronger the labor-
ious duty of tilling the ground ; while Abel,
the younger and physically weaker, tended
THE NEW EARTH AND HEAVENS.
21
the flocks. Each had his calling and knew
his labor would not be fruitless.
There was still but one household. The
two sons were the prominent members. On
them mainly, so far as man could see, de-
pended the future of the world. Their inter-
ests were one; their great object, therefore,
should have been mutual help. Never were
two brothers placed in circumstances which
more required their co-operation, or which
seemed more likely to make them love each
other. But they were true types of two
classes of men, and their history is the fore-
shadowing of the history of the human race.
There has been an increasing opposition be-
tween those represented by Cain and those
represented by Abel. The seed of the evil-
doers has had the victory, and the just have
suffered ; but the triumph of the righteous is
yet to come.
Cain made religion the ground of his
quarrel with his brother. Both offered sac-
rifices. Cain brought the fruit of the ground ;
Abel the firstlings of his flock. Each seems
to have offered suitably according to the in-
crease which God had given him ; but there
was a difference somewhere. It may have
been that Cain only offered the fruit — not the
first or best, while Abel offered the best he
had. It may have been that Cain's offering
had no reference to sin ; while Abel's spoke
of suffering, and so of guilt. God said to
Cain, " If thou doest not well, sin " — or, as
the Hebrew may be translated, a sin-offering
— " lieth at thy door." From this some have
concluded that Cain had no consciousness of
sin, and so refused the sin-offering. But this
is an inference of the Rabbis and theologians,
and supposes that Cain knew some special
command of God concerning sacrifice. The
writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews gives a
reason which seems sufficient. He makes the
difference to be in faith. "By faith Abel
offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain."
Tiie sacrifice itself was more excellent; but
what made it really valuable was the disposi-
tion of the offerer. In his offering there was
piety, sincerity, and self-sacrifice.
So the Lord had respect unto Abel and to
his offering, but to the offering of Cain He
had not respect. Then the character of Cain
was manifested. Instead of inquiring into the
cause of the non-acceptance of his offering,
he was very wroth. The cause was in him-
self, but he made it the occasion of hatred
towards his brother. Perhaps there was in
Cain something of self-righteous pride.
He may have been told that he was the
promised seed, and, being the firstborn, had
all the blessings of God by natural inherit-
ance. And now he sees his brother's offering
accepted because of his righteousness, and
his own rejected for reasons which he dare
not look into : his countenance fell ; his wrath
threatened to flow out in vengeance on his
brother, This was unreasonable ; but reason
goes with righteousness, not with sin. God
remonstrated with Cain. If he did well, his
offering would be accepted ; if he did not well,
there was the natural punishment. God told
Cain that all which he had by birthright re-
mained to him : his brother should not have
dominion over him; but there was a differ-
ence between inheritance and character
A Brother's Blood.
It is added, "And Cain talked with his
brother Abel." What did they talk about?
About their sacrifices ? About sin and pun-
ishment ? Did they have a dispute, in which
Cain lost his temper, as bad men often do
when they have controversies about religion ?
The Rabbis have many conjectures, but noth-
ing is recorded. Cain's anger burned : he
could not control it; and at last he gave his
brother a sudden blow. Abel staggers and
falls; his heart ceases to beat; his tongue is
silent; motionless he lies on the ground.
Cain understands not what has happened.
He knew nothing of death ; he had nevet
seen one dead or dying. He calls to Abel.
but Abel answers not. Did a pang of
remorse come over the heart of Cain ? Did
he feel that he had been the victim of
his own ungoverned passions? We dp not
know. But if he felt any compunction at
22
THE DEATH OF ABEL.
ii •
\l
\ i
the moment, it was of short continuance.
When God asked, " Where is thy brother ? "
Cain answered, " Am I my brother's keeper ? "
Cain was not capable of repentance, because
he had not the consciousness of sin. The
soul within him was dead; he was a mer-?
TKAGic DKATH OF ABEL. — Genesis iv. 8.
The defiant answer was made in the spirit
of impenitence, and after he knew that Abel
was dead. His nature was brutal and wicked.
child of the earth, earthy ; born of the flesh.,
he was nothing but flesh. He could not fed
that he had done wrong until he heard the-
THE NEW EARTH AND HEAVENS.
sentancc, because
ess of sin. The
he was a mer'?
>rn of the flesh,.
: could not fed
1 he heard tlie
punishment of his wrong-doing. The voice
of Abel's blood cried out for vengeance on
the murderer. God tells Cain that he is
cursed from the earth: when he tills the
ground it shall not henceforth yield her
strength; but he .should be a fugitive and
vagabond. And Cain answered, " My pun-
ishment is greater than I am able to bear."
A Homeless Fugitive.
Here was the fruit of the forbidden tree.
The first human death was by murder, and the
*first man born in the world a murderer and
fratricide. This first slaughter was too dread-
ful an offence for any but the Giver of life to
judge: and He judged it, not by taking
another life, but by dooming the wretched
and self-convicted criminal to wander forth in
wild and infertile regions, afar from his kin-
dred and parental home, with " the voice of
his brother's blood" crying always in his
ears.
Under this sentence Cain wandered forth
and established himself in the land of Nod.
There his family increased, and his descendants
built cities, and became the inventors of many
useful arts. One of them, called Jabal, was the
first who took to that nomadic life — living in
tents, and rearing cattle — to which so many
tribes of men in Asia are still devoted ; another,
named Jubal, was the inventor of the lyre and
the Pandean pipe ; another, named Tubal-cain,
was the first who found out the use of iron
and copper to man ; another, named Lamech,
seems to have been the first who devised the
evil practice of polygamy, for of him it is told
that he took •'wo wives — Adah and Zillah.
Meanwhile other children were born to
Adam and Eve, only one of whom, Seth, is
particularly mentioned, because from him
sprang the family which eventually survived
the desolation of the habitable world.
Great Length of Human Life.
The remaining hi.story to the Deluge is
occupied chiefly with lists of names and ages,
which are of importance to us chiefly by
showing the length of the interval between the
Creation and the Deluge, and which on this
ground is commonly estimated at one thou-
sand six hundred and fifty-seven years. The
names are not many, for before the Deluge
the lives of men were of immense duration,
varying from nearly eight hundred to nearly
a thousand years. The shortest life recorded
is that of Lamech, the father of Noah, who
died at the age ot seven hundred and seventy-
seven years ; the longest, that of Methusaleh,
who lived nine hundred and sixty-nine years.
This longevity must have been highly favorable
to the increase of population — deaths being so
few, and births so many. It must have been
also favorable to much progress in the arts of
life — and perhaps a correct notion has scarcely
yet been formed of the extent to which the
ancient world was probably peopled, or of the
progress which had been made in what are
now called the arts of civilization. The
Scriptural intimations are exceedingly concise,
and only enable us to perceive that a most
corrupt and criminal condition of society was
soon engendered among all the races of men
which sprang from Adam.
The race of Seth seems to have the longest
retained its uprightness and fidelity to God ;
but it was gradually led to contract alliances
with the race of Cain, which in the end con-
founded the one and the other in the same
disorders by which the earth was filled with
violence and wrong. From such inter-
marriages sprang men celebrated not more for
their larger stature than for the corruption of
their manners. And in the end things came
to such a pass, that the fair creation was
made abominable in the eyes of its Divine
Creator, and He made known to the still up-
right family of Noah his design to purge the
face of the earth, by a Flood of waters, of all
its tainted inhabitants. Noah was ordered to
prepare a huge vessel, suited to float upon
the surface of the waters, and spacious enougli
to contain not only the good man's own family,
but couples of the different .species of animals,
destined eventually to replenish the desolated
earth.
The ark was a long time in prcparali.n,
u
THREATENINGS AT LAST FULFILLED.
during which the guilty men were warned of
destruction, and, urged by Noah to repentance,
not : and the terrible doom, so long denounced
and so mercifully delayed, came down at last.
! I
»l
j.S:
\
i
!"i
j'i
ANIMALS ENTERING THE ARK. — Genesis vii. 8, 9.
had ample time in which to turn from their evil I Many have been the speculations about the
ways. But they turned not; they repented I ark of Noah, and various the forms which
i
THE NEW EARTH AND HEAVENS.
26
I long denounced
ne down at last.
tions about the
; forms which
have been assigned to it. It has been usual
to suppose its hull similar to that of a ship.
But the hull of a ship is expressly designed
for progress through the waters ; whereas for
the ark it was only requisite that it should
be upborne, at rest, upon the surface. It was
tlierefore, in all probability, flat-bottomed, and
shnped not unlike the houses which were at
tiiat time in use. We know that it was
divided into different decks, or stories, divided
doubtless into various stalls or cabins for the
different bestial and human inmates, and for
the storing of provisions ; and the whole was
covered by a sloping roof. It was built of
gopher wood, which is supposed to have been
the same as the cypress, and it was well
covered inside and out with pitch. Its dimen-
sions were very vast, being three hundred
cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits
high. The cubit was about eighteen inches ;
and hence these dimensions may be expressed
as equal to four hundred and fifty feet long,
seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high.
; , At length, about one thousand six hundred
and fifty-seven years from the Creation, the
word was given to Noah, and he entered the
ark, with his immediate family, consisting of
his wife, his three sons, Shem, Ham, and
Japheth, and their wives — in all eight persons
— who alone, of all the multitude inhabiting
the earth, were destined to outlive the coming
desolation. The righteous family, in obedi-
ence to the Divine command, took with them
on board the ark seven pairs of every clean
beast, and one pair of every one that was not
clean.
The Deluge.
The stupendous event which now came on
is related by the sacred historian in a few ap-
parently simple phrases, but containing images
of the most massive magnificence. "All the
fountains of the great deep were broken up,
and the windows of heaven were opened." It
rained forty days and nights, so violently and
incessantly, that " the waters prevailed exceed-
ingly upon the earth, and all the high hills
which were under the whole heaven were
covered." The waters rose indeed fifteen
cubits above the tops of the highest mountains,
and thus every living creature not capable of
inhabiting the waters was overwhelmed and
destroyed. The Flood continued for a con-
siderable time after the inhabitants of the
earth had perished; but at length the rain
ceased, the waters gradually subsided, and on
the seventeenth day of the seventh month
from the commencement of the Deluge, the
ark rested upon one of the summits of Mount
Ararat.
Biblical geographers are not perfectly agreed
as to the region in which this mountain of
Ararat should be sought; but the general
current of opinion and tradition, together with
the historical probabilities of the case, seem
sufficiently to agree in identifying it with the
mountain of Aradagh in Armenia, which
travellers usually describe under the name of
Ararat. Contrary to the common opinion,
which supposes that the ark necessarily rested
upon the highest of the mountains in its neigh-
borhood, we should be more inclined to sup-
pose that it rested on the lower summit, or in
the gorge between the upper and the lower.
It will occur to any one who gazes upon that
mountain, that had the ark rested on the
highest summit, covered, as that summit is,
with perpetual ice, and all but inaccessible to
human foot, it would not have been possible
for the various inmates of the ark to descend
in safety to the plain without some special
miracle, of which the sacred text affords no
trace, and which would be rendered unneces-
sary by placing the ark upon a lower level.
Sending^ Forth the Dove.
Forty days after the mountain tops had first
become visible, Noah became anxious to
ascertain the condition of the earth, and to
that end let a raven fly forth from the ark.
The raven went to and fro, away from the
ark, then returned again to rest upon its top,
and at last remained away altogether. Seven
days after Noah sent forth a dove — a bird
whose tender attachment to its mate gave
good assurance of its return. " The dove
found no rest for the sole of her foot," either
1
111
11 h
li
t, 1 i
111 .
Jl; :
26
THE VVINGKU MESSENGER.
because the mountains were far off, or remote
from the course she took, or, wliich is more
lii<ely, because doves in general fly low and
covered with water, receiveo her again into
the ark. Seven more days passed, and he
put the dove forth anew, and then her speedy
RETURN OF THE DOVE TO THE ARK. — GenCsis viii. II.
seek only the valleys and the plains. The
dove returned, and the patriarch, who from
this judged that the low lands were still
return brought great gladness to the prisoners
of the ark, for she bore in her mouth an olive-
leaf plucked off, by which it was plain that
THE NEW EARTH AND HEAVENS.
27
her again into
passed, and lie
:hen her speedy
:>.'.,'i
Pi:J
to the prisoners
mouth an olivc-
t was plain that
even from the low lands the water had now
abated.
In the six hundred and first year of Noah's
life, and on the first day of the first month, the
earth being completely dried, Noah began to
dismantle the ark ; and on the twenty-seventh
day of the second month he finally quitted it,
together with all his family, after having been
in it a year and two days. The animals were
also sent forth, and allowed to disperse them-
selves over the earth, excepting such of the
tame animals as the only surviving family of
man chose to retain, as the foundation of
future flocks and herds.
Appalling Scene of Destruction.
We can form but a very weak conception
of the horrors of the Flood. We may think
of the awful cataracts of water pouring from
the clouds ; of the uprising of the mighty
deep, rushing in — a wall of water — on the
land ; we may picture to ourselves the terror
of the people, awakened but too late to a sense
of tiieir danger ; we may see crowds ascending
the lofty mountains as the deluge sweeps the
valleys ; we may see the wild beasts tamed
witii terror, the lion standing harmless by the
gazelle, the timid hare crouching beneath the
shadow of the tiger ; we may see the eagles
fluttering over the deep abyss, uttering shrill
cries as their eyries are invaded by the water ;
we may see the little children clinging to the
mothers' skirts, dumb with fright at the dread-
ful spectacle before them ; we may see the
wife's eyes turned in dismay upon her husband,
while he in blank horror surveys the fearful
scene of devastation, and with his little family
around him dies a thoiisand deaths in dying
one, but we can form no adequate conception
of the dreadful scene.
There are traditions of this terrible catas-
trophe among all nations ; there are plain
evidences of its wide extent in our geological
strata; it has left its indelible mark on the
world.
In the ark, all living things were represented,
either by single pairs or by seven pairs ; and
when the Flood subsided and the ark rested
on " the mount of descent." the creatures came
forth, and Noah, erecting an altar, offered
sacrifice and worshipped. Strange legends of
the wood of the ark induced many pilgrims
in ages gone by to attempt its discovery, but
there is no satisfactory evidence of any part
of this singular structure ever having been
found.
There is something sublime and solemnizing
in the contemplation of the redeemed family —
the only survivors of the whole world's popu-
lation — coming into a new world as it were, a
new world which is but the sepulchre of the
old, and prostrating themselves before that
awful Being of whose judgments they have
been the witness, and beseeching Him to curse
the earth no more. There is a divine promise
given that never again shall the earth be sub-
merged, and lo ! as a ratification of the promise
is the bow in the cloud. When on the stormy
sky the rainbow exhibits its rich coloring, we
have the seal and the sign of God's covenant,
that while the earth remaineth, seed-time and
harvest, summer and winter shall not cease.
But the fear of another destruction oppressed
the minds of succeeding generations. The
story of the Deluge told by father to son
wrought a feeling of vindictiveness in many
who thought it a hard thing that they should
be called on to reverence a Deity at whose
dread will a world was drowned. Not a cloud
appeared in the sky but they were filled with
terror ; not a heavy shower poured down but
they looked for utter destruction ; if the tide
rose higher than common, there was dismay,
and they made light of the divine promise and
felt no encouragement in thf bow in the cloud.
This led to an attempt to erect a building
which would tower above the waters that
might again drown the earth.
Thus ended that great catastrophe, which
has left ineradicable traces upon the surface
and in the bowels of the earth, and the memory
of which has been preserved in the traditions
of all mankind, in all their languages. As it
seems very evident that the object of the
Deluge was to extirpate evil, we must regard
its resulting effects, whether physical or moral,
i
I
i
*2H
EFFECTS OF THE DELUGE.
as beneficial upon the whole, whatever estimate
itandaril. It may be well to keep in view that
our untutored judgment might form of some the objects of the Deluge were avowedly to
NOAii's SACRIFICE. — Gen. viii. 20.
of its more particular effects — such as the
shortening of human life, which after the
Deluge very rapidly declined to its present
be the termination of a state of human nature
which had become incurably deteriorated in
that form by the existinpj popul.ition ; and to be
TIIK HOW IN TIIK CLOUDS.
89
eep in view that
e avowedly " to
i
im
m
also the commencement of a new generation
and diffusion of liuninn beings of a superior
kind, and from a selected sto(k, that was the
least vitiated by the demoralization of the rest."
The sacrifice of Noah was a fitting recogni-
tion of the Divine goodness. Only one family
of all the families of the earth had been saved
from the destruction which engulfed the human
race. This whole narrative of the Deluge is a
striking witness of the wickedness of man on
the one hand, and of the favor of his Maker
on the other. We are taught to believe that
the world had become desperately wicked ;
that such enormous and astounding crimes
were committed as to exceed even the strongest
imagination. A rude, rough, coarse class of
men it was, with no sense of self or mutual
respect ; given up to the vilest vices ; strong
in nothing but its daring impiety. Noah, how-
ever, seems to have kept his faith, and to have
been a man very different from all others of
that period. He was the bright star gleaming
through a night of blackness and darkness,
and he and his household were rewarded for
those qualities of character which marked
them as peculiar and separated them from all
others.
It should be noticed that the same favor of
Heaven, which preserved one family during
this Flood that drowned the world, still showed
itself after the waters had subsided. It is not
strange that men were timid, feared what might
happen in the future, wondered if again the
flood-gates of the upper deep would be
opened, and wore anxious concerning their
security. It was a question with them wlu-liier
life would ever again be swept from the face
of the earth, and in order that their fears
might be allayed, the rainbow with its seven
colors was placed in the sky — an arch beau-
tiful even as it was prophetic, giving assurance
that the floods should never descend again.
According to natural principles the rainbow
must have been in existence from the begin-
ning, unless the earth was in the fir^t place
watered only by dews. We know how it is
formed, and we know that the law- of nature
did not change in order that the si y might be
spanned with this majestic arch. It is doubt-
less true that the rainbow was taken at this
time and given to man as a sure sign and
signal that he would be providentially pre-
served, and that the days of floods were ended.
So on his coming forth from the ark it is
pleasant to recollect that Noah built his altar,
laid upon it the sacrifice, and kindled the con-
suming fires. The light of that sacrifice gleams
against the dark sky of the early history, and
its beams will not be lost to the eye which,
latest in time, is turned backward toward the
beginning. In short, we have here a great
historic event, one that is not merely promi-
nent in Biblical history, but in secular records
and even in that book of the world whose
leaves are made of solid rock, and whose let-
tering abides from age to age.
human nature
deteriorated in
tioii ; and to be
CHAPTER II.
ABRAM AND LOT.
^HE instant the second
father of mankind set
his foot upon the
earth he proceeded to
erect an altar, and
offer burnt-offer-
ings to God, in token
of fervent adoration
and gratitude to the great De-
hverer, who had so wonder-
fully preserved him and his
alone, as the sole survivors
on the desolate earth. This
first impulse of the preserved
family God regarded with
complacency, and He was
pleased to renew to the
v^ S%32r appointed progenitors of a
^ ^ new race of men the blessing
pronounced originally upon the first human
pair : " Be ye fruitful and multiply."
Other matters were added for their benefit
and encouragement. The original grant of
dominion over the animal creation was re-
newed to them, but with some variations on
the original appointment, and with so marked
an emphasis in the permission to use beasts
for food, " even as the green herb," that many
have been led to suppose that there was no
use of the flesh of animals before the Deluge.
To obviate the apprehension >^ which must
have been left in the mind of Noah by the
terrible judgment which he had witnessed,
God was further pleased to assure him that the
world should never more be destroyed by " a
flood of water," and that " while the earth re-
mained, seed time and harvest, and cold and
heat, and summer and winter, and day arid
night, should not cease." Six divisions of the
natural j'ear are here indicated ; and it seems
that the Jews ultimately adopted the same
(3(1)
division of the seasons in reference to the
labors of agriculture. They are still in use
among the Arabs.
The rainbow, which is the effect of known
natural causes, was appointed by God as the
appropriate seal and pledge of this covenant
It has been thought from this that the rain-
bow was a new object to Nonh, in which case
there could have been no rain before the
Deluge, and the earth must then have been
watered by streams and copious dews. In
support of this view. Gen. ii. 6, " There went
up a mist from the earth and watered the face
of the ground," is very frequently quoted.
Noah proceeded to cultivate the ground in
the plains to which he had descended. A
vineyard was among the objects of his
culture ; and the impartial sacred record,
which unhesitatingly makes known the crimes
and errors of its greatest and best characters,
proceeds to inform us that he became ine-
briated with the wine, and, as he slept the sleep
of drunkenness, lay indecently exposed. In
this state he became the object of mockery to
his son Ham, but of filial duty to Shem and
Japheth. This conduct brought upon Ham
the dreaded and predictive paternal curse, and
the equally predictive blessing upon Shem and
Japheth. The curse and the blessing seem to
have been accomplished in the lot of their
respective descendants, for Ham is regarded
as the progenitor of the African races, and
Shen? of the Asiatic, and Japheth of the
European families of men.
Noah lived after the Flood three hundred
and fifty years, in apparent happiness and
peace, and in the enjoyment of every blessing;
and he died at the age of nine hundred and
fifty years, bewailed by his children and their
numerous descendants.
How long the fathers of mankind remained
•eference to the
are still in use
essing seem to
three hundred
happiness and
:very blessing ;
: hundred and
dren and their
kind remained
BUILDING THE TOWER OF BABEL. — Gen. xi. 4.
31
32
CONFUSION OF TONGUES.
together in the region where the ark rested,
we are not informed. They were not likely
to remove soon, or until compelled to do so
by the pressure of an increased population,
bound as they were together by the bonds of
a known relationship, and by the ties of a com-
mon language. Eventually they arrived in
the land of Shinar, where plains apparently
boundless seemed to offer ample room for
their increase without further wandering.
This is the region watered by the Tigris and
Euphrates, in which Babylon was afterwards
situated. This region was then, as now, des-
titute of wood as well as of stone ; but, deeming
this a suitable home, they proceeded to make
bricks, with which to build "a city and a
tower." By a strong hyperbole, common in
the East, they described this as a tower whose
top should " reach unto heaven." This means
simply a very high tower. The first of men
were surely not idiots, and we have no right
to suppose them capable of the exceedingly
absurd intentions which have been ascribed to
this erection. The plain Scriptural account is
not only the best and most reasonable, but the
only one on which we can rely. It amounts
to this — that they feared being dispersed
abroad, separated from each other, lost in
their needful wanderings with their flocks in
these vast plains. To prevent this, the tower
was to be so high as to serve for a landmark
and rallying-point to all their families.
The People Dispersed.
We know that the rotundity of the earth
will, at a given distaiice, throw out of sight,
below the visible horizon, not only the highest
tower that man ever built, but the loftiest
mountains. The first man after the Deluge,
being, however, new to the phenomena which
plains afford the best opportunities of observ-
ing,, had probably been in the habit of ascrib-
'ing to other and accidental causes such in-
stances of the disappearance of visible objects
as they had found occasion to notice. The
design of remaining together was, however,
contrary to the designs of God ; and a special
interposition of His providence rendered all
their plans abortive, and compelled them to
disperse and people the different regions of
the earth.
This was effected by causing such a diver-
sity in their language that they were unable
to understand one another, and were thus
constrained to abandon their design, and to
separate from each other in groups propor-
tioned to the number of the dialects which
were thus created among them.
The word Babel means confusion, and it
was from this " confusion of tongues " at the
place that the unfinished tower came to be
called the " tower of Babel," and the city of
" Babylon." The historical importance of the
city was, however, of much later date, when
it became the seat of a mighty empire, and
when, as it would seem, the remains of the
primitive fabric were made to form the basis
of a tower of extraordinary form and elevation,
which was counted one of the wonders of the
world, and the supposed shape of which must
be familiar to the reader from the numerous
figures which are abroad under the name of
the " tower of Babel." These figures are
framed from the descriptions left by ancient
Greek travellers of the tower which existed in
and after the time of Nebuchadnezzar.
Modern Babylout
On the now desolate site of the once mighty
Babylon there are two lofty and large mounds
or hills of ruin, the one or the other of which
has been supposed to offer the remains of
this celebrated tower. One of them now bears
the name of Birs Nimrod (tower of Nimrod),
and the other of Mujelibe ; and the former is
that which is now usually identified with this
ancient monument.
The confusion of tongues, and consequent
dispersion from Babel, took place, according
to the common chronology, in the year 2230
B. c, being one hundred and seventeen years
after the Deluge.
Among those who remained in this region
was a person of active and enterprising habits,
named Nimrod, who is described as " a mighty
hunter." This person, doubtless by means of
:^
i
ABRAM AND LOT.
ipelled them to
rent regions of
g such a diver-
jey were unable
and were thus
' design, and to
groups propor-
i dialects which
m.
onfusion, and it
tongues " at the
wer came to be
and the city of
nportance of the
later date, when
hty empire, and
remains of the
) form the basis
■m and elevation,
e wonders of the
le of which must
[ti the numerous
der the name of
liese figures are
i left by ancient
which existed in
idnezzar.
the once mighty
nd large mounds
e other of which
the remains of
fthem now bears
)wer of Nimrod),
ind the former is
:ntified with this
and consequent
place, according
in the year 2230
seventeen years
;d in this region
terprising habits,
)ed as " a mighty
ess by means of
the bold and hardy men who took part in his
huntings, was enablod to establish his domin-
ion over several of the cities of this region,
and thus to form what seems to have been the
first of human kingdoms.
In process of time a very general corruption
of manners, connected with and arising from
a forgetfulness or neglect of the God of Noah,
seems to have arisen not only in the land of
Shinar, but in the other countries to which
the families of men had migrated, and in
which they had formed communities more or
less organized.
At length, about three centuries after the
Deluge, the Divine Creator, who had declared
that He would no more destroy the earth for
man's sake, saw it right to commence the
wondrous train of operations whereby He de-
signed to keep in the corrupting world a testi-
mony for the truth, until the arrival of the
fully ripened time for the appearance of the
Redeemer — of Him who H'as to bring in a
new order of things, and to crush iniquity
beneath His feet. This was to be accomplished
by making a single man — a family — a nation
springing from him, the special objects of the
Divine care and providence, and to commit to
their keeping the great truths which the world
at large refused to retain in its knowledge.
The person chosen for this was a man
named Abram, dwelling in the district of" Ur of
the Chaldees," and probably belonging to that
kingdom — if it still subsisted — which Nimrod
had established. In human estimation Abram
would have seemed but ill suited for the high
destinies in which a numerous posterity was
essentially involved, for he and his wife Sarai
were already old, and they had no children.
It will be found interesting to trace the suc-
cessive steps by which this renowned person-
age was prepared for and placed under the
circumstances necessary to the great designs
of which he was the object.
The true histoiy of the Israelites begins
with Abram. But it is all vague and shadowy,
as all very ancient history must be ; Arabia
was beginning to take some hold on the
world ; Egypt was growing into a power ; but
8
the Jews — as we now call them — were as yet
no people. Chaldea, or part of the Nimrod
territory — Yemon now caHed — was struggling
towards the light, and Egypt was making
steadier and more satisfactory advances ; there
was a land called Canaan, very prolific and
rich under good husbandage, and capable of
being turned to good account by competent
hands.
In Chaldea sprang up astrology ; shepherds
out on the plains gazed on the stars whilst
they minded their flocks, and fancied they
could trace, in starry courses, in the midnight
sky, God's way with a man in the world,
A Maker of Idols.
A part of the country of Chaldea was called
Ur ; the name is said to have signified fire or
light, and we are told that this name was
chosen on account of the place being notori-
ously idolatrous — there it was supposed
heaven revealed itself and dark sayings were
made clear.
In the county, if the expression may be
used, or the city of Ur dwelt the descendants
of Shem, the son of Noah. There were nine
generations. The last was Terah, the father
of Abraham.
Terah is said to have been not only an
idolator, but an idol maker. No man knew
better than he that the gods he made were no
gods ; that the statues he constructed could
neither hear with their ears, see with their
eyes, speak through their throats, nor breathe
through their nostrils ; but tradition tells us
that he persisted in ascribing to them divine
honor until the soul of Abram was stirred
within him. One day, when his father was
away from the atelier, he took a strong ham-
mer and knocked half the idols to pieces.
When Terah returned and inquired the cause,
Abram told him the gods had fallen to fight-
ing as to which was the greatest, and in the
battle had reduced themselves to the sight
he saw. Terah, who would not give up his
faith in their vitality, was forced to silence.
As Abram grew older, he began boldly to
argue about the unity of God, and the Chal-
AN ANGRY PEOPLE.
m
ill
II
deans, who believed in lords many and gods
many, were excessively outraged by his
language. He argued that the ways of all
under rule — under one rule ; and that hence
there must be one ruler— a corollary which ex-
cited a very great disturbance indeed. The
THE EGYl-llAN KING TAKING THE WIFE OF ABRAHAM. — Gen. xii. 1 5.
creation showed that there was a common
originator and ruler ; that neither earth, nor
sea, nor sky could do as it would, but was
rancorous feeling aroused against the reformer
made matters very serious for the family of
Terah. Their best and wisest plan was to
get
Abrs
and
woul
It sei
had
coun
fathe
thee
and
bless
curse
shall
Al
and
feell
forsa
him i
whit!
years
—he
but i
may
who
Th
had
Adat
Mela
only
andc
theg
withe
every
creati
the fe
to b(
devic
At
to ta
emig
with
womi
selfisl
usual
[they
ABRAM AND LOT.
35
and that hence
Dllary which ex-
e indeed. The
St
mi
IMii^
»\\^' '
15-
inst the reformer
)r the family of
!st plan was to
get away from the angry people. As for
Abram, he had within his own heart a deep
and positive conviction that this removal
would be ultimately conducive to much good.
It seemed to him that close in his ear a voice
had SDoken saying, *' Get thee out from thy
country, and from thy kindred, and from thy
father's house unto a land that I will show
thee : and I will make of thee a great nation ;
and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will
bless them that bless thee, and curse him that
curseth thee: and in thee and in thy seed
shall all the tamilies of the earth be blessed."
A Mail of 3Ioral Courage.
Abram was resolved on leaving Chaldea
and taking up his abode whither he should
feel himself led. The land of idols was to be
forsaken, and he and those who belonged to
him must go forth, but going they knew not
whither. As for himself, he was seventy-five
years old — comparatively young in those days
— he was married ; his wife's name was Sarai ;
but he had no child, so he adopted, as we
may say, his nephew Lot, the son of Haran,
who had died, leaving him an orphan.
The denunciations of the young reformer
had made affairs critical in Chaldea. " Old
Adam " miglit be " too strong for young
Melancthon," but opposition and self-assertion
only made Abram the stronger. He plainly
and openly denounced the pagan rites, ridiculed
the gods, proclaimed the name of the Infinite,
j without beginning, without end, inmieasurable,
everywhere present with every one of his
creatures, the living Father of all, touched with
i the feeling of all natural infirmities, and never
I to be likened to an image graven of man's
! device.
A Wouclert>il Country.
Abram, however, saw it was ::is plain duty
I to take his departure from the land, so he
[emigrated into the land of Canaan: he took
with him his wife — an extremely beautiful
woman, and his nephew Lot — an exceedingly
, selfish man. Of course, such property as was
usually regarded in that light, flocks and herds,
[they would have with them, and no doubt
money. But the land into which they went
was in a sad condition. A terrible famine
prevailed, and was numbering the living with
the dead each day.
And yet the land was beautiful to the eye ;
nature seemed to have shed abundant blessings
on it, and the mysterious voice still sounded
in the ear of the emigrant, " This land shall
thy seed possess." A wondrous land of
wealth and beauty, high hills, their sides all
clothed with richest vegetation, deep green
valleys and pasture lands of great extent.
And this land was to belong to the children
of Abram : it was to be his seed's possession
— where, as yet, the ground on which he stood
was not his own — not even six feet of earth
for a burial-place.
While the prospect of a grand fortune was
very delightful, pressing necessities marred its
beauty. There was a famine, and Abram felt
that he must seek out some place where he
and his might rest in security and obtain what
they needed. The good land of Egypt was
that to which he turned his eyes. In ancient
history, before the days of Greeks or Romans,
but three nations are prominent, the Arabians
(including Assyria and Babylonia), the Egyp-
tians, and the Jews. The Israelites were as
yet no people. They were represented by
Abram alone, but the country from which
Abram came out was great and powerful, the
land that was promised to his seed was still
held by the Canaanites, and the land whither
he went was Egypt, famous now in history.
History in Stone.
" O, Egypt, Egypt ! fabler, alone will be thy
future history, wholly incredible to later gener-
ations, and nought but the letter of thy stone-
engraved monuments will survive." Such
was the prophecy of the Hermetic books,
themselves reported fabulous. Yet Egypt, so
long enveloped in a mystery as deep as that
which surrounds the Sphinx, has found its in-
terpreter in the square of black basalt known
as the Rosetta stone. By aid of this stone,
the learned have been able to decipher the
hieroglyphics, and what was dark is light
1:1
m
THE CHILDREN OF HAM.
The dumb monuments of antiquity speak
freely to us of the mighty past of Egypt.
Not that they can tell us its beginning, it be-
ing impossible to fix with certainty upon any
date ; but the same difficulty occurs in the
early chapters of more modern histories.
Perhaps, after a lengthened sojourn together,
during which time they would be increasing
and multiplying strongly, these children of
Ham, lured southward by tlie fruitful valleys,
would seek their settlements about the Nile,
and we are told that these settlers grew into a
great nation, and the priests took the suprem-
acy, paying the fighting men to keep in sub-
jection the laboring classes, who were doubly
awed into obedience by the mystery which
attached to the clergy and the unscrupulous
ferocity of the military.
After some time it appears these two
dominant classes came into opposition, and
the troopers found themselves more than a
match for the self-exalted priests ; consequently
they were reduced to the second place in the
empire : whether the people were any better
for the change is not to be ascertained in these
days. Menes sat on his throne, and ruled in
great pomp and power about the time, or, per-
haps, a little before the time that Nineveh was
being planned. This was a long time before
Abram, with his v.'ife and nephew, came into
Egypt, and found there a high cultivation
among the upper classes ; such as he had
never known — abundance and prosperity, con-
trasting agreeably with the condition of
Canaan, out of which he came.
But Abram suspected that when the king
or some of the leading nobility saw the ex-
treme beauty of his wife they would kill him
and take her away. This dread was unworthy
of so great a man, but there was reason in it ;
so he directed her to let it be generally sup-
posed she was his sister. This brought about
the mischief he wished to avoid, for the king
took Sarai, and made rich presents to her
supposed brother. Before, however, he made
Sarai his wife, the real state of the case was
make known to him, and although he was
grieved, and blamed Abram, he treated him
very kindly, and allowed Abram and Sarai to
remain in the land, receiving many privileges.
When Abram returned into Canaan, he
had scarcely settled down before a serious
quarrel arose concerning pasturage between
his own herdsmen and those who looked after
the cattle of his nephew. As the quarrels
were of continual recurrence, Abram deter-
mined on a separation. The land they oc-
cupied was to be divided between them, and
like a generous and honorable gentleman, he
gave his nephew the choice. Lot took time
to consider, and then picked what to all ap-
pearance was the very best part of the posses-
sion — a fine, wide-spreading plain on the banks
of the river Jordan. The uncle occupied what
the nephew left, the lower grounds at the
foot of the mountains, and took up his own
residence in Hebron with his family.
Sodom and Gomorrah.
Lot seems to have forgotten that good
land may be spoilt by bad neighbors. In the
neighborhood where he set up his camp were
two cities, Sodom and Gomorrah, notorious
for the vicious and abominable lives of their
people. These people would naturally be a
great trouble to him, and he had omitted this
item in his calculations. They were rich and
prosperous, and arrogantly insolent, as people
are often made by too many of this world's
goods. Their chieftains, particularly those of
Sodom, raised a commotion among neighbor-
ing chieftains. The Assyrians were in the as-
cendant, and compelled these men of Sodom to
pay tribute, which they did for twelve years. The
thirteenth imposed they indignantly rejected.
The Assyrians swept the plains of Jordan,
and laid siege to Sodom. Many were killed,
many wounded, many carried off prisoners,
and amongst the latter Lot found himself
hurried off, and all his property. It is more
than likely then that he discovered he had
not been so wise in his choice as he imagined.
Abram heard the news. Things had not
gone well with his nephew. The finest op-
portunities are not always the best stepping-
stones to fortune. Lot was a ruined man,
!
ill
ABRAM AND LOT.
37
and a prisoner in tlie hands of those who were
total strangers to mercy. True, he had be-
liaved badly to Abrar:, but wiiat have old
wrongs to do with us whew our opponent is
ill great calamity ? Although Abram had the
worst of the land, he was very rich. With
him everything had prospered. Instinctively
he summoned his retainers, just as an old
Scottish chief might have done, when the
Southerners crossed the border, and the fire-
cross was displayed from hill to hill. Blood
is thicker thaii water, according to the common
saying.
Abram could summon three hundred and
eighteen men, all as leal to him as men could
be. So they sped after the Assyrians, fell on
them — made short work of the fight — rescued
Lot and all that belonged to him, and put
shame on the boasted powers of chieftains
who fled before a mere handful of determined
men.
Timely Rescue of Lot.
When the battle was over, and Abram, with
his clan, his prisoners, and spoil, came down
on Jordan, a holy man who dwelt in those
parts came forth to bless him, and Abram
made him a rich present, thereby recognizing
in him a high order of priesthood. But when
the King of Sodom came to congratulate and
offer gifts, he gave no heed to him at all,
refused to take of all the spoil even a thread,
or a leather sandal, and plainly he let the
effeminate monarch know it was not on his
account he had come out, but simply to save
his nephew's life and secure his nephew's
property.
By dream, vision, or mysterious voice,
Abram was encouraged. All the land was
to be his and his seed's forever. But he had
no seed. Eleazer, his servant, must be his
successor, for children he had none. This
was an occasion of much grief to Abram, and
no doubt it was to his wife also; and when he
was told that his children should be as
numerous as the stars of heaven or the sands!
on the seashore it almost seemed like mockery, j
Still Abram believed that it would be so, in '
spite of all the difficulties that seemed to stand '
in the way, and on this account he bears the
name of the Father of the Faithful.
Birth of iHiiac.
And in course of time Sarah — for her name
was changed from Sarai to Sarah, both names
expressing princess, but the latter of a higher
dignity — bore Abram a son, and there was
great rejoicing. The child was called Isaac, a
word signifying laughter. It was, no doubt,
chosen by Abram and Sarah to remind them
how both had sometimes laughed at the
thought of a child being born to them in their
old age.
While these events had transpired in the
house of Abram, his nephew Lot had fallen
into great diflficulties. He had taken up his
abode in the city of Sodom, with his wife and
two daughters. The wickedness of the people
must have offended him every day of his life,
indeed we are told that it " vexed his righteous
soul ; " but perhaps a residence in the city had
commercial advantages which in the mind of
this man counterbalanced its annoyances.
However this may be, he was startled one
night by the arrival of two young men, who
assured him that the city, togethe r with that
of the neighboring city, Gomorrah, would
speedily be destroyed, and that he and all who
belonged to him must depart the very first
thing in the morning. Their abominations
were such as seemed to require that they
should be swept from the earth by some
terrible sudden stroke, to evince that a just
and holy God still governed the world.
Swift Destruction.
The avenging angels were at length sent
down ; and as Abram sat in his tent door in
the heat of the day, he beheld them advancing
in the likeness of wayfaring men, and persuaded
them to accept the hospitalities of his tent.
As they departed the most august of these
personages tarried a while, and revealed to
Abram the doom of the cities of the plain.
The patriarch interceded, with respectful im-
portunity, on their behalf, lest the rii^iiteous
should perish with the wicked ; and ii-.- at
Hi
I !^
i;
!I
11
.1
■!
1 1
S8
THE DOOMED CITIES.
lengtli obtained the promise that if but ten I the cities had lain, he saw tliat the whole had
righteous men were found in Sodom, the been destroyed by fire from heaven, and the
threatened ruin should not come down. I smoke of their burning still arose " like the
But the ten righteous men were not found ;
and when Abram aroFe early in the morning
and looked towards the fertile vale in which
FLEEING FROM BURNING SODOM. — Gen. xix. 2$.
smoke of a furnace ; " and the vale, once " like
the garden of the Lord," has since, under the
name of the Dead Sea, remained an abiding
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1
ABRAM AND LOT.
39
wonder to all who have passed that way. But ' Jordan ; its second from the extreme saltness
Lot had not perished. The commissioned of its waters ; and its third from its locality in
angels had urged him forth, with his wife and Judea, and to distinguish it from the West
his two daughters ; and they all escaped, save Sea, by which in ancient times was understood
the wife, who, lingering behind, was overtaken
by the destroying element, and remained,
covered with a saline incrustation, like " a
pillar of salt," upon the borders of the plain.
Josephus asserts that this pillar was stand-
ing when he wrote, and that he had seen it.
Irena^us, who lived in the second century of
the Christian era, makes the same statement.
The probability is that a mass of basaltic rock,
bearing some resemblance to the human
figure, had come to be called Lot's wife, and
was regarded with superstitious terror by the
ignorant people, who infected the minds of the
visitors.
A Marvellous Sea.
The scene of the horrible catastrophe which
overwhelmed the cities of the plain has ever
since been marked by a vast inland lake called
the Dead Sea. The scenery around the lake
is of the most dreary description ; there is a
total absence of vegetation ; the ground is
thoroughly impregnated with salt; the tem-
perature is usually very high ; the air seems of a height called Nebbea Moussa you catch a
the Mediterranean, or Great Sea.
Siiif^ular Stories.
There is no doubt that the total absence of
life around this lake, or sea, has given to it
the name it bears, and out of this have sprung
many errors to which common currency has
given the weight of truth. Even in these days
we may find tolerably well-informed people
asserting that no fish can live in the Dead
Sea, and no birds fly over it. Both statements
are quite untrue. Formerly it was asserted
that once or twice a year the submerged cities
were visible, and the well-worn illustration of
apples of Sodom, fair to the eye but dust in
the hand, was held to be truth. There are,
of course, great mistakes made, and a mistake
once made is endlessly repeated.
In approaching this Dead Lake, we see it
many times, and lose it as many — but once —
that is when it appears before us in all its
dismal grandeur. When you get to the top
laden with salt, and the bleak rocky mountains
which rise around it have about them a hor-
rible grotesqueness which seems well suited to
the place. Throughout its neighborhood
there is neither food for beast nor bird. A
dreary stillness settles over the unruffled sur-
face of the sluggish water; it seems a fit
locality for all that is evil to be done, nothing
but death and desolation watching.
In Arabic the Dead Sea is called " Bahr-el-
Lout," that is, the Sea of Lot, thus directly
associating it with the destruction of the cities
of the plain. In the visitation by which they
were destroyed the surrounding country under-
went an extraordinary change, and is said by
Moses to have become " a land of brimstone
and salt, and burning," characteristics by
which it still continues to be marked. In the
Bible these waters are called the Sea of the
Plain, the Salt Sea, and the Easi Sea, taking
its first from its situation in the plain of the
fair view of the sea : it is a soft deep purple,
brightening into blue. The road lies down
what seems a vast sloping causeway from the
mountains, between two ravines, walled by
cliffs several hundred feet in height. It
gradually flattens into a plain, covered with a
white, saline incrustation, and grown with
clumps of sour willow, tamarisk, and other
shrubs. All the plants look as if they were
smitten with leprosy. As you draw near to
the sea, the heat becomes intense, the air so
dense that with some peopk it will bring on
earache. As to the sea, it resembles a great
caldron, sunk between mountains three or
four thousand feet in height ; and j-et it is at a
depth of thirteen thousand feet below the
Mediterranean. You may bathe in the water
if you will, but it is not refreshing; very salt
and bitter ; very buoyant also, but slimy and
not easily to be rid of — clammy, glutinouf.
and sometimes leading to fever.
' i
11
i 'I
CHAPTER III.
TRIAL OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH,
'HEN Isaac was
born, Abraham
was a hundred
years old, and
twenty-five years
had passed since
this blessing had
been first prom-
ised to him ; and
it is perhaps difiicult to conceive the gladness
which filled the hearts of the aged pair at this
accomplishment of all their hopes.
The tenderness of the paternal heart towards
Ishmael was unabated ; but he was no longer
even mistaken for the child of the promise, no
longer Sarah's adopted son, and no longer his
father's heir by that adoption. He had be-
come the son of the bondwoman. As for
Sarah, the lad, who had appeared of some
consequence in her eyes so long as she had
no hope of a child of her own, at once became
as nothing in her sight, and what might have
been merely a passive feeling in her was turned
into bitterness and active dislike against both
Hagar and her son, by their signs of discontent
and derision at her happy lot.
At the great feast which was held on the
day that Isaac was weaned, these feelings were
so offensively manifested, that Sarah was
roused to anger, and she insisted with Abra-
ham that they should be sent away from the
camp. This demand, which she had a right
of custom to make, was very grievous to
Abraham because of his son ; but having been
assured from heaven that Ishmael, although
not the promised heir, should for his sake be-
come a special object of the Divine care, and j
that his posterity should become a mighty
nation, his reluctance subsided, and rising
early in the morning, he sent them away with
(40)
a skin of water and such other provisions as
the journey required.
It seems to have been the intention of
Hagar to return to Egypt, to which country
she belonged. But having lost her way in the
southern wilderness, she wandered to and fro,
till the water, which was to have served her
on the road, was altogether spent. The lad,
unused to hardships, was soon worn out.
Overcome with heat, fatigue, and thirst, he
seemed at the point of death, when the afflicted
mother laid him down under the shade of a
tree and withdrew to some distance that she
might not witness his dying pangs. But God
had not forgotten her. A voice was heard in
the solitude, uttering words of comfort and
promises oi peace. Thus encouraged, Hagar
hastened to her son, raised him by the hand
and refreshed him from a spring of water
which had been disclosed to her view. Paint-
ers and poets in representing this scene usually
exhibit Hagar as bearing her son in her arms,
and laying him in the shade. This is an error,
for Ishmael was then fifteen or sixteen years
of age, and, conformably with this, the voice
directed her to take him " by the hand."
After this they remained in the wilderness
attached to some one of the nomade tribes by
which it was frequented ; and here the son of
Abraham became a famous person, to whom
many of the Arabian tribes have been proud
to trace their origin.
The departure of Hagar and Ishmael re-
stored peace to the tents of Abraham ; and no
incident of importance is recorded till Isaac
had reached the age of about twenty y ,ars,
when it pleased God to subject the faith
of the patriarch to a far more terrible trial
than any»to which it had yet been subjected.
He was commanded to take his son to the
TRIAL OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH.
m
T provisions as
e intention of
wiiich country
: her way in the
ired to and fro,
ave served her
pent. The lad,
oon worn out.
and thirst, he
lien tile afflicted
tlic shade of a
itance that she
mgs. But God
ce was lieard in
)f comfort and
juraged, Hagar
im by the hand
pring of water
;r view. Paint-
is scene usually
on in her arms,
fhis is an error,
>r sixteen years
this, the voice
lie hand."
the wilderness
)made tribes by
here the son of
srson, to whom
ive been proud
land of Moriali, and there offer him up as a
sacrifice to God. However the heart of the
patriarch may have been wrung, whatever
thoughts crossed his mind, he faltered not.
which he took comfort; but the Apostle in-
forms us that, feeling assured that God, who
had promised him a posterity tiirough Isaac,
would undoubtedly perform His promise, he
HAGAR AND ISHMAKL IN THE DESERT. — Gen. Xxi. I4.
When others were in danger, he had interceded
importunately with God ; but now, when his
own happiness and the life of his son were in
question, he was silent. This was the perfec-
tion of confidence in God. We should be in
some doubt as to the precise grounds in
was persuaded that God would, if needful,
even raise Isaac from the dead after the sacri-
fice had been accomplished. Thus fortified by
victorious faith, and moved by a spirit of
obedience, he was ready to render the offering.
In the morning Abraham set out on his
r
* ^
42
ABRAHAMS SACRIFICK.
journey, attended by two servants, wlio car-
ried the wood for the liolocaust. At the end
of three days' journey Abraiiain discerned the
appointed place (supposed by many to be tl>e
Mount Moriah on which the Temple event-
ually stood), and bidding the servants remain,
he went onward with his son, who carried the
wood destined to consume his own body.
Isaac, seeing all this usual preparation for a
sacrifice, inquired concerning the victim, which
probably gave his father the opportunity of
making known the command under which he
was acting. That he did so is certain ; for he
could not by constraint have tied up the young
man and laid him upon the altar. All was
ready, the knife was uplifted to give the death-
stroke, when the voice of an angel stayed his
arm, and his attention was directed to a ram
(probably of the four-horned species), which
he gladly substituted for his son. Never were
the promises made for the Father of the
Faithful pronounced with such marked em-
phasis as in the words from heaven which re-
warded this consummate act of high belief: —
" By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for
because thou hast CDne this thing, and hast
not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in
blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I
will multiply thy seed as the stars of the
heaven, and as the sand which is upon the
seashore : and in thy seed shall all the fami-
lies of the earth be blessed, because thou hast
obeyed my voice."
An Illustrious Woniaii.
About twelve years after this Abraham lost
the companion of his long pilgrimage, Sarah,
who died at the age of one hundred and
twenty-seven years. She was buried with due
observance in the Cave of Machpelah near
Hebron, which the patriarch purchased on
this occasion, and which became the family
tomb of the patriarch. Sepulchral caves, such
as that in which Sarah was buried, are common
in the East.
Of the birth and parentage of Sarah we have
no certain account in Scripture. Abraham
speaks of her as " his sister, the daughter of
the same father, but not the slaughter of the
same mother." The common Jewish tratli-
tion is that Sarai is the same as Iscah, the
daughter of Haran, and the sister of Lot.
The change of her name from " Sarai " to
" Sarah " was made at the same time that
Abram's name was changed to Abraham, on
the establishment of the covenant of circum-
cision between him and God. That the name
" Sarah " signifies " princess " is universally
acknowledged ; but the meaning of " Sarai "
is still a subject of controversy. The older
interpreters suppose it to mean " my princess."
Others say it means " contentious." Ht his-
tory is of course that of Abraham. She came
with him from Ur to Haran, from Haran to
Canaan, and accompanied him in all the wan-
derings of his life. Her only independent ac-
tion is the demand that Hagar and Ishmael
should be cast out. The times in which she
plays the most important part in the history
are the times when Abraham was sojourning,
first in Egypt, then in Gerar, and where Sa-
rah shared his deceit towards Pharaoh and
towards Abimelech. She is referred to in the
New Testament as a type of conjugal obedi-
ence, and as one of the types of faith.
Tlio Beautiful Bride.
It is not to be wondered at that Abraham
had special regard for his son Isaac ; he was
the child of promise, and it was the land of
promise, and he watched him with particular
interest. After the death of Sarah a deep
melancholy rested on Isaac, who appears to
have been a quiet, contemplative man. Abra-
ham was convinced that marriage would be
the surest alleviation of his son's sorrow ; and,
therefore, after the manner of the times, he
sought a wife for him among his own peo-
ple. He took an old servant into council, one
whom, in the old days, when he was childless,
he had intended to make his heir, and still
recognized as the steward, or chief man of his
household; a trusty man, who was thor-
oughly reliable. To him he disclosed his
purpose. He desired that a maiden might be
chosen from the old stock; neither wealth
lie.
that Abraliam
Isaac ; he was
s the land of
vith particular
Sarah a deep
ho appears to
e man. Abra-
age would be
5 sorrow ; and,
the times, he
his own peo-
to council, one
was childless,
heir, and still
lief man of his
lio was thor-
disclosed his
liden might be
leither wealth
ABRAHAM OFFERING ISAAC. — Gen. xxii. 6.
48
ll
i :!
!i
■I '
44
THE OLD SERVANTS VOW.
nor accomplishments — on both of which we I with much solemnity to carry out, as far as
are prone to set much stress — were matters of ' he was able, the wishes of his old master;
ISAAC WELCOMING REBEKAH. — Gen. XXJV. C^.
consideration, only she must needs be one of but there was much bustle and stir in the
their own people. So the old servant vowed house, we may be sure, before the journey
ISAAC AND RKHKKAH.
45
out, as far as
s old master;
stir in the
the journey
■ — a journey of four hundred miles — was'
begun.
And now we tuny turn to the family whither
the steps of the old servant were directed.
Long years before had the patriarch quitted
the old country, but still dwelt there his
brother's tamily — a pastoral people, simple in
their habits, but prosperous in their circum-
stances. The light of the house was Rebekah
— a bright and beautiful creature, loving and
well beloved. Her activity and cheerfulness
offer an excellent example, and doubtless the
maidens who followed her would imitate their
industrious mistress ; and spinning in the hot
day, or hastening to the wells to draw water
in the cool of the evening, would feel them-
selves happy in the association with their
youthful leader.
Imagine, then, one fair summer's evening, a
troop of girls, chatting merrily, each with a
pitcher on her shoulder, sweeping forth from
the gate of a small Eastern village, and turn-
ing their steps to the wells and fountains of
waters. Around us is a picture of pure sum-
mer luxuriance and bloom ; fields of wheat
and barley stretch away to distant olive or-
chards, and here and there is a garden of or-
ange, fig, lemon, and pomegranate ; a breath
of sweet odors overflows the land, and we can
hear the plash of water as the women begin to
busy themselves with their evening toil. But
suddenly some of the girls cry out, and Re-
bekah, their leader, sees that they are not
alone.
Maidens at the Well.
By the side of an ancient stone well were
kneeling ten camels, with their attendants,
and a venerable stranger advanced towards
the maidens. It was to Rebekah he ad-
dressed himself:
" Let me sip, I pray thee, a little water out
of thy pitcher ? "
" Drink, my lord," she promptly answered,
and gave her pitcher freely. It was no un-
common request then, and it is not, in Eastern
lands, an unusual occurrence now, for thirsty
travellers to ask a drink of the young women
who come to draw water. Such civilities are
customary, so that there was nothing extraor-
dinary in the incident. But Rebekah extend-
ed her courtesy. As she looked at the wearv
camels, chewing the cud as they knelt by the
baggage, and to her apparently listening to
the sound of the water, her pity was excited.
She began, her damsels lending her gootl
help, to fill the troughs for the poor brutes.
The stranger watched every movement o(
the blooming maid, graceful as Minerva, who,
as Homer tells us, went forth to meet Ulysses,
" bearing her pitcher ; " and when the camels
had done drinking he took out a golden ring
and a pair of bracelets — presents for the bride.
He felt that he had found a fitting wife for his
master's son, but first he asked whose daugh-
ter she was. Her answer made his heart re-
joice ; she was the very relative he sought ;
she was the cousin to whose hand there was
a sort of right ; and so, without another word
of inquiry or explanation, he begged for hos-
pitality. Was there room in her father's
house for himself, his servants, and his camels
to lodge ? " Yes," she answered him, " ample
room and plenty of provender."
A Hearty Reception.
The stranger followed and those who were
with him, as the girl ran on to let them know
at home that guests were coming, and gather-
ing from her lips the news, her brother came
forth with much of beautiful, grave. Oriental,
courtesy, to give due welcome to the sl-anger.
But ere the stranger would take aught but
water he told his errand. He had come to
seek a wife for the son of a great sheik, and
their own kinsman. That aged kinsman was
exceedingly rich, and the main bulk of his
property would belong to his son. The mat-
ter pleased the family : there had been some-
thing of estrangement between the two
branches of the family, and here was accepta-
ble reunion. Strange as the whole proceeding
may seem to us, there was nothing strange to
them, and so Rebekah was to go forth and
take high place elsewhere.
But Rebekah does not go forth alone. Her
nurse, the industrious, kindly-beloved Debo-
46
THE HAPPY MARRIAGE.
rah, goes with her, so also do some of her
maidens. So she travels discreetly, and her
friends bless her, perhaps with tears, as she
goes away, saying — " May she be the mother
of thousands and millions, and may her
seed possess the gates of those which oppose
them ! "
The thoughtful and still sorrowing son of
the widowed sheik is meditating as he walks
in the fields in the cool of the day. A holy
calm on everything, and not a sound to disturb
his reflections. Suddenly he hears the chime
of the camel bells, looks up, and sees the
caravan approaching. Well he knows the
object for which the old servant was sent out,
and now he is to learn the result. A thousand
anxious thoughts may have struggled in his
mind as to what was to come. The quick
eyes of Rebekah, meanwhile, have fallen on
her future lord. She has hastened to array
herself in the long veil proper for brides before
she is presented, and when the bridegroom
meets her, with a simple and beautiful courtesy
which cannot be too much admired, he leads
her to his mother's tent, the old abiding-place
of her who was dearer to him than life.
The beauty, modesty, and worth of this
pure woman could not but win the heart of
her husband. All his love and confidence was
hers, he forgot his sorrow and was comforted;
and she was his only wife, and had to know
none of the bitter pangs and stings of jealousy
which follow a polygamous system. She was
no wife among wives, but she won the entire
and unqualified approbation of her husband,
and they were happy in each other's love.
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14
CHAPTER IV.
JACOB AND ESAU,
ORE sons, of whom
Keturah, Abra-
ham's second wife,
was the mother,
helped to complete
his household. He
lived to see them
grow up, and sent
them away to settle eastward
with suitable portions, that they
might not interfere with Isaac,
his heir and the child of the
promises. At length Abraham
died, at the age of one hundred and
seventy-five years, exactly one
hundred of which he had spent in the land
of Canaan. His great qualities and the deal-
ings of God with him, while a sojourner in
that land, have made his name one of the
most illustrious in the world — a name pre-
served more than most in the general memo-
ries of men. His name is found in the
traditions and annals of many nations.
Isaac was left the possessor of immense
wealth, of that kind which forms the posses-
sions of a pastoral chief He continued to
reside at Beersheba, without any other re-
corded trouble than the barrenness of his wife
Rebekah. But at length, after twenty years
of marriage, his prayers were heard, and two
sons were given to him at one birth. The
first born waS called Esau, and the other
Jacob ; and it had been intimated to Rebekah,
before the birth, that not the elder, but the
younger, was to be the heir of the promises.
This directs our attention to Jacob. As the
boys grew up, a marked distinction in their
habits and character appeared. Esau was of
active and rough temperament, and employed
much of his time in hunting and the use of
arms ; whereas Jacob was of quiet and seden-
tary habits, abiding in the tents, and occupied
among the flocks. Jacob was the favorite of
his mother; but Isaac had preference for
Esau, who manifested his filial duty by making
his huntings the means of providing for his
father the relishing food which his growing
infirmities required.
A famine which afflicted the part of Canaan
he inhabited inclined Isaac to withdraw into
Egypt, but a Divine intimation induced him
to go into the territories of Abimelech, the
Philistine king of Gerar. In this more com-
pact little state the presence of so great a
person was more sensibly felt than it had been
in the thinly inhabited districts in which the
patriarchs had hitherto encamped. The ex-
tent of his possessions was more clearly seen,
and the rapid increase they, by a perversity
not unusual, regarded as at their expense.
Abraham had once been in that country,
and had digged wells, which the Pliilistines,
after he withdrew, had filled up — in order to
extinguish that right to the soil which was
created by forming wells therein. These
wells were cleared out by Isaac, who also
formed new ones ; and he proceeded to culti-
vate the ground, which returned him increase
a hundred-fold. The Philistines were, how-
ever, exceedingly averse to see a right of
property in the soil created by these wells,
and their opposition compelled the patriarch
often to shift his encampment. But at length,
seeing how rapidly his wealth increased, and
believing that he was a .special object of the
Divine care, they deemed it more prudent to
cultivate his friendship. Therefore, the king,
attended by his ofllcers, repaired to the camp
(47)
4t
ES.AU SELLS HIS BIRTHRIGHT.
■ h
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11
of the patriarch, and they entered into a cove-
nant of peace in behalf of themselves and of
their heirs. Isaac was now in a position to
reap the fruits of his prudence and industry
and feel secure in his acquired possessions.
to perish with hunger. He found Jacob i)re-
paring a savory mess of pottage, the odor of
which attracted the intense longing of the
famishing hunter, and for the enjoyment of it
he readily surrendered the privileges which
Jacob's vision of angels. — Gen. xxviii. 12.
The uncertainties of the hunter's life are
strikingly illustrated by the next important
incident which we find recorded. Esau returned
one day to the tents unsuccessful, and «-eady
belonged to him as the birthright of the elde-
son. When he had leisure to reflect and to
repent, he loved not the more that brother
who, taking advantage of his needs, had ex-
JACOB AND ESAU.
49
acted so costly a price for so small a benefit.
The reckless character of Esau is further
illustrated by his taking two Hittite wives,
Judith and Bashemath, in defiance of the
wishes of his parents, whc as he could not
but know, were highly averse to any such
connection with the people of the land.
Nevertheless, the now aged patriarch still
desired to regard Esau as the heir of the
promises, and feeling hrs infirmities daily in-
crease, and his sight being entirely gone, he
deemed it high time to bestow upon his still
favorite son the important " blessing " which,
like a modern will, would make over to him
the headship of the tribe, and the temporal and
spiritual benefits which were in fact or pros-
pect connected with it. But first he desired
some of that savory venison with which his
rude son knew so well how to gratify his en-
feebled appetite.
This interval gave Rebekah, who overheard
the arrangement, an opportunity of urging her
favorite Jacob to personate his brother, and
thus add the coveted blessing to the birthright
he had already won. Jacob urged some faint
scruples, dictated more by the fear of de-
tection than by virtuous principle, and at length
consented. It was not difficult to impose upon
the dulled senses of his blind father, and he
received from him that free and full blessing
which could not be recalled. Esau soon came:
and the strong and fierce man wept like an
infant when he learned that his last hope
had been riven from him. He vowed to be
avenged ; and yet, even in his passion being
regardful of his father's peace, he postponed
his vengeance till after the patriarch's death,
which was then believed to be near at hand.
Jacob on his Journey.
Learning his purpose, Rebekah resolved to
send Jacob out of the way to her own ancient
home in Haran, where he might not only re-
main till his brother's anger had abated, but
might obtain a wife more suitable than those
which Esau had chosen. Having received the
consent and blessing of his father, Jacob set
forth alone upon his long journey. This was
necessary for his .safety — but how differently
in a former day had the s'*rvant of Abraham
gone the same way, with his gifts and his
camels, to seek a wife for Isaac.
As he slept, with a stone for a pillow, at
Bethel, he was cheered by a vision, in which
he beheld the angels ascending and descending
upon a ladder placed between earth and heaven,
above which sat an august personage who de-
clared Himself to be the God of Abraham and
Isaac, and ratified to him in the fullest manner
the blessings originally promised to them.
This was accompanied by assurances and en-
couragements suited to his present circum-
stances, which filled him with gratitude, and
gave him such a lively sense of the Divine
providence, that he left Bethel a wiser and
more single-minded man, and with a lightened
heart pursued his way to Padan-Aram.
On arriving at the well outside the town,
Jacob entered into conversation with some
shepherds who were there to water their
flocks, and heard from them some particulars
concerning the family he had come to visit.
While they talked, Rachel, the younger
daughter of Laban, and therefore Jacob's first
cousin, came to the well to water the home-
flock, which was under her charge. The
stranger assisted the damsel in watering her
flock, and then made himself known to her,
and accompanied her to the house of her
father, where he was most cordially received.
Laban soon perceived the great skill and ex-
perience of Jacob in " the shepherds' gentle
trade," and gladly entered into an agreement
with Jacob to give him his daughter Rachel as
the reward of seve years' service. The mar-
riage was accordingly celebrated with great
rejoicings; but, by some deception, Laban
contrived to substitute his elder dauglitcr
Leah, for whom Jacob cared little, in the
place of Rachel ; and, when reproached with
his conduct, alleged that the custom of the
country did not allow the younger to be mar-
ried before the elder sister. He, however, of-
fered him Rachel also for seven more years of
his services, and, rather ihan be without one
whom he so tenderly loved, Jacob consented.
60
SERVING SEVEN YEARS FOR RACHEL.
r
■i' !
The depth of his afibction for Rachel is beau-
tifully suggested by the sacred historian in
one of those simple but most natural strokes
of moral portraiture which are seldom found
out of the sacred book. " Jacob served seven
years for Rachel : and they seemed unto him
a few days, for the love he bore to her."
This preference for Rachel led Jacob to treat
Leah with some indifference or neglect; in
consequence of which the Lord made Leah
the object of his favor and gave her children,
which were denied to Rachel. This induced
Rachel to make use of her hand-maid Bilhah,
in the same capacity in which Hagar had been
used by Sarah. Leah followed the example
by making the same use of her handmaid
Zilpah. By both there were children, and at
length Rachel Iierself was blessed with a son,
who received the name of Joseph.
Jacob's Riches.
More than satisfied with the services of
Jacob, and well assured that the flocks had
been much advantaged by his superintendence,
Laban still desired to avail himself of his ser-
vices after the fourteen years had expired;
and Jacob on his part was not unwilling to re-
main on any terms which afforded him a pros-
pect of acquiring a provision for his family.
It was then settled that Jacob, for the services
of seven other years, should be paid in kind,
by reserving for his own use such of the sheep
and goats as might happen to be parti-colored,
which is not usual in any flocks, and very un-
usual in those of the East. In consequence
of this arrangement, the flock under the charge
of Jacob was carefully severed from that to
which Laban and his sons attended; and
thenceforth whenever a parti-colored lamb or
kid was born in the flock of Jacob, he set it
apart as his own. Through the special provi-
dence of God, who at Bethel had promised to
care for and make prosperous the grandson of
Abraham, an extraordinary proportion of parti-
colored animals was thenceforth born, ^d soon
furnished a large flock, which Jacob committed
to the separate charge of his elder sons. By
the time the seven years had expired, this
flock had increased amazingly, and with its
produce Jacob had been enabled to obtain
large possessions of what usually constitutes
the wealth of a pastoral chief—" much cattle,
and men-servants, and maid-servants, and
camels, and asses."
It was well known to Jacob that his pros-
perity was regarded with no pleasure by Laban
and his sons, who deemed all his gains as so
much loss to them. He thence became appre-
hensive that any attempt to remove with his
property would be resisted ; and as he was
now resolved to return to the land of Canaan,
irom which he had so long been absent, he
went away secretly while Laban was at the
distance of three days' journey. A pastoral
migration, with slow-going sheep, young ani-
mals, women, and infants, can never be a very
rapid movement. Hence we are not surprised
to find that he was overtaken by Laban by
the time he reached the Mountains of Gilead.
We may be sure that Laban's purposes were
not very amicable. But the night before he
came up with Jacob, he was warned in a dream
to take heed how he molested one for whom
God cared. This changed his purpose; but
being now so near, he went on, and joined the
migrant party while at rest.
A Charge of Theft.
His sterner purposes now sunk to sharp
complaints and strong expostulations that no
opportunity had been afforded him of embrac-
ing his daughters and grandchildren, and of
sending them away with music and with song.
He also complained that his gods — certain
figures called " Teraphim," used as domestic
idols — had been stolen from him by some of
Jacob's party. This charge was indignantly
repelled by Jacob, who gave him authority to
search for them, and denounced death upon
any person in whose possession they might be
found. Little did he know in what peril he
thus put his beloved Rachel : for she had
them; having secreted them for some un-
known but probably superstitious motive.
They were hid in the furniture of her camel ;
and as this formed her seat in the tent, they
JACOB AND ESAU.
51
that his pros-
is u re by Laban
lis gains as so
became appre-
nove with his
nd as he was
ind of Canaan,
:en absent, he
an was at the
/. A pastoral
ep, young ani-
lever be a very
e not surprised
by Laban by
ains of Gilead.
escaped the search of her father, who returned
Jacob's next care was concerning Esau, with
home the next day, after having entered into whose present state of mind towards him he
MEETING OF JACOB AND ESAU. — Gen. XXXili. 4.
solemn covenants of peace and good will with
the man he had so wrathfully pursued.
was by no mer.ns acquainted. But he knew
that he had established himself in the region
!::
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52
PREVAILING PRAYER.
of Mount Seir, and had there acquired great
power as a military chief. He deemed it pru-
dent to send a most respectfully worded mes-
sage, apprising him of his return home. The
messengers returned with no other intimation
than that Esau himself was coming to meet
him with four hundred men. This intimation
filled Jacob with real and well-grounded alarm.
He made the best arrangements in his power
to meet the exigency, with the view, on the
one hand, of mollifying his brother, and, on
the other, of securing the retreat of his troop
(consisting of the women and children), in case
the van should be assaulted by Esau's troop.
He then sent his people across the river Jab-
bok, and remained behind himself, probably for
the sake of that solitary " communing with
God " in which the Hebrew patriarchs found
so much of their strength and safety.
Wrestling with the Angel.
Here he was comforted and encouraged by
the deep meanings of a mysterious conflict
with an angel of God, who seemed unable to
prevail over Jacob till he put forth a super-
natural power, and disabled him for the time,
by causing the sinew of his thigh to shrink
when he laid his hand thereon. It was then
that the name of Jacob, " supplanter," was
changed to Israel, " a prince of God," — " Be-
cause (said the angel) as a prince hast thou
power with God and with men, and hast pre-
vailed."
Halting still upon his thigh, but greatly en-
couraged, the patriarch passed over the river
as the morning rose, and, on reaching the top
of the opposite bank, beheld Esau and liis
troop approaching in the distance. Whatever
may have been the intentions of that rude but
not ungenerous person, he was fairly softened
by the marks of respect and consideration
which he received, as he passed along the pur-
posely extended line of flocks, and herds, and
shepherds : and when at length he came up
with Jacob, who bowed before him — as one
doubting of his reception and his doom — he
could contain himself no longer, but " ran to
meet him, and embraced him, and fell upon
his neck and kissed him : — and they wept."
Blessed tears were these: — the tears of a full
heart : " tears such as angels shed," if angels
ever weep.
Esau would very willingly have escorted
Jacob the rest of his way ; but the latter, in-
tending to proceed very leisurely, respectfully
declined the ofier, and his brother then re-
turned to Mount Seir, which continued for
many ages to be ruled, and was in a great
mea-^ure peopled, by his descendants, and hence
obtained the name of the land of Edom and
of Idumaea.
Before he crossed the Jordan, some stay was
made by Jacob at Succoth, where his camp
was formed of booths or sheds, made of the
wood which was then, and is even now, abun-
dant in that quarter.
On crossing the river, he did not at once
rejoin his father, who was still living, but pro-
ceeded to the vale of Shechem, where Abraham
also had formed his first encampment in the
land of Canaan. Here he remained until the
terrible vengeance, which was taken upon the
people of Shechem, by the sons of Jacob, for
an outrage upon their sister Dinah, made it
prudent for him to quit that neighborhood.
He went to Bethel. There he built an altar,
and worshipped God, in grateful remembrance
of the encouragements which had been on
that spot vouchsafed him on his way to Padan-
aram.
After this, Jacob journeyed southward to
visit his father. On the way, when near Beth-
lehem, his beloved Rachel died in giving birth
to a second son, whom the mother, in her
dying grief, called Benoni, " son of my sorrow,"
but which name the father afterwards changed
to Benjamin, " son of my right hand." A
tomb, of Moslem construction, called " Rachel's
Sepulchre," at this day marks the supposed
place of her burial.
After about thirty years' absence, Jacob at
length joined his aged father Isaac, who was
then at the old encampment of the family at
Mamre, near Hebron. Isaac himself survived
the reunion with his son several years, and died
at the age of one hundred and eighty years.
CHAPTER V.
THE THRILLING STORY OF JOSEPH
(- OMING now to Jacob's
sons, we notice that
particular interest sur-
rounds Joseph, the
first, and for a long
while the only son
of his much loved
Rachel. Jacob's fam-
ily consisted of twelve
sons, the founders of
the Twelve Tribes of
Israel. Their names
were Reuben, Simeon,
Levi, Judah, Issachar,
and Zebulon, sons of
Leah ; Gad and Asher, sons of Zilpah, Leah's
handmaid; Dan and Naphtali, sons of Bilhah,
Rachel's handmaid; Joseph and Benjamin,
sons of Rachel.
Joseph was far more dear to his father than
any of his other sons. He made no secret of
this, as a wise father would perhaps have done.
Nay, rather he gloried in making it known,
and even went so far as to clothe him in a
peculiarl)'- handsome dress — " a coat of many
colors," as a mark of favor and distinction.
These marks of partiality were very displeas-
ing to Joseph's brothers, and made him odious
in their eyes. These feelings were .strengthened
by certain dreams which Joseph dreamed in
early youth, and which- seemed to prefigure
some unimaginable superiority and greatness
to him. At one time they were binding
sheaves in the field, when, lo ! their sheaves
rose up and made obeisance to his sheaf At
another time, the sun, the moon, and the
eleven stars made obeLsance to him. Another
cause of dislike was found' in the fact that
when they had been abroad with the flocks,
Joseph was in the habit of reporting to his
father their misconduct, and of bringing upon
them the dreaded rebuke of their parent.
One day, when Joseph was about seventeen
years old, he was sent by his father, who had
kept him at home, to seek his brethren, who
had for some time been out in distant pastures,
and bring back an account of their welfare.
Joseph found them at Dothan. They knew
him afar off by his coat of many colors, and
immediately began to plot against his life.
They had certainly killed him on the spot, but
for some scruple suggested by Reuben of shed-
ding a brother's blood. They therefore cast
him into a dry cistern, intending to leave him
there to perish, and to inform their father that
he had been destroyed by a wild beast. Such
an act as theirs shows the wild, barbarous
spirit that prevailed at that time.
Soon after, however, they observed the ap-
proach of a caravan of Arabian merchants,
proceeding with balm and other precious
drugs to Egypt, and it immediately struck
them that they might quite as safely, less
guiltily, and with some profit besides, dispose
of the unhappy Joseph by selling him for a
slave to these travelling dealers. They ac-
cordingly drew him up out of the pit and sold
him for twenty pieces of silver. They then
took his coat, the envied coat of many colors,
and, aftei dipping it in the blood of a
slaughtered kid, they sent it to their father.
The agonized father immediately received the
conviction they desired. " It'is my son's coat
(he said) ; an evil beast hath devoured him :
Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces ! " He
mourned long and sorely for his lost son ; and
when at length time brought some calm to his
feelings, he remained faithful in his affection
for Rachel.
Meanwhile, Joseph was taken down to
Egypt, and was there sold to one of the officers
of the royal court. In this country there then
(63)
54
JOSEPHS INTEGRITY.
11
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existed an imperial court, with a minutely
org.inized government, an ecclesiastical estab-
lishment, a military force, and civil institutions
— all bearing the stamp of an advanced stage
of civilization, and of a condition of society
very different from that which we have left
behind us in Palestine.
Joseph's diligence, probity, attention, and
fine qualities soon recommended him to his
there was no hope, the woman's love turned
to vengeful hatred, and she resolved to effect
his ruin. To this end nothing seemed to her
more effectual than to accuse him of attempt-
ing the very crime into which she had vainly
endeavored to draw him. And it was effectual ;
for Potiphar was wroth, and cast his slave into
prison. But even in prison Joseph's useful
talents and engaging disposition still availed
Joseph's dream of the sun, moon and eleven stars. — Gen. xxxvii. g.
master, Potiphar, in whose confidence he rose
so high, that all the affairs of the household
were eventually left in his hands.
Now Joseph was a very handsome man,
and it happened that he attracted the too
favorable notice of his master's wife. She
tempted him to sin. But he remembered his
God, he remembered the generous confidence
of his master, and firmly refused. Seeing
him. He soon acquired the entire confidence
of the governor of the prison, who gave all
the other prisoners into his charge.
Among those who were sent into the prison
after Joseph had been thus favored, were two
important officers of Pharaoh's court, his chief
butler, .and his chief cook, or baker, who,
from the nature of their offices, we should
suppose to have been accused of some attempt
i fji
THRILLING STORY OF JOSKPH.
M
to poison their royal master in his food or
drink, and had thereby incurred his ill-will.
Troiiblcsonio DrcaiiiH.
Dreams have always been much regarded
in the East ; and one night the butler and
baker both had dreams which troubled them
greatly. The butler dreamed that, in the dis-
ciiarge of his office, he presented the wine-cup
into Pharaoh's hand ; the baker dreamed that
he was carrying upon his head baked meats
for the royal table, when the birds of the air
descended and carried them away. Joseph
interpreted the dreams to signify that before
three days had passed the butler should be
restored to his office, and the baker put to
death. And so it happened. On Pharaoh's
birthday inquiry was made into the matter,
and the baker was beheaded, and the butler
was restored to his place. Joseph had ear-
nestly repcesented his case to this butler, and
had implored him to use his recovered influ-
ence in his behalf. But the prosperous have
little remembrance for the unhappy : and the
butler altogether forgot Joseph, until, in the
good providence of God, an occasion arose
which brought him to remembrance.
The king himself was troubled with two
dreams, which, although composed of differ-
ent materials, were obviously one as to any
import which might be collected from theiv..
In the first, Pharaoh thought that, as he stood
beside the fertilizing Nile, seven fair and full-
fleshed kine came up out of the water, and
were feeding in a meadow, when seven gaunt
and lean kine came up after them, and de-
voured them all. Then, seven ears of good
and full-bodied corn seemed to spring up, all
upon one stalk ; and after a while came up
seven thin and starveling ears, by which the
former were eaten up. Yet the lean kine and
the lean ears were none the better for that
which they had eaten. These dreams seemed
to have some unusually marked significance,
and Pharaoh sent for the wise men of Egypt,
requiring of them an interpretation. But this
dream was beyond the depth even of their
pretensions, and they could give none.
This brought to the butler's mind the He-
brew prisoner, who.se interpretation of his own
and the baker's dreams had been so remark-
ably fulfilled. He mentioned the circumstances
to the king, who instantly sent to require his
presence. Hastily shaving himself and put-
ting on becoming raiment, Joseph accompanied
the messengers to the palace. The king re-
lated his dreams ; and Joseph said they were
to be regarded as warnings from God of com-
ing events, against which suitable provision
should be made. The dreams denoted, first,
seven years of great and unexampled plenty,
to be followed by seven years of excessive
dearth.
Joseph Providing for Famine.
He therefore very sagely counselled that
the superabundant grain of the fertile year^
should be bought up by the government, and
stored for use during the years of famine ; and
he ventured to suggest that some able and
discreet man should be appointed, with proper
officers under him, to give effect to this great
operation throughout the country. Then said
Pharaoh — " Forasmuch as God has showed
thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise
as thou art. Thou shalt be over my house,
and according unto thy word shall all my
people be ruled: only in the throne will I be
greater than thou." Saying this, the great
king took from his finger the signet-ring, the
impress of which gave the force of royal au-
thority to any decree or order on which it was
placed ; and then he caused him to be arrayed
in robes of honor ; upon his neck was also
placed a chain of gold, by which we are
doubtless to understand one of those rich or-
naments of wrought gold, such as are in the
Egyptian monuments seen upon the necks of
kings and nobles. Thus gloriously arrayed,
Joseph — whom the morning saw a prisoner
and a slave — was placed in the second of the
royal chariots of state, and conducted in
grand procession through the streets of the
metropolis, while the heralds proclaimed be-
fore him the honors to which he had been
raised.
Joseph having thus been naturalized, and
oe
FROM A PIT TO A PALACK.
been unusual for foreigners .nnd slaves to rise
havinj,' received the name and dress of an
Egyptian, was no ionger regarded in that to such distinctions. No doubt Joseph was
JOSEPH SOLD INTO EGYPT. — GcH. XXXVli. 38.
country as a foreigner, but as a noble and a well able to support the high position in which
minister of state. In the East it has never he now appeared. Thirteen of the best years
THE THRILLING STORY OF JOSEPH.
67
of his life had been spent in E^ypt : and this
time would have more than sufficed for a man
of much less aptitude and talent than Joseph
to acquire an intimate acquaintance with the
manners and ianguape of the pi le among
whom his lot had been cast. Uiu tiling he
wanted — family connections and the influence
wliich tiiey would give in the country — and,
aljove all, such connection with the priestly
caste, which was then and long after aHqjower-
ful in Egypt. One unconnected with this
caste could not long hope to maintain his
influence, or to work out his plans without
opposition and hindrance. The king of Egypt
felt this very strongly, and therefore lost no
time in securing to Joseph the undisturbed
enjoyment of the rank and power to which lie
had raised him, by bestowing upon him in
marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah,
priest of On, which place wa.s afterwards
known among Greek writers by the name of
Heliopolis,
A Name Cut in 8toiie.
The account of that part of tiie Bible history
which contains the sojourn of the Hebrews in
Egypt has of late years received interesting
illustrations — we say not confirmation, for it
needed none — from the Egyptian monuments,
and from critical researches in history. From
such sources we now know that Potipherah
means " he who belongs to the sun ; " it is a
very common name on the monuments, and
especially appropriate for the priest of On.
We also know that among the Egyptian
colleges of priests the one at On took the pre-
cedence, and consequently that the high-priest
of On must have borne the first rank among
that powerful body. The great antiquity of
religious worship at On is also attested by the
monuments. Wilkinson says, " During the
reign of Osirtasen (whom he makes contem-
porary with Moses) the temple of Heliopolis
was either founded or received additions, and
one of the obelisks bearing his name evinces
the skill to which they had attained in the
difficult art of sculpturing granite."
The part which the king himself took in
bringing about this marriage is satisfactorily
accounted for, when we remember that the
sovereigns of Egypt were invested with the
highest sacerdotal dignity, and were therefore
not merely the civil, br* the ecclesiastical su- ,
periors of the whole j)riest''ood. By .his
marriage Joseph had tvv > son.' Mana seh and
Ephraim. .
During the seven years of plen y Egypt
was carefully subjected to the com- : of opei ■
tions which Joseph had at first recommend .'■
to the king of ICgypt. He made a i » r
through the country to organize the operation
of purchasing and storing up tur ; ;dundant
produce, and to see that his ii tent, is were
properly executed. The superabundant pro-
duce of every district was storetl away in
granaries in the towns of that district : and we
are told, " Joseph gathered corn as the sand
of the sea, very much, until he kit number-
ing, for it was without number." These labors
of Joseph are placed vividly before u:^ in the
paintings upon the monuments, which show
how common the .store-house was in ancient
Egypt. In the tomb of Amenemhe at Beni-
Hassen there is the painting of a great store-
house, before whosi ;. .or lies a large heap of
grain, already winno.ved. The measurer fills
a bushel in order to pour it into the uniform
sacks of those who carry the grain to the corn
magazine. T iie carriers go to the door of the
store-he 15 . and lay down the sacks before an
officer who stands ready to receive the corn.
This is the overseer of the store-house. Near
by stands the bushel with which it is meas-
ured, and the registrar who takes the account.
At the side of the windows there are char-
acters which indicate the quantity of the mass
which is deposited in the magazine. Compare
this with the indication in the verse just cited,
that the stored grain was carefully measured,
until the enormous quantity of the increase
would not allow this to be done.
The Nation Crying for Bread.
But at the predicted time this plenty ceased,
and was followed by the most terrible scarcity
which had ever been known. This also lasted
seven years. But there was plenty of corn in
the store-houses; and as long as the Egyp-
58
THREATENINGS AT LAST FULFILLED.
ill
ii ■
I
3, ..t '
tians had money with which to purchase out
of the government stores, all was well. But
when all the money of Egypt had found its
way into the royal coffers, the nation cried to
the government for bread. A nation could
not be allowed to starve while the granaries
were still full of corn. The king left the
matter in the hands of Joseph, who agreed
to take their cattle in exchange for corn.
This resource lasted them a year ; when
nothing remained to the people but "their
bodies and their lands," they cried, " Buy us
and our lands for bread, and we and our lands
will be servants unto Pharaoh." Joseph took
them at their word, and on these terms under-
took to feed them to the end of the famine.
The whole dispersed populatica was then re-
moved into the towns containing the grana-
ries, that the corn might be conveniently doled
out to them; and in the last year of the
famine seed was given to them, with which
they might sow, and resume the cultivation
of their lands, as tenants of the crown, at a
rent of one-fifth of the produce.
Jacob Sends his Sons to Egrypt.
This famine was not felt in Egypt only, but
throughout all the neighboring regions. It
was felt in the land of Canaan, and the family
of Jacob soon began to suffer from lack of
corn. It then transpired that corn might be
obtained in Egypt ; and Jacob lost no time in
sending his sons — all except Benjamin —
across the desert for the needful supply.
It seems that the permission to purchase
corn was only granted to such foreigners as
obtained special permission from Joseph, be-
fore whom, therefore, the ten brethren were
bound to make their appearance. The
ancient dreams began, in the mysterious
providence of God, to be fulfilled, when they
bowed themselves low and reverently before
this august personage, " the lord of the
country," little conceiving that he was the
brother whom they had so long ago sold for
a slave, and supposed to be long since dead.
Him they could not know : But he knew them
at once, and controlled with a strong effort
the generous emotions which filled his bosom.
Ignorant of their present state of feeling, he
was apparently alarmed at the absence of his
own brother Benjamin. He could not but
fear that they might have acted treacherously
towards him also ; and this probably induced
him to make those experiments upon their
present dispositions which form so remark-
able a portion of this striking history.
By assuming an austere manner and charg-
ing them as spies, he succeeded in eliciting
from them such an account of themselves, as
informed him that his aged father was still
living, and that his brother Benjamin tarried
with him at home. The governor of Eg}'pt
could not but have been touched when they
described themselves as " twelve brevhren, the
sons of one man in the land of Canaan ; and
behold the youngest is this day with our
father, and one is not."
Still, however, maintaining the tone he had
assumed, Joseph persisted in his charge, and
required as a proof of their statement that
one of their number should be sent back for
the absent brother, while the rest were de-
tained as prisoners in Egypt. They were
then thrust away ignominiously to the prison-
house, and kept there the following night.
But in the morning Joseph again sent for
them, and in a milder tone they were assured
that, if they were indeed true men, no harm
should happen to them ; and it was decided
that they should all be allowed to go back ex-
cepting one, who should be detained as
hostage for their return to Egypt with their
youngest brother. Dismayed at the predica-
ment in which they had become involved, the
brethren looked one upon another, and tb.c
same thought rose at once to their minds, that
at length the cry of their brother's blood had
been heard in heaven ; and that at length the
punishment of their sin had come upon them.
This they said aloud to one another in their
own language ; and little did they think that
the illustrious person before whom they
were heard and understood, and that their
words struck upon his heart : he turned away
and wept.
;d his bosom,
of feeling, he
bsence of his
ould not but
treacherously
jably induced
:s upon their
1 so remark-
story.
er and charg-
d in eliciting
:hemselves, as
ther was still
jamin tarried
lor of Egypt
:d when they
brevhren, the
Canaan ; and
lay with our
JOSEPH MAKING HIMSELF KNOWN TO HIS BRETHREN. — Gen. xlv. 4.
(59)
60
JACOB'S GRIEF.
The brethren departed, leaving Simeon be-
hind. The sacks which they had brought
were filled with corn, and a further supply for
the road was given to them. Thus they re-
turned to their father ; and on opening their
several sacks, were astonished and somewhat
alarmed to find in them not only the grain,
but the money which they had paid for it.
This in some degree confirmed the report
which they made to their father of the strange
and harsh conduct of the man — the lord of the
country. Jacob, however, could not endure
the iJea of sending Benjamin with them to
Egypt : " Me have ye bereaved of my chil-
dren," said he, mournfully: "Joseph is not,
and Simeon is not, and now ye will take. Ben-
jamin away : all these things are against me!"
But he was mistaken. All these things were
for him. All were working together for the
good of him and his.
Taking Back the Money.
The question stood over for a time; but
when the supply of corn was exhausted the
matter could no longer be delayed. The
brethren were in too much dread of the aus-
tere personage in Egypt to yield to the press-
ing instances of their father, who urged them
to go without Benjamin ; and, finding that their
firmness in this point could not be overcome,
he gave a reluctant and sorrowing consent.
This time no precaution was omitted which
was deemed likely to soothe and satisfy the
harsh " ruler of Egypt." They took back
again the money which had been found in
their sacks ; and they bore from Jacob a pres-
ent of the choice products of Palestine, which
he knew must be acceptable in Egypt. It
consisted of" a little balm, a little honey, spices,
and myrrh, pistachio-nuts, and almonds."
They returned to Egypt and stood once
more in the presence of Joseph. No sooner
did he perceive them and discover that his
Benjamin, the son of his mother, was among
them, than he directed his steward to " slay,
and make ready" a sufficient feast, for that
all these men should dine with him at noon.
They were accordingly conducted to the great
man's residence, where water was given them
to vvash their weary feet. Joseph came home
at noon, and finding them in waiting, spoke to
them. He asked if their father, the old man
of whom they had told him, was well ; and
they bowed themselves very low, and an-
swered, " Thy servant, our father, is in good
health." He then seemed first to observe
Benjamin, and asked, " Is this your younger
brother, of whom ye spake unto me ? " and,
without waiting an answer, said, " God bless
thee, my son : " and then, dreading to display
his mastering emotions, he hastily withdrew,
to give vent to them in his chamber.
Singular Ciistonis.
At the dinner which followed it seems that,
although the brethren sat in the same room,
they did not sit and eat together with Joseph,
who sat apart by himself, while his Egyptian
friends also sat apart by themselves. The
reason for this is given : " Because the Egyp-
tians might not eat bread with the Hebrews ;
for that is an abomination to the Egyptians."
Not merely as Hebrews, however, but as for-
eigners. And this is remarkably in accordance
with Herodotus, who tells us that the Egyp-
tians abstained from all familiar intercourse
with foreigners, since these were unclean to
them, because they slew and ate the animals
which were sacred among the Egyptians.
Th. Joseph also sat alone, and not with the
other Egyptians, is strictly in accordance with
the great difference of rank and with the spirit
of caste which prevailed among the Egyp-
tians.
The brethren were placed according to their
seniority by the steward of the household,
from the secret intimations of Joseph ; and at
this they were much astonished, as the dif-
ference of age between many of them was too
slight to be distinguishable in their persons.
A mess for each was sent from the table be-
fore Joseph, and, according to Eastern custom,
he distinguished Benjamin by sending five
times as much to him as to the others. The
manner in which the Egyptians sat at meat,
by ones or twos, at small, low tables, is pictured
THE THRILLING STORY OF JOSEPH.
dl
in the ancient tombs, and throws much light
on this description.
Notwithstanding this apparent friendliness
of their illustrious host, the sons of Jacob were
by no means free from anxiety and alarm.
They were, therefore, exceedingly glad when
they found themselves safely on the road
jiome the next day, laden with the desired
corn, their hostage Simeon having been re-
stored to them. Their joy was of short dura-
tion; for they were soon overtaken by the
well-known steward of Joseph's household,
who roughly charged them with having stolen
his master's silver cup — " the cup out of which
my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he di-
vineth." This last clause may require ex-
planation. Jamblichus, in his book on " Egyp-
tian Mysteries," mentions the practice of
divining by cups; and that this superstition,
together with many others, has survived from
the most ancient times, is shown by a remark-
able passage in " Norden's Travels." When
this author, with his companions, had arrived
at'Dehr, the most remote extremity of Egypt,
or rather in Nubia, where they were able to
deliver themselves from a perilous situation
by great presence of mind, they sent one of
their company to a malicious and powerful
Arab to threaten him. He answered, " I
know what sort of people you are. I have
consulted my cup, and found in it that you
are from a people of whom one of our prophets
has ';aid : There will come Franks under every
kind of pretence to spy out the land," the very
same charge that was alleged against Jacob's
sons.
The Silver Cup.
Tiie sons of Jacob felt themselves deeply
wronged by such a charge, of which every
one nmong them knew himself to be entirely
innoccnL. They invited a search, and loudly
consigned to death every one with whom the
cup might be found, declaring that they also
would then remain the slaves of Joseph. But
tlie steward waived this excess of zeal, by
declaring that only the actual thief should re-
main a bondman, and the rest should be
blameless. The search then began. The
sacks were opened in succession, beginning
with that of the eldest, and not small was
their triumph as sack after sack was opened
without the missing property being found.
But fearfully was their triumph checked when
the steward produced the silver cup from the
last of the sacks which he had examined —
the sack of Benjamin. It had been placed
there by the steward himself, on the order of
his master.
Now came the trying point, by which
Joseph was to know whether twenty-two
years had passed over them in vain. He per-
haps expected that they would abandon
Benjamin to his fate, and hasten home. It
was far otherwise. It is not clear whether
they believed or not that Benjamin had stolen
the cup. They probably believed it ; and in
that case their conduct appears the more en-
titled to admiration.
They thought of their father, and of his
last words : — " If mischief befall him [Ben-
jamin] by the way which ye go, then shall
ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to
the grave." They rent their clothes in the
anguish of their hearts, and, hastily relading
their beasts, returned with their brother to the
city.
Joseph Making Himself Known.
On reaching Joseph's house, they fell on
the ground before him, and, in answer to his
stern rebuke, they repeated the proposal they
had befofe made — that all should remain his
bondmen ; but they did not this time suggest
that the actual criminal should die. But
Joseph declared that this would be unjust :
he would detain the culprit, but they were
free to depart. This drew forward Judah,
who had in an especial manner made himself
responsible to his father for the safe return of
Benjamin ; and it was probably the confidence
of Jacob in his strength of character, that
drew from him the reluctant consent which he
at length gave that Benjamin should share the
perils of the journey.
Never was the confi ei^ce of a father in the
high qualities and the .;onor of a son more
'^'
M
I
■1
62
JOSEPH SENDS FOR BENJAMIN.
worthily bestowed. Judah stood forward,
and, in a strain of tlie most powerful and
touching eloquence, stated the case exactly as
it stood with respect to his father and Benja-
min, in a manner full of those natural touches
and circumstances which go home to every
heart, and which a heart so tenderly interested
as that of Joseph could not possibly with-
stand. He concluded with imploring that
Benjamin might be allowed to return, and
that he, who had become the surety for him,
might remain a bondman in his stead. Over-
come by the emotions which the speech of
Judah had roused, Joseph could no longer
support "the part he had been acting. He
wept aloud, and made himself known tc them
— " I am Joseph. — Doth my father yet live ? "
Perceiving the confusion which this announce-
ment produced among them, he hastened to
reassure them and to relieve their minds, by
declaring his conviction that they, in follow-
ing the impulses of their blind will, had been
the unconscious instruments of accomplishing
the purposes of God, whose providence had
marked out for him the greatness to which he
had attained, and the high duties which he
had accomplished. He then proceeded to
explain to them the length of time which the
dearth was still to continue : and that the only
course for them was to migrate to Egypt,
where it would be in his power to provide
every comfort and convenience for them
during this terrible and trying season. He
apprised them, however, that "every shepherd
was an abomination to the Egyptians ; " on
which account he would procure a district
called " the land of Goshen " to be assigned
them, in which they might live apart, and
follow their own pastoral modes of life.
We have seen that foreigners, as such, were
disliked by the Egyptians; and we may
understand the further aversion, now in-
timated, to apply particularly to those foreign-
ers who followed the pastoral mode of life,
and whose aggressive character (as at present
in the Bedouin Arabs) and unsettled habits
rendered them odious to the Egyptians.
That shepherds of every kind were despised
by that people is shown by the fact that the
artists of Upper and Lower Egypt vie with
each other in caricaturing them whenever
their figures are introduced in the pictured
tombs. Joseph ended his explanation by
embracing and weeping over his brother Ben-
jamin without restraint. He kissed them all,
and they then talked more calmly together.
It was gratifying to know that when the
news transpired that Joseph's brethren had
come, every one was pleased at a circumstance
calculated to give him satisfaction. The king
himself shared this pleasure, and, on receiving
an explanation from Joseph, he expressed
much kind interest in the welfare and preser-
vation of the family, and directed that every
facility should be given for their migration to
Egypt and their settlement in Goshen.
« I Will Go nnd See Him Before I Die."
Well supplied with provisions for the
journey, and with cars in which the women
and children might be the more conveniently
removed, the brethren set out with lightened
hearts for the land of Canaan. As they drew
near the patriarchal camp, some of them
hastened on to announce the glad tidings to
their father. This they did somewhat ab-
ruptly: — "Joseph (said they) is yet alive, and
he is governor over all the land of Egypt ! "
The aged man could not readily believe this,
and " his heart fainted within him." But they
proceeded to explanations ; and when ' >- w a
confirmation of their marvellous sL jry in the
approach of the carriages, he could no longer
disbelieve : his spirit revived, and he said, " It
is enough — Joseph my son is yet alive — I will
go and see him before I die."
Accordingly Jacob began his journey to
Egypt, with all his family and all his posses-
sions. On the way he paused at the old
station of his family in Beersheba, and offered
sacrifices to God upon the altar where his
fathers had worshipped. In the following
night, God appeared to him, and encouraged
him in the important movement he was then
making. He was assured that his family
should in Egypt grow rapidly into a nation,
1 » I
HI
THE THRILLING STORY OF JOSEPH.
63
ore I Die.»»
and as a nation should go forth thence
to take possession of the land of Canaan.
Thus cheered, Jacob proceeded on his way to
the land of Goshen, on the borders of which
lie was met by his long-lost and late-restored
son, who had hastened in his chariot to meet
him when apprised of his approach.
Who shall describe the emotions of that
great interview? The sacred historian does
not attempt it. He simply tells us that Joseph
[ Pharaoh. The king asked them about their
j occupation ; and they answered, " Thy ser-
vants are shepherds, both we and also our
fathers." The king then told Jo.seph to place
them in the land of Goshen, or in any other
part of Egypt that seemed best to him ;
adding, "^nd if thou knowest any men of
activity among them, make them rulers over
my cattle." Subsequently Jacob himself had
an audience of the king, who, struck by his
EMBALMING THE BODY OF JOSEPH
" presented himself" (reverently) before his
father, and then " he fell on his neck and
wept on his neck a good while ; " and so soon
as strong feeling left vent for words, Israel
said to Joseph, " Now, let me die, since
I have seen thy face, because thou art yet
alive ! "
Not long after, Joseph introduced five of
his brethren to the king. Hi doubtless
selected those whose appearance he deemed
likely to make a favorable impression upon
venerable appearance, asked him, " How old
art thou ? " And Jacob answered, " The days
of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred
and thirty years : few and evil have the days of
the years of my life been, and have not attained
unto the days of the years of the life of my
fathers in the days of their pilgrimage." The
respect for honorable age was strong in Egypt :
and it is observable that Jacob was granted a
separate audience ; that he omitted the usual
formula of address, " thy servant ; " and that,
64
DEATH OF JACOB.
»1(
t i I
i;
l u
1 1
4
, i
as became a man of his age, he "blessed
Pharaoh " on quitting his presence.
Now the seven years of famine were suc-
ceeded by many years of great and compensa-
ting plenty; but the position of Joseph does
not appear to have been in anywise affected by
the cessation of the special service^for which
power had been given to him. There is no
intimation that down to the time of his death
his influence in the government of Egypt had
been in any respect impaired.
A Pathetic Scene.
About seventeen years after the family of
Israel had been settled in Goshen, the news of
his father's illness induced Joseph to hasten
thither with his two sons Manasseh and Eph-
raim. The dying patriarch raised himself up
in his bed to receive his ever best beloved son.
After mutual endearments, Jacob related to
his son the promises of God, from which he
gathered the assured conviction that his pos-
terity was to become a great nation, destined
not to remain in Egypt, but to inherit the land
promised to him and to his fathers. This,
while it reminded Joseph of the true position
of his family in Egypt — that of sojourners, and
not settlers — enhanced the value of his de-
clared intention to adopt the two sons of
Joseph as his own children, thereby to give to
him a double share through them in the heritage.
The eyesight of Jacob had failed from very
age — but he became aware that others were
present, and being told by Joseph " They are
my sons, whom God hath given me in this
place," he desired them to be brought near to
him. He kissed and embraced them with all
the tenderness of one who beheld in them fresh
memorials of that dear Rachel, whose presence
to his aged mind even in these final moments
is touchingly evinced by the words which had
just before fallen from him, without any ap-
parent connection with the subject, save that
which existed in the depths of his own heart:
"As for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel
died by me in the way . . . and I buried her
there, in the way to Ephrath."
Having intimated his intention to bestow on
his grandsons the blessing to which so much
importance was in those times attached, Joseph
placed them before him, properly, as he
thought — the eldest, Manasseh, being placed
opposite his right hand : but Jacob, blind as
he was, crossed his hands so as to place his
right hand upon the head of Ephraim, the
youngest ; and when Joseph, supposing this a
mistake, attempted to alter this position of his
hands, remarking that the other was the eldest,
Jacob persisted, saying, " I know it, my son, I
know it : he also shall become a people, and
he also shall become great: but truly his
younger brother shall be greater than he."
His blessing was given accordingly, and how
remarkably its purport was accomplished in
the relative destinies of the tribes which
sprang from Ephraim and Manasseh will ap-
pear hereafter.
After this Jacob's other sons, who had been
summoned to the bedside of the dying pa-
triarch, also arrived, and he bestowed upon
them blessings significantly and distinctively
applicable to each of them, and to the tribes
which should spring from them. The final
scene of his eventful life cannot be related in
other words than those of the sacred historian :
"And when Jacob had made an end of com-
manding his sons, he gathered up his feet into
the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was
gathered unto his people. And Joseph fell
upon his face, and wept upon him, and kissed
him."
Jacob was aged one hundred and forty-seven
years at the time of his death, in the year
1689 B. c.
The death of the father of so great a man as
Joseph could not pass without much note in
Egypt ; and the circumstances indicated are in
the most exact conformity with the usages of
that country as described by ancient historians
and represented on ancient monuments. The
body of Jacob received the embalmment of a
prince, as we know from the fact that forty
days were taken up by the different processes.
These forty days, and the thirty days follow-
ing, together seventy days, the Egyptians ob
served as days of public mourning, which also
THE THRILLING STORY OF JOSEPH.
66
indicates that the ceremonies were scarcely less
than those which attended the death of royal
personages ; for we are told by Herodotus that
" when a king died, all the Egyptians raised a
general lamentation, tore their garments, closed
the temples, offered no sacrifices, celebrated no
festivals for seventy-two days."
Jacob had strictly enjoined Joseph to de-
posit his remains in the family sepulchre near
Hebron, in the land which his descendants
were to possess. Thither it was therefore con-
veyed in great state, being attended not only
by the family of the patriarch, but by a large
body of Egyptians with chariots and horses :
and their presence and numbers gave a char-
acter so much Egyptian to the proceeding,
that when the party paused in " the threshing-
floor of Atad " to celebrate a final mourning
of seven days before consigning the body to
the sepulchre, the neighboring inhabitants re-
marked, "this is a great mourning for the
Egyptians ; " whence the place received the
name of "Abel-Mitzraim," " the mourning of
the Egyptians." Joseph himself outlived his
father about fifty-four years, and died (1635
B. c.) at the age of one hundred and ten years.
Before his death he called his brethren around
him, and after expressing his firm conviction
that their descendants would eventually be re-
moved from Egypt to their promised posses-
sion, he took a solemn oath from them, that
when that time came, they would take away
his bones with them, and not leave them be-
hind in Egypt. After death, the corpse of
Joseph was embalmed, and deposited in one
of those coffins or mummy-cases which the
recent spoliations of Egyptian sepulchres have
in this day made familiar to us.
CHAPTER VI.
EARLY LIFE OF MOSES.
i ■•1
ONG time the Hebrews
remained in Goshen,
where they increased
with astonishing rapid-
ity, and followed their
old pastoral modes of
life, without altogether
neglecting agriculture.
About thirty -eight
years after the death of
Joseph a new dynasty, probably from Upper
Egypt, obtained possession of the throne of
Lower Egypt, which we are to regard as the
Egypt of the patriarchal history. To the new
dynasty the services of Joseph, and the cir-
cumstances attending the introduction of his
family could not be altogether unknown. But
they were not recognized, not appreciated, not
understood with that fulness of apprehension
which would belong to those who were de-
scended from and connected with the kings
and princes who were Joseph's contempo-
raries.
But the phenomenon of a people so different
in character, habits, and religion as the He-
brews, residing within a frontier much exposed
to aggression from tribes of similar habits to
theirs, and with whom thoy might be supposed
to have a common sympathy and interest, drew
the attention and excited the fears of the new
government. It was apprehended, in the words
of the new king, " that when there falleth out
any war, they join also unto our enemies, and
fight against us." These words were spoken
perfectly in accordance with the state of things
in Egypt. Fruitful and cultivated Egypt has
for its natural enemies the inhabitants of the
neighboring deserts, and it is never in greater
peril than when these enemies find allies among
its own inhabitants.
It was therefore determined to adopt a re-
66
pressive policy towards the Israelites, with a
view of checking their alarmingly rapid increase
and to break their spirit of independence.
Hard and constant labor was judged the means
best suited to this end ; and they were, there-
fore, in fact, enslaved, and compelled to labor
on the public works. In that part of Egypt
buildings are and were for the most part con-
structed of bricks made of clay compacted with
straw, and dried in the sun. There are even
some pyramids built with this material. This
explains how it was that the Egyptians are
said to have " made the life of the Israelites
bitter with hard bondage in mortar and in
brick;" nothing is said of stone. For the
further illustration of this, it may be remarked
that bricks were in Egypt made under the
direction of the government, or of some person
privileged by the crown, as appears by the
stamp which is still found upon many of
them.
A great multitude of strangers were con-
stantly employed in. the brif'k-fields of Egypt,
this being one of th.^ ;:erv!l2 employments in
which the native Egyptians were too proud to
labor ; or, in other words, the great number
of slaves and captives made all unskilled labor
too cheap to afford v. rate of wages which they
deemed adequate. We are not informed what
works the Israelites constructed, excepting that
" they built for Pharaoh treasure-cities, Pithom
and Rameses." The latter, and probably the
other, was in the land of Goshen, and they
appear to have been fortified towns, erected
in the land of the Hebrews for the purpose of
keeping them in subjection, and of storing the
portions of their pastoral or agricultural pro-
duce which the Egyptian government required
from them.
These rigid measures by no means answered
the desired object. The more the Israelites
EARLY LIFE OF MOSES.
67
were oppressed " the more they multiplied and
grew." The atrocious plan was then devised
of destroying, through the mfdwives, all the
to i-^sue a public order that every male child
thenceforth born to the Hebtews should be
cast into the river.
sraelites, with a
ly rapid increase
independence,
dged the means
ley were, there-
pelled to labor
part of Egypt
most part con-
:ompacted with
'here are even
iiaterial. This
Egyptians are
■ the Israelites
mortar and in
one. For tlie
y be remarked
ide under the
jf some person
ppears by the
pon many of
ers were con-
:lds of Egypt,
iployments in
■ too proud to
great number
nskilled labor
es which tkey
tiformed what
xcepting that
:ities, Pithom
probably the
-n, and they
wns, erected
e purpose of
•f storing the
cultural pro-
lent required
ns answered
le Israelites
male children of the Hebrews in the birth ;
but this plan of secret massacre having been
frustrated by the reluctance of the midwives
to be parties in it, the king no longer hesitated
MOSES IN HIS LITTLE LIFE-BOAT. — Ex. ii. 5.
The Scripture and Josephus call our espe-
cial attention to one particular family, that is
the family of Amram, It appears that he was
well connected among the Israelites ; that he
^
68
THE FINDING OF MOSES.
married and had two children, a girl and a
boy — the girl Miriam, the boy Aaron, before
the murderous edict was issued wiiich com-
pelled the slaughter of all male children.
When Moses was born there was of necessity
great perplexity. Three months, it appears,
they hid the child — condemned to death for
the great offence of being born — and then it
became essential they should do something
with him. The time came when concealment
was no longer possible. The truth is sus-
pected — prying eyes are all abcjt us, and
hands ready to grasp blood-money. The law
is hard and cruel ; our lives are risked by sav-
ing this young life. Wicked officials will de-
mand his youthful existence as if it were a tax.
Some envious and ill-natured neighbor has
whispered a word : a child's cry has been
heard ; somebody has listened to a half-
smothered lullaby; an overseer, in insolent
authority, has spoken and looked, perhaps,
with ill-conditioned rudeness into the face of
Miriam. They were sorry times.
The Bulrush Cradle.
The girl and mother work together a light
basket-work cradle all covered with bitumen,
and they place the smiling child within it ; and
Miriam, in all the bitterness of her heart, floats
the precious treasure on the cruel Nile, and
then, at a little space, stands watching.
The mother cannot watch — she cannot bear
the sight which may be seen ; she would her-
self run forth and, daring all things, bring de-
struction on her house. Better she should be
at home, while dutiful; ever-patient and tender-
hearted Miriam stays to see the end.
All about the Nile the scenery is .strikingly
beautiful, but there would be no novelty to
the girl who kept watch by the ark of papyrus
or bulrush ; and, even had there been novelty,
she would be in no mood to wonder at the
natural grandeur she beheld. She waits there
pensive and lonely. Sometimes a great sense
of shame and grief at the outrages to which
her people are exposed will make her almost
ready to neglect her charge, and thinft it well
if there he died — never to know bondage ; but
the girl has a deep trust in Heaven's eternal
justice. Perhaps a deliverer may come.
Yonder is a family, the eldest — a lad of
twelve — tending a mixed flock of sheep and
goats ; one of the lads is playing on a reed
pipe, and they seem as happy as lambs ; the
anxious sister glances once towards them, and
one of the children runs in the direction the
ark has taken. There is soft music, and with
solemn pomp a stately procession is seen ad-
vancing to the river. Ethiopian slaves bear-
ing fans and .screens ; the princess of the land,
a company of women in attendance. The
guard and the musicians are left behind as her
highness approaches the sacred stream, anri
the princess draws near the spot where the
holy prayer is to be said to the divine wnt'.'r.
A moment, and she notices the strange object,
only partially concealed by the long iU.snes:
quick the order, speedy the response : the little
ark is befV, -i her, is ope.icd, and she sees and
understands it all.
A Motlieily Princess.
Doubtles."- this poor little one is a child of
the alien race, over whom a mother's heart
has yearned ; a mother who, in the last part-
ing moments, has done what she could to save
her infant's life. And as the princess gazes
on the child it weeps. The appeal of tears is
powerful to all hearts not yet grown callous to
e\'ery good feeling ; the appealing cry of a
child is most touching. The tears awoke
compassion in the heart of the royal lady —
she would save the child Moses ; he has been
rescued from the waters ; but how to act is the
strange difficulty. Princess though she be,
how can she openly defy the law ? How can
she have the child at once carried to the king's
court and there attended? It must not be.
One of the alien race, it is suggested, may be
found to nurse the child, and by-and-by the
princess will claim him as her adopted son,
separate him from his people, and make him
heir to all that would be his were he her own
child. But how to go among these people —
how to send one of her own women ? See,
here in this girl we may And a messenger.
EARLY LIFE OF MOSES.
69
Quick, O sister, the hour has come to save
thy brother and to restore him to his mother's
arms ; quick, O sister, lest the opportunity be
lost !
Affection makes us brave. Miriam would
have shrunk from the groups of proud ladies
and the noble princess, but her infant brother
was in their midst. Could she discover some
sage and tender-hearted woman who would
play the mother to this poor outcast child ?
Yes; her highness the princess might com-
mand her; there was one, Amram's wife, a
irusty woman ; she was all qualified to carry
out the royal beliest. Then so it should be :
let the woman rear the child — she should,
vyi en of sufficient age, bring it to the palace,
and her wages should be good.
The Babo UcHtoretl to its Alother.
Good wages! how the mother's heart re-
joiced when tile little one she had laid with
sighs and tears alive in its tiny coffin was in
her arms again — wages enough, full sureiy ;
and proud was she of her daughter's readj'
wit; and tiiere was a seriousness on Miriam
as if she felt great things would come cf
this.
There is much tha* is beautimi i;. tender,
sisterly affection ; there is no passion m it ;
unlike a mother, unlike a wife, nnd, most of
all, unlike a woman sought in marriage, is the
pure, clear, heavenh' love of sister for brother.
And Miriam loved ler brother Mo.ses with a
depth and earnestn .^s of affection that it is
sometimes painful to witness. It seemed to
her as if she had rescued him from death* as
if her very life were bountl up with his; and
painful indeed was the thought that they would
sc soon be separated.
There would be another and a very distress-
ing thought ;■ the mind of the girl: her
brother would be taught a .strange and Pagan
creed ; how could she hope that in his very
early years such impressions could be made
that would bn lasting? It was a grievous
trouble, a deep grief; but all was done that
could be done, and the boy, when he could
speak but imperfectly, was swift to learn. Still
the long, dread ordeal was before the child.
The people among whom he was to be brought
up were immersed in Paganism; they were said
to surpass all liien in the honor they paid to
their god.s. Prominence was given to religious
subjects in the sculptures which crowded their
temples and tombs ; religion was immediately
blended with education ; their sacred rites
were conducted with great state and ceremony,
and the priesthood possessed marvellous dig-
nity and power. To all these influences the
child Moses would be subjected, and who could
foresee any other result than that he should
s- ;cumb, adopt the faith of his patrons, and
turn haughtily from the simple creed of his
fathers ?
Miriam and her Brother.
And Miriam — would she tell the boy again
and again of the land from which their people
had come out, and to which, with much honor
and glory, they were to be some day brought
back ? The earliest impressions are indubitably
the most lasting. A child, we are taught,
learns more before it is four years old than it
e\'er learns afterwards, even in the longest
lifetime. Moses never forgot the teachings of
his sister and mother. The time came for him
to go away, and ii' a burst of grief he would
take farewell of thi dear home. It is not nec-
essary here to follow Miriam as she pours out
much of her tenderness on the bold boy
Aaron, and endeavors to alleviate her mother's
sorr.-^w, and ase her father's load of care.
In the court of Iharaoh, Moses was well
instructed, according to Josephus ; his under-
standing became superior to his age, nay, far
beyond that standard ; and when he was
taught he discovered greater quickness of ap-
prehension than was usual. " God did also
give him that tallness when he was but three
years old, as was wonderful ; and for his beauty
there was nobody so unpolite as, when they
saw Moses, not to be greatly surprised at the
beauty of his countenance; nay, it happened
frequently that those who met him as he was
carried along the road were obliged to turn
again upon seeing the child, that they left
what they were about, and stood still a great
u
i .t
l\\
L I
«
I
■\ i
.1
l»
THE DAUGHTER OF PHARAOH.
while to look on him ; for the beauty of the
child was so remarkable and natural to him on
many accounts that it detained the spectators,
and made them stay longer to look upon
hkn." This is the historical record, and
dom;" and when she had said this she put
the infant into her father's hands, so he took
him and hugged him close to his breast, and
on his daughter's account, in a pleasant way,
put his diadem upi)n his head; but Moses
MOSES BEFORE PHARAOH's DAUGHTER. — Ex. ii. lO.
Josephus goes on to tell us that the daughter
of Pharaoh carried Moses to her father, saying,
" I have brought up a child who is of a divine
form and of a generous mind, and as I have
received him of the bounty of the river, in a
wonderful manner, I thought proper to adopt
him for my son, and the heir of thy king-
' threw it down on the ground, and in a puerile
mood he wreathed it round and trod upon it
with his feet ; which seemed to bring along
with it an evil presage concerning the kingdom
of Egypt.'"
Moses obtained a royal home. The fair
princess who found the weeping child by the
EARLY LIFE OF MOSES.
71
fiver's brink adopted him, and he was brouglit
up as the son of the king's daugliter. VVc
may be sure that as sucli lie received the hijjh-
est education which the most educated nation
in the world could give. We are, indeed,
expressly told that he was " learned in all the
wisdom of the Egyptians." We are also in-
formed that he was " mighty in word and in
deeds." What these deeds were we do not
know, but the Jews believe that he was, on
more than one occasion, intru.sted with the
command of the Egyptian armies, and gained
great victories over the enemies of Egypt.
He, however, was aware of his origin, and
acquainted with his own family. lie knew
the destinies of Israel, and a part with them
seemed to him more desirable than the glories
of Egypt. We arc told that " By faith Moses,
wi)cn he was come to years, refused to be
called the son of Pharaoh's daughter ; choos-
ing rather to suffer affliction with the people
of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a season." But whether this refers to some-
thing which occurred before that visit to his
brethren in Goshen, which the regular narra-
tive records, or is deduced from the conse-
quences of that visit, we have no means of
knowing. At all events, when he was forty
years old (1531 B.C.) Moses paid this visit,
and e.vaniincd, with that largeness of view
which belonged to him, the condition of his
people. They seemed to have remained in
the same enslaved condition in which they
had been left by the first decree of the Egyp-
tian king, but the edict respecting the destruc-
tion of the male children had not continued
long in operation, having been withdrawn
probably at the solicitation of the princess.
Moses was much grieved and exasperated
at the condition to which he beheld the de-
scendants of Abraham reduced; and when on
one occasion he saw an Egyptian smiting an
Israelite, his indignation was so highly kindled
that he slew the oppressor, and afterwards hid
the body in the sand. This he did doubtless
to save the Israelites, to whom the act would
not fail to be attributed, from the consequences.
The next day Moses had one, among other,
of those opportunities of perceiving how the
iron of the Egyptian bondage had eaten into
the soul of his countrymen, which probably
occasioned his reluctance at a future day to
undertake the task of their delivirance. One
object of the tyranny to whicii they were
subject had been fulfilled. Their spirit was
broken, their souls had fallen into bondage ;
and there was nothing they so much dreaded
as the displeasure of their tyrants, and they
regarded with apprehension and dislike any
person or any act, however generous in char-
acter or noble in motive, that seemed likely to
draw upon them the unfavorable notice of their
taskmasters. Perceiving two Israelites strug-
gling with each other, he said to the one who
was apparently in the wrong, " Wherefore
smitest thou thy fellow ? " To which the
other replied tauntingly, " Who made thee a
prince and a judge over us? Intendest
thou to kill me as thou killedst the Egyp-
tian ? "
He fled ; and his course was directed towards
that region which was in after years the scene
of his glory. He made his way to the country
bordering on the eastern arm of the Red Sea,
which was anciently called the .^lanitic Gulf,
and now the Gulf of Akaba. Arrived in the
land of Southern Midian, the exile rested
beside a well, and while he sat there the
daughters of the emir and priest of Midian,
Jethro by name, arrived to water their father's
flock. They had drawn up the water and
filled the troughs, when some shepherds came
and drove them off*. These churlish shepherds
were proceeding to give to their flocks the
water which had been drawn when Moses
interposed, and himself watered the maidens'
flock. They failed not to report this kindness
of " the Egyptian," as Moses appeared in their
eyes, to their father, Jethro, who sent to offer
him the hospitalities of his house. In the end
Moses consented to remain with Jethro and
take the charge of his flocks ; and ere long he
obtained in marriage one of Jethro's daughters,
named Zipporah, by whom he had two sons.
i
,1
l'>
^l
i' !
:1 1
CHAPTER VTT.
/7/£ DELIVERER JF ISRAEL
RTEVOUS oppressions
rtCr^' inflicted upon the
Hebrews, and a timely
deliverer was f"nt in
the person of Moses.
Fortv years after lie
had quitted Egypt, and
when he was eighty
7>.ars of age, he led his
flociv-, as usual irrc these favorite
pastures, when on ^ day he was much
astonished ,o perceive a bush burning
in the distance, without being con-
sumed. He dresv near to see this
great sight, when a miraculous voice
from out the bush ohargeo him to unloose the
sandals from his feet — the Oriental mark of
respect — because the ground on which he
stood was holy By this Moses might have
guessed that he srood in the presence of that
God who had so clen appeared to his patri-
archal fathers ; for only the presence ol God
could, in the sense intimated, render the grcinJ
holy. On this point he could not be ion^* in
doubt, for the Voice said :- -" I am the God
of thy father : the God of Abrahc.m, the God
of Isaac, and the God cf Jccob." And when
Moses heard that, lie hid his face, " for he was
afraid to look upon God," or even upon the
burning symbol of his glory. The divine
Voice tlien proceeded to declare the object of
this appearance. God had seen the grievous
and still continued oppression of his people in
Egypt, and the time for their deliverance was
come. And they were to be delivered, and
conducted to their promised heritage, not by
the naked arm of God, but by that arm clotl.ed
with visible agencies, and acting ♦il^ rough
human instruments — a human deliverer. And
who was he ?
Moses himself was called to the glorious task
(72)
of bringing forth the people of God from the
house of bondage, and he was encouiagcd to
this undertaking by the assurance that all liis
personal enemies, all those who once sougiit
liis life in i'gypt, were now dead, so that he
might safely return thither. That tlic time was,
come for Israel to be delivered wn^ matter of
great joy to Moses ; but time — forty years of
pastoral occupation — had subdued the early
ardor cf him who had once been a self-ap-
pointed redresser of Israel's wrongs, and ha I
been prematurely anx'ous to assume the task
of a deliverer. The repulse which he then re-
ceived sunk deep into his soul, and made him
hopeless of rousing the spirit of a people so
accustomed to their yoke, so enslaved in
heart, as he knew them to be. But the Divine
Being condescended to answer his objections,
and reminded him tl it, in discharging the
great duty to which he war now called, he
wcuIq act in u power beyond his own.
Tliuj :.ssured; Moses rx longer declined the
►ask imposed upoz. him. Ks rendered up his
pastor?.', charg c Jcthrc ; and, taking IWwife
and childrefn ■:urn.cc'. !,iis steps towards Egypt.
Pefcrc :.e r^^achea hzx, country, he was met by
'lis wide, brother .(jlarcnj from vhom he doubt-
less received full iiiibrmation of the state of
affairs in Egypt, and of the present condition
and feelings of the Isia'*''tes.
Glad Tidiiig^s for the Hebrews.
Arrived in Egypt, the brothers assembled
the eldjrs of Israel ; and M'^ses related the
r.iissior. which hv, had received, and exhibited
the miraculous powers which had been iii-
tru-^ted to him to prove its truth. Then the
P'jople believed, " and when they heard that
the Lord had visited the children of Israel,
and that he had looked upon their affliction,
then they bowed their heads and worshipped.''
of God from the
s encouiagcd to
ranee that all his
,'ho once sought
dead, sc that he
rhat tlie time was
d v?b matter of
i — forty years of
bdued the early
; been a self-ap-
Arrongs, and ha I
assume the task
^hic'.'. he then re-
1, and made him
t of a people so
so enslaved in
But the Divine
r his objections,
discharj:[ing the
now called, he
his own.
Jger declined the
rendered up his
i, taking R^"wire
i towards Egj'pt.
y, he was met by
.vhoni he doubt-
of the state of
resent condition
Hebrews.
thers assembled
■^ses related tiie
;d, and exhibited
li had been in-
ruth. Then the
they heard that
ildren of Israel,
n their affliction,
nd worshipped.''
The Finding of Moses.
A
the<
fore
m
the
in
THE DELIVERER OF ISRAEL.
73
After this, Moses and Aaron, attended by
the chiefs of Israel, presented themselves be-
fore the throne of Egypt, and demanded, in
The insolent pride with which Pharaoh re-
ceived the message communicated by Moses,
"Who is Jehovah! that I should obey his
THE BUSH THAT BURNED AND WAS NOT CONSUMED. — Ex. iii. 2.
the name of Jehovah, that his people should
po forth to hold a solemn sacrifice and festival
in the desert
voice, to let Israel go? I know not Ji'hovah,
neither will I let Israel go." and the o'jstinacy
which he afterwards exhibit , when the Divine
"
J
Ill
IM
If! I
i 1
in
PRIDE OF PHARAOH.
punishments fall upon him one after another, j
in choosing rather to see the destruction of
his land and people, than to yield— are proved
by the monuments, which the Egyptians have
left behind them, to be in accordance with the
genuine spirit of a Pharaoh.
A comparison of the representation of the
victory of Remeses Mi-amun in Thebes, as
explained by Champollion, is of special interest
in this connection. The trophies of victory
(the severed right hand, and other members
of the body) are there laid at the feet of the
king, who sits quietly in his chariot, while the
horses are held by his officers, and addresses
this liaughty speech to his warriors: "Give
yourselves to mirth; let it rise to heaven.
Strangers are dashed to the ground by my
po.ver. The terror of my name has gone
forth ; their hearts are full of it. 1 appear be-
fore them as a lion ; I have pursued them as a
hawk; I have annihilated their .vicked souls;
I have passed over their rivers ; I have set fire
to their castles ; I am to Egypt what the god
Mandoo has been ; I have vanquished the bar-
barians ; Amun-Re (the greatest of the Egyp-
tian gods), my father, has subdued the whole
world under my feet, and I am king on the
throne for ever." Tlie literal truth of this
translation has indeed been disputed ; but the
spirit which the speech breathes may easily be
recognized from it. There is no doubt that
the Egyptian kings, in their pride, named
them.selves kings of the whole world ; and it
has been established by their monuments, that
they, in this arrogance, claimed divine honors
for themselves.
Not only was the application made by Mones
refused, but the exactions and the inflicfions
upon the Israelites were redoubled, to punish
them for having made it. Hitherto they had
been allowed straw with which to compact the
bricks, the manufacture of which formed their
chief labor; but now this was refused, and
although much of their time was consumed in
collecting the straw, the full tale of bricks was
required from them ; and the officers of the
children of Israel, whom the overseers of
Pharaoh had placed over them, were beaten
because the task was not performed. This
scene is placed vividly before us by the Egyp-
tians, who offer many representations of " labor
stimulated by the persuasive powers of the
stick," the efficiencyof which cannot be doubted.
Loud Miirmuriiiff of tlie People.
The Hebrew people now began to complain
against Moses and Aaron for having thus in-
creased their troubles by their ill-considered
demands ; and Moses himself complained to
the Lord that the condition of the people had
not been bettered, but rendered much worse
by his interference.
Then the word was given for that extraor-
dinary series of visitations known as the
plagues of Egypt, for the purpose of con-
vincing the king of the power of the God whom
the Hebrews served, and of the dread conse-
quences of resisting his demand. The effect
of some of these was weakened to the mind of
Pharaoh by the impo.stures of his magicians,
by whofii some of them were simulated. But
the terrible visitation which each plague
brought could only be removed at the inter-
cession of Moses ; and at ihat intercession they
were successively removed, on promises fro"i
the king of attention and compliance, which
were neglected so soon as the penal effects had
cea.sed. Hence these visitations rose in se-
verity, till the last terrible and overwhelming
calamity produced the designed result.
They were preceded by a sign, or miracle,
performed in the presence of Pharaoh and his
court, and intended to authenticate the divine
mission which Moses had received. Attended
by the elders of Israel, Moses and his brother
Aaron again presented themselves before the
king; and the latter having rast down his rod
upon the ground, it was at once changed into
a .serpent, in ;he sight of all that illu.strious
audience. Instead of yielding to the force of
that evidence which this miracle conveyed, the
king sent for his " wise men and sorcerers,"
who " did in like manner with their enchant-
ments ; for they cast down every man his rod,
and they became serpents." This hardened
the king in the course he had marked out for
ii i
M:^*£ «'
sorcerers,
iir etichant-
lan his rod,
3 hardened
ked out for
AARON S KOU THAT
■hi
It
76
SERPENT-CHARMERS.
himself; and although the inferiority of the
seeiniiiij miriicle of the magicians was evinced
by tlic fact of Aaron's serpent-rod swallowing
up theirs, the king persuad.d himself that he
had an excuse for withholding his consent to
the demand made in the name of Jehovah.
We are expressly told that !h .: wise men "
of Egypt performed their simulated wonder
by " enchantment," ..liicli word denotes not
merely magical ag^'u^ies, but any Kind of leg-
erdemain, or scient;'^. or ritistlcaJ contriv mce.
The Egyptian prie: ^ . wore di. ply learned in
all the secrets of i ture mid firt, which were
hidden from their contemporaries, and which,
indeed, they treasured up as mysteries peculiar
to their order, and to which none but tlie
of some secret charm, which placed them in a
condition to bring about the most wonderful
consequences. It was at first believed that
they removed the teeth of serpents and tiie
stings of scorpions, that they miL;ht handle
them with impunity; but this suspicion has
been disproved by repeated examination.
Indeed, this wondrous art is still a mystery ;
it descends from father to son, and the
serpent-charmers in Egypt form an association
claiming to be the only individuals who are able
to charm serpents or free houses from them.
Their sleight of liand is marvelous. They
are able, according to their assertions, to make
the Haje (the species of serpent they espe-
cially make use of in their tricks) rigid as a
highest members, even of that order, were ad- \ staff, and to ap; .ar as if dead ; and then, at
mittcd. There is no manner of doubt diat it j pleasure, make them relax into vitality again.
An eminent naturalist, Col. C. Hamilton
Smith, iniorms us that the inflation of which
this serpent is capable can, by a peculiar press-
ure on the neck, be rendered so intensely
rigid, that the serpent can be held out hori-
z( iitaily, as if it were a rod ; and that the resto-
was by such means that they were enabled to
imitate, in appearance, some of the miracles
performed by Moses and Aaron.
Wonders l*erforiiicd by Magicians.
This counter-wonder of the Egyptian magi-
cians was founded on the peculiar condition ration of vitality is produced by liberating the
of Egypt : and much more .so was the Mospi J 1 animal, or by throwing it on the ground,
sign; for through it the prophet was furni'-hed i This seems quite to explain how the magi-
with power to perform that which the «nagi- cians were able to make tlieir real serpents
cians of Egypt most especially gloried in, and ' appear, at first, as rods, which, when cast upon
by which they most of all supported their , the gro':ii:', rccovcv.d their vital action, imitat-
authority. j ing, by revc-sed effects, the deed of Aaron,
The charming of serpents has been native , whose real roil became a serpent,
to Egypt, from the most ancient even to the
present time ; and although the art is now be-
held bv us without those sacred associations
Plagues Sent Upon Egypt.
Then began the plagues. The first changed
which invested it with auc and wonder in and j into blood the pleasant waters of the health-
after the time in which Moses lived, enougli giving Nile; and although tiiey succeeded in
remains to enable us to form some conception .apparently turning some water into blood,
of the effects then pvoduced. Even tho.se they were not able to reverse the miracle, as
who have entered upon an examination of Moses did when signs of contrition were
the subject with the mo.st absolute unbelief,
such as the scientific commi.ssioners attached
to the French army in Egypt, have been
forced into the conviction, that there was
something in ii, which their philosophy could
not reach, and which (impelled them to con-
clude that the Psylli these serpent-charmers
were anciently calU ' were in the possession
niciiiifested by the king. VVe are not required
to understand that by this miracle the waters
of Egypt were changed into real blood, but
only to a blood-red color ; .so that the blood
here is the same as the " water red as *^'ood "
described in the Second Book ol ivuigs.
That there is found something analogous
to this in the natural phenomena of Egj'pt
THE DELIVERER OF ISRAEL.
n
has long since been related. It is admitted
that the waters of the Nile, a short time before
the inundation, take a green, and a. the be-
ginning of the inundation a red color. The
cause of this change has not been fully in-
vestigated. In common years the water when
it is green and when it is red is drinkable :
but sometimes, in years of great heat, this
peculiarity of the water becomes a great
calamity, as it then becomes so offensive that
in the ordinary course of nature ; and still
more, in the extraordinaiy character of the visi-
tation, indicated by the fact that all the fish in
th ; river died, which effect never ensues from
the natural reddening of the waters.
There is an intended emphasis in the in-
formation that "the Egyptians loathed to
drink the waters of the liver," which must not
be overlooked. It is founded upon the im-
Iportance which the Nile water has for the
THE PLAGUE OK LOCUSTS.
people of delicate stomachs cannot drink it,
and content themselves with well-water. If
that calamity which came at the word of
Moses were the same as this, then the wonder
would consist in its coming in at the time ap-
pointed by the prophet ; in its coming not, as
usual, gradually, but suddenly, at the moment
when his rod was lifted up; and in the time
itself not being the usual time, which is about
the middle ' f the year, but inAny months
sooner than it lias ever been known to occur
Egyptians, and upon the almost passionate
love of the inhabitants of Egypt for it. The
water of the Nile is, in fact, the only drinkable
water in Egypt ; for the water of the few wells
is distasteful and unwholesome. The Turks
find this water .so pleasant, that they are said
to eat salt on purpose to be able to drink the
more of it. They are accustomed to say, that
if Mohammed had drunk thereof, he would
have asked an immortality on earth, that he
might alwayt drink of this water.
!
It
t '
If
15
ij ,1
m
n
THE TEN PLAGUES.
If the Egyptians umlertakc a pilgriniaRe to
Mecca, or travel clscwlicrc, thc-y speak of
nothing but the delight which they .shall ex-
perience when, on their return, they shall
again drink the pleasant water of their great
river. Under due reference to these circum-
stances we shall perceive the peculiar force of
the terms employed in describing the Egyp-
tians as loathing the water which they usually
prefer before all the water in the world ;
and as choosing rather to drink well-water,
which is in their country so unpleasant.
The second plague brought frogs in myriads
upon every pleasant place in Egypt; and
although the magicians simulated this miracle
also, Moses only, at a time previously ap-
pointed, could remove the evil.
Itcpeatcd CalninitieH.
The third plague was formed by gnats,
which are even in ordinary years very trouble-
some in Egypt, and the vast increase of which
must have rendered life insupportable. In
trying to imitate this, the magicians failed, and
they acknowledged " This is the finger of
God." But the heart of Pharaoh was still
harilened.
Then came the fourth plague, that of the
" flies," — probably the dog-fly, which is re-
markably troublesome in Egypt, from its dis-
position to alight upon the edge of the eye-
lid. This brought Pharaoh to urge the
Hebrews to keep their feast and offer their
sacrifices in F^gypt. But Moses answered —
" It is not meet so to do ; for we shall sacrifice
the abomination of the Elgyptians to tli«
Lord our God : lo, shall we sacrifice the
abomination of the Egyptians before their
eyes, and will they not stone us?" This is
usually understood to mean that the Egyp-
tians would bi; offended by the Israelites offer-
ing the same animals which they worshipped,
liut an accomplished German divine, Heng-
stenbei;^', has sugi^^e.stcd a very different view.
Me argues that " the designation ' abomina-
tion ' is not appropriate to the consecrated
animals."
This indicates that the animals which the
Israelites slaughtered were not considered too
good, but too bad for offerings. The animals
which were commonly taken among the Israel-
ites for offerings were also among the l-lgyp-
tians not sacred. The only one of the larger
domestic animals which was usually regarded
as sacred by them was the cow ; and this was
not offered by the Israelites, except under
peculiar and unusual circumstances. The
offence was, rather, that the Israelites omitted
the inquiry concerning the cleanne.ss of ani-
mals, which was practised with the greatest
caution by the Egyptians. That only clean
animals were offered by the Egyptians, Herod-
otus says, in that remarkable pas.sage where
he acquits the Egyptians from the imputation
of offering human sacrifices : " For since ♦'ley
are not allowed to .sacrifice any animals e.xcept
the swine and the bullock and calves, namely,
those that are clean among them, and the
goose, how can they offer men ? " What
stress they laid upon cleanne.ss, and how truly
it was consideretl an abomination to offer an
unclean animal, is seen from the same author.
Only a red o.x could be offered, and a single
black hair rendered it unclean. They also
placed dependence on a multitude of marks
besides this; the tongue, the tail, were accu-
rately examined. Every victim, after a pre-
scribed examination, in confirmation of its fit-
ness, was .sealed on the horns ; and to offer an
unsealed o.x was prohibited on pain of death.
Under <'.e fifth plague the animals of Egypt
were smitten by a grievous murrain, while
those of the Israelites sustained no harm.
The plague of boils and blains upon the
I bodies of all the Egyptians, including the
magicians, was the si.xth. It was miraculous
chiefly in its circumstances and in its extent ;
the disease itself having been so common in
Egypt, that, elsewhere, it is described as " the
boil of Egypt."
The seventh plague was a tremendous tem-
pest of hail, by which men and cattle were
slain, the trees broken, and the produce of the
fields crushed down. The whole crop of the
flax and the barley was smitten, for it had
I grown up; but the wheat and spelt escaped,
PLACING THE MARK OF BLOOD UPON THE DOOR-POST. — Ex. xii. 7.
m)
80
THE TEN PLAGUES.
as these catne later to matiir't\'. No hail fell
in the land of Goshen, whicli the Israelites
inliabited.
As the heart of Pharaoh was not moved b\-
all these wonders, another plague was sent ;
it was that of the locusts, which came over
the land in numbers without example, and
speedily consumed every green thing which
the hail hail spared.
Then, as tiie ninth plague, c.ime a terrible
darkness overall that sunny land — a darkness
dense beyond description — and which allowed
no one to stir from his place during the three
dav's that it lasted. lUit all this time the
Israelites had abundant light in Goshen.
One plague more, the tenth — terrible, fatal,
effectual — was threcitened before it came, that
timely submission nii!,dit 1. iply avert the doom.
It was the death of all the first-born iu Egypt,
from the first-horn of " the king upon iiis
throne, to the first-boin of the maid-.servanl
behind the mill." God, who knew the effect
of this terrible stroke, directed the institution (
of a festival in commemoration of it, and that j
the Hebrews should stand ready for departure
at the appointed time. The festival was called
the P.issover, because the destroying angel
would pass over the doors marked with the
blood of a lamb, which every Hebrew family
was directed to slay, and eat in the posture
of persons ready for a journey.
Already, according to the divine direction,
the Hebrews had borrowed of their Egyptian
neighbors various articles and ornaments of
gold and silver, with which, according to cus-
tom, they nught becomingly celebrate the
great feast they were to lioKI in the wilderne.ss.
And by this time the renown of Moses had
so spread among the people, and so lively a
dread of his power was entertained, that the
Israelites obtained freely whatever they asked.
It is, indeed, evident from the whole narrative
that the popular feeling among tl^e hlgyptians
was by no means favorable to the course taken
by tlie government in its obstinate and perilous
refusal of the demand made in behalf of the
Israelites.
kj.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE LAST NIGHT IN EQYF
ISTORY presents us
with few events more
startling than those
which attended the ex-
odus of the Hebrews
from Egypt. The fatal
night came — a night
which formed a chief
point of remembrance
to the Jews in all succeeding genera-
tions. That night the Passover was,
for the first time, celebrated by them ;
and in that night the first-born of all
the Egyptians were smitten with in-
stant deatl^, so that no house was found in
Egypt in which the most valued of its mem-
bers had not died. Then a great cry arose in
all the land, and the court, whatever might
have been its own feeling, saw that the popular
voice would no longer be controlled, and there-
fore now, in this dreadful hour, the Hebrews
were not only permitted to quit Egypt, but
were urged forth with importunity and ha.ste.
Of this haste some notion may be formed
from the fact, that they were unable to bake
or even to leaven the dough which they had
prepared for bread, and which they therefore,
took away with them as unleavened dough in
their kneading-troughs.
They were all assembled with their flocks
and herds in the land of Goshen, in the dis-
trict of Rameses, and before the day had
dawned the vast ho.st of the Israelites, of
whom tne adult males alone numbered six
hundred thousand, marched forth from the
land of Egypt, and proceeded northward into
the wilderness. The last day of bondage and
the first of freedom is the most important in
the history of any nation. So the Israelites
felt theirs to be, and the Almighty fixed it in
their memory by institutions more durable
6
than monuments of brass or marble. Such
was the Passover, and such the new decree
which consecrated to the service of the Lord
all the first-born of Israel in memory of their
being spared when all the first-born of Egypt
died.
As the southern parts of Palestine were oc-
cupied by the Philistines and other warlike
nations, it was deemed inexpedient to lead the
undisciplined and encumbered Israelites in that
direction, although it was the nearest and the
mo.st usual route.
For this, among other reasons, the departing
host took the road towards the Red Sea, the
neighborhood of which they reached after
three days' journey.
This journey from the land of Goshen to the
Red Sea has received much attention from
Biblical geographers, who have scarcely suc-
ceeded in relieving it from all the obscurity in
which they found it involved. In a work of
this description the questions connected with
this and other points in the journey of the
Israelites do not admit of critical examination,
and we must be content to state the results of
those investigations which appear to us to have
led to the most probable conclusions.
It is usual, when large parties prepare for a
journey in the East, for all the travellers to
assemble at a common rendezvous, where they
arrange the details of the journey, and prepare
for a regular start. Thus a place by the river
of Ahava was the rendezvous of the exiles
who returned to Judea under Ezra. And at
the present day the great pilgrim caravan from
Egypt to Mecca assembles at Birket-el-Hadj,
or the Pilgrims' Pocl, w'sich some suppose
may possibly have bi:en the very place from
which the Hebrews tv^ok their departure. In
the present case the Hebrews knew well that
I they were to depart this night, and the point
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THE FIRST STATION.
of rendezvous seems to have been at Succoth, movement in more regular order to their desti-
which was where they first halted after quitting nation. As the name Succoth means " booths "
THE DESTROYING ANGEL PASSING THROUGH EGYPT. — Ex. xil. 29.
Rameses. To this point they seem to have
hastened in detached parties, and there re-
ceived the organization necessary for their
or " tents," it is more than probable that it was
a well-known station for such purposes. Such
places are usually but a short distance from
THE LAST NIGHT IN EGYPT.
88
der to their desti-
means" booths"
the place which furnishes the principal number
of pilgrims or travellers ; and the first stage is
therefore always short, being, in fact, only to
the place of meeting.
This ought to satisfy those who cannot un-
derstand how the distance from Rameses to
the border of the Red Sea could occupy three
days ; the shortness of the f rst stage accounts
for it. On the second day they arrived at
" Etham, on the edge of the wilderness."
This is usually identified with the place now
called Adjeroud, which is at this day the third
station of the great pilgrim caravan, and where
there is an ancient fortress garrisoned by
Egyptian troops, with a poor village and a
copious well of water. Whether this be a cor-
rect identification or not, Etham was undoubt-
edly situated not far from the head of the Gulf
of Suez ; and in such a position, with reference
to it, that the course taken from it determined
the direction of the journey. Accordingly the
Hebrew host here received orders to turn and
encamp on the shore of the gulf, between the
sea and the mountains by which it was en-
closed, which was the best they could do.
War-Chariots and Footmen.
The Egyptian court seems to have watched
the movements of the retiring host with great
interest. The ostensible demand of the Israel-
ites was to take three days' journey into the
wilderness, and there offer their sacrifices to
Jehovah. At Etham they had attained a point
whatever movement they made from which
would determine their real intentions. That
their intention was not to keep their feast at
Etham and then return to Egypt was evinced
by their further movements.
On learning this, the king resolved to pur-
sue them and drive them back. In this de-
sign he was encouraged by learning the very
strange position in which they were encamped,
where, as he said, " they are entangled in the
land, the wilderness hath shut them in." He
saw that from the position they had taken up,
if he came upon them in the north, and cut
off their retreat in that direction, they must of
necessity be either driven into the sea or back
to Egypt through the valley of Badea. Alas I
he knew not that the God who protected the
house of Israel was able to open a pathway
through the waters for their deliverance.
The facility with which the king assembled
his forces, as soon as his resolution was formed,
gives us an idea of the effective military or-
ganization of the Egyptians, which is amply
confirmed and illustrated by histories and
monuments. The " chosen " chariots of war
were in number six hundred. These " chosen"
chariots doubtless formed the guard of the
king; other chariots are mentioned, but not
the number, which must be estimated in this
proportion. We have no reason to suppose
this number overwhelming ; but that it com-
posed such a body of this much dreaded force
as seemed needful for the immediate service.
That service was one for cavalry, and, con-
formably to the accounts of the sacred his-
torian, we now know that war-chariots com-
posed the sole cavalry of Egypt. This formed
the chief arm of Egypt's military strength, and
was at once the force most suited to this ser-
vice, and that of which a people of pastoral
habits like the Israelites have always been
found to stand in the most dread.
The Hebrews Terrified.
Accordingly when the Egyptian forces ac-
tually made their appearance, the Hebrews
seem not to have entertained the least notion
of resistance, which indeed their position would
scarcely, under any circumstances, have al-
lowed. That position, however, protected
them from being taken in flank by the Egyp-
tians, who,, on their part, finding their prey
safe, as they thought, in the toils, were in no
hurry to commence their operations, but
rested themselves and their horses against the
following day.
The Israelites, when they saw the Egyp-
tians, were filled with alarm and terror, until
they were reassured by promises of a great
deliverance, and a signal and final overthrow
of their haughty pursuers. Accordingly, at
the dead of night, the waters of the gulf were
miraculously divided, and stood up on either
r
:i
84
A REMARKABLE CLOUD.
hand like a wall, to aflTord the surrounded which turned its radiant side to the Ibrmer,
Hebrews a passage to the other side. Nor and left the latter in utter darknesf. This
MIRACULOUS PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. — Ex. xiv. 22,
was this all : for, to protect their rear, and to
guide their passage, there was a miraculous
cloud placed between them and the Egyptians,
" pillar of cloud " had been before, and was
after, their guide, as a mass of cloud by day
and of flame by night.
THE LAST NIGHT IN EGYPT.
85
No sooner did the Egjptians perceive the
escape of the Israelites, tlian, with unparal-
leled hardihood, they hastened to pursue them
by the open path through the waters. The
whole host was in the channel, when He who
had by His might upheld the waters, withdrew
His hand, and instantly the vast void was
filled, and the host of Pharaoh was over-
whelmed by the returning waters. The ran-
somed Hebrews stood safely on the other side,
and witnessed this great overthrow and de-
struction of their enemies. Their confidence
in both their Divine and human leader was
restored, and they heartily joined with Moses
in the noble song of triumph with which he
celebrated this great event, while all the vir-
gins of Israel followed Miriam with timbrels,
dances, and exultinof chaius for this signal
deliverance.
The Power that Parteil the Waters.
The reader is doubtless aware that there
has been much dispute respecting the part of
the Gulf of Suez at which the passage of the
Israelites took place. The course of the
account we have given has been to place it at
a point several miles below the end of the gulf
(probably at Ain Mousa), where the waters
are of considerable depth. Many scholars
and travellers have, however, strenuously con-
tended that the passage took place at a point
near Suez, where the ebb of the tide still
leaves a practicable passage across the gulf
The difficulties of this notion are, to our
minds, so insuperable, that it seems hard to
understand how it can be held for a moment
by the many gifted and pious persons by
whom we know that it is entertained.
If there ever was a .special interposition of
Divine Providence, or, in other words, a mir-
acle, it was this passage of the Red Sea ; nor
is there any single event in Scripture which
the sacred writers so repeatedly declare to be
such. The condition of the ford at Suez was
either the same then as now, or it was not.
If it was not, the grounds which are now
alleged for making this the point of passage,
rather than at any other place, could not then
exist ; and if it were, there was no need of the
minicle which is declared to have taken place;
and the sacred writers are subjected to the
serious imputation of claiming as a miracle a
natural phenomenon of daily occurrence. If
they had made such a claim, as tlicy did,
while the persons who had actually passed the
sea were still living, while they .still remained
in the neighborhood, and when the facts of
the case could not be hidden from them, the
prophet would have been laughed to scorn
who told them they were delivered oy a mir-
acle.
More than this, the Hebrews had been at
least two days, if not three, encamped in front
of this very spot, and could pot fail to ob-
serve that it was twice a day left dry by the .
ebb of the tide. How then was it, in this
case, that both they and the Egyptians deemed
that no means of escape from their " entangle-
ment" existed? And how was it that tho
Egyptians pursued the Hebrews, when they
must have been acquainted with the condition
of the tide, and could not but know that it
would return upon them before they could get
acro.ss? In that case, would not any man
have preferred to have ridden around the
beach, and attacked the Hebrews on the other
side, as they came up from the bed of the
gulf? These objections to the view which
has of late years become popular, have never
been fairly met and answered, nor do we be-
lieve that they are answerable.
A Wantlerlnsr Nation.
Several wells of water are found at Ain
Mousa, " the Fountain of Moses," where we
assume that the Israelites encamped after
passing the sea. Dr. Robinson, our eminent
American scholar, counted seven; but some
of them were mere recent excavations in the
sand, in which a little brackish water was
standing. Other ot the wells are older and
more abundant ; but the water is dark-colored
and brackish, and deposits a hard substance as
it rises, so that mounds have been formed
around these larger springs, at the top of
which the water flows out, and runs down for
86
SPRINGS OF WATER AND PALM-BUSHES.
h
a few yards till it is lost in the sand. The j rather palm-bushes, grow around in the arid
Arabs call the northernmost of these springs | sand, and give diversity to the desert scene.
Miriam's song of triumph.— Ex. xv. 20.
sweet, but the traveller could not perceive that
they differed much from the others. About
twenty stunted and untrimmed palm-trees, or
At this place (as we suppose) the Israelites
remained some days to refresh their spirits,
and to gather the harvest of the deep, which
LAST NIGHT IN EGYPT.
87
t\ras obtained from the costly spoils of the
Egyptians whose bodies were washed to the
shore.
After leaving the shore where they had
crossed the sea, the emancipated Israelites pro
ceeded on their journey towards the Sinai
mountains, among whose solitudes they were
destined to be organized as a nation, and to
receive such training as was needful to fit
them for the peculiar destinies which lay before
them.
Their journey at first lay over " a desert re-
gion, sandy, gravelly, and stony alternately.
On the right hand their eyes rested on the
deep blue waters of the gulf so lately divided
for their sake, while on their left hand lay
mountain-chains, stretching away to a great
distance as the pilgrims advanced. In about
nine miles they would enter upon a boundless
desert plain, now called El Ati, white and
painfully glaring to the eye. Proceeding be-
yond this, the ground became hilly, with sand-
hills near the coast."
Bitter Waters of Blarah.
By the time they had traversed this region
for three days, the water, which they had
doubtless brought with them from Ain Mousa,
became exhausted, and they hastened forward
gladly to the well of Marah, which at length
appeared to promise the water of which they
stood so much in need. They found the
water of this well too bitter to drink ; and
seeing no prospect of relief, they, who had all
their lives been accustomed to drink their fill
from the pleasant water of the Nile, quailed
under this privation, and openly vented their
discontent against Moses for having brought
them into this miserable region. The water
of Marah is of unpleasant taste, saltish, and
somewhat bitter, and must have been intoler-
able to persons not yet accustomed to bad
water. Moses was directed by the Lord to
cast into the well the branches of a certain un-
named " tree," which grew near ; and when he
had done this, the water became fit for use.
Proceeding on their way, the country became
more pleasant, and before them, as they ad-
vanced, the appearance of seventy palm-trees
promised a supply of naturally good water,
which is seldom absent where palm-trees
grow. They were not disappointed, for twelve
wells were found on the spot, which have the
name of Elim. Here is a valley, through
which a torrent flows in winter. This valley
is deeper and decked more profusely with
trees and shrubs than any which the Israelites
had yet passed. A few palm-trees are still
found there, but tamarisks and acacias are
more common. The fountains, lying above a
mile out of the common route, are not visited
by travellers, but water brought from them by
attendant Arabs is, like all the water of this
region, somewhat brackish. This is still one
of the regular watering-places of the Arabs.
After leaving Elim, the Hebrews entered upon
a more rugged country, called "the wilderness
of Sinai, which is between Elim and Sinai."
In this part of their route they had to pass
through a plain or valley, formed by the roots
of the El Tyh mountains on the left hand, and
a chain of mountains which border the Red
Sea on the right hand and shut out all view
of and access to it. Having passed through
this valley, the Hebrews came out again upon
the shore of the Red Sea, and there en-
camped.
By this time a month had passed since the
Hebrews had quitted Egypt, and the provisions
which they had brought with them from that
country were quite spent. This soon threw
them upon their usual and most disgraceful com-
plaints against Moses, and, by implication,
against the God who had wrought such great
wonders for their sakes. The abundance of
Egypt rose before their minds, and they
scrupled not to avow that the bondage, sweet-
ened by the plenty, of that country, was, in
their eyes, better than the glorious liberty,
accompanied by privation, to which they had
now attained. Yet while our indignation
rises at the sight of a people so unworthy of,
and so unable to appreciate, the freedom be-
stowed upon them, let us still remember that
this enervation of soul was a natural and per-
haps inevitable result of the enslaved con-
: I
88
QUAILS AND MANNA.
dition in which this generation had been born
and bred.
The answer to their murmurs was, the
seemingly incredible promise that they should
have meat to excess before the evening closed.
Accordingly that very evening a wind arose,
the direction of which brought to the camp
an immense fliglit of quails, which, being
weary, flew so heavily and low, that vast
numbers of them were secured by the greedy
Israelites, who were thus enabled to feed
abundantly on a kind of game which was
highly prized in Egypt.
Bread tVoin Heaven.
Nor was this all, for when they arose the
next morning the Israelites found the ground
covered with an appearance like that of hoar
frost, which, on examination, appeared to be
composed of grains of a pearl color and of
the form and size of coriander seeds. They
asked one another, " What is this ? " {Man-hu),
whence the name of Manna was given to this
unknown substance. They were told that
this was the " bread " with which they should
henceforth be supplied every morning till the
sources of natural supply from corn were open
to them. Every family was directed to collect
what it deemed an adequate supply; and
those who collected more than enough found
their labor useless, as any portion which re-
mained over the day corrupted and was
spoiled.
And yet, as if on purpose to evince the en-
tirely miraculous nature of this provision, this
quality of the manna was intermitted once in
every week: for none of it fell on the Sab-
bath, but a double portion came and was
gathered on the preceding day, and that
which was not consumed on the flrst day con-
tinued fresh through the second. In the
preparation for food this substance was dealt
with like ordinary grain. It was reduced to
meal by being ground in hand-mills or
pounded in mortars, and it was then kneaded
and baked in loaves and cakes after the
usual manner. And yet, although thus pre-
pared for food by baking, such of the manna
as remained ungathered on the ground dis-
solved away daily in the heat of the sun.
Eventually, also, a quantity of the manna
was laid up in a golden pot in the holy plnce
for a memorial ; and, to answer the purpose of
a memorial, it must have retained its original
shape, although in the one instance it cor-
rupted and in the other dissolved in a single
day. Under these circumstances no one
who receives the books of Moses as the truth
of God can doubt that the manna, by which
the Israelites were fed for forty years, was
altogether miraculously supplied, or that the
substance itself was altogether miraculous. It
was the Divine method of supplying the wants
of the people who were in the wilderness.
Any attempt to explain this matter on
natural grounds involves greater difficulties
than the miracle itself. Thus, it has been at-
tempted to show that the manna was the
exudation from certain trees which grow
sparingly in that region. But if the gummy
distillation from these trees even did corre-
pond to the description of the manna, how
were the circumstances which constitute all
that requires a miracle — how are these to be
accounted for ? Where, above all, shall we
look for the interminable forests of manniferous
trees which supplied two or three millions of
people with daily and unfailing provision at
all times of the year and in all their wander-
ings?
The manna seems to have had a sweetish
taste, for the bread made from it is described
as being similar to the finest corn bread made
with honey or with oil.
The Hebrews in the Wilderness.
In the leading narrative in Exodus, the next
station, after the one distinguished by these
memorable circumstances, is Rephidim. This
is because that was the next station at which
any remarkable circumstance occurred. Wc
find the Israelites giving way to another out-
break of murmuring and discontent at Rephi->^
dim. The cause was the want of water ; and
this time their discontent grew to such a
height that they were almost ready to stone
THE LAST NIGHT IN EGYPT.
89
le ground dis-
ithe sun,
of the manna
the holy place
the purpose of
led its original
nstance it cor-
ed in a single
ances no one
>cs as the truth
anna, by which
rty years, was
ed, or that the
niraculous. It
lying the wants
vilderness.
his matter on
ater difficulties
it has been at-
anna was the
5 which grow
if the gummy
ven did corre-
e manna, how
1 constitute all
re these to be
re all, shall we
ofmanniferous
ree millions of
g provision at
1 their wander-
lad a sweetish
it is described
>rn bread made
lldemess.
their great leadc for having brought them
out of the land of Egypt into this desert
The usual appeal to the Lord was the only
another signal miracle in their behalf. Moses
was instructed to take with him certain elder*
of the people, and proceed up the valley till
resource of Moses in this emergency. The
Lord, still merciful and forbearing towards his
wayward people, delayed not to perform
xvii. 6.
a certain rock, which he was to
SMITING THE ROCK. — Ex
he came to
smite with his rod. He did so : and imme-
diately the smitten rock poured forth a stream.
»''
I,
M
I ll
,
I >
itii
90
WATER IN THE DESERT.
of water, which flowed down the valley to the
Hebrew camp, and furnished an abundant
supply to all the host. Moses called that
place Massah, signifying "temptation," be-
cause the Israelites there tempted God ; and
Mcribah, meaning "strife," because of the
■contention which there arose.
The rock which Moses smote, and from
which the water flowed, is pointed out to
travellers in a narrow valley in the upper
region of Sinai. It is a large isolated cube of
•coarse red granite, which appears to have
fallen down from the eastern mountain.
Down its front, in an oblique line fropi top to
Tjottom, runs a seam of a finer texture, from
twelve to fifteen inches broad, having in it
several horizontal crevices, somewhat resem-
bling the human mouth, one above another.
These are said to be twelve in number, but
Dr. Robinson could only make out ten. The
■seam extends quite through the rock, and is
visible on the opposite or back side. The
holes are usually said to be manifestly arti-
"ficial, but did not appear to be so to this
traveller, by whom they were particularly ex-
amined. They belong rather to the nature of
the seam; yet it is probable that some of
them may have been enlarged by artificial
mean«.
The rock is a singular one, and doubtless
•was selected on account of this very singu-
larity as the scene of the miracle. There is
no reason to suppose that this was really the
rock from which the water flowed, but there is
every possible reason to the contrary. Rephi-
•dim is in the very heart of the uppermost
region of Sinai, where perennial springs
abound, and no such supply could be needed :
l)ecause there was no room for the hosts of
Israel in the narrow valleys of this upper
region: because when at Rephidim the He-
brews were still a day's journey from the
Mount under which they finally encamped:
and because the attack which was made upon
the Israelites at Rephidim was scarcely
possible in this upper region. The peo-
ple who made that attack are known to
iave had a principal seat in the Wady Feiran,
which lies on the outskirts of the more
mountainous region. The position of this
valley agrees with all the circumstances of the
history.
The Hebrews Meetinflr Enemies.
Hitherto the Hebrews had been unmolested
by the inhabitants of the country they had
entered, which seems to have been then, as at
present, inhabited only by tribes of Bedouin or
semi-Bedouin habits. To such a people the
Hebrew host, weak by its very numbers, im-
perfectly organized, encumbered with women,
children, old men, and flocks, and laden with
valuable property, including the spoils of the
Egyptians — must have seemed to offer an easy
and valuable prey. The tribe which headed
this attempt was that of the Amalekites, who
had at least a temporary seat in the valley
where the Hebrews lay encamped beside the
waters which the smitten rock gave forth for
their use.
It seems that the Amalekites had in the first
instance fallen upon the weakest part of the
host of Israel, when " faint and weary," and
that it was this which induced Moses to order
Joshua, a valiant young man who was attend-
ant on his own person, to draw out a party of
choice men against the following morning, and
with them engage the Amalekites. This being
the first warlike action in which the Israelites
were engaged, was to them no light matter;
and, therefore, to encourage the young com-
njander, Moses promised to stand on the top
of the hill, in view of the warriors, with the
rod of God in his hands.
The next morning when Joshua went forth
to engage the Amalekites, Moses proceeded
to the hill-top, accompanied by his brother
Aaron and by Hur, holding in his hand the
rod with which such wonders had been
wrought in Egypt and at the Red Sea. He
held it up as an ensign, and from the sight of
it the warring Israelites gathered confidence
and strength ; but when the weariness of the
prqphet's arm prevented him from holding it
up longer, they became disheartened and gave
way to the Amalekites. Perceiving this, the
companions of Moses supported his arm, and
THE LAST NIGHT IN EGYPT.
•1
Enemies.
)een unmolested
untry they had
been then, as at
es of Bedouin or
:h a people the
ry numbers, im-
ed with women,
and laden with
the spoils of the
i to offer an easy
e which headed
A.malekites, who
at in the valley
Tiped beside the
k gave forth for
:s had in the first
ikest part of the
ind weary," and
d Moses to order
who was attend-
iW out a party of
ing morning, and
:ites. This being
Ich the Israelites
no light matter;
the young corn-
stand on the top
rarriors, with the
[)shua went forth
^oses proceeded
1 by his brother
in his hand the
iders had been
e Red Sea. He
from the sight of
hered confidence
weariness of the
from holding it
artened and gave
rceiving this, the
rted his arm, and
the rod being no longer dropped, the Israelites
prevailed till the Amalekites fled before them.
The history of Israel records no resentment
fo implacable and deep as that with which this
The Israelites were much encouraged by
this success of their first martial enterprise.
The circumstances were, by the Divine com-
mand, recorded in a book, in which also a
HOLDING UP THE HANDS OF MOSES. — Ex. xvii
first as.sault upon them in the day of their
weakness was regarded, and the two nations
remained bitter enemies so long as the Amale-
kites continued to exist as a distinct people.
direful remembrance against Amalek was
written down. Moses also erected an altar
whereon to offer sacrifices of thankfulness, and
in memorial of the victory : and he gave it the
I
I
92
ARRIVAL OF JETHRO.
name of Jehovah-nissi, " the Lord is my Ban-
ner," in allusion to the hfting up of the rod
upon the hill.
Before they quitted this place, Jethro, with
whom Moses had lived so many long years in
Midian, came to visit his now illustrious son-
in-law, whose wife and sons he brought with
him. This must have been a great satisfac-
tion to Moses. He gave Jethro an account of
all the wonders which the Lord had done for
his people, and of all the kindness He had
Moses sat all day long administering justice
among the people, the old sheikh strongly
censured this waste of strength, and advised
them to appoint inferior magistrates, in a grad-
ually ascending scale, who should hear and
determine all ordinary causes, and only refer
matters of great difficulty, and, in the last re-
sort, to him. Moses saw the excellence of
this advice, and, after obtaining the Divine
sanction, proceeded to put it in execution, to
the great comfort of himself and the people.
MEETING OP MOSES AND
shown them: whereat, the pious old man gave
praise to God, and in his priestly character
offered solemn sacrifices of adoration, in which
act Moses, Aaron (who was not yet a priest)
and the elders of Israel joined : and they then
feasted together.
Great as Moses was, in all that constitutes
true greatness in man, he was not above tak-
ing hints from the experience of the aged
Jethro for the better government of the nation
now under his guidance. Observing that
JETHRO. — Ex. xviii. 7.
Having seen this matter settled to his satis-
faction, Jethro took his leave and returned to
his own land.
The Israelites appear to have remained
about a month at Rephidim, and then de-
parted ; and in about three months from their
quitting Egypt reached the mount where the
Lord had first appeared to Moses, and en-
camped before it. This was the place where
the descendants of Abraham were to receive
the laws and instructions necessary to fit them
THE LAST NIGHT IN KGYI'T.
93
for the peculiar position which tliey were to
occupy aiuoiij; the nations of tlie world.
The instructions through which the Israel-
ites were to be moulded into a peculiar nation
commenced by Moses being called up into the
mountain to receive the Divine communica-
tions. Here the leading principle of the great
compact between the Lord and his people was
opened to him, and he was required to return
and demand the formal assent of the people to
it. The principle was this : the people on their
part were required to forsake every false way
— the ways of idolatry ; and to worship, fear,
and serve Jehovah only : and then He, on his
part, would become, in a peculiar .sense, their
God — theirs by especial covenant : and not
only their God, but their political Head, their
King, dwelling among them by manite.st .sym-
bols of presence, and directing their public
affairs by oracles delivered to appointed min-
isters, by which they would become eminently
Ids people, a priestly kingdom, and a holy
nation.
The Solemn Covenant.
The people having solemnly accepted this
covenant, the ,Lord then announced his inten-
tion, as their king, to issue a code of laws for
their government ; the fundamental principles
of which He would publicly deliver in the
audience of all the people. This was done in
order to authenticate the further communica-
tions to be made through Moses alone, and to
make the people sensible that it was more ex-
pedient for them that the Divine coiniii.indH
should be imparted to them thruugli hiiti tli.in
by more direct oniinunication. Not that God,
who is a Spirit, purposed to make himself
visible to the people. No; they should be-
hold the veil only which hid the glory ot his
presence — the thick clouds darkening upon
the m :)iintam, and a voice issuing from the
midst ut' iheiii.
Hut before the Israelites could formally ap-
pear in the presence of the Lord, it was need-
ful that they should be purified. Two days
were given them to make their garments and
their persons clean, and on the third they were
to stand before the mountain and receive the
Divine commands. But tlu presence of God
upon the mountain would render it a most
holy [>Iace, which feet unconsecrated n)iglit
not tread: therefore bounds were set around
the base of the mountain, beyond which no
one, under pain of deat'i, might pass.
At length the great day arrived. The peo-
ple stood in solemn expectation around the
mountain, which w.is already enveloped in
thick clouds, which shot forth vivid lightnings
and uttered mighty thunderings. At length
the sound of angelic trumpets announced the
coming Presence. God descended in fire, and
the mountain quaked beneath his feet; while
the face of the mount was enveloped in flame
and smoke.
■
I
!
f
CHAPTER IX.
SUBLIME SCENES AT SINAI.
LONG blast was sounded
by the trumpet, and then,
after a solemn pause,
was heard that voice
which then shook the
earth, and shall here-
after shake heaven also.
The words first uttered
were — " I am the Lord
thy God, who brought
thee out of the land of
Egypt ; out of the house
of bondage." And, then,
in that character, he pro-
ceeded to declare the ten
commandments, regard-
ed as the text and basis
of the law afterwards to
be laid down in more de-
tail. The mode of com-
munication, through Moses, for the future, was
at the express wish of the people themselves,
who were very much alarmed at the awful cir-
cumstances and stringent limitations of this
high audience. They said to Moses — " Speak
thou with us, and we will hear : but let not
God speak with us, lest we die." This was
accordingly done in all subsequent communi-
cations with the people.
The prophet went up into the mountain, and
received there tiie Divine words which, on his
return, he made known to the people, and then
wrote down in a book. In the present case,
after Moses had written down the terms of the
covenant, he read them to the people, as if it
were to receive their final ratification of its
contents. This they gave in the unanimous
response, "All the words which the Lord hath
said unto us we will do." This public act of
recognition having taken place, Moses, who
still acted as their priest, proceeded to confirm
(94J
and seal it in the most solemn manner known
in ancient times, namely, by sacrifices. An
altar was erected, and twelve stones, represent-
ing the twelve tribes, were set up ; sacrifices
were then offered ; and Moses having once
more read the covenant and the laws, and re-
ceived the same answers, proceeded to sprinkle
the people with the blood of the sacrifices,
saying, " This is the blood of the covenant
which the Lord hath made with you." No
covenant could be more deliberately entered
into, or more bindingly confirmed, than this.
We shall see, as we proceed, how it was kept
on the part of the Israelites.
After this, Moses went up in the mountain
attended by liis brother Aaron, the two eldest
sons of Aaron, and by seventy of the elders
of Israel, as if formally to communicate to the
invisible King the final acceptance of the cove-
nant by the people of Israel. They ate and
drank there upon the mountain, as was usual
in the completion of human covenants, and
those who were with Moses were permitted to
behold the manifest indications of the Divine
presence, and were thereby deeply impressed.
Moses Hidden Within the Cloud.
At a distance they beheld "the God of
Israel : and there was under his feet as it were
a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it
were the body of heaven in its clearness."
Moses was permitted to advance nearer to this
glorious manifestation than the others; and
was then enjoined to bring up two tablets of
stone, on which God himself would write the
words of the ten commandments, which in-
volved the obligations of the completed cove-
nant. This was evidently for the purpose of
giving the most permanent and imposing form
of record to that great compact.
When Moses went up next with the required
SUBLIME SCENES AT SINAI.
95
the Cloud.
tablets of stone, he was accompanied only by
Joshua, his personal attendant, who was di-
rected to tarry at a distance while the prophet
entered the more immediate presence of God.
He was then hidden by the cloud which en-
veloped the mountain, and was capped by
"devouring fire," which flamed upon the
mountain top. This flaming appearance was
called " the glory of the Lord."
sisted by Hur, until he should return. His
long absence, however, created uneasiness
among the people, and they at length gave
him up for lost, concluding that he had been
consumed by the fire which still glowed upon
the mountain. They then went on to conclude
that this loss left them to their own plans and
resources, and their first act was to release
themselves from the abstract and spiritual wor-
Moses was forty days and nights in the
mountain, and during this time he received
full and particular directions respecting the
priesthood and the ecclesia.stical establishment
which he was to organize for the people whom
he had brought out of Egypt. Moses had
been aware that his absence would be of
unusual duration, and, therefore, he had dele-
WORSHIPPING A STRANGE GOD. — Ex. xix. 2$.
ship which had been imposed upon them, and
to betake themselves to the worship of God
through such visible images and symbols as
they had accustomed themselves to in Egypt.
They were not yet content to separate the
idea of God from an image symbolizing hi&
attributes. This may seem strange to usj
but it was the notion in which this generation
gated his authority to his brother Aaron, as- had grown up, and they found it not easy to
1*1
. f
1
1 1
r
V.
i HI
i i ■
I f II
96
MAKING A MOLTEN IMAGE.
dissociate ideas which habit had connected.
When, tlierefore, they said to Aaron, " Up,
make us gods that tiiey may go before us ! "
they did not intend to abandon Jehovah, but
to have manifest to their senses such an image
or symbol representing liim, as other nations
had of the gods they worshipped. But this
had been strictly forbidden in the foremost of
tlic commandments which they had so recently
received, and which they had so solemnly
pledged themselves to obey.
The reason of this prohibition is clear.
Such images degraded the Godhead, associated
Him with the false gods similarly represented,
created the danger of transferring the worship
to such other gods, and even to the very image
which in its origin may have been intended for
only a representative symbol. The crime and
error were, however, in this case much height-
ened by being in such gross violation of the
solemn covenant whereby the Lord had made
the Hebrews his peculiar people. That, how-
ever, no direct or conscious revolt against the
political authority of Jehovah was intended, is
shown by the fact that the application "as
made to Aaron, and that his sanction was in
the first place required.
Jewels for the Golden Calf.
Aaron proved unequal to this great emer-
gency. He feared that the authority com-
mitted to him, and now acknowledged by the
people, would be lost in the attempt to stem
so strong a current of popular feeling. He
therefore yielded to it, and contented himself
with the hope of being able to make the Lord
still the final end and object of all their wor-
ship. His policy was indeed that so often
since, and probably before, followed — of lead-
ing public opinion and subjecting it to useful
influences by yielding to it, instead of opposing
its encroachments. He demanded their rings
with which to fabricate the image they re-
quired; perhaps calculating that some reluc-
tance to part with their personal ornaments
would cool their ardor in this matter. If this
were his thought he was mistaken.
They readily divested themselves of their
ornaments for the purpose ; and Aaron fash-
ioned with them the image of " a golden calf,"
obviously an imitation of the Egyptian ex-god
Apis, or rather, perhaps, of the Mnevis of
Lower Egypt. It is probably a mistake to
suppose that this image was all of gold. No
images wholly of metal appear to have been
known in that country, and the mention of its
being " fashioned with a graving tool," as well
as all the subsequent circumstances, imply that
the image was carved in wood and then over-
laid with gold. This explanation, entirely
consistent as it is with the text, and with the
state of the arts at the time, removes many
difficulties which have ari.sen from the notion
that the image was wholly of molten gold.
This image Aaron presented to the people,
and that its final object might not be forgotten,
he immediately proclaimed a feast to Jehovah.
That this feast was celebrated before the image
is alone sufficient to establish the correctness
of the interpretation which has been given.
It was, however, celebrated with observances
proper to the worship of the Egyptian idol,
the form of which had been borrowed. We
are told " the people rose up early in the morn-
ing, and offered burnt offerings, and brought
peace offerings, and the people sat down to eat
and drink and rose up to play : " and after-
wards they are described as singing and
dancing before the golden calf. So, as known
from ancient writers, the most popular rites of
the ancient Egyptians were of the nature of
orgies ; and the fundamental character of their
religion was what, for want of a better word,
may be called Bacchanalian — not, indeed, in
the modern sense of mere drunkenness, but as
including all sorts of sport and merriment.
When these melancholy transactions had
arrived at this consummation, Moses was ab-
ruptly dismissed from the mountain, with the
intimation, " Go, get thee down, for f/tf people,
whom t/ioH broughtest out of the land of Egypt,
have corrupted themselves, and have turned
quickly aside out of the way which I com-
manded." The prophet understood the ter-
rible emphasis of the pronouns here employed ;
doubt was not indeed possible, for the Lord
and Aaron fash-
" a golden calf,"
Egyptian ex-god
the Mnevis of
)1y a mistake to
all of gold. No
ar to have been
le mention of its
ing tool," as well
ances, imply that
^ and then over-
anation, entirely
xt. and with the M
:, removes many
I from the notion
molten gold,
ed to the people, >,=,
not be forgotten,
feast to Jehovah,
before the image
h the correctness
has been given,
ivith observances
e Egyptian idol, ,„,
borrowed. We
arly in the morn-
ngs, and brought
e sat down to eat
)lay : " and after-
as singing and
f. So, as known
t popular rites of
of the nature of
character of their
of a better word,
■not, indeed, in
unkenness, but as
id merriment,
transactions had
n, Moses was ab-
oiintain, with the
vn, for //(/ people,
;he land of Egypt,
and have turned
ay which I com-
derstood the ter-
is here employed ;
ble, for the Lord
<9
'/«^.-^
#W C
\\-:...
'*"»' "or*!" "■'••T to
1""/ or theft * *•
r"- -or ^"^ •»' ^
™"o*«(l ft
r.
^OBOOI. <l.
""^'* 'on '!""*«
"***•" -o.*itt
^•^•»o..^
r^ -or itr*'^
MOSES WITH THE TABI.ES OF THE LAW. — Ex. XX. I-I/.
97
98
BREAKING THE TABLES OF THE LAW.
added : " Now, therefore, let me alone, that
rtiy wrath may wax hot against them, that I
may consume them ; and I will make of thee a
great nation." But the latter alternative had
no charm for the noble-minded prophet, who
ventured reverently to represent that whatever
evil befell the race of Israel in the wilderness
would, in the estimation of the heathen, reflect
discredit on Him in whose high name their
deliverance had been effected.
The Ten Commandments.
This plea prevailed ; and the prophet went
down from the mountain, bearing in his hands
the tablets of stone, on which the words of the
ten commandments were now engraven by the
hand of God. Joshua joined him in the de-
scent. As they drew within ear-shot of the
camp, Joshua distinguished a great noise in
the distance, and remarked, "There is a noise
of war in the camp." But the prophet an-
swered, bitterly, " It is not the voice of them
that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice
of them that cry for being overcome ; but the
voice of them that sing do I hear." A little
further advance brought them in view of the
whole affair, with the people dancing and
shouting around their idol ; on which the pro-
phet, in the intensity of his indignation, flung
from him the tablets of the law, which were
broken in pieces, and hastened forward into
the midst of the infatuated crowd, which, con-
fused and humbled at his sudden reappearance,
cowered before him, and submitted quietly to
his discretion. He laid his hands upon their
idol and cast it into the fire, and then the cal-
cined mass was reduced to powder and strewed
upon the waters, so thac the votaries were
constrained to drink their own abomination.
The painful duty then remained to Moses
of calling his elder brother to account for his
part in this shameful transaction. Aaron re-
plied by giving a confused explanation of the
matter, as favorable to himself as he could
make it ; and in a tone which would not lead
us to expect from him that force of character
which he afterwards found opportunities of
manifesting.
A Ct7 flrom the Gate of the Camp.
After this Moses placed himself at the gate
of the camp, and cried, " Who is on the Lord's
side? Let him come to mel" This sum-
mons could only be answered by those who
had not polluted themselves in the matter of
the golden calf; and it was only answered by
the men of Levi, his own tribe, who gathered
around him at that call. These Moses ordered
to take their swords and go through the camp,
executing summary justice upon the people.
And they did so, with rigid impartiality, spar-
ing neither friend nor foe whom they could
recognize as having taken ai forward part in
the worship of the idol. The number they
slew was three thousand.
Yet the Divine indignation had not wholly
turned away; and Moses, knowing this, re-
turned to the mountain to intercede for them.
He said, "Oh! this people have sinned a great
sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet
now, if thou wilt forgive their sin — and if not,
blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which
thou hast written." The answer to this noble
and touching supplication was such as we
might expect from the justice of God. " Who-
soever hath sinned against me, him will I blot
out of my book."
The Lord then further intimated that, al-
though the descendants of Abraham should
be conducted to the land promised to their
fathers, He would no longer take the direct
charge of them, lest his anger at their iniqui-
ties should break forth to their destruction,
but would leave them to the guidance of an
angel. When the people heard this — wnen
their highest privilege was threatened to be
taken from them — they began to be sensible of
its value, and they mourned greatly. Moses
himself withdrew the public tent from among
them, and pitched it on the outside of the
camp, and the people laid aside all their orna-
ments, and stood as mourners and criminals
to abide their final doom. It was favorable.
The plea of Moses prevailed, and the Lord
promised to receive them again into his pro-
tection and peculiar care.
After this Moses was required to repair
SUBLIME SCENES AT SINAI.
99
quired to repair
again to the mountain, there to receive two
other tables of stone, in the place of those
which had been broken, with the ten command-
ments engraven upon them. The people were
tried forty days more, during which Moses re-
mained in the mount; but this time they con-
tinued steady, having been much bettered by
the correction they had received.
During his absence Moses received the two
"tables of testimony;" the Lord thus renew-
ing the covenant with the Israelites which
their misconduct had broken. At the same
time the promise of conducting them to the
land of Canaan, and of making them tri-
umphant over all their enemies, was renewed.
They were, however, strictly enjoined not to
imitate the idolatrous customs of the inhabi-
tants of the land which was to be given to
them, and were commanded to destroy every
monument of idolatry, however costly. They
were not to contract any treaties of alliance,
friendship, or marriage with idolaters. They
were especially warned against falling again
into the crime of making an image to repre-
sent God. Moses also received a number of
ceremonial precepts, which he was directed to
write in a book; and being in this and the
previous interview fully instructed in all the
design of God respecting his people, at the
end of forty days he descended to the camp.
The Hebrews Pressincr Forward.
At length the long term of wandering drew
near its close. All but a few of those who were
above twenty years of age at the time of the
Exodus were now dead; and those who were
then under that age had by this time reached
the wane of life or were even old and gray-
headed. The active men forming the new
generation had been born in the desert, and
had none of those Egyptian reminiscences
which had been the bane of their fathers, nor
had their spirit been, like theirs, bent down
under the yoke of bondage. They were a
better and more manly generation. And it
may be fair to attribute the misconduct into
which they fell to the influence of the older
men, who were not entirely free from the
Egyptian taint, having been from ten to twenty
years of age when the Israelites quitted the
" house of bondage."
As the appointed time drew nigh in which
they were to receive possession of their heri-
tage,' we find the hosts of Israel again approach-
ing the south of Palestine and encamping at
their old station in Kadesh Barnea. Here
Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, died
and was buried. And here, the waters of the
neighborhood having become exhausted, the
people gave vent to complaints painfully simi-
lar to those in which the past generation had
been too apt to indulge. They were not,
however, punished, probably because the want '
by which they were moved to complain was
real and urgent. Moses and Aaron were di-
rected to speak to the rock, and told that
waters should break forth at their word. Not
content with merely speaking to the rock,
which would much have enhanced the glory
of the miracle, they strxk it twice with vehe-
mence, and not without impatient expressions.
The waters came forth at the stroke : but the
behavior of the brothers on this occasion was
displeasing to God, who declared that for this
neither of them should enter the Promised
Land This seems a severe sentence. But it
is to be borne in mind that the eyes of all Is-
rael were upon these two men,, and any indi-
cation in them of want of confidence, or of
laxity in interpretation of the Divine com-
mands, was likely to have the most dangerous
consequences upon the minds and habits of
the people, unless reprehended and punished.
The Host Driven Back.
Soon after it became evident to the leaders
of the Hebrews that the Canaanites were too
strong in the south to make it expedient for
the untrained Israelites to invade the land in
that quarter. It was therefore concluded to
pass over into the countiy east of the Dead
Sea and the Jordan, and, by crossing the river,
invade the land in its most vulnerable quar-
ter. To this end it was desirable that the
host should pass to the east country, through
one of the valleys which intersect the moun-
A DEPUTATION TO THE EDOMITES.
tains of Seir. These mountains were then, andl civil request for permission to pass through
long before, occupied by the descendants of I his territory. He was remmded of their com.
S^'^
MOSES REHEARSING HIS SONG TO THE HEBREWS. — Deut. XXxil.
Esau, under the name of Edomites; and tolmon origin by the phrase, "This saith thy
their king Moses sent a deputation with a very I brother Israel;" and was assured of their
SUBLIME SCENES AT SINAI.
101
pacific intentions, and that they would pay for
whatever they required on the march, and ab-
stain from touching even the wells of water
without payment.
But the king returned a very sharp refusal,
and manifested an intention to resist by force
of arms any attempt of the Israelites to pass
through the valley to which their attention
seems to have been turned. Out of regard to
their brotherhood the Israelites were forbidden
to force a passage, and directed to return down
towards the head of the Elanitic Gulf, and
then pass eastward, and make their way to the
north through the plains which lie beyond the
mountains of Seir on the east.
Death of Aaron.
In retracing their steps they had to pass
Mount Hor, the loftiest and most conspicuous
of all the Seir mountains. In front of this
they rested ; and it was here that Aaron re-
ceived the intimation that the end of his life's
journey had arrived. He was required to
proceed to the summit of the mountain, " and
die there." Accordingly, he ascended to the
mountain top, arrayed in his pontifical vest-
ments, and attended by Moses and Eleazar.
He was there divested of his robes, which
were placed upon his son, and then, after one
look towards the land from which he was ex-
cluded, the utmost borders of which he could
view from this high place, he resigned his
spirit to God, and his corpse was buried there
upon the mountain by Moses and Eleazar.
Thirty days the host of Israel mourned for
the high-priest; and then they pursued their
way.
On again continuing their way through a
region parched with excessive drought, and
destitute of water, the Israelites, who had
hoped that when they arrived at Kadesh they
had quitted the wilderness forever, and were
about to enter the Promised Land, began to
murmur at the weary march before them, and
to utter sharp invectives, not only against
Moses, but against the Lord. This new pro-
vocation brought immediate punishment, for
the Lord sent among them fiery serpents, by
which many of the people were bitten and
died. The serpents are called " fiery " from
their color, as some suppose, resembling
polished brass, or, as others conceive, from
the intense and fatal inflammation which their
bites produced. Naturalists suppose this ser-
pent to be the hooded snake, the hood of
which, when inflated, has sufficiently the ap-
pearance of wings to explain the epithet " fly-
ing," which is applied to these serpents.
The Brazen Serpent.
By this terrible judgment the people were
made sensible of their fault, and implored
Moses to intercede for the removal of the ser-
pents. This he readily did. The serpents,
however, were not immediately removed, but
relief was granted after a very peculiar man-
ner. Moses was directed to make a serpent
of brass, similar in form to those which had
bitten the people, and to fix it upon a pole or
standard, which was to be set up in a con-
spicuous part of the camp. Every one then
who was bitten, and raised his eyes to this
brazen serpent, was healed of his deadly
vvound and lived. No means could be less
suited than this in itself to give relief And
therefore it was merely designed that the suf-
ferers should by this token express their de-
pendence upon God, and that they looked to
him alone for help and cure. If we may con-f
ceive that any wanted faith in this seemingly
unlikely means of cure, and neglected to look
i up to the brazen serpent, he undoubtedly per-
ished in his misbelief. It may thus be seen
with what exquisite fitness Jesus refers to the
brazen serpent as a symbol of himself: " For
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilder-
ness, even so must the Son of man be lifted
up, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life."
After this the Israelites proceeded quietly on
their way, without any event of consequence
till they reached the brook Zared, which flows
into the southern extremity of the Dead Sea.
Here they paused a while, and then proceeded
to the Arnon, through the territories in the
actual possession of the Moabites, who seem
102
A GIGANTIC MONARCH.
I I
■■■:: i ■■
"' '
h! 1
i
,
to have wanted the power more than the in-
clination to oppose their march. Beyond the
Arnon lay the territory of which the Canaan-
itish nation called the Amorite.s had at some
previous period dispossessed the Moabites, but
which is still called in Scripture " the land of
Moab."
Without troubling themselves with ante-
cedent questions, the Israelites, recognizing the
actual possessors, applied to Sihon, king of the
Aniorites, who reigned in Heshbon, for per-
mission to march through his territories to the
banks of the Jordan, beyond which lay the re-
gion against which their conquering mission
was directed. Sihon, however, being related
to and in alliance with the nations beyond the
river, was by no means disposed to grant this
permission, but took the field to oppose their
march. This brought on the first battle fought
by the new generation of the Israelites. They
were victorious; Sihon was defeated, taken
prisoner, and slain ; and the conquerors took
possession of his dominion, with all its towns.
Og', the Giant of Bashan.
This conquest necessitated another. For
they were attacked in their new possession by
Og, the king of Bashan, who was in alliance
with Sihon, and whom the Jabbok now only
separated from the Israelites. This Og was " of
the race of the giants ; " and to give some idea
of his height, we are told that his bedstead
was thirteen and a half feet long by six feet
broad, and that it was of iron, to sustiin his
enormous weight This bedstead was long
after preserved, as a curiosity and muniment,
at the capital town of Rabbah. This gigantic
monarch must have seemed very formidable
to the Israelites ; but over him also they were
victors. Thus, contrary to their original in-
tention, the Israelites came into possession of
a fine and fertile country. extendin<j from the
Arnon to Mount Hermon, and full of cities
" fenced with high walls, gates, an-1 bars ; be-
sides unwalled towns a great many." The
host, however, was hot allowed to disperse
itself over the new possession, desirable as it
was, but remained encamped in " the plains of
Moab," which lay immediately east of the
northern part of the Dead Sea, and the lower
course of the Jordan.
The neighboring Moabites viewed the.Ne
transactions with discontent and alarm ; dis
content at seeing the Israelites in possession
of a country which had formerly belonged to
themselves, and alarm at the settlement on
their border of a people so powerful, as com-
pared with themselves, and so manifestly fa-
vored by Heaven. Moab is a district to the
east of the Dead Sea, on the River Arnon.
Particular attention has been recently drawn
to it by the discovery of the Moabite stone,
and the light which its inscription throws upon
Scripture. The prophecies concerning Moab
are numerous and remarkable, and, says Mr.
Keith, who confirms his statement by unex-
ceptionable evidence, " there is scarcely a
single feature peculiar to the land of Moab as
it now exists which was not marked by the
prophets in delineating the low condition to
which, from the height of its wickedness and
haughtiness, it was not finally to be brought
down."
The Moabites were governed by a king
called Balak, who was eager to attack the Is-
raelites in their camp, but was afraid to do so
while they, even as he felt, enjoyed the assur-
ance of victory in the Divine favor. There
lived beyond the Euphrates a person called
Balaam, who enjoyed a high reputation as
one whose curse was irresistible for evil, and
his blessing for good.
To this person Balak sent a deputation,
with costly gifts, inviting him to«come and lay
his curse upon the strangers, whom the mes-
sage described in terms which give a good
notion of the point of view in which the Is-
raelites were regarded by the natives in their
neighborhood : " There is a people come out
from Egypt : behold, they cover the face of
the land, and they abide over against me.
Come now, therefore, I pray thee, curse me
this people ; for they are too mighty for me :
fteradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite
them, and that we may drive them out of the
land."
CHAPTER X.
BALAAM AND THE ANQEL
IALAAM was very willing
to have gone, for he was
covetous of the gain and
honor which the adventure
offered. But he knew that
he durst not go uncommis-
sioned; and the commis-
sion being refused him, he
was constrained reluctantly
to dismiss the ambassadors with
this refusal. The king of Moab,
however, felt too deeply interested to
abandon his object. He fancied that
his ofTers had not been high enough
to tempt the known cupidity of the
prophet He therefore sent another em-
bassy, composed of persons of higher rank,
bearing richer gifts and with promises of
higher rewards. The prophet was moved.
But he still replied, " If Balak would give me
his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go
beyond the word ot the Lord my God, to do
less or more."
, Still, however, anxious to comply, he invited
them to remain in his house till he should once
more have inquired the will of God. In this
he did wrong, for he ought at once to have
been satisfied that God, who changeth not,
would not allow him to curse a people whom
he had so lately declared to be in the enjoy-
ment of his blessing. Besides, his alacrity to
undertake for the love of gain what would
have been to an upright prophet a painful
duty, was alone likely to be very displeasing
to the Most High. Nevertheless, still further
to try him, he was told, when he renewed his
application, that he might go.
JoyfuIIv did he then quit his bed early in
the morning, and saddle his ass to accompany
the messengers. All went on very well for a
time ; but at length, on passing by a narrow
way on the journey, the ass, hitherto so docile,
became suddenly restive, and refused, even by
the urgency of blows, to proceed any further.
But as Balaam with great passion persisted in
forcing the animal on, the mouth of the dumb
beast was opened, and he spoke, with most
miraculous organ rebuking the conduct of the
prophet. At the same time, an angel standing
in the way with a drawn sword, the sight of
whom had prevented the ass from proceeding,
became visible to Balaam, and filled him with
dread. After a severe reprehension from the
angel, he was allowed to complete his journey,
but with a strict injunction to act and speak
on his arrival only as authorized.
The lft);)g of Moab rejoiced to see him, and
deemed the great object of his present policy
secured by his arrival. But his gladness was
somewhat damped when Balaam acquainted
him with the conditions under which he had
come. Afterwards the king and the prophet
offered seven victims upon as many altars, and
Balaam viewed the camp of the Israelites from
the high places of Baal. Gladly would he
have laid his curse upon them : but a mighty
force was on him, and, to the great disappoint-
ment of the king, he was constrained to open
his mouth in blessings. Having pacified the
king by explaining the inevitable necessity
under which he acted, the latter took him to
a different eminence where he could only
behold a portion of the camp, hoping that this
part might be abandoned to his curse. But
the same thing happened as before; and when
the king took the prophet to yet another
mountain, whence only the outskirts of the
camp could be viewed, he was constrained not
only to bless the Israelites, but to curse their
enemies. On this the king's patience was ex-
hausted, and he sharply commanded Balaam
to depart to his own house. But again he
(K8i
Ill
' i
1
ti
III
( i:
104
AN UNEXPECTED PROPHECY.
was somewhat calmed by Bal.iam's reiterated
declaration of his inability to say one word
more or less than the Divine influence put
boring nations to the Israelites, espcciallj' in
the time of David, who is not obscurely
pointed out in terms which, although they
into his mouth; and he allowed the prophet
to proceed, and declare to him the things that
should come to pass in the last days. He
then foretold the subjugation of all the neigh-
BALAAM MET BY THE ANGEL. — Num. xxii. 3 1.
have a primary application to him, cannot be
understood but with an ultimate reference to
the Messiah, who was promised long before.
Finding himself unable to accomplish the
BALAAM AND THE ANGEL.
106
him, cannot be
te reference to
long before,
tccomplish the
objects for which he came, Balaam prepared
to return to his own country. But before he
departed he suggested to the king of Moab a
plan by which he might be able to seduce the
was known that they had already suffered, and
by which their numbers might be much re-
duced and their power much weakened.
The Moabites, in conjunction with their
balak's sacrifice. — Num. xxiii. 2.
Israelites, so that they might bring a curse
upon themselves, or at least become deprived
of the Lord's protection, and provoke such
judgments against them as those by which it
neighbors the Midianites, immediately pro-
ceeded to carry this plan into effect. They
opened apparently friendly communications
with the Israelites, and the men were easily
i:
\ -i
1
106
TWELVE THOUSAND PICKED MEN.
persuaded to attend the idolatrous feasts, at
which every kind of licentiousness was prac-
tised, and even to join in sacrifices to Baal-
Peor. The extent of this degeneracy may be
estimated from the fact that many persons of
high station in the several tribes were the
ringleaders in this transgression.
At length the Divine anger broke forth
against the transgressors, and this time it was
not manifested through miraculous agencies,
but by a judicial sentence to be executed by
human hands. The word was given to slay
every one who had joined himself to Baal-
Peor. On this the people, conscious of their
crime, humbled themselves before the Lord,
with much weeping, in the hope of averting
his displeasure.
Divine Vengeance.
Meanwhile, as the sentence of slaughter had
not been executed, the Lord had taken the
avengement into his own hand, for a pestilence
broke forth among the people. But the high
act of Phinehas w<is accepted as an atonement,
and the plague then ceased.
The Israelites were then ordered to take
arms against the Midianites, who had been
peculiarly active in the too successful attempt
to seduce the people of God. A thousand
men from each of the twelve tribes, forming a
body of twelve thousand picked men, were
appointed for this service, and placed under
the command of Phinehas. The contest was
not of long duration. The Israelites carried
all before them, and they committed dreadful
carnage among the Midianites, slaying without
quarter all the men who came in their way.
The country was not one which they were to
occupy : they therefore ravaged it completely,
and destroyed the towns and strongholds, with
the view of disabling the Midianites from re-
newing the war. The booty obtained in this
expedition was very considerable, and the items
of the enumeration are full of suggestive mat-
ter as regards the condition of the conquered
people and the character of ancient warfare.
It is thus given : sheep, six hundred and
seventy-five thousand ; beeves, seventy-two
thousand; a.sses, sixty-one thousand; persons
(female.^), thirty>two thousand. To this is
added no less than sixteen thousand seven
hundred and fifty shekels' weight of gold,
which had formed the ornaments of the Mid-
ianites. From the quantity and from the
articles enumerated it would seem that these
Midianites were well coverrd with " barbaric
pearl and gold." These articles are named as
"jewels of gold, chains, bracelets, rings, ear-
rings and tablets."
This abundant spoil might have suggested
a nice question with respect to the distribu-
tion, as it was scarcely to be expected that the
comparatively small body of men actually en-
gaged in the expedition were to have the ex-
clusive enjoyment of it. This therefore, gave
occasion for the law which appears to have
given satisfaction to all the parties concerned,
and which thenceforth regulated the practice
of the Hebrews with respect to booty. The
whole of the " prey," or beasts and captives,
was divided into two parts, of which one went
to the soldiers who had been in action, and
the other to the general body of the people ;
so that the twelve thousand warriors had so
much as five hundred and ninety thousand
people. But the actual victors seem to have
had the entire of the personal " spoil" at their
disposal, and in this instance they presented
it as an oblation to the tabernacle. From the
" prey," or live stock, a tribute for the Lord
was also levied, being at the rate of one in
fifty from the share of the warriors, and one in
five hundred from the share of the people. It
may be remarked that the distribution of one-
half to the general body of the people arose
from all the adult males in the camp being re-
garded as forming an army composed of men
fit to bear arms, and liable at any time to be
called into the field ; and of whom, therefore,
the body at any time engaged in actual service
was merely a detachment.
Including the tribe of Levi the entire num-
ber of the Israelites at this time may be es-
timated at 2,500,o<x). • Not only the tribes, but
the several families of Israel, were at this time
registered under the names of those sons or
BALAAM AND THE ANGEL
107
grandsons of the patriarchs who were the
progenitors of the grand subdivisions in the
several tribes. And it was directed that the
division of the land in Canaan should be made
according to the register thus formed. The
quantity of the land was to be proportioned
to the numbers of each tribe, and of each
family In each tribe ; and the situation of the
portions both of the tribes and families was to
be determined by lot. This was eventually
done in the manner which we shall have occa*
aion to describe.
Death of the Great Lawirlver.
As Moses was not to enter the Promised
Land, it became evident that his days were
soon to close. In preparation of that solemn
event the prophet was commanded to appoint
Joshua, the son of Nun. to the high task of
introducing the chosen people into their prom-
ised heritage. He was not the successor of
the legislator; Moses had no successor;
neither had Joshua himself any when he died.
They were both raised up for particular and
e.xtraordinary services of an entirely different
nature — Moses to deliver Israel from Egypt,
and to organize the people so delivered ;
Joshua, who was endued with much valor and
high military talents, to lead the people in
those wars which were to give them possession
of the land promised to their fathers.
About this time the tribes of Reuben and
Gad solicited Moses for permission to take for
their share of territory the lands which had
been conquered from Sihon and Og, east of
the Jordan. The ground of their application
was that the land was peculiarly suited for
pasturage, and they had large possessions of
flocks and herds. Moses was not at first
pleased at Ms application, construing it into
a desire to provide for themselves on easy
terms, by taking possession of what all the
tribes had conquered, without assisting the
other tribes in the warfare for their possession.
But the applicants explained with much
earnestness that this was far from their wish.
If their suit were granted they would leave
their families and substance in the land, but
would themselve.i accompany the main body
of the Israelites across the river and rcinain
in arms until they also had received .their heri-
tage. To the proposjj, when stated in this
shape, Moses assented ; but as the territory
appeared too large for two tribes, he added
half the tribe of Manasseh. to which was given
the northernmost portion of this fine territory.
It is probable that the e,xtraordinary increase
of Manasseh, which the recent census had
made apparent, suggested the selection of this
tribe, and the separation in it which accord-
ingly took place.
After this Moses assembled the whole con-
gregation of Israel and addressed them for the
last time. He recapitulated all the remark-
able events which had transpired from the de-
parture of their fathers out of Egypt to the
present time. He assured them of the Divine
assistance in the conquest of Canaan, and
cautioned them again.U unbelief and dislru.Ht
of the Divine word. To strengthen this cau-
tion he reminded them of the former dis-
obedience and frequent rebellions of their
fathers, in consequence of which they have
been doomed to wander forty years in the
wilderness and denied admission to the
Promised I^nd. He then reminded them of
their signal successes over the Atnorites,
whom they had attacked with the Divine per-
mission, and assured them that Joshua was di-
vinely appointed to put them in possession of
the lano of their inheritance.
Moses then proceeded to refresh the knowl-
edge of the new generation by repeating, with
some alterations which the lapse of time and
the approaching change of life made neces-
sary, the various civil laws and ordinances
which had from time to time been delivered to
him. With reference to these he emphatically
remarked : " Behold, I have taught you stat-
utes and judgments, even as the Lord my God
commanded me, that ye do so in the land
whither ye go to possess it. Keep, therefore,
and do them ; for this is your wisdom and un-
derstanding in the sight of the nations. And
what nation is there po great, that hath stat-
utes and judgments so righteous as all this
108
DEATH OF MOSES.
I! '!
'1
i ' 1
law which I set before you this day ? Only
take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul dili-
gently, lest thou forget the things which thine
eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy
heart all the days of thy life ; but teach them
to thy sons and to thy sons' sons."
When Moses had finished the recapitulation
of the laws and statutes of Jehovah, he pro-
ceeded to set before the people the abundant
blessings which should attend their obedience,
and the dreadful punishments which awaited
their disobedience. These punishments were
such that " Even all nations shall say. where-
fore hath the Lord done thus unto this land ?
What meaneth the heat of his great anger?
Then men shall say. Because they have for-
saken the covenant of the Lord God of their
fathers, which he made with them when
he brought them forth out of the land of
Egypt." How truly and sadly the doom de-
nounced against their disobedience was accom
plished will in the ensuing pages appear too
plainly.
The Sooer of Moses.
Moses now wrote all the words of the law
in a book. This is the first mention of a book
which occurs in the Scriptures ; and the infor-
mation which we possess concerning ancient |
books leaves no question but that it was of
skins made up into rolls. We are not, how-
ever, to conclude that the skins were prepared
into parchment, as that was an invention of
much later date, later than even the papyrus,
several interesting rolls of which are preserved ;
in collections of Egyptian antiquities. Those
who have been privileged to see the white!
skin robes prepared by the rude Indians from '
the hide of the bison, will have no difficulty in
understanding how skins might be made fit'
for writing on, even before the invention of}
parchment furnished a better material for the
purpose.
Moses then gave forth a magnificent poem,
called in after time " the song of Moses," in
which the Divine care over the people is cele-
brated by many interesting circumstances and
striking images, such as that of the eagle
caring for its young :
" The Lord's portion is his people:
Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
He found him in a desert land,
And in the waste howling wildemets;
He led him about, he instructed him,
He kept him as the apple of his eye ;
As an eagle stirretb up her nest
And fluttereth over her young,
Or spreadeth around her wings, and taketh them up
And beareth them on her wings :
So the Lord alone did lead him."
Finally, Moses bestowed upon the tribes his
last and solemn blessing, similar in many re-
spects to that which Jacob had in his last
days bestowed upon his sons. The prophet
then received the Divine command to ascend
to the summit of Mount Nebo, and survey
from thence the Prom sed Land before he
closed his eyes in death. This summons he
had long expected, and he obeyed it without
demur, knowing that the appointed hour was
come. He ascended from the plains of Moab,
and upon Mount Nebo delivered up the
charge Ke had received upon Mount Sinai.
He died at the age of one hundred and twenty
years, when " his eye was not dim, nor his
natural force abated."
The history of Moses is the history of Israel
for forty years. It is important to trace his
relation to his immediate circle of followers.
In the Exodus he takes the decisive lead on
the night of the flight. Up to that point he
and Aaron appear almost on an equality.
But after that, Moses is usually mentioned
alone. Aaron still held the .second place.
Another, nearly equal to Aaron, is Hur, of
the tribe of Judah. Miriam always held the
independent position to which her age entitled
her. Her part was to supply the voice and
song to her brother's prophetic power.
But Moses is incontestably the chief per-
sonage of the hi.story, in a sense in which no
one else i.= described before or since. In tlie
traditions of the desert, whether late or early,
his name predominates over that of every one
else. "The Books of Moses" are so called
(as afterwards the Books of Samuel), in all
probability from his being the chief subject
of them. They show us the great leader and
lawgiver in his majestic proportions.
BALAAM AND THE ANGEL.
109
id taketh them u]:
tn the tribes his
He must be considered, like all the saints
and heroes of the Bible, as a man of marvellous
gifts, raised up by Divine Providence for a
special purpose, but led into a closer commun-
ion with the invisible world than was vouch-
safed to any other in the Old Testament
There are two main characters in which he
appears, as a Leader and as a Prophet. The
two main difficulties which he encountered
were the reluctance of the people to submit to
By Moses the spies were sent to explore the
country. Against his advice took place the
first disastrous battle at Hormah. To his
guidance is ascribed the circuitous route by
which the nation approached Palestine from
the East, and to his generalship the two suc-
cessful campaigns in which Sihon and Og
were defeated.
The narrative is told so shortly, that we are
in danger of forgetting that at this last stage
MOSES VIEWING THE PROMISED LAND. — Deut. XXXiv. i;'
his guidance, and the impracticable nature of
the country which they had to traverse. The
route through the wilderness is described as
having been made under his guidance.
The particular spot of the encampment is
fixed by the cloudy pillar. But the direction
of the people first to the Red Sea, and then
to Mount Sinai, is communicated through
Moses, or given by him. On approaching Pal-
estine, the office of the leader becomes blended
with that of the general or the conqueror.
of his life Moses must have been as much a
conqueror and victorious soldier as Joshua.
His character as a prophet is, from the nature
of the case, more distinctly brought out. He
is the first as he is the greatest example of a
Prophet in the Old Testament. In a certain
sense, he appears as the centre of a prophetic
circle, now for the first time named. His
brother and sister were both endowed with
prophetic gifts, yet do not appear conspicu-
ously in the annals of prophecy.
iiMMMUWMli
ddfJ
J*^
CHAPTER XI.
ENTERING THE PROMISED LAND.
)HE Israelites mourned
thirty days for their
great leader, and then
took immediate meas-
ures with reference to
the high enterprise
which lay before them.
■ The firstact of Joshua,
who now took the chief place
as military leader, was to send
two spies across the river. It
was evident that the great city
of Jericho, which lay before
them in the plain west of
the Jordan, must become the
first object of the operations
of the Hebrew host ; and the
spies were therefore directed
to make their way into the
town and obtain information respecting the
strength of the place and the disposition of
those who inhabited it. They succeeded in
gaining an entrance into the city; but they
had scarcely arrived before the king received
intelligence of it, and sent to apprehend them
in a house near the wall, belonging to a
woman named Rahab, in which they had
taken up their abode. But the hostess, having
timely notice of this, concealed the spies
under some flax which had been spread out to
dry upon the flat roof of her house. When
the men in search of them came, Rahab by her,
answers led them to conclude that the stran-
gers had already taken their departure, and
that she was herself very solicitous for their
apprehension. Having thus succeeded in put-
ting them on a wrong scent, she felt that the
spies were no longer safe in her house. She
therefore went to them on the housetop, and
declaring her belief that the place would be
taken by their countrymen, she requested
(110)
them to promise that, in return for the service
which she had rendered, the lives of hersell
and her near kindred should be spared.
The men, believing that Joshua would
sanction their engagement, gave the required
promise, and directed her to attach a scarlet
line to her window, in order that, during the
assault upon the town, her house might be
distinguished from all others, and its inmates
spared. In .stating the grounds of her belief
in their success, Rahab incidentally gave the
spies much valuable information, which enables
us to perceive the state of mind in which the
nearer Canaanites awaited the invasion of the
Hebrews.
It seems that the fame of the miracles
which the Lord had wrought in Egypt on the
behalf of his people, and the wonders of the
wilderness, as well as the victories on the
east of the river, had attracted much attention
in Canaan, and had filled the inhabitants with
such alarm and discouragement as accounts
well for their not assembling to oppose the
Hebrew host at the Jordan, across which it
was now manifest that they intended to enter
the country. Having given this information,
Rahab assisted them in leaving Jericho unob-
served, by lowering them down by a rope
through the window; and on their return they
gave Joshua an account of their mission.
On the very day after receiving this encour-
aging intelligence, Joshua took measures for
the removal of the camp to the other side of
the river. It was then the time of flood, when
the river was full, deep and rapid, and there-
fore presented a greater obstacle to the pas-
sage than at any other time of the year. But
this seemed no great hindrance to those who
had seen the Red Sea itself separate to afford
a passage to the descendants of Abraham.
Indeed, it was promised that the waters of the
1 for the service
lives of hersell
e spared.
Joshua would
^e the required
attach a scarlet
hat, during the
louse might be
and its inmates
ds of her belief
intally gave the
n, which enables
id in which the
invasion of the
)f the miracles
in Egypt on the
wonders of the
ictories on the
much attention
inhabitants with
ent as accounts
I to oppose the
across which it
itended to enter
his information,
g Jericho unob-
own by a rope
heir return they
;ir mission,
ing this encour-
jk measures for
le other side of
le of flood, when
apid, and there-
acle to the pas-
f the year. But
ce to these who
?parate to afford
ts of Abraham,
he waters of the
(111)
112
THE FALL OF JERICHO.
i\4
Jordan should in like manner be divided to
afford them a dryshod entrance to their heri-
tage. Pursuant to the directions which ac-
companied this promise, the ark, borne by the
priests, went about three-fourths of a mile in
advance of the great body of the host. No
sooner had the feet of these sacred persons
touched the river's brink, than the waters
divided to give them passage. The waters
below the point went on emptying themselves
into the Dead Sea, while the stream above
was arrested in its impetuous course, leaving
the channel dry from the point where the
priests entered to the head of the lake.
The priests went on, and when they reached
the middle of the river's bed they rested there,
beneath the shadow of the wall of waters, the
ark of God being thus interposed between the
impending flood and the people, who, as soon
as they came up, passed across between the
ark and the head of the lake. When all had
gone over, the priests took up the ark and
went up out of the bed of the river ; and no
sooner had they done this than the mighty hand
which held back the flood was withdrawn.
SettlDgr Up a Memorial.
Before the priests quitted the bed of the
Jordan a singular operation was performed,
which, taken in connection with other circum-
stances, reminds one strongly of the Druidical
monuments and stones of memorial which are
found in different parts of the world. Twelve
men, one from every tribe, were sent back into
the bed of the river, each bearing a large stone,
which he deposited there, and returned with a
large stone from the river. The stones thus
obtained were set up as stones of memorial at
Gilgal, where the Israelites formed their first
encampment in the land of Canaan.
This miraculous passage of the river must
have much heightened the consternation of
the Canaanites ; and the manner in which the
Israelites obtained possession of Jericho was
well framed to strengthen this feeling in them,
as well as to give confidence to the Israelites,
from the conviction that a Divine power would
be exerted to put them in possession of those
strong cities, the report of whose high walls
and towers had filled their fathers with alarm.
As soon as the Israelites had crossed the
river, the miraculous supply of manna, which
they had hitherto enjoyed, ceased, and they
from that time ate bread made from the corn
of the land. In the wilderness the rite of cir-
cumcision had been neglected, and the Pass-
over had not been observed. But before com-
mencing their operations in Palestine, it was
deemed right that the people should be cir-
cumcised in their camp at Gilgal ; and they
then proceeded to celebrate the Passover, the
time for which had arrived.
After this, as Joshua was out alone recon-
noitring the town of Jericho, which he had
placed under siege, he was surprised by the
sudden appearance of a personage with a
drawn sword, who announced himself as the
heavenly " captain of the Lord's host," and
proceeded to give to the prostrate Joshua in-
structions for the siege of the city. He was
directed to " compass the city by all the men
of war, and go round about it once ; and do
this six days." " And seven priests shall bear
before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns :
and the seventh day ye shall compass the cjty
seven times, and the priests shall blow with
the trumpets. And it shall come to pass that
when they make a long blast with the rams'
horns, and when ye hear the sound of the
trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great
shout ; and the wall of the city shall fall down
flat, and the people ascend every man straight
before him."
This course was exactly followed. The
procession, however imposing, must have
seemed an idle show during six days ; but on
the seventh, when the wall fell down at the
great shout which arose from that mighty
host, and while the earth yet shook with that
terrible downfall, the Israelites rushed into the
now open city, which they sacked and utterly
destroyed. No living creature was spared
(save Rahab and her friends), and the buildings
were destroyed by fire ; but the silver and gold,
and the vessels of brass and iron, were brought
into the treasury of the Lord. In fact the
ENTERING THE PROMISED LAND.
113
town had at the first been laid under a solemn
ban, or curse of devotement, which made it a
high crime for any one to save for himself any
of the things doomed to be destroyed, or of
those which were to be saved only for the use
of the sanctuary.
The next attack of the Israelites was against
the town of Ai ; and they made it in all the
confidence of victory, which the miraculous
overthrow of Jericho inspired. But they were
repulsed, and fled before the men of Ai, who
sallied out against them. This waa a terrible
disaster, not merely from the discouragement
of the Israelites, but far more from the enemy
being thus enabled to perceive that the dreaded
invaders were not after all invincible. It was
evident from this that the Lord had, for some
unknown reason, abandoned them to their own
resources. A solemn inquiry was then insti-
tuted, and it was discovered that one of the
men engaged in the sack of Jericho had been
tempted to app. ~7>riate to his own use frpm
the devoted spoils a " goodly Babylonish gar-
ment," together with some silver, and an ingot
of gold.
The Sin of Achan.
By this act the man, whose name was Achan,
had involved the whole of the host in the in-
fraction of a solemn covenant, which had led
to the disaster at Ai. The devoted articles
were taken from him and laid up before the
Lord; Achan and his family were stoned, and
afterwards burned; and by this expiation "the
fierceness of the Lord's anger was turned from
Israel." After this a second expedition against
Ai was undertaken ; and this time the Israel-
ites were more successful. The city was taken
and burnt, and all the inhabitants put to the
sword ; but the spoil, consisting of cattle and
large quantities of gold and silver, was this
time divided among the people. i
When the Gibeonites, a people of Canaan
inhabiting this neighborhood, heard of the de- '
struction of Jericho and Ai, with the slaughter
of the inhabitants, and that the Israelites were
under a command to destroy all the nations
of the land without entering into any league i
with them or giving them any quarter, they \
8
resolved to obtain exemption by means of a
stratagem. With this view they sent out some
of their principal men as ambassadors, who
were fitted out in such a manner that they
seemed to have come from a very distant
country ; making it appear that the provisions
which they carried were either exhausted or
spoiled by the length of the journey, and even
their clothes and wine-skins worn out. Thet>e
persons presented themselves before Joshua
and the elders of Israel, and stated that their
distant countrymen had heard of the mighty
deeds which God had wrought for his people
in rescuing them from Egypt, and in destroy-
ing before them the powerful kings of the
Amorites : and these reports had so impressed
their minds as to render them highly desirous
of the friendship of a people thus highly
favored by Heaven. For this purpose they
had undertaken a long and fatiguing journey,
as their njition was even willing to become
their tributaries, if they might have security
that they should not at any future period be
destroyed by the increasing power and do*
minion of Israel.
Joshua and the elders hastily deemed the
condition in which these men appeared, aqd
the state of their provisions, as sufficient evi-
dence for the truth of this plausible tale : and
they entered into a league with them, engag-
ing by a solemn oath not to destroy, but to
protect, the people they represented. The
deception practised by the Gibeonites was,
however, soon after discovered. But in con-
sideration of the solemn engagement into
which the Israelites had entered, their lives
were spared ; but their lands and cities were
taken under the dominion of Israel, and the
inhabitants had imposed upon them the ser-
vice of providing wood and water for the use
of the tabernacle — that is, they had to carry
the water in their skin bags, and to cut and
carry the wood for the sacrifices. This was a
great relief to those by whom these servile
labors had hitherto been performed. It would
appear that the Gibeonites generally pursued
their ordinary modes of life, and had only to
provide a sufficient number of men, whether
I
i-
!< '
(114)
JOSHUA COMMANDING THE SUN TO STAND STILL,
ENTERING THE PROMISED LAND.
115
in rotation or by substitute, to be " hewers of Israel had set their feet upon their necks,
wood and drawers of water." j which was in those times a well-known mode
The exclusive alliance of the Gibeonites; of expressing triumph over a vanquished foe,
with the Israelites was highly displeasing to and as such is often represented upon the
the neighboring states, and in particular to monuments of Persia and of Egypt.
Adoni-zedek. the king of Jerusalem, who Encouraged by these successes, the Israel-
formed a confederacy with four other kings ites no longer hesitated to attack the strong,
of the sin.ill neighboring monarchies, for the fortified towns, which had seemed impregna-
purposc of attacking them, in order to prevent ble to their fathers, and under their able com-
others from following an example so dis- mander they soon made themselves masters
couraging to the defenders of the country, of all the strongholds and chief cities of
When thus threatened by invasion, they .sent Southern Palestine, and with them the terri-
to Joshua to claim his protection. Mindful tories which they commanded,
of the league between them, however wrong- ( The North, which, in the absence of immi-
fuUy obtained, and encouraged by the Divine | nent danger, had hitherto rested in quiet, now
assurance of a complete victory — taking a con- ; became seriously alarmed; and a powerful
siderabie body of picked men, and leaving the confederacy was formed under Jabin, king of
bulk of the army at Gilgal, which was still i Hazor, to resist the further progress of the
the head-quarters of the Israelites, Joshua invaders: all the remaining strength of Canaan
marched to the relief of the Gibeonites. He seems to have been concentrated in this opera-
concerted his measures on this occasion with tion, and great reliance seems to have been
so much prudence, and executed them with so ; placed upon the iron-armed war-chariots,
much vigor and despatch, that in his attack j which were, in fact, very dreadful to the He-
upon the enemy, the next day, he succeeded brews. So formidable, indeed, was the con-
in defeating and totally routing the superior ! federacy, and so vast the host assembled
force of the confederated kings. As they fled, ' against Israel on this occasion, that the Lord
"the Lord cast down great stones from heaven judged it needful to give Joshua renewed
upon them, and they died, and there were more
that died with hailstones than they whom
the children of Israel slew with the sword."
Tlic Sun and Moon Standinpr Stil*.
assurances of protection and victory, and com-
manded him to attack the Canaanites on the
following day. Joshua obeyed, and obtained
a complete and apparently easy victory over
the unwieldy host which lay encamped by
A still greater miracle was that which fol-|"the waters of Merom " (the lake Huleh).
lowed: Joshua, fearing that the day would fail j After this brilliant success, the Hebrews
before he had completed his victory, cried i found no power strong enough to make head
aloud. "Sun, stand thou .still upon Gibeon, ! against them. They carried their victories to
and thou, moon, in the valley of Ajalon ! " I the northernmost parts of Palestine, and to
And we are told "the sun stood still and the the borders of Zid^ n and the Phoenician terri-
moon stayed until the people had avenged | tory. On their return they destroyed Hazor,
themselves upon their enemies
This interposition of Divine Providence at
the word of man enabled the Israelites to
complete their victory by utterly dispersing
the enemy. The five kings who escaped from
the field of battle took shelter in a cave, where
they were discovered and put to death in a
most Ignominious manner, after the chiefs of i Israelites.
and its king, who had taken refuge in his cap-
ital, and who had been lord paramount of all
the petty sovereigns in this part of Palestine.
Hazor was on this account destroyed, as an
example of severity ; but all the other cities,
which were either carried by assault or sur-
rendered, were preserved for the use of the
CHAPTER XII.
JOSHUA DIVIDING THE LAND.
'URSUING the graphic nar-
rative, we find that the op-
erations which have been
described, and which left
the Israelites paramount
in Canaan, occupied about
five years, during which
not fewer than thirty-five
of the petty kings of Canaan had
been dispossessed of their domin-
ions. It then seemed that suffi-
cient connected territory had been
acquired to provide for three of
the tribes, on the same liberal
scale as the two tribes and a half
beyond the Jordan. The decision of God in
the distribution of this territory was appealed
to by a solemn lot, which assigned it to Judah,
Ephraim, and the unprovided halftribe of
Manasseh. This first division of lands took
place in the year b. c. 1602.
Before the internal distribution to particular
families was made of the territory thus as-
signed, Caleb put in a claim to a separate pro-
vision, in virtue of a promise made by Moses,
that he should inherit the land in which he
had beheld the gigantic Anakim, who had
struck such terror into the other spies, but by
whom his own faithful heart and that of Joshua
himself had not been appalled. This Caleb,
it will be remembered, and Joshua, were the
only two who were adults at the Exodus, who
were permitted to enter the Promised Land.
The lands which Caleb had in view were ac-
cordingly assigned to him, being Hebron and
its neighborhood. This territory was still in
the hands of the enemy; but Caleb undertook
to get possession of it when assigned to him.
He did so. At Debir he offered the hand of
his daughter as a prize for him who should
take that place for him.
(116)
The exploit was undertaken and success-
fully accomplished by his nephew Othniel, to
whom custom gave a sort of right to her
hand, and who would have incurred some
dishonor had he allowed the superior daring
of another to take that right from him. As
Othniel was about to conduct home his bride,
she intimated to him her dissatisfaction at the
unwatered lands which Caleb had given as her
dower, and got his consent to allow her to ask
her father for " springs of water." This was
a great thing to ask ; but Caleb was kind, and
gave her " both the upper and the nether
springs."
Hitherto the camp had remained at Gilgal,
and there was the altar and tabernacle. Hut it
now seemed desirable to remove the head-
quarters to a more central place ; and Shiloh,
in the land of Ephraim, was deemed the most
suitable station. The removal took place with
much pomp. On the way, Joshua was enabled
to follow the directions of Moses respecting an
imposing ceremony which he had ordered to
be celebrated on the mountains of Ebal and
Gerizim. In the valley between the mountains
were stationed the priests with the ark, while
the mountains themselves were lined with the
tribes, six on each side. The curses of the
law upon the wrong-doer and the disobedient
were then pronounced from Mount Ebal, and
its blessings upon the well-doer and the obe-
dient from Mount Gerizim ; and as each clause
was pronounced, one mighty "Amen" pro-
claimed the assent of the vast host to the con-
ditions upon which they were taking posses-
sion of their heritage.
Surveying' the Land.
A sort of desultory warfare with the unsub-
dued natives seems to have occupied the ensu-
ing five or six years, without any such vigor-
JOSHUA DIVIDING THE LAND.
117
emained at Gilgal,
tabernacle. Hut it
remove the -head-
)lace ; and Shiloh,
s deemed the most
val took place with
[oshua was enabled
loses respecting an
he had ordered to
itains of Ebal and
veen the mountains
with the ark, while
vere lined with the
The curses of the
ind the disobedient
n Mount Ebal, and
-doer and the obe-
; and as each clause
hty "Amen" pro-
ast host to the con-
^ere taking posses-
ous opei-Ations as had marked the earlier
warfare. From this state of comparative in-
ertion the tribes were rQused by the reproof
from Joshua : " How long are ye slack to go
in to possess the land which the Lord, the God
to their exertions. But experience had shown
that the previous distribution had been made
on insufficient information as to the extent of
the land to be divided ; and therefore it was
directed that a new survey of all the country
JOSHUA DIVIDING THE LAND BY LOT. — ^Josh. xiii. 6,
of your fathers, hath given you?" It then
seems to have occurred to him that if the
whole country, conquered and unconquered,
were actually distributed among the seven
tribes for which no provision had been made,
a new and effectual stimulus would be given
should be made by three competent persons
from each tribe, who should write down the
particulars in a book. It is not improbable
that some attempt at mapping the surveyed
lands was made on this occasion, especially
when we bear in mind that the art of land-
118
DRAWING THE LOTS.
,!
Hill
surveying had its origin in the country from
which the Hebrews had come. And indeed
it is difficult to make out how the nice dis-
crimination of particulars and boundary points
which we find in the chapters which follow
taken " before the Lord " at Shiloh, and the
lots drawn were found to be in very exact
accordance with the prophetic intimations
respecting the future condition of all the tribes
which Jacob had delivered to his sons. This
FLEEING TO A CITY OF
this statement, and which are manifestly the
results of the survey, could have been intel-
ligible without some kind of mapped delinea-
tions.
After seven months the surveyors returned
with the requisite particulars entered in their
books. The lots for the distribution of the
territory among the seven tribes were then
REFUGE. — Josh. XX. 2.
second and final distribution took place in the
year b. c. i 596.
The whole of the territory being now dis-
tributed, it was found that Judah possessed a
large territory in southernmost Canaan, con-
taining one hundred and fourteen towns, besides
many villages. Jerusalem lay partly in this
tribe and partly in that of Benjamin ; but the
JOSHUA DIVIDING THE LAND.
118
1 took place in the
native inhabitants, the Jebusites, were not at
this titiu expelled from it, and retained posses-
sion till a much later period.
The inheritance of Kphraim and of the half-
tribe of Manassch extended from the Jordan
to the Mediterranean Sea, across the land, and
it lay to the north of Judah. This contained
most of the country which was eventually
known by the name of Samaria. Of this dis-
trict Ephram) had the southern, and Manasseh
the northern portion. The portion of Benja-
man was situated between those of Judah,
Ephraim, and Manasseh. The survey had
shown that Judah had received more than its
fair proportion of territory, and therefore at
this second distribution a portion for another
tribe was taken out of the southwest part of it.
This portion fell to Simeon.
To Zebulon fell the tract of country nearest
to the lake of Genndsareth, in the region of
Galilee. The possession of Issachar lay to
the south of this, and reached from the Jordan
almost to the Mediterranean. The lot of Asher
formed the most northern portion of the land,
and reached to the roots of Lebanon, and was
only excluded from the sea by the strip of
coast retained by the Zidonians. The inherit-
ance of Naphtali lay to the east of Asher, and
touched on the waters of the Upper Jordan
and the northern part of the lake of Tiberias.
Dan's proper territory lay to the north and
northwest of Judah ; but it afterwards acquired
new possessions far to the north among the
sources of the Jordan. The portions allotted
to Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh, on the
•other side of the Jordan, have already been
pointed out.
Cities of Beftige.
The Levites had no share in this distribu-
tion ; but, in compensation, they had the use
of the tithes, and forty-eight towns for residence
among the several tribes were allotted to them.
Six of these towns, three on each side the
Jordan, were made " cities of refuge," or places
appointed under the law of Moses as asylums
for persons who had committed homicide, and
who, as soon as they came within the walls,
were safe from the pursuit of the avenger of
blood, who, under old Eastern usages, which
still subsi.st in many countries, claimed the
right uf slaying, wherever found, the slayer of
his next of kin. This institution imposed a
strong restraint upon a custom liable to much
abuse, but which it seems to have been deemed
not prudent to abolish altogether.
The forty thousand men from the two tribes
and a half beyond the Jordan had hitherto,
according to their agreement, faithfully at-
tended their brethren in all their wars against
the Canaanites. I'hcy had no territorial in-
j terest m the matter ; but they shared and were
j enriched by the spoils of the armies they de-
feated and the towns they conquered. The
time was now come when they might be dis-
missed to their own homes, in doing which
Joshua solemnly exhorted them to " take dili-
gent heed to do the commandment and the
law which Mosses, the servant of our Lord,
had charged them, to love the Lord their
God, and to walk in all His ways, and to keep
His commandments, to cleave unto Him, and
to serve Him with all their heart and with all
their soul." He then blessed them, and sent
them away.
A Suspicious Transaction.
When they reached the other side of the
Jordan, these men set up a great altar, prob-
ably in some distinguishing feature similar to
the one at Shiloh, as a monument, to prove to
future ages their relation to the tribes on the
other side of the river, their interest in the
worship and service of God at His sanctuary,
and their right, and that ^f their posterity, to
join in all the ordinancs there administered.
To their brethren, however, this transaction
bore a very different and suspicious appear-
ance. They concluded at once that the altar
was intended for sacrifice, and the basis of a
separate establishment for worship, contrary
to the law which allowed but the one altar
before the tabernacle.
This supposed defection and disobedience,
therefore, threw the tribes into a state of great
excitement ; and they prepared for immediate
war to bring the apostates to punishment.
•♦.„►
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120
AN IMPORTANT DECISION.
The cooler judgment of Joshua and of Elcazer
the high-priest, however, suggested the pro-
priety of sending a deputation to inquire into
the matter. The men whose act had raised
this commotion were much startkd at the
design thus imputed to them, of seeking the
very object which it had been their solicitude
to avert. They explained their real intention,
with which the tribes west of the river were
not only satisfied, but pleased.
give them his last counsels, and receive from
them the renewed assurance of their faithful-
ness and obedience to the Divine institutions.
After briefly sketching their past history, and
pointing out the special mercies of God to
wards them, he called upon them to decide at
once and solemnly, whether they would accept
the high destinies and consequent obligations
to which they had been called, or would rather
conform to the practices and worship of
JOSHUA SENDING BACK THE TWO TRIBES AND A HALF. — Josh. XXii. 4.
Several following years were distinguished
by no great actions. The tribes, having
already as many towns and as much land as
their numbers allowed them to occupy, do not
seem to have prosecuted the war with much
vigor, but were contented with the rest and
plenty they actually enjoyed.
About fourteen years after the final distri-
bution of the lands, Joshua, being then far
advanced in years, and knowing that his end
drew nigh, convened the people, that he might
nations around their. " But as for me, and
my house." he added, " we will serve the
Lord." The people answered : " The Lord
our God will we serve, and His voice will we
obey!"
This amounted to a formal rene>Val of
the covenant into which they had entered at
Sinai. So they intended it, and so it was
accepted by Joshua, who wrote down the terms
of it in the book of the law; and by way of
public testimonial, he, according to the custom
JOSHUA DIVIDING THE LAND.
m
of the times, act up a great stone of memorial
under a, tree which grew near the sanctuary
of God. The words he used on this occasion
clearly point out the object and leading idea
of such stones of testimony : " Behold, this
stone shall be a witness unto us ; fur it hath
heard all the words of the Lord which He
spake unto us: it shall therefore be a witness
unto you, lest ye deny your God." Monu-
ments of this kind, in the shape of single
stones, or heaped up, or variously arranged,
or formed into •pillars of memorial, call to
mind the still subsisting and similar records
of a remote age, which are found in different
parts of the world, and which are not wanting
in Syria and Palestine.
Not long after this Joshua died, at the age
of one hundred and ten years (o. c. 1582),
being the oldest man then in Israel, unless
Caleb were still alive.
An Ancient Hero.
The character of Joshua affords an interest-
ing study to those who take interest in the
history of the Jewish people. At the first
view he may seem to derive his eminence only
from the greatness of the circumstances in
which he is placed ; but a closer inspection
shows him always, under the Divine King, at
the head of these circumstances, and develops
many traits of character which claim our ad-
miration and respect. In him we find that
rare combination of talents which go to form
at once the warrior and the statesman ; and if
his career was less brilliant and his position
less commanding than that of Moses, he
showed himself equally fit for the peculiar
services which devolved upon him, and for the
station to which he was called. He was
brave without temerity, active without precipi-
tation, and possessed the rare art of making
himself obeyed without becoming imperious.
He shrank from no difficulties, he neglected
no duty, and he suffered no advantage to be
lost.
In the passage of the Jordan, the judgment
of Achan, the taking of Ai, we find nothing
neglected which might cause the miracle to
make a profound impression, the punishment
to be acknowledged just, and the victory to be
decisive. The generation whiciv he governed
was superior to that which came oat of Egypt,
and he was in consequence better obeyed than
Moses. As a minister of the Divine judg-
ments, he executed them without weakness or
failure, but also with calmness, and without
passion or fury. His piety is gentle, though
decisive, and his confidence firm, though mani-
fested more in action than in W'>rds. In his
last charge to the people, and jn the effect
which his solemn farewell was iramed to pro-
duce, we recognize the pupil of a Moses, and
a faithful servant of the Theocracy. Lastly,
we behold in Joshua a conqueror more void
of pride, and more dead to ambition, than any
other which history records.
The death of Joshua was soon followed by
that of Eleazar the high-priest, who was suc-
ceeded by his son Phinehas. Gradually also
"the elders who outlived Joshua" dropped
off, and the people were left without that di-
rection and control for general objects under
which they had hitherto been. It must not,
however, be supposed that they were entirely
without control and government. This was
by no means the case ; the division into tribes
gave them hereditary chiefs and heads of
families, whose authority was great within the
tribes to which they belonged, and quite suffi-
cient for the purposes of internal government.
This explains how it was that the Israelites
managed their affairs even so well as they did
in the centuries between the death of Joshua
and the election of Saul. The appointment
of the so-called judges does not explain it, for
there were few of them who had any substan-
tial authority, or whose influence extended
over more than a part of the nation.
But although the division into tribes was, as
now in Tartary and Arabia, sufficient for in-
ternal government of the tribes themselves, it
was insufficient for national objects. But if it
be asked how it happened that this was not
provided for by the appointment of some one
to succeed Joshua, it is answered that provision
, was made, and that the Israelites in the troubles
;'i
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'ill
J:.
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1
122
NATIONAL CALAMITIES.
which befel them reaped the fruit of neglecting
to avail themselves of this provision, and of
carrying into effect the Divme intention re-
vspecting the gieneral government.
Joshua's Mission Accoiiiplislied.
Moses had a special mission to emancipate
the people, and to furnish them with laws and
institutions suited to the condition they were
destined to occupy. Joshua had a special
mission to conduct the same people into the
land of Canaan, and put them into possession
of their heritage. Both these mi.ssions had
been accomplished, and then it behooved the
people to go upon the rules which the law had
laid down for their government.
But the people were not sensible of their
importance to them. Finding that they had
in their tribes such a government as they under-
stood and had been used to, they soon fell
back upon their separate interests, and neg-
lected the more general and larger object in
which the whole nation was concerned. The
cheocratical government was hence neglected,
and became inoperative for purposes of good
by not being used. And ere long, as they
were still subject to external pressure from the
Canaanites who remained unsubdued, the whole
frame of society fell into disorder from the
want of proper cohesion in its parts, and the
nation was subject to the calamities which it is
the purpose of th;? Book of Judges to record.
For a considerable time after the death of
Joshua and the elders who outlived him, the
Israelites, who had quite as much land and as
many towns as they could well occupy, rested
quiet, minding their own affairs, and taking no
pains to drive out those Canaanites who still
remained unsubdued, and held possession of
the strongest posts in the country. The latter
were thus enabled to gather strength and con-
fidence, and as the wonderful victories of the
Israelites and the miraculous interpositions of
the Divine favor in their behalf became more
remote, they began to imagine that the in-
vaders were not, afler all, so formidable as had
at first been supposed, and their lost hopes
were somewhat restored.
CHAPTER XIII.
REMARKABLE HEBREW WOMEN.
BSERVING that it had
become necessary for
them to reduce the
power of the inhabit-
ants, in order to secure
what they had already
won, the IsraeUtes once
more appeared in arms,
bent on further conquests.
They marched against . Jeru-
salem, and, having carried and
taken possession of it, they put
the inhabitants to the sword, and
set it on fire. Hebron was also
at this time captured from the
Canaanites, as well as a great
many other large towns; and the
general result of the war was to put the
southern part of the country in substantial
possession of the Israelites. At Jerusalem
only the loM'er city had been taken, and
although the Benjamites took possession of it,
as it lay within their boundary, and repaired
the damage it had sustained in the war, they
allowed the Jebusites to live in it with them.
This course was also followed in most of the
other great towns which were taken; and
although it probably arose from their own
numbers being insufficient to occupy advan-
tageously all the towns which were taken by
them, the intermixture was clearly contrary to
the Divine int^tion, and proved in the end a
great snare and danger to the chosen people.
They gradually adopted the manners, cus-
toms and abominable practices of the natives
with whom they thus mingled, and soon began
to adopt their modes of worship and to serve
their idols. This was probably under the
notion that these were the gods of the country
— the native gods — and as such entitled to
homage from all the inhabitants of the land.
This idea of local gods was the besetting sin of
ancient nations; it is frequently noticed in the
Scriptures, and we know that the Israelites
themselves were exceedingly prone to this
notion.
The downward course which the nation was
now taking is exemplified by the historical
anecdotes which occupy the last four chapters
of the Book of Judges, forming a sort of ap-
pendix to it, the particulars in which are
referred to the times of confusion .which fol-
lowed the death of Joshua and of the elders
who survived him. The first of these anec-
dotes is as follows : The history of Micah
furnishes a very interesting example of the ex-
tent to which even the Israelites, well disposed
in the main, had become familiarized with
superstitious and idolatrous practices, and the
curious manner in which they managed to
make a monstrous and most unseemly alliance
between the true doctrine in which they had
been brought up, and the erroneous notions
which they had imbibed.
A woman of Ephraim had, through a mis-
taken zeal, dedicated a large quantity of silver
(about five hundred and fifty ounces) to the
Lord, intending that her son should make
therewith a household deity, in the hope that
by this means she might procure tr her house
the blessings of one who had absolutely for-
bidden all worship by images. Her son Micah
knew not of this sacred appropriation of the
money, and took it for the use of the house.
But on learning its destination, and hearing
his mother lay her curse upon the sacrilegious
person by whom she supposed it to have been
stolen, he became alarmed and restored her
the silver, and received it again from her with
directions to give effect to her intention. This
he did. He provided an image, and all things
necessary to the performance of religious ser-
(128)
it
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(124)
REMARKABLE HEBREW WOMEN.
im
vices before it, including vestments for a priest.
He set apart one of his own sons as priest,
until he should be able to procure a Levite to
take that character.
He had not long to wait. It would seem
that the dues of the Levites were not properly
paid at this time ; for a young Levite who had
lived at Bethlehem felt himself obliged to leave
that place and seek elsewhere a subsistence.
Happening to call at Micah's house, he gladly
accepted that person's offer to remain and act
as priest for the recompense of his victuals
and two suits of clothes (one probably sacer-
dotal) and eleven shekels of silver. Micah
was delighted at this completion of his estab-
lishment, and, with most marvelous infatua-
tion, cried, " Now I know Jehovah will bless
me, seeing I have a Levite to be my priest."
Things went on tranquilly for a time. But it
happened that the tribe of Dan could not get
possession of more than the hilly part of its
territory, as the Amorites retained the plain,
which was the most rich and valuable part.
They therefore sought elsewhere an equivalent
territory, which might be more easily acquired.
Having ascertained that this might be found
in the remote, but wealthy and peaceable,
town and district of Laish, near the sources of
the Jordan, a body of six hundred men was
sent to get pospession of it.
From the persons they had previously sent
to explore the country they had heard of
Micah's establishment ; and so far from mani-
festing any surprise or indignation, they
viewed the matter much in the same light as
Micah did himself. They envied him his idol
and his priest, and resolved to deprive him of
both and take them to their new settlement.
They did so, notwithstanding his protest and
outcries ; and as for the Levite, he was easily
persuaded to prefer the priesthood of a clan
to that of a single family. His descendants
continued long after to exercise the priestly
office, in connection with this idol, at Dan,
which was the name the conquerors gave to
the town of Laish ; and it is lamentable to have
to add that there is good reason to suspect
that this Levite was a grandson cf Moses.
The other of these anecdotes records the
atrocious treatment which a Levite and his
wife received at Gibeah, in Benjamin. The
tribe of Benjamin, wheii required by the other
tribes to give up or punish the offenders, re-
fused to do either, and took arms to resist the
evident intention of the others to enforce jus-
tice. A most unnatural war ensued, which
ended in the all but total extinction of the
tribe of Benjamin. That tribe was renowned
for its valor and its skill ir arms ; and there
was a body of young men among them who
could use both hands alike in the use of the
sling, wherewith they could fling stones to a
hair's breadth without missing. But all their
bravery, all their skill, availed them not against
the united host of Israel. Their stout resist-
ance only served to kindle the fierce passions
of their opponents, and the end of the war
only left six hundred men of the tribe, who had
posted themselves among the rocks of Rim-
mon, and who were spared to present the utter
extinction of a tribe in Israel.
Idolatry and Crime.
During the administration of Othniel, the
nephew of Caleb, which continued during forty
years, the nation prospered, for it remained
substantially faithful to its God and King, and
followed His laws and ordinances. But when
the salutary control which this judge had
exercised had ceased, the people gradually
relapsed into idolatry and crime, and new
afflictions became necessary for them.
After this the Israelites enjoyed a long
period — eighty years — of peace and safety,
terminating B.C. 1426, being 182 years after
the passage of the Jordan. It was towards
the end of this period that the Philistines, after-
wards so conspicuous in the sacred history,
made their first appearance in the field as the
enemies of Israel. But it was probably in this
instance little more than a border foray ; for
the party was put to the rout by a body of
husbandmen with their implements, led by
Shamgar, whose own weapon was an ox-goad.
It is also in this interval that we are to place
the history of Ruth and Naomi, which forms
126
NAOMI AND HER DAUGHTERS.
so refreshing an episode in the accounts of
sin, strife, and war, which form the bulk of the
history of this period. It is a domestic history,
and the only one which is given with the same
degree of detail in all the Scripture. It thus
affords a most interesting picture of the private
life of the Hebrews of a remote time, to which
the abundant touches of natural sentiment,
daughters-in-law. By this time the famine
had ceased in Israel, and Naomi resolved to
return to her own people. Orpah and Ruth
proposed to go with her; but she resisted,
and urged them to remain in their own coun-
try, and among their own friends. Orpah
yielded, and went to her friends, but Ruth was
not to be moved. She said : " Intreat me not
RUTH GLEANING. — Ruth li. 5.
true feeling, and unaffected piety impart that
peculiar charm which is felt by every reader.
It relates that during a famine in the land
of Israel a man of Bethlehem, named Elim-
elech, went to sojourn in Moab with his wife,
Naomi, and his two sons. During their stay
in that country the father died, and the widow
was left with her sons, whom in due time she
married to two damsels of Moab, one named
Orpah and the other Ruth. Ere long her
sons died also, and she Was left with her two
to leave thee, or to return from following after
thee ; for whither thou goest I will go ; ^nd
where thou lodgest I will lodge ; thy people
shall be my people, and thy God my God ;
where thou diest will I die, and there will I be
buried ; the Lord do so to me, and more also,
if aught but death part thee and me." Naomi
could not resist this, and they returned to
Bethlehem together.
Naomi was full of painful thoughts on re-
turning to the place as a lone widow, which
REMARKABLE HEBREW WOMEN.
127
Bome years before she had quitted strong in
her husband and hopeful in her two sons.
The memory of her good name still, however,
lingered in Bethlehem, and when she appeared
In its streets people asked, " Is this Naomi ? "
to which in the reawakened anguish of her
soul she answered: "Call me not Naomi,
meaning 'pleasant,' but call me Mara, signify-
ing ' bitter,' for the Almighty hath dealt very
bitterly with me. I went out full : and the
Lord hath brought me home again empty.
Why then call ye me Naomi ? "
Kindness of Boaz.
The return was in spring, about the begin-
ning of the barley harvest ; and, as soon as
they were a little settled, Ruth went forth to
glean in the fields. The harvest-field to which,
by the kind providence of God, this fair stranger
was conducted, belonged to a pious, kind and
wealthy land-owner called Boaz. Her story
had become well known in the plaice, and her
generous and faithful conduct had, unknown
to her, invested her with a kind of sacredness
in the eyes of the good people of Bethlehem,
and won for her their respect and love wher-
ever she appeared Hence the overseer readily
gave her permission to glean in the field ; and
when the owner himself came, and was told
who the strange-looking damsel was, he spoke
kindly to her, and told her not to seek any
other place for gleaning, but to keep fast
by his maidens, and partake freely of the
victuals which he had provided for his
reapers.
Astonished at this kindness, she bowed her-
self very low before him, and said : " Why
have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou
shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am
a stranger?" He then tild her the good
report he had heard of her conduct to Naomi,
and added : " A full reward be given thee of
the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings
thou art come to trust." Overcome by find-
ing so much kindness among strangers, Ruth
answered : " Let me find favor in thy sight, my
lord; for that thou hast comforted me; and
for that thou hast spoken friendly to thine
handmaid, though I be not like one of thine
handmaidens."
Not content with this, Boaz strictly enjoined
his people to treat the damsel with respect^
and privately told the reapers to drop some of
their corn purposely for her to gather up.
Thus favored, poor Ruth throve well in her
gleaning ; and when in the evening she beat
out that which she had gleaned, it made little
less than a bushel of barley. This extraor-
dinary success attracted the attention and
inquiries of Naomi, who, wiien she heard the
name of Boaz, recognized his nearness of kin,
and advised Ruth to glean only in his grounds.
When the harvest was over, the mother-in-
law, in her care for the damsel's welfare, be-
came aware of the duties which she owed to
the childless house of her husband. By the
Hebrew law it was the duty of the next of kin
to marry the widow of one who died childless,
that the first-born of the marriage might
succeed to the estate, and be counted as the
son of the deceased. Under this law Naomi
conceived that it was the duty of Boaz to
make Ruth his wife, and in that case it was
her own duty to the deceased to claim that he
should do so. The threshing in the open-air
threshing-floor followed the reaping, and Na-
omi knew that Boaz reposed at night beside
the heap of threshed corn in that place.
Thither she advised Ruth to go, and to claim
■'that he should throw his skirt over her," and
by that action avow his intention to take up
the obligations which devolved upon him.
Ruth Wedded to her Benefactor.
Accordingly she went, wrapped up in one
of those ample veils which women still wear
in the East. Boaz hesitated at a requisition
made so unexpectedly, and at such a time and
place; but his hesitation arose from the knowl-
edge that there was a nearer kinsman on whom
the duty and claim in the first place devolved.
This he told her, but spoke kindly to her, and
said that, if the other person declined to per-
form the part of a kinsman to her, he would
do so, " for thou art a virtuous woman."
That very day Boaz repaired to the gate.
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128
MARRIAGE OF RUTH.
where in those days most public and judicial
business was transacted, on account of the
facilities offered by the constant passage of the
inhabitants between the town and the neigh-
matter before him as a question respecting the
right of redeeming a piece of land to be sold
by Naomi. The kinsman was willing to this
extent to perform the legal duty which de-
RUTH.
boring fields. He had not waited long before
the nearer kinsman of whom he had spoken
passed by, and he called to him, and, in the
presence of the elders of the city, laid the
volved upon him ; but when it was further
explained that it involved the necessity of mar-
rying Ruth, as the widow of the deceased heir,
he drew back, saying, " I cannot redeem it for
REMARKABLE HEBREW WOMEN.
119
myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance : re- j
deem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot
redeem it." Then, to indicate the transfer^of i
his right, he took off his sandal and gave it to |
Boaz, which, being done in the presence of,
witnesses specially called upon to notice the '
act, constituted a binding and legal act of
transfer. It is thought that the person who
received the shoe preserved it in record of the
transaction; and it is possibly from this custom,
or another of similar meaning, that a person
who has taken the place which had belonged
to another is said to stand in his shoes.
This mention of sandals affords us occasion
to remark that the word translated " shoe," in
our authorized version of the Scriptures, must
generally be understood to denote sandals.
We are not, however, to infer that shoes, or
rather slippers and buskins, were altogether
unknown ; but such were more common in
the times of the New Testament than of the
Old, and were more used by foreigners than by
native Jews. But in those later times, when
Jews from all lands repaired to Jerusalem at
the different festivals, it is probable that san-
dals, shoes and buskins of most of the ancient
forms represented in our engravings, were seen
in Jerusalem.
Israel DeUvered by Deborah.
This obstacle being happily surmounted,
Ruth became the wife of Boaz. The first-born
son, named Obed, from whom sprang Jesse,
the father of David, was considered as the
grandson of Naomi, and her neighbors accord-
ingly congratulated her: — "Blessed be the
Lord, which hath not left thee this day without
a kinsman, that his name may be famous in
Israel. And he shall be unto thee a restorer
of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age ;
for thy daughter-in-law, who loveth thee, who
is better to thee than seven sons, hath borne
him."
Towards the end of the long interval of eighty
years, during which these incidents occurred,
the Israelites again fell into evil courses, and
were again brought under punishment.
There was a woman named Deborah, cele-
9
brated for her piety and wisdom, who had
probably been considerably instrumental in
bringing about the recent reformation, and
who was so highly esteemed by the people
that they brought their differences to her for
decision, so that she is said to have judged
Israel. Her dwelling was under the palm-tree
between Ramah and Bethel, afterwards known
as " Deborah's palm-tree."
To this woman the mission of deliverance
came ; and as she could not herself take the
field, she called Barak, one of the tribe of
Naphtali, to take command of the troops,
which he was instructed to raise, to the num-
ber of ten thousand men.
Deborah's Triumphant Songr.
A battle was fought with the opposing host,
which was commanded by Sisera, the most
renowned general of his time. Sisera escaiied
from the field of battle, after .euffering utter
defeat, but was slain in a tent, whither he had
repaired for concealment and rest. Jael, wife
of one of the nomadic chiefs, drove a nail into
his temple as he was lying asleep.
He was scarcely dead when the pursuers
arrived, headed by Barak himself — the com-
mander in those ancient wars being usually
solicitous of taking or slaying the opposing
general with his own hand. Jael went forth
to meet them, and accosted Barak with,
" Come, and I will shew thee the man whom
thou seekest." He then went with her into
the tent, and beheld the redoubtable enemy
of Israel lying dead, with the tent-nail in his
temples, and knew that he had died by a
woman's hand and with a woman's weapons.
This great victory was commemorated by
Deborah and Barak in a triumphal ode, which
forms a favorable and interesting specimen of
the early poetry of the Hebrews. It begins
with an animated picture of the oppressed
condition in which the Israelites had lately
been, marked not by descriptions of particu-
lars, but by suggestive points
" The highways were unfrequented,
And in by-paths travellers travelled ;
Deserted were the villages in Israel,
130
DEBORAHS SONG.
Until that I, Deborah, arose,
Until I arose to be a mother in Israel."
The song then proceeds to praise the tribes
which hastened to take arms at the call of
D'jborah and Barak, while those who neglected
it, especially the tribes beyond the Jordan, are
pointedly censured:
" Among the streams of Reuben,
Great were the resolvings of heart.
Wherefore dicbt thou sit still among thy folds,
And listen to the bleatings.of tl'y herds?
Gilead abode beyond Jordan ;
And Dan, why remained he quiet by the ships 7
Asher dwelt at ease on the shore of the sea,
And abode tranquil by his havens."
Then follows a vivid description of the battle,
and of the death of Sisera; and then, by a
master-stroke of poetical skill, the scene
changes, and the mother of this great com-
mander is introduced as awaiting with im-
patience for his triumphant return, of which
no Houut was entertained :
" Through a window the mother of Sisera looked out,
And called through the lattice ;
' Wherefore delayeth his chariot to come 7
Why linger the paces of his chariots ? '
The wise among her noble ladies answered her.
Yea, she returned answer to herself:
< Lo, they have found, they divide the spoil,
A maiden, two maidens to each warrior;
A spoil of dyed garments for Sisera.' "
And answered, that the victors tarry to divide
the rich spoils they have won. Leaving the
disappointment of these high expectations to
be inferred from what had been already stated,
the ode, with an apparent abruptness, which is
in itself a beauty, concludes with :
" So perish all thine enemies, Jehovah t
But they who love Him are as the going forth of t!ie iun
ia his strength.'*
isera looked out,
CHAPTER XIV.
A MAN OF VALOR.
ig fotth of tlie (un
AVING gained the great
victory which the fore-
going song commemo-
rates, the Israelites se-
cured a repose of forty
years ; towards the end
of this period they had
again fallen into their
wonted idolatries, and
were punished by the devastation of
their countrj' under the hands of
the Midianites and other Eastern
tribes. This was a very terrible visit-
ation. It will be remembered that
the Midianites had been all but ex-
terminated by Moses, when they, in conjunc-
tion with the Moabites, had seduced the
Israelites to sin in the matter of Bael-Peor.
From the conduct of the Midianites, now that
they had the upper hand, it would seem that
this fatal event in their history was still, after
two hundred years, well remembered by them
and bitterly avenged. For we are told that
" because of the Midianites, the children of
Israel made them the dens which are in the
mountains, and caves, and strongholds."
It would seem from what follows that their
mode of proceeding was precisely similar to
that of the Arabs and other nomade people
when they make annual incursions into culti-
vated but weakly defended districts. They
did not abide constantly in the land, but came
up in the early summer, soon as the early pro-
duce began to be collected, and remained
through all the season of produce until the
autumn, when they withdrew into their des-
erts. The oppression consisted therefore in
seizing the produce of the ground, and of
spoiling the people of all their portable posses-
sions.
The description given of their course of
proceedings is a very graphic picture of the
circumstances which take place under similar
conditions at the present day: "And it was
so, when the Israelites had sown, that the
Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and
the children of the East, even they came up
against them; and they encamped against
them, and destroyed the increase of the earth,
till thou comest unto Gaza, and left no suste-
nance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor
ass. For they came up with their cattle and
their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for
multitude; for both they and their camels were
without number; and they entered into the
land to destroy it. And Israel was greatly
impoverished because of the Midianites, and
Israel cried unto the Lord."
That cry was heard in heaven, and a deliv-
erer was raised up for them. The person
chosen on this occasion was Gideon, the son
of Joash, of the family of Abiezer, who, when
the messenger of the Lord appeared, was
threshing out corn secretly in so unusual a
spot as beside the wine-press, to conceal it
from the Midianites. Gideon first perceived
the heavenly messenger as a man sitting under
a neighboring oak. The stranger accosted
him with, " The Lord is with thee, thou mighty
man of valor." To which Gideon promptly
answered, " If the Lord be v !th us, why then
hath all this befallen us?" This misgiving
answer the angel met by bestowing upon him
the high commission to deliver Israel : " Go
in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel
out of the hand of the Midianites : have not I
sent thee ? "
Gideon at first attempted to excuse himself
on the ground that his family did not possess
in their tribe such a degree of influence as
would justify or support so hazardous an
undertaking ; but when further urged, he inti-
(131)
ilii i;i ^ I*
:l||i;iit;ijT
132
AN ANGEL'S VISIT.
mated his willingness to encounter the toil
and danger, provided that he had assurance of
the stranger's own authority to bestow such
a commission upon him. Nothing further
passed at the moment, and Gideon hastened
to prepare the refreshment which the rules of
hospitality required him to offer the traveler,
whereby it seemed to become an offering to
God. This satisfied Gideon, but created an-
other alarm, lest the sight of a supernatural
being was the harbinger of death : " Alas, O
Lord God ! " he cried, " for because I have
seen an angel face to face;" but before he
could express all his fears the Lord said t.>
GIDEONS FLEECE. — Jud. vi. 37.
and for which he prevailed upon the latter to
stay. He soon returned with a dressed kid
and unleavened cakes in a basket, and with
broth in a pot. The stranger directed him to
set them down upon the rock hard by, and
then furnished the testimonial which the
doubts of Gideon required, by causing the
whole to be ccnsumed by a spontaneous fire, be multiplied into a thousand men
him : " Fear not : thou shalt not die. ' Gideon
then, in the first feeling of his gratitude, raised
an altar to the Lord, whom he addressed by
the name of Jehovah-Shalom, "the God of
Peace;" and, without more delay, he prepared
himself for the high task to which he now
knew that he had been called. He seemed to
A MAN OF VALOR.
138
The first achievement of Gideon was the de-
struction of an altar to Baal, which seems to
have belonged to his father's establishment,
but in which the people of the place took a
general interest. Taking with him ten of the
servants on whom he could rely, he proceeded
to demolish the idolatrous structure, and set
up in its place an altar to Jehovah, on which
he offered sacrifice. In the morning, when
the people of Ophrah discovered what had
been done, they broke out into great anger,
and on hearing th-'t the daring act had been
performed by Gide in, they demanded that his
life should pay for the sacrilege.
Let Banl Plead for Himself.
But Joash, who, in his anxiety for his son,
forgot for the moment his own interest in the
forbidden worship, interposed with an argu-
ment which seems to have had at all times ex-
traordinary power over the minds of the idola-
trous Jews — " If Baal be a God (he said), let
him plead for himself; " or, in other words,
leave him to avenge his own cause, if he is
able, upon the frail mortal who has provoked
his anger. They yielded to this : and the ab-
sence of any present stroke of Baal's anger
seems to have shaken their minds, and dis-
posed them to look upon Gideon with some-
thing of awe and confidence. It was from this
that the hero obtained his second nameof Jerub-
baal, meaning with whom " Baal contends."
This seems to have been designed as a sort
of preparation for the great work which lay
before him. A great and suspicious move-
ment took place in the wandering hordes, who,
having collected their forces, passed over into
the plain of Esdraelon, and lay there encamped.
Upon hearing of this, Gideon felt that the time
for action was come ; and he summoned first
his own kinsmen, the house of Abiezer, to
assist him in repelling the host of Midian.
Their prompt obedience enabled him to send
with the name of authority to summon the
northern tfibes of Manasseh, Zebulun, Asher,
and Naphtali to his standard. This call was
obeyed, and he found himself at the head of
thirty-two thousand men.
But while Gideon thus encouraged others,
he was not himself without misgivings respect-
ing the result of his perilous undertaking.
Hence he was induced to implore an unambig-
uous token of the Divine concurrence, in the
form of such a miracle as he should ask to bo
performed. Some think that it was more to
encourage his followers than on his own ac-
count that he made this singular request. The
sign he desired was, that the dew should fall on
a fleece of wool, while the ground on which it
lay continued dry. This happened according
to his wish, and he wrung from the fleece a
bowlful of water, while the ground was per-
fectly dry. The marvel was here in the co-
piousness of the dew ; for that so»ie dew should
be on the fleece, while none could be perceived
on the ground, would have been in entire ac-
cordance with the laws of nature. Gideon
could not but know this, and therefore, to
place the matter beyond all doubt or cavil, he
implored that the sign should be reversed, and
that the fleece should be dry, while the ground
was moistened by the deposition from the
atmosphere. This also was done; and here
the interposition of Heaven was most manifest,
for wool having a much greater attraction for
moisture than common dust or clay has, it was
not natural that the fleece should be dry when
there was moisture on all the ground.
Cowards Not IVanted.
Having no longer any doubt that Jehovah
was on his side, and that the victory with
which his arms were to be crowned was to
proceed from the blessing of Heaven, he
readily adopted a suggestion, communicated
to him from above, for impressing upon the
minds of his soldiers the same salutary con-
viction. One would think that the number of
thirty-two thousand men was by no means
too large for the conflict with the innumerable
hosts of Midian ; but the object of the Di-
vine King was to reduce this to a number
manifestly ineflicient, that there might be no
mistake as to the source from whence deliver-
ance came, and that Israel might not boast
that by the strength of his own arm the yoke
131
VALIANT DKEDS.
li !
of Midian had been broken. Gideon was
therefore ordered to proclaim that all who
were fearful and faint-hearted might withdraw
to their own homes. Many whosr hearts had
seemed stout while the danger was remote
room for boasting might be altogether ex-
cluded, means were taken to reduce even this
force to a mere handful of men, manifestly un-
equal of itself, or, as an instrumental mean.s,
to defeat the hordes of Midian and Amalek.
GIDEON DESTROYING THE IDOLS OF BAAL. — Jud. vi. 28.
shrunk, now that the enemy was before them,
and twenty-two thousand quitted the field.
But ten thousand brave men still presented
a formidable band, equal in numerical strength
to the troops of Barak, who defeated the im-
mense host of Sisera; and therefore, that
Gideon took his ten thousand men to the
water, and those who went down upon their
knees to drink from the stream were set apart
from those who drank by raising the water to
their mouths in the hollow of their hands.
The former were ten thousand, the latter three
A MAN OF VALOR.
130
hundred; and the smaller number was that
with which the Lord declared that he would
deliver Israel. In the following night Gideon,
attended by his servant Pliurah, went down to
the host of Midian, having been promised en-
couragement from overhearing the remarks of
the Midianites upon the state of their affairs,
lie heard one man report to another, beside
whom he lay, a dream, representing a cake of
barley bread rolling down from the hills, and
overturning the tents of Midian. " This is
nothing else," said his companion, " save the
sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of
Israel ; for into his hand hath God delivered
Midian and all his host."
Glileoii'M War-Cry.
Gideon needed no other encouragement
than the knowledge that such an impression
as this existed among the Midianites; and he
forthwith returned to his men. He perceived
that his best course would be to work upon
the alarm which already existed among the in-
vading host. He therefore provided every
tiin with a trumpet in one hand, and with a
lamp concealed in a pitcher in the other. He
then divided his troop into three companies of
one hundred men each, directing them to ad-
vance upon the host of Midian on different
sides, and in all respects to follow his example.
Accordingly, when they had advanced suffi-!
ciently near, they halted, withdrew the lamps '
from the pitchers, dashed the pitch' s to the
ground, and then blew a tremendous blast'
upon their trumpets, and shouted, " The sword \
of the Lord and of Gideon !" A similar cry
has sounded many a time since then.
The Enemy Put to Flight.
The sudden blaze on different sides of the
camp, the crash, the sound from trumpets suf-
ficient for a large host, and the ensuing shout,
perfectly confounded the rude Midianites thus
aroused from sleep. They deemed themselves
surrounded by a mighty host, and rushed
amazedly about, slaying each other, as every
one among them deemed the person he en-
countered an enemy. The men who had been
dismissed the preceding day made themselves
useful in pursuing the fugitives, and con-
tributed to render the rout of the enemy and
the deliverance of lurael mo.st complete. The
Kphraimites, who had not been called into ac-
tion, now voluntarily came forward and ren-
dered good service by seizing the fords cU
the Jordan and destroying such of the de-
feated invaders as attempted to escape to their
own country. Here two of the princes of
Midian Oreb and Zeeb, fell into their hands;
and they sliuck off their heads and sent them
to the victoriou.s Gideon on the opposite side
of the Jordan. The haughty Kphraimites
were, however, not sparing in their rebukes of
Gideon for not having in the first instance
called them to the field ; but with great tact
he averted their wrath by extolling their last
exploit and by speaking lightly of his own
deeds in comparison.
The hero was in hot pursuit of Zeba and
Zalmunna, two of the invading enemies, who
had succeeded in crossing the river and were
retiring with a considerable body of men to
their own land. Gideon followed hard after
them with his chosen band, and at length
camp up with them. Then, perceiving the
small number of his men, they were en-
couraged to stand on their defence. But the
battle ended in the total discomfiture of Zeba
and his colleague, who fell alive into the
hands of the conqueror. When they were
brought before him, he asked them what man-
ner of men were certain Israelites whom they
had surprised and slain on Mount Tabor.
They answered ; " As thou li rt, so were they ;
each one resembled the children of a king."
On which he exclaimed with anguish : " They
were my brethren — even the sons of my
mother! As the Lord liveth, if ye had saved
them alive, I would not slay you." That he
had under any circumstances intended to spare
their lives, shows that the usages of war had
already become somewhat more mild than
they had been, or that Gideon was not dis-
posed to enforce them rigorously.
Now, however, the d>'t> of an avenger for
his brother's blood devolved upon him ; and
he transferred it to his eldest son Jether, whom
liHilita
■.■
.1 '
1
t,
1 '
1
1
, 1
1' ■
1 ll
/; , '
136
FORTY YEARS OF PEACE.
he desired " to fall upon them," But the youth
was awed by the majestic presence of these
staid warriors, and shrunk from the task. On
which the captive princes said to Gideon:
" Rise thou and fall upon us : for as the man
is, so is his strength;" and on this hint he
arose and slew them on the spot.
The Avenger,
Another painful matter remained ; this was
the punishment of certain cities, Succoth and
Penuel, which had refused any succor to his
weary troop when pursuing the retreating
princes, and had even added insult to wrong
by the manner in which the refusal was con-
veyed. For this he cast down the tower of
Penuel, and slew the chief men of the city.
The punishment of Succoth is not so well un-
derstood. He threatened "to tear their flesh
with the thorns of the wilderness and with
briers;" and it is added, that on his triumphant
return "he took the elders of the city, and
thorns of the wilderness and briers, T.d with
them he taught the men of Succoth." The
most painful interpretation of this is the most
probable, namely, that the expressions allude
to an ancient and very cruel mode by which
persons were put to death under torture, by
having thorns and briers laid over their naked
bodies, and then drawing over them some
heavy implement of husbandry — being, as
supposed, the same treatment to which David
subjected the Ammonites.
So great was the relief which the Israelites
now experienced, and so sensible were they of
the high qualities which Gideon had evinced,
that they formally offered to make him king,
and to entail the crown upon his descendants.
But Gideon, knowing that they had no right
to make such an offer, which was altogether
adverse to the spirit of the theocratical insti-
tutions, answered with great promptness and
decision : " I will riot reign over you, neither
shall my son reign over you. Jehovah, he
shall reign over you." The only return which
he required for his great services was that they
should bestow upon him the collars and ear-
rings which had been taken from the bodies
of the slaughtered Midianites. This they very
willingly did ; and with these spoils he made
an ephod, which he placed in his own city of
Ophrah.
This is supposed to indicate that he set up
a sacerdotal establishment, with priests, vest-
ments, and Urim and Thummim, at the place
where he had formerly built an altar and
offered sacrifice to Jehovah. If so, Gideon
acted doubtless with the best intentions ; but
the proceeding was irregular and contrary
to the law, which directed that there should be
but one establishment for sacrifice to the
whole people — that one being the place of the
tabernacle, where the Divine Presence abode
" between the cherubim." We are not, there-
fore, surprised to learn that this establishment
eventually " became a snare to Gideon and to
his house."
The Israelites enjoyed forty years of peace
under the administration of Gideon, who died
in 1273 B.C., leaving behind him not fewer
than seventy sons. One of them, named
Abimelech, succeeded in persuading the people
of Shechem, his mother's native town, to be-
stow upon him the crown which his father had
refused : as a preliminary to this step, he had
massacred all his brothers except the youngest,
named Jotham, who succeeded in making his
escape. This person could not restrain him-
self from making his appearance at Shechem
to give vent to his indignation and disgust
when he found that the citizens had made
Abimelech king. He did this in the well-
known and ingenious apologue of the trees
making choice of a king, which is without
doubt the oldest composition of the kind which
has reached our times. After delivering it,
Jotham withdrew to Beer, and remained there
till the death of Abimelech, who three years
after was wounded by a piece of millstone
cast by a woman's hand over the wall of a
town he was besieging, and at his own request
was despatched by his armor-bearer.
The succeeding governments of Tola and
of Jair covered a period of forty-four years ;
and we may infer that in their time the Israel-
ites prospered, for the Book of Judges, which
A MAN OF VALOR.
137
hat he set up
1 priests, vest-
1, at the place
an altar and
If so, Gideon
itentions ; but
and contrary
nere should be
:rifice to the
lie place of the
'resence abode
are not, there-
; establishment
Gideon and to
years of peace
leon, who died
dim not fewer
them, named
ding the people
re town, to be-
his father had
is step, he had
it the youngest,
in making his
t restrain him-
:e at Shechem
n and disgust
;ns had made
is in the well-
le of the trees
ich is without
the kind which
• delivering it,
remained there
ho three years
:e of millstone
the wall of a
lis own request
>earer.
ts of Tola and
)rty-four years;
time the Israel-
Judges, which
is, in fact, an account of the diseases in the
Hebrew commonwealth, records nothing con-
cerning the time in which they ruled.
After the death of Jair the people relapsed
into idolatry, and for their chastisement the
oppressions to which they were subjected be-
came so grievous that they at length turned
to the Lord, confessed their sins before Him,
and implored Him to pity their great affliction.
Then, trusting in the Divine succor, they re-
ABIMELECH SLAIN BY HIS ARMOR- BEARER. — Jud. ix. 54.
Ammonites were allowed to master them, and
to keep them under subjection for eighteen
years. This calamity particularly affected the
tribes beyond the Jordan, who occupied a
country which had in part belonged of old to
the Ammonites, whose existing territory was
still upon the border of their dominions. The
solved to take the field against their enemies.
They therefore assembled in considerable num-
bers at Mizpeh, while the Ammonites lay en-
camped in Gilead. There was the impulse,
the readiness to act, and men prepared for
action. But they were without a head. After
so long a subjection, which had been preceded
1J8
STORY OF JEPHTHAH.
T
^■!ii
by a still longer peace, there was not one
among them who seemed to have sufficient
experience in war to act as their leader. The
only person they could think of was one Jeph-
thah, the illegitimate son of Gilead, a person
of some consequence in the half-tribe of
Manasseh beyond the Jordan.
This man had been turned adrift by the
family on the death of the father, and with-
drew into the land of Tob, where he became
the chief of a set of wild fellows of desperate
fortunes, who subsisted by predatory excur-
sions, border forays against the enemies and.
oppressors of Israel. This course of proceed-
ing by no means tended to render them un-
popular in Israel ; and accordingly Jephthah
became the person to whom all eyes turned in
this singular emergency. A deputation was
accordingly sent to him without delay.
Jephthah's Rash Vow.
The hero's experience in life had not been
calculated to teach him confidence in man or
reliance upon popular impulses. He, there-
fore, after some sharp remarks upon the treat-
ment he had received in Gilead, refused to
accept the arduous duties offered to him unless
they would undertake that he should remain
their head after his immediate service had
been completed. This stipulation for power
was in a spirit different from that of Gideon, by
whom even regal power was refused when
spontaneously offered. But the circumstances
were different ; and if Jephthah had not been
aware of peculiar facilities which his uncon-
nected position offered to those who might
wish to shake him off, he would not have
deemed it necessary to stipulate for that which
it was not usual to refuse. The delegates,
however, readily acceded to the terms which
Jephthah offered, and swore to observe them.
The first act of the new commander was to
send an embassy to the Ammonites, to demand
the reason of their invasion of the territory of
the Israelites. This was a very remarkable
step, and seems to show that by this time
society had come to expect that there should
be some good reason for invasion and warfare.
Accordingly the Ammonites returned what
they considered a good reason, alleging that
the territory which the Hebrews possessed in
that quarter had formerly belonged to them,
and that they had a right to recover possession
of it. Jephthah replied that the Israelites had
taken the land not from the Ammonites but
from the Amorites, by whom they had long
before been dispossessed ; and, moreover, that
it was a land which the Lord had given to
them, and which, therefore, they had a right to
possess. The Ammonites, however, were not
convinced by these reasons, and the armies
advanced to give each other battle.
When Jephthah left his home to lead the
army of Israel to battle he uttered the rash
vow that if the Lord gave him victory over his
enemies, whatsoever came forth out of his house
to meet him on his return " shall surely be the
Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt-offer-
ing." He was victorious. The Lord delivered
the Ammonites into his hands, and they were
smitten from Aroer unto the plain of the vine-
yards with a very great slaughter. He re-
turned to his hou.sf: in peace; and the one
whom by his vow ue had foredoomed — the
one who came forth from his house to meet
him on his return — was his own daughter, his
only child — "beside her he liad neither son
nor daughter." She went forth exultingly,
with timbrels and with dances, to greet her
victorious father. But he no sooner beheld
her than his strong heart gave way beneath
the stroke, and he rent his robes, crying, " Alas,
my daughter! thoa hast brought me very low;
for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord,
and cannot go back." But the daughter in-
herited the heroic qualities of her father. In
the general blessing and benefit her own doom
seemed a light matter to her, and she answered,
" My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth
unto the Lord, do to me according to that
which hath proceeded out of thy mouth ; for
asmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance of
thee upon thine enemies."
All she asked was a reprieve of two months,
"to bewail her virginity upon the mountains;"
which must be interpreted with reference to
A MAN OF VALOR.
139
the fact of its being in Israel held the greatest
possible calamity for a woman not to become
the mother of children. At the end of two
months she returned, and we are told that her
afflicted father " did with her according to his
vow." The plain reading of the sacred text
would lead every one to conclude that he
offered her up for a burnt-offering. If he did
so he committed a horrid crime under mis-
taken views of religious duty ; and this has led
many pious commentators to endeavor to clear
his memory irv n this stigma. The ground
which has b<: 'c n is, that his vow implied
that he woul urri; ice what was fit for sacri-
fice ; but if thdC which came forth to meet him
were not fit for a burnt-offering, it should be
the Lord's in some other way, and it is there-
fore concluded that the daughter was in this
case consecrated in perpetual celibacy to the
servijce of Jehovah. This ground is now, how-
ever, generally abandoned by sound scholars,
and few hesitate to believe that Jephthah
really did sacrifice his daughter.
A Father's Sacrifice.
The f^ct is so understood by Josephus, and
lamented by him ; and as he could not fail to
know the prevailing impression among his
countrymen, his corroborative testimony is of
much value for the interpretation of the inci-
dent as a point of history. He says that
Jephthah blamed his daughter for being so
forward in coming forth to meet him ; for that
his vow obliged him to offer her in sacrifice to
the Lord. He adds, " However, this action
was not ungrateful to her, since she was to die
upon occasion of her father's victory and the
liberty of her fellow-citizens. She only de-
sired her father to give her leave for two
months to bewail her youth with her country-
women, and then she consented that at the
end of the forementioned time he might do
with her agreeably to his vow. Accordingly,
when the time was over, he sacrificed his
daughter as a burnt-offering, presenting such
an oblation as was neither conformable to the
law nor acceptable to God ; nor weighing with
himself what opinion the hearers would have
of such a practice." Nothing can be plainer
than this; and the general opinion of both
Jewish and Christian antiquity has been in
agreement with it ; the notion that the hero
did not sacrifice his daughter being of com-
paratively modern prevalence.
The fact seems to be that the Israelites,
having been long plunged in idolatry and in-
fected with idolatrous iniquities, and in habits
of too familiar intercourse with their heathen
neighbors, had imbibed their notions respect-
ing the meritoriousness of human sacrifice;
and a man who had led a wild life like Jeph-
thah was not likely to be well informed on
points which even quiet people had neg-
lected.
Supinely the Israelites sank down ; mingled
freely with the people, indulged in their
enervating luxuries, adopted their manners,
bowed at their altars — made themselves vile.
Then came the alternations of returning loy-
alty to the King of Heaven, and of open defiance
anil rebellion to his rule. Whenever they
turned to him up rose a hero, who smote the
Canaanites, and, for the time, restored the .
glory to Israel, and rest to the land ; but when
the hero died, the people turned again to their
evil ways and only cried aloud for Heaven's
help when the bondage was too bitter to bear.
See how these heroes rise before us : Here
is Othniel, a younger brother of that Caleb
who, with Joshua, came safely through the
wilderness. Nothing can withstand this bold,
strong man, and the land has rest.
Here is Ehud, the left-handed, with a
double edged knife on his right thigh. He
means to slay a tyrant, and you see him, on
the pretense of a secret errand, enter the sum-
mer pavilion of king Eglon, and by-and-by
spring forth without his dagger, fast close the
doors, and escape to the quarries.
See Shamgar, son of Anath, wielding with
his strong hand no better weapon than an ox-
goad, but slaying of the enemy " heaps upon
heaps."
See Gideon, secretly threshing a little
wheat by the wine-press, a nervous terror on
his fine, sagacious face, lest the oppressor
140
ISRAELITISH HEROES.
should come down and seize upon it ; aye, and
a sort of contempt for himself that he should
be one of a people so enslaved. But a heav-
enly glory shines upon him, and he is another
man. A barley-cake shall indeed— as the
soldier dreams— fall into the camp, and over-
turn their tents ; but it shall come with trum-
pet, pitcher, and torch, and the cry shall be,
*' The sword of the Lord and of Gideon."
See, rising up the clouded face of Jephthah,
offspring of a left-hand marriage. He has
been cast out until, in the time of trouble, all
eyes have been turned to him — knowing his
prowess — he, a widower, dwelling apart with
his only child. Somewhat indignantly he
answers to the cry of his countrymen, goes
to their help, vows a vow, and the enemy is
discomfited before him.
What a triumphant march follows! what
shouts, what fanfares I all nothing to the great
ovation which awaits the captain when he ap-
proaches his own city — his own home, and
over his threshold skips his darling child,
singing and leaping with attendant maidens,
resolved to be the first to meet him. See, he
is struck down ! If the thunderbolt had fallen
it had been better-^-he has sworn to sacrifice
the first living thinf which meets him from
his home. And he has respect unto his vow.
Rises before us a strong man and a mighty
— a Nazarite from his birth. "A rough
fjcliever," so he has been called, and appro-
priately enough ; a strong- limbed and strong-
passioned man, with a depth of savage good-
ness, in him. These hard, haughty lords, who
rule with so high a hand, shall learn some-
thing from him. He has torn a lion as he
would rend a kid, and will have no mercy
upon them. Wondrous are the things which
he acccomplishes, bravely vt^orking as a brave
patriot works, but a woman — oh, shame it
should be so! — a woman betrays him, and
with his eyes out he gropes in blindness and
darkness, the scorn and derision of his foes.
There comes a day of reckoning, when, brought
forth to make them sport, his strong arms on
the pillars which support the house, he pulls
down the light structure, and there is a very
great slaughter, in which the hero's life is
lost.
I
i
Mill .
CHAPTER XV.
MARVELOUS FEATS OF SAMSON.
LTHOUGH Jephthah knew
that Jehovah was the God
of Israel, and that he alone
ought to be worshipped by
his people, he had but con-
fused notions even on this
point, for in his message to the Am-
monites he appears to recognize
Chemosh as thefr god in the same
sense in which Jehovah was the God
of Israel. He seems to have thought
it enough to worship the Lord in the
same way that other nations worshipped their
gods, and to have supposed that what they
deemed invaluable could not be otherwise to
Him. We know that in after-times human
sacrifice was practiced in Israel in the face of
far greater light than existed in the generation
to which Jephthah belonged, and in the pres-
ence of the temple and altar of Jehovah ; and
knowing this, it does afford just ground for
surprise that there should have been so much
hesitation felt in allowing that a rough sol-
dier, living in an idolatrous age, and in a part
of Israel less than any other open to the influ-
ence of the theocratical institutions, should
have deemed himself bound by the obliga-
tions of his vow to immolate his daughter.
That the deed was unlawful is very certain ;
but it is not the less probable on that account.
It is, however, a monstrous conception of the
painters and others that the high-priest was
the sacrificer, and that the sacrifice was made
at the altar of the Lord. The awful deed was
probably perpetrated at some old altar in the
country beyond the Jordan, and there is much
reason to apprehend that Jephthah himself
struck the blow which left his own heart
desolate.
It is singular that the victory of Jephthah
over the Ammonites was followed by a mis-
understanding with the powerful tribe of
Ephraim, similar to that which had followed
the victory of Gideon over the Midianites.
This tribe seems never to have perceived that
its assistance could have been of use until the
occasion for taking the field had passed away
and the enemy was completely routed ; and
then it came forward with complaints that it
had not obtained a share of the honor and the
spoil. Gideon had pacified them with one of
those soft answers which turn away wrath :
the sterner Jephthah tried the same treatment;
but having less self-control, he allowed their
gross insults to arouse his anger, and he took
prompt and skilful measures for making th«m
repent of their offensive movements.
They had crossed the Jordan in arms, and
were bent on mischief; and Jephthah, who had
at first been disinclined to come to blows, no
longer hesitated to give them battle. They
were utterly routed, and when those who had
escaped the battle-field attempted to recross
the river into their own country, they found
the fords in the hands of the men of Gilead,
who hit upon an ingenious contrivance for dis-
tinguishing them as Ephraimites, which they
could not have done by their persons or attire^
It seems that *hey were unable to pronounce
the Hebrew sn, but gave it the sound of s.
This amounted to something like the differ-
ence in our provincial dialects; but seems
more remarkable in so small a country as
Palestine All the men who came to the river,
were required to pronounce the word Shib-
boleth, meaning a " stream," and if they gave
it as 5ibboleth, were smitten down as Eph-
raimites.
The victories of Gideon and of Jephthah
appear to have secured a long period of tran-
quility to the Israelites; for the historian
records little more than the names of the three
(141)
'
: "^
ii>;
?! '
iff
BIRTH OF THE GIANT.
follo'.ving Judges. Jephthah (lied after having
ruled Israel six years. After him was Ibzan
of Bethlehem, who was the parent of thirty
sons and as many daughters. He ruled seven
years ; and after him came Elon, who ruled
ten years ; and he was followed by Abdon,
who during eight years judged Israel.
It re(|uired no long course of prosperity to
corrupt the Israelites, and to turn them aside
from that God to whom they were indebted
for it. The reader of Scripture is so accus-
tomed to this, that he only wond2rs at the
unusual duration of some of the intervals of
faithfulness and rectitude. They now sinned
once more, and were brought very low under
the yoke of the Philistines, which lay heavy
on them for forty years.
The Deliverer of Israel.
The deliverer whom God next raised up to
redress the wrongs of the chosen people was,
in many respects, the most extraordinary*per-
sonage who appears in the more ancient He-
brew history, and whose course of proceeding
it appears most difficult to reconcile with our
notions of a Divine commission and a theo-
cratic government. This was Samson, who
was born about the time this servitude com-
menced, and who about the middle of it was
in a condition to act upon the high commis-
sion which he so imperfectly fulfilled, and to
exercise the marvelous gifts which his low
vices so often deprived of the effects for which
alone they had been intrusted to him.
His birth was by a miracle. An angel an-
nounced that a deliverer of Israel should be
born ; and it was directed that he should be
regarded as a Nazarite from birth, wearing his
hair forever unshorn and abstaining from
wine and strong drink. The father was not
present at this interview. His name was
Manoah, an inhabitant of Zorah, a small town
of the tribe of Dan, to which he belonged.
Manoah was astonished at the tidings which
his wife imparted to him, and prayed that he
might also be privileged to receive the assur-
ance from the same heavenly messenger. The
angel accordingly reappeared to both the des-
tined parents, and a scene took place not un-
like that which had formerly attended the
angel-visit to Gideon. Manoah, as directed,
offered a kid with a meat-offering upon the
rock, and as the flame went up towards heaven
the angel disappeared from their view in the
rising flame, and vanished out of sight.
Samson's Great Strength.
The child in due time was born, the name
of Samson was given to him, and he was
brought up as a Nazarite. He was then found
to be endowed with strength greatly beyond
that of the sons of men, and which was des-
tined to become the instrument through which
he, as the champion of the Lord's people, was
to work for the deliverance of Israel He
early sought for opportunities of signalizing
his valor and uncommon strength against the
enemies of his country ; and, ere long, his
personal achievements appear to have attached
to his name such a degree of notoriety as to
render him an object of dislike and terror to
the inhabitants of the Philistine border. It
was, in fact, his vocation to " find occasion "
against the Philistines, which might enable
him to exert his mighty powers to their detri-
ment ; by which their power might be weak-
ened and their plans confused, without expos-
ing his own nation to responsibility for his
acts.
The time for the full deliverance of Israel
was not then come : it was the task of Samson
to " begin " that deliverance by weakening the
power and resources of the Philistines by such
acts as centred their attention on himself per-
sonally. To fulfil this, his destiny, it came to
pass that he, while still a youth, fell in love
with a Philistine damsel of Timnath, The
parents, who did not know that this attach-
ment " was of the Lord," objected to his mar-
riage with an idolater, when there were so
many fair damsels in Israel well suited to his
choice. But finding his resolution fixed, they
reluctantly agreed to go with him to Timnath
to ask the damsel in marriage.
The necessary preliminaries being settled,
the marriage was solemnized with feasting,
alace not un-
attended the
as directed,
ig upon the
rtrards heaven
ir view in the
sight.
gth.
rn, the name
and he was
IS then found
reatly beyond
lich was des-
irough which
s people, was
•f Israel He
af signalizing
:h against the
ere long, his
have attached
otoriety as to
and terror to
e border. It
nd occasion"
might enable
to their detri-
ght be weak-
rithout expos-
sibility for his
ance of Israel
isk of Samson
veakening the
itines by such
1 himself per-
ny, it came to
h, fell in love
mnath, The
it this attach-
ed to his mar-
;here were so
suited to his
ion fixed, they
;m to Ti mnath
being settled,
with feasting,
SAMSON SLAYING THE LION. — ^Jud. xiv. 6.
(143)
^'Mi
'Ki
SAMSON'S RIDDLE.
:
which, according to the custom of the time,
lasted seven days. It was usual on such oc-
casions for the bridegroom to invite a number
of his relatives and friends, who were to do
the honors of the ceremony and to perform
other duties arising from the occasion. In
this case, however, thirty Philistines were as-
signed to Samson as companions, either from
his being distant from his own home, or, more
probably, for a check upon a person so danger-
ous and formidable. It was usual in those
days for the guests assembled at such feasts to
exercise their wit in proposing and solving
enigmas and riddles : and in compliance with
this custom, Samson put forth a riddle, and
proposed thirty dresses as the forfeit to be
given by him if they solved it within seven
days, or by them if they failed to do so. The
riddle was —
" Out of the eater came forth meat,
And out of the fierce came forth sweetness."
It was founded on an adventure which befel
him in one of his journeys to Timnath, when
he slew a young lion, in the dry hide-bound
skeleton of which he afterwards found a swarm
of bees and a quantity of honey.
The Riddle Solved.
The solution of this riddle was beyond the
skill of the Philistines ; but being unwilling to
seem outwitted or to incur the expensive
forfeiture, they beset the bride, and by threat-
enings induced her to solicit from him the
solution, which she imparted to them, and
they were thus enabled on the seventh day to
answer :
• " What is fiercer than a lion ?
And what is sweeter than honey 7"
Samson took no pains to conceal his disap-
pointment and suspicion ; and he made it an
occasion for exercising the powers with which
he had been gifted for the avengement if not
the deliverance of his people. He went down
to Askelon, and slew thirty Philistines, whose
blood-stained raiment he brought to Timnath,
and gave to their countrymen as the forfeit of
his riddle. Then, in deep disgust at the part
taken by his wife, and probably suspicious of
her fidelity in other respects, he returned to
his paternal home, leaving her with her friends.
But after a while his heart relented, and he
again went down to Timnath to see his wife,
and found that she had during his absence
been bestowed in marriage upon the chief of
the young men who had been his companions
at the wedding-feast, and who had behaved so
scandalously to him.
This was not only a great wrong in itself,
but aiTorded confirmation to his former sus-
picions. His wrath, therefore, rose very high,
and he made this another occasion of ven-
geance against the Philistines. This vengeance
was exercised in a very singular manner. He
caught three hundred foxes (or jackals), and,
coupling them together, fastened burning
fuses between the tails of each couple, and in
this manner set them loose among the stand-
ing corn of the Philistines, which was thus at
once set on fire in many different quarters.
The Barnes at that season of the year spread
so rapidly and widely among the standing
crops and the vineyards as to cause a most
extensive and ruinous destruction.
Some exceptions have been taken to this
transaction on the score of the difficulty of
catching so many as three hundred fbxes. But
jackals, not foxes, are usually denoted ; and
as they are gregarious, the number might,
without insuperable difficulty, have been caught
by Samson and other persons employed by
him for the occasion. Jackals would also
answer the purpose better than foxes, which
would have fled immediately to their holes,
and not have wandered about the fields of the
Philistines.
The Philistines take Bevongre.
When the author and occasion of this great
calamity became known to the Philistines they
resolved to remove at once the cause of his
anger rather than expose themselves to the
repetition of such attacks ; and they therefore
went to Timnath and destroyed by fire the
parties of whom Samson had so much cause
to complain. But this was not the way to
pacify the Jewish hero, who no sooner heard
of it than he fell upon a band of their country-
de returned to
ith her friends,
lented, and he
see his wife,
ig his absence
on the chief of
kis companions
tad behaved su
rrong in itself,
lis former sus-
rose very high,
casion of ven-
rhis vengeance
ir manner. He
r jackals), and,
tened burning
couple, and in
nong the stand-
ich was thus at
ferent quarters,
the year spread
1 the standing
cause a most
ion.
1 taken to this
he difficulty of
Ired foxes. But
denoted ; and
number might,
ave been caught
s employed by
als would also
an foxes, which
to their holes,
the fields of the
levonge.
on of this great
Philistines they
le cause of his
:ms^lves to the
i they therefore
yed by fire the
so much cause
not the way to
lo sooner heard
of their country-
10
SAMSON AND DELILAH. — ^Jud. Xvi. l6.
(148)
146
A THOUSAND PHILISTINES SLAIN.
,1 ■
men and vanquished them with much slaugh-
ter. He, then, foreseeing the consequences,
withdrew to the top of the almost inaccessible
rock Etam, in the tribe of Judah.
The Philistines do not appear to have re-
garded these feats of Samson as acts of war or
revolt on the part of the Hebrews ; their atten-
tion was fixed upon the person of the hero ;
and now, finding, by dear experience, that his
enmity was as implacable is his strength was
great, they determined by one great stroke to
put an end to the vexatious warfare which he
carried on upon their borders. They there-
fore marched a body of troops into Judea, with
the intention of seizing this eagle in the eyrie
to which he had fled, and established a regular
encampment in the neighborhood, with the
view, apparently, of starving him into a sur-
render.
The men of Judah were alarmed at these
proceedings, and dreaded the consequences
which the hero's acts seemed likely to bring
upon their own heads. They therefore went
and remonstrated with him, hinting their wish
that he would allow himself to be delivered
up as a pledge and security of future peace.
After some hesitation he consented so far as to
allow them to bind him and conduct him to
the presence of the enemy. But no sooner
did he come before them, and while their
triumphant shout rose high in air, than the
supernatural spirit was roused within him ; he
burst the strong cords that bound him as if|
they had been burnt tow, and, seizing the first
weapon which came to hand, which was the
jawbone of an ass, he flew upon the host and
slew a thousand men therewith.
Not long after having committed this slaugh-
ter among the Philistines, Samson, with mar-
velous hardihood, ventured to go to Gaza,
one of their fortified cities, and there took up
his abode. He was not long permitted to
remain in Gaza undisturbed, for the news of
his arrival soon transpired, and a strong watch
was set at the gate to arrest him when he
should attempt to depart. But the hour of
their triumph was not yet come; for, being
made acquainted with this movement on the
part of the Philistines, he rose at midnight,
and not content with bursting open the gates,
he wrenched them away, posts, bars, and all,
and bore them ofif upon his shoulders to the
top of a hill about two miles from Gaza on the
road to Hebron,
Samson was, however, at length betrayed
into the power of his enemies by a woman
named Delilah, for whom he entertained a
base affection. The lords of the Philistines
no sooner heard of this unhappy connection
than they resolved to employ this woman as
the instrument of his destruction. They
promised her large sums of money to induce
her to employ all her insinuations to find out
the cause of his supernatural strength, which
they manifestly supposed to depend on some
peculiar observance, which, if he might be
induced to neglect, his strength would fail
him, and they might with impunity avenge
themselves upon him.
Samson Betra,ye(l. •
Accordingly Delilah employed all her arts
to gain the desired information, and after many
vain efforts Samson at length disclosed to her
that he had been constituted by the Lord a
perpetual Nazarite, which condition was be-
tokened by the unshorn state of his hair ; but
that if he renounced the condition of a Naz-
arite by shaving his head, the spirit of the
Lord, in which lay his great strength, would
depart from him, and he should become as
other men. In consequence of this disclosure
she contrived, while he was asleep, to shave
off his hair; and the Philistines, who were
lying in wait, seized upon him, put out his
eyes, and, placing him in strong fetters, carried
him to Gaza, where he was confined in the
prison-house, and made to grind at the mill
like a slave.
Milton, in his " Samson Agonistes," which,
apart from its poetical merits, is a beautiful
and critical study of the life and character of
the hero, thus pictures him in this condition :
"Oh change beyond report, thought or belief!
See how he lies at random, carelessly difiiised ;
With languished head unpropt,
MARVELOUS FEATS OF SAMSON.
147
at midnight,
pen the gates,
, bars, and all,
oulders to the
n Gaza on the
:ed all her arts
, and after many
Jisclosed to her
by the Lord a
idition was be-
of his hair ; but
lition of a Naz-
le spirit of the
strength, would
)uld become as
f this disclosure
asleep, to shave
tines, who were
im, put out his
ig fetters, carried
confined in the
rind at the mill
and character of
this condition :
SAMSON GRINDING IN THE PRISON-HOUSE. — ^Jud. xvi. 21.
As one past hope — abandoned,
And by himself given over;
In slavish habit, ill-fitted weeds
O'er-wom and soiled :
Can this be he,
That heroic, that renowned,
Irresistible Samson ?"
Some time after this the lords of the Philis-
tines assembled to hold an annual festival in
honor of their idol Dagon. Having met in
the house or temple of that idol, it occurred
to them to enhance their gladness and the
glory of their god by the sight of their cap-
tive in his misery, and his abject condition.
He was accordingly sent for, and was placed
ua
SAMSONS DEATH.
in the area or enclosed court of the building,
the flat roof of which was crowded with the
PhiUstines, who made him tlie object of their
mockery and sport. His hair had, however,
begun to grow again, and witii its growth he
felt the consciousness of returning strength.
In this consciousness he desired the lad who
led him about to let him rest against the cen-
tral pillars, upon which the main weight of
the building rested. This being granted, the
blind hero breathed a prayer to the Lord to
strengthen him, that he might be once more
avenged of the Philistines ; and, laying hold
of the two pillars, shook them with such vio-
lence that " the house fell upon the lords and
upon all the people that were therein : and
the dead which he slew at his death were
more than they which he slew in his life."
Availing themselves of the consternation
which this transaction occasioned in the place,
the friends of Samson came down, and extri-
cating his body from the ruins, bore it away
and buried it between Zorah and Eshtaol, in
the sepulchre of his father Manoah.
"God of our fathers! what is man,
That thou towards him with a hand so various.
Or might I say contrarious,
Tempcr'^t thy providence through his short course,
Not evenly, as thou rulest
The angelic orders, and the inferior creatures mute,
Irrational and bnite ?
Nor do I name of men the common rout,
That, wandering loose about.
Grow up and perish, as the summer-fly,
Heads without name, no more remembered
But such as thou hast solemnly elected,
With gifts and graces eminently adorned.
For some great work, thy glory.
And people's safety, which in part they effect :
Yet towards these, thus dignified, thou oft
Changest thy countenance, and thy hand, with no regard
Of highest favors past
From thee on them, or them to thee of service ! "
A/i//on's " Samson Agonistts."
Great, brave men, these judges in Israel.
How the writer of the Letters to the Hebrews
dwells upon them as instances of P'aith !
" And what shall I say more, for the time
would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Harak,
and of Samson, and of Jephthah — who through
faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteous-
ness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths
of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escapetl
the edge of the sword, out of weakness were
made strong — of whom the world was not
worthy."
But we must not suppose that it was the
men alone who waxed valiant in fight in those
terrible days which immediately followed on
the Israelitish invasion of Canaan. In all
ages of the world women have shown them-
selves strong and earnest when the hearts
of men have failed within them. When a
woman's naturally gentle nature is roused, her
indignation knoweth no bounds; but she is
circumspect in her ways, and seldom acts
rashly. In the enumeration of the worthies
who were raised up for the deliverance of
Israel, occurs the name of Barak — he was a
soldier — a captain of the host, but he achieved
victory through the help of two women :
Deborah taught him how and when to smite,
and Jael completed his conquest by slaying
the chief enemy with her own hands. Truly
a very redoubtable captain I " Up ; for this is
the day that the Lord hath delivered Sisera
into thine hand."
Sisera is a man of war — a hero — and is con-
fident of success. But his troops reel and
stagger; his horsemen fall upon each other;
his iron chariots are overthrown ; this mere
handful of men have cast his whole army into
the uttermost confusion ; and tnere stands this
wondrous woman, judge and prophetess, her
intensity of passion sympathetically conveyed
to the army — a strength to them, a weakness
to the foe. And now the victory is achieved,
all the great host slain or scattered, and
mighty Sisera himself a fugitive.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE PROPHET SAMUEL
-w
LI, the high-priest, ap-
pears as the person
who "judged Israel"
after Samson. There
are many who believe
this to have been act-
ually the case : but it
is now more generally
understood that the
civil government of the Jews
was administered by Eli from
about the middle of the Philis-
tine servitude, and throughout
all the period in which Samson
employed his strength on the
western border against the op-
pressors of Israel. Under this
view, that which seemed to be the commence-
ment of a new government, after the death of
Samson, appears to be no other than a con-
tinuance of that which existed in his lifetime.
Under the operation of the constitution as
established by Moses, the government naturally
devolved on the high-priest, in the absence of
any specially appointed judge; and therefore,
instead of being surprised that Eli should in
this instance have been also judge, we may
rather wonder that this did not oftener occur.
It was during this administration of Eli
that the prophet Samuel was born under cir-
cumstances which seemed to point him out as
one destined for great things in Israel. His
father, named Elkanah, was a Levite. He
with his wife, Hannah, used to go regularly
to Shiloh, to worship at the tabernacle, which
was still in that place. In one year she there
prayed with great fervency for a son, and
vowed that in case he were granted to her, the
child should be wholly given as a Nazarite to
the Lord. As she prayed, her agitation was
so manifest, that it attracted the notice of Eli,
as "he sat upon a seat by one of th ) ihcs oi
the tabernacle : " and he hastily supp jscd that
she was under the influent . i ■" strong drink.
Rut she replied, " No, my 1 Td, I \m a woman
of sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine
nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul
before the Lord ; " on which the priest said,
" Go in peace : the God of Israel grant thee
the petition thou hast asked of him."
The prayer of the afflicted woman was
heard : a son was given to her, a nd she called
his name Samuel. From that time Hannah
went no more up to Shiloh till her son was
old enough to be taken to the tabernacle and
left there. When this time came they all went
up together, a n rxfter the usual offerings, the
now happy ni..i! .k- took her child and brought
him before Eli. She reminded him of her
former prayer, and now informed him, " Fot
thischil .' i prayed," and that having given him
to *hr j ord, she had now come to perform her
vow. She then gave utterance to her feelings
in an exulting song, which forms a pleasing
specimen of the sacred poesy of the age before
David. She then departed, leaving the child
at the tabernacle, who, as he grew up, was em-
ployed in such light duties as a child could
discharge, and which Levitical lineage author-
ized him to perform. Hannah had other sons
as well as daughters ; but she failed not year
by year to visit Shiloh, to embrace the son
whom "she had lent unto the Lord."
Eli himself was a man of undoubted piety,
and of the most sincere intentions ; but his
sons, Hophni and Phinehas, proved worthless
persons, who were guilty of the most criminal
abuses of their priestly office. Their conduct
became at length so utterly depraved and
atrocious, that the people began to shun the
attendances at Shiloh, which brought them in
contact with persons who made their sacred
(149)
150
DEATH OF ELI'S SONS.
office a cloak for all kinds of wickedness and ' office. As they continued their evil courses,
wrong-doing. They were reproved by their j a prophet was sent to Eli denouncing the pun-
THE CHILD SAMUEL IN THE TEMPLE. — I Sam. ill. 4.
ishments of Heaven against them : predicting
that Hophni and Phiiiehas should die " both
in one day," and that, after Eli's death, the
father; but his reproof Aas too gentle, and
unacco.npanied by the s^^/ong measures of re-
straint which became his high and venerable
THE PROPHET SAMUEL.
151
high-priesthood should be rent from his family
and bestowed upon another.
Meantime the young Samuel continued
under the care of Eli, in the diligent discharge
of the light duties confided to him, " minister-
ing before the Lord, girded with a linen ephod."
He was chiefly employed about the person of
the aged high-priest, who became much at-
tached to him. Once, when the lad was about
twelve years of age, a voice called to him in
the night, as he lay in a chamber near to and
within call of that of the high-priest.
The boy supposed that Eli hau called him,
and hastened to receive his commands. But
Eli had not called, and he was sent back to his
couch. The voice again called, " Samuel,
Samuel ! " and the lad again hastened to Eli,
with the same result. This being repeated a
third time, the high-priest perceived that the
call was supernatural, and told the lad that if
the voice again called to him he should answer,
" Speak, Lord ; for thy servant heareth." The
child did so, and he then received a Divine
communication to the same effect as that which
the prophet had previously declared. "Be-
hold," said the voice, " I will do a thing in
Israel, at which both the ears of every one that
heareth it shall tingle. In that day will I per-
form against Eli all things which I have spoken
toncerning his house: when I begin, I will
also make an end. For I have told him that
I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity
which he knoweth ; because his sons made
themselves vile, and he restrained them not."
Samuel lay quiet till the morning, and was
afraid to impart to Eli the heavy tidings with
which he had been charged. But, on being
pressed by his venerable patron, who knew that
something unusual had transpired, he made
all known to him. On hearing the awful mes-
sage, the aged priest bent his venerable head
and said: "It is the Lord; let Him do what
seemeth Him good."
From this time forward it became known
that Samuel was a prophet favored with reve-
lations from God, which he made known to the
people ; and, as for some time there had not
been in Israel any person thus favored — thus
privileged with access to the counsels of the
Divine King— -the attention of all Israel was
strongly drawn towards one who had, as it
were, grown up under their eyes, in his con-
stant attendance at the tabernade.
During all this period the Israelites appear
to have been still under the oppression of the
Philistines. In the fourth chapter of the Second
Book of Samuel we come abruptly to an
account of warlike operations, without being
able clearly to discern the object for which they
were undertaken — whether from the desire of
the Philistines to rivet more strongly the yoke
of Israel, or from some attempt of the Israel-
ites to shake it off. The first battle was fought
at Aphek, and the Hebrews were routed with
the loss of four thousand men.
Excitement In the Hebrew Camp.
On this the Israelites took up the notion
that if the ark of God were brought into the
field they could not fail to be victorious over
their enemies. They therefore sent for it to
Shiloh ; and it was brought to the army under
the care of the sons of the high-priest, Hophni
and Phinehas. When the sacred symbol en-
tered the camp the whole army shouted for joy,
as if already triumphant. The consternation
of the Philistines was proportioned to the ex-
ultation of the Hebrews ; and their feelings on
this occasion enable us to perceive the estima-
tion in which Jehovah was held by them, as
the God of the Hebrews, which was the point
of view in which He was regarded by them.
They said : " Woe unto us I for there hath not
been such a thing heretofore. Woe unto us !
who shall deliver us out of the hands of those
mighty gods ? These are the gods that smote
the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wil-
derness I "
Like valiant men, however, the Philistine.s
did not permit this dread to discourage them,
but rather regarded the greatness of the danger
as an incentive to mightier exertions — " Be
strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye
Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the
Hebrews, as they have been to you. Quit
yourselves like men, and fight 1 " The result
152
THE FALL OF DAGON.
L
I 1
read the Hebrews a terrible lesson of mis-
placed confidence upon mere symbols, which
were as nothing apart from the living presence
which the symbol represented. They were
beaten ; the ark of God was taken by the Phil-
istines, and Hophni and Phinehas wece killed ■
in defending their sacred charge. By this one
act, which made their death more worthy than :
their lives, they restore themselves, in some ,
decree, to our good opinion ; but it was no
longer possible for anything that they did or
left undone to avert the ruinous effects of their
former misdeeds, or to recall the doom which
had gone forth from heaven against them and
theirs. They died both in one day, as had
been foretold ; and if their friends could have
had any comfort left, it must have been found
in the fact that no shame, but honor rather,
attended their last hour.
The Ark Taken by the Philistines.
Meanwhile there were hearts at Shiloh that
trembled for the fate of the battle, and for the
ark of God. Among them was that of Eli,
who, in his anxiety, caused his seat to be set
by the wayside that he might catch the
tidings as they came. Tidings of evil are
seldom long delayed. A fugitive speedily
came from the battle-fieli with his clothes
rent, and earth upon his head. He announced
that Israel had fled before the Philistines —
that Hophni and Phinehas were slain — and
the ark of God was taken. At that terrible
word, the blind old man fell from his seat;
and his neck was broken by the fall.
The Philistines carried the ark in great
triumph to Ashdod, and supposing that they
had overcome the God of Israel by the
mightier power of their own Dagon, they
deposited it as a trophy of victory in his temple.
It was the foresight of this triumph over the
Lord of Hosts which had occasioned the
death of Eli and filled Israel with dread.
But it proved fatal to the Philistines and to
their idol ; for it then behooved the Almighty
to vindicate the honor of his own great name
from the triumph of the heathen. Accord-
ingly it was found the next morning that the
image of Dagon had fallen from its place, be-
fore the ark, and was broken in pieces.
They found their idol lying on the floor,
prostrate before the ark of God. This might
have been an accident, they thought; and
therefore they again set up their monstrous
idol more securely in its high place. But the
next morning it had not only again fallen
down, but was broken into pieces.
Next, the inhabitants of Ashdod were
afflicted with a grievous disorder, the emerods,
which was very general and intensely severe ;
this was accompanied by a plague of mice, by
which the produce of their fields was con-
sumed and spoiled. Taking these visitations
in connection with the former event, they
failed not to ascribe them to the wrath of the
God of Israel, for the presence of his ark
among them : and resolved to try whether he
might not take more pleasure in some of their
other cities. They therefore sent it to Gath,
the inhabitants of which being forthwith
afflicted in the same manner, lost no time in
forwarding it to Ekron ; but the truth began
by this time to be suspected, and the Ekron-
ites received it with horror, and cried, " They
have brought about the ark of the God of Israel
to us, to slay us and our people." Nor were
they mistaken in their anticipations, for there
was soon a grievous destruction throughout
the city, for " the hand of God was very heavy
there," and they were visited by severe judg-
ments while the ark remained in their camp.
There could be no longer any reasonable
doubt that the pestilence by which the Philis-
tines were thus wasted was sent among them
on account of the ark, and they resolved to
restore it to the Israelites. Their priests
recommended that an oblation, or trespass-
offering, should be conveyed along with it,
and, agreeably to the practice of those super-
stitious times, they further suggested that the
gold of which this offering was to consist
should be wrought up into figures having a
direct reference to the evils with which they
had been afflicted. They made five golden
emerods and five golden mice, according to
the numbe'- of the lords of the Philistines, and
WELCOMING THE RETURN OF THE ARK. — I Sam. vi. 1 3.
(163)
I
164
OPPRESSIONS OF THE PHILISTINES.
v
r
■i -'iis
■Vi
' ' s
(■■'
:!'
deposited them in a coffer which they placed
beside the ark in the new car which they made
for the purpose of conveying the sacred chest
to its own land. It was usual for the heathen
thus to convey their sacred arks and shrines,
and they adopted it on this occasion, being
ignorant that the Jewish law required the ark
of God to be borne by the priests.
A Severe Judgrment.
To the ark they yoked two milch cows,
which had not been accustomed to the draught,
and which they left to take their owr course.
The cows, as if directed by a Divine impulse,
went direct towards the border village of
Beth-shemesh in Judea, w'thout once turning
aside or attempting to go back, although their
calves had been shut up at home. The vil-
lagers who were abroad in the fields employed
on the crops hailed the return of the ark with
the most unbounded joy ; and concluding that
on so remarkable an occasion they might dis-
pense with the strict observance of the law,
which forbade sacrifice to be made at any
other place than that at which the tabernacle
was fixed, they slew the two cows, and offered
them up as a burnt-offering to Jehovah. This
breach of a very stringent commandment,
together with the irreverent curiosity which
they manifested to examine the contents of
the ark, occasioned the death of seventy per-
sons; and by this the inhabitants were so
terrified, that they besought the inhabitants
of the neighboring city of Kirjath-jearim to
relieve them from the care of so formidable a
deposit. The men of Kirjath-jearim complied
with this request, and the ark was suffered to
remain twenty years in this place before it
was restored to the tabernacle at Shiloh.
The Hebrews were still under the yoke of
the Philistines, who soon appeared against
them in strong force. The Hebrews, who had
then no war in their thoughts, were terrified
at this demonstration ; but, being encouraged
by Samuel, they stood upon their defence, and
in the battle which ensued were victorious
over the Philistines, who were compelled to
give up the cities they had taken from the
Israelites, and to leave them tneir mdepend-
euce.
This great event completely established
Samuel's influence over the people; and he
took advantage of this to bring about a more
complete reformation by going frequently about
among them, attending to the affairs they
brought before him, and exhorting them to
continue steadfast in the worship and service
of the Lord.
Many years passed peaceably and prosper'
ously under the benign rule of Samuel, whose
advancing years at length induced him some-
what to relax his labors by associating his
sons with him in the management of affairs.
He then discontinued his circuits, and fixed
his residence at Ramah, where he superintended
the northern part of the land ; while his sons
who established themselves at Beersheba, took
charge of the southern districts.
The sons of Samuel grievously misconducted
themselves in the high trust confided to them.
"They walked not in his ways, but turned
aside from hence, and took bribes, and per-
verted judgment." This, with the prospect
of what might be likely to follow on the
death of Samuel, gave the Israelites occasion
to desire a king " to rule them like all the na-
tions," and they took measures accordingly.
This was not the true remedv, to a nation
privileged like theirs.
Discontent of the People.
Samuel felt all this, and was well aware
that they were actuated by an impatient and
discontented spirit, and by a fondness for the
imitation of the customs and institutions of the
neighboring nations, to the neglect of those
peculiar institutions and peculiar privileges
which distinguished them from all the nations
of the earth.
Samuel would not venture to return a defi-
nite answer to the demand of the people for a
king without first consulting the Lord, who
was pleased to command him to protest most
solemnly against the proposed change, and to
declare in the strongest manner his reproba-
tion of their rejection of Himself.
the
swen
over
heart
hom(
woul
r independ-
established
)le; and he
bout a more
uently about
affairs they
ng them to
and service
md prosper'
imuel, whose
i him some-
Bociating his
nt of affairs,
ts, and fixed
uperintended
hile his sons
ersheba, took
tnisconducted
ided to them.
3, but turned
bes, and per-
the prospect
)llow on the
ites occasion
ike all the na-
iccordingly.
V, to a nation
ople.
is well aware
impatient and
mdness for the
titutions of the
gleet of those
liar privileges
all the nations
3 return a defi-
le people for a
the Lord, who
o protest most
change, and to
;r his reproba-
If.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE FIRST Km OF ISRAEL
N the noble speech in which he
set forth the evils of the kingly
government, Samuel draws a
striking picture of the mon-
archical power as it then ex-
isted and was exercised. He
describes the compulsory im-
pressment of all likely young
men for the service of the king
in the army and the court, and
to be his horsemen, to run be-
fore his chariots, and to work
for him in trades and agricul-
tural labor. Their daughters also should be
taken in the same manner for the domestic
service of the royal household; and the king
would not in the end fail, on one ground or
another, to take their heritages from them, to
bestow them in reward upon his courtiers and
officers. It reminded them also that the king
would demand a tithe of their produce, as was
the custom of the time, to support the ex-
penses of the state. This was the strongest
point to place before them ; for they already
by the law were required to pay this tenth to
Jehovah as their king. This could not be re-
linquished; and as the temporal sovereign
would still expect the regal tenth, they would
in fact be burdened with a charge twice as
heavy as that which any other nation was
called to bear. The prophet concluded with :
"And ye shall cry in that day because of your
king which ye shall have chosen, and the Lord
will not hear you in that day."
The people were not, however, moved from
their purpose by this representation ; they an-
swered, " Nay, but we will have a king to rule
over us : " on which Samuel, with grief of
heart, dismissed them for the present to their
homes, with the understanding that a king
would be provided for them.
The person on whom the nomination fell
was Saul, the son of Kish, of the tribe of Ben-
jamin. This person, having gone far from
home in the vain search after some strayed
asses, found himself near Ramah, and con-
cluded, by the advice of his attendant, to con-
sult "the man of God" who dwelt in that
place. He accordingly came before Samuel,
furnished with a small present, according to a
custom which is still kept up in the East. He
no sooner appeared than, according to a pre-
monition from God, the prophet recognized in
him the destined king of Israel. He gave him
a hint to this effect, which Saul met by men-
tioning the smallness of his tribe and his want
of family influence. Nothing more passed
just then : but the prophet treated the stranger
with marked distinction, induced him to stay
with him over night, and in the morning
early walked forth with him from the town.
On the way, Samuel stopped, poured on
Saul's head a vial of anointing oil, declaring
that by this act the Lord anointed him " to be
captain over his inheritance." He then kissed
him; and to show that in this he acted by
Divine authority, he proceeded to tell him all
the incidents which would occur in his jour-
ney home. Everything happened accordingly.
He first met two men who told him that the
lost asses were found, and that his father had
become anxious at his prolonged absence. At
another place, " in the plain of Tabor," he met
three men, one carrying three kids, another
bread, and a third a bottle of wine. They
saluted him, and offered him some bread,
which he took. After this he encountered a
company of young men belonging to the
school of the prophets, who were returning
from the high place, uttering sacred chants to
the sound of the psaltery, tabret, pipe and
harp. Here, as Samuel had foretold, a fit of
(155)
iiii
156
SAUL PROCLAIMED KING.
I
f '*;fff
■■hh'
holy enthusiasm came upon him, and he has- ] on the warrior and the king. Fired with gen-
tened to join them in their sacred exercises, erous wrath at the indignity thus offered to
It was, we are told, in this circumstance that [ Israel, he imperatively summoned, by swift
the proverb originated, " Is Saul also among messengers, the men of Israel skilled in arms
the prophets ? " He then reached home, but I to join their king. Three hundred and thirty
kept secret, even from his own relatives, the j thousand armed men almost immediately came
communication which Samuel had made to, to him in Bezek, and with this force he hast-
ened across the river, and by a forced march
appeared before Jabesh-Gilead before the seven
days had expired. The Ammonites were de-
feated with great slaughter, and the beleaguered
city relieved.
Saul's conduct on this occasion, crowned as
it was by such eminent success, did more for
him in popular opinion than his prophetic
nomination or even his imposing figure. The
people escorted him in triumph to Gilgal,
where the victory was celebrated with many
sacrifices, and the new king was confirmed by
acclamation in his kingdom.
Samuel, who was present at Gilgal, and was
now obviously called upon to resign his ex-
ecutive authority, took the opportunity of ad-
dressing the people. When we consider the
greatness of the occasion — the last of an old
order of government peaceably laying down his
power to the *irst of a new line of rulers — and
when we look at the vastness of the audience,
composed of the flower of the nation which it
represented, we are prepared to pay much at-
tention to the speech of Samuel, as one that
must be remarkable, and may be important.
It was both : " Behold," he said, " I have
hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said
unto me, and have made a king over you.
And now, behold, the king walketh before
you; and I am old and gray-headed: and I
have walked before you from my childhood
unto this day. Behold, here I am. Witness
af^ainst me this day before the Lord and before
His anointed : whose ox have I taken ? or
whose ass have I taken ? or whom have I de-
frauded ? whom have I oppressed ? or at
whose hand have I received any bribe to blind
mine eyes therewith ?" Considering the cir-
cumstances under which justice and govern-
ment are and always have been administered
in the East, this is an appeal which few judges
him.
Some time after the prophet again called the
people together in Mizpeh, to complete the im-
portant affair which they had left in his hands.
He caused the tribes to cast lots, and the lot
fell on Benjamin ; the lot was then taken for
the families of Benjamin, and fell on that of
Kish ; the lot was then cast for the members
of that family, and the name of Saul was pro-
duced. Saul had attended at Mizpeh, but had
withdrawn from the" assembly as he saw the
crisis approaching. He was, however, sought
for, and when brought forward, the people
perceived with satisfaction that "there was
none like him among the people," as he was
taller by the head and shoulders then any one
in all that crowd. A distinction of this sort
was highly acceptable among ancient nations ;
and when the Israelites noticed it in Saul they
shouted heartily, " Long live the King ! "
Saul's Great Victory.
Shortly after these transactions, Jabesh-
Gilead, a city on the borders of Ammon,
beyond the Jordan, was assaulted by the Am-
monites, and the inhabitants were reduced to
such extremities that they offered to capitulate,
but could obtain no better terms than that
every one of them should have his right eye
put out, to disqualify him from using the bow
in war. To these savage terms the Jabesh-
Gileadites agreed to submit in case nothing
occurred for their advantage within seven
days. In this desperate extremity they thought
of applying to the newly-appointed king, who
had quietly returned to his former occupations,
and was engaged in following the herds when
the messengers arrived.
The heart of Saul rose to the greatness of
the occasion. Then and for ever he laid aside
the small cares of pasture and tillage and put
o
S
H
S
w
>
<
PJ
>
Ul
O
Z
in
3
00
:d with gen-
j offered to
d, by swift
lied in arms
i and thirty
iiately came
rce he hast-
)rced march
ire the seven
tes were de-
beleaguered
, crowned as
did more for
is prophetic
figure. The
I to Gilgal,
1 with many
:onfirmed by
Igal, and was
;sign his ex-
tunity of ad-
consider the
ast of an old
ing down his
f rulers — and
the audience,
tion which it
lay much at-
1, as one that
je important,
aid, " I have
1 that ye said
ig over you.
,lketh before
eaded: and I
ny childhood
im. Witness
)rd and before
I taken? or
am have I de-
:ssed? or at
bribe to blind
ering the cir-
: and govern-
administered
ich few judges
(167i
168
SAMUEL REPROVING SAUL.
or governors would venture to make. But
here the people answered with one voice,
" Thou hast not defrauded us nor oppressed
us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man's
hand"
Thunder and Itoin.
The prophet then proceeded to explain and
vindicate the course of the Divine conduct
towards the nation from the commencement
of their history till then; and by showing the
sufficiency of the theocratic government, he
again brought forward their criminality in de-
manding a king, " when the Lord their God
was their king." Nevertheless, if they and
the king over them continued to serve the
Lord, his blessing should still rest upon them,
and render them prosperous. The prophet
then, to show that he spoke by Divine au-
thority in denouncing the course they had
taken, called upon the Lord to send thunder
and rain as a sign to them ; and accordingly
a thunder-storm, attended by heavy rains,
came on, although the time of the year, it
being then the wheat hai-vest, was one in which
these phenomena are not naturally exhibited
in the climate of Palestine. This made a
strong and salutary impression upon the peo-
ple, and contributed to maintain Samuel in
that degree of regulating authority which was
most important, if not essential, at the com-
mencement of the new order of affairs.
The victory of Saul over the Philistines ap-
pears to have established his reputation among
the surrounding nations ; and from this period
the most warlike of them quailed before him,
and were defeated in a succession of easy vic-
tories.
Now the Amalekites were invaded in their
own land, and all but those who escaped the
hot pursuit were destroyed. Saul, however,
acting upon the impulses of pride and avarice,
or moved by a sentiment of compassion which
his mission did not sanction, spared the life of
Agag, the king, and allowed the troops to re-
serve the more valuable parts of the spoil.
This renewed instance of disobedience and
presumption, in a matter which had become a
point of blood-honor to the nation, sealed the
I fate of Saul. Truly does Solomon say that
I " Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty
.spirit before a fall." So it was with the first
Hebrew king, who was never so well satisfied
with himself, never more exalted in spirit, than
at this moment, when all this glory was passing
from him. In this elation of heart he set up a
monument of his victory in the land of Carmel
(not Mount Carmel), through which he passed
on his way to Gilgal.
At Gilgal Samuel came to him. The king
went forth to meet the prophet, and informed
him that he had faithfully fulfilled the Divine
behests. But Samuel was not deceived. The
disobedience of the king had already been
made known to him ; already the doom Saul
had brought down on his own head had been
imparted to him ; and so much was he attached
to the wrong-headed prince, that he greatly
grieved at the tidings, and "cried unto the
Lord all night." When, therefore, Saul claimed
the merit of high obedience to himself, the
prophet answered with indignation, " What
meaneth, then, this bleating of the sheep in
mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I
hear?" Saul answered, that the cattle had
been spared for the purpose of sacrifice to the
Lord. On this Samuel more distinctly pointed
out his disobedience; but he still persisted
that he had fulfilled his commission, and made
a merit of having spared the cattle for sacrifice.
To which Samuel replied, " Hath the Lord as
great delight in burnt-ofiferings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the Lord ? Behold,
to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken
than the fat of lambs." He added, that idol-
atry itself was not a greater sin before God
than disobedience; and concluded with the
terrible words, " Because thou hast rejected
the word of the Lord, he also has rejected
thee from being king."
Having fulfilled this painful duty, Samuel
turned to depart, but Saul laid hold of t' c
skirt of his mantle to detain him, and u was
rent in his hand ; and the prophet seized this
as a symbol of the great fact he had already
in other words declared — "The Lord hath
rent the kingdom of Israel this day, and given
THE FIRST KING OF ISRAEL.
159
on say that
id a haughty
/ith the first
veil satisfied
n spirit, than
was pjrssing
t he set up a
id of Carmel
:h he passed
The king
nd informed
d the Divine
:eived. The
il ready been
e doom Saul
id had been
3 he attached
t he greatly
ed unto the
Saul claimed
himself, the
lion, "What
the sheep in
jxen which I
e cattle had
icrifice to the
nctly pointed
till persisted
on, and made
; for sacrifice.
the Lord as
nd sacrifices,
rd? Behold,
id to hearken
ed, that idol-
1 before God
led with the
hast rejected
has rejected
duty, Samuel
hold of the
m, and a was
:t seized this
had already
e Lord hath
ay, and given
it to a neighbor of thine who is better than
thee." Solicitous to preserve appearances be-
was offered to God, and Samuel at length
consented. Before his departure he ordered
DAVID ANOINTED BY SAMUEL. — I Sam. xvi. 1 3.
fore the heads of the nation, Saul still, how-
ever, pressed him to remain while worship
Agag, the king of the Amalekites, to be put
to death;- and the captive monarch, who
lOO
THE SWEET SINGER.
deemed himself safe under the protection of
Saul, karn'jd that there was in Israel a power
above that in which he trusted.
From this time Samuel withdrew himself
entirely from Saul, and never again visited him
during his subsequent reign.
The Sou of Jesse.
Soon after this Samuel received the Divine
instructions to proceed to Bethlehem, and
ancfintas king, or rather, for the succession to
the crown, one of the sons of Jesse, a descend-
ant of Boaz and Ruth, inhabiting that city.
Understanding tliat Jesse had several sons,
the prophet directed them to be brought be-
fore him. But the divine intimation, which
the prophet expected, did not point out any
of them; and learning that the youngest son,
David by name, was out with the sheep, he
directed him to be sent for. He soon entered,
in all the freshness of youth and beaming with
intelligence; and immediately the Divine word
came to the soul of the prophet, "Arise,
anoint him; for this is he ! " He accordingly
arose, and poured upon his head the anointing
oil; and then he returned to his own house in
Ramah, and David to his sheep.
At this time the symptoms of the malady
which darkened the days of Saul, and which
threw him by turns into fits of melancholy
madness and of frantic passion, became distinct
and manifest. His courtiers," perceiving that
this visitation was of that kind over which
music had power, urged him to retain about
his person a skillful player on the harp, whose
strains might calm his mind and disperse the
clouds which gathered round it. It hap-
pened that David was renowned for his min-
strel skill, and was named as one eminently
suitable for this office.
The person who mentioned his name to the
king described him as " a son of Jesse the
Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing and
■ a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and
prudent in matters, and a comely person, and
the Lord is with him." Saul therefore sent a
somewhat arbitrary message to Jesse, " Send
me David thy son, who is with the sheep."
He according came, and made himself very
useful to the king, who held him in high
esteem. We are told that " Whenever the
evil spirit was upon Saul, David took an harp
and i)Iayed before him, so Saul's spirit was
refreshed, and was well, and the evil .spirit
departed from him." How long he remained
at court is not very clear; but we afterwards
find him again at home, and again feeding his
father's sheep.
The Philistines had by this time recovered
from their last defeat, and now reapjjeared in
the field with a most powerful army, which
they marched into the land of Israel, and eii-
camped at Azekah, whither Saul hastened to
confront them. The Philistines then pu* for-
ward a gigantic warrior named Goliath, who
in highly insulting language challenged the
Hebrew h( st to send foriii one of their num-
ber to engage with him iii single combat, the
result of which shou'd decide the fate of the
war. This h.'ge warrior, who was about ten
feet high, and of proportionate bulk, was
accoutred in complete armor, the first we read
of in Scripture; and the enumeration of tlie
articles of which it was composed is, even in
an antiquarian point of view, highly interest-
ing, and shows his enormous strength.
David and Goliath.
" He had an helmet of brass upon his head,
and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the
weight of his coat was five thousand shekels
(twelve hundred and fifty ounces) of braids,
and he had greaves of brass upon his legs,
and a target of brass upon his shoulders.
And the staff" of his spear was like a weaver's
beam, and his spear's head weighed six hun-
dred shekels (three hundred ounces) of iron,
and one bearing a shield went before him."
This suggests a lively idea of the ancient pan-
oply of war, and in the details great similarity
appears to the array of the Memlook guards
of Egypt of a former day. Indeed, the pic-
ture given by Forbin of one of these guards
and his attendant might almost stand for a
picture of Goliath and his armor-bearer, and
a far more interesting one than any of the
THE FIRST KING OF ISRAEL.
161
iself very
1 in high
never the
k an harp
spirit was
:vil spirit
remained
ifterwards
ceding his
recovered
ppeared in
ny, whic'.-.
el, and eii-
astencd to
;n pu* for-
)liath, who
engcd the
heir nuiu-
ombat, the
fate of the
, about ten
bulk, was
rst we read
tion of the
is, even in
ly interest-
gth.
n his head,
ail, and the
nd shekels
5) of brass,
n his legs,
shoulders.
a weaver's
:d six hun-
es) of iron,
efore him."
ncient pan-
it similarity
3ok guards
ed, the pic-
lese guards
stand for a
•bearer, and
any of the
numerous pictures from fancy which have ever a sword, which afterwards became famous in
been given. The weapons are the same, also, the history of David.
DAVID AT THE BROOK. — I Sam. xvii. 4O.
with the addition of the club and battle-axe ;
for the sequel shows that, besides the spear
mentioned in the above account, the giant had
u
The effect which the view and challenge of
this enormous warrior produced upon the Is-
raelites was fully as great as the Philistines
162
DAVID SLAYS GOLIATH.
Ir
could have expected. They were peculiarly
liable to be inipre.s.tcd by consideration.s of
bulk and stature ; and Saul him.self wa.s head
and shoulders taller than any of his people.
The man and his challenge struck the Hebrew
host with dismay. The custom of nations pre-
vented them from declining this mode of set-
tling the war when proposed by the enemy, but
who among them was able to compete with
this huge Philistine? Day after day the
proud unbeliever strode forth from the Philis-
tine camp and defied the armies of Israel ; and
among all the heroes of Saul not one was
found to take up the awful responsibility
which the combat imposed.
At this juncture David arrived in the camp,
sent by his father to inquire after, and convey
provisions to, his three elder brotheVs, who
were with the army. He heard the challenge
of Goliath, and seeing that it provoked no
response, he was fired with indignation, and
offered to go out himself against the haughty
infidel. This being reported to the king, he
sent for him ; and finding him a mere youth,
whom he did not recognize in his present
garb, he feared to risk the fate of Israel upon
his arm, and endeavored to dissuade him from
the undertaking. But David assured the king
that, in his reliance upon the Divine protection
and succor, he felt fully confident of succe.ss,
and was assured that the same power which
had at different times strengthened him to slay
a lion and a bear in defence of his flocks would
also deliver him out of the hand of the Philis-
tine, and win a signal victory for Israel.
The Deadly SUug.
Saul then consented, and proceeded to arm
the youthful champion with his armor and to
gird him with his own sword. But finding
himself encumbered with accoutrements to
which he was unused, David again took them
off, and proceeded to action provided only
with a sling and with five smooth stones,
which he selected from the brook and put into
his shepherd's bag. When the giant beheld
the unarmed youth advance against him he
felt insulted by such fragile opposition, and,
addressing David with great disdain, " cursed
him by his gods." The con of Jesse retorted
with gre<it animation, expressing his full con-
fidence that the God of Israel would show that
he could save " without sword or spear," by
giving him the victory that day. Then, while
the giant came on with ponderous tread, the
young hero nimbly fitted a stone in his sling,
and cast it with so true an aim, and with an
arm so powerful, that it smote Goliath in the
forehead, and, crushing through flesh and
bone, lodged in his brain. He had scarcely
fallen when the victor flew upon him, and,
having no weapon of his own, smote off the
mon.stcr's head with his own sword.
The Maiflous' Soiiy of Triumph.
With a shout that rent the earth as the
champion fell the Hebrew host rushed for-
ward to follow up the stroke upon the Philis-
tines, who fled in panic and confusion at a re-
sult so unexpected by them. A great slaughter
was committed upon them, and the pursuers
returned with many captives and much spoil.
Great was the joy in Israel at this deliverance.
The maidens came forth to meet the warriors
witn triumphal songs, of which David was
made the hero, although Saul was not for-
gotten. They sang:
Saul hath slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands.
This preference was heard by Saul with
great displeasure, and was perhaps the first
circumstance which awakened that jealousy
of David which troubled the rest of his reign.
Jonathan, the son of Saul, was, however, of a
far different mind. His admiration of the
young hero was most intense, and he hastened
to cultivate an acquaintance with him, which
ripened into that tender and most faithful
friendship which David has rendered im-
mortal.
Saul, although vexed, was not yet become
ungrateful, nor indeed was it possible for one
who had wrought so great a deed in Israel as
David, to be neglected without an outrage on
public opinion. The king, therefore, gave him
THE FIRST KING OF ISRAEL.
l(i:i
an important command in the army. This I fostcd, that his popularity daily increased, and
afforded him an opportunity of distinguishing! the jealousy of the king ripened in the same
le warriors
David was
as not for-
DAVID SLAYING GOLIATH. — I Sam. xvii. $4.
himself; and so brilliant were his exploits, I proportion into dislike and hatred. As he
and so engaging were, the qualities hemani-lthus gave way to evil passions, his dreadful
164
DAVID SAVED BY MICHAL.
disease returned with redoubled force; and
once, when the son of Jesse was at^^mpting to
soothe him, as of old, .vith his harp, the king
in his madness cast at him iti« javelin with the
intention of smiting him " even to the wall ; "
but David evaded the stroke and left the royal
presence. It was possi' / for the purpose of
removing the temptation to crime from him-
self that the king then sent him away to com-
mand the troops on the frontier; but his pop-
ularity still increasing, Saul ere long recalled
him to court, and offered one of his daughters
in m.-MTJage. This honor was due to David,
as the king had held it out as an inducement
to any one who shouH combat with and over-
come Giliath ; but it had hitherto been with-
held.
David's Bride.
Now, however, the king happened to learn
that an attachment had ari; en between David
and his daughter Michal, and he resolved to
give her to him, in the hope of the connection
being made the means of his -"in. With pre-
tended liberality and kindness he declared that
he required no other dowry for his daughter
than that he .should distinguish him.self against
the enemies of Israel, in the time which must
elapse between the betrothal and the actual
marriage. The hope of the king was that he
would be destroyed in the daring acts into
which he knew ho would thus be led. But
David performed all that was required of him,
and returned safe and triumphant to claim his
bride, who could not then be withheld from
him.
This did not tend to lessen the enmity of
Saul, who at length went so far as to give
orders to his confidential attendants, and even
to Jonathan, to .seize any favorable opportunity
that offered of making away with David.
Jonathan, however, pleaded so earnestly for
his friend, that Saul relented, "and swan., as
the Lord liveth," not to slay him. After this
Saul intrusted David with the command of
the whole army to oppose the Philistines, who
had again invaded his dominions. His usual
succe.ss attended him in this expedition, the
enemy being routed and completely subdued.
The increase of reputation which he thus ob-
tained exposed him anew to the wrath of the
king, who on his return to court attempted to
assassinate him ; but not succeeding in his
design, he determined to have him arrested
on the following day, that he might have an
opportunity of slaying him in confinement.
Then, fearing that he might escape during
the night, he stationed guards around the
house, with instructions to seize him in the
morning. But David was this time saved by
his wife, the faithful Michal, who gained intel-
ligence of this design, and contrived the escape
of her hu.sband by letting him down in a basket
from one o' the windows. He then went for
counsel and encouragement to the aged Samuel
at Ramah. Saul was now grown desperate^
and no sooner heard of the place of his retreat
than he sent a detachment of .soldiers to ap-
prehend him. But they no sooner beheld the
venerable prophet among his pupils, "the sons
of the prophets," uttering their holy chants,
than, under a Divine influence, they laid aside
all their fierceness, and sat down utterly sub-
dued among these holy persons. Saul sent
again and again, with the same result; and at
length, not to be balked of his prey, he pro-
ceeded himself to Ramah; but the same influ-
ence overshadowed him ; disarmed, subdued,
he cast aside his upper garment, and lay down
meek and humble at the feet of the prophet.
David's FaithAil Friend.
When the king had returned home, David,
supposing that some salutary change might
have been wrought in his mind, and that it
behooved him to make one more efifort to main-
tain his posicion, went also to Gibeah to con-
sult with Jonathan respecting the course he
should take. That faithful friend promised to
take means to ascertain his father's present
feeling, and meanwhile enjoined him to remain
concealed in the fields, without entering the
town, that his arrival might not be suspected.
The conversation which pas.sed between these
admirable friends as they walked together in
the fields is reported with unusual minuteness
in the sacred record, and gives a vivid impres-
SAUL ATTEMPTS THE LIFE OF DAVID. — I Sam. Xviii. II.
(165)
is
i'
'I
166
JONATHAN'S LOVE FOR DAVID.
.1 (■
H l\
sion of the nobleness of Jonathan's heart, see-
ing that the object of his ardent and generous
friendship was one whom he knew to be des-
tined to exclude himself from the succession
to tile throne. But, in the emphatic language
of Scripture, " he loved him as his own soul,"
and was well content to think that David
should hereafter sit upon the throne of Israel,
and had for himself no other desire than to
remain his bosom friend and counsellor.
The day after this interview was the feast of
the new moon, when it seems to have been the
custom of the king to dine with his princes and
great officers. The king, we are told, " sat upon
his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by
the wall ; " by which we learn that the seat of
honor was then, as at present, in the East, in
the corner at the upper end of the room ; and
it must, as now, have been in the right-hand
corner, from the king being able to throw his
javelin. After what had passed at Ramah,
the king expected that David would be pres-
ent at table in his usual place. He, however,
took no notice of the first day ; but on the
secund inquired after him. Jonathan replied
that he had given him leave to absent him-
self, and this would account for his absence.
Saul's Anger.
On this the evil spirit raged high in the un-
happy king. He broke forth into the grossest
vituperation of his own son, whom he re-
proached in being a party to his own dishonor,
for he said, with bitterness, " as long as the
son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou
shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom!
Wherefore, now, send and fetch him unto me,
for he shall surely die." But Jonathan began
to vindicate his friend; on which the king,
quite beside himself with passion, cast his
javelin at him to smite him. After this Jona-
than knew that there was no hope for David,
to whose hiding-place he proceeded to make
known to him this result, and to give a reluc-
tant consent that he should seek among
strangers the safety which was denied him in
his own country.
Before quitting the land of Israel David
proceeded to Nob, a city of Benjamin, wher^^
the tabernacle then stood, and requested the
high-priest Abimelech to provide him and his
few attendants with provisions for his intended
journey, as well as with armor for himself.
Having been led to believe that he was rpon
public business which required secresy, ti.e
high-priest was prevailed upon to give him a
quantity of the bread which had lately been
removed from the table as shcw-bread, and
which, in strict propriety, it was lawful for the
priests- only to eat ; and there being no other
weapon at the tabernacle, he allowed him to
have the sword which he had himself taken
from Goliath, and which had afterwards been
laid up in the tabernacle as a trophy of vic-
tory.
On departing from Nob David took the
somewhat strange step of proceeding to Gath,
one of the chief cities of the Philistines, in the
hope of being allowed to remain there under
the protection of the king Achish. The offi-
cers of the king were, however, by no means
inclined to overlook the victory over Goliath,
and the various disgraces which the Philistine
arms had sustained at his hands ; and they
counselled the king to avail himself of the op-
portunity of ridding himself of so redoubted
an enemy. This so alarmed David that he
feigned madness, and mimicked the actions of
a lunatic so well that he was allowed to depart
unmolested.
In returning to his own land David found
it expedient to avoid inhabited places, and to
seek refuge in caverns, woods and wildernesses.
In the first place he betook himself to the great
cave of Adullam, where many of his relations^
who had become obnoxious to Saul, joined
him, some to seek his protection, and others
to afford him their assistance. Here also came
to him a number of men of broken fortunes
and unsettled dispositions, who were glad to
put themselves under the command of so re-
nowned a leader, and who formed a small but
valorous troop of about four hundred men. It
was about this time that the king of Moab,
being at variance with "Saul, sent a messenger
tc David to invite him to his court. He ac-
ii P
;!!. _
THE FIRST KING OF ISRAEL.
167
cordingly repaired thither, and after having
secured a quiet retreat for his aged parents,
returned with his few troops into the land of
When Saul heard of David's return he
called his attendants and courtiers around
him, and threatened his utmost vengeance
Judah, where his friends were most numer-
ous, and abode for a time in " the forest of
Hareth," secure in his secluded retreat.
UAVIU AND JONATHAN. — I Sam. xviii. I.
against any of them who failed to render him
every assistance in discovering David, or to
reveal whatever came to their knowledge of
168
THE PRIESTS SLAIN.
his movements and designs. On this an
officer named Doeg, by birth an Edomite, who
had been present at Nob when the high -priest
assisted David, stepped forward, and reported
with considerable exaggeration what he had
witnessed. The dark rage of Saul rose high
at this information ; and he immediately sent
to Nob to call Ahimelech and the attend-
ing priests before him. The summons was[
promptly obeyed. When the king charged
Ahimelech with conspiracy and treason for'
the assistance rendered to the son of Jesse, the
high-priest firmly but respectfully vindicated |
himself, and declared his perfect ignorance of]
the alleged designs or intentions of David when I
he rendered him assistance as to the king's •
son-m-Iaw. I
But the thirst for blood was strong pon|
the maddened king, and he was but too happy i
to find any objects on which, with the slightest i
show of reason, it might be gratified. With- '
out hef'ding the defence, he turned to his j
guard and ordered them'to slay the priests of I
the Lord. But th'.y were for the moment
protected by their sacred character, and ev^iiy
one shrunk from the deed. On this the king
turned to the accuser Doeg, and commanded
him to slay them ; and from this foreign mer-
cenary he found ready obedience. Eighty-
one of the priests of God fell that day under
his sword ; and he then, under authority from i
the king, proceeded to Nob, where, with the I
assistance of others, he destroyed the families ;
of the priests resident there. The only per- i
son of the priestly family who escaped was !
Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, who fled for
safety to David in the forest of Hareth. He
was well received, and became the priest or
chaplain of the band.
About this time the city of Keilah, in ludah,
was besieged by the Philistines, and David, by
the Lord's direction, hastened with his small i
troop to the relief of the place. He succeeded
in defeating the enemy and putting thoni to
flight, and on retiring from the pursuit entered
with much spoil the city he had delivered.
When Saul heard that he was in this place he
prepared to march against him, intending to
blockade the city and compel the inhabitants
to give up David. But he made his escape
from the place before the king arrived with
his troops, and withdrew into the wilderness
of Ziph.
A Timely Escape.
The people of the town of that name, how-
ever, made the place of his retreat known to
the king, who immediately marched in pursuit
of him. Of this movement David received
timely warning, and withdrew into the wilder-
ness of Maon, whither he was closely pursued
by Saul. The royal troop had nearly sur-
rounded David and his small company, when
the king received intelligence that the Philis-
tines had invaded his dominions, which com-
pelled him to abandon his present object, and
march against them.
David was thus delived from a most dan-
gerous position. But the king had no sooner
repelled the Philistines than he resumed with
eagerness the pursuit of David, who had by
this time taken refuge in the rocky wilderness
of Engedi. The king followed him there,
and on his arrival went into a cave unaccom-
panied by any of his attendants. It happened
that David was at that very time in the farther
parts of this same cave, and was urged by his
men to avail himself of this opportunity of
ridding himself of his inveterate enemy, who
was so keenly bent on his destruction. But
the son of Jesse repelled with horror the sug-
gestion to "stretch forth his hand against the
Lord's anointed." He wished, however, to let
Saul see how completely he had been in his
power, and therefore drew near to liim stealth-
ily and cut off the skirt of his robe.
When the king had quitted the cave David
went out also, and called after him, " My lord
the king!" And when Saul looked back, he
bowed low before him, and proceeded to ad-
dress him in very forcible but respectful and
even pathetic language. He assumed that
the king had been misled by ill advisers and
slanderous reports, and justified his own fidel-
ity and the innocence of his intentions : in
proof of which he produced the skirt, which
had just been severed from his robe. Saul
cc
m
o\
H
m
THE FIRST KING OF ISRAEL.
169
could not withstand this ; he was for the mo-
ment convinced of David's innocence and of his
own guilt in pursuing him thus inveterately.
His stern nature was softened, and his diseased
mind rightened by a gush of tender emotions.
He said, " Is this thy voice, my son David ?
And Saul lifted up his voice and wept." He
admitted that under the same circumstances
he should not have acted so generously ; he
avowed his knowledge that David was his
destined successor to the throne, and declared
voted set vices to the nation, and fully sensible
of the great loss they had sustained, assembled
in large numbers at Ramah to assist at his
funeral, and to make lamentations for him.
While David was in the wilderness of Paran,
into which the cattle-owners of Judah were
accustomed to send out their flocks and herds
for pasture, David, although obliged to live
much after the manner of the Bedouins, re-
strained his troop from disturbing the abundant
flocks of a wealthy sheep- master called Nabal,
DAVID SI'AKES THE Lin^
that his mind would be satisfied if he would
pledge himself by an oath not to extirpate liis
posterity when he came to the crown. David
most willingly entered into the required en-
gagement, afttr which they separated, Saul
returning to his capital, and the son of Jesse,
who had but little fairh in the king's temporary
convictions, withdrawing into the wilderness
of Paran.
About this time the prophet Samuel died,
and the people, mindful of his long and de-
OF SAUL. — I Sam. xxiv. 4.
i and, on the contrary, protected them from the
j depredations of the Arabs. Afterwards, when
I he returned northward, he heard that Nabal
j was engaged in shearing his sheep ; and, as
■ the season was one of festivity, and much pro-
j vision was usually laid up for the occasion,
David sent to beg that some victuals might be
furnished to his troop in acknowledgment of
the part he had acted in the desert. This was •
refused by Nabal in highly insulting language,
which David resented so deeply that he imnie-
lit
■' I
■ir
? 1
I- t
170
DAVID AND ABIGAIL.
diately put his troop in motion to wreak ven- j
geance upon him and his. |
But on the road he was met by Nabal's wife,
Abigail, who had expccte.l "omt; such result
from her husband's churlishr y.,s, of which she
no sooner heard than «Ii . di'ccted her CoS to
be saddled, an .'. attended hy two servants, she
set forth with :< 'ib :r.ii i : '.sent of choice pro-
visions to moi and pncii/tlio incensed war-
rior. In this, oy i er jood sense, audress, and
comeliness, sh prevailed so well, that David;
was thankful, c , second thoughts, for having
been prevented in executing his fell purpose ; [
and when he afterward;^ heard that Nabal was ;
dead, he sent and solicited the widow to be-
come his wife, when she was found to bei
nothing loath to share the destinies of the;
handsome hero and future ki'.ig of Israel.
David had before this entered into marriage
with Ahinoam, a woman of Jczreel ; his first
wife, Michal, Saul's daughter, being separated
from him, and bestowed by her father upon j
another ;
, Saul Spared by David. i
After this David removed from the A'ilder-
ness of Paran to the hill Hachil-'ih, in the
wilderne.«s of Ziph, and the inhabitants of the
town so called again sent tidings to Saul of
the circumstance. All his convictions and
good resolutions had by this time passed away, {
and he was prepared to pursue the son ofi
Jesse with all his former eagerness. He hast-
tened after him at the head of three thousand j
cho.sen men ; and having arrived, he rested his |
troops during that night, resolving to attack 1
him on the following morning. David, how- 1
ever, succeeded during the night in secretly |
entering the carr.p of Saul, attended only by
his cousin Abishai, and advancing to the place j
where the spear phmted in the ground marked
the station of the chief, without being perceived
by the guards, who soundlj' slept, he took
away the cms." of water which stood beside
the king, and als < the spear which was planted
at his bolster, aiid then withdrew, after resist-
ing the solicit i' m of Abishai for permission
to destroy hir is he slept.
David then repaired to a safe point on an
eminence at' some distance, and in a loud voice
called to Abner, the captain of Saul's host, re-
proving hnn for his negligent guard of the
royal person, and held up the spear and the
cruse of water, to show the danger to which
the king had been exposed, and how com-
pletely it had been in his power to destroy him
if he had been so inclined. Saul overheard all
this, and his heart smote him. He could not
but feel that, after what had passed at the
former interview, David had stronger reason
than before to ki:' aggrieved and wrathful ;
and this act of generous forbearance struck
him even more ;orcibly than the former had
done. He could not restrain his rising emo-
tions, but cried, " Is that thy voice, my son
David ? " and in answer to the firm and earnest
remonstrance of Jesse's son, he admitted with-
out reserve the guilt and folly of his own con-
duct : ■ I have sinned , return, my son David,
for I will no more do thee harm, because my
life was precious lit thine eyes this day ; be-
hold, I have played the fool, and have erred
exceedingly." It is these touches of relenting
nature, the.se gleams of lighi., beaming now and
then through the fissures of his fractured
mind, which create an intere.st in behalf of this
unhaupy king, and preserve him from aversion
or contempt .A mind thus capable of feeling
and appreciating a noble and generous action
could not itself be naturally ignoble or ungen-
erous.
David, however, had little confidence in the
permanency of the.se salutary impressions on
the king's mind, and, so far from accepting
his invitation to return to court, he deemed it
right to leave the country entirely. He there-
fore again repaired to Gath with his followers,
who had ere this increa.sed in number to six
hundred. It seems a strange .step .igain to
venture where he had before been so ill re-
ceived ; but he was now in very different cir-
cumstances, and it is not unlikely that he had
received from king Achish an intimation that
he might now reckon upon 'r^ protection.
To prevent jealousies, the Philistine king pre-
sented him with the town of Ziklag as a
residence for himself and followers, and here
/.«... _
THE FIRST KING OF ISRAEL.
171
he was soon joined by a considerable number
of adherents from his own tribe of Judah.
Not ioni; after tliey had settled in this place
the Philistines resolved to invade the land of i to be deteruuned
refuse to accompany the Philistines in their
march against his countrymen. He therefore
went, probably leaving his course in the field
circumstances. But
SAUL SKARCHINr; FOR DAVID. — I Sam. xxiv. 2.
when the Philistine forces from the different
states met at Aphek, the other chiefs and
princes expressed surprise at the presence of
David, and, being very suspicious of his in-
Israel an«1 the king of Gath called upon
David to join the expedition. This was a
dangerous and difficult dilemma, and David
felt that Le could not, without great danger.
172
CONSULTING A SORCERESS.
f|
t;i
h
tentions, prevailed upon Achish to send him
back to Ziklag.
On returning thither, David found that
during his absence the place had been attacked
and fired by the Amalekites, who not only
carried away all the substance of David's
people, but had also taken their wives and
families as captives.
So great were the rage and consternation
of David's men at this discovery that he had
well-nigh become the victim of their blind
fury, for they talked of stoning him to death.
*' But David encouraged himself in the Lord
his God;" and referred the matter to Him
through the priest Abiathar, by whom he re-
ceived a favorable answer, whereby his fol-
lowers were pacified. They then hastened
southward in pursuit. During the march
they foil in with an Egyptian slave, who, fall-
ing sick on the road, had been abandoned by
his master, one of the Amalekites who had
assisted at the sack of Ziklag, and who, being
refreshed by David's men, offered to lead them
to the camp of the Amalekites. The.se ma-
rauders were found enjoying themselves in sup-
posed safety, eating, and drinking, and danc-
ing, because of the great spoil they had won.
In this condition they were quite unprepared
for the vigorous assault of David's brave fol-
lowers, and only four hundred of them, who
fled upon swift camels, escaped the sword.
While David was engaged on this expedition
the attention of all Israel was fixed upon the
great and decisive action between their king
and the Philistines.
Saul and the Witch of Endor.
The armies lay encamped before each other,
the Philistines at Shunem and the Israelites
on the mountain of Giiboa, when, the night
before the action, Saul, an.xious and alarmed
that he could obtain no intimation of the
Divine will through the channels which were
open under the theocratical institutions, left
the; camp at night and went to consult a re-
puted sorceress who resided in the neighbor-
ing village of Endor. He was disguised;
but the woman, if she had never seen him
before, could not but recognize the king of
Israel, by the nature of his questions, and by
the towering stature for which he was re-
nowned throughout the land.
He required her " to bring up Samuel ; "
and accordingly the king beheld ascending
from the earth the figure of " an old man
covered with a mantle ; " but whether this was
really the shade of Samuel, as the king be-
lieved, or a phantom resembling him, has been
much contested. Saul, however, prostnited
himself before the figure ; and in answer to
the question, " Why hast thou disquieted me
to bring me up ? " answered, " God is de-
parted from me, and answereth me no more,
neither by prophets nor by dreams ; therefore
i I have called upon thee, to make known unto
me what I shall do." The reply, uttered in
severe language, announced that the time was
come for the accomplishment of his doom,
and indicated to him the fatal scene which the
next day .saw accomplished on Mount Gil-
boa. Stunned by this intelligence, and ex-
hausted by long fasting and anxiety, that un-
happy king fell prostrate on the ground ; and
it was not without difficuly that he was so
far restored as to be able to take a little food
before he quitted the dwelling of the necro-
mancer.
The next day the opposed hosts joined bat-
tle, and Saul acted like one who was deter-
mined to deserve, if he could not win, the
victory. But the Philistines attacked his posi-
tion with so much resolution that the Israelites
fled before them, or were cut in pieces in the
attempt to escape. The sacred historian seems
to state the superior skill of the Philistines in
the use of the bow as the proximate cause of
this defeat ; the weapons of the Hebrews them-
selves being chiefly the spear and shield. In
vain did the king attempt repeatedly to rally
them, and lead them forward to renew the
action • the disorder was complete. The king,
supported by a tew faithful friends, maintained
his ground till he was mortally wounded by
an arrow, and his valiant sons lay dead at his
feet.
Escape was then hopeless: and dreading,
Vi
THE FIRST KING OF ISRAEL.
173
: king of
s, and by
! was re-
Samuel ; "
ascending
old man
Tthis was
king be-
I, has been
prostrated
answer to
Liieted me
3d is de-
r.o more,
therefore
lown unto
uttered in
; time was
his doom,
which the
lount Gil-
;, and ex-
', that un-
bund ; and
le was so
little food
he necro-
oincd bat-
vas deter-
win, the
d his posi-
i Israelites
ces in the
rian seems
istines in
2 cause of
ews them-
hield. In
y to rally
renew the
The king-,
naintained
unded by
ead at his
dreading,
worse than death, the ignominious treatment
to which he should ^be exposed if he fell alive
into the hands of the Philistines, he implored
his armor-bearer to thrust him through with
his sword. The youth, overcome by his fears,
and by a very natural reluctance to shed the
blood of his master, the Lord's anointed, for
Ashtaroth, as trophies of their victory, and in
honor of their idols. The bodies of Saul and
his sons they gibbeted on the wall of Bethshan
— and this circumstance gave occasion for an
act of generous valor which affords a refresh-
ing contrast to many of the transactions of
this period. The inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead,
THE IIAGAKITES EXPELLED BV THE UEUBENITES. — I Chron. V. lO.
once refused obedience; on which Saul, seeing
that no time was to be lost, fell upon his own
sword and expired ; and the faithful armor-
bearer immediately followed the example.
The body of the king was found by the
Philistines, Avho took off the head, and sent it
to one of their cities to be fastened in the
temple of Dagon, and his armor in that of
on the other side Jordan, no sooner heard of
this ignominy, than they were aroused by a
grateful remembrance of the deliverance which
Saul had wrought for them at the beginning
of his reign, and determined to rescue his re-
mains from insult. Passing over the river by
night, they stole away the mangled remains
of the king and his sons from the wall, and
174
DAVID MOURNING FOR SAUL.
bore them away to their own place, where,
after bestowing upon them the usual honors,
they buried the ashes under a tree, and fasted
seven days.
At the news of the defeat in Gilboa, terror
spread through all the tribes of Israel. Even
those who dwelt beyond the Jordan were no
sooner informed of it than they retired into
their strongholds in the mountains, leaving
their cities in the plain to be occupied by the
Philistines.
David had not long returned to Ziklag, when
the tidings of the events were brought to htm
by a young Amalekite, who brought with him
the diadem and rega! armlets of the fallen
monarch. Judging tlmt it would please David,
the Amalekite embellished his account by
claiming the merit of having put the king to
death, at his own request, after he had been
mortally wounded. But instead of obtaining
the reward he expected, David, who had him-
self more than once te.stified the highest respect
for the royal person, ordered him to be put to
death for having presumptuously lifted his
hand against the Lord's anointed. Hr also
manifested every token of sincere grief and
sorrpw on this occasion by rending his clothes
and by other marks of mourning and lamenta*
tion. ICspecially was David grieved and di.s-
tressed for his beloved friend Jonathan, and
the lamentation which he compo.sed on the oc-
casion claims our admiration not less for the
beauty of its composition than for the tone of
generous affection by which it is animated.
This remarkable friendship between David
and Jonathan is one of the most pleasing in-
cidents in the Old Testament history. One was
the son of the king, and the other was the son
of a shepherd; yet, being widely separated by
their circumstances and their lot in life, they
were strongly attached. There was much of
nobility and whole-souled generosity in the
nature of Jonathan. He was such a young
fn.»n a.; one would hardly expect to find in the
midst of his surroundings. These same qual-
ities were possessed in a remarkable degree by
David, who was fitted pre-eminently for his
great career and the sphere he occupied. Be-
ing at the head of the nation, vast respon-
sibilties rested upon him. Many and griev-
ous were his faults and failings, but his sin-
cere affection for his friend Jonathan stands
out in pleasing contrast to the sins by which
his life was darkened.
i^^^^^^f^ffW*^
■"■«■
i.
CHAPTER XVIII.
KING DAVID.
ING Saul was dead, and
David long since had
been anointed by Sam-
uel ; still his right to
the throne was not rec-
ognized by the people
generally. Those of Ju-
dah were the first who
acknowledged his claim,
while Abner, Saul's uncle, pro-
claimed Ishbosheth, his grand-
nephew, king. It would ap-
pear that no tribe save that
of Judah took part in the nom-
ination of David, but that all the
other tribes agreed in the election
of Saul's only surviving son. He
was a weak, incapable man, and no doubt
Abner merely seized upon him as a tool for his
own advancement — feeble Ishbosheth might
wear the crown, but Abner would practically
be ruler in Israel.
David established himself in Hebron, and
for two years no hostile act was committed.
At the end of that time Abner resolved on
suppressing David's rule altogether. With
this object he crossed the Jordan and invaded
David's territory. David sent out Joab to
meet him, and the opposing forces met near
the pool of Gibeon. For some time they re-
mained passive on both sides, each unwilling
to strike the first blow, but at last the two gen-
erals agreed to a device to excite the flagging
zeal of their followers. Twelve men on each
side were matched to fight against each other
between the two armies, and so well were
they matched that no sooner were they within
reach of one another than each man seized
his opponent by the hair of the head, the
scalp, or beard, and sheathed his sword in his
body, so that the whole twenty-four were
killed on the spot.
This spectacle aroused both armies, and a
sanguinary battle followed. It ended unfavor-
ably for Abner, whose army was defeated and
he himself compelled to fly. Asahol, the
brother of Joab, gave chase, and being a very
swift runner would certainly have overtaken
Abner, had not that wily and unscrupulous
man stricken him with his spear and left him
on the road for dead. Joab, and Abishai,
another brother, were in hot pursuit of Abner,
but night came on and the chase was given
up, and Joab and Abner had a parley, which
ended in both returning to their own places.
The loss on the side of Joab was nineteen
men and his brother Asahel ; on that of Abner,
the loss was about three hundred and sixty.
For more than five years after this engage-
ment David dwelt peaceably at Hebron, and
Abner, in the name of Ishbosheth, reigned
overall but Judah. This might have gone on
had not the assumption of Abner at last kin-
dled a spark of manly feeling on the part of
the weak and effeminate king. Ishbosheth
ventured to expostulate with Abner, who re-
torted with a storm of indignation : he plainly
told the king that he and he alone had placed
him on the vhrone of his father, and that he
who made kings could unmake them. His
behavior was /ery much akin to that of the
earl of Warwick with Henry VI. of England.
By his threa*.s of transferring the kingdom to
David Abner entirely silenced Ishbosheth ;
but not content with this he made overtures
to David for a treaty by which David should
be recognized by all Israel. In order the
more easily to facilitate this business Abner
came to Hebron during the absence of Joab,
and had an interview with David. Matters
(175)
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176
ABNER SLAIN BY JOAB.
were amicably arranged between them, and
Abner retired before the return of Joab.
When Joab returned he was exceedingly
indignant at what had been done, and secretly
sent messengers to recall Abner. Joab was
suspicious of Abner and jealous of the influ-
ence which he might exercise over David; he
knew very well that Abner could never rule
the son of Jesse as he ruled the son of Saul,
but still Joab felt that his own position in
David's court would probably be compromised
by Abner, and besides there was the killing
of Asahel to be atoned. When Abner, there-
fore, returned, Joab dissembled, led him into a
retired place in order to discuss the ' proposed
change, and stabbed him to the heart.
David was overwhelmed with trouble when
he heard what had been done. With all the
signs of bitter mourning he followed the mur-
dered man to the grave, and the people
mourned with him and made great lamenta-
tion.
When Ishbosheth heard that Abner was
killed he was completely dismayed, and the
people, knowing his weakness and folly, were
thrown into much anxiety. Two officers in
the army, Rechab and Baanah, thinking to
find favor with David, killed the king in his
own bedchamber and carried his head to
Hebron. They met with a well-merited re-
ward. They were ordered for instant execu-
tion, and were hanged at the pool of Hebron.
David Proclaimed King.
A wondrous and joyous spectacle followed
this act of justice. David was recognized as
king over the land. Not only came the elders
to Hebron, but also thousands and tens of
thousands of the people ; the choice men, not
only of the neighboring tribes of Simeon, and
B-'njamin, and Ephraim, but also of the tribes
l).'yond the Jordan, and of Issachar in the
plain of Esdraelon, and of the tribes still
I i.rther north, up came they in great force, and
i! ver before had the valley of Hebron been
t iionged by so joyful a multitude. They
would have David to be king over them.
But; before fully accepting the crown, he made
a league with the people, pledging himself to
certain conditions; and they, on their part,
pledging themselves to loyal fidelity to his
rule.
As king of the land, David's great effort
was to secure its future capital. He deter-
mined on the reduction of the fortress of Jebus,
on Mount Zion. This had been held by the
natives ever since the days of Joshua, and wa.;
thought to be impregnable. It fell before his
victorious arms, and the Jebusites were put to
the sword. Here, then, David established the
metropolis of his empire under the name of
Jerusalem, the city of David.
A Marvelous City.
Before any other cit^y on tlie face of the
globe, who would not prefer to visit Jeru-
salem? Apart from such superstition as,
through the centuries of the Christian era, has
inflamed the religious pilgrim seeking the
Holy Land ; apart from such feeling of mingled
piety and patriotism as perpetually urges the
Israelite, in every land of his exile, to resort
to the sepulchres of his ancient kings and the
site of his ancient temple ; simply in view of
what is grand and hallowed in the numberless
and matchless memories of Jerusalem, who
would not esteem it a great privilege of his life
to be permitted to stand within its gates and
go amidst its scenes ?
The only other historic city which seems
worthy of being compared, even for a moment,
with Jerusalem is Rome. How much of the
world's history, for two thousand years and
more, is linked to the city of the seven hills
on the banks of the Tiber ? How venerable,
how suggestive, every relic of ancient Rome,
so much of which still lies buried beneath the
wreck of centuries! Yet Rome cannot so
well be compared with Jerusalem as it can be
contrasted. The Rome of history was the
head of the secular world ; the Jerusalem of
history was the head of the sacred world.
Rome was the symbol of power and law;
Jerusalem was the emblem of Divine trutli
and salvation. In the empire of earth Rome
reigned unrivalled • in the domain of religion
KING DAVID.
177
— of the church — of faith — of l^eaven — ^Jeru-
salem was equ.illy unrivalled.
viceroys anointed by himself; we think of that
Temple of Jehovah at whose entrance for cen-
which seems
or a moment,
much of the
d years and
J seven hills
w Venerable,
cient Rome,
I beneath the
le cannot so
as it can be
3ry was the
erusalem of
cred worlfl.
er and law;
Divine truth
earth Rome
I of religion
DAVID'S THREE MIGHTY MEN. — I Chron. xi. I $-22.
How are our minds stirred at the very men-
tion of Jerusalem ! We think at once of "the
throne of the house of David" — of God's
12
turies smoked the morning and the eveuiu^
sacrifice, and to which gathered the nation an-
nually, in festal or penitential assemblies; we
178
THE CITY OF DAVID.
think of Him, the King of the Jews— the One
greater than the Temple — whose goings about
this city, whose death without its gate, whose
departure from its neighborhood up to the
right hand of the Father, have invested its
localities with a celestial sanctity and glory.
Perhaps the common impression received is
that of a city crowning a sharp hill-summit,
and the hill set in a basin, or amphitheatre of
hills, from which, on every side, the spectator
may look down upon or across to the city.
This impression is only measurably correct.
The general elevation of the region amidst
which Jerusalem is placed is indeed great,
being no less than from twenty-two hundred
to twenty -six hundred feet above the level of
the Mediterranean Sea, and thirteen hundred
more above that of the Dead Sea. Yet, in
reference to the adjacent country, the city is
not elevated, and the " mountains " on which
it is built can be considered such only in refer-
ence to the deep, trench-like valleys which
surround and penetrate it.
The bulk of the city is not visible from any
great distance, in any direction, and those ap-
proaching it from the west or south — the great
majority of visitors — obtain no good view of it
whatever. The few who approach it from the
north are much impressed with the appear-
ance which it presents, as seen from Mount
Scopus, a mile or so from the Damascus Gate.
This was the point from which Titus, the Ro-
man general, first saw the city. But the view
from the Mount of Olives, on the east, is .such
as one seldom obtains of any city, and is most
justly renowned. Several things conspire to
make this impressive. First, of course, is the
great height of the spectator above the city ;
next is the nearness of the view, due to the
steep incline of Olivet ; next is the dip of the
city's general surface eastward, lifting its
farther edge ro as to bring the whole extent
the more fully under the spectator's eye ; and
next is the fact that the Mosque of Omar, in
the midst of its great open area, the sublime
feature of Jerusalem, is in the foreground, and
displayed to happiest advantage.
Probably this is the most impressive view,
of any sort, presented to human eyes anywhere
on the wide earth. One beholds, indeed, not
merely the spectacle which greets his outward
vision, but looks through this to that yet sub-
limer spectacle of temple and palaces, and all
sumptuous splendors of marble and gold, pre-
sented first when king Solomon had realized
his magnificent schemes for glorifying his
capital and the place of Jehovah's abode, and
again when Herod the Great had so success-
fully imitated him.
And the view is made still more profoundly
impressive by the thought that it is the same
which met the gaze of the Saviour when " He
beheld the city, and wept over it." We stand
where Jesus stood. And, as we look, we think
of Him who, for once in His life consenting to
a recognition of His kingly claims, rode tow-
ards His capital amidst the hosannas of His
loyal people ; who yet, when the sight of the
city burst upon Him, paused in His progress,
and as if all-oblivious to the joy of the mo-
ment, shed silent tears of human pity as He
contemplated with omniscient eye the city's
coming woe.
Massive Walls.
Jerusalem, as limited by its present walls, is
nearly a square, having its sides toward the
cardinal points of the compass. The walls
measure a length of only a little over half a
mile on each side; the entire circuit of the city
being about two miles and a half The height
of the walls varies from thirty to forty feet,
according to the unevenness of the ground ;
though around the temple area it is greater,
reaching in some places even to sixty feet.
The walls are about six feet thick, and are
strengthened at intervals by towers and forti-
fied gateways. Inside the parapet the space
on the walls is broad enough for persons to
walk; and in walking on the walls one ob-
tains some of his best views of the city and
its surroundings.
It was apparently the lower city which
early yielded to the devastating power of th«
tribe of Judah, while the upper city still held
out until the time of David. The fact that
the inhabitants of the hill Jehus, or Mount
KING DAVID.
179
Zion, should be able thus to hold their fast-
ness, and maintain their community tor five
hundred years, in the very heart of the
Israelitish nation, is indicative of the great
\ilitary strength of the position, and of its
..ilue to king David for his fortified capital.
Hence, as soon as possible after his advance-
ment to the throne of the united kingdom,
David laid siege to Zion, with an army, ac-
cording to Josephus, of over 200,000 men.
And now. like the modern city of Berlin
under the hands of Frederick the Great, Jeru-
salem bloomed into sudden glory. All the
successes of the new monarch, and all the
extending prosperity of the nation, were re-
flected in the rising splendors of the capital.
Especially was Jerusalem dignified, nay con-
secrated, by being made the abode of the Ark
of the Covenant, the chief though not exclu-
sive seat of the tabernacle of the congregation,
DAVID PROCLAIMED KING. — 2 Sam. v. 3.
The Jebusites, exulting in the supposed im-
pregnability of their position, set their cripples
and blind people on the walls to defend them,
and taunted the besiegers with their unavail-
ing efforts even against these ; but the walls
were at length scaled ; the stronghold was
secured ; David installed himself in it ; and.
from being recognized as the hill Jebus, it
took the name of the " City of David." Then
began the career of the most renowned city
on the face of the earth.
and the great resort for national worship. On
Mount Zion a place was prepared for the
shrine of the sanctuary, which for a long time
had been in exile, and with high rejoicings it
was set therein ; Mount Zion becoming hence-
forth, even after the building of the Temple
on Moriah, and the transference of the ark
thither, the symbol of God's kingdom.
Yet, conspicuous and mighty as Jerusalem
became, under the thirty-three years of David's
residence in it as his capital, the full height
180
ISRAELS VICTORIES.
of its glory was not attained until King Solo-
mon had endowed it witii the imperial magnifi-
cence characteristic of his reign. The reign
of Solomon is much celebrated in the Scrip-
tures, yet perhaps we seldom attain a just
conception of its grandeur. Solomon inher-
ited the fruits of David's vast conquests. He
came into receipt of untold accumulated
resources. And it was for him to realize and
exhibit the glory which had been prepared
for him— to construct the gorgeous fabric of
which David had laid the strong foundation.
See the extent of his territory— from Egypt
and the Mediterranean Sea across to Assyria.
See his alliances— with the mightiest powers
of his time — with the Pharaohs, by a marriage
into Egypt's royal family — with Hiram of
Tyre, when Phoenicia was the great maritime
country of the world. See his grand schemes
for national aggrandizement — by Tyrian aid
building a navy and importing the riches of
all lands in voyages of three years' duration.
See his widespread reputation for wisdom,
for wealth, for sumptuous and stately living,
when, to see and hear him, the Queen of
Sheba was drawn to Jerusalem from her home
" in the uttermost parts of the earth."
Dazzling Magrnlflcence.
Well, the full magnificence of Solomon's
reign was realized in and expended upon Jeru-
salem. First of all, on the platform of Mount
Moriah, prepared by substructions whose
arched solidity, in vast subterranean halls,
excites the modern visitor's wonder, he reared
the temple of Jehovah, and Moriah shone
forth in the architectural splendor of hewn
stone, and polished cedar, and brilliant gold,
of spacious colonnades, and glittering pin-
nacles. Then appeared on Mount Zion a
palace for the king, and elsewhere another
palace for the queen ; and next a grand bridge
was made to span the valley between Zion and
Moriah, giving a royal ascent into the house
of the Lord. At the same time the walls of
the city were extended and strengthened, and
a boundless supply of water was gathered into
reservoirs or opened from perennial springs
beneath the city, and the lower suburDs De-
came a paradise of gardens.
And now Jersusalem realized its ci)aracrf?r
as the symbol of the church and of li^-aven.
The law now went forth from Zion, and the
word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Jerusalem
was now " the joy " and the " praise of the
whole earth."
The Warrior King.
David as one of the first acts of his reign
had brought up the Ark of God from Kirjath-
jearim, and placed it in a new tabernacle ;
but he yearned to build for it the splendid
building which Solomon had the satisfaction
of accomplishing. He made known his desire
to the prophet Nathan, who at first encouraged
him to do .so, but he was afterwards divinely
instructed to forbid the work being carried
on. David was not to be the builder of the
Temple, but great and rich blessings were to
rest on him and on his posterity ; and in the
days of his son Solomon the House of the
Lord should be built in Zion. David had
soldier's work to do to establish the kingdom
in righteousness. The Philistines and Moab-
ites were still powerful and must be sub-
dued, and David did not shrink from the
work.
With renewed energy David attacked the
the Philistines, and Gath, the city of the giant,
and numerous other towns, were forced to
surrender. The Moabites also suffered severely.
A stern, earnest, unflinching man, David
spared not his enemies. Hadadezer lost, in
an engagement with the king, no less than
a thousand chariots, seven hundred horse-
men and of cavalry twenty thousand. The Syi i-
ans of Dam?;scus came to the help of Hadadezar,
but they were speedily defeated, with the loss
of two and twenty thousand men. Seeing
how easily David appeared to win the victory,
and how the best drilled troops broke before
his assault, the king of Hamath sent messages
of peace, seeking to be henceforth regarded as
an ally of King David.
These victories, promptly followed by the
placing of strong garrisons in all towns .sus-
pected of disaflection, helped to establish king
fe=..
KING DAVID.
181
:r suburDs oe-
David on his throne. No sooner was this ac-
complished tiian he began to look about for
some one survivor of the house of Saul, to
whom, for the sake of Jonathan, he might
show kindness. The desire of the king was
soon made known, and there came an old ser-
vant, named Ziba, and he told of Mephibosheth,
a son of Jonathan, lame in both feet on account
of having been dropped in childhood by his
nurse who was fleeing with him ; and David
received him most kindly, and made ample
provision for his suitable state and dignity.
He granted to him also the high privilege of
eating, on certain state occasions, at the royal
table; it was the same privilege which Saul
had accorded to himself in the days of their
old friendship, and was now gratefully returned.
A Kough Diamond.
There was a tender, affectionate nature under
the rugged exterior of royal David. He re-
membered former kindnesses, and this is what
kings who have known tribulation have not
always done. But when Nahash the king of
the Ammonites died, and David — calling to
mind how kind the man had been to him — sent
a letter of consolation by his servants, his good
intention was altogether misconstrued. The
young king Hanun was led to believe he had
deceitfully despatched his messengers to spy
out the land. The suspicion of duplicity
usually springs from a deceitful heart — "all
seems jaundiced to the jaundiced eye." Act-
ing on the impulse of the moment, Hanun
committed an abominable outrage on David's
servants : he shaved off half their beards, an
act which scarcely any indignity could exceed.
In addition to this he cut off their clothes
short at the girdle.
When David knew how his servants had
been treated, he determined to punish the rash
and impudent offender. Hanun the foolish
sought help from his neighbors, and engaged
at a great cost an army of hirelings — some-
where about thirty-three thousand fighting
men. Joab and Abishai were the commanders
of the Israelitish forces, and they put the allies
•of the Ammonites to ignominious flight ; they
did not in their retreat measure the ground by
inches, but fled precipitately, the Ammonites
following their example. But these Syrian
allies, perhaps somewhat ashamed of their
conduct, attempted some time later to defy
Israel. It ended, as might have been expected,
in their total overthrow. David and his
mighty men brought them into such thorough
subjugation that they were glad to accept
terms of peace, and to engage never more to
enter into alliance with the Ammonites.
An Extraordinary Crown.
These Ammonites had to pay dearly for
their folly. Within a few months Rabbah,
their chief city, was invested by Joab, and
taken by storm under David. There was a
great slaughter and many captives taken ; the
king who provoked the war doubtless per-
ished, for his crown was taken by David — a
crown as heavy as that described by Juvenal
in his description of a Roman praetor.
A he.ivy gewgaw (c.illed a crown) that spread
About his temples, drowned his narrow head.
And would have crushed it with the massy weight,
But that a sweating slave sustained the freight.
David had taken no active part in the early
scenes of this Ammonite campaign. Well for
him if he had done so. While Joab continued
the siege David fell into that grievous trans-
gression which has left an indelible blot on his
character. We need not re-tell the painful
story. The sin was deep, and deep the peni-
tence when the heart of the king was touched
by Nathan's affecting parable. Penitence,
however sincere, will not always avert punish-
ment. The royal king had to mourn in bitter-
ness for family troubles which speedily over-
took him.
Who so delightful in the eyes of the people
as Absalom, who so dear to the heart of king
David ! And king David's heart was a great
heart and a golden heart, and he poured the
feelings of his heart into those wonderful
psalms which have ever since taken fast hold
of all men.
The psalms have been the language in
182
THE PSALMS OF DAVID.
which the Jewish and the Christian Church ; depth of pathos, and jubilant outburst, the
have alike approached the throne of the i Book of Psalms has not the faintest shadow
THE NURSE FLEEING WITH MEPHIBOSHETH. — 2 Sam. iv. I-4.
Highest. For strength, nervous vigor, sub- 1 of ai parallel. It has been rendered into nearljr
limity, of conception, versatility of matter, ' all the languages of the world, and it has suf-
KING DAVID.
183
fcred in none; it has been put into rhymes of
the rudest description, but its natural beauty
has remained the same ; it has been moulded
into the most graceful verses which scholarly'
poets could produce, but its own original and
exquisite grace has far outshone the scholars'
work — the "apples of gold" have made us
forget the baskets of silver.
The life of David is in itself a grand psalm,
the like whereof has not its equal. He was a
man who combined transcendent genius with
simple, genuine piety. Brave in battle, wise
in council, he was both poet and musician.
With rare skill could he sweep his hands over
the throbbing strings of the lyre, calling forth
melodies so sweet and tender as to soothe even
the savage soul of Saul. We may readily im-
agine that many of David's psalms died away
unuttered. Words are of small account when
the soul converses with the Great Reader of all
hearts ; the tear, the sigh, the moan, when the
heart " lies awake in the depths of the breast,"
all cry out to heaven. David, in remembrance
of the deep grief which came on him, could
say, " I was dumb, I opened not my mouth
because thou didst it."
But to return to Absalom : Absalom, so
captivating in person, so insinuating in man-
ners, winning of all men golden opinions, was
a double-tongued villain for all that. He was
the favorite son of David ; by subtle scheming
he had stolen away his father's heart, as he
afterwards stole away the hearts of the men
of Israel. Handsome, affable, apparently gen-
erous, Absalom was the beloved of his father,
and beloved of the nation. He was no Reho-
boam to say, " My father chastised ye with
whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions."
Far from this, he stood forth as the people's
friend, the earnest advocate of every popular
movement; and with a reticence which told
powerfully against the king's government, he
would offer no opinion on judgments given,
but with a tone and expression easily conceiv-
able, and well calculated to make a deep im-
pression, would simply say : " Would God I
were judge in Israel." He was an expert in
the arts of the politician.
This beautiful, long-haired Absalom, this
splendid creature, accessi' Ic to all men at all
times, to all appearances gracious, gentle, gen-
erous, became in time the very idol of the
nation. David was a saint— through a deep
sinner ; a sage, though he frequently erred ;
a songster and a soldier of the true chivairic
pattern without a doubt. But David was a
rough man, and adorable Absalom, captivating
alike in arts and arms, was the very reverse of
the old veteran — and the people loved him.
Falsehood, deceit, envy, hatred and malice
may wear the most counterfeit vizards. " See
what a goodly outside falsehood hath."
Plotting; to Obtain tbo Throne.
Absalom set his heart upon the throne. It
j is hard to lift sword against sire ; but it pre-
j sented no difficulty to this young man. There
! stood he, everybody's favorite ; or perhaps it
were more just to employ an old phrase, and
say, " the admiration of the one sex and envy
oftheothe • ' sinful to God, disloyal to his
king, obedi 1?: to his father, treacherous to
his friends, in.eigling the people to their ruin,
yet carrying withal so smooth and bland a
countenance that he might, as it were, have
deceived the " very elect."
Absalom brooded two years over a wrong
done to his sister Tamar by his half-brother
Amnon, and then invited all the princes to his
estate to enjoy a shtep-shearing feast. Here
he ordered his servants to murder Amnon, and
then fled for safety to his grandfather's court at
Geshur, where he remained for three years.
David was overwhelmed by this accumula-
tion of family sorrows, thus completed by
separation from his favorite son, whom he
thought it impossible to pardon or recall.
But he was brought back by an artifice of
Joab, who sent a woman of Tekoah to entreat
the king's interference in an imaginary case
similar to Absalom's. Having persuaded
David to prevent the avenger of blood from
pursuing a young man who, she said, had slain
his brother, she adroitly applied his assent to
the recall of Absalom, and urged him, as he
had thus yielded the general principle, to
pi
184
Ri:HKLL10N or AHSALOM.
" fetch home his banished." David did so, but
would not see Absalom for two more years,
though he allowed him to live in Jerusalem.
At last, wearied with delay, and perceiving
that his exclusion from court interfered with
the ambitious schemes which he was forming,
the impetuous young man sent his servants to
burn a field of corn near his own, belonging
to Joab, thus doing as Samson had done.
Thereupon Joab, probably dreading some fur-
ther outrage brought him to his father, from
whom he received the kiss of reconciliation.
David in Flight.
When Absalom saw that the time for action
was ripe, he declared himself king, and all the
hearts of the men of Israel were after him.
This proclamation of king Absalom was made
at Hebron, but the intelligence soon reached
the capital, and the old king, now stricken in
years, and very weary, must hasten from Jeru-
salem to escape the vengeance of the child of
his heart. What to him Goliath's sword, or
the jewelled crown of Ammon? What to
him all the work he had wrought, all the vic-
tories lie had won ?
It was a bitter day when David and those
who remained faithful to him went forth from
the palace, crossing over the brook Kidron,
weeping with a loud voice ; the king sorely
weeping, with his head covered so as to con-
ceal his features, and his feet bare. There is
something affecting in the covered face;
when an ancient painter desired to express the
depth of grief, he covered the face. And as
David thus went forth there came a man of the
tribe of Benjamin, cursing him and casting
stones, and making a mockery of his sorrow.
And in high state and glory Absalom en-
tered Jerusalem, king in the room of his father
David. Great things were to be expected,
great things to be done. Nc love, no tender
memories of old times disturb this man, or
restrain him from the commission of the most
audacious acts. He cares nothing for his
father's suffering, flying now from his hand
and concealing himself in the wilderness, as
he aforetime had to do before Saul.
David was, as we may imagine, utterly
miserable; but admiration for his bold .son
who liad gained so great a triumph mingled
with all his sorrow. Indeed, he felt more
and more each day how much he was neg-
lected by those who had been most loyal,
how one by one they were missing fron) his
company, but he did not despair. It was
while in this condition he is said to have
composed the seventy-first psalm, in which
we find his heart, sickened of earth, turns
naturally to heaven, and the plaintive cry
rises, " Cast me not off in the time of old age,
forsake me not when my strength faileth."
There was Ahithophel, in whom David had
hitherto confided as his chief counsellor, had
joined in the Absalom conspiracy — who can
trust their best friends ? David, however, did
not seem to lose heart, for he trusted another
friend, Hushai, to go over and, feigning ad-
hesion to the prince's cause, outwit even the
deep diplomatist Ahithophel, Everything
seemed wrong ; the times were out of joint ;
there was something very rotten in the .state
of Israel. Zeba, who had taken care of
Mephibosheth, was slyly trying to win his
master's inheritance ; that master who had
been so well used by the king, was amusing
himself by the hope that this insurrection of
the foolish young man, who had assumed all
the insignia of royalty, would break down,
and Saul's house be re-established. Israel
would seem at this time to have been a great
company of Ishmaelites, the only true man
amongst them David, and David troubled by
day and haunted by night with the dead face
of Uriah.
A Sclieuiiner Traitor.
Hushai did his traitorous business ex-
ceedingly well. He meant to deceive and
betray the young pretender to royal authority,
who would have been a parricide if he could,
and he did. Ahithophel gave the best of
counsel for the furtherance of the cause he
advocated — namely, prompt action, a vigorous
pursuit of David, death to the king, rout to
his adherents — once at war with a king, it has
been said of rebels, 'tis he or you must die.
I r ■
DAVID PARDONING ABSALOM. — 2 Sam. xiv. 33.
(186)
18U
DAVIDS GRIEF.
• V
But Hushai shook his head, and he was an
old soldier ; and with a man wlio is supposed
to think deeply and to sec every side of a ques-
tion before he speaks, the lifting of the eye-
brows, nay, the very impassive silence, is
arf^ument. Evidently Hushai did not ayrce
with Ahithophel ; he counselled caution. This
David was a very lion ; those who stood with
him were desperate men ; all Israel must be
gathered together, " as the sand that is by the
sea-shore for multitude," hyperbolical ex-,
travagance accepted by vain Absalom, and then
he — Absalom the Great — should take the com- 1
mand in his own hands and go forth to battle. I
Gratified vanity is a strong incentive to ac- '
quiescence and to action. Absalom felt that
Ahithophel had taken a liberty in suggesting
that he would go forth and encounter the king.
Hushai recognized his own soldierly ability,
and was right in his plan. He imagined that
the people would be stirred by his immediate
presence, his countenance would " thaw cold
fear." So Ahithophel went home a disap-
pointed, thwarted man, to settle his affairs and
then hang him.self, while Hushai was sending
word to David of what he had advised, and
of what Absalom meant to do. The young
men, Jonathan and Ahimaaz, were to convey
the news; they were out of the city, but a
young woman whom nobody suspected, ex-
cept a boy, bore the news to them. This
meddlesome youngster went and told Absa-
lom. There was immediate pursuit, but with
no result, for a woman hid the messengers in
a well, put the pursuers on a wrong track, and
then hastened on the messengers to David.
When David learned that Hushai's advice
had been taken, he marched on Mahanaim,
where his soldiers were refreshed and strength-
ened by the generosity of two leading men of
the neighborhood. Then David divided his
forces into three companies; these divisions
were commanded— the first by Joab, the se-
cond by Abishai, and the third by Ittai the
Gittite. A hasty review was held by the old
soldierly king, looking with admiration on the
stalwart fellows, who, even in extremity, were
putting a bold face on the matter, and back
and edge would stand by the king. But there
was universal remonstrance against the king
himself remaining with the army; the army
would take the field, the king mu.st abide
in the city; and he consented to the ar-
rangement only that they should deal very
tenderly with the young man, Absalom.
Dratli of the Traitor.
Forth in all the strength and glory of mili-
tary array came Absalom, and the two forces
encountered each other in a forest not far from
Mahanaim, and known as the wood of Eph-
raim. It appears to have been a place totally
unsuited to a battle, for we read " the wood
devoured more people that day than the sword
devoured," which we may understand to mean
that by falling into pits or swamps, or by
getting entangled with the brushwood, and
their progress impeded by the trees, both
armies were thrown into great difficulties.
But victory was on the side of David, and
Absalom's men were put to the rout.
Now it was Absalom's turn to be the fugi-
tive ; he had put his own father to flight, and
now it was his turn to fly ; and as he fled the
mule on which he rode "went under the thick
boughs of a great oak, and his head caught
hold of the oak, and he was taken up between
the heaven and the earth ; and the mule that
was under him went away." It was while he
was in this miserable condition that he was
seen by one of the troopers, who came and
told Joab. With Joab there was no hesitation
— no pity — " he took three darts in his hand
and thrust them through the heart of Absalom
while he was yet alive in the tree." And they
took Absalom and cast him into a great pit in
the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones
upon him.
There is something deeply touching in the
great grief of the king for his son Absalom.
He was overwhelmed ; it wholly unfitted him
for the activities of life. His grief is beauti-
fully expressed in these lines by Willis, pa-
thetic enough to move the coldest heart :
Alas I my noble boy ! that thou should'st die I
Thou, who wert made so beautifully fair!
KING DAVID.
\H7
That (leiith nhould wltlc in thy glorious eye,
Ami leave liis Milliiest in tliis clti-ittrin|{ hnirt
How could lie niarli tliee for the silent tomb,
My proud Lxiy, Alxaloin ?
Cold is lliy lirow, my son I iiiid I am chill,
As to my bosom I have tried to press thee,
How was I wont to feel my pulse's -lirill,
I. ike a rich hnrp-striii^, yarning to caress thee,
And hear thy sweel " My father," from these dumb
And cold iips, Absalom !
The grave hath won thee, I shall bear the gush
Of music, and the voices of the young ;
And life will pass me in the mantling blush.
And the darl< tresses to the swift wind Hung ;
Hut thou no more, with thy sweet voice, shall come
To meet me, Absalom !
And oh ! when I am stricken, and my heart,
Like a bruised reed, is waiting to l)e broken,
How will its love for thee, as I depart,
Yearn for thine ear to drink its last deep token I
It were so sweet, amid death's gathering gloom,
I'o see thee, Absalom !
And now, farewell ! Tis hard to give thee up,
With death so like a gentle slumber on thee :
Aud thy dark sin !— oh 1 I could drink the cup,
If from this woe its bitterness had won thee.
May God have called thee, like a wanderer, home,
My erring Absalom I
The remonstrance of Joab, however, and
the discontent of the people, roused the mon-
arch. He went back to reascend his throne
amid the plaudits of the majority of his sub-
jects. The example of Absalom made others
ready for revolt. Sheba, a Benjamite, raised
a second rebellion. Amasa was made com-
mander-in-chief of the army sent out against
him. This occasioned great offence to Joab,
and he took his revenge by running his sword
through Amasa's body. But Sheba did not
escape. Discovering that this man had se-
creted himself in a city called Abel of Beth
Maachah, he marched upon it, laid open his
trenches, and would have made a speedy end
of the whole place had not a shrewd woman
parleyed for peace and given him, as the price
of his immediately withdrawing his troops,
the head of the rebel. The ghastly price of
the city's salvation was thrown to him over
the wall.
After this came the famine. There was no
rest for David and more fighting with the Phil-
istines hard and sore ; no rest for David, but
.still iu his great heart a sense of security, of
peace and joy not t<» be won by purjjle pomp
and kindly ^;lory, lie would sin^ sweetly to
the trembling choril of the kite — even thouj,'h
he .sang a dirge. Still the passion of the man
would sometimes rise above the resignation
of the .saint. He grew proud of his people;
in an ill-judged moment he determined on
ascertaining their nutiibcr, as if he who had so
often e.xpressed his real strength to be in God
had for^'otten all about God, and felt himself
to be strong in his own strength. The evil
wa.s done and the trouble caitie.
Now while in his Hebrew census there ap-
pears on the surface no possible harm (it had
been done by Moses), yet it seemed harmful
in the sight of the people themselves, or else
such a man as Joab — whose conscience was
not particularly acute — would scarcely have
objected to it. They did clerk's work slowly
in those days, and to ascertain the population
occupied more than nine months. The proba-
bility is that David was set upon conquest, and
was desirous of ascertaining how many men
he could rely on, and this was repugnant to
the people. It was Gad, ' David's seer," his
wi.se man, who came with the awful news that
high Heaven would interfere, but that of three
evils David might have his choice — famine,
the sword, pestilence. David chose the last,
and there is something affecting in his an-
swer :
" I am in a great strait : let us fall now into
the hand of the Lord, for his mercies are
great : and let me not fall into the hands of
man."
The plague raged through the land from
Dan to Beersheba, and seventy thousand men
are said to have perished. Then it stayed,
and David worshipped before the Lord.
David was by this time an old man, and felt
that he was becoming unequal to the leading
of a great people. He determined, like a wise
man, on the appointment of a successor. The
right of DavitJ to appoint his successor seems
to have been acknowledged by the people.
Anticipating such an event, Adonijah, one of
188
JOAB'S REVENGE.
David's sons, conspired with Joab and Abiathar
the priest, and had himself proclaimed king.
It was the madness of folly. Ail the strength
of the nation was with David, and he had de-
soleinnly anointed to his responsible office.
Adonijah was feasting and making merry
with his friends, when the intelligence of Solo-
mon's elevation reached him. He was over-
DAVID INSTRUCTING JOAB TO NUMBER THE PEOPLE. — 2 Sam. XXlv. 2.
termined that his son Solomon should be king
in his room. On receiving the news of
Adonijah's rebellion, David acted promptly.
By sound of trumpet Solomon was proclaimed.
whelmed with terror, and sought a truce until
he could make terms with the young king.
This matter being arranged, he returned like a
disappointed coward to his own house, ac-
and attended by all the court rode on the knowledging with all possible expressions of
king's own mule to Gihon and was there | humility his penitence and loyalty.
KING DAVID.
189
David survived the coronation of Solomon '
about six months. This period he employed
in the development, for the benefit of his son,
of those plans and regulations which had long |
been formed in his own mind for the erection
of the Temple, the arrangement of service, and
tlie government of the people. Great store
had he collected of material ready for the
building of the Lord's house, all was prepared,
and never monarch ascended a throne under
more advantageous circumstances than did
Solomon, when David " slept with his fathers."
David had extended his conquest on all
sides; but he had taught the people to be
something better than soldiers — he had culti-
vated amongst them the arts of peace, and
Solomon's subjects were not only men of war,
but men of business : though the sea-captains
hugged the shore, they carried on in their
argofiies a considerable commerce, and the
merchants of Jerusalem and all the large towns
were driving a thriving trade. The farmers
knew better how to carry on their agricultural
labors, how to manage their pastoral pursuits,
at the end of David's reign, than they did at
its beginning, and the work of the skilled
artisan was better done and better paid for.
It is said of Solomon that he made gold
and silver to be as stones in the streets of
Jerusalem ; but he would not so readily have
succeeded in doing this if the way had not
been cleared for him by David. Everything
was very prosperous when Solomon came to
the crown — a contented people, accumulated
treasure, friendly neighbors, and all that could
conduce to earthly happiness, except the
jealousy of Solomon's eldest brother, Adon-
ijah, the wily designs of Abiathar the priest^
and the heart-burnings of the veteran Joab,
a'threefold occasion for sagacity.
CHAPTER XIX.
SOLOMON IN ALL HIS GLORY.
OLOMON was declared
by David to be his suc-
cessor on the throne
of Israel. This choice
caused Adonijah, David's
fourth and eldest surviv-
ing son, to raise a revolt
and proclaim himself
king. The prophet Na-
than informed Bathsheba, the
mother of Solomon, of this
outbreak, and arranged with
her a plan to secure the inter-
ests of her son. Bathsheba
went into David's chamber,
followed soon after by Nathan,
to tell him that Adonijah reigned,
in spite of his promise to Solomon.
The aged king had lost none of his
prudence and decision. At his command, Za-
dok, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, sup-
ported by Benaiah, with the body-guard of
Cherethites and Pelethites, proclaimed Solo-
mon king, amid the rejoicings of the people,
and anointed him with the sacred oil, which
Zadok took out of the tabernacle. At the
news of this decisive act, Adonijah's followers
abandoned him, and he himself sought sanc-
tuary at the horns of the altar. His life was
spared by Solomon upon his promise of sub-
mission. "And it was told Solomon, saying.
Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon : for,
lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the
altar, saying. Let king Solomon swear unto
me to-day that he will not slay his servant with
the sword. And Solomon said, If he will
show himself a worthy man, there shall not
a hair of him fall to the earth ; but if wicked-
ness shall be found in him, he shall die. So
king Solomon sent, and they brought him
down from the altar. And he came and bowed
(190)
himself to king Solomon : and Solomon said
unto him, " Go to thine house." Adonijah sub-
sequently gave proof of his disloyalty, and
was put to death by Solomon's order.
Solomon very soon made it appear, by an
imposing public act, that he intended to rule
in the spirit of the Mosaical institutions, and
in the fear of God. He convoked the tribes,
their elders, chiefs, and judges, and, followed
by his people, he repaired to Gibeon, where
the altar and the tabernacle then stood, al-
though the ark was in Jerusalem ; and there,
with great solemnity, he offered a thousand
holocausts at one time. These first sacrifices
were worthy of a king who was designed by
Providence to give the utmost splendor of
which it was capable to the ritual service es-
tablished by Moses. His zeal was not without
its instant reward. The Lord appeared to him
in a dream, and required him to ask whatever
favor or benefit his heart desired. The trial
implied in this permission was most critical and
awful — a man full of ardor only just become a
king, offered whatever he desired. Solomon
came gloriously through it. He asked wisdom ;
and that choice is the best proof that could be
given of the wisdom he already possessed.
The words in which this choice is announced,
and the accompanying prayer, are most inter-
esting, touching, and noble, and, under all the
circumstances, form one of the most striking
incidents in all ancient history.
The king, in that beautiful outpouring of
his heart, calls to mind the benefits which his
father had received from the Almighty, and
the continuance of the empire in his family,
his own youth, his inexperience, the extent of
his dominions, the multitude of his subjects ;
and he implored with ardor, as the highest
and most precious boon he could receive, the
wisdom necessary to enable him to govern
SOLOMON IN ALL HIS GLORY.
191
•well the chosen people of God. With a choice ingtothy words; lo, I have given thee a wise and
so sincere and humble the Lord was well an understanding heart; so that there was none
pleased, and said, " Because thou has asked like thee before thee neither after thee shall any
olomon said
lonijah sub-
oyalty, and
ler.
pear, by an
ded to rule
utions, and
the tribes,
d, followed
eon, where
stood, al-
and there,
thousand
t sacrifices
signed by
'lendor of
service es-
ot without
red to him
whatever
The trial
'itical and
become a
Solomon
wisdom;
could be
Jssessed.
lounced,
St inter-
r all the
striking
iring of
lich his
ty, and
family,
:tent of
bjects ;
•ighest
i^e, the
fovern
Solomon's coronation. — i Kings i. 45.
this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long
life, nor riches, nor the life of thine enemies,
but hast asked for thyself understanding to
discern judgment, behold, I have done accord-
arise like unto thee. And I have also given thee
that which thou hast not asked, both riches
and honor, so that there shall not be any
among the kings like unto thee all thy days."
192
SOLOMONS WISDOM.
ll
The promise of long life was also added, on
condition tliat lie walked according to the Di-
vine statutes and ordinances.
Solomon awoke, and, fortified with these
magnificent promises, returned with joy to
Jerusalem, where, before the ark, he gave
solemn thanks, offered new sacrifices, and
feasted all his court.
Next the sacred historian proceeds to pro-
duce a proof, in a remarkable scene of Oriental
justice, of the sagacity with which Solomon
was now endowed, and which made that fact
known to his people from one end of the land
to the other. In those times, as at present in
the East, persons of the most obscure condi-
tion came to state their wrongs, to plead their
causes, and maintain their rights and settle
their disputes at the foot of the throne; and
in the matters which are thus brought before
the king for judgment, the humble condition
of the parties is less considered than the dif-
ficulty of the points under litigation.
The Two Mothers.
There were two women living together, both
of whom were motliers. One of the children
was overlaid, and died in the night ; but the
woman who found the child in her bed when
she awoke, alleged that not this child, but the
one that lived, was hers, and she charged the
other woman with having transferred the dead
child to her bed, and taken the living one to
her own. The point at issue therefore was, to
whom the living child belonged, for both
claimed it, and, from the nature of the case,
the claim of neither could be supported by
evidence. Where there was nothing to go
upon but the affirmation of the one party and
the denial of another, the case seemed closed
round with insuperable difficulties ; but it oc-
curred to the sagacious king that the natural
feelings of a mother afforded a sure test by
which the truth might be ascertained ; he
therefore called for a sword, and said with ap-
parent solemnity, that as there seemed no other
way of deciding between such conflicting evi-
dence, he would divide the matter in dispute —
the living child — and assign half to each.
In this or any civilized country no one
would suppose such a proposal sincere; it
would have been too absurd and too barbarous
for any one to imagine that it would be exe-
cuted. But in the East decisions as arbitrary
and eccentric as this are at the present day far
from uncommon, and it is manifest that both
the women fully believed that the king intended
to give instant effect to this monstrous award.
The king keenly watched the effect which his
announcement produced. All the mother rose
in the heart of the woman to whom the child
belonged, and she cried out, " O, my lord the
king, give her the living child, and in no wise
slay it!" But the other cried, "Let it be
neither mine nor thine, but divide it." Here
the question was solved in an instant ; no one
could for a moment doubt which of them was
the real mother, and the king said, " Give her
the living child, and in no wise slay it — for she
is the mother thereof! " Probably no one
revered the king more than she.
A proof of sagacity like this was well calcu-
lated to strike the popular mind, and probably
made upon the Israelites a stronger impres-sior
of the king's wisdom than did all the parables,
proverbs, and songs which he is said to have
composed, or all the .sage sayings which he is
said to have uttered. "All Israel heard of the
judgment which the king had judged ; and
they feared the king; for they saw that the
wisdom of God was with him to do judg-
ment."
The prosperity promised to Solomon was
not less signal than his wisdom. He enjoyed
during his reign profound peace, in conse-
quence of the numerous victories which his
father had achieved and the conquests which
he had made, whereby his undisputed dominion
extended from the border of Egypt to the Eu-
phrates. His revenues from the tribute of the
conquered nations alone were therefore very
great, and many nomade tribes, and nations not
directly subject to his sway, found it prudent
to obtain the protection and favor of so pow-
erful a neighbor by paying annual tributes,
which were ostensibly voluntary, and took the
name of " presents," which seem to have con-
18
THE JUDGMENT OF SOLOMON. — I Kings iii. 25.
(198)
194
ILLUSTRIOUS REIGN OF SOLOMON.
1^1
■in
sisted chiefly of vessels of gold and of silver,
cloth, arms, aromatic drugs, horses, and mules.
He also clearly perceived that a well-organ-
ized government could not proceed without
some reglar sources of revenue, and he there-
fore appears to have imposed an easy tax upon
his native subjects, which does not seem to
have been regarded as a grievance until the
latter end of his reign, when the increased
expenses of the government and court, with
the falling off of some other sources of income,
constrained him to increase its amount.
Boyal Magnificence.
He also encouraged commerce, and made it
a source of revenue; and it has been calculated
that the various dues and customs paid by the
merchants engaged in foreign trade, including
probably the produce of the royal monopolies,
afforded a yearly revenue of not less than
twenty-five million dollars. The principal
monopoly was the trade with Egypt in horses,
chariots, and linen yarn, which was managed
by Solomon's factors, and which he was pro-
bably enabled to engross through the good
understanding between him and the king of
Egypt, whose daughter he married, and who,
on account of her exalted birth, must have
been his queen or principal wife. To this may
be added the maritime traffic by the Red Sea,
the proceeds of which were shared by Solomon
and the king of Tyre.
Such were the principal sources from which
Solomon drew a magnificent revenue, which
he as magnificently expended in his most
imperial establishments. He had four thou-
sand stables, in which were kept forty thou-
sand horses, with a proportionate number of
various kinds of carriages. He appointed
twelve officers, to whom different districts
were assigned, and whose duty it was to pro-
vide in monthly rotation the provisions required
for the court ; and some notion of the extent
of the royal household may be obtained from
the account which is given of the supply
required for the consumption of one day : —
Thirty measures of fine flour, threescore
measures of meal, ten fat oxen, twenty out of
the pastures, and a hundred sheep, together
with harts, roebucks, deer, and fatted fowl.
These provisions would suffice for several
thousand persons, of whom we may therefore
conceive the royal establishment to have been
composed.
The people, prospering in an equal degree
from the new sources of wealth opened to
them, and from the exemption from war which
enabled them to enjoy the produce of their
grounds in safety, disregarded the protection
of walled towns, and lived dispersed upon
their own lands, enjoying their abundance
upon the spot where it was produced. This is
the prosperous condition of life which the
Scripture so often describes by " every one
sitting under his own vine and under his own
fig-tree, and no one to make him afraid."
Thus prosperous, and thus unwasted by war,
the population of Israel also amazingly in-
creased during the reign of Solomon, and
were " as many as the sand which is by the
sea-shore in multitude, eating, and drinking,
and making merry."
All this could not be effected at once, but
was the growth of years ; and we have some-
what anticipated the order of events for the
sake of a connected statement of the results of
Solomon's sy.stem of government, and of the
position which he was enabled to take on the
demise of his father David. We may now
return to trace the current of events.
Embassy firom the King of Tyre.
Soon after Solomon's accession, Hiram,
king of Tyre, who had been a great admirer
and friend of David, sent an embassy to con-
dole with the young king on his father's death
and to congratulate him on his peaceable suc-
cession. Presents of the costliest description
were brought by Hiram's messengers, Solo-
mon gladly availed himself of this opening for
an intercourse and connection with the Tyrian
king, M'hose assistance would, he knew, be of
great advantage to him in the undertakings he
had then in view. He therefore sent to open
to him the designs he entertained, and invited
him to render the same sort of assistance which
SOLOMON IN ALL HIS GLORY.
196
sheep, together
d fatted fowl,
ce for several
may therefore
>t to have been
I equal degree
1th opened to
om war which
)duce of their
the protection
ispersed upon
:ir abundance
uced. This is
ife which the
y "every one
under his own
! him afraid."
asted by war,
amazingly in-
Solomon, and
lich is by the
and drinking,
1 at once, but
ve have some-
jvents for the
■ the results of
It, and of the
take on the
kVe may now
ents.
>f Tyre.
sion, Hiram,
treat admirer
Jassy to con-
father's death
eaceable suc-
it description
igers. Solo-
s opening for
h the Tyrian
knew, be of
lertakings he
sent to open
, and invited
stance which
had been rendered to David when building his
" house of cedars." Only the great forests of
the Lebanon mountains could supply the tim-
ber required for the undertakings of the Hebrew
king ; and such of those forests as lay nearest
in the heights of the mountains, to the sea-
shore. Hence the assistance which Solomon
required from the king of Tyre was of very
great if not of essential importance to him.
Hiram was found to be very ready to enter
HIRAM OF TVRE SENDING PRESENTS TO SOLOMON. — I KtngS V. I.
the sea were in the hands of the Phoenicians,
among whom timber was in such constant
demand that they had acquired great and
acknowledged skill in the felling of trees, and in
the transportation of the trunks from the woods,
into his plans ; and a treaty was soon com-
pleted, under which Hiram engaged to provide
timber from the forests of Lebanon, for the
Temple and other buildings which Solomcti
contemplated, to convey it to the coast, and
196
BUILDING THE TEMPLE.
to float it down in the form of rafts to Joppa,
the port of Jerusalem. Solomon himself was
to provide a portion of the labor in the moun-
tains ; and he engaged to pay for the services
of the Tyrians by a stipulated quantity of
wheat and oil. By this undertaking both par-
ties had what they most wanted — Solomon
timber for building, which his own territory
did not yield; and Hiram provisions, which
the Phoenicians, confined to a narrow strip of
land and devoted to trade and manufactures,
were constrained to obtain from abroad, and
could obtain with more convenience from the
fertile inlying districts of Canaan than from
any other quarter.
Immense Number of Workmeta.
Hiram's workmen assisted in preparing and
squaring stones for the Temple; and so numer-
ous were the men — subjects of the two kings
— employed in these preparations, that it re-
quired three thousand men to superintend
their labors. Solomon, who had certainly a
considerable leaning towards arbitrary power,
being still in want of laborers, ventured to
raise a levy of thirty thousand Israelites, whom
he sent to assist the Phoenician timber-cutters
in Lebanon — not all at once, but in alternate
bands of ten thousand each, so that each band
returned home and rested two months out of
three. This relief, and the sacred object of the
service, prevented the opposition which the
king might otherwise have encountered.
For the more heavy labor in the quarries,
Solomon called out the remnant of the Ca-
naanites, probably with those foreigners (or
their sons) who had been brought into the
country as prisoners or slaves during the wars
of David, who had, indeed, left an enumera-
tion of all the adult males among them for this
very purpose. Their number was one hun-
dred and fifty-three thousand six hundred;
and according to the common custom of the
East in such cases, these also, doubtless, la-
bored in alternate bands. Such services were
usually required from persons in their condi-
tion, when any public work was in progress,
end was not regarded as an oppression.
Of these strangers seventy thousand were
employed as porters to the others, and to the
Plicenician artisans. They probably also had
the heavy duty of transporting to Jerusalem
the large stones, which sixty thousand more
of them were employed in hewing and squar-
ing in the quarries. Of these, the stones in-
tended for the foundation were in immense
blocks, and, as well as the others, were proba-
bly brought from no great distance, as quar-
ries of very suitable stone are abundant in the
neighboring districts. These large stones were
doubtless placed upon sledges and drawn by
strings of oxen, after the manner indicated in
the sculptured monuments of Egypt.
Solomon also desired that Phoenician arti-
ficers of all descriptions should be sent to
Jerusalem, particularly such as excelled in the
arts of design, and in the working of gold,
silver, and other metals, as well as of precious
stones ; nor was he insensible of the value and
beauty of those scarlet, purple, and other fine
dyes, in the preparation and application of
which the Tyrians excelled. Men skilled in
all these branches of art were largely supplied
by Hiram. He sent also a person of his own
name, a Tyrian by birth, who seems to have
been a second Bezaleel, for his abilities were
so great, and his attainments so extensive and
various, that he was skilled not only in the
working of metals, but in all kinds of work in
wood and stone, and even in embroidery, in
tapestry, in dyes, and in the fabrication of all
sorts of fine cloths. This man was a treasure
to Solomon, who made him overseer not only
of the men whom the king of Tyre then sent,
and of those whom David had formerly en-
gaged and retained in his service, but also of
his own workmen. Much of the glory of the
Temple was due to him.
Three years were consumed in these neces-
sary preparations for building the Temple, and
it was not until the fourth year of Solomon's
reign that all things were in sufficient forward-
ness to allow the foundations to be laid ; and
in about seven years after, the whole building
was completed. So effective and well-arranged
were all the preparations, all the stones having
2
lousand were
:rs, and to the
ab.Iy also had
to Jerusalem
lousand more
ng and squar-
the stones in-
■ in immense
!, were proba-
mce, as quar-
undant in the
e stones were
nd drawn by
r indicated in
ypt-
loenician arti-
1 be sent to
:celled in the
king of gold,
s of precious
he value and
id other fine
pplication of
:n skilled in
fely supplied
n of his own
ims to have
bilities were
xtensive and
only in the
s of work in
ibroidery, in
cation of all
ts a treasure
;er not only
■e then sent,
brmerly en-
but also of
[lory of the
hese neces-
'emple, and
Solomon's
nt forward-
e laid ; and
le building
11-arranged
nes having
198
PREPARING THE MATERIALS.
Ill
'i;
been properly squared before they were
brought to the spot, that the pile arose with
little of the noise and confusion usually con-
nected with the progress of so great an under-
taking: we are, indeed, told that there was
" neither hammer nor axe, nor any tool of iron
heard throughout the house while it was in
, building."
"No workman's iteel, no ponderoui axes rung ;
Like tome tall palm the noiseless fabric sprung."
Various accounts of the Temple of Solomon
have been furnished by writers of different
countries and ages. The subject has been in-
deed, SQ attractive, that entire volumes have
been written on it. The result has, however,
been far from satisfactory. The accounts have
been framed from the description, which is
itself not very easy to be understood, and
which supplies so few facts, that much is left
to be supplied by the imagination. Hence
plans and descriptions have been produced
bearing a most suspicious likeness to modern
fabrics and styles of architecture, and which
have manifestly been influenced in no small
degree by the prevailing taste in the time and
country to which the writer belonged. Thus,
a view by a Spaniard will be very Spanish, by
an Italian surprisingly Italian, and by a French-
man wonderfully French.
Style of Arohltectnre.
Viewing the Temple of Solomon by the
light which the monuments of Egypt offer,
has enabled an architectural writer, Mr. Bard-
well, in his work on " Temples," to give an in-
teresting account of this celebrated structure :
and as this is the only statement respecting
Solomon's Temple by a professional writer, we
shall here introduce the substance of it:
" With so much information before us at the
present day, it is almost needless for me to
assert that the Temple of Solomon was in the
Egyptian style of architecture; a moment's
reflection will convince every unbiased mind
that such must have been the case ; since, al-
though Greece had been colonized from Egypt
nearly two hundred years before this, it is not
at all likely, from the slow development of
human improvement, that the style we call
Greek had then superseded its Egyptian
parent; and what is conclusive upon this
point, as we shall soon see, is, the Temple of
Solomon had not, in its proportions and de-
tails, anything in common with the temples
of Greece. That the Jews had no peculiar
style of their own, excepting so far as they
were restricted from the use of figures of ani-
mals in decorations, is also probable ; as, ever
since they had settled in Canaan, four hundred
years previous, they had been constantly en-
gaged in the wars necessary to extend and con-
serve their newly acquired territory, and, con-
sequently, had no opportunity of cultivating
the 6ne arts.
"Besides, Solomon was in constant inter-
course with the Pharaoh of his age, and mar-
ried his daughter. Further, in no part of the
world had temple architecture and the art of
cutting and polishing stones ever arrived, be-
fore or since, to such perfection as in Egypt.
The Tyrians, being at that time the great
common carriers of the world, kept up an ex-
tensive commerce with Egypt. I therefore
infer from this and the before-mentioned rea-
sons, that the masons were Egyptian, and
the stone all prepared, fitted, and finished by
them before it was brought to Jerusalem ;
since, moreover, there is nothing mentioned
about the expensiveness of any article but the
stone, ' costly stones, even great stones, stones
of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.'
" The oracle was an exact square, of thirty-
seven feet six inches high, in the centre of which
was a pair of folding-doors of olive-wood,
seven feet six inches wide, very richly carved
with palm-trees, and open flowers, and cheru-
bim; the floor of the Temple was boarded
with fir ; the roof was flat, covered with gold,
upon thick planks of cedar, supported by large
cedar beams. The inside walls and the ceil-
ing were lined with cedar, beautifully carved,
representing cherubim and palm-trees, clusters
of foliage and open flowers, among which the
lotus was conspicuous ; and the whole interior
was overlaid with gold, so that neither wood
SOLOMON IN ALL HIS GLORY.
199
nor stone was seen, and nothing met the eye
but pure gold, either plain, as on the floor, or
richly chased, and enriched with gems, upon
the walls and ceiling. At a little distance
from ' the most holy place,' like the railing of
a communion-table, were fixed five massive
gold candelabra, on each side the entrance,
and between the candelabra were chains or
wreaths of flowers, wrought in pure gold
one wing of each cherubim touching the other
in the middle of the Temple, while the other
wings touched the wall on each side ; before
them was the altar of incense, formed of cedar,
and entirely overlaid with refined gold ; and
on the sides of the Temple were arranged ten
golden cables, five on each side, for the ex-
hibition of the shew-bread, besides other
tables of silver, for the display of above one
THE ARK AND FURNITURE OF
separating even the entrance of the oracle
from the body of the Temple. Thus a distinc-
tion was made in the apartments, one of them
being considered more holy than the others.
" Within the oracle was set the ancient 'ark
of the covenant,' which had preceded them to
the Promised Land, beneath two colossal
cherubim, each nineteen feet four inches and
a half high, with immense out-spreading wings.
THE TEMPLE. — I Kings vi. 23.
hundred gold vases of various patterns, and
censers, spoons, snuflers, etc., used in the ser-
vice of the temple.
" It appears that the inside of the vestibule
was also covered with gold ; from it a grand
pair of folding-doors, nine feet four inches
and a half wide, opened into the Temple.
These doors were also overlaid with gold,
embossed in rich patterns of cherubim, and
200
A MAGNIFICENT KUIFICE.
palms, and open flowers ; both pairs of doors
had ornamented hinges of gold, and before
the doors of the oracle hung a veil em-
broidered with cherubim, in blue, and purple,
and crimson.
" Hiram the king had sent over from Tyre
his clerk of the works, who superintended the
building till it became necessary to set up the
two great columns of the porch ; these had
the usual proportions of Egyptian colunms,
being five and a half diameters high, and as
these gave the great characteristic feature of
the building, Solomon sent an embassy to
fetch the architect from Tyre to superintend
the moulding and casting of these columns,
which were intended to be of brass; these
superb pillars were eight feet in diameter, and
forty feet high. The Temple was surrounded
on the north, south, and east by the inner or
priests' court which had a triple colonnade
around it."
Looking forward a little to the completion of
the edifice, and its dedication by the king, our
architect proceeds : " Magnificent must have
been the sight to behold the young king, clothed
in royalty, officiating before the great altar,
while the thousands of Levites and priests on
the east side, habited in surplices, with harps,
cymbals and trumpets in their hands, led the
eye to the beautiful pillars flanking the doors
of the Temple, now thrown open, and display-
ing the interior brilliantly lighted up, while
the burnished gold of the floor, the ceiling,
and the walls, with the precious gems with
which they were enriched, reflecting the light
on all sides, would completely overwhelm the
imagination, were it not excited, by the view
of the embroidered veil, to consider the awful
glories of the most holy place."
Superb Decorations.
Afler this description from the pen of an
architect, it would be unfair to call the Temple
of Solomon "a poor building," as some writers
have done, under the impression that it owes
all its greatness to the high terms which the
Jewish writers employ in describing the most
magnificent structure with which they were
acquainted. The fact seems to be, that when
viewed as the work of a very early age, and
with reference to the notions which then pre-
vailed, Solomon's Temple may be considered
magnificent; although it is not to be com-
pared with more recent specimens of architec-
ture, as exhibited in the master-pieces of
Greek or Roman art, or even in the great
cathedral churches of the Christian world.
It is evident that the Jews knew nothing of
the order of architecture; and, although it
may be difficult to form a distinct idea of
this their first and greatest work, it is very
clear that they were fond of minute details
and highly finished decorations, both in the
engravings on stones and the ornaments in
wood and precious metals.
Dedication of the Temple.
If the expenditure of vast sums of money be
taken as a standard of comparison, the pre-
eminence of Solomon's Temple is more strik-
ing, as we have no knowledge of any building
which has been recorded to have cost so much
in its erection. There is, indeed, great difficulty
in forming an exact estimate of this cost.
Some find the amount so large as would have
sufficed to build the Temple with solid gold ;
and without going into such extravagance of
estimate, but contenting ourselves with the
lowest ever proposed, bting thirty-five million
dollars, it could not well have been otherwise
than a glorious structure, however little its
general proportions or arrangements of parts
may have been in accordance with modern
taste. The many thousand laborers employed
on it for seven years and a half is in accord-
ance with the impression which we derive
from the statement of the expense.
All the works of the Temple being finished
(b. c. 1005), the dedication of it was reserved
for the next year, which was a year of Jubilee
— that great periodical holy year of rest and
joy to the Israelites, which few could hope to
witness more than once in their lives.
As the principal object lo be served by the
Temple was to afford a resting-place to the
ark, the dedication was no sooner resolved
SOLOMON IN ALL HIS GLORY.
Ml
upon than preparations were made for intro-
ducing it with due pomp into the sanctuary.
In the presence of nearly the whole nation,
assembled at Jerusalem, including all the
courses of priests and orders of Levitcs, the
procession cominenccd from the city of David,
where the ark lay, to the portals of the splendid
edifice, accompanied with many instruments
of music, and the cheerful sound of psalms
chanted by the Levitical choirs. The psalms
were selected or composed for this solemn
service ; and when the sons of Levi, bearing
their precious burden, drew near the eastern
porch, the singers broke forth in the triumphal
strain —
" Lift up your headi, O ye gatei.
And be ye lift, ye everlaiting doon,
That the King of glory may come in."
At the moment when the ark of the cove-
nant was deposited in the holy of the holies,
between the cherubim, the innumerable Levit-
ical choirs thundered forth their well-known
song — sent to the heavens by their united
voices, and by the harmonious concord of a
thousand instruments —
" Praise ye Jehovah I for He is good |
For His mercy endureth forever 1 "
At that moment, suddenly, as at the conse-
cration of the tabernacle, the holy building was
covered with a thick cloud, which filled it
wholly, and which enveloped the priests in
such profound obscurity that they were unable
to continue their ministrations. This was a
manifest symbol that the Lord had accepted
this building as His house, and that His pres-
ence had descended to dwell therein. The
deep silence that ensued was broken by the
voice of Solomon, who stood upon a brazen
platform in front of the altar. He spread forth
his hands towards heaven, and gave utterance
to the noble and affecting prayer by which the
house was set apart to the worship of the God
of Israel, and in which the divine blessing was
invoked upon all who should thereafter join in
the venerable rites to which it was dedicated.
It is observable how prominently and beauti-
fully the idea is brought forward that the tem-
ple was to be regarded as a houst, a palace,
which the Divine King was to fill with His
presence, and in which he was to reside among
His people. This was the true idea of the
establishment, under the peculiar circumstances
of tile Hebrew theocracy, and it is interesting
to fiml that this view of the subject was so
distinctly present to the mind of the young
king. Yet the idea of any human structure,
however magnificent, being the abode oi the
Lord of heaven and earth, struck him in the
point of view which must be taken by any
thoughtful mind. " But will God indeed
dwell on the earth?" he cried: "behold, the
heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot con-
tain thee; — how much less this house which I
have builded ? " Great was his astonishment
Costly Sacrifices.
This great festival was followed by an enter-
tainment of a more ordinary nature, suitable
to the joyful commemoration which usually
marked the feast of tabernacles. On this
great occasion Solomon is said to have offered
a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand oxen and
one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. In
the first act of sacrifice the same mark of the
Divine acceptance and favor was given as at
the original establishment of the ritual service
in the wilderness ; for the victims, when laid
out upon the altar, were consumed by fire
from heaven; and the fire thus kindled was
sacredly preserved and kept up— was never
lost or extinguished, till the destruction of the
temple by the Chaldxans. The festivities of
the season were continued a week beyond the
usual period; " and on the three-and-twentieth
day of the seventh month, he sent the people
away unto their tents, glad and merry in heart
for the goodness that the Lord had showed
unto David, and to Solomon, and to Israel His
people."
Having thus accomplished this great duty,
the king turned his attention to the con-
struction of various sumptuous buildings and
great public works, suited to the honor of his
crown and the dignity of his kingdom.
I '1
iiflfi
ll
'
> nHMCBSESS
THE KING'S TREASURES.
In the book of Ecclesiastes, which is sup-
posed to have been writt.^n by him, there ap-
pears a distinct and interesting allusion to
these undertakings : " I made me great works ;
I builded me houses ; I planted me vineyards ;
I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted
trees in them of all kinds of fruit; I made me
pools of water, to water therewith the wood
of all sorts. So I was great, and possessed
more than any who had been before me in
Jerusalem ; also my wisdom remained with
me." Connected with what precedes, there
seems a very significant e nphasis in this last
clause, which it is not our present duty to de-
velop.
This passage is finely p.irn phrased, and the
^^^^~""^^— "^ ■ \r—wm
FIRE FROM HEAVEN AT THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE.— 2 Chron. vii
that bringeth forth trees. I got me servants
and maidens, and had servants born in my
house; also I had great possessions of great
and small cattle, above all that \"ere in Jeru-
salem before me. I gathered ..e also silver
and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings
and of the provinces; I gat me men sirgers
and women singers; and the delights of the
sons of men, as musical instruments, and that
glories of Solomon's reign beautifully em-
bodied, in the following extract from Heber's
well-known poem on " Palestine."
Triumphant race ! and did your power decay ?
Failed the bright promise of your early day ?
No :— by that sword, which, red with heathen gore,
A giant spoil, the stripling champion bore ;
By him, the chief to farthest India known,
The mighty master of the ivory throne ;
and possessed
before me in
remained with
precedes, there
isis in this last
ent duty to de-
li rased, and the
SOLOMON IN ALL HIS GLORY.
203
lutifully em-
rom Heber's
r decay ?
day ?
!atbcn gorCi
ire;
m.
In Heaven's own strength, victorious o'er her foes.
Victorious Salem's lion banner rose ;
Before her footstool prostrate nations lay,
And vassal tyrants crouched beneath her sway ;
And he, the kingly sage, whose restless mind,
Through nature's mazes wandered unconfined.
Who every bird, and beast, and i . ect knew.
And spoke of every plant that quaffs the dew,
To him were known — so Hagar's oflspring tell —
The powerful vigil and the starry spell.
The midnight call hell's shadowy legions dread.
And sounds that burst the slumbers of the dead.
Hence all his might ; for who could these oppose?
And Tadraor thus, the Syrian Baalbec roF
Such, the faint echo of departed days.
Still sound Arabia's legendary lays ;
And thus their fabling bards delight to tell
How lovely were thy tents, O Israel 1
For t'lee his ivory load Behemoth bore,
And fa( Kofala teemed with golden ore ;
Thine ail the arts that wait on wealth's increase,
Or bask and wanton in the beam of peace.
When liher slept beneath the cypress gloom,
.^nd silence held the lonely woods of Rome ;
Or ere to Greece the builder's skill was known,
Or the light chisel brushed the Parian stone ;
Yet here fair Science nursed her infant fire.
Fanned by the artist aid of friendly Tyre :
Then towered the palace, then in awful state
The Temple reared its everlasting gate.
Of the royal buildings erected by Solomon,
particular notice is taken in Scripture of the
palace which he built for himself, which the
Jewish writers describe in verj' glowing lan-
guage ; another palace which he built for the
residence of Pharaoh's daughter; and "the
house of the forest of Lebanon." Most writers
take these to have been distinct and separate
fabrics, but to those acquainted with the east-
ern style of building and the arrangements of
palaces, it will appear very clear that the king's
own palace and that of his queen were no
other than different quadrangles of the same
great pile of buildings — separate in their eco-
nomical arrangements, butcommunicating with
each other. The description given by Josephus
confirms this impression, or at least shows that
he took the same view of the subject. The
quadrangle into which the great gate of gen-
eral entrance opens usually contains the state
apartments and offices, particularly the hall in
which the sovereign gives audience, sits in
judgment, and transacts all public business.
Hence the royal court is very often called " the
Gate," of which a familiar example is offered
in the Ottoman Porte.
The account of Josephus suggests that the
palace, as a whole, consisted of three di.stinct
courts, and communicating with their appro-
priate buildings and offices ; of which the one
in the centre contained the state apartments,
while that on the right hand formed the private
residence of the king, and that on the left the
harem or palace of the Egyptian princess; and
this arrangement is so conformable to the
usages which have always been maintained in
the East, that we are disposed to take it as an
ascertained fact. In this case " the house of
the forest of Lebanon " was probably formed
by the buildings of the central quadrangle,
containing the hall of state.
" It would be an endless task," says the Jew-
ish historian, " to give a particular survey of
this mighty mass of buildings; so many courts
and other contrivances ; such a variety of cham-
bers and offices, great and small ; long and
large galleries ; vast rooms of state, and others
for feasting and entertainment, set out as richly
as could be with costly furniture and gilding;
besides that all the service for the king's table
was of pure gold. In a word, the whole pal-
ace was in a manner made up, from the base
to the coping, of white marble, cedar, gold, and
silver; with precious stones here and there in-
termingled upon the walls and ceilings."
Solomon's Gorgeous Throne.
It is and always has been the etiquette of
Eastern courts, that the king, as supreme mag-
istrate, should to a certain extent administer
justice in person, and be accessible to the com-
plaints of all his subjects. In conformity with
this usage, Solomon was wont to sit in the
open porch of his palace, which was therefore
called "the porch of judgment;" and this was
an obvious application of the very ancient and
still subsisting practice of making the gate the
204
UNRIVALLED SPLENDOR.
U i
'J ■;* i
seat of justice. Solomon's porch of justice
seems to have been a large covered apartment,
supported by pillars and entirely open in front.
Here, upon a raised platform to which there
was an ascent by steps, was placed the throne
of Solomon, which is mentioned with such
marked admiration in the Scriptural accounts,
and with still stronger praise by Josephus.
This consisted of a magnificent seat, placed
upon a dais or platform, to which there was an
ascent of six steps, on each of which were
fixed the figures of two lions in gold, forming
the maritime commerce ; but there were cir-
cumstances in this branch of trade which re-
quired more delicate management, and which
might have occasioned any stringent attempt
to monopolize the trade to have been fatal to
the objects which he contemplated.
Indeed, we see that the great fault of Solo-
mon's commercial policy, apart from its un-
suitableness to the Hebrew institutions, lay in
the attempt of the government to engross its
benefits as a source of royal revenue. No
traffic can have healthy growth under such a
a sort of fence or balustrade to the ascent. The system ; and hence, probably, more than from
ascent between the twelve lions of gold, with any other single cause, the measures of Solo-
the splendid seat at the top, must have formed : mon had no permanent effect upon the pur-
a very magnificent throne, probably not unlike suits or character of the nation, which subsided
those which, in the mural paintings of Egypt, I into its accustomed channels as soon as the
are appropriated to the gods and kings. The immediate and urgent impulse given by the
throne itself was of ivory, studded and en- crown ceased to operate..
riched with gold, and over it a semispherical
canopy appears to have been suspended. Al-
though there was no throne equal to this in
How Wealth Was Employed.
Much of the wealth acquired from the
any kingdom for costliness and splendor, yet various sources which have been indicated
in its general plan and character it corre- 1 was spent by king Solomon in building, and
sponded with the thrones of the ancient and , in the general improvement of the country,
modern East. ; Many important towns and fortresses were
Solomon built a new city and gave it the built or rebuilt by him. Among these we find
name of Tadmor (palm-tree), and this is the i the name of Baalath, which has usually been
same city which afterwards becamb historically, {supposed the same with Baalbec in the valley
as well as commercially, illustrious under the of Lebanon, the ruins of which have been so
Greek name of Palmyra. The importance to
which this city rose, and the prosperity which
it long maintained, afford the best possible
evidence of the wisdom of the great king by
whom it was founded. Here the caravans not
only found water as before, but every advantage
of shelter and rest : and here also the mer-
much admired and so often described by trav-
ellers. No one, indeed, supposes that the
ruins which still exist are those of the very
buildings erected by Solomon. These are
known to have been of Roman origin ; but it
is conceived that the present ruins occupy
the site of Solomon's city, and that some of
chants, finding persons ready to take their j the foundation walls, composed of enormous
commodities and to furnish whatever they re- ] blocks of stone, may have belonged to ancient
quired in exchange, would be inclined to end
their journey, leaving the distribution of their
goods to the nations farther west, either to the
factors of Solomon or to private merchants;
for we know not to what degree the king found
towns founded by him.
The Scripture directs our attention in a very
marked manner to the arrangements of Solo-
mon's court, not only as admirable in itself, but
as being, in fact, the wonder and admiration
it advisable to leave this trade free to his own of neighboring and even of remote nations,
subjects. That he took some mercantile part j The statement to which we must look for
in it is probable from his course of proceeding {giving some insight into these arrangements
with respect to the land trade with Egypt and 1 contains at the first view little more than a list
JUb
SOLOMON IN ALL HIS GLORY.
205
here were cir-
ade which re-
nt, and which
ngent attempt
e been fatal to
;ed.
fault of Solo-
from its un-
tutions, lay in
to engross its
evenue. No
under such a
>re than from
ures of Solo-
pon the pur-
hich subsided
soon as the
given by the
»yed,
d from the
;n indicated
•uilding, and
the country,
resses were
hese we find
isually been
n the valley
ive been so
>ed by trav-
« that the
jf the very
These are
g'n; but it
ns occupy
It some of
enormous
to ancient
1 in a very
s of Solo-
itself, but
dmiration
5 nations.
look for
tigements
han a list
of names and officers ; but on a closer inspection
persons acquainted with the existing usages of
the East are able to recognize in this list much
which is suggestive of an orderly arrangement
and a wise distribution of administrative func-
tions. It may, indeed, be notived that most
of the offices thus specified have reference to
the supply of the wants of the court and the
maintenance of the royal authority; and it
must be admitted that these have been practi-
cally the chief objects cf Oriental governments.
Several officers appear in the time of Solo-
mon, of which we find no previous trace in
Israel ; of these were the " Governor of the
Palace," who had charge of whatever belonged
to the hiousehold affairs of the royal establish-
ments ; and the twelve " princes " who were
stationed in different parts of the country to
collect in turn from each tribe a month's pro-
vision for the court.
The orderly manner in which such vast
quantities of provisions were brought together,
distributed and prepared for use, seems not
less to have engaged the admiring wonder
of strangers, and particularly of the Queen of
Sheba, than the magnificent appointment and
attendance at the king's own table.
Fine Horses and Horsemen.
We must be content to note very briefly a
few other circumstances connected with the
court of king Solomon. His chariots and
horses, obtained from Egypt, have been al-
ready mentioned. As we are now well ac-
quainted with the chariots of that country,
there can be no doubt respecting their form
and furniture. With regard to the horsemen
our information is less distinct. There can be
no doubt that Solomon had a body of cavalry
mounted on trained Egyptian horses, and that
such cavalry existed in Egypt. But it curi-
ously happens that in the whole range of
Egyptian sculpture and painting there is but
one figure of a man on horseback, and that
does not much assist our ideas with respect to
the cavalry of times so ancient. In all likeli-
hood the equipment of Solomon's horsemen
did not much differ from that which is and has
long been in use in Western Asia, and which
bears many marks of a remote origin.
Josephus reckons the number of Solomon's
horses as twenty thousand ; and he says that
they were the most beautiful in their appear-
ance, and the most remarkable for their swift-
ness, that could anywhere be seen. The riders,
he says, were in their appearance quite worthy
of their horses. They were young men in the
beauty and flower of their age, and the tallest
in stature that could be found in the country.
Their undress was of Tyrian purple, and their
long hair, which hung in loose tresses, glit-
tered with the gold-dust wherewith they daily
sprinkled their heads. But when they at-
tended the king they were in complete armor,
and had their bows ready strung. Often, in
the fine season, he adds, the king rode down
to his beautiful gardens at Etham, six miles
from Jerusalem, attended by these young men.
On such occasions he rode loftily in his char-
iot, arrayed in white robes. But we have a
better description of these excursions from the
pen of Solomon himself This occurs in Can-
ticles iii. 6-1 1, where he is described as ap-
proaching in a splendid palanquin or litter, sur-
rounded by three-score valiant men. The
chorus of virgins dwells upon the subject of
this litter with great admiration :
" King Solomon hath made for himself
This couch of the wood of Lebanon :
Its pillars bath he made of silver,
Its bases of gold, its cushions of purple ;
The middle of it is spread with love
By the daughters of j'erusalem."
These last two lines indicate that the bottom
of the litter was spread with cushions, orna-
mented with flowers wrought in the most ele-
gant manner by the damsels of Jerusalem.
From the mention of pillars it appears to have
had a covering or canopy, as is still usually
the case. The only litter represented in the
Egyptian paintings is borne by men and has
no canopy, the shade being supplied by an
umbrella borne by an attendant. This article
was probably known to the Hebrews.
From the song of Solomon much informa-
tion respecting the arrangements of the royal
206
SOLOMON'S RENOWN.
harem may be gathered. And this is a matter
of some consequence, as this king multiplied
wives unto himself beyond any monarch be-
fore or after him. In fact his female es^ab-
or equipage, and was mainly designed to aug-
ment the pomp which belonged to his charac-
ter and station.
In the midst of all these undertakings and
THE QUEEN OF SHEBA AT THE COURT OF SOLOMON. — I Kings X. 2.
lishment resembled those which the kings of operations, surrounded by all this glory and
the East have in all ages desired to form ; but magnificence, Solomon's wisdom did not cease
it may be understood that the harem formed, to be a matter of admiration, not only to his
properly speaking, a branch of the royal state own subjects, but among neighboring and
hLdbi
SOLOMON IN ALL HIS GLORY.
207
even distant nations. So great was his
knowledge, so wonderful in its variety and
extent, that " there came of all people to hear
the wisdom of Solomon, for all kings of the
earth had heard of his wisdom." Among the
princes who thus rendered their homage to the
genius of Solomon was the queen of Sheba,
whom some suppose to have come from
Abyssinia, but who is believed by others to
have reigned in the southernmost parts of
Arabia. She came with a very great and
splendid retinue ; and in her train were camels
laden with spices, gold, and precious stones.
It is stated that in her interviews with Solomon
she " tried him with hard questions " — a mode
of testing wisdom which was common in that
age, and which every one who made unusual
pretensions to sagacity and knowledge was
understood to invite. .
The sage monarch found no difficulty in
solving all the enigmatical questions which the
royal stranger proposed : and we are told that
when the queen of Sheba had seen all
Solomon's wisdom, and the house which he
had built, and the food of his table, and the
station of his servants, and the attendance of
his ministers, with their apparel, and his cup-
bearers, and his burnt-offerings, which he
offered in the house of Jehovah, there was no
more spirit in her, and she said to the king,
" True was the report which I heard in my
own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Yet
that report I believed not till I came, and saw
with mine own eyes ; and. lo ! the half had not
been told me : thy wisdom and thy greatness
far exceed the report that I heard. Happy
thy men ! happy these thy servants, who stand
continually before thee and hear thy wisdom !
Blessed be Jehovah thy God, who was so
pleased with thee as to set thee on the throne
of Israel ! "
The great glory of Solomon's reign was
sadly dimmed towards its close. Among
the many wives he had taken unto himself
were many women of neighboring nations,.
" worshippers of strange gods." At their
solicitation he was eventually led into allowing
them the public exercise of their idolatries,
and by easy steps was at length induced to
take some part in them. Under what notions
he disguised the heinousness of this crime to
himself we are not informed, and it is useless
to conjecture. By this fall he forfeited the
benefits and privileges which had been
promised as the condition of his rectitude;
and it was not long before the doom which he
had so weakly and wickedly incurred wa&
made known to him.
This was, that his kingdom should be rent
from him and given to his servant ; but, tem-
pering judgment with mercy, the Lord was
pleased to promise that this great evil should
not befall his house in his own reign, but in
that of his son. This was for the sake of his
father David ; and for his sake also, who had
derived so much satisfaction from the prospect
which he had been allowed to indulge of the
perpetuity of his race, it was further promised
that the ruin of his dynasty should not be
absolute, for that it should still reign over one
tribe — that of Judah, with which that of Ben-
jamin had by this time coalesced.
Nevertheless the troubles which were to end
in the disruption of the kingdom which he had
taken so much pains to organize were allowed
to commence in his own reign, and greatly to^
trouble its peace. He thus .witnessed the
growth of the baleful tree he had planted^
although he was spared from gathering all its
poisonous fruit. The threatened evils were
made to grow out of the weak parts of his own
policy. The foreign sources of wealth seem in
the latter years of Solomon to have declined ;
and then, to support the disproportionate
magnificence which he had established in his
kingdom, he was obliged to lay upon his own
subjects heavier burdens than they were able
or willing to bear.
■1. :
i :i I
m i il 1
m 1
:i|j
■II
i^H v^ ' il
:hP'' 1
'SM\ ■ 1
■i' {
llU.
CHAPTER XX.
THE PROPHET ELIJAH.
EHOBOAM, the son of
Solomon, succeeded to
his father's throne — at
the least he laid claim
to it, but he had in one
ymy ^ Jeroboam a powerful
"^~l'"T^Nir|' "I' I' "J This Jero-
boam was a man of very
considerable ability, and Solomon
had placed him in an honorable
post; but when Solomon went
astray and turned to idolatry, it was
predicted that his kingdom should
be taken from him — not in his days,
but in those of his son. An aged
seer had met with Jeroboam and
foretold this thing to him, " Thou
shalt be king hereafter;" the seer
had taken off his own garment and torn it into
twelve pieces, ten of which he gave to Jero-
boam, thereby intimating that ten of the twelve
tribes would one day be under his rule.
Intelligence of what had occurred appears
to have reached the ears of Solomon, and he
attempted to take the life of Jeroboam, who
found a safe asylum in Egypt. Thence, on
the death of Solomon, he was summoned by
several of the principal men, and with them
waited on the new king to ascertain what .line
of policy he intended to adopt. They com-
plained in strong terms of what they had suf-
fered in the late king's reign. " Thy father
made our yoke grievous."
Jeroboam and the great men of the country,
acting as representatives of the people, made a
very strong appeal to Rehoboam in order to
induce him to relax what they regarded as
heavy burdens. Rehoboam delayed his answer,
but promised to respond within three days.
In the meantime, he took counsel with his
father's old friends, and was advised by them
(208)
to speak fairly and moderately, so as to con-
ciliate the multitude. This advice he rejected,
preferring that of his youthful associates, who
recommended the taking of a very high hand
with the people and promptly letting them
know that it was no weakling who sat on the
throne of Solomon.
When the day of assembly came, and the
deputation again waited on Rehoboam, he re-
ceived them with great hauteur, and gave them
.to understand that so far from relaxing any of
the burdens of which they complained, it was
his intention to increase them. At this the
people, Josephus says, " were struck as it were
by an iron hammer," and were so indignant
that they declared they would have nothing
more to do with the house of David. " We
only leave to Rehoboam the Temple which his
father built." Finding too late the mischief
he had done, he attempted, all in vain, to pacify
the people ; and at last, finding his life in dan-
ger, fled to Jerusalem, where the tribes of
Judah and Benjamin, whose interests were con-
solidated, received him as their king — all the
rest of the people, the other ten tribes, forsook
him and elected Jeroboam as their sovereign.
Here we have the be^innmg of t'lc; t,. o king-
doms, the kingdom of Israel, represented by
the ten tribes, and the kingdom of Judah, com-
posed of the united tribes of Judah and Ben-
jamin.
Rehoboam died at the age of fifty-seven,
having reigned over Judah seventeen years ;
and was succeeded by his son Abijam. Jero-
boam sank very deep into various kinds of
wickedness, especially idolatry. He was
warned that the kingdom should be rent
from him as it had been from the house of
David, but neither spiritual warning nor ordi-
nary common-sense deterred him. On the
death of Rehoboam, he made war on his sue-
THE PROPHET ELIJAH.
209
y, so as to con-
Ivice he rejected,
associates, who
very high hand
y letting them
who sat on the
cessor Abijam. Abijam exhibited a degree of
spirit and courage very creditable to him ; in
an animated speech he roused the patriotism
of his subjects, and, himself leadmg them
against Jeroboam, put his army to entire and
took their strongest cities by force, and spoiled
them."
Jeroboam did not recover himself during
the reign of Abijam, which, however, lasted
but three years. He was succeeded by his
KING ASA DESTROYING IDOLS AT THK BROOK KIDRON. — I Kings ix. 1 3.
complete rout : " A slaughter," says Josephus,
"which is never recorded to have happened in
any other war, whether it were of the Greeks
or of the barbarians, for they overthrew and
slew five hundred thousand of their enemies,
14
son Asa, under whose rule the land had peace
for ten years. In the second year of Asa's
reign died Jeroboam, king of Israel.
King Asa appears to have been a most vir-
tuous and upright prince, and one of his first
210
ELIJAH AT THE BROOK.
lii ?
acts was to suppress the idolatry which had
occasioned so much mischief to the people.
He would not even permit pagan rites to Jbe
encouraged by his own mother, but destroyed
the grove in which she was wont to worship,
and burnt the idol that she called her god.
But the reformation effected by Asa, although
he reigned for one-and-forty years, was not
complete — the rebellious spirit of the people
still longed after the strange gods. Josephus
tells us that when he was assailed by Zerali,
king of Ethiopia, and in presence of an ap-
parently overwhelming force, his piety was as
conspicuous as his bravery. He openly be-
sought God to give him the victory : " For,"
said he, "I depend on nothing else but that
assistance which I expect from Thee, which is
able to make the fewer supreme to the more
numerous, and the weaker to the stronger;
and thence it is alone that I venture to meet
Zerah and fight him." Asa won a complete
victory and took much spoil.
It was in the thirty-first year of the reign
of Asa, king of Judah, that Omri began to
reign in Israel. He was a wicked prince, and
followed in all the evil ways of those who had
gone before him. At his death the govern-
ment passed into the hands of a man, if pos-
sible, worse than himself, namely, Ahab his
son, who, to add to his wickedness, married
Jezebel — the worst woman of her age, and un-
surpassed in none — daughter of Ethbaal, king
of the Zidonians. She was an idolatress, and
stubbornly bent on making others idolaters
also. She made no disguise of her religion,
nor of her open enmity to the Jewish priests,
nor of her intentions to overthrow the estab-
lished faith. Soon the heart of her husband
was turned after her strange gods, groves were
planted, a priesthood was ordained, a temple
built, and the idol Baal set up for worship— a
species of idolatry unknown in Israel since
the days of Samuel.
It now seemed as if the knowledge of the
true God would be forever lost among the
Israelites. But suddenly the prophet Ehjah
boldly stood up among them, to stem the over-
whelming tide of corruption, and succeeded in
preserving many of his countrymen in the
worship of Jehovah. The record of the reign
of Ahab is chiefly occupied with an account
of the struggle which this great prophet waged
against principalities and powers, against spir-
itual wickedness in high places, in honor of
Jehovah and his earthly kingdom.
£li|jah*8 Sudden Appearance.
He is introduced with considerable abrupt-
ness, by the name of Elijah the Tishbite — from
the name of a town beyond the Jordan to
which he belonged — as announcing punish-
j ment in the shape of a long-continued drought,
j and consequently famine, which should be re-
i moved only at his own intercession. This
'great calamity commenced about the sixth
I year of Ahab's reign ; and it then became
needful that the prophet should withdraw from
the presence and solicitations of the king.
Accordingly he concealed himself in a cave
near the brook Cherith — one of the streams
which fall into the Jordan — where the kind
providence of God sent him bread and meat
every morning and evening.
When the brook Cherith was dried up, the
prophet was instructed to cross the country
into the dominion of Jezebel's father. He ac-
cordingly went to Sarepta, near Sidon, and as,,
he came near that place, met a poor woman
who had come out to seek a few sticks for
fuel ; the prophet asked her for a little water;
and notwithstanding the distress and the
scarcity of water which prevailed, she readily
complied with the request of the travel-worn
stranger. But when he also begged of her
some bread, she declared to him that she had
nothing left in the world but a handful of meal
and a little oil, with which she was then about
to prepare her last meal ; and when that was
done, nothing remained for her and her young
son but to die.
Elijah, however, encouraged her not to fear,
but to prepare him some food, promising in
that Great Name, which even foreigners had
learned to dread, that her scanty supply should
not fail until the bountiful heavens once more
' gave forth relief. Her faith was such as en-
^i5
THE PROPHET ELIJAH.
211
untrynien in the
:cord of the reign
with an account
:at prophet waged
vers, against spir-
aces, in honor of
;dom.
learance.
abled her to comply with this request; and the
consequence was that for above two years she
and her son, and the prophet, were supplied
miraculously with sufficient food; for "the
barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the
cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord
sent rain upon the earth."
The implicit faith of this poor widow in the
power and mercy of the God of her foreign
guest was strengthened, and at the same time
was so severe that the king in person had gone
through one part of his dominions in search
of provisions, while he sent Obadiah, his prin-
cipal steward, into another part for a similar
purpose. Obadiah was a good man ; he had
used his high influence in protecting the per-
secuted servants of Jehovah. Elijah met this
person, and prevailed upon him to conduct him
to the king. Ahab had long been seeking
him in vain, with the view of punishing him as
ELIJAH AND THH WIDOW OF SAREPTA. — T Kings Xvil. lO.
rewarded, by a more signal miracle which
Elijah effected during his abode with her.
Her son, who had died of some grievous dis-
order, was restored to life by the intercession
and prayers of the prophet, and she now con-
fessed her full conviction that Elijah was "a
man of God, and that the word of the Lord in
his mouth was truth."
In the third year of his absence Elijah re-
ceived the Divine command to go and present
himself before Ahab. At this time the famine
the author of the calamities which Israel suf-
fered, or of extorting from him the intercession
through which they were destined to cease ;
and he no sooner saw him than he broke forth
into reproaches against him as the troubler of
Israel. But the prophet boldly retorted the
charge, and affirmed that all the complicated
miseries under which the nation suffered had
befallen it on account of his rejection of the
God of Israel, and of the idolatries with which
he and his queen had polluted the land.
li !
I I
' .1
M'. i
sia
BAAL'S PROPHETS OVERTHROWN.
Then, in order to satisfy Ahab and the
whole nation of the vanity and inipotcncy of
the god to whom they had turned, and of the
priests and prophets by whom these gods were
served, he offered singly to confront the whole
of them in the sight of Jehovah, that it might
be seen by manifest signs who was the true
God and worthy of worship. Awed by the
rebuke and the decisive manner of the prophet,
and perhaps apprehensive of some further
judgment if he refused, the king ordered the
attendance of all the priests of Baal, in number
about eight hundred, near Mount Carmel, to
bring the matter to a final and fair decision.
Fire on Mount Carmel.
The people assembled in great numbers to
witness this momentous contest, in which they
were so deeply interested. The prophet then
proposed that two bullocks should be prepared
for sacrifice, the one by the priests of Baal,
which they should cut in pieces and lay upon
the wood, but put no fire underneath ; and the
other by himself, in precisely the same manner.
And then continued Elijah, " Call ye on the
name of your gods, and I will call on the
name of Jehovah ; and the God that answereth
by fire, let him be God." Nothing could be
more fair and open than this; but it is very
awful to think that the supremacy of Jehovah
should ever have become a question— for it
was the question — among so large a propor-
tion of the chosen nation which He had re-
deemed from the house of bondage.
When every preparation had been completed
according to the directions of Elijah, the
priests of Baal called upon their idol to hear
them, and to attest his power by consuming
with fire from heaven the victim laid upon the
altar. But Baal heard them not: "there was
no voice nor any that answered." In vain
were all their efforts, although they continued
to call upon their god until the time of offer-
ing the evening sacrifice. No answering fire
appeared ; and as the day advanced, the
priests, in the frenzy of a losing cause, " cried
aloud, and cut themselves with knives and
lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them."
" How long halt ye between two opinions ?
If Jehovah be the God, follow Him ; but if
Baal, then follow him" — were the words in
which Elijah had already proposed to the
as.sembled multitude the great matter which
was at issue. And now, when the priests of
Baal had been suffered to consume tr\ost of the
day in their useless invocations, he advanced
to prepare the altar for his offe.'ing. He
reared it with twelve stones, according to the
number of the tribes ; and having laid on the
wood and the victim, caused the whole to be
inundated with water from the river. He
then advanced, and called upon the Lord to
interpose on this great occasion, that all Israel
might know that 1 > was the true God, the
God of their fathers md of their nations ; and
that their hearts might be turned back from
vain idols to Himself.
Accordingly, at that word, the fire of heaven
came down, and in one instant consumed the
victim, and dried up, by its intense heat, all
the w^ter which had been poured out around.
When the people beheld that sight, contrasted
as it was with the abortive efforts of Baal's
I priests, they yielded to the mighty impulse
of the conviction which oppressed them and
fell upon their faces, exclaiming, "Jehovah, He
is the God! Jehovah, He is the God!"" The
! scene, as described, is most impressive.
' The prophet availed himself of the disposi-
I tion thus created in the people, by command-
I ing the priests of Baal to be slain ; and his
order was immediately carried into effect.
I The idolatry of Israel having thus received a
'] considerable check, and its chief abettors hav-
ing been brought to condign punishment, the
' prophet intimated to Ahab the approach of
\ relief from the awful calamity under which the
land had groaned so long, and directed him to
return to his home in that confidence. The
prophet himself then proceeded to the top of
Mount Carmel, and prayed fervently for rain
seven times ; the promise of which, speedily
followed by fulfilment, soon appeared in the
shape of " a little cloud like a man's hand "
rising out of the Mediterranean — a phenomenon
which in warm climates is not an unusual
he fire of heaven
nt consumed the
intense heat, all
red out around,
sight, contrasted
efforts of Baal's
mighty impulse
'sssed them and
ig, "Jehovah, He
:heGod!"' The
npressive.
f of the disposi-
e, by command-
i slain; and his
■ied into effect.
: thus received a
ief abettors hav-
punishment, the
he approach of
under which the
1 directed him to
snfidence. The
led to the top of
rvently for rain
which, speedily
ippeared in the
a man's hand"
—a phenomenon
lot an unusual
ELIJAH'S SACRIFICE ON MOUNT CARMEL.— I Kings XViii. 38.
(213)
K4
THE STILL SMALL VOICE.
iti IK
harbinger of rain. The prophet then " girded
up his loins," for speed, and ran till he over-
took the chariot of the king, and ran before it
to the gate of Jezreel; for meanwhile "the
heavens had grown black with clouds and
wind, and there was a great rain."
Flight of the Prophet.
These stupendous incidents had probably
produced some salutary impressions upon the
feeble mind of Ahab; but they soon disap-
peared before the higher energies of his wife's
character, and her commanding influence upon
him. Jezebel was enraged to the uttermost
by the destruction of her priests and vowed
to be revenged upon the author of the mas-
sacre. Elijah heard of this, and giving her full
credit for the will and power to exec">te her
threat, he deemed it right to withdraw himself
for the present beyond her reach. He there-
fore resolved to retire for a while into the wil- 1
derness, where Israel had first received from
God the law which he had labored to uphold.
When he had travelled about one hundred
miles south of Jezreel, the travel-worn prophet,
exhausted with thirst and hunger, found the
strength of mind and body which had hitherto
upheld him give way. He cast himself under
the shade of a juniper-tree, and prayed for
death to end his troubles. " It is enough," he
cried ; " now, O Lord, take away my life, for
I am not better than my fathers." But God
had not forgotten his servant. An angel was
sent to comfort and sustain him, and by en-
couraging promises urged him to pursue his
journey to Horeb, " the Mount of God."
With renewed confidence and strength he
travelled on through the valleys and among
the mountains so renowned in the early his-
tory of Israel, till he reached the solitudes of
the uppermost Sinai, where, as is usually sup-
posed, he stationed himself in the cave where
Moses was when he beheld the glory of Je-
hovah from " the cleft of the rock." In this
spot the Lord appeared to him, preceded by a
strong wind, an earthquake, and a Are, and
speaking to him in a still small voice, com-
manded him to repair to Damascus, and anoint
Hazael to be king over Syria, after which he
should anoint Jehu to be king over Israel, and
appoint Elisha to be his own successor. The
prophet then delayed not to rgturn, but of his
commissions the last was the only one which
he deemed it necessary to execute in person,
Elisha, the son of Shaphat, of Manasseh, be-
yond Jordan, he found ploughing with twelve-
yoke of oxen, and cast his prophet's mantle
'(probably of hair) over him as he passed.
Elisha understood the sign, and after he had
bidden farewell to his parents, followed the
prophet, to whom he thenceforth remained
constantly attached through all his fortunes.
A Bold Invasion.
About this period Benhadad, the king of
Damascene Syria, invaded the land of Israel,
with a very powerful army ; and meeting with
little resistance, quickly advanced against Sa-
maria, and closely blockaded the city. The
return of seasonable rains could not at once
restore plenty to the land, or restore the popu-
lation, which the famine had decimated. Hence
the enfeebled Israelites were so much dismayed
by the advance of the Syrians, that, instead of
attempting resistance, those who abode not in
fortified towns fled for refuge to the caverns
and fortresses of the wilderness. This state of
affairs raised the boldness of the invaders to
insolence, and very insulting was the language
in which Benhadad challenged Ahab to sur-
render his capital.
Aware of his defenceless condition, Ahab
felt obliged to curb his indignation, and con-
sented to become tributary to the Syrian king.
This readinessof submission induced Benhadad
to rise in his demands, and by a second mes-
sage he required the immediate and uncondi-
tional surrend'.T of all that belonged to him
and to his subjects. The spiritless Ahab was
disposed to purchase peace, even on terms so
ignominious, but here the elders of Israel in-
terposed, and would not allow him to consent.
On this, a third message from the Syrian mon-
arch threatened the immediate destruction of
Samaria and the massacre of all its inhabitants.
At this point the Lord, whose protection he
1
ria, after which he
ingover Israel, and
irn successor, The
rpturn, but of his
the only one which
execute in person.
t, of Manasseh, bc-
ghing with twelve
s prophet's mantle
lim as he passed,
, and after he had
rents, followed the
inceforth remained
h all his fortunes.
iHlon.
ladad, the king of
the land of Israel,
and meeting with
vanccd against Sa-
ied the city. The
could not at once
)r restore the popu-
decimated. Hence
i so much dismayed
ans, that, instead of
e who abode not in
uge to the caverns
ness. This state of
of the invaders to
g was the language
iged Ahab to sur-
3s condition, Ahab
lignation, and con-
to the Syrian king.
I induced Benhadad
I by a second mes-
:diate and uncondi-
t belonged to him
spiritless Ahab was
;, even on terms so
elders of Israel in-
ow him to consent,
m the Syrian mon-
liate destruction of
)f all its inhabitants,
hose protection he
ELIJAH VISITED BY AN ANGEL. — I Kings xix. 5.
(216)
216
DEFEAT OF THE SYRIANS.
4 "
had forfeited, and; indeed, wilfully abandoned,
interposed to show to the king and to the house
of Israel that He was able to deliver those who
found no help from the idols they had served
and worshipped. By the command of a prophet,
and under the assurance of victory which that
prophet conveyed, the king ventured to make
a sally against the vast host of the Syrians, at
the head of a small band composed of the ser-
%
having been encouraged by a prophet to be-
lieve that the Lord had devoted Benhadad to
destruction, and would not fail to deliver him
into his hands, that he might execute judg-
ment upon him. Accordingly the Syrians
were again overthrown, and those who es-
caped the sword of Israel were crushed by
the falling of the wall of Aphek, under which
the battle took place. Benhadad, with a few
ELIUH CASTING HIS MANTLE
vants and retainers of the nobles then in Da-
mascus, and was victorious.
It does not appear that Ahab made any
suitable return for this deliverance, or was in-
duced by it to turn from his evil courses and
obstinate unbelief. He seems also too hastily
to have concluded his victory final, and, there-
fore, neglected a prophetic intimation that the
Syrians would next year resume the warfare
with recruited strength. Return, however,
they did, with a more powerful force, and en-
camped near Aphek. Here Ahab, at the head
of a very unequal force, marched against him.
ON ELISHA. — I Kings xix. 19.
attendants, escaped the general slaughter and
succeeded in gaining entrance into a house in
Aphek, where they concealed themselves,
though closely pursued by some of Ahab's
followers. The arrogant Syrian now saw
that he had no resource but in submission to
the man he had so grievously insulted. Some
of his attendants were accordingly sent clothed
in sackcloth, and with ropes around their
necks, to implore quarter from the king of
Israel. This submission and humiliation to
him so flattered the vanity of Ahab that, un-
mindful of his own safety and the interests of
a prophet to be-
'oted Benhadad to
fail to deliver him
ht execute judg-
ngly the Syrians
id those who es-
were crushed by
phek, under which
ihadad, with a few
[9.
neral slaughter and
nee into a house in
cealed themselves,
>y some of Ahab's
Syrian now saw
ut in submission to
sly insulted. Some
rdingly sent clothed
opes around their
• from the king of
and humiliation to
^ of Ahab that, un-
and the interests of
^ tffh:
-./' h
iilt* «■)
Rt-%^
iTfr^i.-^S-T
JUDGMENT OF SOLOMON.
I,
nil
#
ill' rli
i
«
THE PROPHET ELIJAH.
217
his kingdom, he granted unconditionally all
that wns asked by the crafty Syrians.
Ahab'8 Startlingr Warnlugr.
He sent for Benhadad, and not only treated
him with marked respect, but contracted a
very disadvantageous peace with him, and
then allowed him to depart. In consequence
of this violation of the command by which
Benhadad had been devoted to destruction, a
prophet, wounded, and diguised in sackcloth
and ashes, placed himself in the way of Ahab
and passed upon him the sentence of God,
warning him that his life should be lost in
fighting against the man he had delivered, and
that his subjects should become the victims
of his sword. On hearing this the king of
Israel went to his house "heavy and dis-
pleased."
Not long after this the king was disposed to
enlarge his garden in Jezreel by taking into it
the patrimonial vineyard of a person named
Naboth. The owner, however, declined to
part with it ; on which the king, in a very
childish spirit, took to his bed, refused his
food, and lay with his face to the wall. On
learning this his wife Jezebel came to him, and
hearing his complaint, was delighted at the
opportunity it offered of confirming him in
his disposition to rely on herself. She urged
him to rise and enjoy himself without further
care, for that she would obtain for him the
vineyard of Naboth. And she did so. On
the authority of letters sealed by her with the
king's signet, the unhappy Jezreelite was ac-
cused of blasphemy at a public feast, for which
he was stoned to death and his possessions
confiscated to the crown. Jezebel then glee-
fully apprised the king that the coveted vine-
yard was his, and doubtless informed him in
which way it had been acquired. Ahab then
hastened to inspect his new possession, but he
had scarcely entered the place when the most
unexpected and unwelcome sight of the
prophet Elijah met his view. His conscience
made known to him the errand of his stern
monitor, and " Hast thou found me, O mine
enemy?" burst from his lips. Elijah an-
swered, " I have found thee, because thou hast
sold ' thyself to work evil in the eyes of
Jehovah." He then proceeded, in that Great
Name, and in words every one of which bore
a terrible emphasis, to denounce the doom of
utter extermination upon himself and his
house for the iniquities with which he had
polluted the land ; and then, w.th a pointed
reference to the last most iniquitous deed, he
said " Hast thou slain and also taken posses-
sion? In the place where dogs licked the
blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood —
even thine." And as for Jezebel, he foretold
a coming time in which dogs should devour
her by the wall of Jezreel.
The King Alarmed.
Ahab was greatly terrified at this message,
and for once "he humbled himself before the
Lord." His humiliation, indeed, was merely
formal and superficial ; yet, as he allowed the
justice of God and acknowledged his sin, the
Lord had pity upon him, and was pleased to
grant a respite of judgment, so far as regarded
his family, and he was spared the anguish of
witnessing the ruin of his house.
While the land of Israel was thus, during
the reign of Ahab, frequently distracted by
intestine calamities and foreign wars, the
kingdom of Judah enjoyed profound tran-
quility ^nd increasing prosperity under the
mild and pious government of Jehoshaphat,
thf son and successor of Asa. The excellent
prince began to reign 929 B. c, being the
third year of Ahab in Israel. He commenced
his reign by reforming the religious abuses
which had crept in during the later years of his
father's life, or which he had not in his best
years ventured to remove. Thus he not only
destroyed the idols, and every vestige of
idolatry throughout his dominion, but even
demolished "the high places," which were
not directly idolatrous, but at which an
irregular worship, often merging into idolatry,
was carried on. He indeed went deeper than
any other king in his salutary reformations,
He knew that all these corruptions were but
the outward signs, the visible excrescences, of
'
I
if lil
If
I
ii ml
1 Ijj! »1
n
!( i fi
Pi
!
SI f
'^11
1S18
A REFORMAlION IN JUDEA.
the disease of ignorance, and that every
remedy must be insufficient which left un-
touched the inner and exciting cause.
and villages; and so much interest did he
manifest in this matter that he made a tour
through the country to see that his beneficent
ELIJAH AND AHAB IN NABOTH's VINEVARD. — I Kings xxi. 20.
intentions were carried into effect. A thorough
reformation was by such means wrought in
the land of Judah : and the king's devoted-
He therefore took measures to provide for
the people sound instruction in the law of God
at their own homes — in their several towns
THE PROPHET ELIJAH.
219
interest did he
he made a tour
at his beneficent
:t. A thorough
US wrought in
ing's devoted-
ncss to God and his paternal government were
rewarded by the attachment of his subjects,
and by a degree of temporal prosperity such
as had not been enjoyed by any king since
Sblomon.
Ahab was at no time in a condition to seek
OS- gain any advantage over so prosperous a
neighbor; and by this time the kings of Judah
had come to consider the existence of the
separate kingdom as an accomplished fact, in
which they could not but acquiesce. On this
basis a sort of friendship, or rather absence of
holtility, grew up betv/een them, of which we
observe the first manifest signs in the time
of Jehoshaphat and Ahab. This might seem
in itself good, but, considering the unequal
condition of the two kingdoms, was more
likely to be detrimental to Judah than bene-
ficial to Israel. And this proved to be the
case.
A Prophet Imprisoned.
Jehoshaphat could not be insensible to the
vile character of Ahab and his queen ; and it
is not likely that he was the first to seek the
alliance. But a certain degree of softness
which we may trace in his character, and
which, however amiable in private life, mis-
became him as a king, seems to have rendered
him incapable of resisting the flattering ad-
vances of Ahab; and from one step to another
the intimacy at length became so close that
Jehoshaphat consented to the marriage of his
heir with Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and
Jezebel. The alliance being thus strengthened,
we cease to be surprised to find the king of
Judah present at the court of Israel. This
was after the events which have already been
recorded ; and when Ahab was preparing for
a campaign against the Syrians, who, having re-
covered strength, had invaded the territories
of Israel east of the Jordan, and made them-
selves masters of the important fortified town
of Ramoth-Gilead, he invited Jehoshaphat to
join in this expedition, and the latter, as
usual, too easily consented. He was not,
however, accustomed to embark in any im-
portant undertaking without consulting the
Lord, through a prophet or the high-priest ;
and he therefore intimated a wish that this
should be done on the present occasion.
Ahab had no lack of pretended prophets,
and they with one accord promised a signal
victory over the Syrians. Jehoshaphat, how-
ever, was not satisfied, and asked if there was
no other prophet of Jehovah whom they might
consult. Ahab admitted that there was
another, named Micaiah, but declared that he
hated him, because he never prophesied good
of him, but evil. He was, nevertheless, sent
for ; and with great dignity and force of lan-
guage he declared that the expedition would
be fatal to the king himself, but not disastrous
to his army.
On this Ahab, in a high rage, commanded
him to be kept in prison on mouldy bread and
unwholesome water till his return in peace.
The prediction of Micaiah, however, sunk into
his mind, and to avoid his doom, he proposed,
under pretence of honoring Jehoshaphat with
the chief command, that he should wear his
royal robes in the action, while himself would
go disguised as one of his officers. This
expedient had nearly cost Jehoshaphat his
life, as the Syrian soldiers, according to their
instructions, made it their object to kill the
king or take him prisoner; but when they
perceived their error, they desisted. Yet
Ahab escaped not. An arrow "shot at a
venture " penetrated the joints of his harness,
and inflicted a mortal wound. He then with-
drew from the field to have his wound dressed,
but, being anxious not to discourage his
troops, he hastened back to the battle, and
towards evening died in his chariot. As soon
as his death was known, hostilities ceased on
both sides, and the Israelites dispersed quietly
to their own homes without defeat or loss.
Thus was the prediction of Micaiah to the
very letter fulfilled. The body of Ahab was
carried to Samaria, and buried there. The
chariot, soaked with his blood, was washed in
the pool of Jezreel, and there, according to the
prediction of Elijah, did the town dogs lick up
his blood, as they had before licked that of
Naboth. Ahab was succeeded by his son
Ahaziah, b. c. 909.
ill
i ■
i .
i
! i
(220)
THE TRANSLATION OF ELIJAH. — 2 Kings ii. 12.
^1^1
THE PROPHET ELIJAH.
22i
The prophet Elijah, having previously re-
ceived the Divine intimation that the Lord was
about to distinguish him from the rest of man-
kind by translating him into heaven without
undergoing death, and now knowing that the
day was at hand, visited the sons or pupils of
the prophets at Bethel and Jericho, and took
leave of them with such solemnity, that they
were impressed with the conviction that they
should see him no more. This conviction
was shared by the prophet's destined successor,
Elisha, who therefore resolved not to leave his
side till he saw the result. They came to the
Jordan, where the prophet took off his mantle,
and smote therewith the waters, which divided
to give him a passage over.
When they had reached the eastern bank,
the great prophet told Elisha that the timei
was come for him to prefer his last request, i
The other with a strong feeling of the impor-j
tance of the duties which were about to devolve
upon him, answered, " Let a double portion I
of thy spirit rest upon me.'* Elijah told him
that he had asked "a hard thmg ;" but. he
added, " nevertheless, if thou see me when I
am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee."
As they went on, engaged in earnest conver-
sation, suddenly " tiiere appeared a chariot of
fire and horses of fire, and parted them both
asunder, and Elijah went up in a whirlwind
into heaven."
The falling mantle was, according to the still
existing customs of the Hast, an emblem of
his bequeathing to Elisha the office which he
had himself filled ; and on his return to Jericho
the latter tested the virtue of the bequest by
smiting the waters of the Jordan as his master
had done, asking. " Where is the Lord God of
Elijah ?" The call was answered ; the waters
were sundered before him ; and the young
prophets of Jericho, who stood watching in
the distance, knew by this sign their future
master, and gave him the allegiance they had
given his illustrious predecessor.
""Sg..
i^^
CHAPTER XXI.
THE YOUNG HEBREW CAPTIVE
V :i
i 1
OUTHFUL characters
are often made con-
spicuous in the Scrip-
tures, as will be seen
from the history of
Naaman and that great
prophet who was the
immediate successor
of Elijah. The mira-
cles performed by Eli-
sha are related with considerable detail, and
were so signal and important as soon evinced
to the court and people of Israel that in him
God had raised up another witness for the
truth in the midst of a corrupt generation.
Two of the earliest of these followed almost
immediately the foregoing transactions, and
were well calculated to authenticate his mis-
sion in the sight of the people. The town of
Jericho was favorably situated, but the water
of the principal spring was unwholesome,
probably saline, and useless for drink or irri-
gation. When this was represented to Elisha
he took a new vessel full of salt, and repairing
to the springhead, cast in the salt, and from
that moment the waters were sweetened, "and
there was no more death or barren land."
The next was an act of judgment: he was
going up from Jericho to Bethel, the seat of
one of the golden calves, when some of the
youths of that polluted city insulted him as
he passed and followed him with shouts of
" Go up, thou bald head ! go up, thou bald
head !" thereby deriding the recent translation
of Elijah into heaven, and mockingly urging
the prophet to go up after his master. Feel-
ing that God was himself mocked in this de-
rision of an event so signal and so glorious,
and knowing that he was wont to vindicate
the honor of his great deeds, Elisha " turned
back and cursed them in the name of the
Lord." These blasphemous children saw
their homes no more ; for, ere they could re-
turn, two she-bears came forth upon them out
of the wood and destroyed them ; and many
houses in the sinful city were filled with wail-
ing that day.
Jehoram, the new king of Israel, was of a
somewhat better disposition than his father
and brother. He discountenanced the wor-
ship of Baal, but made no attempt to break
down the corruptions and evils which Jero-
boam had introduced, and which, in the course
of time, had more and more become a habit
with the people.
The first public measure of Jehoram was to
reduce the Moabites, who, in consequence of
the heavy tribute in cattle which had been
imposed upon them by Ahab, had revolted
after he had been slain by the Syrians. Jehosh-
aphat was prevailed upon to join him with his
forces in this expedition, probably from the
fear that the revolt, if successful, might en-
courage his own tributary, the king of Edom,
to follow the example. The army of Israel,
to avoid crossing the Jordan, marched south-
ward through the land of Judah, with the
view of invading the land of Moab by going
round by the southern extremity of the Dead
Sea, and in its march was joined by the forces
of Judah and Edom.
This circuitous route occupied seven days,
towards the end of which the army and horses
were greatly distressed from thirst, probably
occasioned by the failure of the wells and
brooks, from which a sufficient supply had
been expected. Already much loss and dis-
couragement had been sustained, and the
army now lay on the border of Moab, and in
the face of the enemy, who had assembled in
force to repel the invasion. In this extremity
the good Jehoshaphat, as usual, thought of
THE YOUNG HEBREW CAPTIVE.
223
seeking council of God through one of his at once repaired. His greeting, addressed to
prophets; and on inquiring for one, it was Jehoram, was not very encouraging : "What
Israel, was of a
than his father
anced the wor-
tempt to break
lis which Jero-
ch, in the course
become a habit
Jehoram was to
consequence of
ivhich had been
b, had revolted
yrians. Jehosh-
oin him with his
abably from the
ssful, might en-
! king of Edom,
army of Israel,
marched south-
fudah, with the
Moab by going
ity of the Dead
ed by the forces
THE CHILDREN OF BETHEL. — 2 Kings ii. 23
<bund that Elisha, " who had poured water on
the hands of Elijah," was present in the camp.
To him the kings of Judah, Israel, and Edom
have I to do with thee? Get thee to the
prophets of thy fether, and to the prophets of
thy mother!" And he added that, were it
f
mi
« 'I
184
A HUMAN SACRIFICE.
not from respect to Jehoshaphat, he would
not have admitted them to his presence. But
now he called for a minstrel, and as the min-
strel played upon his harp, " the hand of the
Lord came upon him," and he promised that
ere the morning dawn water should be abun-
da.it; and also that victory should crown
tlie-r arms.
Death In the -Enemy's Camp.
And so it came to pass. Before the morning
the dried-up beds of the torrents and rivulets
were filled to overflowing ; and in the action
which followed, the Moabites were utterly de-
feated, and the victors in their pursuit of the
army desolated the country with fire and
sword, till they arrived before Kir-haraseth, a
strong city, into which the king of Moab had
thrown himself. Here he was soon reduced
to such extremities that he made a desperate
sally at the head of seven hundred valiant
swordsmen, in the hope of forcing his way
through the lines of the besiegers. Being
foiled in this, he resorted to the horrid expe-
dient of endeavoring to render his cruel gods
propitious by offering Mp to them in sacrifice
his only son — the heir of his throne. He did
this publicly, upon the very walls, in the face
of the besiegers, who were so horror-struck at
the sight that the)' immediately raised the
siege and departed to their own homes. This
movement, however natural, probably had the
lamentable effect of encouraging the king of
Moab to believe his dreadful act had been
effectual in bringing down from his gods the
desired relief.
The Moabites seem to have been highly!
exasperated at the part taken by Jehoshaphat
in this expedition : for not long after we find
them united with kindred and neighboring na-
tions in a most formidable invasion of his ter-
ritories. They formed their camp near En-
gedi, and their force seemed so overwhelming,
that Jehoshaphat felt at once that he was ut-
terly unable to meet them in the field, and that
he had no resources but in God, whom he
might mfer to have been offended at his alli-
ance with the unclean court of Israel. He
therefore, and the people with him, betook
himself to prayer and supplication, and was
answeied by the assurance that the invaders
should fall without one stroke from his sword.
He then marched out against them ; but
when he came "to the watch-tower in the wil-
derness," and there obtained the first view of
the enemy's camp, " behold, they were all dead
bodies fallen to the earth!" They had, it
seems, quarrelled among themselves, probably
about the division of the spoil, and had fought
together with such desperate animosity that
none escaped. The Hebrews were occupied
for three days in gathering the abundant spoil,
which was of immense value. They then re-
turned laden with wealth to Jerusalem, which
they entered to the sound of psalteries and
harps, rejoicing in the favor of God, who had
blessed them with success so signal and so
unexpected.
This event instilled into the minds of the
neighboring nations a .salutary dread of the
good king, and the remainder of his reign was
spent in profound peace. He died b. c. 904,
after he had lived sixty years and reigned
twenty-five.
He was succeeded on the throne by his son,
Jehoram, who had wedded Athaliah,the daugh-
ter of Ahab and Jezebel ; and whose conduct
soon evinced the malignant and fatal influence
of this connection. When we consider the
subsequent conduct of his wife, there is little
room to question that the measures of Jeho-
ram were stimulated by the counsels of the
daughter of Jezebel.
Palace and Temple Plundered.
Immediately upon his accession, Jehoram
concentrated the claims of the royal line in
his own person by destroying all his brethren.
He then proceeded to subvert the worship of
Jehovah, and introduced the Phoenician idola-
tries, which had caused so m^'ch calamity in
the neighboring kingdom, and which had hith-
erto been unexampled in Judah. In Jerusa-
lem the mass of the people were induced by
the influence and example of the court, and in
other parts of the country by persecuto«\ ^o
THE YOUNG HEBREW CAl'lIVE.
225
ith him, betook
ication, and was
hat the invaders
from his sword,
ainst them ; but
tower in the wil-
the first view of
ley were all dead
They had, it
iselves, probably
, and had fought
e animosity that
s were occupied
c abundant spoil,
They then re-
erusalem, which
of psalteries and
God, who had
signal and so
he minds of the
iry dread of the
r of his reign was
le died b. c. 904,
ars and reigned
lirone by his son,
ialiah,thedaugh-
i whose conduct
id fatal influence
we consider the
ife, there is little
easures of Jeho-
counsels of the
lundered.
ession, Jehoram
he royal line in
all his brethren,
t the worship of
Phoenician idola-
r'ch calamity in
which had hith-
lah. In Jerusa-
^cre induced by
:he court, and in
r persecuto«\ 'O
■''4
give in to these new abominations. For this
the prophet of Israel, Elisha, was commis-
sioned to denounce the Divine vengeance
against Jehoram and his family.
The prophet discharged this awful duty by
letter ; and the doom whicii ho predicted was
not long delayed. First, Edom, which had
since David been subject to Judah, revolted,
and succeeded in casting off the yoke it had so
impatiently borne. This sign of weakness en-
couraged other neighboring nations to invade
the land, which they plundered and laid wa.ste.
Even Jerusalem was entered ; the treasures
of the pal ce and the Temple were plundered,
and so great was the helplessness of the king
and so utter his degradation, that even the
sanctity of the royal harem was invaded, and
all its fair inhabitants were carried off, save
only Athaliah, the queen, who remained to be
the source of future misery and punishment to
Judah. All the royal princes were also slain
except Ahaziah, otherwise called Jehoahaz,
the youngest of them all. To complete these
miseries, the miserable king was himself smit-
ten with an incurable disease in the bowels,
under which he languished for two years in
horrible torments, and then died. The voice
of the people denied to his remains the honors
of a royal funeral and of a place in the sepul-
chres of the kings.
BefViendingr a Poor Widow.
Ahaziah, the only surviving son of Tehoram
and Athaliah, then ascended the throne of
Judah. Unhappily for him, " he walked in the
ways of the house of Ariab, for his mother
was his counsellor to do wickedness." His
near relationship to that house, the reigning
king being his mother's brother, drew still
closer the bands of intimacy between the two
courts, and, in the event, involved him in that
utter ruin of Ahab's house which had been
denounced by Elijah.
In Israel, the " schools of the prophets"
had come under the supervision of the prophet
Elish.' ; and the next of his recorded acts was
a miracle of benevolence in behalf of the
widow of one of the " sons of the prophets."
15
Having died without satisfying a debt he had
incurred, the creditor proposed to indemnify
himself by making bondsmen of the two sons.
This Elisha prevented by so multiplying a
small quantity of oil which the woman pos-
sessed, that the price for which it was sold
enabled her to discharge the claim of the harsh
creditor.
Another of his acts arose from the desire to
make some suitable acknowledgment for the
kindne.ss of a benevolent pair, who ob.serving
how often the prophet passed on the way to
Shunem, prepared for his separate use " a
chamber upon the wall," furnishing it with a
bed, a table, a seat, and a lamp, which at their
solicitation he occupied whenever he came to
Shunem. The hospitable couple were child,
less, and, being informed by his servant Gehazi
of their distress on that account, he foretold
that in due time a child should be given to
them in recompense for their kindness. A
son was accordingly born, and lived, and grew
up ; but one day as he went forth to his father
in the harvest-field he was smitten apparently
by a sun-stroke, and complaining of his head
was taken back to the house, where he died
upon his mother's lap. Elisha was then ab*
sent, having gone to Mount Carmel.
The mother went and laid the child upon
the prophet's bed, and hurried away in search
of him. Elisha recognized her at a distance,
and sent his servant to meet her with inquiries
after the welfare of her house. In answer to
the question, " Is the child well ? " she an-
swered with touching significance, " He is
well ; " and without disclosing her errand
pressed forward to the prophet. She threw
herself at his feet, and more by her tears than
words made known her grief. The prophet
was much moved, and, delivering his staff to
Gehazi, directed him to hasten on and lay it on
the face of the child. The mother seems to
have had small faith in this, and remained with
the prophet, who at length concluded to return
with her. They wece met as they went by
Gehazi, who reported that he had followed his
instructions, but that " the child was not
awakened." On reaching the house the
\
i:
h
1 1 1'
''1
IS! ii!
226
SCHOOL OF TIIK I'ROI'IIETS.
prophet sluit liimself up with the child ; and
crc lony he called for the mother and pre-
sented to her the living boy.
frugal meal of pottage had been prepared it
was found that a poisonous gourtl had been
put into the pot by mistake. The young
naaman's captive maid. — 2 Kings v. 3.
■i a
if
Another time, when there was a scarcity in
the land, Elisha was at the school of the
prophets in Gilgal ; and one day when their
prophets cried out in much alarm, " O man of
God, there is death in the pot I " and thereupon
the prophet cast therein a handful of meal,
I
TIIK YOUNG IIKMRKVV CAI'TIVK.
'22T
con pt-cparud it
tjoiird had been
<c. The young
r^
i
ilarm, " O man of
I " and thereupon
handful of meal,
when every obnoxious quality was taken
away.
Tile next event in tl>e liistory of Klisha is
the transaction between him and tiie Syrian
{,'eiicrai Naanian, tiie date of which is not
easily fixed with exactness, and wiuch may
therefore be noticed in the place wliicli it occu-
pies in the sacred narrative.
Naaman was an able and successful com-
mander, who stood very hiy;h in the favor of
his master Henhadad: but he was afflicted
with leprosy, which, from the narrative, would
appear not to have disqualifioi' irom public
service in the same deforce as it would have
done in Israel. Among the slaves of Naaman's
wife was a little Hebrew girl, who had been
among the prisoners taken in some one of the
many incursions of the Syrians into the land
of Israel. This girl, pitying the condition of
her master, one day said to her mistress,
" Would God my lord were with the prophet
who is in Samaria, for he would recover him
of his leprosy." These words excited r.lien-
tion and inquiry, but were not very clearly
understood ; and when the king became ac-
quainted with the matter he said that Naaman
should go with a letter from him to the king
of Israel to be cured of his leprosy. The
great man accordingly set forth with a noble
retinue, and with camels laden with valuables
intended for presents. When he came to
Samaria he caused his letter to be delivered in
all due form to the king, to v hose presence as
a leper he could not be admiited. The letter
was to the effect that the king of Syria had
sent his servant Naaman that the king of Israel
might lay his hand upon him and cure him of
his leprosy. On reading this, king Jehoram
felt it as a mockery and insult. He rent his
clothes and cried, " Am I a God, to kill and to
make alive, that this man doth send unto
me to cure a man of his leprosy?" and he
could find no other motive for so unaccount-
able an application than to quarrel with him.
The news of this strange affair soon spread
through the place, and reached the ears of
Elisha, who forthwith sent to desire that the
Syrian noble should be sent to him. Naaman,
who by thi-s time must have tlistrusteil the
success of his mission, gladly re|)aireil to the
abodi; of tl'.e prophet, and halted ii\ his chariot,
and with his grand retinue, before his door.
As a leper he could not go into the house ;
and he expected that the proplut would come
out and place his hands \ipon him, and that he
should then recover. Instead of this, ICIislia
.sent his .servant to tell him to go and dip
seven times in the river Jordan, and that he
should then be clean. The pri<le of Naaman
was offended .it this message, and he cried,
" Are liot Abana and Pharpar, rivers of
Damascus, Iietter than all the waters in Israel ?
May I not wash in them and be clean ? "
So he turned and went away in a rage.
The Hyrhiii Captnin Cured.
His attendants, more calm, judged better of
the order which he had received ; and the
chief of them, in the name of the rest, drew
near respectfully, and said to him, " My father,
if the prophet had bid thee do some great
thing, wouldst thou not have done it? How
much rather, then, when he saith unto thee,
Wash, and be clean?" This reflection, so
simple and so natural, struck Naaman, and he
consented to obey. Seven times he plunged
into the stream, and at the seventh time he
rose purged of all malady and stain. His
skin, before so much disfigured and broken by
his frightful disease, became pure and r-oft as
that of a new-born child. Then, full of joy
and with gratitude proportioned to his previous
disgust, he returned forthwith \o Elisha.
He now entered the house, and stood before
the venerable man to tender his acknowledg-
ments. His first word was admirable; it was
a profession of faith. " Behold, now I know,"
he said, " that there is no God in all the earth
but in Israel." His second was an expression
of gratitude to the prophet, upon whom he
pressed the rich presents he had brought.
This the holy man refused, that the who'e
honor of this great act might be referred to
its Divine Author.
Naaman ther, with sincere intentions, but
not with very clear notions of the subject,
4^ i
'\\i
ii
3: t;
I'j
.f i
i ir
228
MIRACULOUS HEALING.
begged that /c might take home a mule's I mined to adore. Yet it belonged to his ranis
load of the soil that he might therewith make! to accompany his king to the great temple
NAAMAN AT THE DOOR OF ELISHA. — 2 Kings V. 9.
an altar in Damascus for his own devotions to
the God of Israel, whom alone he was deter- hoped pardon and allowance from God. Will
of Rimmon in Damascus, a.id for this h«-
M
THE YOUNG HEBREW CAPTIVE.
229
red to his rank
c rjrcat temple
^1
a full and happy heart the stranger tlien took j the surrounding country covered with Syrian
leave of the prophet and departed towards his
own heme. The young maid was his bene-
factor.
Elisha's servant Gehazi felt much annoyed
tiiat his master had let slip so rare an oppor-
tunity of enriching himself, and his cupidity
was so strongly excited that he hastened after
the retiring chariots to see what he could get
in his master's name. He was no .sooner ob-
served than the grateful Syrian stopped his
chariots, and alighted to meet even the ser-
vant of the man to whom he owed so great a
blessing. Gehazi stated that a sudden emer-
gency had arisen to render "desirable to his
master a portion of what he had at first de-
clined, Naaman made him take double what
he asked: and when he had deposited his
precious spoil — silver and dresses — in a place
of safety, he repaired to his ma.ster.
Elisha plainly taxed him with his offence,
which he described as graphically as if the
scene had passed before his eyes. " Went
not my heart with thee," he said, " when the
man turned again from his chariot to meet
thee?" and after pointing out the enormity of
his sin, he pronounced the awful punishment,
that the leprosy of which Naaman had been
cured should adhere to him and his forever.
And he went forth from his presence a leper
as white as snow.
The kingdoms of Israel and Syria were soon
again at war with each other. In the first
campaign the Syrians were unsuccessful, as all
their plans and operations were known to the
horsemen and chariots. " Pea;- not," said the
prophet, " for there be more with us than with
them ; " and he opened his eyes to behold the
air more abundantly filled with angelic ho.sts,
assembled in defence of Jehovah's servant, than
was the land with the invading Syrians.
Then, at the prayer of the prophet, God smote
the Syrians with blindness ; and in that state
he conducted them to the gates of Samaria,
where he gave them leave to depart, after
warning them that they were entirely at his
mercy.
Elisha Saves )iis Life.
But this lenity made no impression upon
the heart of Benhadad, who resolved to prose-
cute the war with the utmost vigor. He laid
siege to the capital, which was soon reduced
to the utmost distress, so that the inhabitants
were obliged to have recourse to the most un-
wholesome and unnatural food. So dreadful
were the extremities of famine, that several
women, deaf to all cries of natural affection,
and even to the common feelings of humanity,
fed upon the flesh of their own children.
When the king heard this in public, he rent
his royal robes, and the people saw that under
his magnificence he wore the sackcloth of a
mourner upon his skin. Rendered frantic by
the miseries that saluted his eye and ear on
every side, he gave orders to lay hands upon
Elisha, whom he now accused as the author
of all the miseries which the nation endured.
He commanded an officer to go to his house
and take off his head, while he himself followed.
prophet, and were communicated by him to \ apparently to ensure the execution.
i,\d for this h«-
'om God. Wid
the king of Israel. Benhadad suspected there
was a traitor in his camp ; but his officers as-
sured him that it was the doing of Elisha, who,
said they, " telleth the king of Israel the words
thou speakest in thy bed-chamber." On this
the Syrian prince resolved to put him to
death ; and with this view he sent by night a
body of his best troops to invest Dothan, the
place where the prophet then dwelt, in such a
'iianner that he could not possibly escape.
Indeed, the servant of Elisha himself deemed
all lost when, at the break of day, he beheld
At that moment the prophet announced to
him, in the name of God, that before twenty-
four hours had passed, food, which was at that
moment unattainable at any price, should be
sold for next to nothing in the gate of Samaria.
Next morning the prediction was fulfilled ;
for during the night the Syrians had been
struck with a supernatural panic, deserted their
camp, and fled in the utmost confusion, leav-
ing behind them an immense quantity of pro-
visions, which easily became the spoil of their
victorious pursuers.
:
^^iSBdr
CHAPTER XXII.
DESTRUCTION OF THE ASSYRIAN HOST
MRI governed the house
of Israel for forty-five
years. That sagacious
king pitched on the
strong hill of Samaria
as the site of his capital.
The princes of his houre
cultivated an alliance
with the kings of Judah, which
was cemented by the marriage
of Jehoram and Athaliah. The
adoption of Baal-worship led to
a reaction in the nation, to the
moral triumph of the prophets in the person
of Elijah, and to the extinction of the house
of Ahab in obedience to the bidding of Elisha.
Unparalleled triumphs, but deeper humilia-
tion, awaited the kingdom of Israel under the
dynasty of Jehu. Hazael, the ablest king of
Damascus, reduced Jehoahaz to the condition
of a vassal, and triumphed for a time over
both the disunited Hebrew kingdoms. Almost
the first sign of a restoration of their strength
was a war between them ; and Jehoash, the
grandson of Jehu, entered Jerusalem as the
conqueror of Amaziah. Jehoash also turned
the tide of war against the Syrians ; and Je-
roboam II., the most powerful of all the kings
of Israel, captured Damascus, and recovered
the whole ancient frontier from Hamath to the
Dead Sea. This short-lived greatness expired
with the last king of Jehu's line.
In these paths of righteousness Hezekiah,
king of Judah, found prosperity and peace,
during and after the very time which brought
ruin upon the sister kingdom. He more than
repaired the losses of power and dominion
which the kingdom had sustained in the life-
time of his father.
The king of Judah was at length encouraged
by this prosperity to withhold the heavy tribute
(230)
which his father had agreed to pay to the
Assyrians. As he took this bold step, wiien
the Assyrians were too much engaged else-
where to attend to him, he did not immedi-
ately experience its full consequences. At
length, however, Shalmaneser died, and was
succeeded by his son Sennacherib, who very
soon invaded the kingdom with a great army,
with the full intention of reducing Judah to
the same condition to which the land of Israel
had been reduced by his father.
He subdued the whole country with little
difficulty, as Hezekiah deemed himself unable
to meet him in the field ; and Jerusalem itself
being threatened with a siege, the king of
Judah at length sent to Sennacherib, who was
then besieging Lachish, humbly acknowledg-
ing his ofience, and offering to submit to the
conditions which tho Assyrians might think
proper to impose. The desire of Sennacherib
to proceed against Egypt, which formed his
ulterior object, made him willing to listen to
this application ; and he demanded three hun-
dred talents of silver and thirty talents of
gold ; and this was paid by Hezekiah, although
to raise it he was constrained to exhaust the
royal and the sacred treasures, and even to
strip off the gold with which the doors and
pillars of the temple wore overlaid,
Sennacherib received the treasure of Heze-
kiah ; but after he had taken Ashdod, one of
the keys of Egypt, he began to think that it
would be imprudent to have the power of
Judah essentially unbroken in the rear. He
therefore determined to complete the subjuga-
tion of Judah in the first place — and his recent
observations, with the humble submission of
Hezekiah, could not lead him to expect much
delay or difficulty in the enterprise. He soon
reduced all the places before which he ap-
peared, except Libnah and Lachish, and ex-
to pay to the
Jold step, wlien
I engaged else-
lid not inimedi-
isequences. At
died, and was
:herib, who very
th a great army,
lucingjudah to
he land of Israel
r.
Jntry with little
1 himself unable
Jerusalem itself
:e, the king of
cherib, who was
}Iy acknowledg-
o submit to the
ms might think
; of Sennacherib
fiich formed his
ing to listen to
nded three hun-
hirty talents of
sekiah, although
to exhaust the
^s, and even to
the doors and
-laid.
easure of Heze-
Aslidod, one of
to think that it
the power of
the rear. He
:te the subjuga-
-and his recent
submission of
:o expect much
rise. He soon
which he ap-
chish, and ex-
(231)
232
PROPHECY OF ISAIAH.
cept Jerusalem, to which he sent his general
Rabshakeh, with a very haughty summons to
surrender.
Isaiah the prophet was sent to Hezekiah
with the assurance—" Lo, I will send a blast
upon him, and he shall hear a rumor, and
shall return to his own land, and I will cause
him to fall by the sword in his o\\ n land."
The rumor by which Sennacherib was alarmed
and interrupted was no other than the report
which was spread abroad that Tirhakah, the
Ethiopian king of Upper Egypt, was marching
with an immense army to cut off his retreat.
He then determined to withdraw ; but he first
sent a boastful and insulting letter to Hezekiah,
defying the God of Israel, and threatening
what destruction he would execute upon the
nation when he returned. But that very night
an immense proportion of the Assyrian host,
even one hundred and eighty thousand men,
were smitten by the blast which the prophet
had foretold. Sennacherib, being unable to
meet Tirhakah with the shattered remains of
his army, returned to Nineveh, where in the
exasperation of his overthrow and loss he be-
haved with great severity to the captive Isra-
elites. But his career was soon closed; for
fifty-two days after his return he was slain,
while worshipping in the house of the god
Nisroch, by his two eldest sons. Thus was
the prophecy of Isaiah in every point accom-
plished. The parricides fled into Armenia,
leaving the throne open to their younger
brother, whose name was Esarhaddon. These
blows so weakened the Assyrian monarchy as
not only to relieve Hezekiah from his appre-
hensions but enabled the Babylonians and the
Medes to assert their independence.
This destruction of Sennacherib's proud
host is vividly portrayed in one of the poems
of Lord Byron :
Tlie Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold.
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold ;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the seia,
When the bine wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
Lik'.' the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen;
Like the leaves of the forest when autumn haiii blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and struwn.
For the angel of death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed ;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved — and forever grew still.
And there lay the steed, with his noctril alt wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride,
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.
And there lay the rider, distorted and pale.
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail ;
And the tents were all silent — the banners alone —
The lances unlifted — the trumpets unblown.
And the widows of Asshur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broken in the temple of Baal ;
And the might of the Gentile, imsmote by the sword,
Hath nieited like snow in the glance of the Lord !
The miraculous overthrow of the Assyrians
made a strong impression on the people, and
probably went far in curing the idolatrous
predilections which had been fostered during
the reign of Ahaz. To this we may also in
part attribute the embassy which Hezekiah
received from Merodach Baladan, the king of
Babylon, although this may be primarily
ascribed to the desire of this monarch, who
had thrown off the yoke of Assyria, to estab-
lish a good understanding with a monarch
whose position, with regard to that empire,
resembled his own.
Great Display of Wealth.
Since the
from so distant a region had been
time of Solomon no embassy
seen in
Jerusalem ; and Hezekiah felt much flattered
by the respect and honor which it implied.
He took great pains to magnify his importance,
and to let the stranger see that he was really
entitled to all the attention he had received
from their master. He displayed to them his
treasures, his rarities, his arsenals, his e.stablish-
ments — he was at the very summit of self-
exaltation when he was suddenly cast down
by ihe appearance of the prophet Isaiah, who
asked him what he had shown to the strangers.
The king ingenuously acknowledged that
there was nothing in his palace or among his
dp:struction of the Assyrian host.
233
autumn haili blown,
red and siruwn.
wings on tlie blast,
as he passed ;
deadly and chill,
and forever grew still.
loctril all wide,
breath of his pride,
'hite on the turf,
beating surf.
ind pale,
rust on his mail ;
banners alone —
unblown.
d in their wail,
mpic uf Baal ;
mote by the sword,
ice of the Lord !
of the Assyrians
»n the people, and
ig the idolatrous
n fostered during
5 we may also in
which Hezekiah
adan, the king of
lay be primarily
his monarch, who
Assyria, to estab-
with a monarch
i to that empire,
Wealth.
mon no embassy
lad been seen in
ilt much flattered
vhich it implied,
fy his importance,
:hat he was really
he had received
ayed to them his
nals, his e.itablisli-
sutnmit of self-
ien\y cast down
iphet Isaiah, who
» to the strangers,
nowledged that
ice or among his
treasures that he had not displayed before
them ; on which the prophet uttered the chill-
ing oracle, " Behold the days come that all
that is in thint nouse, and all that thy fathers
exalted spirits much ; but as he understood
that these evils were not to come to pass in
his own days, he abstained from giving way
to his grief.
HEZEKIAH EXHIBITING HIS TREASURES. — 2 Kings XX. IS
iiave laid up in store unto this day, shall be
carried unto Babylon ; nothing shall be left,
saith the Lord." This must have damped his
Hezekiah was "gathered to his fathers"
after having reigned twenty-nine years and
lived fifty-four. If this king had died fifteen
234
MANASSEHS EVIL REIGN.
'! f i;
'1 mi
|r i'ii
years before, according to the prophecy of
Isaiah, a prophecy which was reversed and
failed of fulfilment by reason of Hezekiah's
prayer for life, he would have left no son,
for his son Manasseh was only twelve years
old when his father died ; and it would have
been better for Judah that he should have died
childless than to leave a son who took delight
in undoing all the good of his father's reign —
and such was Manasseh.
This prince was on his accession unfortu-
nately soon surrounded by princes and cour-
tiers friendly to idolatry, and opposed to the
reformations which the late king had taken so
much pains to accomplish, '^hey were not
slow to perceive that their return to power
depended upon the degree of influence which
they might be enabled to establish over the
mind of the young king; while the friends of
the established institutions felt perhaps too
secure in their position to hold a proper guard
against the machinations of their invidious
opponents. The latter, by flattering and
humoring Manasseh, succeeded in training
him to rely upon them, and to concur in their
wishes.
A Wicked Ruler.
In the end, he probably went further than
his leaders intended ; for he proved the most
impious and wicked king that had ever reigned
either in Jerusalem or Samaria. He not only
restored the idolatries of his grandfather Ahaz,
but he totally suppressed the worship of
Jehovah, converting the temple into a house
of Baal, by placing altars dedicated to that
idol in its courts, and setting up his image in
the very sanctuary of God. He filled his
dominions with high places, groves, and altars
consecrated to the service of Baalim, and
caused his children to pass through the fire to
Moloch.
Tlie nation, too, readily falling in with the
king's designs and wishes, both to obtain his
favor and to gratify their own corrupt inclina-
tions, hastened to introduce every kind of
idolatry practised by the surrounding nations ;
and proceeded to such excess of wickedness,
that they became more corrupt and abandoned
than the ancient Canaanites, who had been
driven from the land to make room for their
fathers. Prophets were in mercy sent to re-
prove the infatuated k-ng, and call him to
repentance ; but their rebukes and opposition
only rou.sed his anger, and he caused several
of them to be put to death. The venerable
Isaiah, who had prophesied in Judah ever
since the year that king Uzziah died, is gener-
ally believed by the Jews to have been among
the victims of his wrath. God at length
made known, by one of the prophets, the full
extent of his anger again.st this guilty king
and apostate generation, and declared that he
would " bring such evil upon Jerusalem and
Judah, that whosoever heareth it both his ears
shall tingle, because they had done that which
was evil in his sight to provoke him to anger."
The Captive King.
Surrounding himself with a company of
necromancers, 'nagicians, soothsayers and the
like, Manas.seh listened to them with content,
and closed his ears against all good advice. A
tyrant as well as a fool, he made blood to flow
in the streets of Jerusalem like water, and de-
voted his own children by fire to .strange gods
in the blood-stained valley of Ben Hinhom.
Then, when things were at the worst, came the
Assyrians, and made rnnquest, and took Ma-
nasseh alive, and bound him with fetters, and
carried him away captive, and in captivity he
remained for about twelve years. We read in
the second book of Chronicles that "when he
was in affliction he besought the Lord his God,
and humbled himself greatly before the God
of his father, and prayed unto Him." The
Apocrypha contains a prayer which purports
to be that of Manasseh. When he was per-
mitted to return to his kingdom, he endeavored
to right the wrong he had previously done,
and no doubt ran, as such men do, from one
extreme to the other.
Anion, his son and successor, reigned for
two years only: he imitated his father's ex-
ample in everything but penitence, and was
murdered by his own .servants at the age of
four and twenty, leaving the kingdom in the
DESTRUCTION OF THE ASSYRIAN HOST.
236
who had been
room for their
ercy sent to re-
nd call him to
and opposition
caused several
The venerable
in Judah ever
1 died, is gener-
ave been among
God at length
rophets, the full
this guilty king
eclared that he
n Jerusalem and
I it both his ears
done that which
e him to anger."
a company of
thsayers and the
em with content,
good advice. A
ade blood to flow
<e water, and de-
e to strange gods
Df Ben Hinhom.
e worst, came the
It, and took Ma-
with fetters, and
id in captivity he
ars. We read in
:s that " when he
:he Lord his God,
\r before the God
nto Him." The
r which purports
^hen he was per-
m, he endeavored
previously done,
en do, from one
ssor, reigned for
his father's ex-
litence, and was
ts at the age of
kingdom in the
[hands of his child, Josiah. Josephus says,
I" He was of a most excellent disposition, and
[naturally virtuous, and followed the actions of
[king David as a pattern and a rule to him in
[the whole conduct of his life."
According to this historian, when Josiah
|was twelve years old " he gave demonstration
>f his religion and righteous behavior ; " for
ie brought the people to a sober way of living,
land exhorted them to leave off the opinion
[tliev had of their idoN, because they were not
he succeeded so well in the order of his gov-
ernment, and in piety, with regard to the
Divine worship; and this happened because
the transgressions of the former kings were
seen no more, but quite vanished away ; for
the king went about the city and the whole
country, and cut down the groves that were
devoted to strange gods, and overthrew their
altars ; and if there were any gifts dedicated
to them by his forefathers, he made them igno-
minious, and plucked them down ; and by this
KING JJSIAII DISTROYING IHE IDOLS. — 2 Chron. XXXiv. 4.
I gods, but to worship their own God; and, by
f reflecting on the actions of his progenitors, he
[prudently corrected what they did wrong, like
I a very elderly man, and like one abundantly
[able to understand what was fit to be done.;
\ and what he found they had well done, he ob-
I served all the country over, and imitated the
same; and thus he acted, in following the
wisdom and sagacity of his own nature, and in
compliance with the advice and instruction of
the elders ; for by following the law it was that
means he brought the people back from their
opinions about them to the worship of God.
Josiah repaired the temple; he made public
collections, and without waiting for the receipt
of any large amount, put the contractors to
work, relying on the liberality of the nation."
The nation handsomely responded to the
call ; there was money enough, and more than
enough subscribed for all essential expenses ;
the rest of the money Josiah ordered to be ex-
pended in golden vessels for the holy service —
236
MAGNIFICENT CEREMONIES.
,'ii
k ' =
■ /
I, i- thi
II
I lilil
sacramental plate, as it were, in place of that
which had been carried off by invaders or
misappropriated by kings and priests. In the
ihorough restoration of the Temple, the books
of Moses were discovered, and taken to Josiah.
Startliiisr W'ordM.
When the king heard the great and terrible
words from the book of the law, which was
vcad to him by Shaphan, he rent his clothes,
and evinced great consternation and fear.
From this it is generally supposed that the
portion which was first read to Josiah was the
twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth chapters of
Deuteronomy ; and these were doubtless well
calculated to convince him that the guilt and
danger of his people were much greater than
he had apprehended, and to draw forth the
signs of sorrow and humiliation which he
manifested. Being thus led to fear that the
sentence of v/rath had already gone forth, on
account of the notorious disobedience of his
predecessors, and the crimes of his own gen-
eration, Josiah sent to Huldah, the prophetess,
to inquire of the Lord for himself, and for the
people, concerning the words of the book that
v/as found. The answer was, that the king-
dom and the city were indeed doomed to ruin,
t)ut seeing that hr had himself manifested
sincere dispositions i awards God, he should
have his reward in being gathered to his
fathers before the evil days came. But al-
though the strict terms of this response left
Josiah to conclude that the day of mercy for
Judah had gone by, he none the less endeav-
ored to recall the people to a sense of their
enormous guilt and wickedne.ss, and to make
them engage with piety and sincerity in the
worship of God. Accordingly, having assem-
bled the people in the spacious courts of the
Temple, he caused the law to be there read to
them, after which he on his part, and they on
theirs, bound themselves in the most solemn
manner to serve the Lord only, and to observe
the commandments of the book v/hich had
been read.
After this the king make another tour
through his kingdom, thoroughly to root out
every fragment of the accursed thing which
had brought so much evil upon the land. The
zealous king even extended his pious labor
into the land of Israel, at least so far as Bethel,
which had been the chief seat of the golden-
calf idolatry under the kings of Israel. He
destroyed the altar and high place of Jeroboam,
after first polluting them by burning upon llicni
the bones of men taken out of the adjoining
sepulchres. In the course of this proceeding
the king observed that one of the sepulchres
was distinguished by an inscription, and when
informed that it was the tomb of the man of
God who had, ages before, foretold the very
deed in which he was then engaged, he for-
bore to disturb the dust which it enclosed.
Celebrating tlie Passover.
After this Josiah returned to Jerusalem and
prepared to celebrate the Passover, which had
again been neglected, but which was on this
occasion ob.served with a degree of solemnity
and magnificence even exceeding that ex-
hibited in the celebrated Passover of Hezekiah.
In describing that Passover, the historian
aflfirms that there had been none like it since
the time of Solomon ; but in describing
Josiah's Passover, he goes much further, and
affirms that there had been none like it since
the time of Samuel the prophet.
Josiah continued to reign thirteen years
after this remarkable solemnity ; and during
these years he walked steadily in the ways
of righteousness and truth. But as for the
people, although they were restrained from
open idolatry, it appears that, to a large ex-
tent, they relapsed secretly to their old abomi-
nations, and under a fair outside were ripening
inwardly for the dire judgment which hung
over their heads.
Meanwhile the Assyrian power was getting
weak in the East, and was beginning to give
way to the encroachments of the Medes and
Chaldeans, by which it was ere long over-
thrown. The enterprising monarch of Egypt,
Pharaoh Necho, desiring to avail himself of
this disadvantageous position of his old
enemies, assembled a large army, and com-
ft-
SVy.
DESTRUCTION OF THE ASSYRIAN HOST.
a?:
rsed thing which
on the land. Tiie
his pious labor
St so far as Bethel,
eat of the golden-
igs of Israel. He
place of Jeroboam,
urning upon them
It of the adjoining
of this proceeding
of the sepulchres
icription, and when
mb of the man of
foretold the very
engaged, he for-
lich it enclosed.
Passover.
d to Jerusalem and
'assover, which had
which was on this
legree of solemnity
xceeding that ex-
ssover of Hezekiah.
)ver, the historian
1 none like it since
but in describing
much further, and
> none like it since
)phet.
ign thirteen years
mnity ; and during
eadily in the waj's
h. But as for the
re restrained from
hat, to a large ex-
to their old abomi-
itside were ripening
fment which hun<j
power was getting
beginning to give
of the Medes and
as ere long over-
monarch of Egypt.
t> avail himself of
ition of his old
i armv, and com-
[menced his march along the coast of Pales-
Itine, with the view of securing Carchemish
been to rely too much on Egypt, and, in con»
fidcnce of its support — a confidence .sc.ircely
.:^
'^WEi
^■kx.
^inS^/
fe
^f
W
SHAPHAN READING THE LAW BEFORE KING JOSIAH. — 2 ChroH. XXxiv. 1 8.
and other strong posts on the Euphrates, ever justified by the result — to forego all
The error of preceding kings of Judah had their other obligations. Aware of this error,
238
JEHOAHAZ LOSES HIS CROWN.
:■ 1
as well as mindful of his relation to Assyria,
and of his obligation to defend the frontier
against Egypt, Josiah resolved to oppose the
march of Necho through his territories. This
zeal in the discharge of what he believed to
be his duty to that power of which he was a
vassal cost him his life. The king of Egypt
was very reluctant to employ his arms against
the king of Judah, but finding that Josiah was
resolved to oppose his passage, he gave him
battle. The vast host of Egypt, under one
of the ablest commanders of the age, soon
broke down and dispersed the thin ranks of
Judah and proved themselves conquerors.
A King in Di§gui8e.
Josiah himself fought in disguise, but a
commissioned arrow found him out, and in-
flicted a mortal wound in his neck. His at-
tendants hastened to remove him from the
field, and, placing him in another chariot, con-
veyed him to Jerusalem, where he died. This
death, in the heroic and undaunted discharge
of what he felt to be his duty, was not unworthy
the excellent life which was thus prematurely
brought to a close at the early age of thirty-
nine years. The prophet Jeremiah, who fore-
saw but too clearly the evils of the coming
time, lamented the death of the last good
king in a mournful ode, which has not been
preserved. " The singing men and singing
women," adds the historian, " speak of Josiah
in their lamentations unto this day ; " which
clearly evinces how long and how tender)y the
memory of this excellent king was cht ished
among the people.
The king of Egypt, intent upon his original
design, tarried not to take advantage of the
victory he had gained, which amounted to
nothing less than the conquest of the king-
dom. The people in these difficult circum-
stances took the very unwise course of raising
Jehoahaz, the second son of Josiah, to the
throne, passing by the natural heir ; and, aware
of the respect with which the ceremony of
anointing was regarded by the Egyptians, they
took the unusual course of anointing him king,
with the apparent view of making it more
difficult for Necho to annul their proceedings.
When, however, the Egyptian king roturnod,
about three months after, victorious over the
Assyrians, and understood what had taken
place, he was highly displeased.
The new king was summoned to meet his
nc- r sovereign master at Riblah in Syria,
where he was deprived of the crown he had
too hastily assumed, and the land was con-
demned to pay in tribute a hundred talents of
silver and a talent of gold. When Necho
proceeded homeward, Jehoahaz followed in his
train to Jerusalem, and the city of David once
more saw its own king enter its walls a cap-
tive. On his arrival, Necho bestowed the
crown on Eliakim, the eldest son of Jo£iah,
whose name he changed to Jehoiakim, accord-
ing to a custom frequently obr.ervcd by lords
paramount towards subject princes and slaves.
This was a mark of subjection, but does not
appear to have been much felt as such by
those on whom it was imposed. Then, bear-
ing off the silver and gold which had been
levied upon the people, Necho returned to
Egypt, taking with him the captive Jehoahaz,
who there terminated his short and inglorious
career, according to the prophecies of Jere-
miah.
Jehoiakim, the vassal of Egypt, was twenty-
five years old when he began to reign, and he
sat eleven years upon the throne of Judah.
He was little disposed to carry out the designs
of his excellent father; but suffered all the
goodly order which he had established to be
broken up, and neglected to enforce and ex-
emplify the principles by which his conduct
had been guided. The people, who had never
cordially entered into the late king's r' orma-
tions, now gladly availed themselves of the
license which the example of the court af-
forded, and hastened to plunge with new zest
into their old abominations. On this the
prophet Jeremiah, being divinely commis-
sioned, proceeded to the palace, and in the
presence of the king denounced the judgments
of God upon him and his, unless by timely re-
pentance he turned the Divine wrath aside.
From the palace the prophet proceeded to
1
their proccecllnprs.
m king rotiiiiicd,
ictorioiis over the
wliat had taken
scd.
loiied to meet his
Riblah in Syria,
the crown he had
le land was con-
Kindred talents of
d. When Nccho
laz followed in his
city of David once
er its walls a cap-
:Iio bestowed the
lest son of Josiah,
Jchoiakim, accord-
obr.ervcd by lords
princes and slaves,
ction, but does not
h felt as such by
osed. Then, bear-
d which had been
>Iecho returned to
e captive Jehoahaz,
hort and inglorious
rophecies of Jere-
Egypt, was twenty-
in to reign, and he
throne of Judah.
rry out the designs
ut suffered all the
I established to be
o enforce and ex-
ifhich his conduct
ale, who had never
te king's r orma-
hemselves of the
of the court af-
nge with new zest
IS. On this the
divinely commis-
alace, and in the
:ed the judgments
iless by timely re-
le wrath aside,
jhet proceeded to
(230;
•i40
JKRKMIAIl Hi;i<()RK TlIK COUNCIL.
thcTcmpIe,aiuIcallocItl)t; people to repentance, I Hebrew nation. The .star that had shdne so
intimatin",' tliaf tlieir inccnseil God mi<,dit yet i lon^j reful};ent in the sky wa.s waning, and the
be pacified if they would but turn from their niiuky ^jlooni of dyin^ eni|)irc was settliii;,'
evil way; and forcwarniu}; tiieni tliat their im-
penitence woultl ere lon^j be puni.slietl by the
ovcrtlirow of their jjreat city, and the destruc-
tion of their lioly place : the priests then
present were an^'ercd by this last intimation,
and they laid their hands upon the prophet
and took him before the royal council. But
in that council Jeremiah had a warm friend in
Aliikam, who pleaded for and even justified
him with so much earnestness, that he was
dismissed without injury.
One cannot but be impressed with the fidel-
ity of the Prophet Jeremiah. He foresaw the
coming downfall, and by it his whole soul was
stirred. Gladly would he have saved his na-
tion and delivered it from the impending crisis;
his weapon, however, was the tongue of
prophecy, and not the sword of .steel. It
seems singular to us that a bold, conscientious,
devout man like Jeremiah, speaking the truth,
should have been so resisted and persecuted
by those whose welfare he was seeking. Yet
so it is ; the best things in the world and the
truest have to fight their way.
It needed just sucii a man as Jeremiah for
the emergency which had come upon the
upon the land t)f Solomon, David and Muses.
There comes a time in the great onward move-
ment of national affairs wiien disaster is ii<>t
to be averted. Nations and men travel on to
their doom, and each step is but the natur.il
successor of what lias gone before.
There is something sad in the contempla-
tion of the Hebrew nation face to face with
Babylonia, as we find her at the present time.
The powers of the Kast are bent upon the
destruction of the powers «f the West — the
Orient and the Occident in conflict, while it is
as true in this early period as it is to-day that
" Westward the star of empire takes its waj."
That the captivity of the Jews should ha\c
been so complete and overwhelming is but the
natural outcome of those sins and idolatries
against which they had been rciicatedly
warned. Yet how sad, how strange, that a
chosen people should thus be humiliated and
ground to powder as between upper and
nether millstones! Let nations take warning
that the time of their retribution does not
slumber, and know that
" Though the mills of GoJ grind slowly.
Yet tliey grind exceedingly nm.Tll."
91 !
Iiat Iiml sIkhil' sr>
IS waning,', and the
ipirc was settlini^
David and Moses,
nat onward niovc-
cn disaster is not
men travel on to
is but tlic natural
before.
in tiic contcnipla-
facc to face with
t the present time.
re bent upon the
of the West— the
conflict, while it is
as it is to-day that
^ire takes its way,"
Jews should ha\c
vhelmintj is but the
sins and idolatries
been repeatedly
ow stranj^e, that a
be luuniliatcd and
twecn upper and
itions take warnin},'
:tribution does nut
Dil grind slowly,
ugly small."
CHAPTER XXIII.
CAPTIVITY AND RETURN OF THE JEWS.
IFIREMIAH was then Divinely
cliarged to declare the doom
which impended over the nation,
the desolation of the land, the
exile of its people, and the cap-
tivity of seventy years, Hut as
all this had no effect upon their
obdurated minds, the prophet was
directed to take a roll, and write
thereon all the prophecies which
he had at different times uttered
against the city and people. This
he did by the hand of one of his
disciples, named Haruch, a ready
scribe, who wrote them down from
his lips. When the roll was fin-
ished, the prophet, who was then
in prison on account of his former
predictions, sent Baruch to read it
in the Temple, to the people then
E assembled at the great feast of Expiation;
which he was suffered to do without molesta-
tion.
Soon after this, the Chaldeans appeared be-
fore Jerusalem, which held out against them
for five weeks, when the holy city was taken,
and the king was put in chains to be carried
to Babylon, But having humbled himself be-
fore the conqueror, who was still desirous to
maintain a barrier on the side of Egypt, he
was restored to his kingdom, as a tributary
prince, and Nebuchadnezzar was content to
L withdraw with the vessels and other golden
f spoils of the Temple, with which he sent away
to Babylon several members of the royal
family, and sons of the principal nobles, to ag-
grandize his triumph, and to serve as hostages
for the fidelity of their king.
The later exiles found themselves not alto-
gether strangers at Babylon, or in the other
places to which they were transplanted. Their
16
countrymen of the career captivities v rre set-
tled in various station,> and em .uymcnis, and
some of them held posts o*" f i it under tht
government. By that govei in.ent they were
regarded not as pri- '>ii'?rs, but as uscf'.; emi-
grants ; and, after j whi V, they appear lu have
experienced no other inconveniences than those
which naturally flowed from their regrets after
their own beautiful land; from their position
as strangers in a strarge country ; from the
derision of the natives at the peculiarities of
their religion ; and, very probably, from a dis-
tinctive poll-tax, from which the natives were
exempt.
When Nebuchadnezzjr died, he was suc-
ceeded by his son Eviln.erodach, who imme-
diately released king Jehoiachin, who had
grow,: o!rl in prison, and gave him the highest
placv. , ong the discrowned kings who figured
in his court and took their meat at his table.
But he, who had been thirty-seven years in
wis prison, survived not long his release, for
the record implies that he died before his bene-
factor, who himself reigned but three years.
It may be well to bear in mind that at the
time of the accession of Cyrus, who issued the
decree for the restoration of the Jews to their
own land, all but a few very old people had
been born in the country of their exile, and
had grown up, and formed connections, and
found sources of profitable employment in it.
This being considered, we have the more rea-
son to admire the strength of that religious
zeal, and that attachment to the land of their
fathers, which led them to brave the horrors
of the desert, and the discomforts of a deso-
lated country, rather than to feel surprise that
a large proportion deemed it better to remain
in the land of their exile.
It had long before the event been announced
by the prophets that the period of the exile
(241)
242
THE PERSIAN KINGS.
(t (
I m
VM I
m- li
was to be seventy years, counting from the
first captivity under Jelioiachin. When those
seventy year.; had expired, Cyrus, the Persian,
had just succeeded to the throne of the East,
on tlic death of his uncle Darius. This mon-
arch was the restorer of Israel, to which work
he had been appointed by name many years
before he was born. At his accession to power
in Babylon, Daniel the prophet was still alive,
and there is every reason to conclude that this
venerable personage was high in the esteem of
that illustrious conqueror. The prophet knew
well that the time was come for the restora-
tion of the captives to the land of their fathers,
and there is every probability that it was
through his influence that the decree in favor
of the Jews was issued.
It is highly probable that those important
prophecies which refer to Cyrus were shown
to him and explained to him by the prophet.
If not, this must have been done by some
other Jew ; for the decree itself indicates his
acquaintance with these prophecies, stating
what he could only have known through them.
It begins — " Thus saitn Cyrus, king of Persia :
Jehovah, the God of heaven, hath given mc all
the kingdoms of the earth, and he hath charged
me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which
is in Judah." This as plainly as possible states
that he had acted under the injunctions of
Jehovah, whom he recognizes as "the King
of heaven," and by implication the King of
earth, seeing thr*- he had "given him " all the
kingdoms of the earth.
The importance of this decree has been
somewhat exaggerated. It by no means in-
volved the political emancipation of the He-
brews, or conferred upon them any new or dis-
tinguishing privileges. The yoke of civil bond-
age was still left upon iheir necks, they were
still subjects — not merely tributaries, but sub-
jects — of the Persian empire, and their fair
countrj' was but a province of it, to be ruled
by Persian governors. They were simply per-
mitted to remove from one part of the empire
to another, from the plains to which their con-
querors had removed them, to the ancient hills
in which their fathers dwelt, with encourage-
ment to re-establish themselves there in the
full enjoyment of the worship to which they
were known to be strongly attached.
In these facts we have another explanation
of the circumstance that there were very many
Israelites — a great majority — who found in the
famous decree no sufficient inducement to
abandon the possessions they had acquired in
the land of their exile ; and it has always been
the impression of the Jews themselve? that the
flower of their nation declined to avail them-
selves of the benefit extended to them, but
chose rather to remain amidst the comforts and
ease of Babylon,
The Exiles Returning.
The noble, the high-descended, the wealthy,
are called " the flower " of any nation ; and
these were the classes who chose to remain in
the East : but we cannot well refuse to regard
as the real flower of the Hebrew nation the
zealous and devoted minority, who sighed (or
the land of their fathers, and who, in the lace
of danger and privation, resolved to return to
it. Those who were thus disposed were awak-
ened by the decree as by the sound of a
trumpet, and hastened from all parts to Baby-
lon, the place of rendezvous.
This first caravan of returning exiles was
organized and directed by Zcrubliabel, the
grand.son of King Jehoiachin, and by Jeshua
the high-priest. The number of persons which
composed it was fifty thousand, including
about seven thousand male and female slaves.
Before their departure Cyrus restored to them
the more valuable of the sacred vessels of
gold and silver which had been taken from the
Temple of Jcru.salem by Nebuchadnezzar and
preserved by his successors, and which were
now destined to be again employed in the ser-
vice of the sanctuary. Zerubbabel was also
intrusted with large contributions towards the
expenses of the projected Temple by those
Jews who thought proper to remain in the
land of their exile, and who prob'ibly hoped
in this way to compensate for the deficiency
of their personal service in the sacred cause.
The beasts of burden in this caravan ex*
M
;urning.
ended, the wealthy,
f any nation ; and
chose to remain in
ell refuse to regard
Hebrew nation the
ity, who sighed (or
id who, in the tace
:solved to return to
lisposed were awak-
•y the sound of a
11 all parts to Baby-
is.
jturning exiles was
)y Zcrubljabel, the
chin, and by Jeshua
»er of persons which
housand, including
e and female slaves,
us restored to them
sacred vessels of
been taken from the
Slebuchadnezzar and
irs, and which were
:mployed in the ser-
ierubbabel was also
ibutions towards the
i Temple by those
r to remain in the
/ho prob'ibly hoped
J for the deficiency
I the sacred cause,
in this caravan ex*
KING CVRUS BRINGING FORTH THE VESSELS OF THE LORd's HOUSE. — Ez. i. 7.
(243)
244
CROSSING THE DESERT.
Ill
y
iiiii
f^
I|^ iili
^
II ffl
i ■
1 11
l':\ if
. i.
■•} '4\
teedcd eight thousand, and in the Book of
Ezra the names of those famihes which re-
turned then, and in the subsequent migration,
are very carefully set down, as if to do them
honor.
The persons who prepared to accompany
Ezra to Jerusalem rendezvoused on the banks
of the river Ahava, and their body was found
to contain one thousand seven hundred and
fifty-four adult males. This number, with the
yet so weak, and known to be in possession
of much treasure, would then, and would at
this day, be cxpo.sed to great danger from the
predatory Arab tribes which, from the date
of the earliest historical records to the present
day, have infested the desert country between
Palestine and Babylonia. Ezra knew this
well, and knew that he could easily obtain
from the king a sufficient military escort
across the desert. But this, for the honor of
ARTAXERXES GIVING THE LETTER TO EZRA. — Ez. vii. II.
usual proportion of females and children,
would give about six thousand souls for the
entire party ; but it is likely that the women
and children were not in the usual proportions
of settled and domestic life, but that the op-
portunity was embraced chiefly by young men
unburdened with families. This idea is con-
firmed by the too great readiness which we
find among the returned Hebrews to contract
marriaiges with the daughters of their heathen
neighbors in Palestine. A party so large, and
God, the pious priest was unwilling to do.
He had largely explained to the monarch the
greatness of the God he served, as well as His
power and readiness to preserve all His wor-
shippers from harm ; and after this he felt that
it behooved him to evince his own confidence
in that protection wiiich he had declared to be
all-sufficient. Therefore a day was solemnly
set apart for fasting and prayer, upon the
banks of the Ahava, by which, before they
commenced their march, they cast themselves
CAPTIVITY AND RETURN OF THE JEWS.
245
be in possession
len, and would at
t danger from tlie
:h, from the date
)rds to the present
country between
Ezra knew tins
ould easily obtain
military escort
for the honor of
s unwilling to do.
:o the monarch the
rved, as well as His
eserve all His wor-
fter this he felt that
his own confidence
: had declared to be
day was solemnly
prayer, upon the
which, before they
ley cast themselves
without reserve upon the mercy and care of
God during the perilous journey they were
about to commence.
This confidence in the Divine protection;
was well rewarded, for after a long journey^
of four months— which implies long halts
— the new settlers arrived safely at Jerusalem. '
Ezra without delay opened his commission |
to the royal officers in that quarter, and then
applied himself with much zeal to the arduous '
task which had devolved upon him.
A Great Evil. |
In the book which b ;ars his name Ezra does
not himself particularly record any of his acts,
excepting the measures which he took to in-
sure the removal of the foreign and idolatrous
women, whom many of the people, and even
of the priests and Levites, had married, and
by such marriages had been insensibly led
into much sin against God and against the
first principles of the Mosaical institutions.
When Ezra was first informed of this, the
horror which he manifested was well calcu-
lated to impress the people with the enormity
of their ofifence. He says : " When I heard
this thing I rent my garment and my mantle,
and plucked off the hair of my head and of
my beard, and sat down astonied." At the
evening sacrifice he arose from his stupor, and
having again rent his robes he fell upon his
knees and spread out his hands before God,
confessing the iniquity of his people, and im-
ploring forgiveness for them. The whole con-
gregation was deeply affected, even to tears ;
and the leading men expressed their readiness
to concur in any measures he might deem
suited to meet this great evil.
On this a proclamation was issued for al'
Jews who had married foreign women to i >■■
pear in three days at Jerusalem, under pa .
of forfeiture of their goods. The large assem-
bly which responded to the call evinced the
extent of the evil. Ezra addressed them ear-
nestly, and convinced them of their wrong-
doing ; but as the autumnal rains were set in
and flooded every open place in Jerusalem, he
was content to take their solemn promise to
put away their strange wives, as well as the-
children by them, allowing them time for giv-
ing- effect to their engagement. Ezra and
otiiers formed a court at Jerusalem ; and at
.ippointed times the inhabitants of the several
cities who were implicated in this matter re-
paired thither, accompanied by the elders and
magistrates of their several towns, and sub-
mitted their cases separately to the judgment
of the court. After sitting nearly three
months the court completed its labors, and
the chosen people were then deemed to be
purged from this stain.
While Ezra was thus laboring among his
brethren in Jerusalem, a danger came from a
quarter quite unexpected, which threatened to
involve the whole nation in utter ruin. This
event is minutely recorded in the Book of
Esther, which will require us to look backward
a few years, that the circumstances may be
clearly understood.
A Magrnificent Feast.
In the third year of his reign the king made
a great feast, or rather a succession of feasts,
to all the great lords and princes of his em-
pire. The whole was finished by a separate
feast, held in the court or garden of the palace,
to all the nobles, councillors and great officers
in immediate employment at the court. The
description of this establishment is very inter-
esting to the student of ancient customs ; and
the more closely they are in this instance ex-
amined the more they are found to resemble
those which the same country still exhibits,
affording a remarkable example of the perma-
nent character of Oriental ideas and usages.
The magnificence of this entertainment
seems to have greatly exceeded all that went
before. The tessellated pavement of the
court was of red, blue, black, and white mar-
ble ; and the splendid curtains and coverings
of white, green, and blue, by which the court
was for the occasion turned into a pavilion,
were fastened to pillars of marble by rings of
silver, and by cords of purple and fine linen ;
and the couches on which the guests reclined
were framed in silver and cold.
I '■<
,1 i
J' (!
iiij ::iii
246
ESTHER CHOSEN QUEEN.
Tlie guests drank " royal wine," which was
the wine of Helbon (now Aleppo), from ves-
sels of gold, of elaborate workmanship ; and
we are informed that they drank their wine
" according to the law," which was, it seems,
an excellent rule laid down at the first, that
none should be forced to drink more than he
liked. It does not seem that they much
needed compulsion in this matter, for it is
manifest that the monarch and his guests had
all drunk quite enough when the circumstance
occurred to which these preliminaries lead.
There is no doubt about this, for it is expressly
said that " the king's heart was merry with
wine."
It seems that in their cups these great per-
sonages began to talk about the beauty of
their wosnen. The king vaunted of the su-
preme loveliness of his queen, Vashti, and at
length, to prove his assertions, resolved to
produce her unveiled before them. This gross
breach of all Oriental proprieties, which pre-
clude a woman from showing her face to
strangers, could not have occuried to any one
in his proper senses, and is a clear sign to
mark how far the great Ahasuerus was gone
in drink.
The queen Vashti was at this time giving a
grand entertainment to the women of the
harem ; and when the eunuchs unwelcorr>ely
appeared with the strange and unexpected
summons to the presence of the king and his
courtiers, her womanly modesty and dignity
was shocked, and she very properly refused
to go. This gave the affair quite a new
as-pect. The man whose slightest expression
of will was a law in that vast empire had
been publicly disobeyed by a woman. An
earthquake could not have created a stronger
sensation in the palaces of Shusan; and all
the grandees partook of the royal indignation
and alarm. The fact could not but be bruited
abroad, and how, hereafter, could any man
expect to be obeyed in his own house, after it
became known that the king himself had
been disobeyed ? The matter was too grave
to be settled in a sunmiary manner, and the
king sought the advice of his state council.
Memucan, one of the council, very clearly
expressed the feeling we have described — the
alarm at the ill effect of the queen's example
upon " the ladies of Media and Persia," if the
crime were suffered to go unpuni.shed; and
he proposed that Vashti should no more come
into the king's presence, and that her rojal
state should be given " to another that is bet-
ter than she." This was agreed to, as was
also the further and very sage proposal of this
.same great councillor, that the king should
put forth a decree in all the languages of his
great empire, enacting that " every man should
bear rule in his own house," and that " all the
wives should give to their husbands honor,
both to great and small."
Queen Vashti Dethroned.
History has not recorded the effect of this
decree upon " the ladies of Media and Persia."
Vashti was, however, deposed from her high
place, and all the provinces of the empire
were ransacked for a suitable successor. The
fairest damsels of the empire were, on a hint
from the court, taken and sent to the harem
by the provincial and other governors ; and
from the number thus collected, after they
had become the inmates of the royal harem,
the selection was to be made. Time was con-
sumjd in this ; but at length it proved that
of all the damsels th^s ^^rought together none
was so agreeable to ,..1 ^g as a young Jewess
named Hadessah o: Esther, who was accord-
ingly advanced to the high but precariou.s
honor of " queen."
Esther was an orphan, who had L.jen
brought up by her uncle Mordecai, who, when
her father and mother were dead, " took her
for his own daughter." Mordecai was of the
tribe of Benjamin, descended from a man who
had been exiled with King Jehoiachin. He
seems to have been one of the officers about the
royal court, as his duty kept him in attendance
at the gate of the royal palace. In this ca-
pacity he became privy to a plot between t^wo
of the chamberlains to assassinate the king;
but he contrived to make it known to Esther,
and through her to the king, whereby the
ncil, very clearly
described — tlie
queen's example
id Persia," if the
unpunislied; and
d no more come
that her royal
otlier that is bet-
greed to, as was
proposal of this
the king should
anguages of his
very man should
and that " all the
husbands honor,
hroned.
the effect of this
[edia and Persia."
;d from her high
es of the empire
J successor. Tiie
e were, on a hint
sent to the harem
r governors; and
lected, after they
the royal harem,
. Time was con-
h it proved that
jht together none
is a young Jewess
who was accord-
1 but precarious
who had L.-en
•decai, who, when
dead, " took her
rdecai was of the
from a man who
Jehoiachin. He
officers about the
lim in attendance
ace. In this ca-
alot between ^ivo
sinate the king;
cnown to Esther,
ig, whereby the
QUEEN VASHTI REFUSING TO OBEY THE KING'S COMMAND.— Est. i. 13.
Ill
: i|
k! i
218
HAMAN'S ANGER.
design was frustrated, and the traitors brought
to punishment.
Tlie person who became highest in favor at |
court was an Amalekitc named Haman. j
Mindful of the old enmity between the races of i
Israel and Amaiek, and of the ancient wrongs
which Israel had sworn never to pardon or
forget — Mordecai remained erect among the
crowd of nobles, courtiers, and officers who
waited in the palace courts, and who rendered
their bending homage to the great man as he
passed. This occurred so often that the eye
of Haman at length marked the person of this
unyielding Jew, and none but those who are
aware of the importance which the Orientals
still at this day attach to external marks of
respect can apprehend that dire wrath which
filled his mind at this studied disrespect.
Fiendish Resolve.
When he learned that Mordecai was a
Hebrew he could not but be aware of the
class of feelings by which he was actuated ;
and if an Israelite had cause to hate an
Amaiek ite, had not an Amalekite as good
cause to hate a Jew ? Had not the Hebrews
sworn to exterminate the Amalekites ; and to
the extent of their power had not they done
so? Had not that power which was once so
great, that " higher than Agag " had become a
proverbial description of the highest human
greatness — had it not been broken and reduced
to nought by the conquering sword of Hebrew
kings ? And their hate was not yet appeased ;
for this one Jew could be but regarded as the
exponent of the feeling which burned in every
Hebrew bosom against the line of Amaiek.
Thoughts like these must have dwelt upon
the mind of Haman, for they enable us to dis-
cover, which we cannot do under any other
explanation, a train of ideas and feelings which
might in an ill-regulated mind lead to the
resolution which Haman formed, to use the
vast power which the confidence of the king
left in his hands for the destruction of the
whole Hebrew race.
Not a little remarkable is the mode in
which Haman proceeded to realize his object. I
He took an occasion of mentioning to the
king that there was dispersed through his
empire a people (not naming them) " whose
laws are diverse from all people, neither keep
they the king's laws ; " he hence argued that
it was detrimental to the interests of the crown
that such a people should be suffered to exist ;
and he, therefore, recommended that they
should be destroyed.
The only reasonable objection which could
be urged would be the loss to the revenue of
the capitation tax which these people paid ;
and, to obviate this, Haman offered to deposit
in the roya' treasury not less than ten thou-
sand talents of silver. The offer of this im-
mense sum, which, computed by the Baby-
lonian talent, is equal to ten million dollars —
and that for the mere purpose of gratifying a
bloody whim — evinces the vast wealth whicl;
such favorites of the crown under the ancient
monarchies were able to accumulate ; and this
is the more remarkable when we consider
that this high post was, as in this case, often
occupied by foreigners and slaves, or by the
descendants of such. The king declined this
offer, but consented to what he ought to have •
declined. With culpable, but truly Oriental,
indifference in a matter which concerned the
lives of so many thousands of people, he took
the signet ring from his finger and consigned
it to Haman, by which act he authorized him
to issue in the king's name whatever orders in
this mattet he might think proper.
A Horrid Massacre Decreed.
Thus empowered, Haman hurried the royal
scribes in preparing copies, in different lan-
guages, of a decree which he drew up to ac-
complish his fell intentions, and which were
despatched by swift couriers to all the provinces
of that mighty empire, which extended "from
India to Ethiopia." This decree directed that
all the Jews, wherever found, were to be slain
in one day, " both young and old, little chil-
dren and women." The one day appointed
for this horrid massacre was the thirteenth of
the month Adar, and the people were incited
to become the willing agents of the slaughter
CAPTIVITY AND RETURN OF THE JEWS.
249
.entioning to the
rsed through iii's
g them) " whose
opie, neither keep
cnce argued tliat
rests of tlie crown
suffered to exist ;
lended that they
,tion which could
to the revenue of
lese people paid ;
offered to deposit
ss than ten thou-
j offer of this ini-
:ed by the Baby-
I million dollars —
)se of gratifying a
vast wealth whici;
under the ancient
lumulate ; and this
rhen we consider
in this case, often
slaves, or by the
king declined this
he ought to have •
3ut truly Oriental,
ich concerned the
of people, he took
jer and consigned
he authorized him
whatever orders in
iroper.
I Decreed.
1 hurried the royal
, in different lan-
le drew up to ac-
i, and which were
to all the provinces
;h extended " from
scree directed that
i, were to be slain
tid old, little chil-
ne day appointed
3 the thirteenth of
sople were incited
s of the slaughter
by the slayer being authorized to take to him-
self the spoil of the slain.
It will be seen that the desire of Hanian to
make the destined stroke comp'cte, instant,
and effectual, induced him to take measures
which required time to bring into action; and
during that time, in the wise providence of
God, circumstances occurred which Haman
could not have foreseen, and which brought
his deep-laid scheme to nothing.
When the decree was first put forth in the
metropolis, " the city Shushan was perplexed; "
but " the king and Haman .sat down to drink."
No sooner did Mordecai become acquainted
with the decree than he " rent his clothes, and
put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into
the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and
bitter cry." This appears to have been not
only the expression of his consternation in the
usual way, but to have been designed to draw
the attention of the Jews to the extent of their
danger, and to rouse them to pray to God for
deliverance from the frightful doom which
hung over the chosen race.
Esther within the harem was as one dead to
all that happened beyond its walls. She knew
nothing of the evil that threatened her people,
and Mordecai could have no direct access to
her or communication with her. Her slaves
and eunuchs, however, knew of her relationship
to Mordecai; and his conduct was duly re-
ported to her by them. This was doubtless
partly his object in giving vent to such public
demonstrations of his grief. For Esther no
sooner heard of the sorrow her beloved uncle
manifested, than she sent Hatach, one of the
royal eunuchs, to inquire the cause of his
grief. This gave Mordecai the desired oppor-
tunity of apprising the queen of these trans-
actions, and of urging her, by every consider-
ation dear to a Hebrew heart, to exert her
influence with the king in subverting the plot
of the bloodthirsty favorite. Esther was
ijreatly shocked ; but surrounded by the iron
barriers of etiquette, which in the Persian court
were " strong as death and cruel as the grave,"
she demurred as to the practicability of her in-
terference.
No one, not even the queen, could venture,
without danger of death, to appear uncalled in
that portion of the royal palace which the king
occupied ; and for her to quit the harem and
enter the forbidden precincts would peril her
life, unless the capricious king might chance,
in a fit of good humor, to extend to her the
golden sceptre of his mercy. When this dif-
ficulty was made known to Mordecai, his an-
swer called her to the high resolves which be-
came a daughter of Israel, and he plainly inti-
mated that it was her duty to risk her life for
the deliverance of her people. He with some
sternness warned her that if she declined this
high vocation, God would certainly raise up
help to his people in 'some other quarter,
while she and her father's house would perish:
" And who knoweth," he added, " whether
thou art not come for such a time as this ? "
Esther Bisks Her Life.
On receiving this answer through Hatach,
Esther hesitated no longer ; she rose to what
she believed to be her destiny, and showed
herself equal to the great task which had de-
volved upon her. She .sent one message more
to her uncle, desiring him to call upon the
Jews in Shushan (Susa) to devote themselves
to fasting and prayer to God for his blessing
upon her terrible emprise : " I also and my
maidens," she said, " will fast likewise : and
then will I go into the king, which is not ac-
cording to the law ; — and if I perish, I perish."
On the third day from this Esther put on
her royal apparel, and passing from the harem,
presented herself in the court of the king's
own house, in front of the open hall or divan
where the monarch was seated upon his throne.
When the king beheld her in all her imperial
beauty he was moved by the danger she had
incurred to gain access to his presence, and,
extending the golden sceptre towards her,
said, " What wilt thou, queen Esther, and what
is thy request ? " What a trying moment was
that! what a relief in his gracious act and
words to the full heart of one not by nature or
education suited to daring acts, but who had
wrought up her woman's heart to the mighty
CAPTIVITY AND RETURN OF THE JEWS.
261
sk which had fallen upon her ! She knew
hat she was safe, that all danger to herself was
assed, and that through her her people might
at be delivered. She advanced and touched
e golden sceptre; but ventured no other re-
quest than that the king and Haman would
that day come to a banquet which she had
prepared.
^ The king knew that this banquet was but
-Ivpreliminary to some request that Esther had
If! to prefer : and accordingly, when he honored
|;'it with his presence, he asked her, " What wilt
", thou, queen Esther, and what is thy request?
Even to the half of my kingdom it shall be
performed." She answered by inviting him
and Haman to another feast the ensuing day,
5 with an intimation that she would then make
known the favor she had to ask.
' Haman dcj irted that evening, elated that he
.ytas thus a second time invited to accompany
the king to Esther's banquet. It filled the
cup of his honors ; but in that cup there was
still one bitter drop — the disrespect of Mor-
decai ; for as he passed out of the palace in
this happy mood, his eye fell upon the form
of that unbending Jew, who seemed posted
there to rebuke his spirit, and whose eye proba-
bly glared upon him that day (knowing he had
.been with Esther) with some peculiar meaning,
prophetic of his doom. This made him un-
easy, and turned his joy to bitterness.
Hainan Erects a Gallows.
When he reached home he reported to his
wife the favors which were showered upon
^ him ; adding, as to croWn all, " Yea, Esther
the queen did let no man come into the ban-
quet that she had prepared but myself; and
to-morrow am I invited unto her also with the
, king : " but he continued with bitterness : "Yet
J all this availeth me nothing so long as I see
! Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate. "
I On which his wife and friends advised him to
[prepare a gallows fifty cubits high, " and to-
' morrow speak thou unto the king that Mor-I
I decai may be hanged thereon — then go thou (
merrily unto the banquet." Haman deter-!
mined to take this advice ; and in the morning [
pearly, he was, as his duty required, at the
j palace, to receive the king's commands for the
day — with an intention of also making his
■ small request in the matter of Mordecai.
! In the wise providence of God it was ordered
that in this night the king had been unable to
I sleep ; and he ordered, therefore, that the
chronicles of his kingdom should be brought
and read before him. The hand of the reader
was guided by an unseen power to that part
of the volume in which the plot against the
king's life by two of his chamberlains was re-
corded, as well as its disclosures by Mordecai.
Then said the king, " What honor and dignity
hath been done to Mordecai for this ? " to
which an officer in attendance replied, " There
hath nothing been done for him." Struck with
! this neglect of so great a service, the monarch
determined to repair the wrong forthwith.
■ He directed that any minister in attendance in
i the ante-chamber might be called. This was
, Haman, come to ask the king to hang this
jvery Mordecai.
I The king asked, " What shall be done to the
man v.'hor.i the king delighteth to honor?"
j Now Haman had not the slightest suspicion
that the king could delight to honor anyone
jbut himself, and his answer under this impres-
! sion betrays the inordinate pride and vanity of
his heart. He advised that this favored man
should be arrayed in the most illustrious dress
of honor — raiment that the king himself had
worn— by the hands of the king's most noble
princes — and that thus arrayed he should be
by them conducted on horseback through the
city, while the heralds proclaimed before him
— " Thus shall it be done to the man whom
the king delighteth to honor."
Was ever man cast down from the pinnacle
of his pride into the lowest depths of mortifica-
tion so abruptly as Haman, when the king told
him, as one of "the king's most noble princes "
to whom he himself had assigned this task, to
" go and do as thou hast said to Mordecai the
Jew, that sitteth in the king's gate ! '' — to Mor-
decai, the man in all the world whom he most
hated, and whom he had that very morning
intended to get hanged ! But he had only to
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MORDECAI REFUSING TO PAY HOMAGE TO HAMAN. — Est. V. p.
Ullf
CAPTIVITY AND RKTURN OF TIIK JKVVS.
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obey. With trembling hands he invested with
imperial robes the man he would much sooner
have torn in pieces ; and conducted him through
the city with all tl.v- state and ceremony which
he had intended for himself.
Tlie.se events, strange as they appear to us,
are eminently character! .tic of Persia ; and so
enduring are the essential features of Oriental
character and usages, that there is scarcely a
single circumstance which might not in the
same country have occurred at the present day
without any marked contrariety to existing
maimers. The dress of honor, ar 1, above all,
one that the king has worn, is .still the highc-st
personal di.stinction which a Persian courtier
desires.
The Qiieen'H Bniiqiict.
Haman was no sooner relieved from the ter-
rible restraint imposed upon him, than he hast-
ened to his home " mourning and having his
head covered." When he made known to his
wife and friends the cause of his grief, he found
but little consolation from them. From the
sudden and extraordinary elevation of one
whom Haman had destined for the gallows —
they seem to have argued the special interpo-
sition of a higher power in his behalf, and to
have inferred that the star of Haman was des-
tined to grow pale before that of Mordecai.
" If," said they, " Mordecai be of the seed of
the Tews, before whom thou ha.st begun to fall,
thoi shalt not prevail against him, but si.:: It
cer'-ainly fall before him." They were still
speaking when the royal chamberlains arrived
to hurry Haman off to queen Esther's banquet.
The king and his favorite proceeded to-
gether to the banquet — the former doubtless
curious to know what the important matter it
might be for which Esther had in the first in-
stance perilled her life, and which she deemed
it needful to introduce with so much careful
preparation. Accordingly, at this banquet he
asked again, "What is thy petition, queen
Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and
what is thy reque.st ? and it shall be performed,
even unto the half of my kingdom."
Esther saw that the trying moment was
come, to be then taken or to be forever lost.
It was not lost. She at once poured forth the
great burden of her soul in earnest supplica-
tion : — " If I have found favor in thy sight, O
king, and if it please the king, let my life be
granted to my petition, and my people at my
request. F'or we are sold, I and my people,
to be destroyed, and to be slain, and to perish.
If we had been sold for bondmen and bond-
women, I had held my tongue, although the
enemy could not countervail the king's dam-
age."
Haiiiaii'H Downfall.
The king was thunderstruck at the charge
involved in this passionate address, of a con-
spiracy in some quarter against the life of the
queen and her people; and he exclaimed with
energy, " Who is he, and where is he, that
durst presume in his heart to do so?" The
queen answered, " The adversary and enemy
is — this wicked Haman ! " At that word the
king rose from his seat, and walked forth into
the garden. Haman saw from his manner and
the kindling of his eye that all was lo.st unless
he could turn that precious moment to ac-
count in softening the indignation of Esther.
He rose from his place and drew near to her,
dud in earnest entreaty sought to disperse the
dark wrath which he saw gathering around
him. But she gave no sign of peace ; and in
his agony he fell, in a .state of only half con-
sciousness, upon the low divan wliereon the
queen reclined.
At that moment the king entered, and in the
blindness of his passion drew the worst infer-
ences, from the position in which he was found,
as to his intention in approaching the queen.
The exclamation which rose to his lips, an-
nounced to the ever-ready eunuchs that the
doom of Haman was sealed; and they ap-
proached him and covered his face — for it was
the etiquette in Persia that no criminal might
look upon the king. Every miserable eunuch
now felt free to hasten the descent of the fall-
ing icivorite ; and one of them at that moment
mentioned — " Behold also the gallows fifty cu-
bits high, which Haman hath made for Mor-
decai, who had spoken good for the king,
standing in the house of Haman." The sense
254
A I'ROMrr DliClSlON.
of poetical justice supplied the king with a
prompt decision ; and the sentence, " I Lang
him tliereon ! " went forth from his lips.
So they hanged Haman on the gallows
which he had jjrepared for Mordecai. We are
satisfied witli this ; but are not altogether sat-
isfied that the king, who had. by his culpable
neglect of his duties and his indifference to
human life, made himself a party in the crimes
of Haman, should be the person to pronounce
his doom. But the secret consciousness of
the king that he had himself been in the wrong, ;
only made him the more wroth against the
man who had brought this unpleasant con- ;
sciousness upon him by abusing his confidence. |
Mordecai was now introduced to the pres- 1
ence of the king, whom Esther had made ac- j
quainted with their relationship ; and the com- j
bination of circumstances in his favor induced
the king to confide to him the signet ring (or |
as we should say, " the seals of office ") which I
had been given to Haman. j
The great work of delivering the Hebrew |
people from their doom was, however, not yet
accomplished. Haman was dead, but the de-
cree of the king lived. Therefore, Esther be-
sought him, even with tears, to complete his
work by delivering her people from their still
impending doom : — " For how," said she, "can
I bear to see the evil that will come upon my
people? or how can I endure to see the de-
struction of my kindred ? " The king evinced !
every willingness to rectify the error into which i
Haman had led him ; but he shrunk from the
open acknowledgment of error which a di-l
rectly counter decree would have involved.!
The words of the Persian kings were laws, i
and respect for them as such could only be
maintained by their being made inviolable.
Hence the usage which had confided this power
to the king is said to have constrained him to
caution by precluding him from retracting a
decree which had once been issued. All he
could therefore now do was to authorize the i
Jews to stand upon their defence against those I
who attempted to execute the first edict. This |
might seem no great privilege ; but in fact it i
served to apprise the authorities of the altered 1
mind of the king, and intimated to them that
they would win more favor by neglecting than
by enforcing the first decree.
The execution of this measure was entrusted
to Mordecai ; and he did not deem it of small
importance. Copies of the order, sealed with
the king's signet, were prepared with all pos-
sible dispatch and forwarded to all parts of
the empire by couriers, who were severally
mounted on the kind of animal best suited to
the journey they had to perform. Those who
had an ordinary journey went on horseback;
those who had to traverse mountains rode on
mules ; and those who had to speed across
wide plains and arid deserts were mounted on
young camels and swift dromedaries.
They were commanded to travel with the
utmost speed to anticipate the day appointed
for the massacre ; for, in the wise providence
of God, the very deray wtiich had been
afforded by the desire of Haman to make his
stroke, effectual, left just the time required for
turning its edge aside. Haman under a super-
stition about lucky and unlucky days, still
common in the same country, sought a pro-
pitious day for the execution of the grand de-
sign which has rendered his memory infamous.
The foui teenth day of the month Adar had
been chosen by lot, and who shall say that the
lot had not been determined to this day by
that Divine Providence which shines through-
out the Book of Esther, although the name
of God does not once appear in it ?
The Jews Saved tVoiii Death.
The new decree saved the Jews from de-
struction, but it did not prevent a horrid massa-
cre of them and by them. There were many
who hated the Jews, and there were others
who coveted their possessions, which had been
secured to those who should slay them ; so
that in many places the Jews had a hard fight
for their lives on the fourteenth of the month
Adar. On that day they very wisely assem-
bled in bodies in the places where they resided,
ready to defend themselves; and in some
places they appear to have gone beyond the
strict limits of self-defence, but nowhere did
'I
lated to them that
by neglecting than
sure was entrusted
•t deem it of small
order, sealed with
)ared with all pos-
•d to all parts of
lo were severally
mal best suited to
form. Those who
;nt on horseback;
nountains rode on
id to speed across
were mounted on
>medaries.
to travel with the
the day appointed
le wise providence
wtiich had been
aman to make his
2 time required for
lan under a super-
Inlucky days, still
itry, sought a pro-
•n of the grand de-
memory infamous.
: month Adar had
) shall say that the
:d to this day by
ch shines through-
Ithough the name
.;&■
k
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Vf'
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oiii Death.
he Jews from de-
;nt a horrid massa-
There were many
there were others
ns.which had been
lid slay them ; so
's had a hard fight
:nth of the month
'ery wisely assem-
/here they resided,
;s ; and in some
gone beyond the
, but nowhere did
r K^>,;($E.
^^^c;
AHASUERUS ORDERS THE EXECUTION OF HAMAN.— Est. vii. 8.
(265)
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256
MANY THOUSANDS PERISH.
they touch the spoils of tliose who fell before
them.
One vvcu!d think lliat in Shushan, in the
presence of the court, no attempt to enforce
the edict woula lie made. But it would seem
that the ten sons of Hamnn, and others adverse
to the alte-ed state of affairs, organized an
attempt to carry it into effect. The Jews,
however, had the advantage, for, while it is
not recorded that many of them were slain,
not fewer than eight hundred of their assail-
ants fell before them. Throughout the empire
the slaughter made by the Jews amounted to
not le.3s than seventy-five thousand .iien. The
ancient Jewish writers believe that these wero
chiefly /malekites, and there can be no dor.bt
such of this nation as were dispersed through
the Persian empire would evince peculiar ani-
mosity against the Hebrew race. At all
events one fact shines out very clear, which
is, that seventy-five thousand human beings
perislied because the king had been careless
and unguarded over his wine.
The Feast of Purini.
This result of a danger which had seemed
to threaten the existence of the nation filled
the Jews with a degree of joy coiivMensurate
to its importance ; and it was resolved to
transmit the memory of it to future genera-
tions by observing the day of deliverance as a
yearly festival. Mordecai confirmed this de-
sign by sending letters to all the provinces
enjoining the future observance of the four-
teenth and fifteenth days of Adar, as "the
days in which the Jews had obtained rest
from their enemies, and the month in which
their sorrow had been turned into joy: th?it
they should make them days of feasting and
rejoicing, and of sending presents one to an-
other, and gifts to the poor."
This festival, which is observed among the
Jews to the present day, obtained the name
of Purim, from the Persian word Pitr or" lot,"
on account of the lot which Haman had cast
to obtain a good day for the execution of his
purpose. It is difficult to see by what author-
ity Mordecai could appoint this festival. But
■M
he had become the foremost man of the nation,
and his enactment was too much in accordance
with the popular sentiment to be rejected.
If, however, we may believe the Jewish writors,
it did meet with some oppo'sition from eighty-
five elders, who resisted it as an innovation
not .sanctioned by the law. During this
festival the whole Book of Esther is twice
read in the synagogue, once in the morning
when the feast begins, and again in the next
morning; and whenever the name of Hainan
IS mentioned, the very children are taught to
beat on the benches and to stamp for joy.
After the second reading of the law is finished,
the remainder of the day is spent in sports,
with music and dancing, until the time for
feasting arrives, when usage sanctions, or even
demands, a degree of indulgence by no means
usual among this temperate people.
It is now time to return to Judea, where
Ezra still remained much occupied, probably
in that revision and arrangement of the
Scriptures of the Old Testament which is
usually ascribed to him. Little progress,
however, appears to have been made with the
public works calculated to give strength and
dignity to Jerusalem. This is accounted for
by the fact that permission to surround the
town by a wall had not yet been obtained,
and in those days men liked not to erect
buildings of cost in places unprotected by a
wall. It was not until the twentieth year of
Ahasuerus that permission to fortify the town
was obtained, and this was then brought
about in the following manner, which, how-
ever we approve the result, shows that in the
court of Persia in that age, as in the present,
questions affecting the public interest wae
determined not on their intrinsic merits, but
through the personal influence of favorite
servants and ministers.
A Hebrew Patriot.
We have already seen in the case of Haman
and Mordecai that a foreign extraction was no
bar to advancement in the court of the Persian
kings : accordingly we are not surprised to
find that the high post of cup-bearer to the
CAPTIVITY AND RETURN OF THE JEWS.
207
n of the nation,
h in accordance
[to be rejected.
;; Jewish vvritfrs,
ion from eighty-
an innovation
During this
sther is twice
in the morning
ain in tiic next
lame of Harn.m
n are taught to
stamp for joy.
c law is finished,
spent in sports,
til the time for
mctions, or even
ice by no means
eople.
to Judea, wliere
cupied, probably
igcment of the
anient which is
Little progress,
m made with the
ive strength and
is accounted for
to surround the
t been obtained,
ed not to erect
in protected by a
iventieth year of
I fortify tlie town
i then brought
ler, which, how-
hows that in the
s in the present,
ic interest v\ ere
insic merits, but
;nce of favorite
iot.
; case of Hatiiaii
^traction was no
rt of the Persian
lot surprised to
ip-bearer to the
king was held by a Jew called Nehemiah.
This office was one of great importance, not
only in real dignity, but because it gave
access to the king in his less formal hours,
named Hanani, who had lately arrived from
Judea, such a description of the condition of
the holy city as afflicted him greatly. The
signs of mourning and the traces of grief
CELEBRATING THE FEAST OF PURIM. — Est. ix. 1 9.
and afforded him opportunities of establishing
a feeling of personal kindness towards him-
self on the part of the sovereign.
This Nehemiah, who was a very pious and
zealous Jew, had received from a person
were forbidden things in the Persian court,
where the sunshine of the king's presence was
supposed to spread happiness around, and
where every countenance was expected to be
radiant with cheerfulness, however the heart
tarn
II
I]
1 1
268
NEHEMIAH AT JERUSALEM.
Ns
might be dried up by fierce passions or rent by
anguish.
Nehemiah, however, could not altogether
obliterate from his countenance all trace of
grief: the keen eye of the monardh noted this,
and he was asked the cause of his sadness.
At this question Nehemiah was, with reason,
"greatly afraid." But he was incapable of
evasion, and thinking it best to speak out,
he said, "Let the king live forever; why
should not my countenance be sad when the
city — the place of my fathers' sepulchres —
lieth waste, and the gates thereof are con-
sumed with fire ? " The king then said, " For
what dost thou make request ? " Nehemiah
felt the importance of this moment, and after
a silent aspiration to "the God of the
heavens," he was encouraged to say, " If it
please the king, and if I have found favor in
thy sight, that thou wouldest send me to
Judea, to the city of my fathers' sepulchres,
that I may rebuild it." The king's first
question was, " How long will thy journey
be ? and when wilt thou return ? " and on
receiving a satisfactory answer the king sent
him to Judea as governor of the Jews, and
furnished him with letters to the Persian
governors in those parts, requiring them to
support his authority, and to supply whatever
materials he required for all the works he
was authorized to undertake — the building of
the walls being specially included.
Preparation for the Work.
This was a great event for the Jews, and
gave them dignity in the eyes of the Persians,
who were sensible of Nehemiah's personal
favor at court, which indeed was evinced by the
escort of cavalry which was given him for the
journey to Jerusalem. The real Persians were
therefore disposed to promote the views of the
new governor to the extent of their power;
but the old enemies of Israel, the Samaritans
and Ammonites and Moabites, were " exceed-
ingly vexed " when they heard that " a man
had come to seek the welfare of the Israelites."
Sanballat the Samaritan, and Tobiah the Am-
monite, are particularly mentioned as tlie most
active enemies of the Jews. The latter had
been a slave, but was raised to the government
of some one of the provinces into which Syria
was divided, under the general governor.
Nehemiah did not immediately on his hn
rival disclose the full extent of the powers with
which he was intrusted, as regarded the forti-
fication of the city ; and he seems to have de-
sired to keep them secret till he should be in a
condition to commence operations. After he
had been there three days, and had recovered
from the toil of travel, the governor rode
around the city by night to obtain a clear
notion of the labor he had undertaken.
The People's Zeal.
The next day he convened the priests and
leading men, and said to them, " Ye see the
distress that we are in, how that Jerusalem
lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed
with fire; come and let us build up the wall
of Jerusalem that we be no more a reproach."
He adds, " Then I told them of the kind hand
of my God towards me, as also the words the
king had spoken to me." The evils to which
they had been daily accustomed struck them
less forcibly than they did the newly-arrived
governor; nevertheless they were perfectly
sensible of the importance of the privilege
now obtained, and expressed their eagerness
to commence the work.
As soon as such a commencement was made
as evinced the design to rebuild the walls, the
attempt was treated with derision and insult
by adverse parties already named. But the
work proceeded with great steadiness and
rapidity, every available hand being called to
the service. They worked m bands under
their several chiefs, each band knowing its
allotted task. Work was found for every will-
ing hand, and even goldsmiths, apothecaries,
and shopkeepers (" merchants ") are named
among those who wrought.
The gates were restored, and made strong
with bolts and bars, and the wall arose with
wonderful expedition from the ground. The
rapidity of the work indeed was such as to
suggest to the enemies of Israel an unfounded
11
tu.
The latter had
the government
into which Syria
governor,
ately on his ar.
the powers with
garded the forti-
senis to have de-
lie should be in a
itions. After he
d had recovered
governor rode
obtain a clear
idertaken.
ieal.
the priests and
em, " Ye see the
that Jerusalem
2of are consumed
(uild up the wall
lore a reproach."
of the kind hand
so the words the
le evils to which
ned struck them
he newly-arrived
r were perfectly
of the privilege
1 their eagerness
cement was made
lild the walls, the
;rision and insult
lamed. But the
: steadiness and
d being called to
in bands under
land knowing its
nd for every will-
:hs, apothecaries.
Its") are named
md made strong
I wall arose with
le ground. The
was such as to
ael an unfounded
NEHEMIAH COLLECTING MONEY. — Ne. vi'. 72.
(a»)
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: i
P^
II
li :! ;
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m
RIDICULED BY THE ENEMY.
impression of its slightness, and many ex-
cellent Oriental jokes were passed by them on
the subject : — " Were a jackal to go up against
the stone walls they are building, he would
break them down," was the re .nark with which
Tobiah made Sanballat and his people merry.
Nehemiah felt these taunts very strongly, as
evincing how his people were despised ; but,
nevertiieless, the labor proceeded briskly, "for
the heart of the people was engaged in the
work," and great was their enthusiasm.
" Remember Jehovah, and fight for your
brethren, your sons and your daughters, your
wives and your homes."
By these careful preparations the enemy be-
came aware that their plot was known ; and
as this, even in their view, rendered doubtful
the success of what they had intended as a
sudden surprise, they reluctantly abandoned
their design. Nehemiah did not, however,
deem it prudent to abate the vigilance which
he had established. The hands which had
BUILDING THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM.— Nc. iv. 6.
Finding this to be the case, and seeing the
walls rising, the enemies of Israel became
seriously alarmed, and plotted to put an end
to these operations by force of arms. Informa-
tion of this design transpired, and was brought
to Nehemiah by Jews residing on the borders.
On hearing this, the governor established a
constant watch over the work, by night and
day, and stationed at proper points men well
armed with swords, spears, and bows, whom
he encouraged, in case of being attacked, to
thus been taken from the work were indeed
restored to it ; but every man who wrought on
the wall, and who carried burdens, labored with
one hand, while with the other he held his
weapons of war. This state of things is not
unusual in the East, where men may often be
seen well armed while laboring in the fields.
Nehemiah did not spare his own servants, for
half of them labored in the work, while the
other half stood at arms. Nehemiah himself,
in his anxiety to expedite the work, was con-
CAPTIVITY AND RETURN OF THE JEWS.
261
fight for your
daughters, your
ns the enemy be-
ivas known; and
endered doubtful
ad intended as a
tantly abandoned
id not, however,
e vigilance which
lands which had
work were indeed
in who wrought on
rdens, labored with
other he held his
te of things is not
men may often be
ring in the fields,
s own servants, for
le work, while the
Nehemiah himself,
lie work, was con-
stantly present, with a trumpeter to give signals i penditure, for his hospitable and generous tem-
in case of danger. Thus they wrought and per carried him far beyond the obligations of
watched " from the rising of the morning till | his office. Above one hundred and fifty Jews,
the stars appeared ; " and Nehemiah declares \ not belonging to his establishment, were en-
that during an entire month neither himself tertained at his table, the daily supply of which
nor any of the people once put off their required one ox and six sheep, besides fowl,
clothes. and once every ten days a large supply of
After this an internal disorder, fully as griev- wine.
ous as the outward danger by which they had An the Orientals are but sparing consumers
been threatened, engaged the attention of the of animal food, this consumption implies a
governor. The last season iiad been compara- larger expenditure on other commodities than
tively unproductive, so that the less wealthy would be necessary in northern climates.
I of the people hnd been obliged to mortgage Those who are acquainted with the exactions
their lands, houses, and vineyards, to obtain and oppressions exercised by the officers and
corn or to pay the Persian tribute. The ex- attendants of Persian governors even at the
tent to which the wealthier Jews had availed present day, will best understand the intima-
themsclvesr of the necessities of their brethren tion given by Nehemiah, who, speaking of
to enrich themselves, will appear from the fact former governors, says, " Even their servants
that several of the people complained that bare rule over the people ; but I did not thus,
some of tlieir children had already been because I feared God in my heart."
brought into bond-service; "nor is it in our 1 The enemies of Israel — Sanballat, Tobiah,
power to redeem them," said they, " for other and Gesheni the Arabian — seeing that the
men have our lands and vineyards." wall was now finished, and all strong and com-
plete, save onlv the gates, saw that the time
Neheniiali Indigrnant. f^^ ^^y ^^^^ ^f ^-^^^^ violence had passed.
When all these things were reported to They therefore sought to ensnare the governor,
Nehemiah, he became very angry, .".nd con- to whose influence and energy they justly at-
vened a public assembly, in which he exposed tributed the prosperous aspect which the affairs
and denounced the evil of this proceeding, and of the Jewish people were beginning to as-
drew from the parties a solemn promise to re-jsume, and laid a plot to entangle him.
store ail that they had in this way obtained. '
Then, says Nehemiah, "I shook my lap and j Hiirrying the Work to Completion.
said. So may God shake out every man from Being themselves invested with petty gov-
his house and from his labor, that performethiernments under the Persians, they invited
not tliis promise : even thus may he be shaken Nehemiah to a conference, as if on matters of
out and emptied." It is gratifying to learn common interest, at Chcpirim, in the plain
that the promise thus obtained was kept very { cf Ono. Suspicious of their intentions, he re-
strictly. i turned the discreet answer, "I am doing a
Nehemiah was enabled to act with the more I great work, so that I cannot come down; why
confidence in this matter, as, althov.,^'h he was should the work cease whilst I leave it and
entitled to a larr^c allowance for tiie expenses i come down to you ? " They, however, re-
of his large establi.-^hmcnt as governor, he for-ipeated the invitation not less than four times,
bore to require anything from the people, and, j and, always receiving the same answer, San-
with unexampled liberality, not only gave his|ballat at length sent a servant to him bearing
care and solicitude without pay or reward, but ' an open letter in his hand. In this letter it
bore all the charges of his expensive office was stated to be commonly reported that it
entirely out of his private fortune. Nor did ! was his intention to revolt against the Persians,
this consideration make him sparing in his ex- , whose interests they were bound to watch.
5 ,1
! *
ii
u
'I I
iiiii
262
NEHEMIAH'S PERSEVERANCE.
I iiii
Nehemiah contented himself with a strong
denial of so improbable a charge, and hastened
the completion of the gates, knowing that his
best security, under God, from all these ma-
chinations, la; in ecuiing the defences of the
city. Tiic accusers had, however, some influ-
ential p rtisans even in tlie town, who be-
'■; 'ved, or ;■' ;cted to believe, that the strength
<■-{ Xh-: f<,/jfications might give the Persians
''•e?son to i:rr'Vi\ the accusation ; and who sup-
<,>o.'MJtli:.{ the fact oi the probable grounds
I Vir such a suspicion would justify the adver-
Si..ics to the r^Tsian government, under the
cover of over-zeal for the Persian interests, in
any acts of violence to which they might re-
sort.
These urged Nehemiah to shut himself in
the Temple — on the ground that an assault,
which they alleged to be in contemplation,
was directed entirely against his own person ;
but he knew that this act of shutting himself
up in what was then in fact the citadel of
Jerusalem, would give color to die worst de-
vices of tiic enemy ; and with becoming spirit
he answered, "Should such a man as I flee?
And who like me would go into the Temple to
save his life? I will njt go in."
Beset by spies, w''o cr,rried his words to his
enemies, and anno^ ed by offensive letters n hich
were repeatedly sent to him, Nchenuah yel
persevered steadily in his great task, and at
length, on the twenty-fifth day of the monti;
Elul, only fifty-two days from the commence-
ment — so earnestly had the work been carried
on — he had the satisfaction of seeing it com-
pleted, B. c. 445.
The walls being thus finished and the gates
complete, Ncliemiah was enabled to establish
greatcf order in the city than had before been
possible: keepers were stationed at every one
of the gates, and over the wl.)ic was Hana-
niah,, "a faithful man, who feared God above
mar/," who had it in charge to see the
gati s closed in the evening and properly se-
<: u ed with bolts and bars, and also not to
or ;n them in the morning until " the sun was
h. t." Such regulations are still usual in the
vti ailed towns of the East, and in this case
were peculiarly necessary, as the town, al-
though large, was but thinly peopled, the
houses which it contained being still very Tow,
while the apprehension of danger from the
enemies of Israel had not yet passed away.
After the term of his civil commission had
ceased it appears that I'mh remained at Jeru-
salem, and is supposed, as already intimated,
to have devoted much of his time in collecting
and arranging the sacred books which now
form the canon of the Old Testament. He
was now called forward to read to the people
the li'f.w of Moses, of which it seems to have
beev! known that he had now provided a per-
fect copy. It seems also to have been the
season in which it was directed that the law
should he publicly read to the people, being
every seventh year at the feast of tabernacles.
This regulation had been much neglected, but
now th" people present at Jerusalem for the
feast " assembled as one man in the street be-
fore the water-gate," and required Ezra to
briiig forth and read the book of the law.
Ezra Reads the Book of the Law.
The woit!iy man gladly responded to this
call, and he read the law in the street to all
" who could hear with understanding, from
morning till night." He stood upon a pulpit
or platform of wood which had been made for
the purpose, so that the people might both
see and hear him. The brief notices of this
great solemnity are suggestive and interesting:
" Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the
people, and when he opened it all the peoj)le
stood up, and Ezra blessed Jehovah, the great
God. And all the people with uplifted hands
answered Amen, Amen ; and they bowed their
heads and worshipped Jehovah with their
faces to the ground."
There was one serious difficulty which hjxd,
perhaps, hitherto prevented, since the return
from ."xilc, the law from being thus publicly
read. The mass of the people, born in a for-
eign country, or I, ' children of parents to
whom the language of that country had be-
come a mother-tongue, no longer understood
the language in which the sacred books were
a
IS the town, al-
ly peopled, the
ing still very -cw,
laiigcr from the
passed away,
[commission iiad
:niained at Jem-
ready intimated,
iinc in collecting
oks which noiv
'Testament. He
id to the people
it seems to have
provided a per-
have been the
ed that the law
le people, being
it of tabernacles,
ch neglected, but
Jrusalem for the
in the street be-
E^quired Ezra to
c of the law.
of the Law.
ssponded to this
the street to all
erstanding, from
3d upon a pulpit
id been made for
jple might both
f notices of this
and interesting :
: sight of all the
it all the pcoi)le
hovah, the great
1 uplifted hands
hey bowed their
vah with their
ulty which had,
ince the return
I thus publicly
:, born in a for-
1 of parents to
ountry had be-
jer understood
ed books were
CAPTIVITY AND RETURN OF THE JEWS.
263
1
written. The Chaldee was indeed but another
iiialect than Hebrew of the same great Ara-
maean branch of languages ; but the difference
was sufficient to prevent the one irom being
generally intelligible to those who were only
acquainted with the other.
To meet this difficulty several priests and
Levites were conveniently stationed to repeat
to the people in the Chaldee language that
which Ezra read to them in the Hebrew. The
people, few of whom had been previously ac-
quainted with more than the traditions of the
law, were deeply concerned at much which
they now heard, and wept and mourned
greatly. But they were reminded that the
day was a festival, a day of joy and not of
grief, and Nehemiah dismissed them for the
day with the words: "Go your way, eat the
fat and drink the sweet, and send portions
unto them for whom nothing is provided ; for
this day is holy to our Lord." The people
followed this counsel and " rejoiced exceed-
ingly because they understood the things that
were declared to them."
The readings of the law, after the same
manner, were continued throughout the week.
The extent of the ignorance of their own
institutions into which the people had fallen is
shown by the fact that they knew not until the
second day, when Ezra arrived at that portion
of the law which enjoins the observance, that
they were to abide in huts or booths of green
boughs during the very feast which they were
then celebrating. On hearing this they applied
themselves with great alacrity to remedy the
oversight. They set forth to gather olive
branches, pine branches, palm branches, myrtle
branches, and branches of all thick trees, to
make such verdant booths as the law required
and prescribed.
mi
' -18
CHAPTER XXIV.
JOB AND HIS FRIENDS.
ORE than any
other man Job
was famous
in his day, and
the book that
bears his name is,
in some respects,
the most singular
book in the Holy
Scriptures. It is
an argumentative
and descriptive
poem, with a
prose introduction and conclusion, which
forms the plot or story of the work. This
story is very simple.
In the land of Uz lived Job, an upright
and good man, who had seven sons and three
daughters. He was the wealthiest man in the
country ; and the description of his wealth
shows that the condition of life intended to be
represented is patriarchal, similar to that led
by Abraham, and similar to that now led by
the Arabian Emirs ; or rather to that inter-
mediate condition in which the patriarch has
a fixed residence, and cultivates the ground,
without having relinquished the pastoral
habits of life. Under this condition the
homestead is permanent, cultivation surrounds
it, and the necessary migrations of the flocks
are performed under the care of sons and
servants.
This is the kind of life at one time led by
Isaac, by Laban in Padan-aram, an ' by the
churlish Nabal, whose flocks were sent forth
to feed in the distant wilderness while he
abode in Maon, and had his agricultural I
possessions in Carmel. Job had thus a mixed
m4)
pastoral and agricultural property, and was
very rich in flocks and herds.
It was a custom of Job's sons, who were
grown up and had separate establishments, to
give each in his turn a feast to his brothers
and family, and to this feast the three sisters
were always invited. At the end of such
feasts Job used to send for his children and
purify them by ablution and other observances^
apprehensive lest, in the gayety of the festival,,
they might not have been duly mindful of
God and his worship.
Leaving Job in this prosperous condition,
we have next an allegorical representation of
the courts of heaven, where the sons of God
— the angels — duly present theni.selves before
the Most High. Among them appears Satan,
the evil one, the accuser of the just, whose
unusual presence is noted, and he is asked
whence he came. He answers, " From
wandering over the earth and walking up and
down in it." He is then asked whether in
his wanderings over the earth he had taken
notice of the upright Job, whose integrity
defied the powers of evil. Satan answered,,
with a sneer, that Job had good reasons for
cultivating the service in which he throve .so
well; "but only put forth thine hand and
touch whatever he possesseth, and 'co thy face
will he renounce thee." On this Satan was
permitted to try the virtue of Job to the extent
of all his substance, but was not allowed
to afflict his person.
The effect of this was soon seen. One day,
when the children of Job were feasting, in due
course, in the house of their eldest brother, a
messenger came in alarm and haste to an-
nounce that the Arabians had fallen upon
JOB AND HIS FRIENDS.
loperty, and wa»
the oxen as they were ploughing in the field,
and had driven them off, together with the
asses and that all the servants, except him-
self, had been put to the sword. This man
had scarcely done relating the loss of ^obs
agricultural cattle, when another came in
equal alarm to announce that his flocks, to-
gether with his shepherds, had been destroyed
by lightning from heaven. Then another
swiftly followed to relate that the Chaldaeans
had driven off his camels, and destroyed those
who had the charge of them. Only one thing
was then wanting to complete Job's desolation,
and that came too soon: another terrified
messenger arrived to tell that the house in
which his sons and daughters were feasting
had been blown down by the winds of Heaven,
and all had perished in that overthrow.
Job*8 Dreadful Affliction.
On hearing this, the desolate man arose and
performed the usual acts of a mourner. He
rent his mantle and shaved his head : but the
strength of his soul was not broken ; he fell
upon the ground and worshipped God, saying,
" Naked came'I forth from my n-iother's womb,
and naked shall I return thither. Jehovah
gave, and Jehovah hath taken away : blessed
be the name of Jehovah." It is then added,
that " in all this," that is, up to this time, "Job
sinned not, and uttered nothing rash against
Jehovah."
Again we are conducted to the gates of
heaven, and behold the Lord rejoicing over
the uprightness of his servant, and in the utter
defeat of Satan's devices against him. But
Satan suggested that all other calamities were
light compared with those which took away
ease of body and threatened life. Job had
indeed come forth from the trial which made
him poor and had taken the lives of others :
" But," he said, " put forth thy hand now, and
touch his bone and his flesh, and to thy face
he will renounce thee." But God had confi-
dence in his servant, and said, " Behold, he is
in thy hand, but spare his life."
In consequence of this. Job was speedily
afflicted witli a grievous disease which ren-
dered him loathsome to himself, and an object
of pity to others. Being in the first stage of
the disease covered with sore boils, " from the
crown of his head to the sole of his foot," the
afflicted man — so lately " the greatest of all
the mcii of the Eaat "—sat down mournfully
among the ashes, with a potsherd to scrape his
sores.
In this state of affairs Job's wife next ap-
pears upon the scene. She says to Job, " Dost
thou still retain thine integrity? Renounce
God and die." This was the very object that
Satan himself had in view — to indue? him to
renounce his confidence in God through the
greatness of his losses and the poignancy of
his sufferings. But the trust of Job was still
firm, and he rebuked her in the words : "Thou
speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh.
What ! shall we receive tjood at the hands of
God, and shall we not receive evil ? " And
here again the author pointedly remarks, " In
all this," that is, thus far, " Job sinned not with
his lips."
The tidings of the great calamities which
had befallen Job ere long reached his distant
friends, some of whom set out to give him
comfort ; Bildad the Temanite, from Teman of
Edom ; Eliphaz the Shuhite, from the country
east of the Jordan ; and Zophar, from some
unknown place or city called Naaniah. These
three persons after their journey drew near
his once prosperous and pleasant home : and
they beheld their friend at a distance at which
they could once have easily recognized him.
Disease had so altered his appearance that at
first sight they knew him not ; but when they
found that the wretched object before them was
no other than Job, "they lilted up their voice
and wepi ; and they rent every one his mantle,
and sprinkled dust upon their heads towards
heaven." This mode of expressing their grief
forcibly brings to mind that of Achilles when
informed of the death of Patroclus, as narrated
in Homer's Iliad:
A sudden horror shot through .ill the rhi«{^
And wmpped his senses in the cloud o( »r<ftf;
Cast on the ground, with furious hands he sprekd
The scorching ashes o'er his graceful head ;
I'
ll
li
|jj it'll w i )i
!il '
II '
III
' i
(266)
JOB RECEIVING THE TIDINGS OF HIS RUIN.— Job i. 2a
JOB AND HIS KRIKXDS.
2C7
"■^'ii
/^&Sji
m
r-s
Hii purple garments, and \\\% golden hairs,
Those lie deforms with dust, oiid those he teart;
On the hard sod his groaning breast he threw,
And rolled ond grovelled, as to earth he grew.
They then " sat down with liim upon the
ground scvmi days and seven nights : — and
none spake a word unto him, for they saw that
his grief was very great." This conduct of
tiieiis is so different from that usually pursued
under sucIj circumstances, tiiat we are prepared
by it to entertain a very favorable opinion of
tlieir discretion and right feeling. Seven days,
it will be observed, was the customary time of
mourning among the Orientals : but we are
not to understand that they remained in the
same place and posture during all the seven
days, but that they mourned with him during
all that time in the usual maimer.
At the end of the seven days' mourning,
when no hopes of recovery from his afflicted
condition were entertained by Job, and not
a word of consolation had been offered by his
friends — who in their hearts believed that he
•was suffering for his sins, and that the dis-
pleasure of God was manifested against him
— he then unburdened his heart in the
language of complaint, lamentation, and de-
spair, and bitterly bewailed his lot.
Job Charged with Wickedness.
Then came an earnest discussion between
Job and his friends. The first speaker was
Eliphaz the Temanite. He argued that Job
must have committed some great sin, otherwise
he would not have been so afflicted. He said,
" Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished
being innocent ? or where were the righteous
cut off? Even as I have seen, they that
I)lough iniquity and sow wickedness reap the
same. By the bla.st of God they perish, and
by the breath of His nostrils are they con-
sumed." But Job did not admit the validity
of Kliphaz's arguments. He defended him-
self against the charge of wickedness, telling
them that they overwhelmed the fatherless
and digged a pit for their friend.
Then Bildad the Shuhite took up a similar
discourse to that of Eliphaz, and told Job of
the prosperity of the righteous, while the
wicked are cut off like the rush or flag, that
grows in moist places, and perish while they
are yet green. " So," .says Bildad, " are the
patb f all those that forget God, and the
In .u;'s hope shall perish." And again
he says, " God will not cast away a perfect
man, neither will lie help the evil-doer."
Job's Answer.
But Job answers that there is no such
equal retribution in the world as Bildad sup-
poses. There are, so far as we can see, many
irregularities. God does not, in temporal
affliction, discriminate between the just and
the unjust. He destroyeth the perfect and the
wicked. He does not interfere to prevent
calamities befalling the just. In truth, " the
earth is given into the hand of the wicked."
Job says that though he were to wash his hands
with snow-water, yet God would plunge him
in the ditch, and his own clothes would abhor
him, that is, his integrity would not keep him
from being covered with boils as he now is.
Then Zophar the Naamahthite speaks, and
charges Job with babbling, with telling lies,
and with mocking. Job seemed to want
reverence, and to be calling to account the
justice of God ; but Zophar tells him that God
sees wickedness and considers it ; but vain
man, though born like the wild a.ss's colt,
would yet conceive himself to be wise and able
to judge even of God's dealings with men.
He answers Job that the eyes of the wicked
shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their
life shall be like giving up the ghost.
Job has borne the reproaches of his three
friends, he has heard their arguments, which
were :lothed in pious words, and though
many things had been said by them which
were good in themselves, yet he rebuts the
main inference that his sufferings are a punish-
ment for his secret sins. He answers at first
in a tone of raillery, and tells them that they
are tae people, and wisdom would die witli
them. So far from prosperity always attend-
ing the upright, we often see the tabernacle
of the robbers prosper.
tr^ ^.^■'
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268
JOB REPROACHED BY ELIPHAZ.
If Job could speak to the Almighty, he
would reason with Him ; but as for his friends,
he said, " Oh that ye would altogether hold
eries of man, and the little hope he has of a
day of recompense. He does not try to de>
fend or apologize for God, but looks at facts
JOB AND HIS COMFORTERS. — Job iii. II.
your peace, for that would be your wisdom ; "
but he adds, " though He slay me, yet will
I trust in Him ; but I will maintain mme own
ways before Him," Job draws a mournful
picture of human life, setting forth the mis-
as they are presented to the ordinary view of
men.
Eliphaz, shocked by Job's apparent blas-
phemy, reproaches him with greater severity
than he had done before, and refers to cases
|as of a
to de-
lat facts
JOB AND HIS FRIENDS.
269
of great wickedness being punished ; but Job
cries out, " Miserable comforters are ye all ! "
Other men may have been punished for wick-
edness, but all suffering is not punishment.
The other friends urge the same arguments,
and Job points out facts which overthrow all
their reasoning. " Mark me," he said, " and
be astonished, and lay your hand upon your
mouth. Even when I remember I am afraid,
and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
Wherefore do the wicked live, become old,
yea, are mighty in power? Their seed is es-
tablished in their sight with them, and their
offspring before their eyes. Their houses arc
safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon
them. Their bull gendereth, and faileth not ;
their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf
They send forth their little ones like a. flock,
and their children dance. They take the tim-
brel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the
organ. They spend their days in wealth, and
in a moment go down to the grave." That is,
they are saved from all the terrors of death
and the pains of sickness ; and so they ask
who is the Almighty that they should serve
Him, when they see the good and the bad go
down to the grave together, and the worms
consume them.
Many parts of the Book of Job are highly
poetical and beautiful. In one part he launches
forth into a vivid description of the miseries
of man's life, and implores for a temporary
refuge in the grave till the days of trouble are
overpast. This latter part contains some of
the finest passages in the book.
It begins thus, according to the translation
of Noyes :
Man that is born of woman
Is of few days, and full of trouble :
He groweth up like a flower — and is cut down t
He fleeth also like a shadow and stayeth not.
There is hope for a tree
If it be cut down that it shall sprout u^^ain,
And that its tender branches will not fail.
Though its roots may have grown old in the earth.
And though its trunk be dead upon the ground,
At the scent of water it r.hall bud,
And put forth boughs like a young plant.
But man dieth — and he is gone for ever 1
Man expireth — and where is he ?
This is but one illustration of the wonderful
force and beauty of this remarkable book.
In the end God justifies Job. He is re-
warded with new possessions, a second family,
and great temporal prosperity. God was an-
gry with Job's friends, for they had not spoken
the thing that was right, as Job had.
''im^'
i
i
3 11
i
It
1
CHAPTER XXV.
THE PSALMS AND PROVERBS.
devotional, but
it embodies some
of the finest po-
etry of the Bible,
There are, in-
deed, a few spec-
imens of lyric
poetry before the
time of David ;
but they scarcely
enter into consideration compared with the
fertility of that period in which he lived. In
the earlier history it is but occasionally that
the voice of poetry is heard, as in the song
of Moses at the Red Sea, of Deborah, and of
Hannah. We are therefore surprised, after so
few attempts at lyric poetry, to see so ac-
complished and fertile a poet as David rise
up, as it were, all at once, with several others
in his company.
So rapid a progress presupposes some ade-
quate occasion, some preparatory steps. Seek-
ing for these, many critics have lighted upon
the schools of the prophets, which existed in
the immediately preceding times of Samuel, if
they were not founded by him. Here it is as-
sumed that the composition of Psalms was
cultivated and brought to perfection, and that
here David and others received their educa-
tion in minstrelsy. But this position, when
closely examined, rests on no solid foundation.
If David had frequented the schools of the
prophets, he must have been known to Samuel ;
but there is not the least sign that the prophet
knew him ; there is much to show that he did
not know him till he went to anoint one of
Jesse's sons at Bethlehem, up to which time
(270)
HE Book of Psalms David appears to have been entirely occupied
is not only very with his father's flock.
Indeed, the great intimacy of David with
all that belonged to the shepherd's life, which
supplies so many beautiful and picturesque
images to his Psalms, evinces that his youth
was entirely spent in the care of flocks, and
not in the schools of the prophets. In fact,
David was already famed for his minstrelsy
before Samuel knew him ; and as music and
song were not in those ages separated, we ma\'
conclude that as a poet also the son of Jesse
was already known and celebrated. Natural
taste and capacity, joined to the much practice
which open-air leisure of the shepherd's life
afforded, might have done quite as much for
David as that mere artificial system which is
supposed, without good reason, to have pre-
vailed in the schools of the prophets. Indeed,
the well-known tendency to connect poetry
and music with the pastoral life, as followed
in more genial climates than our own, shows
that David, left so much alone with his flock,
with his God, and with nature, was in the
best possible school for creating such a poet
and such a minstrel as he became.
Notwithstanding the scantiness of the indi-
cations of a pre-existing taste for lyric poetry
among the Hebrews, there is quite enough to
prove that it did not spring at once out of the
dry ground in the time of David, but existed
in at least a sufficient degree to impart the
bent of mind which his pastoral occupa-
tion enabled him with much advantage to cul-
tivate. This is shown even by the short pean
with which the maidens of Israel celebrated
David's own victory over Goliath :
Saul smote his thousands,
But David his ten thousands—
L-
THE PSALMS AND r«.U VERBS.
mt
which exhibits a species of poetry truly lyric
of its kind, though rude and uncultivated.
Still earlier, and in addition to the songs of
Moses, Deborah and Hannah, to which we
have already alluded, we find, particularly
among the women, the practice of music and
having been called " to play " before the Phil-
istines, which, even if understood, as it usually
is, of the dance, does not exclude the accom-
paniments of song and instrumental music.
Facts like these seem abundantly sufficient to
evince the existence of a poetical taste and
HARVEST SCENE IN ANCIENT PALESTINE. — Ps. Ixv. 1 3.
the dance, with which song could not fail to
be connected. Jephthah's daughter came out
to meet her father with timbrels and with
dances. At Shiloh the damsels held a yearly
festival with dances. It has been questioned
whether Samson was not a minstrel, from his
capacitj' among the Hebrew people before the
appearance of David, and relieve us from any
necessity of sending David himself to the
schools of the prophets for his poetical educa-
tion.
In connection with some of the preceding-
li
lit''
THE SHEPHERD OF ISRAEI*
remarks, our attention is drawn to the pastoral
images contained in the Psalms. There is no
single psalm in which a larger number of
images are embodied than in the twenty-third.
The poet, gathering comfort in all troubles
from the conviction of the loving-kindness,
no less than of the power of the God whom
he had served, argues, " The Lord is my Shep-
herd: therefore can I want nothing." This
image is obviously suggested by the care, the
forethought, the management, and the tender-
ness exercised by the Eastern shepherds to
provide for and to defend their flocks in the
unfrequented and wild regions into which they
were often led for pasture.
In another psalm this comparison is even
more emphatically produced : " Give ear, O
Shepherd of Israel — Thou that leadest Joseph
like a flock." In the same sense kings are
also described as standing in this pastoral re-
lation to their people; and although David
did not originate this comparison, no man ever
lived who could use it with the same degree
of force and propriety as one who, like him,
had been called from the pastures to a throne.
This may be instanced by reference to another
psalm : " He chose David also His servant,
and took him away from the sheepfolds. He
took him, that he might feed Jacob His people,
and Israel His inheritance. So he fed them
with a faithful aiid true heart, and ruled them
prudently with all his power."
To apprehend the force of this idea we
should recollect some of the peculiar condi-
tions of the ancient pastoral life. The Hebrew
patriarchs, and in a great measure their de-
scendants, when settled in Canaan, did not
usually intrust their flocks to menials and
strangers, but either tended them in person or
intrusted them to their sons or near relations.
The flock which David himself tended was
that of his father Jesse. In later times the
increase of population and of the town life
led to the use of hired shepherds ; but the
difference of treatment which the flock received
under the different circumstances was most
strongly felt by the Jews, and was on one
occasion most pointedly indicated by our
Saviour, who, in comparing Himself to the
shepherd-owner of a flock, says : " I am the
good Shepherd ; the good Shepherd giveth His
life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling,
and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep
are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth
the sheep and fleeth. The hireling fleeth be-
cause he is an hireling, and careth not for the
sheep." This position of our Saviour is ad-
mirably illustrated by the conduct of David
himself, who combated and slew both a lion
and a bear in defence of his father's flock. If,
therefore, the sheep under the care of the
shepherd-owner may rest in quiet, confident
of lacking nothing which the care of that
shepherd can provide, how much more lie
whose Shepherd is the Lord !
Green Pastures.
The psalm pursues the image by consider-
ing that this kind and powerful Shepherd " shall
feed me in a green pasture, and lead me forth
beside the waters of comfort." This is but
one of many beautiful passages of Scripture
alluding to the practice of the Eastern shep-
herds in leading their flocks from o<ie reffion
to another in search of green pasture. In
winter and early spring the rains compel the
roots and seeds of the desert to shoot, which
in summer were kept down by excessive
drought. But the moisture clothes the wil-
derness with verdure, and with the succulent
and nutritive herbage in which the flocks lux-
uriate and prosper. And when the periodical
drought returns to the wilderness, the shep-
herd leads off his flocks to the mountains, the
streams, and the habitable districts where herb-
age yet remains.
Thus it is an important point of the Eastern
shepherd's character, that he should possess
such a knowledge of the country and its
pasture-grounds as may enable him to move
his flock from one point to another with the
moral certainty of finding good pasturage in
the place to which he is going. The bad, that
is, the ignorant shepherd, exposes his flock tci
the danger of perishing from hunger or fatigue:
from hunger, if no pasture is found in the ex-
THE PSALMS AND PROVERBS.
273
pected place ; from fatigue, in hurrying the
flock from one place to another, in the vague
expectation of finding that which he knows
not where to find.
The Eastern shepherd has a staff of con-
siderable length, with which he keeps his
slieep in order. This is of great use both to
dangerous and dreadful places), I will fear no
evil, for Thou art with me ; Thy rod and Thy
staff, they comfort me."
Many of David's Psalms were written in
times of trouble, when his enemies encom-
passed him about, or were too strong for him.
The fifty-fifth psalm, for instance, is supposed
GOING FORTH TO LABOR. — Ps. civ. 23.
the shepherd and the sheep. It helps the
former to guide his sheep in the right way,
to keep them from danger, to extricate them
from difficulties, and to collect those that stray.
Hence the rod or staff is throughout the Scripr
tures described as a source of confidence, and
not of fear, to the sheep. It is to this the
psalmist alludes, " Though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death (that is, through
18
to relate to the rebellion of Absalom and the
treachery of Ahithophel. His heart was sore
pressed and the terrors of death fell upon him,
and he cried out in his misery, " Oh that I had
wings like a dove ! for then would I fly away,
and be at rest." Glad would he have been to
rise above the earth and to escape its sorrows.
The forty-second psalm referred to the revolt
of Absalom, when David crossed the fords *«^
: t|
m
CHORAL SERVICE.
the Jordan and took refuge at Mahanaim. He
says that his tears had been his meat day and
night, while his enemies taunted him that God
had forsaken him. Then he cried out, " O my
God, my soul is cast down within me : there-
fore will I remember Thee from the land of
Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill
Mizar."
The fifty-ninth psalm is said to refer to the
emissaries of Saul watching the house of David,
that they might kill him. It begins : " Deliver
me from mine enemies, O my God : defend me
from them that rise up against me. Deliver
me from the workers of iniquity, and save me
from bloody men."
Hebrew Music.
" The Psalms of David," says a prominent
writer, " place him among the most eminent
of prophets and holy men. In humility and
tenderness of expression, in loftiness and purity
of religious sentiment, they are without par-
allel. They embody the universal language
of religious emotions. The songs which
cheered the solitudes of Engedi, or animated
the Hebrews as they went along the glens or
hillsides of Judea, have been repeated for ages
in almost every part of the inhabitable world.
How many hearts have they softened, purified,
consoled and exalted, by the deep devotional
seriousness they have kindled, and the views
of the Divine wisdom, holiness, and love to
which they have led ! "
The Psalms contain more allusions to music
and musical instruments than any other por-
tion of Scripture. Music is coeval with poetry.
Musical instruments were the invention of
Jubal ; and as early as the time of Laban we
are introduced to a whole choir. After this,
music and poetry went hand-in-hand, and with
equal pace. Music and (as we have seen)
poetry were held in high estimation ; and so
long as such poetry as that of the Hebrews
was cultivated, we may conclude that music
was not neglected. This might also be in-
ferred from the frequency of its use among
them.
They had music at marriages, at birili-days.
on the days which reminded them of victories
over their enemies, at the inauguration of their
kings, and it even enlivened the journeys
which the law required the Jews to make
three times a year to Jerusalem. In the ser-
vice of the holy tabernacle and of the Temple
the Levites were the musicians ; but on other
occasions any one might use musical instru-
ments. The magnificent choir of Levites,
under suitable leaders and directors, which
David organized for the Temple service, was
kept up by Solomon after the erection of the
Temple, and was preserved till the overthrow
of Jerusalem, although subject to occasional
interruption under idolatrous kings. This
choral establishment must have tended much
to the cultivation of musical taste and power
among the Hebrews. Hence the music and
songs of Zion seem to have had a charm to
the Babylonians.
One of the most beautiful of the Psalms,
composed during the captivity, represents the
exiles as disconsolately hanging their harps
upon the willows growing beside the Euphra-
tes, and as being pressed by the Babylonians
to sing to them one of the songs of Zion,
which produced the striking reply — " How
shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange
land?" After the captivity, however, both
the music and poetry of the Hebrews became
much deteriorated, and lost its earlier charm.
Sweet Melodies.
Respecting the nature of the Hebrew music,
our information is very scanty ; but the similar
history of the art among other ancient nations
may assist our conclusions. It then consisted
not so much in harmony as in unison or
melody. This is the music of nature, and for
a long time, even after the period of antiquity,
it was common among the Greeks and Romans,
and at this day characterizes the music of the
East. It was not the harmony of differing
or dissonant sounds, but the voice, modulated
after the tones of the lyre, that constituted the
charm of the ancient music. The whole of
antiquity is full of stories in praise of this
music, and relating the wonderful influence
THE PSALMS AND PROVERBS.
ffr»
over human passion and feeling which it ac-
quired. That this ancient music did possess a
wonderful mastery over the heart of man seems
the Book of Psalms. It is a very singular fact
that no instrument answering to a harp exists
in the modern East; and we could notbecer-
ANCIENT MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. — Ps. Cxl.
as well established as any of the historical facts
concerning which no doubt is entertained.
Frequent mention of the harp is made in
tain that it even ever did exist, but for the
figures which appear in the Egyptian tombs,
where we find harps of different kinds. The
iHnl
276
THE HEBREW HARP.
^
word translated "harp" in our version is
" kinnor," and was more probably a sort of
lyre than a harp. It is one of the instruments
of which Jubal was the inventor, and is that
of which David was so complete a master.
One circumstance highly in favor of this con-
clusion is, that the ancient versions of the
Scripture translate the Hebrew word by terms
which were applied by the Greeks and Ro-
mans to their different kinds of lyres, of which
there were many, thus leaving us in great un-
certainty as to the kind of lyre that might be
intended.
The Oldest of Stringed InHtriiments.
It may be further remarked, that from the
brief intimations in Scripture respecting the
" kinnor," it appears that it was not a large
and heavy instrument resting on the ground
when played, as the word " harp " would sug-
gest to our minds ; but a light and portable
instrument, which the musiqjan bore upon his
hand or arm, and might walk or dance as he
played thereon. In fact, the " kinnor " is de-
scribed as being used for the purposes, on the
occasions, and in the manner in which we
know the ancient lyre, and not the harp, to
have been employed.
It is also to be observed that the "kinnor"
is described in the Scripture as the most an-
cient of stringed instruments ; and it is to the
lyre that the classical ancients ascribe the same
priority of origin ; and in Egypt the lyre is
found on monuments more ancient than those
on which the harp is seen. The lyre was also
the most common stringed instrument among
the ancient nations. It is impossible, there-
fore, that it should not have been in use
among the Hebrews, and being known to them,
there is no other of their instruments than the
" kinnor " which can be with any probability
referred to it.
On the Egyptian monuments no lyre occurs
exactly similar to that which is supposed" to
be the representation of a Jewish lyre by an
Egyptian artist. The difference forms its dis-
tinctive character as a foreign instrument, for
it is undoubtedly foreign, whether it be Jewish
or not. Yet it does not greatly differ from
the Egyptian instrument. They are the same
in size, in power, and in the general form and
principle of construction. In both alike the
strings are stretched upon an open frame, and
then prolonged over a hollow and sonorous
body of wood. Several other lyres are found
on the monuments, and although their shapes
and ornaments are different, this is the princi-
ple in all of them.
The Grecian fable respecting the origin of
the lyre shows that this must have been the
case with all the more ancient lyres, with which
the weight of evidence would class the He-
brew " kinnor." It is very remarkable also
that this fable refers the origin of the lyre to
the banks of the Nile, showing that the Greeks
at least had their instrument from that quarter.
It is thus related by the Athenian mytholo-
gist, Apollodorus : — " The Nile, after having
overflowed the whole country of Egypt, when
it returned within its natural bounds left on
the shore a great number of animals of various
kinds, and among the rest a tortoise, the flesh
of which being dried and wasted by the sun,
nothing remained but nerves and cartilages,
and these, being braced and contracted by the
drying heat, became sonorous. Mercury, walk-
ing along the banks of the river, happened to
strike his foot again.st this shell, and was so
pleased with the sound produced, that the idea
of a lyre presented itself to his mind. He
therefore constructed the instrument in the
form of a tortoise, and strung it with the dried
sinews of dead animals."
Hence we observe that many of the Greek
lyres have that tortoise-shape which this story
would lead us to expect. The fable itself is,
with some variation, related by Homer in his
" Hymn to Hermes." The description of the
primitive instrument is thus rendered by a
modern poet:
«
And through the stone-shelled tortoise's strong skin
At proper dist,inces small holes he made.
And fastened the cut stems of seeds within,
And with a piece of leather overlaid
The open space, and fixed the cubits in.
Fitting the bridge to both, and stretched o'er all
THE PSALMS AND PROVERBS.
277
Symphoniout chorda both strong and rhythmical.
When he had wrought the lovely inMrument,
He tied the chordi, and made divisions meet,
Preluding with the plectrum, and there went
Up from lieneath his hands a tumult sweet
or mighty sounds, and Trom his lips he sent
A strain of unpremeditated wit,
Joyous and wild.
It may further illustrate this to remark that
grave, the mean, and the acute, he made the
grave answer to winter, the mean to spring,
and the acute to summer; and it is a well-
known fact that not only the Egyptians, but
the Greeks, divided their year into not more
than three seasons, spring, summer, and win-
ter, corresponding to the three sounds,"
The tambourine or tabret must be described
JEWISH CAPTIVES IN BABYLONIA. — Ps. CXXXVii. 4.
Hermes, or Mercury, to whom the invention
of the lyre is thus ascribed, was himself of
Egyptian origin, like many other of the gods
of the Grecian mythology. So, Diodorus
Siculus makes him one of the counsellors of
Osiris in Egypt; and by this author he is said,
among other useful things, " to have invented
the lyre, furnishing it with three strings, in al-
lusion to the seasons of the year. For these
strings, producing three dif!erent sounds, the
generally as a wooden frame covered with
skin, and struck by the hands. But they were
by no means all of one shape ; and it appears
that the Hebrew word comprehends every
known shape of the instrument, just as we
should undoubtedly call every instrument of
the kind a "tambourine," whether it were
round, oval, square, or oblong.
Tambourines were undoubtedly known in
Syria before the Hebrew fathers had any
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278
A GRECIAN LEGEND.
knowledge of Egypt for we find that Laban
laniciUcd tliut no opportunity had been given
him of sending Jacob away " with songs, with
tabret, and with harp." Miriam, the sister of
Moses, and the females with her, accompanied
their song of victory with the sound of this
jistrument. Job was acquainted with it, and
" timbrel-playing damsels," and is nowhere
described as being employed in battle, or for
any warlike purpose. In short, it was applied
to exactly the same purposes as by other na-
tions, who used it in dances, in attestations of
gladness, at festivals, and on such like occa-
sions. So we find it represented in the Egyp-
THE SWEET SINGER OF
David employed it in all the festivities of his
reh'gion. Isaiah adduces it as an instrument
employed by voluptuaries, but left in silence
on the breaking out of wars and desolations.
The occasion on which this instrument is
mentioned is always one of joy ; and, for the
most part, those who play upon it are females,
who on this very account have the name of
ISRAEL. — Ps. Ixxii. 20.
tian sculptures, and it is more than likely that
the forms which are represented in these
sculptures are the same as those of the He-
brew instrument, as there is a strong resem-
blance between them.
These are of three kinds, differing probably
in sound as well as in form : one is circular,
another oblong, and a third consisting of two
THE PSALMS AND PROVERBS.
27P
awhere
or for
pplicd
ler na-
ions of
occa-
Kgyp-
\y that
these
le He-
resem-
obably
ircular,
of two
squares separated by a bar. They were all
beaten by the hand and uticd as an accompa-
niment to the harp and other instruments.
Men and women used thorn, but most usually
the latter, who are often represented as dancing
to them unaccompanied by other instruments.
A Popular Iiwtrunient.
From the imperfect representation of those
in the tombs at Thebes, it is difficult to say
whether the Egyptian tambourine had the
same movable piece of metal let into its
wooden frame, as in those of the present day,
but their mode of playing it was similar; and,
from the manner in which it is held up after
having been struck, we may venture to con-
clude that they were furnished with metal
rings, for the free emission of whose sound
this position was peculiarly calculated. These
appendages of the tambourine were certainly
very ancient. It is .seen from the paintings at
Herculaneum that the Greek tambourine was
furnished with balls of metal, pendent from
the front part, or from the centre of its circular
rim, to which each appears to have been
attached by a short thong. Here also, on
classic ground, the instrument was mostly
confined to women, and chiefly used in the
festivals of Bacchus and Cybele.
There is even now no instrument of music
more common in the East than the tambou-
rine. And it is also constantly met with in
Northern and Western Africa. The Arabian
tambourine, which may be taken as a type of
the whole, is a broad hoop covered with a
stretched skin. In the rim there are usually
thin, round pulleys, or wheels of metal, which
also make some noise. It is played in the
same way as with us ; and, indeed, our tam-
bourine is derived from this indirectly through
Spain.
No musical instrument is perhaps so much
employed in Turkey as this. When the females
in their harem dance, the time is always beaten
with this instrument. It would seem that the
Egyptian females, dancing and singing to the
tambourine, and bearing palm branches and
green twigs, were wont to visit the tombs of
their deceased friends. Something of this
may be traced in the Friday vi.sit of the Mos-
lem women to the cemeteries, and, what is
more remarkable, the tambourine is still used
on these occasions, when the death is recent,
to accompany the notes of wailing. I'or the
same purpose it is used by the professed wail-
ing-women when employed in the house of
mourning. In this respect it seems now to
occupy the place of the funeral pipe of the
ancient Hebrews ; and yet we are not sure
that they had not .some such use for the tam-
bourine; for the image in Nahum in which
women in the act of mourning are described
as " tabering upon their breasts," would seem
to have been derived from some such usage.
Itell(;ioiiH ProvessioiiH.
Painters usually represent the Hebrew tabret
by a small kcttlc-drum, and although the
tambourine i.«, without doubt, the instrument
principally denoted, we should be reluctant to
aver that a kind of kettle-drum may not have
been included. From its general shape, as well
as from being beaten by the hands, it appears
to have been similar to the present darookha
drum of Egypt and Arabia. It is made of
parchment strained and glued over a funnel-
shaped case (often of pottery), which is a
hollow cylinder, with a truncated cone at-
tached to it. It is beaten by the hand, and
when relaxed is braced by exposing it for a
few moments to the sun or the heat of the
fire.
Cymbals are often mentioned in the Psalms ;
and it is not doubted tiiat instruments of this
kind are really to be understood by the word
thus translated. These instruments were
known to the ancient Egyptians, of a shape
nearly similar to our own, and made of a
mixed metal, apparently brass, or a compound
of brass and silver. The classical cymbals
were also similar, and the same .shape is still
preserved in the East. Cymbals were much
employed in the religious processions and
sacred mysteries of the ancients.
Among the Israelites the use of trumpets
was prescribed by a Divine regulation, by which
1
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!' if
280
ANCIENT TRUMPETS.
Moses was directed to make two trumpets
of beaten silver for sacerdotal uses. There is
little doubt that the original form of these
trumpets was perpetuated in those in after
ages made for the Temple service ; and of these
we happen to have authentic figures in the
sculptures on the arch of Titus, which fully
correspond with the Mosaical intimations, and
also with the description of Josephus, who, as
a priest, doubtless framed his account after
those which were in his time actually in use.
Moses, he says, " invented a species of trum-
pet of silver. Its length was little less than a
cubit, and it was somewhat thicker than a flute.
Its opening was oblong, so as to permit blow-
ing in it with the mouth. At the lower end
it had the form of a bell."
These accounts tally very closely with the
figures of trumpets which we observe on the
Egyptian monuments. It is about a foot and
a half long, apparently f>f brass (being colored
yellow) ; and when sounded it was held with
both hands, and either used singly or as part
of the military band, with the drum and other
instruments. It was straight, like the Roman
tuba, or our common trumpet, and appears to
have been particularly, although not exclu-
sively, appropriated to martial uses.
Moses was commanded to make only two
trumpets, because the priests for whose use
they were intended were then only two.
Afterwards far more of them were made.
When, however, riches disappeared from
Palestine, baser metal was employed in the
manufacture of these trumpets. They were
employed in calling the congregation together,
in sacrifices, and in battles.
The Hebrew Flute.
It is agreed that pipes or flutes of some kind
or other were used by the Hebrews. People
employed these instruments in connection
with others at the feast of tabernacles, and
in general at e.ery feast, especially, however,
•vhile journeying up to Jerusalem to celebrate
these feasts there. At least Isaiah refers to
such a use : — " Ye shall have a song as in the
night, when a holy solemnity is kept; and
gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a
pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord."
To accompany travelling with music and sing-
ing is common in the East even at the present
day. We also find a general usage of this
kind, for the sons of the prophets went forth to
meet Saul with various kinds of music, and
among others with pipes. This instrument
was also employed at the anointing of Solo-
mon. For the most part it was consecrated
to joy and pleasure ; hence, in the time of
Judas Maccabaeus, the Israelites complained
" that all joy had vanished from Jacob, and
the pipe and the cithara were silent."
It was, however, employed also on serious
occasions, as there was a distinct pipe of plain-
tive tone adapted to such occasions. Players
on such instriiments were present in the death-
chamber of Jairus's daughter ; and the attend-
ance of pipers at funerals and lamentations is
often mentioned by the Jewish writers.
Josephus speaks of them, and says that many
hired pipers led the way in the wailings. We
learn also from the Rabbinical writers that
even the poorest Israelite, when his wife died,
had two pipers and one wailing woman to
make lamentations; and the sick had more,
according to their dignity or means of pay-
ment.
Much speculation respecting the form of
the Hebrew pipes may be regarded as super-
seded by the discovery of those figured on the
Egyptian monuments. These are of two
kinds, single and double. The former is
sometimes of extraordinary length, and the
holes placed so low that when playing the
musician was obliged to extend his arms. It
is of equal breadth throughout, not spreading
out at the lower end like those in modern
use. This pipe seems to have belonged
principally, if not exclusively, to male per-
formers, who held it with both their hands,
and either stood, knelt, or sat upon the
ground. The double pipe consisted of two
pipes, which seem to have been occasionally
united together by a common mouthpiece,
and played each with the corresponding hand.
It was not only used on solemn occasions.
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282
SACRED LYRICS.
"'
but very generally at festive banquets, both The antithetic parallels of Hebrew poetry
among tile Egyptians and the Greeks. Men, are those which next offer themselves to our
but more frequently women, played upon it. ! notice. In this species of parallelism two
The Psalms are lyrical in the strict and i lines usually correspond with one another by
proper sense; for with the Hebrews, as in the I an opposition of terms and sentiment; when
ancient world generally, song and music were i the second is contrasted with the first, some-
:onnected, and the titles of most of the Psalms
manifestly point to their connection with music,
although not in a manner very intelligible to
«s. Moreover, these compositions deserve the
name of lyric on account of their character as
works of taste. The essence of lyric poetry
is the immediate expression of feeling ; and
feeling is the sphere to which most of the
Psalms belong. Pain, sorrow, fear, hope, joy,
confidence, gratitude, submission to God, every-
thing that moves and elevates the soul, is ex- 1 atively opposite,
pressed in these hymns. Most of them are ! following :
the warm outpourings of the excited, sus-
ceptible heart ; the fresh offspring of inspiration
and elevation of thought : while only a few
seem like the colder productions of artificial
imitation ; and a few others are simply forms
of prayer, Temple hymns, and collections of
proverbs.
There is a striking peculiarity in the Psalms
Avhich often adds great force to the meaning.
It consists in this, that the thought or expres-
■sion of a preceding verse is resumed and
•carried forward in the next; for example, in
psalm cxxi. we read thus :
times in, expressions, sometimes in sen.se only.
This is not confined to any particular form.
Thus in Proverbs we read :
" Failhful are the wounds of a friend ;
But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy."
" A wise son rejoiceth his father ;
But a foolish son is the grief of his mother."
In which instance every word has its opposite ;
" father " and " mother," in the last, being rel-
Of the same kind are the
'• The lip of truth shall be established forever;
But a lying tongue is but for a moment."
" The house of the wicked shall be overthrown ;
But the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish.'
" I lift mine eyes unto the hills,
From whence cometli my help.
My help comcth from Jehovah,
Who hath made heaven and earth.
He suffereth not my feet to be moved :
Thy keeper slumbereth not.
Lo, he slumbereth not, nor sleepeth,
The keeper of Israel.
Jehmah is thy keeper ;
Jehovah the shade at thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day,
Nor the moon by night.
]t\io\^ preserveth thee from all evil,
Preserveth thy soul.
Jehovah /rwirrr/irM thy going out and thy coming in,
From this time forth for evermore."
Here the antithesis is very beautiful and ef-
fective. The most substantial structure, the
hottsc of the wicked, shall be thrown down ;
but the frailest tenement, the tabernacle, or
shed, of the righteous, shall endure.
Much indeed of the elegance, acuteness, and
force of a great number of Solomon's wise
sayings arise from this opposition of sentiment
and diction. We are not, therefore, to expect
frequent instances of it in the other poems of
the Old Testament; especially those which are
elevated in the style and more connected in
the parts. But although it is of comparatively
rare occurrence, it is by no means inconsistent
with the superior kinds of Hebrew poetry, nor
are examples wanting in them. A beautiful
instance occurs in Hannah's thanksgiving ode :
" The bow of the mighty is broken ;
And they that stumbled are girded with strength.
The full have hired themselves for bread.
And the hungry have ceased to hunger."
This striking peculiarity is one of the capti-
vating charms of Hebrew poetry.
Also we find it in some of the Psalms :
rr
THE GOOD WIFE. — PrOV. XXXi. 2^.
(283)
t'n
'v -
I i i
284
SONGS OF SOLOMON.
•• These in chariots, those on horses,
But we, in the name of Jehovah — will be strong :
•They are bowed down end fallen ;
But we are risen, and maintain ourselves firm."
" In whose eyes a vile person is contemned,
But he that feareth the Lord honored :
Who swears to the wiciced, and breaks not his oath."
" For his anger endureth but a moment,
But his favor through life :
Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy Cometh in the morning."
Even Isaiah sometimes makes use of these
opposites in thought and sentiment by which,
without departing from his usual dignity, he
adds much to the beauty of his composition :
** In a little anger have I forsaken thee ;
But with great mercies will I receive thee again.
In a short wrath, I hid my face for a moment from thee ;
But with everlasting kindness will I have mercy upon thee.
" Behold, my servants shall cat.
But ye shall he famished ;
Behold, my servants shall drink,
But ye shall be thirsty ;
Behold, my servants shall rejoice.
But ye shall be confounded."
There is sometimes a change of parts in the
same line, besides the opposition of the two
lines, forming a kind of double antithesis.
Thus in Proverbs we read as follows :
<< There is that maketh himself rich.
Yet wanteth all things ;
There is that maketh himself poor.
Yet hath great riches."
And likewise in the Song of Solomon :
. <■ I am swarthy, but comely, O daughters of Jerusalem ;
As the tents of Kedar, as the pavilions of Solomon."
The last line here is to be divided and sepa-
rately applied to the preceding : " Swarthy as
the tents of Kedar, comely as the pavilions of
Solomon." No mode of expression could be
more striking than this.
To this class belongs also the riddle of
Samson, referred to in a former chapter :
" Out of the eater came forth meat,
Out of the fierce came forth sweetness."
The Proverbs, as we are informed at the be-
ginning and in other parts of the book, were
written by Solomon, king of Israel ; and tha*
he was the author of by far the greater por
tion of the proverbs which the book contain'
is admitted even by those who allege that th<
final chapters contain a supplement, the author-
ship of which must be ascribed to other writera
The Book of Proverbs.
We are informed in Scripture tiiat this
wisest of kings, being desirous of employing,
for the benefit of mankind, the wisdom which it
had pleased God to bestow upon him, com-
posed various works for their instruction ; and
these works doubtless did much in their day
to form and advance the Hebrew mind in the
various branches of knowledge to which they
belonged. They had thus an important use,
and served tli6 purpose to which they were
directed ; and although it would be curious
and interesting to possess all the works of this
ancient sage, we have the less reason to regret
that the present book, and, as most think, the
Canticles and the Book of Ecclesiastes, are all
that remain of the various works of him who
is related to have spoken " three thousand pro-
verbs ; " whose " songs were a thousand and
five ; " and who " spake of trees, from the
cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that
springeth out of the wall ; " and who " spake
also of beasts, and of fowls, and of creeping
things, and of fishes."
The greater portion of these works was
probably not admitted into the sacred canon
on account of their not being designed for re-
ligious instruction, or not being regarded as
emanations of those higher inspirations which
the books accounted sacred. In the posses-
sion of Solomon's doctrinal and moral works,
we may be consoled for the loss of his physi-
cal and philosophical productions ; and enough
happily remains to bear evidence of the ex-
alted wisdom of their author.
This Book of Proverbs, then, contains the
maxims of long experience, framed by one
who was well qualified, by his rare gifts and
talents, to draw just lessons from a compre-
w ^
"a little child shall lead them." — Is. xi. 6.
f2«6)
286
ARABIC PROVERBS.
8
hensive survey of human life. His proverbs
are justly founded on principles of human na-
ture, and so adapted to the permanent interests
of men tliat they agree with the manners of
every age, and may be assumed as rules for the
direction of our conduct in every condition
and rank of life, however varied in its com-
plexion or diversified by circumstances : they
embrace not only the concerns of private mo-
rality, but the great objects of pulitical im-
portance. Subsequent moralists have done
little more than dilate on the precepts and
comment on the wisdom of Solomon.
Wise Sayings.
The Chinese and the Persians retain their
partiality for proverbs, although they are not
wanting in works in which " wisdom is di-
gested, methodized, and reduced to order and
connection." Burckhardt has also given us a
collection of Arabic proverbs, with a com-
mentary, many of which convey the same illus-
trations of the usages of the people which we
find in the sacred Book of Proverbs. In fact,
it is necessary, to be thoroughly acquainted
with the physical and intellectual condition of
a people, to understand their proverbs well ;
and he who has acquired this by diligent
study, will best understand and most entirely
enjoy the Proverbs of Solomon. As Burck-
hardt's book is not common, the reader will
not be displeased to see a few specimens of
the proverbs which it contains :
" Rather be sacrificed with an axe than require favors from
others.
Work (were it only) for a single grain, and reckon up the
profits of him who does nothing.
Follow the owl ; she will lead thee to a ruined place.
The com passes from hand to hand, but comes nt last to the
mill.
A well from which thou drinkest, throw not a stone into it.
The value of every man consists in what he does well.
Advice given in the midst of a crowd is loathsome.
A day that is not thine own, do not reckon it as of thy life.
On the day of victory no fatigue is felt.
Be diligent, and God will send profit.
How many are the roads that lead not to the heart I
Him whom goodness cannot mend, evil will not mend.
The soil of labor rather than the saffron of indolence.
Those are the best riches vhich are spent in the proper place.
God bless him who pays visits, and short visits I
A tree that affords thee shade, do not order it to be cut dowB.
In every head is some wisdom."
The Proverbs of Solomon, and the other
works ascribed to him, cv')ntain not a few of
those allusions to water which we expect to>
find in an Oriental book. Such references in
fact pervade the Bible from the beginning to
the ending ; and rivers of water, wells, and
gushing springs supply to the sacred poets
and prophets some of their most vivid and
happy images. In Proverbs alone we find such
a graphic illustration as the following :
•' Drink waters out of thine own cistern,
And running waters out of thine own well."
Which is very much elucidated by the fact
that even at the present day every respectable
house in Jerusalem has a reservoir or cistern
sunk in the court-yard, which during the later
spring rains is filled up with water, lasting^
over the long and dry summer, and is then
again filled by the early rains of autumn. This
is in fact the main dependence of the inhabi-
tants of a region where springs of water are
few, and where nearly all the rivers dry up
very early in the summer. Therefore, a man
who has no cistern must depend upon the
cisterns of others, and be constantly asking
what is really a great favor and an inconve-
nience to them, while the supply from this
source is in danger of being cut off as soon as
the owners of the cistern think their sup-
ply is likely to run short.
We also find the following reference :
" Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad.
And rivers of water in the streets."
This to an Oriental is an image of the high-
est degree of abundance and blessedness. It
is, however, founded on facts. It could indeed
not often occur in Palestine that the waste
water of a fountain should run in streams
through different streets ; but it does occur in
some places where water is unusually abun-
dant, as in Damascus : and to those who have
been inured to the heat, the thirst, and the
scarcity of water in Eastern climates, this run-
THE PSALMS AND PROVERBS.
flSf
! cut dowa.
ning of the precious fluid to waste gives an i although it has passed from the Bible into
idea of redundant plenty and luxurious extrav- 1 common use among ourselves, is with us conw
agance, which the inhabitants of well-watered
regions cannot easily apprehend.
The proverb — "Stolen waters are sweet'
paratively unmeaning. No one steals witer
here. The proverb is only felt in its due force
in such climates as those in which it origt*
.
14. .
"Wk
288
WATER AS AN EMBLEM.
nated ; where water is often scarce, and, there-
fore, so valuable as to be an object of care and
solicitude to the owners ; is often bought at a
price we should consider exorbitant ; and often
stolen by those who will not or cannot buy.
Many illustrative passages will occur, to those
familiar with Scripture. The strifes about
wells of water and the watering of flocks ; the
offer of the Israelites to buy (that is, not steal)
the water thoy required in passing through
Edom ; the doleful complaint of the prophet,
" We have bought our water for money," and
other like passages, may be instanced:
" The liberal soul shall be made fat;
And he that watereth others shall be watered."
The sentiment indicated by this figure is
obvious ; but the fact on which it is founded
cannot be apprehended or felt strongly in a
moist climate like ours, where real thirst for
water is scarcely known. But it follows that,
where water is scarce and precious, and where
also the heat of the climate makes every one
need a large quantity of water daily, the lib-
erality of " watering others," that is, of giving
water freely to the thirsty, is most strongly
felt and gratefully acknowledged. In fact, in
the Scriptures, liberality is as frequently in-
stanced by giving water to the thirsty as by
giving bread to the hungry. In another place
the idea involved in the present verse is dwelt
upon very strongly : " If thine enemy thirst,
give him drink ; " and in the New Testament
the Divine King, in the grand parable of the
final judgment, mentioned, to the commenda-
tion of the righteous : " I was thirsty and ye
gave me drink ; " and the denial of drink to
His thirst is noticed in His condemnation of the
wicked. In another case our Saviour uttered
the memorable words: "Whosoever shall mve
you a cup of water to drink, because ye be-
long to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall
not lose his reward."
" The beginning of strife is as when one
letteth out water." That is, that although the
breach may seem at first unimportant, it is
widened by the action of the water, which at I
length bursts forth in a mighty stream which •
can be checked no longer, and not only ex-
hausts and wastes the fertilizing waters of
kindness and love, but spreads damage and
ruin all around.
" The law of the wise is a fountain of life."
A fountain of life is a living fountain, that is,
a perennial spring, or a spring which sends
forth a running stream. In this sense it is
contrasted with dead or st.-ignant water, such
as that of reservoirs, lakes and ponds.
" Counsel in the heart of a man is like deep water;
But a man of understanding will draw it out."
This very fine proverH refers to the depth
of wells before the water is reached. In Pal-
estine this is often very great. The celebrated
well of Jacob, near Shechem, is stated by
travellers to be one hundred and five feet
deep, with only five feet of water in it — now,
at least. It is not improbable that Solomon
had this very well in view. The labor of
drawing from such a well may possibly
have contributed to the first unwillingness of
the woman of Samaria to give drink therefrom
to the thirsting Saviour : " Sir, thou hast noth-
ing to draw with, and the well is deep." From
such wells water is often drawn by hand in a
not too heavy leathern bucket, sometimes by
a windlass, but oftener by means of the sha-
doof, which is the most common and simple
of all the machines used in the East for rais-
ing water, whether from rivers or from wells.
An Ancient Well-Sweep.
It consists of two posts or pillars of wood,
or of mud and canes or rushes, about five feet
in height, and less than three feet apart, with
a horizontal piece of wood extending from
top to top, to which is suspended a slender
lever, formed of a branch of a tree, having at
one end a weight, chiefly composed of mud,
and at the other, suspended from two long
palm-sticks, a vessel in the form of a bowl,
made of basket-work, or of a hoop and a
piece of woollen stuff or leather ; with this
vessel the water is thrown up.
That this mode of raising water is very
ancient is shown by an example which is rep-
THE PSALMS AND PROVERBS.
280
resented in the mural paintings of the Egyp-
tians. The difference between this and that
more ancient mode is preserved in Syria, and
indeed in most other countries where the prin-
of which we have given the description is,
v,hiefly, that the lever is not suspended from,
but balanced upon the cross-beam. And this
19
ciple of the balance and lever is applied to the
raising of water. This principle is extensively
applied to that purpose throughout Asia, was
1
j
«: •,
If'
■
fir-
ii
ttil
k
2P<"-
DRAWING WATER.
II
[ ■
formerly used extensively in Kurope,;uuI is now
in use from one end of Russia to tlie other,
where the numerous levers " l<icking the be.im,"
and tiierefore rising high in the air, is a strik-
ing characteristic of the villages. In this case,
as in China, the lever is usually balanced upon
a .stout pole, forked at the upper end ; and it
of course follows that the stock is higher, and
the lever and rope longer in proportion to the
depth of the well or stream from which the
water is to be taken, or to the height to which
it is to be raised. In Syria, where the walls
are deep, the stock is higli and the rope long ;
but in that country (including Pale.stine) the
shadoof is less common than in other parts
of Asia ; but where it is found, as in the
neighborhood of Jaffa, the lever is balanced
and not suspended.
With this simple machine, which is like
our old-fashioned well-sweep, the chief labor
is not to raise the bucket when full, but to
overcome the resistance of the lever's loaded
end in lowering the bucket when empty.
When the river is too low or the banks too high
for shadoofs on the same level to bring water to
the surface of the soil, a series of four or five
shadoofs, or sets of shadoofs, is rendered
necessary. The water is then raised from the
river by one set, and discharged into a trench,
from which it is taken by another set, and
raised to a higher trench, and so on to the top.
Watered Gardens.
There is every reason to think that the con-
trivances for irrigation now used in Western
Asia are as old as the art of husbandry itself
in the same region, and we are led to suppose
that similar contrivances existed among the
ancient Hebrews,. Under this view the sub-
ject assumes a degree of Biblical interest,
from the frequent allusions in Scripture to
" watered gardens," and to the general im-
portance of irrigation.
We have already described the shadoof,
which is so much used for raising water.
Another machine much employed for the
same purpose is the sackiyeh, or Persian
wheel. The name seems to indicate the
country of its origin, but it is now largely em-
ployed on the banks of all the principal rivers
of Western Asia for the purpose of raismg
water for the irrigation of fields and gardens.
The sackiyeh mainly consists of a vertical
wheel, which raises the water in earthen
pots attached to cords, and forms a continu-
ous series; a second vertical wheel, fixed to
the same axis, with cogs, and a large horizon-
tal cogged wheel, which, being turned by a
pair of cows or bulls, or by a single beast, puts
in motion the former wheels and pots. The
construction of this machine is of a very rude
kind, and its motion produces a disagreeable
creaking noise. It will be perceived that the
revolution of the wheels takes down the string
of buckets empty on one side, and brings them
up full on the other. It is thus, by the wheel
and string of buckets, that water is usually
raised from wells in Palestine and Syria,
although the shadoof is sometimes employed.
A Xovcl Sifflit.
The Scottish Missionary Deputation ob-
served at the public well outside the village
of Khanounes near Gaza, what they call a
Persian wheel, at work : it was turned by a
camel, and poured a copious supply of water
into a trough. What these pious and intelli-
gent travellers say of this well applies to all
other public Eastern wells, and illustrates the
usages which the Scriptures indicate. " The
well is evidently the rendezvous for idlers,
gazers, and talkers, and as much a place of
public resort as the market. Old and young,
cattle and camels were crowded together.
The coolness of the spot and the prospect o{
meeting others no doubt induced many to take
their seat by the well-side." This brings to
mind the adventures of Eleazer and Jacob at
the well of Haran, of Moses at the well of
Midian, and even in some degree of that which
befell our Lord at Jacob's well.
Another and more simple mode of raising
water, which the travellers just cited observed
in Palestine, gave them much amusement, but
which is very familiar to persons of wider
travel in the East. At Doulis in Philistia,
THE PSALMS AND PROVERBS.
291
rivers
by a
ob-
" while the servants were pitcljing the tent we rope is attached by one end to a large bucket
wandered through the place, and sitting down made of skin, and let down
over a
pulley,
by the well observed the women come to
draw water. The well is very deep, and the
imode of drawing up the water curious. A
while the other end is attached to a bullock,
which is driven up and down the slope of the
hill ; the skin of water is thus hauled up to
2!)2
THE SWINGING BUCKET.
the top, where a man stands ready to empty I of raising water from rivers, canals, and reser
it into the trough, fion which women receive | voirs, to irrigate fields and gard ;ns. is thus de-
li !'
i
the water into earthenware jugs. To us this
was a novel and amusing sight."
Another very simple mode for the purpose
scribed : Where the elevation of the bank ove»
which water is to be lifted is trifling, they some-
times adopt the following simple method : — A,
THE PSALMS AND I'RuVERBS.
203
and reser
s tlnisde-
I
sank ove»
ley some-
:hod : — A.
light water-tight bucket is held suspended, on
ropes between two men, who by alternately
relaxing and tightening the ropes by which
they hold it between them, give a certain swing-
ing motion to the bucket, which first fills it with
water, and then empties it with a jerk upon the
higher level, the elastic spring which is in the
bend of the ropes serving to diminish the
labor to a very great extent.
Grounds intended to be artificially irrigated
are usually divided into squares by ridges of
earth or furrows. The water is conducted
from the machine, or from the trough or
cistern which is connected therewith, by a
narrow gutter, and is admitted into one square
after another by the gardener, who is always
ready, as occasions require, to stop or divert j
the torrent, by turning the earth against it
with his foot, and opening at the same time
with his mattock a new trench to receive it.
This mode of distributing water over land
rarely refreshed by rain is more than once i
alluded to in the Scriptures; and, indeed, a I
distinction is founded upon it between Kgypt ■
and the land of Canaan: — "The land whither'
thou goest to possess it, is not as the land of
Egypt, from whence ye came out. where thou
sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy
foot as a garden of herbs ; but the land
^vhither ye go to possess is a land of hills and
valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of
heaven."
This evidently expresses that the land of
Canaan was naturally so much better watered >
by rain than the land of Egypt, that this mode |
of artificial irrigation would not there, as in i
F)gypt, be required for arable lands, but only i
for gardens ; and this distinction exists at the j
present day. In Palestine artificial irrigation |
is only used for gardens ; for the irrigation |
of the arable lands the inhabitants trust to the j
rains of heaven, the moisture afforded by which j
is sedulously economized and preserved as long !
as possible in the soil, by the cultivation ofj
the hills in successive terraces, which is thej
usual mode of culture among the hills of
Palestine and Lebanon, for those objects of
culture which do not afford their produce till ,
late ill the sea.son. Grain does n'jt need this
care, as it is harvested before the summer
heats have absorbed the moisture of the plains.
The above explanation of " watering by the
foot " is the only one which can be deduced
from any present practice in Egypt.
A SliiMriilnr IlliiMlon.
Having thus been led to give attention to
the subject of water, we may add a few words
respecting the mirage, or the illusive appoaf-
ance of water, often witnessed in the dry plains
of Egypt and Syria. The Scottish Missionary
Deputation, when in Egypt, noticed this illu-
sion : '' In the distance we observed the well-
known phenomenon of the mirage, to which
the prophet Lsaiah is supposed to allude : ' The
parched ground shall become a pool.' At one
time we saw what appeared to be a calm flow-
ing water, reflecting from its unruffled surface
the trees growing on its banks, while some
object in the background assumed the appear-
ance of a .splendid residence amidst a grove
of trees. At another time there appeared
castles embosomed in a forest of palms, with
a lake of clear water stretched between us and
them. Generally the mirage may be well
known by its continually shifting the view,
and by the hazy movement of the atmo>iphere
over the apparent waters."
Another traveler describes the same phe-
nomenon as seen by liini in the lowlands of
Sinai : — " During the early part of the day we
several times beheld the phenomenon of
the mirage, or false water of the desert. I':s
re.semblance to a diminutive lake was certainly
very striking, since it not only reflected the
bushes on its margin, but had .something of
the ripple of water, and was streaked by those
narrow shining particles of light observable
on the surface of lakes when viewed from a
distance, producing a very striking effect."
Natural History in Proverbs.
So acute an observer, and one so interested
in the study of natural history, as Solomon,
was likely to have his attention attracted by
the art to which, in the East, some persons
P ■
|1 !
II
Ifl;
'', t i
b
li
n
i
'fitm
Ill
ri|j
'0
294
THE BABBLER.
have in all ages pretended, of being able to
exercise a strange power over the venomous
the serpent will bite without enchantment, and
a babbler is no better." David also has a
serpents, and to handle them freely without! similar and even more distinct allusion to the
harm. We accordingly find an allusion to j same fact which would be readily understood
this remarkable fact in his writings : " Surely ,.by an oriental mind :
THE PSALMS AND PROVERBS.
?.95
Tlieir poison is like the poison of serpents ;
They are like the deaf adder that stoppelh her ear,
Which will not hearken to the voice of the charmer,
Charming never so wisely."
Jeremiah also :
" Behold, I will send serpents 'ockatrices, among you.
Which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saiih
the Lord."
These passages refer to a practice so opposed
to all our notions and knowledge, as to give
some interest to the explanation to which they
point, and which is perhaps only needed be-
cause of our own immunity from the evils
which the presence of poisonous serpents
creates. They afford 'n fact the earliest ex-
isting references to the practice of serpent-
charming. Our other ancient information is
founded on the practices of the Psylli, a people
of Cyrenaica, who were tlie most celebrated
serpent-charmers of ambiguity, and who are
frequently mentioned by the classical writers.
Their gift was supposed to be a natural
power inherent to the race — a kind of gypsies,
apparently. Lucan makes the same statement,
and affords many additional particulars. A
body of these Psylli undertook to protect the
Roman camp in Africa from serpents, by which
the region was much infested. They kept
marching around it chanting their " mystic
songs ; " but also employed the natural and
probably more effective expedient of surround-
ing the camp by a line of fires, made of different
kinds of wood, the smell of which was to keep
the serpents from approaching. When any
soldier abroad in the daytime happened to be
bitten, the Pyslli undertook to cure him. First,
to prevent, as they said, the poison from
spreading while they used their arts in charm-
ing it forth, they rubbed the wounded part
with saliva.
Then sudden he begins the mystic snng.
And rolls the numbers hasty o'er iiis tongue ;
Swift he runs on, nor pauses once for breath.
To stop the progress of approaching death :
lie fears the cure might suffer by delay.
And life be lost but for a moment's stay.
Thus ofl, though deep within the veins it lies.
By magic numbers chased, the mischief flies.
But if to hear too slow — if still it stay.
And scorn the potent charmer to ol)ey.
With forceful lips he fastens on the wound.
Draws out and spits the venom to the grounu.
— Pharsalia.
In this account the voice is repeatedly nu 'v
tioned as the instrument by which the chari'i
ers worked; and it is to " the voice of tlic
charmer" that the psalmist refers in the text
we have cited. The charmers, doubtless, as
in the case mentioned by Lucan, used a form
of words as a charm, or chanted a song ir
some peculiar measure ; and to the words ol
the song or the charm were attributed the
effects really assignable to the human voice.
Ef^ypt and Northern Africa in the West,
and India in the East, are the countries where
serpent-charming in all its forms is now most
generally practiced, .^lian, speaking of the
power possessed by the Egyptians over snakes
and birds, says : " They are said to be enabled
by a certain magical art to bring down birds
from heaven, and to charm serpents so as to
make them come forth from their lurking-
places at their command," Sir J. G. Wilkin-
1 son remarks, with reference to the practice of
the modern Psylli : " The Egyptian asp is a
species of the cobra de capello, and is still
very common in Egypt, where it is called Na-
shir, a word signifying ' spreading,' from its
dilating its brea.st when angry. It is the same
which the Psylli of modern days use in their
juggling tricks, having previously taken care
to extract its fangs ; or, which is a still better
precaution, to burn out the poison-bag with a
hot iron. They are generally about three or
four feet long, but some are considerably
larger, one in my possession measuring ex-
actly six feet in length. They are easily
tarhed. Their food is mice, frogs and various
reptiles, and they mostly live in gardens dur-
ing the warm weather, where they are of great
use — the reason probably of their being chosi n
in ancient times as a protecting emblem. In
the winter they retire to their holes and re-
main in a torpid state, being incapable of bear-
ing cold, as I had reason to observe with two
I kept in the house at Cairo, which died in
u
k\>
Jt:,|
w «
Willi i
• i!
296
THE EGYPTIAN ASP.
i
1 1
11 i
I!':
f
! 'i '! <
one night, though wrapped up in skin and,
as I fuily thought, protected from the air."
sound of the human voice, while others are
exempt from it, and cannot be subjected by
The facts of serpent-charming seem to be
these : That certain species of serpents really
are subject to influence from music or the
the charmer, " charm he ncvt r so wisely." It
is to these doubtless that the psalmist and
Jeremiah allude. It also appears that nat-
thers are
ected by
ely." It
list and
liat nat-
THE PSALMS AND PROVERBS.
297
urallypoisonousserpents, having their poison- his serpents and charmed them before him,
fangs extracted or the poison-bag destroyed, After some time the gentleman said, 'I have
and being then tamed, are played with by the a cobra de capello in a cage ; can you charm
charmer and even suffered to bite him. The him?' 'Oh! yes,' said the charmer. The
process of destroying the poison-fangs is ob- : serpent was let out of the cage, and the man
viously alluded to by the psalmist, where, in began his incantations and charms: the reptile
the verse immediately following that which fastened upon his arm, and he was dead before
we have cited, he says : " Break their teeth, ; the night."
O God, in their niouth." No instance of the! In an interesting account of Egyptian ser-
wound of a really poisonous serpent being | pent-charming, given by Mr. Lane in his
cured by serpent-charmers has been met with.
In the case recorded by Lucan, it may be
clearly perceived that the serpent- bites which
the Psylli pretended to cure by charms, songs,
and saliva, were the Bites of serpents not poi-
sonous ; but when the symptoms evinced that
the wound was from a poisonous serpent they
resorted to the very natural and by no means
occult e.xpedient of sucking the wound to
e.xtract the poison.
The author of " Oriental Illustrations " says :
Modern Egyptians," the writer states that
the men for the most part profess to detect the
presence of serpents in houses, and to draw
them forth from their retreats. He says that
the serpent-charmer assumes an air of mys-
tery, strikes the walls with a short palm-stick,
whistles, makes a clucking noise with his
tongue, and spits upon the ground, and gen-
erally says: "I adjure you by God, if ye be
above, or if ye be below, that ye come forth ;
I adjure you by the most great name, if ye
" The serpent-charmer may be found in every be obedient, come forth, and if ye be disobe-
village, and some who have gained great fame dient, die! die! die!" The serpent is gener-
actually live by the art. Occasionally they ] ally dislodged by his stick from a fissure of
travel about the district to exhibit their skill. , the wall, or drops from the ceiling of the room.
In a basket they have several serpents, which' Mr. Lane adds, that he has known this to be
they place on the ground. The charmer then . effected under circumstances in which decep-
comniences playing on his instrument, and to tion could hardly take place, and is inclined
talk to the reptiles, at which they creep out, to think that the persons are acquainted with
and begin to mantle about with their heads some real physical means of discovering the
erect and their hoods distended. A^er this presence of serpents without seeing them, and
he puts his arm to them, which they afifect to of attracting them from their lurking-places,
bite, and sometimes leave the marks of their wherever these may be.
teeth."
This writer expresses, "from close observa
tion," the same conviction with respect to the
Biblical References to Liona.
These noble animals are mentioned about
fangs having been extracted, which Sir J. G.j sixty times in Scripture, and several of these
Wilkinson declares with respect to those used ■ notices are in the Psalms. This frequency of
by the serpent-charmers of Egypt. He adds: | allusion, united to the intimate acquaintance
*' Living animals have been repeatedly offered : with the habits of the lion which these allu-
:o the man for his serpents to bite; but heisions evince, renders it manifest that the ani-
would not allow it, because he knew that no | mal was in ancient times far from uncommon
harm would ensue. It is, however, granted i in Palestine. Indeed there are passages in
that some of these men believe in the power 1 which the presence of the lion in the country
of their charms, and there can be no doubt is distinctly mentioned, as in Samson's conflict
that the serpents even in their wild state are j with the lion in his journey to Timnath, in
affected by the influence of music. One of David's defeat of the lion which sought to
these men once went to a friend of mine with prey upon his flock, and in the allusion of
v.
'H
I
(
■! I;
III
Pi*
i(
\B
9<)it
LIONS.
Jeremiah to the coming up of the lions from instances of the disappearance of wild animals
the brakes of the Jordan, when that swollen in certain regions where they were once com-
river periodically overflowed its lower banks.
There are certainly no lions in Palestine
ow ; and this is, therefore, one of the many
mon. Lions are not now found nearer to
Palestine than the rivers Etiphrates and Tigris ;
for they prefer the banks of rivers, on account
THE PSALMS AND PROVERBS.
animals
ce com-
earer to
i Tigris;
account
of the more abundant prey which they obtain
from among the animals which resort to the
streams for drink. It was thus that they in-
fested the Jordan in the time of Jeremiah. On
the rivers mentioned they Uve in dens, whence
at night they prowl forth for prey, or dart forth
suddenly upon such animals as unwarily draw
near their hiding-place.
While at the mouth of his den or elsewhere
watching for his prey, the position and man-
ner of the lion is like that of a cat while watch-
ing the movements of a mouse. He eyes the
approach of his victim with the most cautious
attention, carefully avoiding the least noise,
lest he should give warning of his presence
and designs. This is the habit alluded to by
the psalmist, " He lieth in wait secretly as a
lion in his den ; he lieth in wait to catch the
poor ; he croucheth and humbleth himself that
the poor may fall by his strong ones." Again,
" Like a lion that is greedy of his prey, and
as it were a young lion lurking in secret places."
From his lurking-place the lion commonly
leaps upon his victim at one spring, the extent
and force of which are tremendous.
The great force with which the mighty
beast strikes dead and rends its prey, supplies
a figure in psalm vii. : " Lest he tear my soul
like a lion, rending it in pieces while there is
none to deliver;" and many other of the
Scriptural allusions to the lions are to the same
effect.
In psalm xvii. the allusion to the greedi-
ness of the lion, " like a lion that is greedy of
his prey," must be understood with reference
to the indisposition of this powerful beast to
allow any other carnivorous animal to feed in
its presence or to share its prey. A very re-
markable example of this occurred recently
in one of the menageries. A lion had been
brought to permit two leopards to share its
cage, and they lived together on easy if not
on friendly terms. The leopards were always
withdrawn at the time of feeding, but it was
at length resolved to try the dangerous experi-
ment of feeding them together. The meat was
thrown in, but no sooner did the leopards lay
hold of their pieces than the lion rushed upon
one of them and slew him on the spot ; and
the other would have shared the .same fate but
for the keeper's interference.
This is, without doubt, the habit which tlu-
psalmist had in view; and the minute accu-
racy of observation evinced in all the Scriptural
allusions to the habits and character of animals
is the more remarkable by comparison with
the fables and absurd or incorrect statements
which di.sfigure all our ancient accounts.
The Stork.
The stork is known in Scripture by a name
which means " kind," in manifest allusion to
the great kindness of disposition, the almost
human consideration manifested by the pairs,
by the old ones to the young, and by the
young to the old. ■ Their constant return to
the .same localities in towns and upon the tops
of buildings, also suggested the idea of local
attachments, to which, by the associations
which they convey, the notion of " kindly '
dispositions is inseparably connected.
Besides, its constant return, as often happens,
to the higher points of those house-tops to
which the inhabitants themselves constantly
resort conveys the notion of personal and
family attachment ; and it is impossible to see
these large and respectable-looking birds re-
turn to the same house-top year after year at
the appointed time, and to the same large nest
every evening after the labors of the day, mak-
ing themselves so quietly comfortable, without
regarding them as old and attached members
of the family, or retainers of the house.
And the manner in which they turn or lift
up their heads when one comes to the house-
top, and then relapse into repose, or resume
their former posture, implies something like
personal recognition ; nor is there much rea-
son to doubt that they do become acquainted
with the persons of the inmates of the house
which they have chosen for their own domicile.
The degree of confidence in man which all
this implies is never in any country abused.
In some countries the murder of a man would
occasion far less sensation than the killing of a
stork. In many places this is a criminal of*
||::|^
300
SINGULAR SUPERSTITION.
fence punishable by the laws, and in others
the slayer of a stork would be very roughly
have attributed all the calamities of their lives
to their having unintentionally destroyed a
handled, if not torn in pieces, by the populace. [ stork ; and there are thou.sands now living in
It is known than many persons in high sta-
tion, in the countries which the stork frequents, greatest misfortune which could befall them,
the world who would consider this as nearly the
heir lives
troyed a
?;."
living in
sarly the
1 them.
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE WEEPING PROPHET.
ANY of the prophets;
are furnished with
a biography more
complete than that
of Jeremiah. Hil-
kiah, his father, is
supposed by some
to be the same who
was high-priest in
the reign of Josiah.
This is uncertain :
but we know that
he was of sacerdotal
extraction. He was
a native of Ana-
thoth, a town of the
priests, about three
miles to the north
of Jerusalem, in the
territory of Benja-
min. He was called
to the prophetic of-
fice nearly at the same time with Zephaniah,
in the thirteenth year of king Josiah, when
he was of very early age. Thus, like David, the
shepherd, he began his public life very young.
He then diflfidently sought to decline the
appointment on the score of his youth, until,
under the Divine encouragements, he obeyed,
and continued to prophesy upward of forty
years, during several successive reigns of the
degenerate descendants of Josiah, to whom he
fearlessly revealed those marks of the Divine
vengeance which their fluctuating and re-
bellious conduct drew on themselves and their
country. As he had all along counselled sub-
mission to the power of the Chaldaeans, he was
favorably noticed by them after the destruction
of Jerusalem, and he was suffered to remain,
to bewail the miseries and desolation of Judah.
He knew, however, that the exile and deso-
lation had an appointed term, and he failed not
to send consolatory assurances to that effect
to his captive countrymen.
Eventually, Jeremiah was carried away, with
his disciple Baruch, into Egypt, by Johanan,
who, contrary to his advice and prophetic ad-
monitions, resolved to remove thither, out of
dre-'td of the undistinguished vengeance of the
Cbaldceans for the slaughter which Ishmael had
perpetrated. According to the account pre-
served by St. Jerome, he was stoned to death
at Tahpanhes, a royal city of Egypt, about
586 B. c, either by his own countrymen there
settled, as is usually stated, or by the Egyp-
tians, to both of whom he rendered himself
obnoxious by the terrifying prophecies which
he uttered.
The Chronicle of Alexandria alleges that
the prophet had incensed the Egyptians by
foretelling that their idols should be destroyed
by an earthquake at the time that the Saviour
of men should be born and placed in a manger.
This is of course a fiction ; and, as Bishop
Gray remarks, his prophecies, which are still
extant, respecting the conquest of Egypt by
Nebuchadnezzar, must alone have been suffi-
cient to excite the fears and hatred of those
against whom they were uttered. There are,
however, other accounts which relate that the
prophet returned to his own country; and
travellers are still shown a place in the neigh-
bo. hood of Jerusalem, where, as they are told,
Jeremiah composed his prophecies, and where
a monument to his memory was erected by
Constantine. There is, however, more reason
to conclude that he ended his life in Egypt.
Many circumstances relating to Jeremiah
are interspersed in his own writings. He lived
in that most eventful period when the kingdom
of Judah, torn asunder by intestine disorders,
could only by the special protection of God
(301)
%
i
smi;
if
MS
\ ;
'',
1
ffiii!:
W-
i
sjjl
ite^
\^ \
302
JEREMIAH'S PATRIOTISM.
I'HI!
— to which it had forfeited all claim — be pre-
vented from falhng a sacrifice in the collision
of the two prevailing powers, Babylon and
F'gypt. His eftbrts to retard or prevent the
ruin of his country, which he loved with the
most exalted patriotism, were rewarded by his
corrupt contemporaries with ingratitude, and
even with a prison and attempt at murder.
ent times collections of what he had delivered.
The first seems to have been formed in the
first year of Jehoiakim, when the prophet was
expressly commanded by God to write upon
a roll all the prophecies which he had uttered
concerning Israel, Judah, and other nations ;
and this he did by means of Baruch. But this
roll having been burnt by Jehoiakim, another
ANCIENT JERUSALEM. — I ChrOH. xii. 23.
He himself touchingly complains of this treat-
ment:
" Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me,
A man of strife and contention with all the land 1
I have neither borrowed nor lent on usury,
Yet every one doth curse me."
Again :
•
" I knew not that they had devised devices against me,
[Saying], Let us destroy the tree with its fruit.
And let us cut him off from the land of the living,
That his name may be no more remembered."
Jeremiah appears to have formed at differ-
was written under the prophet's direction, with
many additional particulars. I;i the eleventh
year of Zedekiah, the prophet seems to have
collected into one book all the prophecies
which he had delivered before the taking of
Jerusalem. To this he probably added such
further revelations as he had occasionally re-
ceived during the government of Gedaliah,
and during the residence in Egypt, tl-,e ac-
count of which terminates with the fifty-first
chapter.
Jeremiah appears to have been pre-ordained
as a prophet, both to the Jews and Gentilea
THE WEEPING PROPHET.
303
He certainly delivered many prophecies rela-
tive to foreign nations. His name translated
is, " he shall exalt Jehovah." His reputation
was so considerable, that some of the fathers
fancifully supposed that as his death is no-!
where mentioned in Scripture, he was living
in the time of Christ, whom, as the gospel
informs us, some supposed to have been this
prophet. They likewise apply to him and to
Klias what St. John mysteriously speaks of —
two witnesses that should prophesy 1260 days;
which superstitious fictions serve, at least, to
show the traditional reverence that was enter-
tained for the memory of the prophet, who
long afterwards continued to be venerated as
one of the greatest saints that had flourished
under the old covenant; as having lived not
only with the general strictness of a prophet,
but, as was believed, in a state of celibacy ;
and as having terminated his righteouls minis-
try by martyrdom.
The literary character or style of Jeremiah's
prophecies has been examined by different
Biblical scholars with much attention. By
none has it been more carefully discriminated
than by De Wette, who thus writes on the
subject:
" In Jeremiah's prophecies the spirit of his
time and the condition of his people are faith-
fully reflected. His humor is sad, and melan-
choly, and depressed. His thoughts have no
great elevation, and only attempt short, single
flights. But he is by no means destitute of
noble and expanded ideas ; nor does he lack
deep feeling. Of the last the following among
other specimens may be quoted :
* For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart
wounded ;
I mourn ; amazement hath taken hold of me ;
Is there no balm in Gilead ?
Is there no physician there ?
Why then are not the wounds of my people healed ?
O that my head were waters.
And mine eyes a fountain of tears.
That I might weep day and night
For the slain of the daughter of my people.' **
His style is without uniformity or consistency
in regard to expression or rhythm. It is un-
equal; frequently energetic and concise, es-
pecially in the first twelve chapters. It i'i full
of repetitions and of fixed thoughts and ex-
pressions. But it is not without certain charms
of its own. Jerome .says of him ; " As he is
simple and easy in his language, so is he th'*
most profound in the majesty of his thoughts.
In language he seems more rustic than Isaiah
or Hosca, and soine other prophets among the
Hebrews, but in thought he is equal to them.
The style, with its alternations, now rising to
rhythm, now sinking to prose, is attractive.
It is like the flickering of a flame which finds
not sufficient fuel. Sometimes whole passages
are repeated; sometimes images, thoughts,
and expressions."
Jerusalem's Calamity.
This writer adds, that the passages in the
prophecies of Jeremiah which relate to foreign
nations are distinguished by a more energetic
tone, and by a more animated style, which has
a tendency to rhythm. Of this peculiarity
different explanations have been given. It is
probably because most of these passages are
composed of threatcnings ; for it has been re-
marked that the threatenings in the more do-
mestic portions of his prophecies are distin-
guished by the same characteristic. His ad-
monitions are very little elevated above prose.
To understand the great events in the life
of Jeremiah it will be needful to remember
that Jerusalem, had fallen into the hands of
the king of Babylon, who had taken a multi-
tude of captives, and had even robbed the
holy Temple of its sacred furniture.
King Jehoiakim, who had been unfaithful
to his obligations, was not at all amended by
this calamity and degradation, for his was one
of the minds which suffering hardens and
not reforms. His obvious policy was to ad-
here to the solemn vows of allegiance which
he had taken to the Chaldaeans ; and this was
the policy which the prophet Jeremiah urged
upon him with the utmost earnestness. But
the Egyptian party was strong at court, and,
yielding to their views and to the flattering
prospect which they drew, the unhappy king
ill
If
m
,1-
t0^ 1
i
«f«il!;
'•' ^^ rl
304
THE WEEPING I'ROPHET.
had the temerity to renounce his fealty to the punishment. As these things, amid general
king of Babylon, to whose clemency he owed threatenings of calamity, had no effect upon
his life and his throne, before the echo of his the king's obdurate spirit, his own personal
vows had well passed away. doom was no longer hidden from him. Jere-
The consciousness ot the dangerous posi- | miah foretold that his death should be such
ZEDEKIAH CARRIED AWAY CAPTIVE. — Jer. lii. II.
tion in which he was placed by this act did
not tend to soften his character ; his conduct
became even more harsh, tyrannical and op-
pressive and the streets of Jerusalem were
frequently sprinkled with the blood of inno-
cent anc upright men. Among these was the
prophet Urijah, whom the king slew with the
sword for his declarations of coming evil and
that none should lament, as for other kings.
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had been
interrupted in his operations for the subjuga-
tion of Egypt and Western Asia by the news
of his father's death, on which he crossed the
desert with a few attendants and took posses-
sion of the throne. When the news of Jehoi-
akim's revolt reached him he was still at
A KING IN CHAINS.
305
general
feet upon
personal
m. Jere-
be such
1/^
»i^
jr kings,
lad been
subjuga-
the news
assed the
k posses-
of Jehoi-
3 still at
Babylon ; but, having no present leisure to '
chastise him in person, he was content to j
send orders to his lieutenants, in command
west of the Euphrates, to act against him.
This brought upon Judah a constant succes-
sion of harassing invasions from the neighbor-
ing nations subject to Babylon, in which the
Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites in par-
ticular manifested the most malignant activity,
while the Syrians and Arabs were not be-
hindhand in cruelty and violence.
DuedH of Cruelty.
At length the person of Jehoiakim was
secured, and he was sent off to Nebuchad-
nezzar, who had by that time returned to
Syria, and was then at Riblah. The monarch
at first put him in chains to send him to
Babylon ; but he altered hi^ mind and took
him back in his train to Jerusalem. There, a
degraded captive in the royal city of his fathers,
the miserable king died, his end being prob-
ably hastened by mortification and grief; and
we are bound to conclude that his corpse was
refused a place in the sepulchre of the kings,
and was treated with all the ignominy which
Jeremiah had foretold.
When Nebuchadnezzar thus arrived in per-
son at Jerusalem he found that the people had
already raised Jehoiachin (called also Jeconiah
and Coniah), the son of Jehoiakim, to the
throne. But this appointment, made without
his concurrence, he refused to sanction. Still,
however, desirous to keep up the monarchy
under its native princes, he bestowed the
throne on Mattaniah, a younger son of Josiah,
and uncle of Jehoiachin. He changed his
name to Zedekiah and bound him to loyalty
by solemn oaths and covenants.
The conqueror then departed, having first
sent away to Babylon the king, Jehoiachin,
together with his mother, his wives, his offi-
cers, and his nobles, and all " the mighty men
of valor," to the number of ten thousand out
of Jerusalem only, besides the smiths, the
carpenters, and other artificers. These, added
to a similar deportation of warriors and artifi-
cers which had previously taken place, de-
20
nuded the country of the flower of its popula-
tion and left little more than the crude mass
of the people subject to the powerless sceptre
of Zedekiah. Among the captives sent to
Babylon on this occasion seems to have been
Ezekiel, who in his captivity was called to be
a prophet, and for many years exercised his
ministry by the river Chebar in Babylonia, at
the same time that Daniel enjoyed his honors
in the imperial court.
This severe punishment of the guilty king-
dom was calculated to have been a salutary
warning to the new king, who besides owed
to the conqueror a crown which he would
never have possessed in the ordinary course
of events. But, with amazing infatuation, he
soon began to attend to the supporters of the
Egyptian policy, who still held their ground
as a party in the land ; and in proportion as
he manifested inclinations towards an Egyp-
tian alliance, which had never produced any
good for Israel, he necessarily neglected the
obligations under which he had been placed
to a power against which he was helpless, and
independence of which could at the best be
only obtained at the expense of dependence
upon Egypt.
Invasion by the Babylonians.
Jeremiah vehemently protested against the
errors of this policy, and distinctly foretold
the evils which would flow from it ; and Eze-
kiel in his exile poured forth prophecies to
the same effect, for it seems that the exiled
Hebrews were as sanguine of being restored
to liberty as those in Palestine were of recov-
ering their independence.
At length, having concluded his alliance
with Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt, Zedekiah, in
the eighth year of his reign, ventured to cast
ofT his allegiance to the Chaldaeans, and by
this act drew upon himself that war which
ended, as the prophets had foreshown, in the
utter ruin of his kingdom. It was not, how-
ever, until the next year that Nebuchadnezzar,
having assembled a most powerful army,
marched against the land of Judah. On his
way through Syria he received intelligence
ill
'III
■
i|
*
if
*!»»'*' r
•mi'
aoa
JERUSALEM ATTACKED.
■il
■\
that the Aminoi»;tcs had also revolted, and he I On, therefore, the Chakl.Tans marched, clear
then hesitated which country fust to invade, ing the country bttbre tlieni with fire and
Therelure, at " the parting ot tiie way," or at | .sword, and at length appeared before the walls
JEREMIAH BUYING HIS KINSMAn'S FIELD. — ^Jer. xxxil*. 6-12.
the point where the roads divided, a lot was- of Jerusalem, which they immediately invested
cast with the arrows of divination, by which The king, expecting no mercy, and being con-
it was decided that Judah should be first . fident of relief from Egypt, determined to de-
attacked, ifend the place to the last extremity. The
"^R
TIIK VVKKIMNG I'ROIMIKT.
307
rched, clear
itli fire aiul
ore the walls
v;.
iH
tely invested
id being con-
mined to de-
emity. The
city was very strong ami will supplied witii liopc of savinjf the city was vain, endeavored
water, so that i' riii^ht iiold out till the de- with his few remaininjj troops to escape from
fenders were weakened by starvation ; know- the place by a private postern which the en-
inf; this, the sieye seems to have been turned emy had not secured. Hut the fu<^itives were
by the besiegers into a close blockade which, pursued and overtaken in the plains of Jericho,
in the course of time, reduced the people to where the royal guards were soon dispersed,
the extremities of fatigue. land the king and all his children were taken
prisoners,
UcMUtliiK the CI,aiai«a..H. ^ ^-j^^. ^..^.^chcd king, together with his family
In all this time the prophet urged submis-,and nobles, were then sent off to Riblah in
sion and foretoid the consequences of con- j Syria, where Nebuchadnezzar at that time
tinned obstinacy. Annoyed at the continual held his court. Here he was regarded and
remon.strances of Jeremiah, and fearful of their I tit-alt with as a traitor. His children were
effect upon the people, the king again sent s slain before his cy( , and it was with ingenious
him to prison. Soon after this the hopes of , cruelty ordered that this should be liis last
the besieged were raised to the highest pitch [sight, the horrid image of which should haunt
by the actual advance of the Egyptians to i all his remaining days, for immediately after
their relief, when the Chaldajans deemed it his eyes were put out, and he was sent away
prudent to raise the siege and meet their new
enemies half-way. The excitement of that
interval may be easily conceived. Hour by
hour they watched for the signal fires upon
the hills and for the swift messengers which
should announce the advance of the Egyp-
tians over the slaughtered hosts of the com-
mon enemy.
The banners of the Chaldaeans were ere
long visible over the tops of the hills, and the
mountains round about Jerusalem were cov-
ered and the valleys filled with the returning
hosts, at whose approach and formidable ap-
pearance the Egyptians had retired in alarm
to their own country without striking a single
blow for their miserable ally of Judah. Jere-
miah, who had been removed to an easier
in chains to Babylon, where he ended his days
in prison.
In the following month Nebuzar-adan, the
Chaldaean commander in charge of the siege
of Jerusalem, took po.sse.ssion of the city and
committed the most dreadful carnage among
those who had survived the calamities of the
siege. Nebuchadnezzar, enraged at the long
and obstinate defence of the place, resolved
that it should give no more trouble to him-
self or his successors. He commanded Neb-
uzar-adan to raze the city to the ground with-
out even sparing the Temple. Accordingly
the general began his operations two days
after he had taken pos.session of the city.
After the Temple had been stripped of all its
treasures and valuables, and after the city had
confinement in the court of the prison, again i for two days been abandoned to pillage, both
renewed his exhortations to surrender the | the Temple and the city were set on fire, and
city to the Chaldaeans ; but there were not vvere thus consumed and desolated. The
wanting false prophets, who buoyed up the
hopes of Zedekiah with assurances that the
city would not be taken.
Terrible Effects of the Siegre.
So the king still held out, till the miseries
of the people became so great that women,
naturally tender and pitiful, devoured their
own children for food. This could not last ;
and at length Zedekiah, perceiving that all
black masses of wall, fortress and tower that
the fire left standing were demolished and
razed to the very ground, so that of the city
of David and the Temple of Solomon nothing
but a heap of ruins remained.
In memory of this great national calamity
two fasts were instituted, which are kept up
even to this day : the first on the seventeenth
of the fourth month (answering to our June);
and the second, on the ninth of the fifth
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308
MURDER AND FLIGHT.
1 1 i
month (correspv^iiJlr.g to July): the first, for
the taking of the city; and the other, for the
destruction of the Temple. That holy fabric
parture of the Israelites from Egypt, thu?
completing the great calamity.
The miserable end of a city endowed with
JEREMIAH WARNS THE REMNANT NOT TO GO TO EGYPT. — ^Jer. xlii. 1 8.
was destroyed four hundred and twenty-four
years after its foundation by Solomon, and
nine hundred and three years from the de-
such eminent privileges as had belonged to
Jerusalem, and the ensuing sending into exile
of all the people, save only the poor of the
"She
THE WEEPING PROPHET.
309
land, who were left to till the ground, was
lamented in doleful strains by the Prophet
Jeremiah :
" How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people !
How is she become a widow, that was great among the
nations !
The princess among the provinces — how is she become
tributary."
This beautiful personification of the city as
a woman sitting in desolate widowhood is re-
peated elsewhere in the graphic line —
"She, being desolate, sitteth on the ground;"
and it might almost seem to have been pres-
ent to the minds of the Romans, when, in the
medals representing the second destruction of
the satne city, they represented "the Daughter
of Zion" as sitting desolate under a solitary
palm-tree.
The prophet proceeds :
* She weepeth sore in the niglit, and her tears are on her
cheeks :
Among all her lovers, she hath found none to comfort her ;
All her friends have dealt treacherously, and have become
her enemies.
Judah is gone into captivity.
She dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest':
The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the
solemn feasts:
All her gates are desolate : her priests sigh ;
Her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.'
And then the bitterness of these evils was
enhanced by the remembrance of past bless-
ings:
" Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of
her miseries
All the pleasant things that she had in the days of old."
Jeremiah himself was released from prison
when the city was taken by Nebuzar-adan,
who was made acquainted with the earnest-
ness with which the prophet had counselled
timely submission to the Chaldaeans. He
ofifcrcd, in the name of his master, to take him
to Babylon and provide for him there ; but the
prophet chose rather to remain in the land, to
'which he was the rather induced by his friend
Gedaliah being appointed governor of the
coimtry and of the miserable remnant left in
it. Gedaliah was a good man, of easy tem-
])or and unsuspicious character, and not per-
il 4)s the better fitted by these qualities for the
difficult place he was appointed to fill. He
fixed his residence at Mizpeh, and, if left to
himself, might perhaps have succeeded in estab-
lishing something like order and quiet among
the fragments of a nation which had been left
in his charge.
But, as soon as it became known that the
Chaldsan forces were withdrawn, many tur-
bulent men who had fled into the neighboring
countries began to return, and they were not
well affected towards the government of Geda-
liah ; some because they deemed his claims in-
ferior to those of others, and some because
they hated to see a Jew in the position of a
Babylonian governor. Among these returned
fugitives was Ishmael, a member of the royal
family, who little brooked that even the
shadow of a sceptre should be wielded in
Judah by one who belonged not to his illus-
trious house. He organized a conspiracy to
take away the governor's life.
Gedaliah had a friendly warning of this, but
the good man refused to give it any credit; and
this generous confidence was rewarded by his
being shortly after murdered, with all his at-
tendants and partisans, at Mizpeh, by Ishmael
and his associates. They knew very well that
the Chaldaeans would not fail to avenge this act,
and therefore hastened to escape to the land of
the Ammonites. In doing this they attempted
to carry off with them several of the few re-
maining persons of consequence, including
one of the daughters of the blinded king
Zedekiah, that royal captive in chains.
Now, however, the friend who had warned
Gedaliah of Ishmael's designs got together a
number of resolute men and pursued after
them ; and not only recovered the persons
who had been taken away, but dispersed or
slew his followers, so that he escaped with
only eight men to the Ammonites. Johanan
himself, and those who were of sufficient note
in the land to be objects of attention to the
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THE WEEPING I'ROPHET.
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Chaldaeans, then became apprehensive that they
should become tlie victims of the undistin-
giiishing vengeance of the conquerors, and
resolved to witiidraw into Egypt. This inten-
tion was vehemently opposed by Jeremiah,
but so far from heeding his remonstrances,
they constrained him to go with them.
They had not long taken their departure be-
fore Nebuzar-adan arrived in the country with
the view of avenging the murder of Gedaliah,
and the slaughter of the Chaldaean guard which
had been left with him. But there were none
left to punish, save by sending another party
of the inhabitants into captivity beyond the
Euphrates ; and the country had now become
so thin of people, that the Babylonian general
found not more than seven hundred and fifty
persons whom he deemed it worth his while
to send away. Thus signally was the long-
foretold depopulation of the land completed ;
and, although nomadic tribes wandered
through the jountry, and the Edomites settled
in some of its southern parts, yet the land re-
mained on the whole comparatively unin-
habited, and ready for the return of the He-
brews, whose restoration had been as much
the subject of prophecy as their exile.
Horrible Barbarity.
We have seen that Zedekiah reigned for
eleven years, and then — an act of extreme folly
— he rebelled against the Babylonians. The
bitter end came surely and speedily. Jerusa-
lem was invested ; famine did its horrible work
within the walls, and the enemy destroyed the
land without. The besieged endeavored to
escape by stratagem, but utterly failed. The
king was taken, and brought before Nebuchad-
nezzar, who condemned him to have his eyes
put out, the last thing those eyes of his were
permitted to see being the murder of his own
sons ; he saw their blood spilt, and then came
endless night. Bound in brazen fetters, Zede-
kiah was taken to Babylon.
Had not the prophet Ezekiel asserted that
it should be so — "I will bring him to Babylon,
to the land of the Chaldeans, yet shall he not
see it, though he shall die there ? " and had
not Jeremiah foretold, " He shall surely be de-
livered into the hand of the king of Babylon,
and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and
his eyes shall behold his eyes?" And so it
was: he saw Nebuchadnezzar face to face — he
saw his own sons executed — but he never saw
the land into which he was carried away cap-
tive.
After this the walls of Jerusalem were lev-
elled ; the city sacked ; the Temple burnt, and
Babylonia completely triumphant.
This scene of desolation affords a graphic
theme for one of England's sacred poets v
" Oh weep for those that wept by Babel's stream,
Whose slirines are desolate, wliosc land a dream;
Weep for the harp of Judah's broken spell ;
Mourn ! where their God hath dwelt the Godless dwell!
And where shall Israel lave her bleeding feet i
And when shall Ziun's songs again seem sweet.
And Judah's melody once more rejoice
The hearts that leapt before its heavenly voice?
Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast,
How shall ye flee away and be at rest ?
The wild dove hath her nesi, the fox his cave,
Mankind their country — Israel but the grave."
The bitter end which the prophets had fore-
seen and foretold had come. The meridian
splendor of Solomon's reign had gradually
faded into twilight, and now the purple twi-
light had deepened into night. No doubt, of
the captives carried away into Babylon, there
were some who read, however obscurely, the
Divine promise of a Redeemer, and the bright-
ness of the glory they held in anticipation
rendered them oblivious of all the troubles
that must first come. The bitter lamentations
of Jeremiah, the heart-stirring appeals of
Isaiah, the marvelous visions of Ezekiel, the
pathetic words of Micah, the revelations of
Amos, were familiar to them.
They all pointed to a latter-day glory, but
the Jews counted the latter days to be near at
hand: doubtless a deliverer would soon arrive
as strong as Samson, as brave as Gideon, as
good as Samuel; a soldier and a statesman
who should overthrow these Babylonians,
teach these blaspheming idolaters there was
still a God in Israel, and set up a kingilom
|:
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THE WEEPING PROPHET.
31 ;J
3
that should be the joy of the whole earth, and
last till time should be no more. That even
the most clear-sighted, the most spiritually-;
minded should foresee that the kingdom to be
set up was not a kingdom of this world ; that
He who set it up should in earthly estimation
be no higher than a carpenter, with a log for
His throne, and an adze for His sceptre— would
aopear most improbable.
Renowned Tyre.
A considerable part of the prophecies of
Ezekiel is devoted to the famous city of Tyre.
Great is the renown of Tyre, " whose mer-
chants were princes, and whose traffickers
were among the honorable of the earth." Its
antiquity, manufactures, commerce, colonies,
and its connection with remote nations un-
known, or known but faintly, to the ancients,
are all points of as high interest as any which
former times can offer to modern investigation.
The reader of the Bible has also his own pe-
culiar interest in this city, from the frequency
with which it is mentioned in the sacred books,
frorfi the amicable relations which subsisted
between the kings of Tyre and some of the
greatest of the kings of Israel, from the re-
markable results of these relations in the time
of Solomon, and, more than all, from the pro-
phecies of the overthrow of this great city,
and the exact fulfilment which these prophecies
have received. Ezekiel devotes two entire
chapters to this city, which have always beea
regarded as among the most remarkable docu-
ments which the ancient world has left to us.
The first describes the future history of Tyre,
which was afterwards accomplished to the very
letter ; the other gives a minute and most in-
teresting account of the commerce of Tyre,
and its great markets and fairs.
The prophet proceeds to inform us that the
masts of the Phoenician vessels were of
" cedar." In Lebanon the most celebrated
grove of cedars is near the village of Eden ;
and it is remarkable that Ezekiel mentions the
trees of Eden as the choicest in Lebanon.
The inhabitants of the mountain devoutly be-
lieve that this is the grove from which Solo-
mon drew the cedar wood for the Tenijilc,
and that the few large and ancient trees which
still remain were in being in his time. They
have also a superstitious notion that they can-
not be counted, as every person gives a dif-
ferent number who sees them. This is a fact,
however accounted for, as no two travellers
agree in the number — probably from interpret-
ing differently the term "largest" in counting
them up. The native Christians of the moun-
tain, every year upon the anniversary of the
Transfiguration, perform mass upon a homely
stone altar, reared under the most venerable
of the trees, in the open temple of nature.
Cedars of Lebanon.
With respect to the employment of cedar-
trees for masts, this may be taken to imply the
large size of the Tyrian ships ; for we seldom
read of their being used but in ships of un-
usual bulk. The Romans usually employed
firs ; but the enormous ship which conveyed
the obelisk of the Vatican from Egypt to Rome
had for her mast a very tall and large cedar, cut
in the woods of Cyprus. The ship itself was
sunk in the harbor of Ostia, by order of Cali-
gula, to serve as a foundation for a pier and
some towers. The main-mast in the galley of
king Demetrius was also made of a cedar
felled in Cyprus, one hundred and eighty feet
long and eighteen in diameter.
The negotiations of the king of Tyre with
David and Solomon, for the cutting down of
the timber and the carriage of it when cut,
teach us that at that period cedar was used
generally, in the surrounding countries, in the
construction of temples and palaces ; as there
is no appearance of anything out of the ordi-
nary course of business in the agreement.
Nothing could be fitter for the purpose re-
quired than cedar wood. Its size and straight-
ness, and above all its durability, were most
desirable for buildings that were to last. The
beauty of the wood, the high polish of which
it was susceptible, and its fragrance, also rec-
ommended it equally for the temple and the
palace ; and that for centuries it continued to
be sought for such purposes, we find from
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PALACES OK CEDAR
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Jeremiah's denunciation of woe to the rich,
who built themselves houses with large rooms,
and made wide their windows, and with ceil-
ings of cedar, which were painted with ver-
milion.
The ships of fir-trees, masted with cedars,
are further described as being provided with
oars made of the oaks of Bashan, which seems
to show that the ships of Tyre were no other
than galleys, designed to be propelled byj
rowers, as was the case with most of the more
ancient shipping, the sails being >nly used as
an assistance and relief to the oars, just as sails
are new used in vessels mainly propelled by
steam.
With this impression agrees what follows —
"the Assurites have made thy benches of
ivory," if these benches were those on which
the rowers sat, as is usually supposed. If so,
the Hebrew poet gives a lively idea of the
magnificence of the Tyrian vessels, by de-
scribing the mean use to which so costly a
material was applied. It is not, however, to
be understood that these or any other benches
were made wholly of ivory, but that they were
inlaid and enriched with it. The ivory itself
was doubtless the produce of their trade with
India and Ethiopia, and, as manufactured by
the Phoenicians into various ornaments and
articles of taste, was extensively in use among
the Israelites, espec-ally in the furniture of
royal residences. We see from the Egyptian
monuments that ivory was abundant at remote
times in Egypt, for in the procession of tribute-
bearers we see crisp-headed bearers of huge
teeth from Ethiopia and Central Africa, and
white men similarly laden, who also bring
ivory and the Asiatic elephant, and who must
have come from tiie Eist.
Costly Sails for Ships.
Wt are next told that the sails of these .ships
were of fine linen from Egypt; which is an
interesting corroboration of our knowledge
from other sources, that weaving was one of
the principal occupations of the ancient Egyp-
tians, and the products of their looms in great
demand among the neighboring nations.
The prophet then proceeds to enumerate the
products which the merchants of various coun-
tries brought to the great mart of Tyre, and
for which they received in exchange the mer-
chandise and manufactures of the Phcenicians.
The intercourse of Solomon with Tyre en-
ables us to perceive the kind of commodities
which the inhabitants of that state were likely
to require from Palestine^ ; and the account in
Ezckiel perfectly corresponds with the intima-
tions so long before conveyed — " Judah and the
land of Israel traded with thee ; corn of Minnith,
honey of raisins, oil and balm, gave they to
thee for thy wares." The corn of Judaea was
in fact highly prized ; it excelled even that of
Egypt. It was not therefore merely the prox-
imity of the country which led the Phcenicians
to prefer this market, but the better produce.
The other productions also mentioned by
the prophet are among those which the Holy
Land was famous for producing of a superior
quality. The strong vine which had been
native in this countrj' from time immemorial
afforded them an abundance of delicious
grapes. The " oil " of Palestine even still
excels that of Provence, notwithstanding the
depressed state of the culture under Turkish
despotism. The " balm " was collected in the
plain of Jericho and in the lands about the
Lake of Gennesareth ; and was of the same
sort as that which still bears a high repute
under the name of the balm of Mecca. The
fact thus brought before us, that Palestine was
the granaiy of the Phoenicians, explains in the
clearest manner the good understanding which
subsisted between those two nations. It is a
.striking feature in the Jewish history, that with
the other nations around them they lived in a
state of almost continual warfare; and that
under David and Solomon they became con-
querors and subdued considprable countries ;
and yet with their nearest neighbors, the
PhcEnicians, they were never engaged in hos-
tilities. But if a sense of their weakness pre-
vented them from attacking these mighty cities,
the natural policy of the Phoenicians no less,
on the other hand, restrained them from any
hostile attempts upon a country from which
THE WEEPING BROTHER,
315
tiiey drew their subsistence : to which it may
be added, that it seems to have been a maxim
among them to avoid all wars and forcible
Lebanon : but after his buildings had been
finished, timber could not well have formed
the staple of the commercial intercourse be-
THE CAPTURE OF TYRE. — Ez. XXvi. 2, 3.
extension of their dominion upon the continent
of Asia.
What Palestine received from Tyre in ex-
change for its produce is not directly stated in
Scripture. Solomon obtained timber from
tween the countries. We may, however, with
tolerable safety conclude that in this way the
Israelites obtained such of the manufactures
of the Phoenicians, and such of the commodi-
ties which they imported from foreign parts,
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316
ORNAMENTS OF DRESS.
as they r<'';uired. We know that the Phoeni-
cians excc\led in the manufacture of ornaments
of dress, implements, utensils, baubles and
p^ivgaws, for which they found a ready sale
jmong the less civilized of the nations with
which they had intercourse : and it is very
likely that most of the ornaments worn by the
Jewish women were obtained from ihem. A
curious list of such articles appears in Isa. iii.
18-23.
" The wool of the wilderness," translated
" white wool " in the authorized version, was
one of the wares supplied by the pastoral
tribes, who then, as i\ow, wandered their flocks
over the Syrian as well as the Arabian deserts.
The fleece of these sheep is the finest known ;,
improved as it is by the heat of the climate,
the continual exposure to the open air, and the
care that these people bestow upon their flocks,
which constitute almost their only business —
all which circumstances tend to render it more
precious.
In Ezekiel, " Tubal and Meshech " are said
to have brought to the markets of Tyre "slaves
and vessels of brass." It seems to be agreed
that the names Tubal aud Meshech apply to
the countries lying between the Black and
Caspian seas. This probability is strength-
ened by the fact that the wares in question are
exactly such as these regions produced. Cap-
padocia, together with the Caucasian districts,
from the very earliest times was the chief seat
of the slave-trade, and always continued so in
the ancient world.
The finest race of men has always been pre-
ferred : and it is well known that at the pres-
ent day the harems of the princes and nobles
of Turkey and Persia are peopled with the
most beautiful of the Georgians and Circas-
sians. Regular bands of kidnappers were
formally established throughout these coun-
tries, whose sole occupation was to surprise
and carry away boys and girls for the markets
of Constantinople and Cairo.
Prophecy lifted its voice against this re-
nowned city. Tyre, with ships and wealth,
with merchant princes and nabobs, was des-
tined to be overthrown. There are'gales that
ships cannot withstand, and a decay that
wealth cannot arrest. Just as the prediction
had been uttered, so it came to pass. When
Ty^re was at the height of her splendor it was
foretold that she would fall, and Tyre fell, igno-
minious in her ruins.
CHAPTER XXVII.
DANIEL IN BABYLON.
ANIELwasofthe
tribe of Judah
and of the race
of David. He
with other young
nobles.was trans-
ported at an early
age to Babylon
by order of Neb-
uchadnezzar, as
a hostage for the
good conduct of Jehoiakim,
who was then on the throne
of Judah; or rather, per-
haps, under that policy
which sought to aggran-
dize the imperial court by the presence and
services of the noblest and most handsome
youths of the subject states.
At Babylon, Daniel received the Chaldaean
name of Belteshazzar, and was placed with
other young captives whom Nebuchadnezzar
willed to be instructed in the science of the
Babylonians. Already well instructed in the
best of sciences, that of his holy religion,
Daniel resolved to deny himself the use of
viands forbidden by the law and prepared by
the hands of idolaters. The three companions
with whom he was more intimately associated
followed his example. And God rewarded
their faith; for, notwithstanding the fears of
Melzar, the eunuch to whose charge they had
been intrusted, it was found, when they were
produced for examination, that not only had
they not suffered in appearance by their simple
fare, but were more hale and ruddy than the
youths who had feasted on the meats and
wines of Babylon.
The educatiqp of these youth in the
sciences of the East lasted three years, at the
end of which it was found that Daniel and
his three companions surpassed in science and
wisdom all the magi of Babylon; and they
forthwith commenced their services under a
king, who, from all that appears, well knew
how to discover and reward merit.
Of these magicians, astrologers and sor-
cerers Kitto remarks : " It is no use to distin-
guish these various professors of what seemed
to have formed the boasted learning and
science of the Babylonians, and which appears
to have consisted in the neglect of really
practical and useful knowledge for the vain
pursuits, and not very humble profession, of
that which must ever be unattainable to man,
and which would be useless and mischievous
could it be attained. The present was made
the handmaid of the future ; and the abilities
which might have profited for the existing
time were exhausted in the attempt to unveil
the secrets of the time to come.
"Their boasted cultivation of astronomy
was merely an accident resulting from the
attempt to read the future in the stars. Astron-
omy, as it ever has been in the East, was
attended to so far, and no farther, than the
vain science of astrology made it necessary.
The best account we possess of the learning
and science of the Chaldaeans is that given by
Diodorus Siculus; and although he speaks
of it with respect, it is easy enough, from his
account, to sre its false foundations and delu-
sive character He mentions the Chaldaeans,
and so called by the Babylonians themselves,
and intimates the distinction by describing
them as ' the more ancient Babylonians.' They
seem, in fact, to have formed the learned
caste, occupying the same station as the
priests did in Egypt. They spent all their
time in the study of ' philosophy,' and were
especially famous in the art of astrology.
They were greatly given to divination and the
(317)
JH'
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818
BKIJKF IN ASTROLOGY.
foretelling of future events, and employed
themselves, cither by purifications, sacrifices
or oiichaiitineiit.s, in averting evils, ami in pro-
curing good fortune and success.
" They were also skilful in the art of divina-
tion by the flying of birds and in the interpre-
tation of dreams and prodigies ; and the pre-
sages which they derived from tije exact and
dili'tent inspection of tiie entrails of sacrifices
were received as oracles by the people. Diod-
orus makes some approving observations on
their method of study, stating that their
knowledge and science were traditionally
transmitted from father to son, thus proceed-
ing on long-established rules; and he then
proceeds to inform us that the Chaldaians
held the world to be eternal, that it had no
certain beginning and should have no end.
But they all agreed that all things were
ordered by a Divine Providence; and that the
motions of the heavens were not performed
by chance, or of their own accord, but by the
determinate will and appointment of the gods.
" Therefore, from long observation of the
stars, and an exact knowledge of the motions
and influences of every one of them (in which
they excelled all other nation;?), they professed
to foretell things that should come to pass.
The five planets, the Sun, Mars, Venus, Mer-
cury, and Jupiter, they called ' Interpreters,'
as being principally concerned in making
known to man the will of the gods. Future
events they held to be foreshown by their
rising, their setting, and their color, presaging
hurricanes, tempestuous rains, droughts, the
appearance of comets, eclipses, earthquakes,
and all other circumstances which were thought
to bode good or evil, not only to nations in
general, but to kings and private persons in
particular. The planets also, in their courses
through the twelve signs into which the Chal-
dneans divided the visible heavens, were held,
as by more modern astrologers, to have a
great influence, either good or bad, on men's
nativities, so that, from a consideration of their
several natures and respective positions, ft
might be foreknown what should befall people
in after life.
"The following is remarkable: 'As they
foretold things to come to other kings formerly,
.so they did to Alexander, who conquered Da-
rius, and to his successors, Antigonus and
Seleucus Nicator ; and accordingly things fell
out as tiicy declared. They also tell private
men their fortunes so certainly that those who
have found the thing true by experience have
esteemed it a miracle, and beyond the art of
man to perform.' After giving .some account
of their a.stronomical sy.stem, Diodorus adds:
'This we may justly and truly say, that the
Chaldjeans cxccll all men in astrology, having
studied it more than any other art or .science.' "
A .Startlliif; Drcniii.
A test as to Daniel's power .soon occurred.
The king was troubled in his sleep by a dream,
which agitated him exceedingly. He sum-
moned before him his wi.se men, who came
with the expression of Oriental loyalty, " O
king, live forever." They desired to know
the nature of the dream, but Nebuchadnezzar
had forgotten every particular; he demanded
that they should tell him the dream on pain
of cruel death and lasting disgrace. It was
not, as some may suppose, a very absurd re-
quest; if these men knew all things, and
could explain the meaning, surely it was not
very unreasonable to suppose that they might
ascertain the dream itself. " Tell me the
dream, and I shall know that ye can show me
the interpretation thereof." All declared the
matter impossible, and the king, being in this
in.stance, at all events, a man of his word,
gave instruction for the execution of all the
magicians and astrologers.
Having been included in the general pro-
scription of the magi who were unable to dis-
cover and interpret a dream which the king
himself had forgotten, but which filled his
mind with concern, Daniel obtained from the
captain of the guard the sv pension of the
execution of the sentence while he interceded
with the king, and from the king himself he
obtained further time on aigaging to solve
the mystery.
/.s soon as he had made known his power
r
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THE HEBREWS IN THE FIERY FURNACE. — Dan. iH. 2$.
(319)
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320
THE IMAGK OF GOLD.
to afford Nebuchadnezzar the information he
desired, lie was immediately conducted before
the monarch, and proceeded to remind him
that he had seen a compound image and to
explain to him how this image represented
"the things that should come to pass here-
after." This imafjc had a head of pure gold,
which the prophet explained to denote Nebu-
chadnezzar himself, and his successors in the
dynasty which he had agsraiulized ; the breast |
and arms of silver denoted the second and
inferior empire of the Medes and Persians ;
the belly and thi^'hs of brass, the next suc-
ceeding empire of the Macedonian Greeks ;
the legs of iron, the empire of the Romans ;
and the toes, partly iron and part clay, the
various states and kingdoms into which that
empire should be divided.
Justly, the king hao seen a stone which
smote the image and became a great mountain
that filled the whole earth, which was so
interpreted by the prophet as to show to us
that it was intended to apply to the kingdom
of the Messiah, which was to be established
upon the ruins of these various imperial king-
doms and empires, and to continue forever.
The prophet said to the king in the first
place, "Thou art this head of gold;" but
he did not indicate the names of the other
empires as we have set them down.
The vastness of the view thus presented be-
fore the mind of the king, and the deep and
magnificent import of his dream, overwhelmed
him not less than the mysterious power which
had enabled the young prophet to discover
and unravel that which had bafHed the boasted
skill of the Chaldaean soothsayers. In the
height of his astonishment and admiration the
king cast himself at the feet of his captive, and
would have worshipped him as more than hu-
man, commanding an oblation ^nd sweet odors
to be offered to him.
But Daniel respectfully directed his atten-
tion to the Great God in heaven ..ho..'! lie
served, and who had revealed the secret to
him ; on which the king declared with all sin-
cerity of conviction, " Of a truth your God is
A God of gods, and a Lord of kings."
Nebuchadnezzar was not slow in rewarding
one so highly gifted, and so greatly favored
of Heaven. He made him governor over the
whole province of Babylon, and bestowed on
him the distinguished office of Rab-Mag, or
chief of the Magians. The former appears to
have been the highest civil employment in the
state, as the latter was certainly the highest
among the learned offices of the kingdom.
At the request of D.iniel the king also pro-
moted his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego, to important trusts in the prov-
ince of Babylon under him.
Idolatry Cf>iiiinaii<UMl.
The king soon after caused to be set up ii>
the plain of Dura, near Babylon, a coloss.il
image of gold, and set forth a decree, that
whenever harmonious sounds were heard from
" the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dul-
cimer, or any kind of music," every one should,
on pain of death, fall down and worship it.
Taking all the circumstances into considera-
tion, it would seem as if the king had become
discontented with the particular import of th*
vision, the vastness of which had at the first
so filled his mind ; and that it was in order to
counteract or defy its application to himself
that he now acted. In the visionary image
his kingdom wps but the head of gold, des-
tined to be superseded and overthrown ; but
he now sets up an image wholly of gold, as if
to express under the same symbol the unity
and continuance of his kingdom.
It would even seem as if he repented of his
acknowledgment of the supremacy of Daniel's
God, the God by whom the vision had been
sent, seeing that his present orders were so ad-
verse to that admission. The decree as set
forth was one with which no pious Jew could
comply, and it was soon made known to the
king that tt'.e three friends of Daniel paid no
regard to his command. Daniel himself they
werv'prrbably afraid to accuse, on account of
his high place and his presumed favor at couit.
The king, in great wrath, summoned the
accused to his presence, and deliberately re-
cited to them the terms of his decree and the
DANIEL INTERPRETING THE DREAM OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. — Dan. iv. 20.
(321)
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322
THE KING DREAMS OF A TREE.
penalties of disobedience, adding, " Who is
that God that should deliver you out of my
hands?" They unflinciiingly answered tliat
their God was able to do so ; and resolutely
declared that they would not serve his gods,
nor worship the image he had set up. This
filled the king with fury, and he commanded
that they should be cast into the "burning
fiery furnace," heated seven times more than
it was wont to be heated. But these holy men
remembered Him who had said, " Though thou
walkest through the fire, I will be with thee ; "
and they walked about in the furnace un-
touched by the devouring flames, and singing
the praises of Jehovah.
A Miraculous Deliverance.
This marvelous sight brought the king to
his senses ; he called them forth ; he acknowl-
edged the exceeding greatness of the God
whom they served, and by whom they had
been preserved ; and in the warm enthusiasm
of the moment he made a decree that whoso-
ever spoke a word against this Mighty God
henceforth, should be destroyed "because
there is no other God that can deliver after this
sort." As for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-
nego, they were not only restored to favor, but
promoted to higher offices in the metropolitan
province of Babylon.
Some time after these transactions Nebu-
chadnezzar was warned of the consequences of
that excessive pride which formed the chief de-
fect in a character by no means destitute of
great and generous qualities. He was " at rest
in his house, and flourishing in his palace,"
when he saw a dream which made him afraid.
He beheld a tree which grew till it overspread
the earth, and all the fowls of heaven roosted
in its branches, and all the beasts of the field
reposed beneath its shade. But suddenly " a
holy one " came down from heaven and com-
manded the tree to be hewn down, leaving
only the stump in the earth ; and by one of
those transitions usual in dreams, the language
of " the holy one " passed from the condition
of the tree to that of the human being it repre-
KDted : " Let his portion be with the beasts
in the grass of the earth ; let his heart be
changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be
given to him, and let seven times pass over
him."
This dream no one could interpret but
Daniel. When the king recited it to him, and
the perception of its strange and afflicting im-
port came upon him, concern and astonish-
ment held him mute ; but when he recovered
himself, he proceeded to open its meaning to
the king. The tree represented him.self and
the greatness of the kingdom which God had
given to him; and the words of "the holy
one" were explained to mean — "That they
shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling
shall be with the beasts of the field, and they
shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they
shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven
times shall pass over thee, till thou know that
the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men^
and giveth it to whomsoever he will.'l
The Glory of Babylon.
When these words were uttered there were
no outward indications that the proud mon-
archy was doomed, but all appearances pointed
to the contrary. Babylon, the capital of the
kingdom of Babylonia, had reached the height
of its splendor. According to Herodotus, the
city was built on both sides of the Euphrates^
the connection between its two divisions being
kept up by means of a bridge made of wooden
planks, laid over stone piers. The streets are
described as being parallel, and the houses
from three to four stories in height ; the city
was surrounded by a broad and deep ditch »
and by a wall flanked with towers, and pierced
with one hundred gates of brass. The wall
was built of bricks formed from the earth
taken out of the moat, and cemented by a
composition of heated bitumen and reeds, the
former being brought from Is, on the Eu-
phrates, about one hundred and twenty-eight
miles from Babylon. The statements vary
with regard both to the height and thickness
of the wall. Herodotus says it was three hun-
dred feet high, and seventy-five feet thick, a
statement which seems highly improbable.
fl
DANIEL IN BABYLON.
323
Strabo reduces the height to seventy-five feet,
and further says, that two chariots driving in
opposite directibns could pass each other on
the summit of the wall.
In the centre of the city was the Temple of
Jupiter Belus. It was the square tower, from
which rose seven other towers, in regular suc-
cession ; in the topmost tower was a splendidly-
decorated chapel having a table and couch of
solid gold. The building was ascended from
without by means of a winding-.stair ; the walls
which surrounded it enclosed a space qf thirty-
three acres, and it was approached by brazen
gates of enormous strength and magnificent
workmanship. This tower, it has been con-
jectured, was none other than that of Babel,
erected by presumptuous builders not long
after the flood.
lYonderful Hanging-Gardens.
Herodotus visited the city shortly after the
conquest of Babylonia by Cyrus, and he de-
cribes its wondrous hanging-gardens, contain-
ing nearly four acres of land, elevated far
above the level of the city, and bearing lofty
trees that would have done no discredit to the
forests of Media. These gardens consisted of
a series of terraces raised one above the other,
like seats in an amphitheatre, and resting on
arches and pillars, some of which were filled with
earth. We are also told of a great engineering
work, namely, the tunnel under the Euphrates,
and there is no doubt that the city was most
extensive and remarkable. Its area has been
estimated at seventy-two square miles ; but it
must be borne in mind that these ancient cities
had but few points of resemblance to a modern
town; they were rather enclosed districts,
agricultural and pasture land being within the
walls, and its population bearing no proportion
to the density of that of our great cities at the
present time.
Babylon was in all its glory when the Jew-
ish prophets foretold its speedy destruction.
"And Babylon," said Isaiah, "Babylon, the
glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chal-
dees' excellency, shall be as when God over-
threw Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never
be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from
generation to generation, neither shall the
Arabian pitch tents there, neither shall the
shepherds make their fold there ; but wild
beasts of the desert shall lie there, and their
houses shall be full of doleful creatures, and
owls shall dwell there, and apes (satyrs) shall
dance there. Thou shalt take up this taunt-
ing speech against the king of Babylon and
say. How hath the oppressor ceased! The
golden city ! The Lord hath broken the staff
of the wicked and the sceptre of the rulers."
These words were uttered in the time of Ahaz,
years before Babylonia had established hersel*'
as a separate kingdom.
Not content with faithfully interpreting the
dream of Nebuchadnezzar concerning the tree,
Daniel in the depth of his concern ventured
to let fall a word of counsel. " Wherefore, O
king," he said, " let my counsel be acceptable
to thee, and break off" thy sins by righteous-
ness, and thine iniquities by showing kindness
to the poor ; perhaps it may be a lengthening
of thy tranquillity."
This, doubtless, made some temporary im-
pression upon the king ; but such impressions
have seldom great effect in changing a per-
vading bent of mind. At the end of about
twelve months, as Nebuchadnezzar was walking
on the roof of his palace, with all the glories
of Babylon, which he had made the greatest
city in the world, spread out before him, he
was lost in the contemplation of his own great-
ness and the magnificence with which he was
surrounded. " Is not this," he cried, " great
Babylon, which I have built for a royal habi-
tation by the might of my power and for the
honor of my majesty ? " The words had
scarcely passed his lips when he heard a voice
from Heaven saying, " O king Nebuchadnez-
zar, thy kingdQm is departed from thee I "
The King Stricken with Insanity.
And in that same hour his reason departed
from him — he was smitten with a singular dis-
ease of mind, which unfitted him not only for
the rule of kingdoms, but for the FOciety of
men. He was then suffered to follow the bent
i^
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324
THE KING'S REASON RESTORED.
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m
of his diseased impulse, under which he ap-
pears to have supposed himself transformed
into a beast ; and he went forth into the parks
and meadows, where he abode among the cat-
his nails grew like the unsightly claws of birds.
The account of these transactions is given
in a proclamation which Nebuchadnezzar is-
sued after his recovery. He there states, that
BELSHAZZAR SEEING THE WRITING ON THE WALL.
tie. and lived on vegetables. In this mad and
savage state he remained, his body being
-Dan. V. 5.
nightly wetted by the dews of heaven, till his
ha'<r grew out like the plumage of eagles, and
after continuing in this state for seven years,
" Mine understanding returned unto me, and
I blessed the Most High, and I praised and
gloriiied Him that liveth forever and ever.
of birds.
is given
ezzar is-
ites, that
DANIEL IN BABYLON.
326
1 years,
me, and
>ed and
d ever.
whose don-.inion is an everlasting dominion,
and His kingdon; from generation to genera-
tion." This was the result which had been
sought by this awful visitation ; and no sooner
had he realized the conviction that " the Most
High doeth according to His will in the armies
of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the
earth ; and none can stay His hand, or say unto
Him, What doest Thou ?" than his kingdom
and his glory were restored to him. His no-
bles and courtiers repaired to him, as soon as
the change was known ; he was once more in-
vested with the imperial purple, and recon-
>-'(.,.' reverently to his throne. "Now," the
. 1; iiation concluded, " I, Nebuchadnezzar,
; : .:-c, and extol, and glorify the King of
heaven, all whose works arc truth, and His
ways judgment; and those that walk in pride
He is able to abase."
Bclshazzar'8 Tyrannical Belgn.
Nebuchadnezzar did not long survive his
restoration, and the reign of his son and suc-
cessor, Evil-merodach, was of short duration,
as he was in 561 B.C. slain in a battle with the
Medes and Persians. He was succeeded by
his son Belshazzar. The end only of this mon-
arch's reign is minutely noticed in the narra-
tive of Daniel ; but from other sources we
obtain information respecting acts in the early
part of his reign, of which only a' barbarous
and jealous tyrant could have been capable.
His last and most heinous offence was the
profanation of the sacred vessels of the Temple
of Jerusalem, which had been respected by
his illustrious grandfather, and even by his in-
capable father.
He made a great feast " to a thousand of his
lords," and ordered the sacred vessels to be
brought, that he and revelers might drink wine
from them. That there was in this a studied
insult to the Most High God, whom Nebuchad-
nezzar had been taught by many severe lessons
to hold in reverence, is plain from the words
in which the account is given : " He praised
the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, and stone;
but the God in whose hand was his breath,
and whose were all his ways, he glorified not."
In the midst of this profane revelry, a hand
suddenly appeared writing words of mysterious
import upon the wall, over against the king.
The monarch was sobered in an instant. The
writing was unintelligible to him, for, although
the words were, as appears from the sequel,
written in the verUbcular Chaldaean language,
the characters were the old Hebrew, with
which he was unacquainted.
The King: Terrified.
The attendance of the magi and astrologers
was then commanded: but they were quite
unable to read the words, much less to give
an explanation of them. This increased the
alarm of the impious king; and when the
terror was at its height, the queen-mother (or
rather, perhaps, grandmother) made her ap-
pearance, and reminded him of Daniel, whom
she mentioned as one " in whom is the spirit of
the Holy God, and in the days of thy grand-
father, light and understanding, and wisdom,
like the wisdom of the gods, was found in
him." That Belshazzar needed to be thus re-
minded of the character and services of Daniel
seems to imply that he no longer retained his
high office at court, but had withdrawn into
private life.
It was the custom in most Oriental courts
for the archimagus, or the officer whose station
corresponded the nearest to that which Daniel
occupied, to lose his office on the death of the
king to whose court he was attached ; and this
was probably the case in Babylon. It is, how-
ever, supposed by some that Daniel, in prospect
of events then rapidly approaching, had volun-
tarily withdrawn from court, to avoid an official
connection with the fortunes, and thereby in-
volve himself in the ruin of a falling house.
But those who offer this conjecture forget, or
do not know that the acceptance or abandon-
ment of court employments is not and never
was optional in any eastern kingdom.
Daniel was sent for ; and the king repeated
what he had heard of him, and explained the
circumstances which required his j)resence.
The monarch promised that if he could but ex-
plain the mysterious words, his rewards should
1 t
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326
WEIGHED AND FOUND WANTING.
be the highest in his power to oestow — he
should be clothed in scarlet, be privileged to
wear a chain of gold, and should rank as the
third person in the kingdom. But such honors
were valueless in the sight of the venerable
prophet, who had already filled the highest
stations at court, and to whom the future was
open as a book. " Thy gifts be to thyself, and
give thy rewards to another ; nevertheless, I will
read the writing to the king." And he did so.
experienses and resulting convictions of his
renowned grandfather, adding — "And thou,
his grandson, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled
thy heart, though thou knewest all this." He
then proceeded to read the inscription —
Mene {number), Mene {number), Tekfl
{weight), Peres (division), Upharsin {and di-
visions) ; and explained the words thus :
Mene, God hath numbered thy reign.
[MeneJ, and finished it (the repetition of the
DANIIiX. INTERPRETING THE WRITING. — Dan. V. 26.
It was not enough to read off the mere
words as they stood. It is probable that any
educated Jew among the captives in Babylon
could have done that ; but it was necessary
that the true import should be afifixed to words
which were in themselves merely indicative of
the great prophetic truths hidden in them. This
required a prophet instructed from on high,
and was such a task as no man then in Babylon,
save Daniel, could accomplish. Before pro-
ceeding to explain these great words the
prophet undauntedly reminded the king of the
word giving intensity and completeness to the
signification).
Tekel, thou art weighed in the balance, and
found wanting.
Peres, thy kingdom is divided —
Upharsin, and given to the Mede and the
Persian (Darius and Cyrus).
The king understood this well. His mind
took in all the fearful significance of these
oracular sentences. But he royally restrained
his emotions, and dismissed the prophet, with
orders that the promised rewards should be
DANIEL IN BABYLON.
327
bestowed upon him. The sacred historian
adds — " That same night was Belshazzar, king
of the Chaldaeans, slain." How he came by
his death we are not told ; but we may collect
from XeP'—hon that he perished through a
conspiracy against his life by two nobles upon
whom he had inflicted the highest indignities
which men could receive.
He was succeeded by his son, Laborosoa---
chod, a boy, who died in less than a year, in
consequence of which the Scriptural account
relates, as immediately following the death of
Belshazzar, that " Darius the Mede took the
kingdom." The family of Nebuchadnezzar was
in fact extinct, and the Median king, Darius
(the Cyaxares of secular history), the brother
of the queen-mother, took the kingdom, as
next of kin, through her, to the Chaldaean
crown. The claim of Darius may not have
been very strong ; but it was as strong as any
which could be opposed to it, and was backed
by a power which had risen very high under
the generalship of his nephew, Cyrus, and
which no power in those parts was in a condi-
tion to oppose.
Babylon Overthrown.
A very singular circumstance, impossible
for any human foresight to have reckoned
upon, occurred during the siege of Babylon,
and was most pointedly mentioned by the
prophets. It was, that the river should be
dried up before the city should be taken : "A
drought is upon her waters, and they shall be
dried up:" " I will dry up her sea, and make
her springs dry." This, as Bisliop Newton
remarks, was most unlikely ever to happen,
the river being two furlongs broad, and deeper
than two men standing upon one another, so
that the city was thought to be better fortified
by the river than by the walls. But so it was,
that Cyrus turned the course of the river Eu-
phrates, which ran through the midst of Baby-
lon, and, by means of deep trenches and canals,
so drained the waters, that the river became
easily fordable for his soldiers to enter the city.
It was by this means that the mighty Babylon,
which was deemed impregnable, and was sup-
plied with provisions for many years, was most
unexpectedly taken.
It is not a little singular that the capture of
Babylon should be described as involving the
destruction of its idols. " Babylon is fallen,
is fallen, and all the graven images of her gods
he hath broken unto the ground." " Bel
boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were
upon their beasts, and upon their cattle."
There are other prophecies to the same effect.
Now the Persians, by whom Babylon was taken
and retained, detested idolatry nearly as
much as did the Jews themselves, and de-
stroyed the idols of the places they conquered,
when not restrained by prudential considera-
tions. What was actually done in this respect,
history does not state. We know that Cyrus
readily gave up the spoils of the Temple of
Jerusalem, although they had been conse-
crated to the god Bel ; and some years after
Xerxes plundered and destroyed the temples
and idols of " the great city." This he did
from professed hostility to image worship, for
which he was indeed notorious ; but partly to
reimburse himself for the vast expenses >f his
wars by the precious metals of which their
idols were composed, or with which they were
covered. It will be remembered that the im-
age which Nebuchadnezzar set up was of gold.
Striking^ Fulfilment of Prophecy.
With equal minuteness and precision, by
prophetic vision, it was foretold that this great
event, the capture of Babylon, should take
place during a feast. And this also came to
pass : for the city was taken in the night of a
great annual festival, while the inhabitants
.'.re dancing, drinking, and revelling, so that
the extreme parts of this vast city were already
in the hands of the enemy before those who
dwelt in the central parts were aware of their
danger.
But, although taken by an enemy, the hu-
man probabilities were that a town so great,
so advantageously situated for the seat of a
great empire, would only sustain a temporary
shock from such a calamity ; and would then,
under its new masters, recover its strength and
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DANIEL IN BABYLON.
329
e
o
iz;
id
'a;
3
greatness. This has happened to other great
cities of the East and West, and why might it
not happen to Babylon ? How but through
Divine inspiration could the prophets know
that Babylon should become desolate and
utterly forsaken, and that man and beast should
remove from it?
It did so happen, however. The conquerors
had a city of their own not very far off, and
much more conveniently situated, with regard
to their native dominions, as the seat of em-
pire ; and, although for a time they made it
the residence of the court during a pa»-t of
every year. Susa, the Shusan of Scripture, on
the river Tigris, became the real capital of the
empire. This was a sore blow to the pros-
perity of Babylon ; and when Alexander con-
quered the East, it was no longer the mighty
city which it had been when the prophets gave
forth their denunciations against it. It was
still, however, great; and the Macedonian
conqueror contemplated making it the central
seat of his vast empire. But the downward
doom of Babylon was sealed in the counsels
of heaven, and the hero, in the midst of his
magnificent projects, died there, and his em-
pire was divided.
The Den of Lions.
However, the favor which Daniel received
at the hands of the new king was highly dis-
pleasing to the native princes and governors,
and they resolved to compass his ruin. They
knew too well the purity of his public admin-
istration to indulge any hope of substantiating
any charge against him in that respect ; but
they also knew his uncompromising adhe-
rence to the obligations of his peculiar religion,
and were not without hope of thereby effect-
ing his downfall. The fear of arousing the
suspicion of Darius to their design obliged
them to cast their net very widely. They pro-
posed to the king that he should issue a de-
cree that whoever should petition to any god —
but himself — for the space of a month, should
be cast into the den of lions. In this assump-
tion of Diviiio honors by kings there was
nothing unparalleled ; and the easy and some-
what vain king, taking it as a mark of affec-
tion and loyalty to him on his accession, too
readily consented ; and gave to it all the
solemnity of one of those decrees which, when
once issued, could not be recalled.
Daniel could not but know that this measure
was really levelled at himself; yet he in no-
wise altered his customary services to the God
of Israel. He did not even stoop to make his
devotions secret ; but thrice a day, as he had
always been wont to do, he offered up his
orisons with his windows open towards Jerusa-
lem Due note of this was taken by the ene-
mies of Daniel, who hastened to the king, and
accusing him of contempt and of rebellion
again.st the royal decree, demanded the in-
stant execution of its dreadful penalties against
him.
The unhappy king at once saw the ^iiare
which had been laid for the prophet and him-
self; but he saw also that he was under the
most binding of known obligations to enforce
the decree he had issued. His grief, his re-
morse, his rage, were alike impotent ; and
nothing was left him but to turn to the vague
hope that the God whom Daniel so faithfully
served, and by whom lie had been so signally
favored, would interfere for his deliverance.
Comforting himself with this assurance, which
he imparted to the prophet, the king aban-
doned him to the punishment which the de-
cree had awarded. Daniel was cast into the
den of lions, the mouth of which was imme-
diately closed with a large stone, which was
sealed up with the king's own signet.
Darius, the king of the Medes and Persians,
passed that night in sleepless sorrow ; he re-
fused to take his usual food, and forbade the
instruments of music to be played before him.
Very early in the morning he left his bed and
hastened to the den of lions, still cherishing
the faint hope that Daniel might be yet alive.
When he drew near he called out, " O Daniel,
servant of the living God, is thy God, whom
thou servest continually, able to deliver thee
from the lions ? " A voice answered from the
cavern, " O king, live forever ! My God hath
sent His angel, and hath shut the lions'
i
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330
DANIEL'S GREAT AGE.
mouths; inasmuch as before Him innocency
was found in me, and also against thee, O
king, have I done no hurt."
Overjoyed to find that the man whom he so
highly esteemed had been thus miraculously
preserved, Darius ordered that he should be
immediately released from the dungeon, and
directed that his accusers should be cast into
the lions. The mighty power which had re-
strained the ravenous beasts from harm was
then withdrawn, and the wretched plotters be-
came in an instant the victims of their rage
and hunger.
Several figures of lions have been found
among the ruins of Babylon ; some coins rep-
resent a lion's den under the walls of a for-
tress, and an intaglio found in the same quarter
represents a man between two lions. It would
perhaps be too much to say that any of this
had special reference to the incident we have
recorded , but they afford interesting corrob-
oration to the Scriptural account by show-
ing that lions were well known at Babylon,
and that there were one or more dens of these
animals in that great city. In the fulness of
his satisfaction and astonishment the king
issued a decree to all the nations of his vast
empire, commanding " that in every dominion
of my kingdom men tremble and fear before
the God of Daniel, for He is the living God,
and steadfast forever."
The Prophet's liast Days.
It is recorded of Daniel that he lived through
the reign of Darius the Mede, and into that
of Cyrus ; indeed, one of his visions is dated
in the third year of Cyrus, when he must
have reached the ninetieth year of his age.
There is no reason to doubt that Daniel re-
tained his authority and influence under the
latter monarch, and there is much reason to
conclude that he brought that great prince
acquainted with those prophecies which had
a long time before predicted not only the res-
toration of the Jews to their own land, but
that this restoration was to be effected ynder
a king named Cyrus. But although he had
thus probably an important part in bringing
about this result, there is no evidence that he
availed himself of the privilege conceded to
his countrymen.
Some have asserted that he returned from
captivity with Ezra, and took upon him the
government of Syria; but it is more likely
that he was too old to take part in so great a
charge, and that, accordin*; to the usually re-
ceived opinion, he died in Persia. Epiphanius
and others affirm that he died at Babylon ;
and they say that his sepulchre was to be seen
there, many ages after, in tlie royal cave. But
it seems more probable that, according to the
common tradition, he was buried at Susa or
Shusan, where he sometimes resided, probably
in his official capacity, and where he was
favored with some of his last visions. Jose-
phus says that there was at Susa a magnificent
edifice in the form of a tower, which was said
to have been built by Daniel, and which
served as ' ^epulcliie for the Persian and Par-
thian kings. This, in the time of the historian,
retained its perfect beauty and presented a fine
Sfecimen of the prophet's skill in architecture.
That this tower was built by Daniel there is
little ground to believe ; but that a monument
of the kind would be ascribed to him by the
numerous Jews resident'in those parts in and
before the time of Josephus is highly prob-
able.
Benjamin of Tudela mentions that he was
shown the reputed tomb of Daniel at Susa on
the Tigris; and at the present day a tomb
bearing his name is the only standing building
among the ruins of Shus, the ancient Susa.
The city itself is now a gloomy wilderness
inhabited by lions, hyenas, and other beasts
of prey ; and the tomb stands at the foot of
the most elevated of the heaps of ruin, which
time, by covering with mould and drift, has
converted into mounds or hillocks. The
structure is modern and of the usual form of
the tombs of holy men throughout that coun-
try ; but nothing could have led to its being
built there but the belief, attested by some
previous monument, that it was the real site
of the prophet's sepulchre. The tomb is a
small building, but affords shelter to a few
■■■
DANIEL TOUCHED BY THE ANGEL. — Dail. X. lO.
(331)
t \
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S32
AN ILLUSTRIOUS PROPHET.
dervishes, who are supported by the alms of
the pilgrims who visit the sepulchre. These
dervisiies are now . the only inhabitants of
Susa, and various species of wild and ravenous
beasts roam at large over that spot on which
some of the proudest palaces ever raised by
human art once stood.
Daniel's Visions.
The last six chapters of Daniel's book are
occupied by the prophecies, in the form of
visions, which were delivered at different times,
but which are all in some degree connected as
parts of one grand scheme, in which the in-
terests of the Hebrew and Christian churches
are concerned. They extend through many
ages, and exhibit, under the most striking
representations, the rise and fall of successive
kingdoms : they characterize, in terms highly
descriptive, the four great monarchies of the
world, to be succeeded by that kingdom which
is an everlasting dominion, and which shall
not be destroyed. They even point out inter-
mediate subdivisions of empires, particularly
that of the four kingdoms into which the em-
pire of Alexandria should be broken.
The prophet Daniel must be considered as
one of the most remarkable characters of which
the Scriptures give us any record. All through
his history the representation is that he was in
alliance with supernatural power. He was
more than a Hebrew captive; he was more
than a Daniel ; he was more than man, for he
was Divinely guided and upheld. Raised up
for a special purpose, as so many of the great
men of the Bible were, he fulfilled his mission
with a fidelity, a courage and a zeal conspicu-
ous even among the renowned heroes of Bibli-
cal history.
It is interesting to notice that although he
lived to a very great age, although the furrows
and cares of many years, even decades of years,
were written upon his face, he never lost his sub-
lime confidence, never failed in any emergency.
One great reason for this is undoubtedly the
fact that all through his checkered career he
was blessed with visions from on high. It
would seem as if the prophet Daniel had but to
open his eyes to see the invisible, and to stop
and listen to hear the unutterable. He rose to
every occasion, was not appalled by threats,
was not made giddy by flatteries, and main-
tained his lofty character to the end.
In the tenth chapter of the book which
bear his name, a very interesting account is
given of one of those visions by which he was
so frequently cheered. He affirms that he had
been in mourning for the space of three weeks;
no pleasant bread had he eaten ; neither flesh
nor wine had been taken for sustenance;
neither had he anointed himself according to
the custom of those days.
A Mysterious Visitor.
In stern severity, as was the manner with
the old Hebrew prophets, he had humiliated
himself, and in that lowly frame of mind, the
windows of his soul being open, it was fitting
that the light of Heaven should come in. He
narrates particularly the circumstances of this
vision. It was on the four and twentieth
day of the first month, and he was by the side
of the great river, which is Hiddekel. He
lifted up his eyes, and lo 1 before him was a
certain man of extraordinary appearance. He
was clothed in linen and his loins were girded
with the fine gold of Uphaz. From the further
vivid description which is given, it seems that
his body was like beryl, while his face had the
appearance of lightning, and his eyes were as
lamps of fire. His .irms and his feet were like
in color to polished brass. The man spoke and
his voice was like the sound of many waters,
or, as the language expresses it, " the voice of
his words was like the voice of a multitude."
The prophet is careful to tell us that he
alone saw the vision; it appeared to be a
special revelation to himself. Others were
with him, but their eyes, it seems, were holden,
and, although this mysterious messenger from
the other world was so near, they were not
sensible of his presence. Yet, conscious that
something unusual was transpiring, a great
quaking fell upon them, and they fled to hide
themselves. Daniel affirms that no strength
was left in himself, and in this burning presence
DANIEL IN BABYLON.
A3S
his comeliness was turned into corruption.
Still he heard what was spoken, and having
heard it he fell into a deep sleep on his face,
and his face was toward the ground.
While thus overawed and faint under the
power of the wonderful vision, behold, a hand
touched him, and he was lifted from the ground
upon which he had fallen. Thus upheld, he
received the communication, the message
intended especially for him. There he stood,
trembling, face to face with a reality in human
shape and form from the other world. He
was told not to fear and was given to under-
stand that whatever calamities might come
upon the kingdom whose destruction he had
Kiretold, he himself should still be guarded
and preserved, and that his times and seasons
and the various events of his future life were
all in the hands of that God of Israel who
had hitherto directed and miraculously pre*
served him.
He was told what should befall his people
in the later days. Having heard this, he set
his face toward the ground and became dumb.
He complains that by the vision his sorrows
were turned upon him, and he retained no
strength. Then the angel came again and
touched him and said, " Oh, man, greatly be-
loved, peace be unto thee. Be strong ; yea,
be strong." With this announcement there
came to him renewed strength. The vision
vanished : the mysterious messenger departed.
Daniel, who had been touched by the very
hand of Omnipotence, went longer than Elijah
did in the strength which had been received
from God.
I,
CHAPTER XXVIII.
JONAH AT NINEVEH.
• ^ ET us fix our minds
upon the events which
transpired during the
period of the Prophet
Jonah's public life. A
description of the great
Assyrian empire and
its capital, Nineveh,
with a narrative of Jonah's visit to
this famous city, will necessitate a
return to Jewish history.
Jehoash, or Joash, reigned in
Judah, and while the priest Jehoiada
lived, he did well and justly, a com-
mendable sort of character, and
very young. He gave orders for the repair
of the Temple, and gave instructions to the
clergy to see that his orders were carried out ;
but while they took the money, they did not
do the work, and when Joash had been on
the throne more than three and twenty years
the Temple was still unrepaired, and nobody
seemed to know what had become of the
money collected for the work.
At last the high-priest interfered — and it
was a marvel he did not interfere sooner — ^and
gave instructions that the people were not to
pay any money to the priests at all, these gen-
tlemen forgetting very often what they had
received, but that they were to drop their con-
tributions through the slit in the lid of a very
large m >ney-box, and that when the box was
tolerably full the king's scribe, acting on the
part of the laity, and the high-priest on the
part of the clergy, should together open the
clie.st, count up the money, make the necessary
memoranda, and then settle so far as they
could with the trades-people. Under this
arrangement the work went on very well
indeed. It is said of those who had the work
(334)
in hand that they "dealt faithfully," and a
higher compliment could not be paid.
Towards the end of the reign of Jehoash
the Syrian king Hazael marched on Jerusalem
and so terrified the weak monarch that he
yielded up all the church plate, and having
tiius satisfied the cupidity of his enemy, was
permitted to remain in an ignoble peace. Hut
not long; two of his chief men rose up
a<;ainst him, and " smote him and he died,"
and then his son Amaziah became king.
While these events were transpirinpj in the
kingdom of Judah, Jehu, the soldier wiio had
won the crown of Israel, led a careless and
intlifferent life, and dying, left the throne to
Jehoahaz his son. The young king was
almost immediately involved in a terrible war
with Hazael of Syria; 'one defeat followed
another; army after army was overthrown;
city after city was captured. Elisha had fore-
.seen all this : he saw plainly that when Hazael
had murdered his sovereign lord and usurped
his throne, he would not be slow in bringing
heavy calamity on Israel. The army, by re-
peated engagements, was reduced to ten
thousand infantry, fifty cavalry, and ten char-
iots; the emphatic language of Scripture is
that the people were made " like the dust by
threshing."
We are told that at present in the East, as
in the times to which the Scriptures refer, the
thre^ing-tfloor is in the open air, and is the
most level and hardest piece of ground which
can be found near the harvest-field. The top
of the hill is preferred when it can be obtained,
for the advantage of the subsequent winnow-
ing. For use, as the regular threshing-floor
on the estate, this spot is often prepared by
the removal of about six inches depth of the
soil and filling the vacancy with a firm com-
"~~>*!
and a
Jehoash
erusalem
that he
having
JONAH AT NINEVEH.
336
poit of manure and clay. Still, with all this I that the straw itself is much crushed tnA
ca r* to prevent the intermixture of gravel and I broken by the treading of the cattle lo that
earthy particles, much very fine dust irom the Ismail particles oi broken straw lie mingled
JONAH CAST mro THE SEA.— Jon. i. 5
surface of the threshing-floor is produced by
the act of threshing, and remains when the
com and straw are removed. Add to this
with the small dust of the threshing-floor.
These circumstances render the figure em-
ployed by the writer very vivid and distinct to
•\ t
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336
AMAZIAH'S ARMY
an eastern imagination and full of meaning.
After a while, however, the people obtained
peace, only again to resort to idolatrous prac-
tices, and to do as wickedly as they had done
before. Then Jehoahaz died and was suc-
ceeded by his son Joash. Our Scriptures
assert that he was a wicked man, that " he did
evil in the sight of the Lord," whereas Jose-
piius tells us " He was a good man, and in his
disposition was not at all like his father." It
is most likely that these different characters
of Joash suited the different parts of his reign,
and that he was, as according to our Bible, at
first a wicked king, and then, as according to
Josephus, he was reclaimed, and became a
good one, and so continued thereafter.
Brilllaut Victories.
It was in the reign of Joash that Elisha the
prophet died ; shortly before his death he was
waited on by Joash, who was bemoaning the
wretched condition of his people by reason
of the ravages of the Syrians ; Elisha " com-
forted him," says Josephus, "and bade the
king bend a bow that was brought him ; and
when the king had fitted the bow for shooting,
Elisha took hold of his hands and bade him
shoot; and when he had shot three arrows,
and then left off, Elisha said. If thou hadst
shot more arrows, thou hadst cut the kingdom
of Syria up by the roots ; but since thou hast
been satisfied with shooting three times only,
thou shalt fight and beat the Syrians no more
times than three, that thou mayest recover
that country which they cut off from thy
kingdom in the reign of thy father. So
when the king had heard that he departed,
and a little while after the prophet died."
On the death of Hazael, king of Syria, Joash
made war on his successor Adad, obtained a
victory in three battles, and recovered the
country which Hazael had captured.
Meanwhile, Amaziah had ascended the
throne of Judah, and executed summary ven-
geance on his father's murderers. After this he
assembled a large army, and with a hundred
thousand men from the tribes of Israel, made
war on the Amalekites, Edomites, and Ge-
balites. But he was warned not to war with the
Israelites for his auxiliaries; Amaziah — al-
though the pecuniary loss was very great, as
he was bound to pay the men he had hired —
availed himself of the caution, sent away his
allies, and with his own comparatively small
army achieved very decided victories over the
nations already named. The old sin that had
so often brought evil on Judah and Israel was
repeated. Amaziah patronized and practised
idolatry, and puffed up with vanity at his own
successes, commanded all Israel to return to
their allegiance to the house 'of David.
Speedily came the answer: " King Joash to
king Amaziah. There was a vastly tall cypress
tree in Mount Lebanon, as also a thistle ; this
thistle sent to the cypress tree to give the
c> press tree's, daughter in marriage to the
thistle's son ; but as the thistle was saying this,
there came a wild be.ist and trod down the
thistle : and this may be a lesson to thee not
to be so ambitious, and to have a care, lest
upon thy good success in the fight against the
Amalekites, thou growest so proud as to bring
dangers upon thyself and thy kingdom."
On the receipt of this letter the wrath of
Amaziah burnt hot and fierce ; he assembled
his troops, and began his invasion of the
dominions of Joash, but his men were either
unwilling or afraid of the issue of battle; they
forsook the king, who fell into the hands of
the enemy. At first Amaziah despaired of his
life ; he looked for nothing from the hands of
the provoked Joash but death. The king of
Israel, however, proposed terms; they were
hard terms, no less than the surrender of Jeru-
salem ; but the humiliated monarch, with the
fear of death on him, consented. He was led
as a captive to his own capital ; his conqueror,
disdaining to enter by the gate, ordered a con-
siderable part of the wall to be levelled, and
drove his chariot through the breach.
He then appropriated to his own use all the
treasures of the holy Temple and the royal
palaces, and taking hostages for the good be-
havior of the king, left Amaziah at Jerusalem,
and returned to Samaria. Unhappy king, he
felt himself now to be a mere "thistle" to the
JONAH PREACHING AT NINEVEH. — ^Joil. Hi. 4.
f337)
ilH
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338
A GREAT FISH.
" cypress" of Israel, felt that the " wild beast"
had indeed trodden. His old prestige was
never recovered, and years afterwards, when
Joash had been fifteen years in his grave, and
Jeroboam II. was on the throne of Israel, a
conspiracy was raised against Amaziah, who
fled to Lachish, and was there sought out and
slain.
The son of Amaziah, a lad of sixteen, Aza-
riah by name, was permitted to ascend the
vacant throne of Judah, but he does not ap-
pear to have distinguished himself in any re-
markable way either for good or evil. As to
Jeroboam of Israel, he at the first was
thoroughly bad, and " departed not from all
the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who
made Israel to sin;" but it has been con-
jectured that although he began wickedly, and
was the cause of a vast number of misfortunes
to the Israelites, he was afterwards reclaimed,
and became a good king. This seems prob-
able on account of his being encouraged by a
prophet to undertake a great military enter-
prise in which he was highly successful.
Prophecies of Jonah.
The prophet who encouraged Jeroboam was
Jonah, who foretold that he should make war
with the Syrians, conquer their army and en-
large the bounds of his kingdom in the north-
em provinces as far as the city call J Hamath,
and southerly as far as the Dead sea. Jero-
boam achieved what had been predicted, and
relieved many of his subjects from the dread
of the Syrians. It was a good work well
done.
But turning from the connected history of
Judah and Israel, we must fasten our attention
on this singular man, Jonah.
Jonah's prophecy stands as the fifth of the
twelve lesser prophets in our canonical ar-
rangement; chronologically, it should stand
first of ah, before Isaiah, Jeremiah or Ezekiel.
Jonah was the first of the prophets whose
books have come down to us. About thirty
years, it is conjectured, before he delivered his
message to Jeroboam, this Jonah was sent
with a warning and threatening to one of the
largest cities in the world. He was com-
manded to go to Nineveh, and denouncing
the extreme wickedness of its inhabitants, pro-
claim its destruction within forty days. Jonah
was afraid, and, as Josephus has it, " he ran
away from God." The impossibility of doing
so is plain, but he ran away from his duty,
brought misery on himself and trouble on
others ; was cast out of the ship, and is said to
have been swallowed by a great fish, who
threw him at last on dry land ; then he went
to Nineveh on his important errand.
A Famous City.
It appears that this city, the capital of the
kingdom of Assyria, extended its length along
the eastern bank of the Tigris, while its breadth
reached from the river to the eastern hills.
All the ancient writers concur with Jonah in
describing Nineveh as an "exceeding great
city." But as none of these writers lived tilt
after its destruction, their accounts, derived
from old records and reports, are necessarily
brief and incomplete. The best account which
we possess is that furnished by Diodorus, who
states that Ninus, having surpassed all his
ancestors in the glory and success of his arms,
resolved to build a city of such state and
grandeur as no sovereign coming after him
should be easily able to exceed.
Accordingly, having brought a vast number
of his forces together, and provided the neces-
sary treasure, and everything which his de-
sign required, he built near the Tigris a city
very famous for its walls and fortifications.
Diodorus adds, that the founder was not
deceived in his expectations, for no one ever
after built a town equal to it for the extent of
its circumference and the stateliness of its
walls. These were a hundred feet high, and
so wide that three chariots might be driven
upon them abreast. There were 1,500 towers
upon the walls, all of them two hundred feet
high. Ninus appointed the city to be chiefly
inhabited by the richest of the Assyrians, and
freely allowed people from other nations to
dwell there. He also granted to the citizens
a large surrounding territory, and gave his
JONAH AT NINEVEH.
339
own name, Ninus, to the town. It may be
added, that Strabo and other ancient writers
say that Nineveh was more extensive than
even Babylon.
We are not to suppose that the whole of
the vast enclosure of Nineveh was built upon.
It was no doubt loosely built, with the houses
much apart, as at Babylon, and containing ex-
tensive plantations, parks, gardens, fields and
pired nothing happened; the city was not
overthrown, and he who had uttered the pre-
diction, and had looked for the fulfilment of
his words, was very angry. It seems that he
would have preferred the utter destruction of
the city rather than that his threatening should
not be executed.
Years afterwards Nineveh did fall ; the sands
of the desert swept over her ; she was dead.
ROYAL PALACE AT NINEVEH.
open grounds, as the larger Oriental towns
still do.
To this great city Jonah declared hi nes-
sage — forty days and Nineveh was to be de-
stroyed. The people listened with awe and
wonder as they heard the terrible denuncia-
tion, and they believed the words of the pro-
phet. A solemn fast and national humiliation
was proclaimed ; the Ninevites cried to the
God of Jonah, and when the forty days ex-
buried, forgotten — the site of her wealth and
glory unknown, her very existence doubted.
But a few years ago we were not ac-
quainted with a single great monument of
Assyrian art. Travellers who visited the banks
of the Euphrates and Tigris brought back with
them to Europe bricks covered with a multi-
tude of little, graphic, nail-shaped characters,
seals, and tubes or cylinders, bearing strange
representations of men and fantastic animals ;
1 i
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340
IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES.
and these little curiosities, which were found
for the most part at a few days' journey from
Bagdad, in the neighborhood of Hillah, were
lodged in the various collections, without any
one suspecting the erudition which might some
day spring from them, and help to clear up the
ancient history of Assyria. Reports were also
brought of two or three shapeless remains of
sculpture, such as a lion devouring a man, and
the robe and feet of an unknown female.
In December, 1842, Mons. Botta, the French
consul at Mosul, commenced a series of exca-
vations opposite Mosul, in one of the mounds
on the eastern banks of the Tigris. Tradition,
as well as the works of travellers, had long
pointed out the mounds opposite Mosul as
being the site of ancient Nineveh. Mons. Botta
• discovered but very few fragments of any im-
portance at this spot, and advanced a little
farther, to Khorsabad, situated on the east of
the Tigris, at a distance of about ten miles
north-east of Mosul. In a few days he laid
bare walls of brick and gypsum — in fact, an
entire palace decorated with colossal sculp
tures, representing scenes of the religious,
royal, military, and private life of one of the
most celebrated nations of antiquity, with
whom we were hitherto but vaguely ac-
quainted, from the sacred writings, and the
accounts of Herodotus.
It is with a kind of stupor that the spectator
at the present day contemplates some of tliese
sculptures in the galleries of the Louvre. So
remarkable an event could not fail to excite
the emulation of English explorers. One of
them, Mr. Austen Henry Layard, did not long
delay excavating other mounds, near the small
village of Nimroud, at about twenty-two and
a half miles from Mosul, and thirty-nine miles
from Khorsabad, on the left or eastern bank of
the Tigris, and at a distance of less than three
miles from that stream. His zeal has been
crowned with no less success than that of
Mons. Botta ; he has enriched the British Mu-
seum with prodigious evidences of ancient
Assyrian civilization, and many famous relics
have found their way to our own country.
These discoveries, which were more unex-
pected and more important than any others of
an analogous nature which have preceded them
in the present century, have given an extraor-
dinary impetus to the science of archaeology
and history. The French and other consuls
and archaeologians of various nations con-
tinued with great ardor the work commenced
under such happy auspices by Messrs. Botta
and Layard. Mons. Place, French consul at
Mosul, discovered on the site of Khorsabad
the first Assyrian statue dug up, for previously
to his so doing the figures found were in half-
relief only. This statue is four feet and a half
high, and represents a person holding a kind
of bottle. Mons. Place discovered, also, a wall,
five feet high, of painted and enamelled bricks,
on which are represented animals, men, trees,
etc. Arguing from this rapid success, it is no
longer possible to doubt that most of the brick
mounds scattered about in the valleys of the
Euphrates and Tigris contain immense ruins
of the Assyrian empire ; the pioneers of science
may dig into the bowels of the earth with con-
fidence, for they will certainly make discoveries
of invaluable importance towards aiding us to
study the religions, the annals, and the man-
ners of Asiatic antiquity.
Exploits of Sennacherib.
Among the most interesting and important
discov :ries of Mr. Layard is a fu!l history of
the exploits and victor-^s of Sennacherib,
copied from the bulls ^,1 J by the royal per-
sonage in his palace at Nineveh. One inscrip-
tion reads as follows : " Hezekiah, king of
Judah," says Sennacherib, in his inscriptions
on the bulls excavated by Mr. Layard, " who
had not submitted to my authority ; forty-six
of his principal cities, and fortresses, and vil-
lages depending upon them, I captured, and
carried away the spoils. The fortified towns,
and the rest of the towns which I spoiled, I
severed from his country and gave to the kings
of Ascalon, Ekron, and Gaza, so as to make
his country small. In addition to the former
tribute imposed upon their country, I added
a tribute, the nature of which I fixed. I also
took from Hezekiah the treasures he had col-
I
^
i|
* M
I
SBLUNG THE CHILDREN OF JEWISH CAPl'IVES. — ^Joel ill. 6.
(841)
342
NINEVEH'S OVERTHROW.
lected in Jerusalem ; thirty talents of gold,
and eight hundred talents of silver, the treas-
ures of his palace, besides his sons an'd his
daughters, and his male and female servants,
and brought them all to Nineveh."
Mr. Layard observes, " There can be little
doubt that the campaign against the cities of
Palestine, recorded in the inscriptions of Sen-
nacherib, is that described in the Old Testa-
ment. We are told there, in the Book of
Kings, that the king of Assyria, in the four-
teenth year of Hezekiah, ' came up against all
the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.' "
This feat Sennacherib records in his inscrip-
tions. What is vety striking, and indeed con-
clusive, is that the amount of treasure in gold
taken from Hezekiah is the same on the As-
syrian monument as in the inspired record.
Thus the gigantic stone bulls, long hidden
under the accumulated debris of ages, respond
to the labors of Layard, and come forth into
noonday light, and proclaim that the history
recorded in the Book of Kings is alike authen-
tic and reliable, and therefore safe from the
bitter assaults on its integrity in which sciol-
ists and sceptics delight to indulge.
The most instructive history of the final de-
struction of Nineveh i^ given by Ctesias in a
statement preserved in Diodorus Siculus. It
is worth extracting in full. Arbaces, a Mede,
a valiant and prudent man, and general of the
forces which were sent every year out of
Media to Nineveh, was stirred up by Belesis,
the governor of Babylon, to overthrow the
Assyrian empire. Hereupon Arbaces prevailed
with the Medes to invade the Assyrian empire,
and drew the Persians, in hopes of liberty, to
join the confederacy. He sent messengers
into Arabia, and gained that prince for a con-
federate. Sardanapalus, being informed of the
revolt, led forth the forces of the rest of the
provinces against them, whereupon, a battle
being fought, the rebels were totally routed,
and, with great slaughter, were driven to the
mountains, seven furlongs from Nineveh.
While Sardanapalus was rejoicing at these
victories, and feasting hi«« army, Arbaces in-
duced the Bactrians to revolt, fell suddenly on
the king's camp, and making a great slaughter
of some, forced the rest into the city. Here-
upon Sardanapalus committed the charge of
the whole army to the queen's brother, and
took upon himself the defence of the city.
But the rebels twice defeated the king's forces,
and the king, being afterwards besieged, many
of the nations revolted to the confederates, and
Sardanapalus, perceiving that the kingdom
was like to be lost, sent forth into all the
provinces of the kingdom in order to raise
soldiers, and to make all other preparations
necessary to endure a siege ; and he was the
more encouraged to this in that he was ac-
quainted with an ancient prophecy that Nine-
veh could never be taken by force till the
river became the city's enemy.
Destruction by Fire.
The siege continued two years. The third
year it happened that the river, overflowing
with continual rains, came up into a part of
the city, and tore down the walls, twenty fur-
longs in length. The king, hereupon, con-
ceiving that the oracle was accomplished in
that the river was an apparent enemy to the
city, utterly despaired ; and therefore, that he
might not fall into the hands of his enemies,
he caused a huge pile of wood to be made in
his palace court, and heaped upon it all his
gold, silver, and royal apparel, and enclosing
his eunuchs and concubines in an apartment
within the pile, caused it to be set on fire, and
burnt himself and them together, which, when
the revolters came to understand, they entered
through the breach in the walls, and took the
city, and clothed Arbaces with a royal robe,
and committed to him the sole authority, pro-
claiming him king.
The prophecy of Nahum leads us to be-
lieve that Nineveh was a magnificent, great,
and powerful city ; that it was overthrown in
its meridian grandeur, when its prestige, and
its wealth, and population were greatest.
While the people that were destined to over-
throw this great city are not mentioned by
name, the description of the invading army,
as composed of chariots and horsemen, indi-
JONAH AT NINjiVEH.
343
cates the Medes as the victors. Media relied
on her cavalry most of all for success, and her
armies were composed chiefly of horsemen.
The prophet also predicts that the city
would be plundered, its inhabitants slain with
the sword, and its chief places set on Are.
quake, or depopulated by pestilence, the pro-
phecy of Nahum would remain unfulfilled, and
therefore untrue. If the city had been weak-
ened, and continued, like Rome or Athens, the
thin shadow or skeleton of what it was, the
inspired prophecy would not be fulfilled.
ASSYRIAN WINGED BULL.
Those very things which the secular historian
has recorded are just the facts predicted in the
inspired record. The events were predicted a
century before they occurred ; while the his-
torians who tell the story of her ruin were
totally unacquainted with the word of God.
If Nineveh had been swallowed up by an earth-
But it was utterly destroyed; it was laid
waste, and the place on which it stood has
only recently been identified. This is what
the prophet predicted : " He shall make an
utter end of the place thereof; it shall be
empty, void, and waste," and the ruins now
prove the truth of the prophecy.
Et' I.
CHAPTER XXIX.
1
1
1
THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS.
UR attention is next
directed to the his-
tory which follows
the ancient prophe-
cies, and precedes
the advent. The in-
terval of four centu-
ries, from the close
of the records of the
Old Testament to
the events which
heralded the birth
of Jesus Christ, may
be divided into four
periods : the continuance of the Persian do-
minion, till B.C. 331; the Greek empire in
Asia, B.C. 331-167; the independence of
Judaea under the Asmonsean princes, b. c. 167-
'63 ; and the rule of the house of Herod, com-
mencing in B.C. 40, and extending beyond the
Christian era to the destruction of Jerusalem
in A. D. 70. The last two periods also include
the relations of Judaea to Rome. There is
little that possesses any great intrinsic interest,
except the struggle of the Maccabees for re-
ligion and liberty against Antiochus Epiph-
anes.
The first two of these periods — a space just
equal to that from the death of Elizabeth to
the accession of Victoria in England — form
almost a blank in the history of the Jews.
They seem to have been content to develop
their internal resources and their religious in-
stitutions under the mild government of Persia.
Their affairs were managed by high-priests,
who were possessed of large power, and for
many years were content to let the nation re-
main passive, thankful for the privilege of
maintaining an existence among other and
more powerful realms.
Eusebius assigns twenty years to the pontif-
(844)
icate of Jaddua, who was high-priest both under
Darius Codomannus and after the fall of the
Persian empire. Josephus tells a romantic story
of an interview between Jaddua and Alexander
the Great. While Alexander was besieging
Tyre, he sent to demand the submission of the
Jews, who answered that they were the faithful
vassals of Darius. After taking Gaza Alex-
ander marched against Jerusalem. Jaddua„
by the command of God in a vision, hung the
city with garlands, and went forth in solemn
procession to meet the conqueror at Sapha
(the watch), an eminence in full sight of the
city and the Temple. On seeing the high-priest
in his state robes, the priests in their sacred
dresses, and the people clothed in white, Alex-
ander fell prostrate in adoration, and, risings
embraced the high-priest.
To the remonstrances of Parnienio he re-
plied that he worshipped, not the priests, but
the Name engraved upon his frontlet, and that
he recognized him in a figure that had ap-
peared to him in a vision in Macedonia and
bidden him to conquer Persia. Entering
Jerusalem, he offered sacrifice, and was shown
the prophecies of Daniel relating to himself.
He granted the Jews, not only in Judaea, but
also in Media and Babylonia,the freeenjoyment
of their own laws, and exemption from tribute
during the Sabbatic year. The statement of
Justin, that on Alexander's advance into Syria
he was met by many eastern princes with
their diadems, affords some confirmation to
the story of the high-priest's coming out to
meet him in person.
It is certain that Jerusalem and Judaea sub-
mitted to the conqueror, and th( ' are traces
subsequently of the privileges he is said to
have granted to the Jews. Alexander's homage
to Jehovah, and his pleasure at being named
as the instrument of destiny, are points thor-
0th under
rail of the
ntic story
Uexander
besieging
ion of the
le faithful
za Alex-
Jaddua^
hung the
1 solemn
It Sapha
It of the
gh-priest
ir sacred
te. Alex-
d, risings
he re-
ests, but
and that
had ap-
>nia and
Entering
s shown
himself,
laea, but
joyment
1 tribute
ment of
to Syria
es with
tion to
out to
ea sub-
: traces
said to
lomage
named
3 thor-
".^fc<
Tl^
^r^vN
<_/\
,---
Ml
li
I
THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL.
■/ ' '
.Xi^y: '^ "■■■ >y
^.
' I
In
ence
■ ; " '
with
the s
Jews
i><:
was
• r.
• \ ■->
conq
% '■>.
migli
tincti
frV.
fieds
and t
^ '.^ ■
ity c
s^ --f
the c
■■^^•..
,'•■ ; •■• ■
recte
He '
cord
coul(
H
judg
V'
^ ' '^v ■
thei
•;
of G
t' si,'.
•
t
som(
THE Al'OCRYl'lIAL BOOKS.
846
oughly consistent with his character. There is 1
nothing improbable in his having received the
submission of Judxa from the high-priest and
princes about the tinie of the siege of Gaza.
At ail evencs Jerusalem was too important to
have been passed over by Alexander himself,
as it is by the historians. He enlisted Jewish
soldiers, and removed a large number of Jews
to Egypt, to aid in peopling his new city of
Alexandria.
The Samaritans are said to have claimed the
same privileges as the Jews, which Alexander
refu.ied to grant. Hence orobably arose the
rebellion in which they murdered the Mace-
donian governor, Andromachus, and which
Alexander punished by the destruction of Sa-
maria. Palestine thenceforth remained quiet
under Alexander, who died b. c. 323.
The Macedonian conqueror must not, how-
ever, be dismissed without some further notice
of his real place in Jewish history, and in the
sacred history of the world — a place not de-
pendent on any incidental circumstances, such
as his visit to Jerusalem.
The Young' Macedonian.
In the prophetic visions of Daniel the influ-
ence of Alexander is necessarily combiied
with that of his successors. They represented
the several phases of his character ; and to the
Jews nationally, the policy of the Syrian kings
was of greater importance than the original
conquest of Asia. But some traits of ilie " first
mighty king" are given with vigorous dis-
tinctness. The emblem by which he is typi-
fied suggests the notions of strength and speed;
and the universal extent and marvellous rapid-
ity of his conquests are brought forward as
the characteristics of his power, which was di-
rected by the strongest personal impetuosity.
He " ruled with great dominion, and did ac-
cording to his will ; and there was none that
could deliver out of his hand."
He was not simply a Greek, nor must he bt
judged by a Greek standard. He approached
the idea of a universal monarchy from the side
of Greece, but his final object was to establish
something higher than the paramount suprem-
acy of one people. His purpose was to com-
bine and equalize — not to annihilate ; to wed
the East and West in a just union — not to en-
slave Asia to Greece. The time, indeed, was not
yet come when this was possible ; but if he
could not accomplish the great issue, he pre-
pared the way for its accomplishment.
The first and most direct consequence of
the policy of Alexander was the weakening of
nationalities, the first condition necessary for
the dissolution of the old religions. The swift
course of his victories, the constant incorpora-
tion of foreign elements in his armies, the fierce
wars and changing fortunes of his successors,
broke down the barriers by which kingdom
had been separated from kingdom, and opened
the road for larger conceptions of life and faith
than had hitherto been possible.
The contact of the East and West brought
out into practical forms thoughts and feelings
which had been confined to the schools. Pa-
ganism was deprived of life as soon as it was
transplanted beyond the narrow limits in which
it took its shape. The spread of commerce
followed the progress of arms ; and the Greek
language and literature vindicated theii claim
to be considered the most perfect expression
of human thought by becoming practically
universal.
Privileges Granted to Jews.
The Jews were at once most exposed to the
powerful influences thus brought to bear upon
the East, and most able to support them. In
the arrangement of the Greek conquests, which
followed the battle of Ipsus, Judaea was made
the frontier land of the rival empires of Syria
and Egypt; and though it was necessarily
subjected to the constant vicissitudes of war,
it was able to make advantageous terms with
the state to which it owed allegiance, from the
important advantages which it offered for attack
or defence. Internally also the people were
prepared to withstand the effects of the revo-
lution which the Greek dominion effected.
The constitution of Ezra had obtained its full
development.. A powerful hierarchy had suc>
ceeded in substituting the idea of a church for
p ,
II
346
CONQUESTS OK ALEXANDER.
that of a state, and the Jew was now able to
wander over the world and yet remain faithful
to the God of his fathers.
Through a long course of discipline, in
which they had been left unguided by pro-
phetic teaching, the Jews had realized the na-
ture of their mission to the world, and were
waiting for the means of fulfilling it. The
conquest of Alexander furnished them with
the occasion and the power. But at the same
time the example of Greece fostered personal
as well as popular independence. Judaism
was speedily divided into sects, analogous to
the typical forms of Greek philosophy. But
even the rude analysis of the old faith was
productive of good. The freedom of Greece
was no less instrumental in forming the Jews
for their final work, than the contemplative
spirit of Persia, or the civil organization of
Rome ; for if the career of Alexander was
mpid, its ef!ects were lasting.
A Man Unlike all Others.
The city which he chose to bear his name
perpetuated in after ages the office which he
providentially discharged for Judaism and
mankind; and the historian of Christianity
must confirm the judgment of Arrian, that
Alexander, "who was like no other man,
i:ould not have been given to the world with-
out the special design of Providence." And
Alexander himself appreciated this design
•better even than his great teacher ; for it is
said that when Aristotle urged him to treat
the Greeks as freemen and the Orientals as
slaves, he found the true answer to this coun-
sel in the recognition of his Divine mission to
unite and reconcile the world.
One high-priest rapidly succeeded another
among the Jews until we come to Simon II.,
B. c. 226. Four years later the crown of
Egypt passed to Ptolemy IV. Meanwhile the
rival kingdom of the Seleucidae, in Syria, had
reached the climax of its power, and the
throne had just been ascended by the most
ambitious of its kings, Antiochus III., the
Great He made war on Ptolemy for the
provinces of Phoenicia, Coelesyria and Pales-
tine ; but was defeated at the battle of Raphia,
near Gaza. After this victory, Ptolemy went
to Jerusalem ; and, not content with offering
sacrifices, he entered the Holy of Holies,
whence he is said to have been driven out by
a supernatural terror. He gave vent to his
resentment by a cruel persecution of the Jews
at Alexandria, the first example of such meas-
ures for nearly two hundred years. Its con-
sequence was the alienation of the Jews both
of Palestine and Egypt.
The death of Ptolemy, when his son Ptol-
emy V. was only five years old, gave a new
opening to the ambition of Antiochus the
Gieat. That king, who had been occupied for
the last twelve years in subduing a revolt in
Asia Minor and attempting in vain to recover
the provinces beyond the Tigris from the
Parthians and Bactrians, formed a league with
Philip V. of Macedon, for the partition of
Ptolemy's dominions. After a fierce contest,
in which Judaea suffered severely, Antiochus
became master of Coelesyria and Palestine.
The Jews, who had again been ill-treated by
Scopas, the general of Ptolemy, welcomed
Antiochus as a deliverer. He granted them an
annual sum for the sacrifices, and forbade for-
eigners to enter the Temple.
Attempt to Seize the Sacred Treasures.
The conquered provinces were restored to
Ptolemy as the dowry of his bride, Cleopatra,
the daughter of Antiochus ; but the Syrian
king did not give up their possession and af-
terwards he resumed them altogether. It is
under his son and successor, Seleucus IV.,
that the writer of the second book of Mac-
cabees places the attempt of Heliodorus to
seize the treasures of the Temple, and his
miraculous repulse. The graphic account is
given in detail as follows :
" Now when the holy city was inhabited
with all peace, and the laws were kept very
well, because of the godliness of Onias the
high-priest, and his hatred of wickedness, it
came to pass that even the kings themselves
did honor the place, and magnify the Temple
with their best gifts ; insomuch that Seleucus
I
THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS.
347
king of Asia, of his own revenues, bare all the
costs belonging to the service of the sacrifices.
But one Simon, of the tribe of Benjamin, who
was made governor of the Temple, fell out
with the high-priest about disorder in the
city.
"And when he could not overcome Onias,
he gat him to Apollonius the son of Thraseus,
who then was governor of Coelesyria and
Phenice, and told him that the treasury in
Jerusalem was full of infinite sums of money,
so that the multitude of their riches, which
did not pertain to the account of the sacrifices,
was innumerable, and that it was possible to
bring all into the king's hand. Now when
Apollonius came to the king, and had shewed
him of the money whereof he was told, the
king chose out Heliodorus his treasurer, and
sent him with a commandment to bring him
the aforesaid money.
Terror in Jerusalem.
" So forthwith Heliodorus took his journey,
under a color of visiting the cities of Celosyria
and Phenice, but indeed to fulfil the king's
purp>ose. And when he was come to Jeru-
salem, and had been courteously received of
the high-priest of the city, he told him what
intelligence was given of the money, and de-
clared wherefore he came, and asked if these
things were so indeed. Then the high-priest
told him that there was such money laid up
for relief of the widows and fatherless children :
and that some of it belonging to Hircanus, son
of Tobias, a man of great dignity, and not as
that wicked Simon had misinformed ; the sum
whereof in all was four hundred talents of
silver, and two hundred of gold : and that it
was altogether impossible that such wrongs
should be done unto them, that had committed
it to the holiness of the place, and to the
majesty and inviolable sanctity of the Temple,
honored over all the world."
" But Heliodorus, because of the king's com-
mandment g^ven him, said, that in any wise it
must be brought into the king's treasury. So
at the day which he appointed, he entered in
to order this matter : wherefore there was no
small agony throughout the whole city. But
the priests, prostrating themselves before the
altar in the priests' vestments, called unto
heaven upon him that made a law concerning
things given to be kept, that they should safely
be preserved for such as had committed them to
be kept. Then whoso had looked the high-priest
in the face, it would have wounded his heart :
for his countenance and the changing of his
color declared the inward agony of his mind.
For the man was so compassed with fear and
horror of the body, that it was manifest to them
that looked upon him, what sorrow he had
now in his heart.
" Others ran flocking out of their houses to
the general supplication, because the place
was like to come into contempt. And the
women girt with sackcloth under their breasts,
abounded in the streets ; and the virgins that
were kept in ran, some to the gates, and some
to the walls, and others looked out of the
windows. And all holding their hands toward
heaven, made supplication. Then it would
have pitied a man to see the falling down of
the multitude of all sorts, and the fear of the
high-priest, being in such an agony. They
then called upon the Almighty Lord to keep
the things committed of trust safe and sure
for those that had committed them. Never-
theless, Heliodorus executed that which was
decreed. Now as he was there present him-
self with his guard about the treasury, the
Lord of. spirits, and the Prince of all power,
caused a great apparition, so that all that pre-
sumed to come in with him were astonished
at the power of God, and fainted, and were
sore afraid.
" For there appeared unto them a horse with
a terrible rider upon him, and adorned with a
very fair covering, and he ran fiercely and
smote at Heliodorus with his fore-feet, and it
seemed that he that sat upon the horse had
complete harness of gold. Moreover, two
other young men appeared before him, notable
in strength, excellent in beauty, and comely
in apparel, who stood by him on either side,
and scourged him continually, and gave him
many sore stripes.
i ■*{
(348)
REPULSE Ol- IIELIODORUS IN THE TEMPLE. — 2 Macc. iii. 27.
THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS.
349
"And Heliodorus fell suddenly unto the
ground, and was compassed with great dark-
ness : but tliey that were with him took him
up, and put him into a litter. Thus him, that
lately came with a great train and with all his
guard into the said treasury, they carried out,
being unable to help himself with his weapons :
and manifestly they acknowledged the power
of God : for he by the hand of God was cast
down, and lay speechless without all hope of
life. But they praised the Lord, that had
niiraculously honored his own place ; for the
Temple, which a little afore was full of fear
and trouble, when the Almighty Lord ap-
peared, was filled with joy and gladness.
Treachery Suspected.
" Then straightway certain of Heliodorus'
friends prayed Onias, that he would call upon
the Most High, to grant, him his life, who lay
ready to give up the ghost. So the high-
priest suspecting lest the king should miscon-
ceive that some treachery had been done to
Heliodorus by the Jews, offered a sacrifice for
the health of the man. Now as the high-
priest was making an atonement, the same
young men in the same clothing appeared and
stood beside Heliodorus, saying. Give Onias
the high-priest great thanks, insomuch as for
his sake the Lord hath granted thee life ; and
seeing that thou hast been scourged from
heaven, declare unto all men the mighty
power of God. And when they had spoken
these words, they appeared no more. So
Heliodorus, after he had offered sacrifice unto
the Lord and made great vows unto him that
had saved his life, and saluted Onias, returned
with his host to the king. Then testified he
to all men the works of the great God, which
he had seen with his eyes.
"And when the king asked Heliodorus, who
might be a fit man to be sent yet once again
to Jerusalem, he said. If thou hast any en»^niy
or traitor, send him thither, and thou shalt re-
ceive him well scourged, if he escape with his
life ; for in that place, no doubt, there is an
especial power of God. For He that dwelleth
in heaven hath His eye on that place, and de-
fendeth it ; and He beateth and destroyeth
them that come to hurt it. And the things
concerning Heliodorus, and the keeping of the
treasury, fell out on this sort."
The accession of Antiocluis IV. Epiphanes
secured the triumph of the Syrian party in
Judsea. This prince, whose conduct, as well
as his end, gained him the nickname of" Epi-
manes " (the madman), had been sent by his
father, Antiochus the Great, as a hostage to
Rome. He returned with a contempt for his
subjects added to that love of oriental luxury
which the kings of Syria had now acquired ;
but his vices might have been chiefly danger-
ous to himself had not his Roman education
inflamed the ambition which he inherited from
his father. He found the Jewish high-priest
at Antioch, whither Onias had gone to clear
himself from the accusations of Simon, which
were backed by the hostility of Apollonius,
the governor of Ccelesyria. The Greek party
were represented, not only by Simon, but by
the high-priest's own brother, Joshua (Jesus),
who went so far as to adopt the Greek name
of Jason, and set aside his own nationality.
Crime Avenged.
By an enormous bribe in money and prom-
ises of annual tribute, Jason obtained the high-
priesthood, while Onias HL was deposed, and
detained at Antioch. For the first time, Greek
customs were openly introduced into Judaea,
with a success which shows to what an extent
the Jews had already become Greek in spirit.
Not content with surrendering the privileges
of free worship obtained from former kings,
and neglecting the services of the Temple,
Jason built a gymnasium, where the Jewish
youth practised the Greek athletic exercises.
Jason also sent representatives to the quin-
quennial games of the Tyrian Hercules, with
large presents, which even h's envoys scrupled
to apply to the heathen sacrifices, but bestowed
them for buildjng ships.
In three years, however, Jason was in his
turn undermined by Menelaus, whom he had
sent to Antioch with the tribute, and who had
obtained the high-j)! iesthood by flattering the
■1;
11 H
360
A MURDERER PUNISHED.
king's vanity and offering a higher bribe. He
arrived at Jerusalem, " having the fury of a
cruel tyrant and the rage of a wild beast," while
Jason fled to the Ammonites. Unable to raise
the money he had promised, Menelaus was
summoned to Antioch. He sold some of the
vessels of the Temple to the Tyrians, in order
to bribe Andronicus, who governed Antioch
during the king's absence in Cilicia.
The deposed high-priest, Onias, who was
still at Antioch, charged Menelaus with sacri-
lege, and fled for sanctuary to the sacred grove
of Daphne. At the instigation of Menelaus,
Andronicus enticed Onias from the sanctuary
and put him to death. Antiochus, who re-
turned about this time, was moved to pity by
the blameless character of Onias ; and, perceiv-
ing doubtless the treasonable schemes of An-
dronicus, he put the murderer to death.
Meanwhile a great tumult had broken out
at Jerusalem, in consequence of the sacrileges
committed by Lysimachus, the brother and
deputy of Menelaus. Lysimachus was killed,
and Menelaus was accused before Antiochus,
when he reached Tyre on his way to attack
Egypt ; but Menelaus escaped through bribery,
and his accusers were punished for the insur-
rection. Thus the affair ended.
Jerusalem Stormed and Captured.
We must here glance at the relations of
Syria toward Egypt. Ptolemy VI. Philometor
was an infant when he succeeded his father,
B. c. i8i ; but the government was ably con-
ducted by his mother Cleopatra, the sister of
Antiochus Epiphanes. Her death led to a war
with Syria, and Antiochus successfully con-
ducted four campaigns against Egypt, from
which he only retired on the haughty man-
date of the Roman ambassador, M. Popillius
Lxnas. During the second of these cam-
paigns a report was spread of the king's death.
Jason attacked Jerusalem at the head of i.ooo
men, and drove Menelaus into the citadel ; but,
after great cruelties against the citizens, he
was compelled to fly to the land of Ammon.
Thence he fled to Egypt, and afterward to
Sparta, where he sought protection on some
claim of kindred, and there he " perished in a
strange land." Meanwhile his attempt had
the most extraordinary consequences in the
history of the Jews.
Antiochus was led to believe that Judaea
had revolted, an idea no doubt encouraged
by Menelaus, in order to get rid of his own
enemies. The king returned from Egypt in a
state of fury ; took Jerusalem by storm, slaying
young and old, women and maidens. Forty
thousand fell in the conflict, and as many
were sold into slavery. Guided by Menelaus,
he entered the Temple, profaned the altar by
the sacrifice of a swine, and having caused
part of its flesh to be boiled, he sprinkled the
broth over the whole sanctuary, and polluted
the Holy of Holies with filth.
He carried off the sacred vessels and other
treasures, to the amount of 1800 talents, and
returned to Antioch, leaving a savage Phrygian,
named Philip, as his governor at Jerusalem,
and Andronicus at Gerizim, where the Samari-
tan temple seems to have been profaned in like
manner. Menelaus, who is stigmatized as the
worst of all the three, is not again named in
the books of Maccabees. His subsequent
death under Antiochus Eupator v^as regarded
as a judgment for his crimes.
Two years later Antiochus vented upon
Judaea the exasperation of his dismissal from
Egypt. Policy too, as well as passion, may
have urged him to destroy a province now
thoroughly disaffected, and likely soon to fall
into the power of Egypt. Apollo nius, the old
enemy of the Jews, was sent to Jerusalem at
the head of 22,000 men, with orders to slay all
the male adults, and to seize the women and
children. Pretending that his mission was
friendly, he waited till the Sabbath, and then
fell upon the unresisting people.
A frightful massacre took place : the city
was pillaged and set on fire: its fortifications
were dismantled : and a tower was erected on
Mount Zion, overlooking both the Teinple and
the city, from which the garrison sallied forth
upon all who dared to resort to the deserted
sanctuary. Then followLu one of the severest
persecutions recorded in the history of relig-
ed in a
pt had
in the
THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS.
361
ion. Antiochus issued an edict for uniform-
ity of worship throughout his dominions, and
committed its execution in Samaria and Judaea
to an old man named Athenaeus, one of those
fanatics who have been produced by hea-
thenism, as well as by religions that claim a
more earnest faith. A strong element of such
fanaticism may be traced in the character of
Antiochus himself ,
While his quick and versatile Greek tem-
perament, trained in Roman ideas of power,
and corrupted by oriental luxury, led him to
indulge in all the vices and freaks for which
despotism supplied the means — at one time
rioting through the streets of Antioch with
his boon companions, at another going through
a mock canvass for the Roman magistracies,
and pretending to hold them — he was all the
while a munificent and bigoted supporter of
the Greek worship. "The admirers," says
Dean Milman, "of the mild genius of the
Grecian religion, and those who suppose relig-
ious persecution unknown in the world to the
era of Christianity, would do well to consider
the wanton and barbarous attempt of Antio-
chus to exterminate the religion of the Jews
and substitute that of the Greeks."
Temple of OlympiAu Jove.
The Samaritans submitted without resist-
ance, and their temple on Mount Gerizim was
dedicated to Zeus Xenius. At Jerusalem
Athenaeus began his work by converting the
sanctuary into a temple of Zeus Olympius.
Its courts were polluted by the most licentious
orgies ; the altar was loaded with abominable
offerings; and the old idolatry of Baal was
re-established in the obscene form in which it
had been carried to Greece. The copies of
the Book of the Law were either destroyed,
or profaned by heathen and doubtless obscene
pictures.
The practice of Jewish rites, and the refusal
to sacrifice to the Greek gods, were alike pun-
ished with death. Two women, who had circum-
cised their children, were led round the city
with the babes hanging at their breasts, and
then cast headlong from the wall. A company
of worshippers were burned by Philip in a
cave, to which they had fled to keep the Sab-
bath. The favorite test of conformity was the
compulsion to eat swine's flesh ; and two par-
ticular cases of heroic resistance make this
one of the brightest pages in Jewish and
Christian martyrology. A chief scribe, named
Eleazar, a man of noble person and ninety
years of age, when a piece of swine's flesh
was thrust into his mouth, spat it out, and
willingly offered his body to the torments.
When some of the officers, for old acquaint-
ance sake, besought him to provide some
meat, and eat it as if it were the unclean food,
he made a reply which contains the whole jus-
tification of the martyr's constancy to death :
" It becometh not our age in any wise to
dissemble, whereby many young persons
might think that Eleazar, being fourscore
years old and ten, were now gone to a strange
religion, and so through mine hypocrisy, and
desire to live a little time, should be deceived
by me, and I get a stain to my old age, and
make it abominable. For though for the
present time I should be delivered from the
punishment of men, yet I should not escape
the hand of the Almighty, neither alive, nor
dead."
He concluded by declaring his resolve, " to
leave a notable example to such as be young
to die willingly and courageously for the hon-
orable and holy laws." His tempters, incensed
at his obstinacy, grew doubly cruel, and, as
he was expiring beneath their blows, he cried :
" It is manifest unto Jehovah, that hath the
holy knowledge, that whereas I might have
been delivered from death, I endure sore pains
in body by being beaten ; but in soul am well
content to suffer these things, because I fear
Him." Thus was he " tortured, not accepting
deliverance, that he might obtain a better
resurrection;" and he is included, with the
other martyrs of the age, in the " cloud of
martyrs," " g<" whom the world was not worthy,
who obtainec' a good report through faith."
Some Christia 1 writers have called him " the
proto-martyr of the Old Covenant," a gloiy^
howe er, which belongs to Abel.
'!;
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362
UNDAUNTED HEROISM.
" Others had trial of mockings and scourg-
ings." Such was the fate of the seven breth-
ren who, with their mother, were brought into
the king's own presence, and, having refused
to eat swine's flesh, were put to death with in-
sults and torments, of which the horrid details
may be read in the original text. From the
eldest to the youngest they displayed not only
constancy, but triumph; and the mother, after
encouraging each in his turn, herself suffered
last. The atrocities committed at Jerusalem
were rivalled in the country. But at this very
crisis, when the worship and the people of
Jehovah seemed doomed to extinction, a new
light arose for both ; and the result showed
how needful was the baptism of fire to purify
the people from Grecian corruptions.
Meanwhile the persecutor himself became a
signal example of the retribution \, 'ich awaits
despotic power and unbridled passion ; and,
before relating the resurrection of Judxa un-
der the Maccabees, we may anticipate the
short period of four years, to notice the fate of
Antiochus Epiphanes.
Mad Antiochus.
He was in the eastern provinces when he
heard of the revolt of Judaea and the defeat of
his general Lysias. Hastening back to avenge
the disgrace, he attacked a temple at Elymais,
the very place where his father had lost his life
in a similar attempt. The mortification of being
repulsed seems to have brought to a climax
the madness which despotism usually engen-
ders ; and he died in a raving frenzy at Tabae in
Persia, b. c. 164. His end was regarded, by
Greeks as well as Jews, as a judgment for his
sacrilegious crimes ; and he has left to history
a name as odious as that of Nero, with whose
character he had many points in common.
It is very remarkable that this great perse-
cution, and the subsequent history of the glo-
rious regeneration of Judaea under the Macca-
bees, should have been passed over by the
Greek and Roman historians. The contempt-
uous summary given by Tacitus is even more
significant than the silence of the rest, and
flhows how far prejudice can lead even the
most careful writers from the truth. He speaks
as follows : — " During the dominion of the
Assyrians, the Medes, and the Persians, the
Jews were the most abject of their dependent
subjects. After the Macedonians obtained the
supremacy of the East, king Antiochus ei>
deavored to do away with their superstition
and introduce Greek habits, but was hindered
by a Parthian war from reforming a most re-
pulsive people."
Magnificent Acliievenients.
The spirit of this passage may explain the
indifference of other authors. The uncompro-
mising, devotion of the Jews to their religion
and their national traditions, and their claim
to be worshippers of the only true God, excited
among the heathen, and especially those who
laid claim to philosophy, the same affected
contempt and unaffected resentment which led
Gibbon to sneer at Palestine as a country no
larger nor more favored by nature than Wales.
Nor is it only this brilliant passage of the
Jewish annals that escaped the notice and the
sympathy of the western historians. The
period of 370 years, from the decree of Cyrus
to the revolt of the Maccabees, embraces the
most brilliant events of Greek and Roman his-
tory. The aristocratic republics of Greece and
the monarchy of Rome had reached their cli-
max at its commencement, amidst the rapid
grovth of philosophy and art.
Its first quarter of a century beheld the ex-
pulsion of the Pisistratids from Athens and the
Tarquins from Rome. The struggles which
placed Rome at the head of the Italian states,
and formed her republican constitution, thft
Persian and Peloponnesian wars, the conflict
of the Greek states for the supremacy which
they at last yielded to the Macedonian, and the
very conquest which brought Alexander to
Judaea, are all related just as they might have
been if there had been no such nation as the
Jews.
The keen inquiries of Herodotus, who vis-
ited Egypt and Tyre at the very time when
Ezra and Nehemiah were regulating the re-
stored state, produced nothing but the notice
THE APOCRi'IHAL BOOKS.
353
of Necho's victory over Josiah and capture of
Cadytis (probably Gaza), the mistake " that
the Syrians of Palestine " learned circumcision
from the Egyptians, and the mention of them
as serving with the Phoenicians in the fleet of
Xerxes.
The silence of the historians of Alexander
and his successors about the Jewish people is
the more remarkable, as they 'lave to mention
JudjEa as the scene of war ; it is matched by
the Romans even when they came into contact
with Syria and Egypt ; nor is it even broken
when (if we may believe the hi.storian of the Mac-
cabees) Rome formed an alliance with Judas
Maccabaius. A century later, when Pompey
penetrated into the temple, the sacred city
suggests even to Cicero nothing better than a
nickname for his distrusted leader ; nor does
Tacitus notice the very advent of Christ with
half the interest he shows in the relations of
the Herodian princes to the Caesars. Surely
we cannot but see in all this a Divine purpose,
that the outer, like the inner life, of the chosen
people, should lie hidden from the world at
lavije, and pursue a course apart from the ordi-
nary current of warlike and political conflict,
till from their bosoms should emerge the band
of lowly and unworldly men, who were to pro-
claim " a kingdom not of this world."
Religions Zeal.
In preparation for that event, the Jewish
people had a history of its own, for which
we could wish to possess more abundant
materials. They bad resumed the ordinances
of their religion, purified from their old
idolatries by the captivity, and with their
zeal co.nstantly stimulated by antagonism with
the Samaritans. Politically the}' were sub-
ject first to Persia, and then to Egypt ; but,
as long as their tribute was paid, their relations
to their sovereign were kindly, and they were
left to the government of their high-priests
and patriarchal princes till the great Syrian
persecution. The extinction of royalty, after
it had served its purpose by giving an image
of Messiah's kingdom, removed the chief in-
fluence which had led to apostasy in Israel
23
and to idolatry in Judah ; and the very de-
pendence which debarred them from political
freedom gave them the better opportunity for
religious organization.
The band by which the " people of God "
were held together was at length felt to be
religious and not local ; and all the more so
from the existence of large portions of the
nation separate from the rest, in the great
eastern " dispersion," or in the new community
formed in Egypt. The Jews incorporated
in different nations still looked to Jerusalem
as the centre of their faith. The boundaries
of Canaan were passed ; and the beginnings
of a spiritual dispensation were already made.
Maccabsean War of Independence.
The Jews restored to Palestine resumed
their agricultural life on a land rendered
doubly fertile by having " enjoyed her Sab-
baths as long as she lay desolate, to fulfil
threescore and ten years ; " and it may be ob-
served in passing, that the ordinance of the
Sabbatic year, which had been so systemati-
cally neglected before the captivity, was ob-
served in the Maccabaean age. How the
land was divided among the returned families
we are not told ; but this much seems clear,
that it soon fell chiefly into the hands of the
nobles, who, becoming rapidly enriched
through the fertility of the soil, resumed that
course of oppression toward the poor, which
the old prophets had so vehemently denounced
as the crying sin of their class. An order
which thus sets itself above the social bonds
of mutual kindness is prone to maintain its
consequence against popular discontent by
foreign influence; and, just as the princes of
Judah headed the idolatrous and Egyptian
party in the last days of the monarchy, so
now they were the leaders of the Syrian
party. Their influence was resisted, as for-
merly by the prophets, so now by the priests>
who headed the glorious uprising of the nation
in defence of their religion. The issue of that
contest proves that the nation was still sound
at heart at the time of the Syrian doi.nination.
The persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes
It
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354
A BOLD CONFESSOR.
called forth a glorious resistance, which ended
in establishing the independence of Judaea
under the Maccabaean or Asmonaean princes.
This was accomplished by the instrumentality
of human / rtnes, the lofty patriotism, adven-
turous valor, d.iri.\g and sagacious soldiership,
generous 'leU'-devotion, and inextinguishable
zc.nl of hciO' men in the cause of their couii
t!-' and tb'iy God.
I>ceds o' Valor.
'.n Modin, fi town on an eminence com-
mai'dinj;- a view of the sea, the exact site
of which is unknown, lived an aged priest
of the line of Joarib, named Mattathias. He
was the father of five sons in the prime of
life, Johanan, Simon, Jiidas, Eleazar, and Jon-
athan. When Apellep, the officer of Antiochus,
arrived at Modin to enforce the execution of
the royal edict against the Jewish religion,
he made splendid offers to Mattathias, as a
man of great influence, to induce him to
submit to the king's command. 1'he old priest
not only rejected his advances, but publicly
proclaimed his determination to live and die
in the faith of his fathers Other Jews were
found more ready to rpostatize, and one of
them advanced to the altar to sacrifice to the
heathen gods. The sight so incensed Ilatta-
thias, that he sprang upon the apostate and
slew him upon the altar, and then turning
upon the royal commissioner he struck him
dead at his feet.
This bold act brought matters to a crisis,
and Mattathias, calling upon all the citizens
who were zealous for the Law, to follow him,
fled to the mountains, where he was joined by
his so'is, and by many of his countrymen.
Their v. umbers rapidly increased, but the
Syrian troops having surprised one thousand
in a cave, attacked them on the labbath-day,
and m;;eting with no resistance, slew them
without mercy. This led Mattathias and his
foUovers to declare that it was lawful to cn-
ga<e n defensive warfare on the Sabbath.
T' 2 in.surgents conducted their revolt with
eq I enterprise and discretion. For a time
th<; > lay hid in the mountain fastnesses, and, as
opportunity occurred, poured down upon the
towns; destroyed the altar of the heathen
gods ; circumcised children by force ; inflicted
severe punishments upon all apostate Jews
whom they captured ; recovered many copies
of the Law, which their enemies had wan-
tonly defaced; and r -established the syna-
gogues for public worship — the Temple being
defiled and in possession of the enemy.
But the age of Mattathias was ill-suited to
this laborious and enterprising warfare ; hav-
ing bequeathed the command to Judas, the
most valiant of his sons, he sank under the
weir at of toil and years. .So great already
was the terror of his name, that he was buried
without disturbance on the part of the enemy's
troops, in his native city of Modin.
Marvelous Triumphs of Maccabaeans.
Judar, the third and most warlike of the
sons of Mattathias, and hence surnamed
" Maccabaeus " (the Hammerer), is one of the
grandest characters in Jewish history. If his
youth added vigor and enterprise to the cause,
it lost nothing in prudence and discretion.
He had already done good service under his
father, and was by far the best qualified leader
the patriot army could have been given.
M«; succeeded in collecting a force of 6,000
men, and having tried his troops by many
surprises, ind night attacks, in whicli he cap-
tured a number of cities, which he fortified
and garrisoned, he ventured to meet the enemy
in the open field. He first encountered Apol-
lonius, the governor of Samaria, who marched
against him from that city. Judas routed
him and captured his swnrd, which he ever
afterwards wore. Seron, the deputy-governor
of Coelesyria, advanced to revenge the defeat
of Apollonius, but was met and beaten by
Judas in the strong pass of Beth-horon, where
Joshua had defeated the Canaanites centuries
before.
Antiocluis was furious when he heard of
these disasters to Vi army, as they occurred
at a time when his extravagance had exhausted
his treasury. His eastern provinces, Armenia
and Persia, refused their tribute. He there-
i
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n
it)
1 1
PUNISHMENT OF ANTIOCHUS. — 2 MaCC. ix. 7.
(366)
356
A CAMP ON FIRE.
fore was constrained to divide his forces,
marching himself into the East and leaving
Lysias, his general, to crush the insurrection
in Judaea. The rapid progress of Judas de-
manded immediate resistance. Philip, the
Syrian governor in Jerusalem, sent urgent
solicitations for relief.
The vanguard of the Syrian army, amount-
ing to 20,000 men, under the command of
Nicanor and Gorgias, advanced rapidly into
the province ; it was followed by the general-
in-chief Ptolemy Macron, their united forces
assuming an army of 40,000 foot and 7,000
horse. A number of slave merchants came
with them, Nicanor having suggested the
policy of selling as slaves as many of the Jews
as they could capture, in order to discharge
the arrears of tribute due to Rome.
Judas assembled his little band of 6,000
men at the ancient sanctuary of Mizpeh; there
they fasted and prayed; and then Judas, who
knew that his only hope, save in his God, was
in the enthusiastic zeal of his followers for the
law of Moses, issued, in strict conformity to its
injunctions, the appointed proclamation, that
all who*Tiad married wives, built houses, or
planted vineyards, or were fearful, should re-
turn to their homes. His force at once melted
away to 3,000 badly armed but devoted men.
With the audacity of genius, he marched rap-
idly with this little force to Emmaus, where
the enemy lay encamped, and having learned
that Gorgias had been detached with 5,000 in-
fantry and 1,000 cavalry, all picked men, to
gain his rear and attack him in the night, the
enemy still supposing him to be at Mizpeh, he
boldly resolved to storm the Syrian camp be-
fore Gorgias could return.
His trust in Jehovah was not in vain. He
communicated his resolution to his men, as
they arrived on the heights overlooking the
hostile camp at daybreak, and hurled them
with terrific force upon the still unsuspicious
foe. The Syrians made but a feeble resistance,
and fled on all sides unto Gazara, and unto the
plains of Idumaea, and Azotus and Jamnia.
Three thousand Syrians fell in the battle.
The excellent discipline of the Jewish army
now made itself conspicuous. Judas was
aware that Gorgias would soon return, and he
held his troops from the plunder of the camp
until the arrival of that general, who came
back disappointed at not finding the Jewish
insurgents among the mountains where he had
hoped to surprise them.
To his dismay he beheld his own camp a
blaze of fire, and before his forces had recov-
ered from their astonishment, Judas and his
men were among them, sword in hand. The
contest was short and decisive. The Syrians
fled without making a stand, and in their
flight suffered immense loss. The rich booty
of the camp fell into the hands of the Jews,.
" much gold and silver, ^nd blue silk and pur-
ple of the sea, and great riches."
The Conqueror's BeJoicin8r«
The Jews, with just retribution, sold for
slaves as many of the slave merchants as they
could find. A due share of the spoil was given
to the maimed, the widows and the orphans ;
and the rest was divided among the conquer-
ors. The next day was the Sabbath, a day
indeed of rest and rejoicing. But this success,
only excited the honorable ambition of the
Maccabee. Hearing that a great force was as-
sembling beyond the Jordan, under Timotheu*
and Bacchides, he crossed the river, and gained
a great victory and a considerable supply ot
arms. Here two of the chief oppressors of the
Jews, Philarches and Callisthenes, perished ;
one in battle, the other burnt to death in a
house where he had taken refuge. Nicanor
fled in the disguise of a slave to Antioch. So
closed the first triumphant campaign of the
Maccabees.
We may recall here a striking passage in 2
Maccabees :
" About that time came Antiochus with dis-
honor out of the country of Persia. For he
had entered the city called Persepolis, and
went about to rob the temple, and to hold the
cit/ ; whereupon the multitude, running to de-
fend themselves with their weapons, put them,
to flight; and so it happened, that Antiochus
was put to flight and returned with shame.
THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS.
357
las was
and he
e camp
o came
Jewish
he had
" Now when he came to Ecbatane, news was I
brought him what had happened unto Nicanor
and Timotheus. Tlien swelling with anger,
he thought to avenge upon the Jews the dis-
grace done unto him by those that made him
flee. Therefore commanded he his chariot-
man to drive without ceasing, and to despatch
the journey, the judgment of God now follow-
ing him. For he had spoken proudly in this
sort, That he would come to Jerusalem, and
make it a common burying-place of the Jews.
But the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel,
smote him with an incurable and invisible
plague.
" Howbeit, he nothing at all ceased from his
bragging, but still was filled with pride, breath-
ing out fire in his rage against the Jews, and
commanding to haste the journey : but it came
to pass that he fell down from his chariot, car-
ried violently ; so that having a sore fall, all
the members of his body were much pained.
And thus he that a little afore thought he
might command the waves of the sea (so proud
was he beyond the condition of man), and
weigh the high mountains in a balance, was
now cast on the ground, and carried in a horse-
litter, shewing forth unto all the manifest
power of God. "
Further Exploits of the Macoabee.
The next year an army of 60,000 infantry
and 5,000 cavalry, commanded by Lysias in ^
person, appeared at Bethsura, a little north of
Hebron, towards the southern frontier of
Judaja. Judas attacked this force promptly I
with 10,000 men, and gained a decisive vic-
tory, inflicting a loss of 5,000 killed upon the
enemy. Thus on all sides triumphant, Judas
led his heroic army into the ruined and deso-
late capital of his people — Jerusalem.
They found the courts of the Temple over-
grown with tall shrubs, and the chambers of
the priests thrown down. With wild lamenta-
tions and the sound of martial trumpets they
mingled their prayers and praises to the God
of their fathers. The Syrians still held the
tower on Mount Zion, and Judas took the
resolution to hold them in check with a strong
force, while he proceeded to install the most
blameless of the priests in their office, to re-
pair the sacred edifice, to purify every part
from the profanation of the heathen, to con-
struct a new altar, to replace out of the booty
all the sacred vessels, and at length to cele-
brate the feast of Dedication — a period of
eighty days — which ever after was held sacred
in the Jewish calendar. It was the festival of
the regeneration of the people, which, but for
the valor of the Maccabees, had almost lost its
political existence.
The neighboring tribes beheld with undis-
guised jealousy the re-establishment of a
powerful state in Judaea. But Judas, having
strongly fortified the Temple on the side of
the citadel, anticipated a powerful confederacy
which was forming against him, and carried
his victorious arms into the territories of the
Idumxans and Ammonites. Thus discomfited
on every side, the Syrians and their allies be-
gan to revenge themselves on the Jews who
were scattered in Galilee and the provinces
beyond the Jordan. Judas revenged a cruel
stratagem of the inhabitants of Joppa, who de-
coyed 200 Jews or families on board their
ships and threw them into the sea. He made
a descent upon the place, and burned many
houses on the harbor and many of their ships.
In Jamnia another treacherous massacre was
committed, and he revenged it by burning the
town, the flames of which were seen from
Jerusalem, a distance of twenty-five miles.
A great force from Tyre and Ptolemais
advanced into the neighboring country.
Timotheus, son of a former general of the
same name, laid waste Gilead with great
slaughter. Juda?- divided his army into three
parts. He took 8,000 men himself, and
crossed the Jordan into Gilead ; sent 3,000
under his brother Simon into Galilee ; and
left the remainder, under Joseph, the son of
i Zacharias, and Azarias, to defend the liber-
ated provinces, but with strict orders to refrain
from attacking the enemy. The Maccabees,
as usual, were irresistible. Both expeditions
were successful, and future dangers were
: guarded against.
:
•358^
THE APOCRYPHAL liOOKS.
;3u'.»
m
lil,L!
But tljc conunandcrs who were left at lionie
failed to obey tlicir orders; and haviny under-
taken an expedition against Janinia, a seaport,
were defeated with severe loss by Baccliides,
the ablest of the Syrian generals. The dcf it
was shortly after revenged by the indon'
Judas; but not without loss. When luey ,
, proceeded, after observing the Sabbath in |
. Adullain, to bury the dead, small idols were
• found in the clothes f.ven of some of the
priestly race. A sin-offering was sent to
Jerusalem, not only to atone for the guilt of
these men, but for the dead, in whose resur-
rection the Maccaba;an Jews had full faith.
ElcpliantM in Battle.
About this time Antiochus Epiphanes, the
great persecutor of the Jews, died, as
has been related already. I lis young son,
Antiochus V. Eupator, B. c. 164-162, was
placed on the throne by Lysias ; Demetrius,
the rightful heir, being a hostage in Rome.
The first measure of Lysias was to attempt
the subjugation of Judsea, where in Jeru-
salem itself the garrison of the unsurrendered
fortress on Mount Zion, joined to a strong
party of the apostate Jews, anxiously awaited
liis approach. The royal army at once laid
siege to Bethsura on the Idumaean frontier,
not far from Hebron, wliich Judas had strongly
fortified. Their force consisted of 80,000 or
100,000 infantry, 20,000 cavalry, and thirty-
two elephants. The elephants seem to have
excited great terror and astonishment. Ac-
cording to the Jewish annalist, each beast
was escorted by 1,000 infantry, splendidly
armed, and 500 horsemen ; and each beast
bore a tower containing thirty-two armed men.
To provoke the elephants to fight, they
showed them the blood of grapes and nul-
berries.
The whole army in radiant armor spread
over the mountains and valleys, so that t'.ie
mountains glistened therewith, and seemed
like lamps of fire. Bethsura made a gal'ant
defence, and Judas marched promptly to its
relief. Wherever he fought the Lsraelites were
successful, and his heroic brother, Eleazar, ex-
cited the admiration of his countrymen by
rushing under an elephant, which he stabbed
in the belly, and was crushed to death by its
fall. The force of the enemy was overwhelm-
ing, however, and Judas was conipelleil to re-
treat to Jerusalem. Bethsura, pressed b\'
famine (it was the Sabbatic year, the land lay
fallow, and supplies were scarce), capitulated
on honorable terms ; and the royal army joined
the siege of that part of the capital which was
held by Judas. Jerusalem resisted all their
assaults ; the Syrians began to suffer from
want of provisions ; and intelligence arrived
that affairs at Antioch needed their immediate
attention.
The second Book of Maccabees gives a full
description of tht appearance of an angel in
behalf of the Hebrews, and the signal victory
which took place under his supernatural guid-
ance and help:
" So he [Lysias] came to Juda;a, and drew
near to Bethsura, which was a strong town, but
distant from Jerusalem about five furlongs; and
he laid .sore siege unto it. Now when they that
were with Maccabatius heard that he besieged
the holds, they and all the people with lamen-
tations and tears besought the Lord that He
would send a good angel to deliver Israel.
"One in Wliite Clotliliig."
" Then Maccab.neus himself first of all took
weapons, exhorting the others that they would
jeopard themselves together with him to help
their brethren ; so they went forth together
with a willing mind. And as they were at
Jerusalem, there appeared before them on
horseback one in white clothing, shaking his
armor of gold.
"Then they praised the merciful God all
together, and took heart, insomuch that they
were ready not only to fight with men, but with
most cruel beasts, and to pierce through walls
of iron. Thus they marched forward in their
r.rmor, having a helper from heaven ; for the
Lord was merciful* unto them."
The army which Antiochus Epiplinncs had
led into Persia returned under Philip, wiio
claimed the guardianship of the young king.
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<i.
360
A HORRID MASSACRE.
Upon this Lysias advised Antiochus to make
peace with the Jews. The king was no
sooner admitted into the city, than he broke
the terms just made by pulling down the new
wall of Judas, after which he retired to Anti-
och, and recovered the capital from Philip.
His triumph was brief, for Demetrius, the son
of Seleucus IV. — whose righful inheritance
had been usurped by his uncle Antiochus
Epiphanes — returned from Rome, where he
had been a hostage, overthrew and put to
death Antiochus and Lysias, and became
king. Affairs now took a sudden turn.
Swift Punishment.
The new king adopted a more dangerous
policy against the independence of Judasa
than the invasion and vast armies of his pre-
decessor. The looser and less patriotic Jews
ill-brooked the severe government of the party
of Judas. Many, perhaps, were weary of the
constant warfare in which their valiant cham-
pion was engaged. Menelaus, the renegade
high-priest, had accompanied the army of
Lysias, and endeavored to form a faction in
his favor ; but, on some dissatisfaction, Lysias
had sent him to Berea, where he was thrown
into a tower of ashes, and suffocated — a
fit punishment, it was said, for one who had
polluted the altar fires and holy ashes of God's
shrine.
Onias, son of the Onias murdered by means
of Menelaus, the heir of the priesthood, fled
to Egypt, and Alcimus, or Jacimus, was raised
to the high-priesthood. By reviving the title
of high-priest, to the supreme authority, De
metrius hoped, if not to secure a dependent
vassal in the government of Judaea, at least to
sow discord among the insurgents. He sent
Alcimus, supported by Bacchides, his ablest
general, to claim the sacerdotal dignity. The
zealots for the Law could not resist the title
of the high-priest. Jerusalem submitted. But
no sooner had Alcimus got the leaders into his
power than he basely murdered sixty of
them.
Bacchides returned to Antioch, leaving the
high-priest as governor; while the indefati-
gable Judas went through the cities of Judah
rallying the patriots. Alcimus again repaired
to Antioch for help ; and Nicanor, who was
sent to restore him, was defeated by Judas
at Capharsalama. He retired to the citadel of
Zion, where his refusal to listen to the over-
tures of the priests until Judas was delivered
up to him, and his ferocious cruelties, reunited
the patriots in resistance and prayer for his
overthrow. A battle ensued at Adasa, near
Beth-horon, where Judas gained his most
glorious victory, on the 13th of Adar (end of
February, b. c. 161), a day which was kept as
a national festival. Nicanor was slain, and his
head and hand were exposed as trophies at
Jerusalem. The independence of Judaea was
won, though it was not finally secured till
after several years of contest, and ^^he death of
all the Maccabaean brothers. Meanwhile the
land enjoyed a brief interval of rest.
Deatli of Judas Maceabseus.
It is at this juncture that the name of Rome
first appears in Jewish history. The imagi-
nation of Judas .was captivated by the suc-
cesses she had gained against the Gauls and
Spaniards, and especially with those Greek
powers with which he was so fiercely strug-
gling. He had heard of their defeats of Philip,
Perseus, and Antiochus the Great, and of their
power to set up and cast down kings ; but he
seems to have been most attracted by their
republican form of government. He sent to
Rome Eupolemus the son of John, with Jason
the son of Eleazar, to propose a league against
Syria ; and the envoys brought back a letter,
in.scribed on brazen tablets, containing the
articles of alliance between the Romans and
the Jews.
But before they reached Judaea, the career
of Judas was closed; gloriously, indeed, but
in a manner which we can scarcely doubt
that one of the old prophets would have
regarded as a judgment for seeking strength
from a heathen alliance, as the only error of
his life.
Demetrius had sent his whole force, under
Bacchides, to restore Alcimus and avenge
of Judah
n repaired
, who was
by Judas
". citadel of
the over-
delivered
, reunited
er for his
lasa, near
his most
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of Philip,
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; but he
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sent to
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t against
a letter,
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e career
eed, but
Y doubt
Id have
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error of
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avenge
The Star of Bethlehem
THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS.
361
I^icanor. The treaty with Rome seems to
have offended the extreme party of the As-
sidaeans ; and Judas had only three thousand
men to oppose to the enemy's twenty thou-
sand foot and two thousand horse. Their camp
was at " Berea " (probably Beeroth), and his
at " Eleasa." His men, terrified by the dis-
parity of numbers, continued to desert, till
only eight hundred remained. These urged
Judas to fly, and wait for a better opportunity.
His reply shows that prophetic instinct which
has often warned a hero of coming death :
■" If our time be come, let us die manfully for
our brethren, and let us not stain our honor ! "
He took post, with his chosen warriors, over
against the right wing of the Syrians, where
Bacchides commanded. He defeated this wing,
the strength of the Syrian army, pursuing them
to Azotus. But the Syrians on the left, scarcely
meeting with opposition, fell upon the rear of
the victorious Jews. The odds were over-
whelming; and the disaster was crowned by
the death of Judas, whereupon his followers
fled. His brothers, Jonathan and Simon, re-
covered his body, and buried him in his father's
sepulchre at Modin, amidst the lamentations
of all Israel, as they cried, " How is the valiant
man fallen that delivered Israel I "
A Patriot and Hero.
As Adasa was the Marathon of the Jewish
war of freedom, so Eleasa was its Thermopylae ;
and, when Scripture history recovers its place
in the literature of Christendom, the fame of
Leonidas will no longer eclip.se that of Judas
Maccabaeus. His best eulogy is the simple
record of his deeds, of which his historian as-
sures us that they were too many to be written.
^' Among those lofly spirits," says Dean
Milman, " who have asserted the liberty of
their native land against wanton and cruel op-
pression, none have surpassed the most able
of the Maccabees in accomplishing a great end
with inadequate means ; none ever united more
generous valor with a better cause ; " none, we
may add, more completely gave God the
glory. There is at least one worthy tribute to
his honor, in the splendid oratorio of Handel.
The triumph of Bacchides and the " impious
faction " was aided by the distress of a great
famine and the friends of Judas were hunted
down on every side. But, as before, this want of
moderation compelled resistance. Jonathan
surnamed Apphus (the wary), the fifth and
youngest son of Mattathias, was chosen
leader, as the most warlike of the three sur-
viving brothers ; Simon aiding him with his
counsel. They e.stablished themselves in the
wilderness of Tekoah, where their first ex-
ploit was to avenge their eldest brother John
(Jonathan), surnamed Gaddis, who was treach-
erously killed by the Arabs, while convey-
ing some of the effects of the patriots to
the care of Nabathaeans. Incensed by this
deed, Bacchides, on a Sabbath, attacked their
position in the marshes of the Jordan; but
they escaped by swimming across the river,
having slain i,ooo of the Syrians.
Rival Rulers.
Bacchides nbw occupied himself with forti-
fying Jericho, Emmaus, Beth-horon, Bethel,
and other strong cities in Judah, and he placed
in them hostages from the chief families. Al-
cimus had set to work with equal ardor to pull
down the walls round the Temple, when he was
struck with a palsy, and died in great torment.
Upon this, Bacchides returned to Antioch, and
the land had rest for two years. At last Bac-
chides gave up the enterprise. Before he re-
treated, however, he accepted the invitation of
Jonathan to make peace ; restored his prison-
ers and hostages ; and promised not again to
molest the Jews, a promise which he kept.
Jonathan established himself at the fortress of
Michmash, so renowned in the history of his
great namesake, the son of Saul. There he
governed the people, and "destroyed the un-
godly men out of Israel." This state of things
lasted for about six years.
The claim of Alexander Balas, a pretended
son of Antioclms Epiphanes, to the crown of
Syria, led to a new advancement of Jonathan
and the Jews, who were courted by both
rivals. Demetrius wrote first, authorizing
Jonathan to raise an army, and commanding
> I
362
A PRIEST-PRINCE.
that the hostages in the tower of Zion should i
be delivered to him. This was at once done, ,
and Jonathan then began to repair the forti- ;
fications of Jerusalem. Meanwhile all of the |
hostile party fled from the fortified cities, ex- 1
cept Bethsura.
Next came the letter from Alexander,
nominating Jonathan to the higli-priesthood,
which had been vacant since the death of
Alcimus, and sending him a purple robe and
a crown of gold. Jonathan assumed these
insignia at the feast of Tabernacles, and thus
began the line of the priest-princes of the
Asmonaean family. Demetrius, in despair,
now made new and unbounded offers ; free-
dom for all the Jews of his kingdom from
tribute, from the duties on salt, and from crown-
taxes; and exemption from the payment of the
third of the seed and the half of the produce
of the fruit-trees. Thr three governments of
Apherema, Lydda, and Ramathem, including
the port of Ptolemais, were to be taken from
Samaria and annexed to Judaea forever, under
the sole government of the high-priest. An
army of 30,000 Jews was to be raised at the
king's expense, to garrison the cities and act
as a police. Jerusalem, with its territory,
was declared holy, free from tithe and tribute,
and a place of asylum.
Terrible I^cstruction.
A large annual suai was promised for the
works of the temple and the fortifications of
the city, and the revenues of Ptolemais were
assigned for the ordinary expense of the
sanctuary. All Jewish captives throughout
the Syrian empire were to be set free, and all
the feasts were to be holidays for them. More
moderate offers might have been a better
proof of good faith. The Jews had more
confidence in Alexander, who was, moreover,
favored by Rome ; and, after he had defeated
and killed Demetrius, B. c. 1 50, he gave Jona-
than a magnificent reception at Ptolemais, on
his marriage with Cleopatra, the daughter of
Ptolemy Philometor.
Three years later, the younger Demetrius
(who afterwards reigned as Demetrius II.
Nicator) attempted to recover his father's
kingdom ; and his adherent Apollonius,
governor of Ccelesyria, advanced to Jainnia,
and sent a challenge to Jonathan. A battle
was fought near Azotus, in which the infantry
of Jonathan stood firm against the Syrian
cavalry, who attacked them on all sides, till the
fresh forces of his brother Simon routed the
wearied horsemen, who fled to the temple of
Dagon at Azotus. Jonathan burned the city
and temple, with the men in it to the number
of 8,000; and after receiving the submi.ssion
of Ascalon he returned to Jerusalem.
A new enemy now took the field against
Alexander, in the person of his father-in-law,
Ptolemy, who marched into Syria, profe-ssedly
as a friend. Jonathan met him at Joppa, and
was favorably received, in spite of the accusa-
tions of his enemies. We need not here relate
the alliance of Ptolemy with the young Deme-
trius, nor the defeat and death of Alexander :
followed by the death of Ptolemy and the
accession of Demetrius II. Nicator to the
throne of Syria.
Jonathan's political tact not only brought
him safe through this revolution, but gained
new advantages for his country. During the
confusion, he had laid siege to the tower on
Zion, for which act his enemies accused him to
the new king, who summoned him to Ptole-
mais. Leaving orders to press the siege, he
went with a body of priests and elders,
carrying splendid piesents. He gained great
favor with Demetrius, who confirmed him in
the high-priesthood ; and a present of 300
talents to the king secured for Judaea most of
the privileges which had been promised by
Demetrius I.
The unpopularity of Demetrius, in conse-
quence of his disbanding the Syrian troops
and replacing them by mercenaries whom he
had brought with him from Crete, opened the
door to the .schemes of Tryphon, who claimed
the throne for Antiochus, son of Alexander
Balas. Jonathan seized the opportunity to
obtain from Demetrius a promise of the evac-
uation of the long-contested tower, and sent
him a body of 3,000 Jews, who had saved his
tht
i
JONATHAN DESTROYING THE TEMPLE OF DAGON. — I MaCC. X. 84.
(368)
364
END OF THE LONG STRUGGLE.
life in a tumult at Antioch. But the immediate
danger was no sooner past than Demetrius
became estranged from Jonathan, and failed
to fulfil his promises.
The defeat of Demetrius by Tryphon placed
Antiochus VL Theos on the throne B. c. 144.
Jonathan was confirmed in all his honors, and
his brother Simon was made captain-general
of the country from the Ladder of Tyre to the
borders of Egypt. Gaza and Bethsura were
reduced, and Jonathan defeated the partisans
of Demetrius near the lake Gennesareth, and
again in the region of Hamath, and advanced
as far as Damascus; while Simon secured
Ascalon and took Joppa. Having renewed the
alliance with Rome, and also, if we may trust
our leading authority, with the Lacedaemo-
nians, Jonathan summoned the elders to fortify
the cities of Judaea, to heighten the walls of
Jerusalem, and to block out the tower on Zion
by a great mound from the city and the
Temple. They were engaged on this work
when Tryphon, who was plotting a usurpation,
and regarded Jonathan as his chief obstacle,
enticed him to Ptolemais, with a guafd of only
i,cxx> men, who were slain, and Jonathan was
made prisoner. Quick results followed.
Jonathan Put to Death.
The enemies of the Jews now rose in every
quarter; but Simon was acknowledged as
leader, and marched to Adida to meet Try-
phon, who was advancing to invade Judaea.
When Tryphon found with whom he had to
do, he opened negotiations. Pretending that
Jonathan had been seized for money due to
the king, he promised to release him on the
payment of 100 talents of silver and the deliv-
ery of two of his sons as hostages. Simon ex-
pected treachery ; but, lest his motives should
be mistaken, he accepted the terms.
Tryphon verified his fears ; and, after being
foiled by Simon in all his attempts to advance
to Jerusalem and relieve the Syrian garrison,
he marched into Gilead, still carrying Jonathan
with him, and killed and buried him at Bas-
cama. On his retiring to Antioch, Simon re-
moved the bones of Jonathan to Modin, where
he built a stately monument, with seven obe-
lisks, for Mattathias, his wife, and their five
sons ; the whole forming a sea-mark for pas.s-
ing ships, which could be seen from a distance.
Independence Secured.
Simon, surnamed Thassi, the second of son
Mattathias, and the last of the five brethren,
was high-priest from B. c. 143 to b. c. 135. He
was not the least glorious for the vigor and wis-
dom of his administration. He openly espoused
the party of Demetrius against Tryphon, and
received from that monarch a full recognition
of the independence of his country. Instead,
therefore, of interfering in foreign affairs, he
directed his whole attention to the consolida-
tion and internal security of the Jewish king-
dom. He sent an embassage, which was hon-
orably received at Rome ; he fortified Bethsura
on the Idumaean frontier, and Joppa, the great
port of Judaea; reduced Gazara; and at length
broke off the last and heaviest link of the Syrian
fetters, by taking, by the aid of famine, the
tower of Jerusalem. He at once demolished
the tower, and then, with incredible labor,
levelled the hill on which it stood, so that it
no longer commanded the hill of the Temple.
Simon executed the law with great impartiality
and vigor ; repaired the Temple, and restored
the sacred vessels.
The wasted country began, under his pru-
dent administration, to enjoy its ancient fer-
tility. " The ancient men sat in all the streets,
communing together of good things, and the
young men put on glorious and warlike ap.
parel." While his internal government was
just and firm, he opened up a commerce with
Europe through the port of Joppa, and re-
newed the treaties with Rome and Lacedae-
mon. The letters in favor of the Jews, ad-
dressed by the Roman senate to the states
and islands of Greece and Asia Minor, and to
the great potentates of Asia, including even
the Parthian Arsaces, are a striking evidence
of the wide dispersion of the Jewish race, even
in those times, and of the all-commanding
policy of Rome, which was reaching out to
compass the world.
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THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS.
en obe-
leir nve
Tor pass-
listance.
305
In the meantime Demetrius the rightful sov-
ereign of Syria, had been taken prisoner in
an expedition against the parthians. Antio-
chus VII. Sidetes, his brother, now levied an
army to dispossess the usurper and murderer,
Tryphon, whom he quickly defeated, and be-
sieged in Dora. Simon openly espoused his
party, but Antiochus considered Simon's as-
sistance dearly purchased at the price of the
independence of Palestine, and, above all, the
possession of the important ports of Joppa and
Gazara. Athenobius, his ambassador, sent to
demand tribute and indemnification, was struck
with astonishment at the riches and splendor
of Simon's palace ; and on the Jewish sover-
eign refusing all submission, and only offering
a price for the possession of Joppa, Antiochus
sent his general, Cendebeus, to invade the
country, and thus began the last war which
the Maccabees had to wage with Syria. Simon,
now.grown old, entrusted the command of his
forces to Judas and John Hyrcanus, his sons.
They defeated Cendebeus, and took Azotus,
and returned to Jerusalem in triumph.
A Renowned High-Priest.
But the Maccabaean race seemed destined
to perish by violence. Ptolemy, son of Abu-
bus, the son in-law of Simon, under a secret
understanding with Antiochus, king of Syria,
formed a conspiracy to usurp the .sovereignty
of Judaea. At a banquet in Jericho, he con-
trived basely to assassinate Simon and his
elder son ; and at the same time endeavored
to surprise the younger son, John Hyrcanus,
in Gazara ; but John managed to escape, and
went at once to Jerusalem, where he was
unanimously proclaimed high-priest and ruler
of the country, and began at once to show his
illustrious qualities.
John Hyrcanus was the second son of
Simon, under whom he had been commander
of the army. He inherited the vigor and
ability of his family, and was high-priest for
thirty years. His first act was to march
against Jericho, to avenge the base murder
of his father and brother ; but Ptolemy had in
his power the mother and brethren of Hyrca-
nus. He shut himself up in a fortress, and
exposed his captives on the walls, scourging
them, and threatening to put them to death.
The noble-minded woman exhorted her son,
notwithstanding her own danger, to revenge
his father's murder ; but Hyrcanus hesitated ;
the siege was protracted; and, at length,
according to the improbable reason assigned
by Josephus, the year being a Sabbatic year,
entirely raised the siege.
Ptolemy fled to Philadelphia ; of his subse-
quent fate we know nothing. The rapid
movements of Hyrcanus had disconcerted the
confederacy between the assassin and Anti-
ochus. Still, however, the Syrian army over-
ran the whole country. Hyrcanus was be-
sieged in Jerusalem, where he was reduced to
the last extremity by famine. He had been
compelled to the hard measure of expelling
from the city all those, the young and old, of
both sexes, who were incapable of contribu-
ting to the defence. The besiegers refused to
let them pass ; and aiany perished miserably
in the ditches anc" ■■■-^ the out-works.
But Antiochus r roved a moderate and
generous enemy ; on the feast of Tabernacles
he conceded a week's truce, and furnished the
besieged with victims for sacrifice, bulls with
golden horns, and gold and silver vessels for
the Temple service. He was gratefully called
Antiochus Eusebes (the pious). Finally he
concluded a peace, of which the terms, though
hard, were better than Hyrcanus, in the low
condition to which he was reduced, could
fairly expect. The country was to be reduced
to a tributary state, and the fortifications of
Jerusalem were to be dismantled. The king
treated Hyrcanus with favor, and summoned
him to attend him on the expedition which he
made against Parthia, ostensibly to release his
imprisoned brother Demetrius Nicator.
Hyrcanus returned before the defeat which
lost Antiochus his throne and life. Demetrius
escaped, and recovered the throne of Antioch.
Hyrcanus seized the glorious opportunity of
throwing off the yoke of Syria, and the Jewish
kingdom regained its independence, which was
never again lost until it was compelled to ac-
366
FAMILY MURDER3.
knowledge the Roman dominion — first under
tlie Asmonacan dynasty, then under the house
of Herod.
The Syrian monarchy being distracted by
rival competitors for the throne, the prudent
and enterprising Hyrcanus lost no opportunity
of extending his territory and increasing his
power. He took Samega and Medaba, in the
trans-Jordanic region. But his greatest tri-
umph, that which raised him the highest in
the opinion of his zealous countrymen, was
the capture of Sichem or Samaria, and the
total destruction of the rival temple on Mount
Gerizim. It was levelled to the earth ; not a
vestige remained. The sanctuary on Mount
Zion thus regained its pre-eminence in the
Holy Land, and the Jews once more imposed
upon the Samaritans the sacred law, " rhat
Jerusalem is the place where men ought to
worship."
A Remarkable Triumph.
The reduction of Samaria was effected by
Aristobulus and Antigonus, the sons of John
Hyrcanus, in the twenty-sixth year of his rule.
The city of Samaria was utterly destroyed, and
its site converted into pools of water from its
own abundant springs. Most of Galilee sub-
mitted to the authority of the iiigh-priest, who
again renewed the alliance of his family with
Rome. Of his buildings at Jerusalem, the
most important was the Tower of Baris, at the
noisthwest corner of the enclosure of the
Temple. It was afterward the Antonia of
Herod.
Thus the Holy Land, under the name of
Judsea, was restored to its ancient limits, and
the people enjoyed their worship, under a race
of priest-princes, who held their authority in
submission to the Divine law. But no human
affairs ever reached the climax of prosperity
without taking the downward turn ; and it was
taken with frightful rapidity by the successors
of John Hyrcanus, who displayed a personal
ambition unknown to the pure patriotism of
the Maccabees, and were soon engaged in fierce
contests for supreme power. Then began those
family murders, which form the most horrid
feature of oriental despotism, and which
reached their climax under Herod.
One chief source of tliese evils was the rup-
ture of the religious unity of the nation, by the
rise of the opposing sects of the Pharisees and
Sadducees, which, springing from a doubtful
origin, and from causes long at work, had be-
come established during the government of
John Hyrcanus. Toward the end of his reign,
Hyrcanus, provoked by an insult from one of
the leading Pharisees, joined the party of the
Sadducees, a step which left a heritage of
trouble to his successors. " The cause of this
rupture," says Dean Milman, "is singularly
characteristic of Jewish manners. During a
banquet, at which the chiefs of the ruling sect
were present, Hyrcanus demanded their judg-
ment on his general conduct and administra-
tion of affairs, which he professed to have regu-
lated by the great principle of justice (the
' righteousness ' which was the watchword of
the Pharisees), and by strict adherence to the
tenets of their sect.
" The Pharisees, with general acclamation,
testified their appro/al of all his proceedings;
one voice alone, that of Eleazar, interrupted the
general harmony : — ' If you are a just man,
abandon the high-priesthood, for which you
are disqualified by the illegitimacy of your
birth.' The indignant Hyrcanus demanded the
trial of Eleazar for defamation. By the influ-
ence of the Pharisees he was shielded, and es-
caped with scourging and imprisonment. Hyr-
canus, enraged at this unexpected hostility,
listened to the representations of Jonathan, a
Sadducee, who accused the rival faction of a
conspiracy to overawe the sovereign power;
and from that time he entirely alienated him-
self from the Pharisaic councils."
John Hyrcanus died exactly sixty years, or
the space of two complete generations, after
his grandfather Mattathias. As he began a
new generation of the Maccabaean house, so was
he the first who escaped the violent end to
which his father and uncles had succumbed.
His death marks the transition from the theo-
cratic commonwealth, under the Maccabaean
leaders, to the Asmonaean kingdom, which was
THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS.
867
which
established by his son Judas or Aristobulus,
whose Greek name is but too significant of the
Grecian character of the new era.
The only two of the first generation of the
Maccabxan family who did not attain to the
leadership of their countrymen like their broth-
ers, yet shared their fate — Eleazar by a noble
act of self-devotion, John, apparently the eldest
brother, by treachery. The sacrifice of the
family was complete ; and probably history of-
fers no parallel to the undaunted courage with
which such a band dared to face death, one by
by one, in the maintenance of a holy cause.
The result was worthy of the sacrifice. The
Maccabees inspired a subject-people with inde-
pendence ; they found a few personal follow-
ers and they left a nation.
Contending' for the Holy Cltj.
The great outlines of the Maccabaean con-
Kst, which are somewhat hidden in the annals
thus briefly epitomized, admit of being traced
with fair distinctness, though many points
must always remain obscure, from our igno-
rance of the numbers and distribution of the
Jewish population, and of the general condi-
tion of the people at the time. The disputed
succession to the Syrian throne, B.c. 153, was
the political turning-point of the struggle,
which may thus be divided into two great
periods. During the first period the patriots
maintained their cause with varying success
against the whole strength of Syria: during
the second they were courted by rival fac-
tions, and their independence was acknowl-
edged from time to time, though pledges
given in times of danger were often broken
when the danger was over.
The paramount importance of Jerusalem is
conspicuous throughout the whole war. The
loss of the Holy City reduced the patriotic
party at once to the condition of mere gue-
rilla bands, issuing from " the mountains " or
" the wilderness," to make sudden forays on
the neighboring towns. This was the first
aspect of the war ; and the scene of the early
exploits of Judas was the hill-country to the
north-east of Jerusalem, from which he drove
the invadinjT armies at the famous battle-ficld»
of Beth-horon and Emmaus (Nicopolis).
The occupation of Jerusalem closed the first
act of the war, B.C. 166; and after this Judati
made rapid attacks on every side — in Iduniaea,
Amnion, Gilead, Galilee — but he made no
permanent settlement in tiie countries which he
ravaged. Bethsura was fortified as a defence
of Jerusalem on the south ; but the authority
of Judas seems to have been limited to the
immediate neighborhood of Jerusalem, though
the influence of his name extended more
widely.
On the death of Judas, the patriot;* were
reduced to as great distress as at their first
rising ; and as Bacchides held the keys of the
" mountain of Ephraim," they were forced to
find a refuge in the lowlands near Jericho,
and after some slight successes Jonathan wa.s
allowed to settle at Michmash undistu:L''.
though the whole country remained abso-
lutely under the sovereignty of Syria. So far
it seemed that little had been gained, when
the contest between Alexander Balas and De-
metrius I. opened a new period. Jonathan
was empowered to raise troops; the Jewish
hostages were restored ; many of the fortresses
were abandoned; and apparently a definite
district was assigned to the government of
the high-priest. The former unfruitful con-
flicts at length produced their full harvest.
Patriots and Martyrs.
The defeat at Eleasa, like the Swiss St
Jacob, had shown the worth of men who
could face all odds, and no price seemed too
great to secure their aid. When the Jewish
leaders had once obtained legitimate power,
they proved able to maintain it, though their
general success was checkered by some re-
verses. The solid power of the national party
was seen by the slight effect which was pro-
duced by the treacherous murder of Jonathan.
Simon was able at once to occupy his olace
and carry out his plans. The Syrian garrison
was withdrawn from Jerusalem; Joppa was
occupied as a sea-port ; and " four govern-
ments " — probably the central parts of th«
368
A ROMAN KING.
old kingdom of Judah, with three districts
taken from Samaria — were subjected to the
sovereign authority of the high-priest.
The war, thus brought to a noble issue, if
less famous, is not less glorious than any of
those in which a few brave men have success-
fully maintained the cause of freedom or re-
ligion against overpowering might. The an-
swer of Judas to tiiose who counselled retreat
was as true-hearted as that of Leonidas ; and
the exploits of his followers will bear favor-
able comparison with those of the Swiss, or
the Dutch, or the Americans.
It would be easy to point out parallels in
Maccabaean history to the noblest traits of
patriots and martyrs in other countries ; but it
may be enough here to claim for the contest
the attention which it rarely receives. It
seems, indeed, as if the indifference of classical
writers were perpetuated in our own days,
though there is no struggle — not even the
wars of Joshua or David — which is more pro-
foundly interesting to the Christian student.
For it is not only in their victory over ex-
ternal difBculties that the heroism of the Mac-
cabees is conspicuous ; their real success was
as much imperilled by internal divisions as by
foreign force. They had to contend on the
one hand against open and subtle attempts to
introduce Greek customs, and on the other
against an extreme Pharisaic party, which is
seen from time to time opposing their coun-
sels. And it was from Judas and those whom
he inspired that the old faith received its last
development and final impress before the
coming of our Lord.
The history of the Herodian family presents
one side of the last development of the Jewish
nation. The evils already seen found an un-
expected embodiment in the tyranny of a
foreign usurper. Religion was adopted as a
policy ; and the Grecian designs of Antiochus
Kpiphanes were carried out, at least in their
spirit, by men who professed to observe the
Law.
Side by side with the spiritual " kingdom of
God," proclaimed by John the Baptist, and
founded by Christ, a kingdom of the world
was established, which in its external splendor
recalled the traditional magnificence of Solo-
mon.
Ancestry of the IIorndN.
Various accounts are given of the ancestry
of the Herods ; but, neglecting the exagger-
ated statements of friends and enemies, it
seems certain that they were of Idumaean
descent, a fact which is indicated by the forms,
of some of the names which were retained in
the family. But though aliens by race, the
Herods were Jews in faith. The Idumasans
had been conquered and brought over to
Judaism by John Hyrcanus ; and from the
time of their conversion they remained con-
stant to their new religion, looking upon
Jerusalem as their mother city, and claiming
for themselves the name of Jews.
The general policy of the whole Herodian
family, though modified by the personal char-
acteristics of the successive rulers, was the
same. It centred in the endeavor to found a
great and independent kingdom, in which the
power of Judaism should subserve the state.
Tiie protection of Rome was in the first in-
stance a necessity ; but the designs of Herod
I. and Agrippa I. point to an independent
eastern empire as their end, and not to a
mere subject monarchy. At this moment He
appeared of whom it was prophesied that the
government should be upon His shoulder, and
His kingdom should never end.
Advent of Christ.
CHAPTER XXX.
THE CHILD IN THE MANGER.
K come now to the impor-
tant period in the Bible
narrative which com-
memorates the life of
Christ. The sublime
prophecies which had
gone before all point-
ed to the "fulness of
time," and gave sign of the appear-
ing of One who should outrank the
grand old patriarchs and heroes of
the earlier ages. His is the one ma-
jestic figure, which, in resplendent
glory, gives immortal interest to the
sacred annals, and now, after waning '
centuries, fills the eye of the world. I
The time when the history of Christ com-
mences was that period of civil quiet when the
Romans had subjected nearly all the known
world to their power; and their empire — the
widest the world had ever seen — extended from
the Tigris to the Atlantic, and from the North-
ern ocean to Mount Atlas and the borders
of Ethiopia. The various nations comprising
this mighty empire had ceased their struggles
for independence, and their contentions among
themselves, and the whole lay in the stillness
of exhausted strength under the iron yoke of
imperial Rome. Most of these nations were
under the direct rule of governors sent from
24 ,
Rome ; but a few were allowed the shadow of
independence, inasmuch as the internal govern-
ment was adiuinistcred by native princes tribu-
tary to Rome.
Among these comparatively favored nations
was Judea, which was at this time governed by
a king of its own, called Herod, and surnamed
the Great. The family of Herod waso/ recent
importance in the country, and had risen upon
the downfall oftheAsmonaean dynasty, founded
by the illustrious Maccabees. Its prosperity
began with Antipater, the father of Herod, who
was of Idumaean (Edomitish) origin, and, under
himself and his son, owed its growth to the
patronage and favor of the successive masters
of the Roman world, Julius, Anthony, Augus-
tus ; the last of whom seems to have enter-
tained a personal liking for Herod, to whom
he allowed as much power as was perhaps
compatible with his position as a vassal of the
empire.
The repose in which the world lay at this
time was somewhat animated by a very general
expectation of some great event — of the com-
ing of some mysterious personage, who was to
set right the wrong things of the world, and
subdue all things to his power. The Jews
claimed a peculiar property in him, knowing
from their prophecies that the Messiah was to
arise from among themselves, out of the house
(369)
370
MARY VISITED BY AN ANGEL.
of David. But the expectation was not con-
fined to them; for there were abroad the
whisperings of mysterious oracles, which may
be traced in tlie Roman Virgil's ode, entitled
Pollio, where we recognize them as reflected
from the inspired strains of the Hebrew
prophets.
And He, for whom the earth was thus wait-
ing, came — and men knew Him not — knew
Him not then, because He appeared not with
the visible glories and conquermg powers
which all expected ; but came in poverty and
lowliness, " a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief"
But the Messiah was not to enter without a
harbinger the world l>e came to redeem. The
turn of an old priest called Zacharias arrived
to enter the sanctuary, and to offer incense
there in behalf of the people, who remained
in prayer outside. While employed in this
sacred service, an angel appeared suddenly
before him, and saluted him as the parent of
the appointed harbinger, on whom the name
of John and the abstinence of a Nazarite were
even then imposed. The astonished priest,
knowing that he and his wife Elizabeth had
lived childless to old age, could not conceal
his bewilderment and doubt, and mourned his
wish for some sign from which he might gather
confidence. To punish this incredulity, the
required sign was made somewhat penal, and
it was declared that he should be speechless
for a season. Accordingly he went forth dumb
to the wondering people, and he remained
dumb until the things of which he had doubted
were accomplished.
About six months after this, the same angel
appeared in Nazareth, an obscure town of
Galilee, to a virgin named Mary, and hailed
her as the destined mother of the Saviour of
the world. The pious virgin, however, startled
at so strange a visitant and his momentous
announcement, ventured to hint a doubt natu-
rally suggested by her unmarried condition ;
but she was assured that this immortal birth
was not to be according to the ordinary course
of nature, but wouH owe its origin to the
"power of the Most High."
She therefore bowed her head in pious sub-
mission, saying, " Behold the handmaid of the
Lord ; be it unto me according to thy word,
even as thou hast said." When we consider
the misconception under which even the
chosen disciples of Jesus labored a." ♦o the
real objects of His mission, it seems very pos-
sible that Mary did not at this time fully un-
derstand the greatness of her own destiny.
She knew, however — she could not but under-
stand — that her promised son was to be the
long foretold and earnestly desired Messiah,
" the desire of all nations ; " and that her lot
was that which had been one of intense desire
to the daughters of Israel in past and present
generations. But tfie vastness of the idea
which was presented to her, the magnificence
of the event, awed her spirit, and kept down
the joyfulness that afterwards arose.
Marriage Customs.
It was a custom among the Jews for dam-
sels to be betrothed, or legally pledged, to
husbands for a long while, a year or much
more, before they were actually united. Now
Mary, although not yet actually married, was
under betrothment to a pious man of the same
place, Joseph by name, and a carpenter by
trade. Such betrothal was in the view of the
Jewish law regarded as partaking so far of the
nature of an actual marriage that any unfaith-
fulness to the engagement was regarded and
punished.
When, therefore, this good man discovered
that his betrothed was anticipating mother-
hood, his mind was filled with trouble both on
her account and on his own. He was reluc-
tant to make Mary a public example, and to
bring upon her the harsh penalties of the law ;
but was more inclined to find some quiet way
of dissolving the engagement between them,
and of thus releasing her from the worst
consequences of lier supposed transgression.
While these thoughts filled Joseph's mind, he
was unexpectedly relieved by a visit from the
angel, who made known to him the real cir-
cumstance, and encouraged him to complete
his engagement with Mary, by taking her
lan discovered
iting motlier-
ouble both on
He was reluc-
ample, and to
ies of the law ;
)me quiet way
)etween them,
•m the worst
transgression.
:ph's mind, he
visit from the
n the real cir-
1 to complete
y taking her
THE ANNUNCIATION. — Lllkc i. 28.
x37i)
37J
ELIZABETH CONGRATUEATED.
Il I
home as his wife and thus afford her protec-
tion. This was accordingly done, and it was
thus that Jesus came to be considered the son
of Joseph.
It happened that Elizabeth, the wife of
Zacharias, was a cousin of Mary, and when
Mary heard that her aged relative was likely
to become at length a mother, she went to
congratulate her upon an event which was al-
ways a matter of great gladness to Hebrew
women. When they met, circumstances arose
which enabled the mother of John the Baptist
to recognize in Mary the mother of one greater
than he ; and her ardent recognition of this
fact kindled in turn the happy virgin, who
broke forth in that beautiful chant, " My soul
doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath
rejoiced in God my Saviour," which is not the
less — which is much the more, touching to us,
from its being, in a great degree, composed
from recollections of the Psalms and of the
song of Hannah, the mother of Samuel. We
thus gather how well the mother of Jesus was
versed in the Sacred Scripture ; for her words
are the outpouring of a mind thoroughly im-
bued with the ideas and phrases of the proph-
ets and poets of the Old Testament.
The Song of Praise.
The fact of this visit, and the relationship
from which it arose, have suggested the prob-
ability that Christ and John were known to
each other in childhood. There is probability
in the conjecture.
In due time Elizabeth gave birth to a son.
The father still continued speechless ; but on
the eighth day, when the child was to be cir-
cumcised and named, some difficulty was felt
about the name, which it was the usual prov-
ince of the father to bestow. The neighbors
were disposed to call him Zacharias, after his
parent ; on which the father took a tablet and
wrote, " His name is John," being the name
which had before been given by the angel.
On this his dumbness passed away, and he I
broke forth into an exulting hymn, praising
God thac the long-expected time of the Mes-
siah was come, and that his son was destined
to be His prophet and forerunner. That
Zacnarias so readily apprehended the position
which his son was to take is explained by the
fact that the Jews generally expected that the
Messiah was to be preceded by a dignified
harbinger. This expectation was founded
upon passages in the prophets, which also led
to a prevalent notion that this forerunner vva.s
to be no other than Elij<ih the Tishbite in per-
although some were content to expect
son
one equal to that great prophet in power, and
endued with the same spirit.
The Roman emperor, not long after this,
issued a decree for a general registration or
census to be taken ; and, according to the
policy observed on such occasions, the decree
required every one to be registered in his pa-
ternal city. This obliged Joseph and Mary
to travel to Bethlehem, to which, being of the
house and lineage of David, they belonged.
The village being full of people, they were
compelled to take up their lodging in the
stables which run beliind the eastern inns or
caravanseries, the lodging-room being already
occupied.
Here, among the beasts of the stall, was
born the Saviour of the world ; and here, when
he had been wrapped in swaddling-clothes, a
manger was made to serve for his cradle.
This was the greatest event the world had
ever seen — for it was the coming of its Re-
deemer; but it occurred, and might have
passed as a common occurrence on the earth
— the birth of a son to a humble pair — had
not the angels of God taken notice of it. There
were abroad that night in the fields around
Bethlehem shepherds keeping their flocks ; for
in the eastern countries, where there are no
enclosures, flocks must needs be watched by
shepherds night and day. They were aroused
from their half-slumbering watch by a sudden
radiance which shone around them from the
presence of an angel, whose appearance filled
them with dread. But they were reassured by
the glad and cheerful voice with which he an-
nounced the glad tidings of great joy: "Unto
you is born this day, in the city of David, a
Saviour — who is Ciirist, the Lord."
I
1
ler. That
he position
lied by the
:ed that the
a dignified
s founded
ch also led
runner was
bite in per-
to expect
power, and
after this,
istration or
ing to the
the decree
! in his pa-
and Mary
eing of the
belonged.
they were
ring in the
ern inns or
ing already
stall, was
here, when
j-clothes, a
radle.
world had
; of its Re-
light have
1 the earth
pair — had
>fit. There
Ids around
flocks ; for
^re are no
ratched by
re aroused
7 a sudden
n from the
-ance filled
assured by
lich he an-
)y: "Unto
f David, a
-373)
374
THE ANGELIC CHORUS.
, i
There was not a man, woman, or child in
Israel who was not familiar with the general
expectation of such a personage. The shep-
herds there had not the slightest difficulty in
understanding this joyous intimation. And
where were they to seek this greatest of
women born ? They were told to seek him,
" Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, good-will towards men."
The shepherds thought no more of their
flocks, but hastened away to Bethlehem, and
having found the infant lying in a manger, as
the angel had described, they made known all
that they had seen and heard. Many won-
WRITING THE NAME ON THE TABLET. — Luke i. 63.
not in regal palaces or priestly courts, nor
lapped in splendor in the mansions of the
great, but — " Ye shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling-clothes, and lying in a manger."
And immediately there gathered around the
angel a multitude of the heavenly host, who
broke forth in praise to God for his love to
man, and proclaiming in exultant chants —
dered, but most, even those who wondered,
let the matter pass from their mind, till some
thirty or forty years after, when the history of
" the prophet of Nazareth " became a matter
of general talk, and then probably some old
people called to mind the circumstances which
attended the birth of the holy child at Bethle-
hem. Mary, now a blessed mother, wondered
THE CHILD IN THE MANGER.
375
and on earth
also ; but she forgot nothing — " she pondered J
these things in her heart."
One mile from Bethlehem is a little plain,
in which, under a grove of olives, stands the
bare and neglected chapel known by the name
of " the Angel to the Shepherds." It is built
over the traditional site of the fields where,
in the beautiful language of Luke — more ex-
quisite than any idyll to Christian ears—" there
were shepherds keeping watch over their flock
by night, when, lo.the angel of the Lord came
upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone
round about them," and to their happy ears
were uttered the good tidings of great joy.
The associations of our Lord's nativity
were all of the humjalest character, and the
very scenery of His birthplace was connected
with memories of poverty and toil. On that
night, indeed, it seemed as though the heavens
must burst to disclose their radiant minstrel-
sies ; and the stars, and the feeding sheep, and
the " light and sound in the darkness and still-
ness," and the rapture of faithful hearts, com-
bine to furnish us with a picture painted in the
colors of heaven.
But in the brief and thrilling verses of the
evangelist we are not told that those angel
songs were heard by any except the wakeful
shepherds of an obscure village ; and those
shepherds, amid the chill dews of a winter
night, were guarding their flocks from the
wolf and the robber, in fields where Ruth,
their Saviour's ancestress, had gleaned, sick at
heart, amid the alien corn, and David, the de-
spised and youngest son of a numerous family,
had followed the sheep.
It might have been expected that Christian
piety would mark the spot by splendid me-
morials, and enshrine the rude grotto of the
shepherds in the marbles and mosaics of some
stately church. But, instead of this, the Chapel
of the Herald Angel is a mere rude crypt ; and
as the traveller descends down the broken
steps, which lead from the olive-grove into its
dim recess, he can hardly pursuade himself
that he is in a consecrated place. Yet a half-
unconscious sense of fitness has, perhaps, con-
tributed to this apparent neglect. The poverty
of the chapel harmonizes well with the hum-
ble toil of those whose radiant vision it is in-
tended to commemorate.
As already stated, the shepherds, when those
angel songs had ceased to break the starry
silence, started for Bethlehem. Their way
would lead them up the terraced hill, and
through the moonlit gardens, until they
reached the summit of the gray ridge on
which the little town is built. On that sum-
mit stood the village inn. The khan (or cara-
vansary) of a Syrian village, at that day, was
probably identical, in its appearance and ac-
commodation, with those which still exist in
modern Palestine.
A Humble Birthplace.
A khan is a low structure, built of rougfh
stones, and generally only a single story in
height. It consists for the most part of a
square enclosure, in which the cattle can be
tied up in safety for the night, and an arched
recess for the accommodation of travellers.
The paved floor of the recess is raised a foot
or two above the level of the court-yard. A
large khan — such, for instance, as that of which
the ruins may still be seen at Khan Minych,
on the shore of the Sea of Galilee — might con-
tain a series of such recesses, which arc, in
fact, low small rooms with no front wall to
them. They are, of course, perfectly public ;
everything that takes place in them is visible
to every person in the khan. They are also
totally devoid of even the most ordinary furni-
ture. The traveller may bring his own carpet
if he likes, may sit cross legged upon it for
his meals, and may lie upon it at night. As
a rule, too, he must bring his own food, attend
to his own cattle, and draw his own water
from the neighboring spring. He would neither
expect nor require attendance, and would pay
only the merest trifle for the advantage of
shelter, safety, and a floor on which to lie.
But if he chanced to arrive late, and the
floors were all occupied by earlier guests, he
would have no choice but to be content with •
such accommodation as he could find in the
court-yard below, and secure for himself and
m 1 , ,
i I ! '
,ii! 1 '
■
i
376
THE STABLE AT BETHLEHEM.
his family such small amount of cleanliness ! who happens to have been placed in similar
and decency as are compatible with an unoc- 1 circumstances.
cupied corner on the filthy area, which must
be shared with horses, mules, and camels.
The litter, the closeness, the unpleasant smell
In Palestine it not unfrequently happens that
the entire khan, or at any rate the portion of
it in which the animals are housed, is one of
THE ANGEL APPEARING TO THE SHEPHERDS. — Luke ii. lO.
of the crowded animals, the unwelcome intru-
sion of the pariah dogs, the necessary society
of the very lowest hangers-on of the caravan-
sary, are adjuncts to such a position which can
only be realized by any traveller in the East
those innumerable caves which abound in the
limestone rocks of its central hills. Such
seems to have been- the case at the little town
of Bethlehem -Ephratah, in the land of Judah.
Justin Martyr, the apologist, who, from his
J|i!
2d in similar
happens that
le portion of
ed, is one of
ind in the
Is. Such
ittle town
of Judali.
from his
thp: child in the manger.
377
birth at Shechem, was familiar with Palestine,
and who. Jived less than a century after the
time of Christ, places the scene of the nativity
in a cave. This is, indeed, the ancient and
constant tradition both of the Eastern and the
Western Churches, and it is one of the few to
which, though unrecorded in the gospel his-
tory, we may attach a reasonable probability.
Over this cave has risen the Church and
Convent of the Nativity, and it was in a cave
close beside it that one of the most learned,
eloquent, and holy of the fathers of the
church — that great St. Jerome, to whom we
owe the received Latin translation of the Bible
— spent thirty of his declining years in study,
and fasting, and prayer.
Guided by the lamp which usually swings
from the centre of a rope hung across the
entrance of the khan, the shepherds made their
way to the inn of Bethlehem. The fancy of
poet and painter has revelled in tiie imaginary
glories of the scene. They have sung of the
*' bright harnessed angels" who hovered there,
and of the stars lingering beyond their time to
shed their sweet influences upon that smiling
infancy. They have painted the radiation of
light from His manger-cradle, illuminating all
the place till the bystanders are forced to shade
their eyes from that heavenly splendor. But
all this is wide of the reality.
Such glories as the simple shepherds saw
were seen only by the eye of faith; and all
which met their gaze was a peasant of Galilee,
already beyond the prime of life, and a young
mother, of whom they could not know that she
was wedded maid and virgin wife, with an in-
fant child, whom, since there was none to help
her, her own hands had wrapped in swaddling-
clothes. The light that shone in the darkness
was no physical, but a spiritual beam ; the
Dayspring from on high, which had now visited
mankind, dawned only in a few faithful and
humble hearts.
And the Gospels, always truthful and bear-
ing on every page that simplicity which is the
stamp of honest narrative, indicate this fact
without comment. There is in them nothing
of the exuberance of marvel, and mystery, and
miracle, which appears alike in the Jewish
imaginations about their coming Messiah, and
in the Apocryphal narratives about the infant
Christ. There is no more decisive criterion of
their absolute credibility as simple histories,
than the marked and violent contrast which
they offer to all the spurious gospels of the
early centuries, and all the imaginative legends
which have clustered about them. Had our
Gospels been unauthentic, they too must in-
evitably have partaken of the characteristics
which mark, without exception, every early
fiction about the Saviour's life. To the un-
illuminated flmcy it would have seemed in-
credible that the most stupendous event in the
world's history should have taken place with-
out convulsions and catastrophes.
Strange Licereiids.
The Apocryphal Gospel of James has a
striking chapter, describing how, at that awful
moment of the nativity, the pole of the heaven
stood motionless, and the birds were still, and
there were workmen lying on the earth with
their hands in a vessel, 'and those who
handled did not handle it, and those who took
did not lift, and those who presented it to their
mouth did not present it, but the faces of all
were looking up; and I saw the sheep scattered
and the sheep stood, and the shepherd lifted
up his hand to strike, and his hand remained
up ; and I looked at the stream of the river,
and the mouths of the kids were down, and
were not drinking ; and everything which was
being propelled forward was intercepted in its
course." But of this sudden hush and pause
of awe-struck nature, of the mysterious splen-
dors which blazed in many places of the world,
of the painless childbirth, of the perpetual vir-
ginity, of the ox and the ass kneelinj;^ to wor-
ship Him in the manger, of the voice with
which immediately after His birth He told
His mother that He was the Son of God, and
of many another wonder which rooted itself in
the earliest traditions, there is no trace what-
ever in the New Testament. The inventions
of man differ wholly from the dealings of
God. In His designs there is no haste, no
h' :
III
ill > in
ill I
h
4
r
ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS. — Lukc ii. 1 6.
(378)
THE CHILD IN THE MANGER.
379
rest ; all things are done by Him in the majesty
of silence, and they are seen under a li^jht that
shineth quietly in the darkness, " showing all
things in the slow history of their ripening."
"The unfathomable depths of the Divine
counsels," it has been said, "were moved; the
fountains of the great deep were broken up ;
the healing of the nations was issuing forth :
but nothing was seen on the surface of human
society but this slight rippling of the water:
the course of human things went on as usual,
while each was taken up with litile projects of
his own."
How long the virgin mother and her Holy
Child stayed in this cave, or cattle-enclosure,
we cannot tell, but probably it was not long.
The word rendered " manger " in Luke ii. 7
is of very uncertain meaning, nor can we dis-
cover more about it than that it means a place
where animals were fed. It is probable that
the crowd in the khan would not be permanent,
and common humanity would have dictated
an early removal of the mother and her child
to some more appropriate resting-place. The
magi, as we see from Matthew, visited Mary in
" the house." But on all these minor incidents
the Gospels do not dwell. The fullest of them is
Luke, and the singular sweetness of his narra-
tive, its almost idyllic grace, its sweet calm tone
of noble reticence, seems clearly to indicate
that he derived it, though but in fragmentary
notices, from the lips of Mary herself. It is,
indeed, difficult to imagine from whom else it
could have come, for mothers are the natural
historians of infant years.
On the eighth day from the birth, the child
was circumcised ; and, according to the custom
of giving a name at the time of circumcision,
He then received the name of Jesus, which had
been given to Him by the angel who first an-
nounced His birth. Jesus is the Greek form
(the New Testament being written in Greek)
of the Hebrew name Joshua, which was not
uncommon among the Hebrews. It means a
Saviour; and was therefore the most proper
name in actual use which could have been
chosen for the Messiah.
The law required that every Hebrew woman
should be separated from the congregation for
forty days after the birth of a male, and lor
eighty days after the birth of a female child.
At the expiration of that time the mother was
to repair to the Temple, to make the offerings
for her purification. This offering was a lamb
for those who could afford it ; but those who
were not able to bring a lamb might offer a
pair of turtle doves or of young pigeons. The
mother of Jesus gave the humbler offering,
and as she probably would not have done tiiis
if a lamb could have been afforded, we have
thus an incidental but touching evidence of
the humble circumstances under which He —
who was greater than all potentates — was born
and reared.
The Jewish traditions allege that mothers
appeared at the Temple on this occasion m
white raiment. At the same time the child
was to be presented before the Lord, and if it
were a first-born son he was to be redeemed
from the obligations of sacerdotal services by
the payment of five shekels of silver. The
presentation of Jesus was distinguished by a
very remarkable circumstance.
Impressive Scene in the Teniiile.
There was an aged man at Jerusalem of the
name of Simeon, whom some identify with a
venerable Rabbi of that name who is described
by the Talmudical writers as the father of that
Gamaliel under which St. Paul completed his
Jewish education at Jerusalem. Whether so
or not, this aged Simeon was one of those
who lived in earnest expectation of the mani-
festation of the long-promised Messiah, and it
had been revealed to him that his aged eyes
should behold the Lord's Christ before tliey
closed in death. He entered the Temple at
the moment of the presentation, and recogniz-
ing in the Holy Child the fulfilment of his
hopes, he took Him in his arms, and we may
conceive that tears of joy bedewed his vener-
able face as he blessed God that the long-
hoped-for day had dawned at last. A very
aged and devout woman, called Anna, who
was a constant frequenter of the Temple, was
also present, and shared in the recognition
i: I
.'-A
i I
380
TIIK STAR IN THE KAST.
ami tlic joy, awakened by the woiuicrful event, j eigners liad readied the ears of Herod, and
Some time after the holy family returned to ^ excited in him much jealousy and alarm, lie
Hethlehem, a strong sensation was produced was led at once to conclude that the expected
at Jerusalem by the arrival of certain eastern | Messiah was at length come ; and as he par-
THE OFFERING OF PUklKICATION. — Luke il*. 22.
sages inquiring publicly for Him who was
born King of the Jews, and declaring that,
while in the far East, they had seen His star
and had come to offer Him their homage.
The inquiries of these distinguished for-
took of the general delusion respecting the
nature of that kingdom which Christ would
establish, he saw nothing in this but ruin and
overthrow to the dynasty which he had taken
so much trouble to establish. Nevertheless,
i !i
THK CHILD IN TIIK MANlillR.
381
althotiprh thus beholding; in this event tlic ac-
cuinplishment of ancient prophecies, unci of
the desire on whicli the heart of the nation
was fixed, he arrived at the liorrid resohitiun
of destroying in time so dangerous a claimant
of sovereignty.
To tliis end he assembled the ecclesiastical
authorities, and inquired of tliem the place
whicii propliccy indicated as the birthplace
of Christ. Citing Micah v. 2 as their authority,
tliey with one voice declared that Hethlehem
was the appointed place ; and accordingly the
crafly and unscrupulous tyrant directed the
magi to seek Him of whom they inquired in
that city ; and he desired that, when they had
found Him, they would return and impart the
result to him, that he also might go and ten-
der his homage.
The magi then repaired to Bethlehem, and,
being guided by the star, which reappeared
before them, they soon discovered the infant
Jesus. The unexpectedly humble circum-
stances by which they found Him surrounded
made no change in their purpose : " they fell
down and worshipped Him," and then, accord-
ing to the custom of the East for all persons
admitted to an audience to offer gifts of more
or less value, the strangers " opened their
treasures, and presented to him gold, frankin-
cense' and myrrh," and these gifts are sup-
posed by many to have been typical of their
allegiance and their hopes.
Herod Decrees Murder.
They then returned home, without passing
through Jerusalem as Herod had required,
according to a warning which they had re-
ceived in a dream. Another warning, simi-
larly conveyed to Joseph, occasioned the holy
family to withdraw into Egypt, which was
then, anil had long been, the general refuge
for all who were oppressed, or discontented, or
apprehended danger in Israel.
When king Herod saw that the eastern
magi hail gone home without again visiting
Jerusalem his vexation was great, for he
thereby lost all means of distinguishing from
among all the infants of Bethlehem the one
whom lie had ilostincil to doHtniction. He
was not a num who ever paused at any steps
necessary to the accomplishment of the de-
signs which he had once taken into his mind.
From this cause his reign was full of honors;
and much as we may be shocked, those w iio
know his charticter feel no surprise to find
that he at once determined to sweep away all
the infants of Bethlehem under two years old,
that the one he had doomed might not escape.
This purpose was accomplished. The evan-
gelists give no particulars of the dreadful
scene, and the mind willingly declines the
contemplation of details so full of horror.
Soon after this Herod the Great expired,
thirty years after he had been declared king
of the Jews by the Roman senate, and thirty-
four years from his actual possession of the
throne. I le was honored with a more magnifi-
cent funeral than any king of Israel before
him ; but few, if any, were the real tears shed
at his death.
Meanwhile the holy family remained ii>
Egypt. The gifts of the eastern sages, no
doubt, enabled them to travel thither, and to
live there in comfort. But we have no authen-
tic accounts of the travel or i:he sojourn. An
old tradition of the Greek Church alleges that
the family tarried at Hermopolis ; and at a
place called Matarieh, between Cairo and
Heliopolis, corresponding to the situation of
the ancient city of that name, there is a foun-
tain at which it is pretended that the virgin
was wont to lave the infant Jesus, and which
is on that account held in much veneration
throughout the country.
When Herod was dead the angel of the
Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph, and en-
joined him to return to the land of Israel.
He accordingly took the young child and its
mother, and returned into Judea. It .seems
to have been his first intention to remain there,
probably at Bethlehem ; but finding that
Archelaus reigned, and fearing that he might
have inherited the temper of his father, it was
deemed more prudent to proceed to Nazareth,
which, being in Galilee, was under the differ-
ent government of Herod Antipas.
I
i:
382
THE GALILEAN PEASANT.
The abode from infancy in Nazareth, coupled
with the fact that Mary and Joseph belonged
to that place, occasioned Jesus to be regarded
and called " a Nazarene," although, in fact, a
native of Bethlehem. This was afterwards
often alleged as an objection to his being rec-
ognized as the Messiah ; for it was well known
(esnectally since the formal decision which the
Not more than one incident of our Lord's
childhood is .recorded in the Scriptures, and
that occurred when He was twelve years of
age. There iiave, indeed, been many .spurious
anecdotes of this period, some of which, picked
up in the days of ignorance, still linger in the
memories of uneducated people. These orig-
inated in certain traditions and Apocryphal
THE WISE MEN PRESENTING GIFTS. — Matt. ii. II.
priests and scribes had communicated to
Herod) that Bethlehem was the place from
which the Messiah was to come. Hen'-e the
strongly expressed objection of some ^^eople,
when at a future time his claim was under dis-
cussion — "Shall Christ come out of Galilee?
Hath not the Scripture said that Ciiristcometh
of the seed of David, and out of the town of
Bethlehem, where David was ? "
gospels, some of which .still exist among the
curiosities of literature, but which no one re-
gards as entitled to the slightest credit in
any ct' the statements which they offer. The
canonical Go.spels are the only sources of our
real information concerning Jesus, and to them
we must adhere. The great facts of this his-
tory need no support from contemporary le-
gends and incredible traditions.
THE CHILD IN THE MANGER.
38;i
)f our Lord's
riptures, and
ilve years of
lany spurious
which , picked
hnger in the
These orig-
Apocryphal
St among the
:h no one re-
test credit in
:y offer. The
iources of our
s, and to them
Ls of this his-
itemporary le-
The law of Moses required that all the males '
of fit age in Israel should three times in the ^
year appear before God, at tlie place of his |
altar and sanctuary. These times were, at the
feast of the Passover, of the Pentecost, ami of
Tabernacles, of which the first was b\' far tin.-
most important as a matter of • bligation, and
the most generally observed. Children were
not usually taken to Jerusalem till twelve years
of age, at which time they were deemed to
come under the obligation of this law, and
then commence their periodical attendance at
Jerusalem.
Women were not required to take these
journeys, nor did they usually do so; but they
seldom failed to accompany their sons when
they went for the first time to discharge a duty
to which much importance was attached by
the Mosaical institutions, and which marivcd
the point of transition from childhood to
adolescence. The son then assumed one of the
responsible obligations of manhood. It was
therefore one of those marked points in the
life of a son in which mothers wish to take
part, and which they love to celebrate. We
have in this the reason why Jesus was accom-
panied not only by Joseph, but by Mary, when,
at the age of twelve years, he went up to the
Passover-feast at Jerusalem.
Journey to Jerusalem.
This, the first visit to Jerusalem, was an
occasion to which every male child in Israel
looked forward with eager expectation and de-
sire. Conceive the glad assemblage of neigh-
bors in the early morning, outside the town or
village, and the animated interchange of salu-
tations and farewells till the appointed voice
cried, " It is time to depart." Then they
marched on leisurely, with minstrelsy and
psalms, and as they went were joined at the
meeting of the roads, and in the villages, by
new parties bent on the same object — their
happy faces suiting well their holiday attire.
They needed no provision for this journey ;
for wherever they passed they were received
with shouts of joy and blessing ; and before
every door tables laden with bread, honey and
dates were set forth for their refreshment.
Conceive the pride of the lads who were for
the first time privileged to join this cheerful
pilgrimage; conceive the sorrow of those who
were not yet of the due age, when those who
were going thus up to " the city of the Great
King," and to walk in the courts of His "holy
and beautiful house," passed on, leaving them
behind.
When they drew near the city, parties who
had already arrived, and many of the stated
inhabitants, would hasten forth to meet the
new-comers and conduct them to their respec-
tive quarters. At that season no inhabitant
of Jerusalem considered his house as his own.
The city war the city of the whole people, not
of the inhabitants alone : and when Israel came
up to appear before Jehovah, every citizen re-
garded his dwelling as belonging to his breth-
ren as much as to himself Every house was
thus filled with strangers, and the master was
usually the worst accommodated person in it.
But the utmost liberality of the inhabitant^
could not provide lodging for all the vast mul-
titudes which repaired on these occasions to
Jerusalem.
A large proportion of the pilgrims, there-
fore, remained in tents during the festival.
The whole environs of Jerusalem were then
turned into an encampment, and all the streets
and open places, and all the hills and valleys
around the city, were covered with tents. But
the feast was at the finest season of the year;
the days were balmy and the nights enjoyed
the full moon, so that those who remained
altogether without shelter experienced little
inconvenience.
Having celebrated the feast in Jerusalem,
the party from Nazareth returned ; and it was
not until the evening of the first day's journty
that Mary and Joseph became alarmed at the
absence of their son, whom they had supposed
to be with some kinsfolk or neighbors in another
part of their large company. But as in such
ca.ses the different members of the same family
join each other in the evening camp, and as
Jesus came not, and could not be found, they
returned the next day to Jerusalem to seek
i
:■: ' ! 1
iiiiii! i
M' 1 : 1 j
i i • V
'' ! j
i
if
iiii
III
i
ii'
384
THE JEWISH DOCTORS.
This return occupied the second self, which none but the priests might enter,
but in the area of the Temple — in one of the
courts or porticoes, where the doctors of the
Him there,
day.
On the third day they searched the city and
at length found Him in the Temple, " sitting J law used to sit and deliver their instructions.
CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. — Luke ii
in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them
and asking them questions. And all that heard
Him were astonished at His understanding
and His answers." We are not to suppose
that He was in the building of the Temple it-
Neither are we to suppose that He thus early,
and among these venerable persons, took the
part of a teacher, for the allusion to His " ques-
tions " and His " answers " is quite sufficiently
explained by our knowledge that the Jewish
THE CHILD IN THE MANGER.
385
■doctors pursued such a plan of instruction as
dealt much in interrogation on the part both
of the teacher and the taught. The fact that
He sat among them does not require that ex-
planation; for they might naturally wish to
show this indulgence towards so extraordinary
and highly-gifted a child.
In answer to the gentle remonstrance of His
mother, who said, "Thy father and I have
nought Thee sorrowing," Jesus answered,
" How is it that ye sought me ? Wist ye not
that I must be about my Father's business ? "
This was a hard saying, and was not under-
stood by those that heard it ; but Mary, ever
mindful of his mysterious birth, kept this
among the other hard sayings which she pon-
dered in her loving heart.
They then returned to their home in Naz-
areth, where Jesus rendered that willing obe-
dience which children owe to their parents.
This obedience He rendered not only to Mary,
but to Joseph as His reputed father, to whom
He owed His living, and who seems to have
instructed Him in his own trade of a carpenter.
Thus Jesus remained many years, " increasing
in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God
and man."
There is no spot in the world equal in in-
terest to Palestine. Sacred as the home of
the Nazarene and the scene of His teachings
and wonderful works, it is well fitted to in-
26
spire such a beautiful apostrophe as we find in
these rare lines of John Greenleaf Whittier :
Blest land of Judea ! thrice hallowed of song,
Where the holiest of memories pilgrim-like throng ;
In the shade of thy palms, by the shores of thy sea.
On the hills of thy beauty, my heart is wUh thee.
With the eye of a spirit I look on that shore,
Where pilgrim and prophet have lingered before ;
With the glide of a spirit I traverse the sod
Made bright by the steps of the angels of God.
Lo, Bethlehem's hillside before me is seen,
With the mountains around and the valleys between ;
There rested the shepherds of Judah, and there
The song of the angels rose sweet on the air.
Oh, here with His flock the sad wanderer came —
These hills He toiled over in grief are the same —
The founts where He drank by the wayside still flow,
And the same airs are blowing which breathed on His bro«
And what if my feet may not tread where He stood,
Nor my ears hear the dashing of Galilee's flood,
Nor my eyes see the cross which He bowed Him to bear.
Nor my knees press Gethsemane's garden of prayer !
Yet, Loved of the Father, Thy Spirit is near
To the meek and the lowly, and penitent here ;
And the voice of Thy love is the same even now
As at Bethany's tomb, or on Olivet's brow.
Oh, the outward hath gone ! — but, in glory and poweTi
The Spirit surviveth the things of an hour ;
Unchanged, undecaying, its Pentecost flame
On the heart's secret altar is burning the same I
n
i , . .'
I ,
CHAPTER XXXI.
I II
:'i 11
] i
1 1 :;
JESUS BEGINS HIS MINISTRY.
ifested in
the high
URSUING the concise
and simple narrative
of the Gospels, we
come now to the pub-
lic life and teachings
of Jesus. John, the
son of Zacharias and
Elizabeth, aftei wards
surnamed the Baptist,
to be both in his birth and
ministry the harbinger of Christ —
the preparer of H is way — and hence
the evangelical record returns to
him, as the time for the public ap-
pearance of Jesus as the Messiah
approached.
As John grew up he became
stropg in spirit, and every day man-
him the endowments needful for
mission to which he had, even
before his birth, been appointed. In his na-
tive iiiountains, for he was of "the hill
country of Judea," he gradually formed
habits of life in accordance with his Heaven-
imposed condition of a Nazarite, and suitable
to the austere character of his destined min-
istry. At length he assumed the camel's hair
>resture, and withdrew into the rocky wilder-
nesses near the Dead sea and the Jordan.
The precise date at which his ministry com-
menced is uncertain. The voice of God at
length came to him in the wilderness, and he
commenced his mission by proclaiming the
baptism of repentance for the remission of
sins. The appearance of the prophet of the
wilderness, whose garb and manner reminded
the people of Elias, in whose spirit and power
he came, produced a strong sensation through-
out the country. Multitudes of all classes and
sects followed him, or resorted to him.
He paused at Bethabara, one of the fords of
(386)
the Jordan, and there baptized in that venera-
ble stream such of his hearers as were duly im-
pressed by what they heaid from him. Many
flocked to his preaching at Bethabara, to whom
he gave exhortations suited to their condition
and their faith. Some of these have been pre-
served by the evangelist, and convey to us
a clear impression of the important matter and
the pointed and forcible style of his instruc-
tions. The burden of all his preaching was,
" Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand ! " and he constantly declared that his
was the foretold " voice in the wilderness "
appointed to cry, " prepare ye the way of the
Lord, make His paths straight."
Alarmed by the warnings and encouraged
by the hopes which he held forth, the Jcwt
were nunierpusly baptized by him in the Jor-
dan, confessing their sins. To the questions
of the diverse classes of peo|)Ie who addressed
him, the prophet replied by exhortations to
charity and truth. The publicans he warned
against extortion ; the soldiers in the pay cf
Herod Antipas, he warned against violence;
and the formalists, the scribes, and Pharisees,
he attacked with a severity which showed him
in this also a precursor of Christ. " O genera-
tion of vipers," he cried, " who hath warned
yon to flee from the wrath to come! Think
not to say unto yourselves, we have Abraham
for our father (that is, relying on that as an
all-sufficient merit) ; for verily I say unto you,
that God is able even out of these .stones to
raise up children unto Abraham." This was a
hard saying for them, especially from one who
himself belonged to the priesthood.
All these things, and this new style of dis-
course, drew the most earnest attention to-
wards the prophet. The ecclesiastical authori
ties at Jerusalem sent some of their own body
to obtain clear information respecting his
JESUS BEGINS HIS MINISTRY.
887
claims, and the character in which he appeared.
They asked him if he was not himself the
Christ so long expected ; but, faithful to his
trust, and humble in his highest glory, he
readily admitted that he was not. Receiving
similar answers to various other conjectures,
they at length impatiently asked, " Who art
thou? What sayest thou of thyself?" He
gave his usual answer to such questions — " I
am the voice of one crying in the wilderness."
They then asked on
what ground he bap-
tized, if he were not
the Christ. To which
he answered, "I, in-
deed, baptize with wa-
ter unto repentance ;
but One mightier than
I cometh, whose shoes
I am not worthy to
bear ; He shall baptize
you with the Holy
Ghost and with fire."
All this time that
John was preaching
the near approach of
the Messiah, he re-
mained in ignorance
of His person. In all
probability he was ac-
quainted with Jesus,
who was his near re-
lation, but he knew
not, he could scarcely
suspect, that He was
the Messiah : he, how-
ever, knew that in due
time the Christ of God
would be pointed out to him in a manner not
to be mistaken, and with this he was satisfied.
At length, among those who came to be
baptized at Bethabara was Jesus, who had
hitherto lived and labored with Joseph and
Mary at Nazareth. When He first came to
the banks of the Jordan, the great forerunner,
according to his own emphatic and twice re-
peated testimony, "knew Him not." And yet,
though Jesus was not yet revealed as the Mes-
siah to His great herald prophet, there was*
something in His look, something in the sin-
less beauty of His ways, something in the
solemn majesty of His aspect, which at once
overawed and captivated the soul of John. To
others he was the uncompromising prophet ;
kings he could confront with rebuke ; Phari-
sees he could unmask with indignation ; but
before this Presence all his lofty bearing falls.
As when some unknown dread checks the
ESUS OF NAZARETH.
flight of the eagle, and makes him settle with
hushed scream and drooping plumage on the
ground, so before " the royalty of inward hap-
piness," before the purity of sinless Ufe, the
wild prophet of the desert becomes like a sub-
missive and timid child. The battle-brunt
which legionaries could not daunt — the lofty
manhood before which hierarchs trembled and
princes grew pale — resigns itself, submits,
adores before a moral force which is weak in
888
BAPTISM OF JESUS.
i!
<very external attribute, and armed only in
an invisible mail. John bowed to the simple
stainless manhood before he had been inspired
to recognize the Divine commission. He ear-
nestly tried to forbid the purpose of Jesus. He
who had received the confessions of all others
now reverently and humbly makes his own.
" I have need to be baptixed of Thee, and
comest Thou to ma?"
Jesus received it as ratifying the mission of
His great forerunner — the last and greatest
child of the Old Dispensation, the earliest
herald of the New ; and He also received it
as the beautiful symbol of moral purification,
and the humble inauguration of a ministry
which came not to destroy the Law, but to
fulfil. His own words obviate all possibility
of misconception. He does not say," I must,"
but, "Thus it becometh us." He does not say,
"I have need to be baptized ;" nor does He
say, " Thou hast no need to be baptized of
me," but He says, •' Suffer it to be so now."
So, Jesus descended into the waters of Jor-
dan, and there the awful sign was given that
this was indeed " He that should come." From
the cloven heaven streamed the Spirit of God
in a dove-like radiance that seemed to hover
over His head in lambent llame, and the voice
which to the dull, unpurged ear was but an
inarticulate thunder, spake to the ears of John
— " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased."
The Temptation.
It was immediately after His baptism and
public recognition as the Messiah that Jesus
withdrew into the wilderness, where He re-
mained for forty days without food. It was
usual for those who entered upon the propheti-
cal office to prepare themselves for its impor-
tant duties by festing and prayer — by prayer
so earnest and long-continued that they some-
times neglected to take food, and this seems
to have been the case with Jesus. At the end
of the forty days, Satan was permitted to sub-
ject His virtue and high purposes to such a
trial of proof as might suitai>ly introduce Him
tp His public ministry. The particulars of this
temptation are recorded, with some slight vari-
ations, in the fourth chapter of Matthew and
the fourth of Luke.
Jesus was hungry, and Satan tempted Him
to obtain food by an unwarranted exercise of
the miraculous powers which belonged to
Him. Failing in this, he placed Him in dan-
ger on the highest point of the Temple, and
urged Him to cast Himself down, in the as-
surance that the angels would bear Him harm-
less up, if He were indeed the Son of God.
Foiled also in this, Satan transported Him to
the top of a high mountain, and promised
Him, in exchange for His homage, dominion
over the wide lands which he surveyed ; but
receiving a signal and final rebuff, he departed,
leaving Jesus still in the mountainous wilder-
ness beyond the Jordan.
Returning thence towards Galilee, Jesus had
to cross the Jordan at the ford of Bethabara,
where John was still baptizing, and made some
pause in the neighborhood. He was probably
present at the interview already mentioned be-
tween John and the commission from Jerusa-
lem. It was the very day after that interview
that John, seeing Jesus coming towards him,
publicly pointed Him out as the Messiah to
all who were then present in the emphatic
words, " Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh
away the sin of the world. This is He of
whom I said. After me cometh a man who is
preferred before me." The next day John again
pointed out Jesus as " the Lamb of God," when
he observed Him walking by.
Two of John's own disciples whc ne.3.d
this then went and followed Jesus. One of
these was John and the other Andrew, both of
them fishermen of the lake of Tiberias. Jesus,
observing that they were following His steps,
turned and asked : " What seek ye ? " Which
they answered by another question, indicative
of their desire to attach themselves to Him,
and to know Him better — " Master, where
dwellest thou ? " He courteously an.swered,
" Come and see." They accordingly attended
Him to the place where He lodged, and re-
mained with Him the rest of that day, which
was then near its closer
JESUS BEGINS HIS MINISTRY.
389
ne slight vari<
Matthew and
Andrew, after quitting Jesus for the day,
rested not till he had found his brother Simon,
to whom he had imparted the glad tidings —
•* We have found the Messias ! " and the next
day he took him to Jesus. On his approach,
and before he had been announced, Jesus
saluted him with, " Thou art Simon the son
with Philip of Bethsaida, and said to him,
" Follow me." Philip was of the same town
as Andrew and Peter, and having been prob*
ably apprised by them that Jesus was the
Messiah, he unhesitatingly obeyed the call.
This was the first case in which Christ em-
ployed this form of summon, which he used
THE TEMPTATION ON THE MOUNTAIN. — Malt. iv. 1
of Jonah : thou shalt be called Cephas ! " This
word means " a stone," and is accordingly
rendered in Greek by " Peter," which has the
same meaning. It was not unusual in those
times for chiefs, masters, and teachers to im-
pose new and significant names, after this
manner, upon those who became their servants
or disciples.
The next day Jesus proceeded into Galilee
on His return to Nazareth, ai\d on the way met
in making choice of those whom He intended
inseparably to follow Him as His disciples.
Andrew and Peter, although they had in a
certain sense attached themselves io Jesus, had
not yet been called in that peculiar manner
which required them to be in constant attend-
ance upon his person : it is, therefore, to Philip
that we may assign the honor of being the
first " called " disciple of Christ. In this, as
in the former case, the discovery of the Christ
^-.*^i^..'2fJ-c^:i
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390
PHILIP AND NATHANIEL.
so long expected, and so earnestly desired,
was a matter of too high interest and impor-
tance, a secre't too exciting, to be hidden by
those to whom it was imparted.
Accordingly, no sooner did Philip meet with
an old acquaintance called Nathaniel than he
cried out, " We have found him of whom Moses
in the Law, and the Prophets, did write, Jesus
of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Nazareth,
being a mean place, and the inhabitants of in-
different character, was de.spised even among
the Galileans, who were themselves condemned
by the people of Judea. Knowing this, and
being aware that the Christ was expected to
come from Bethlehem, Nathaniel caught at the
word Nazareth, and asked, " Can there any
good thing come out of Nazareth ? " Philip
gave the best possible answer, " Come and
see." They accordingly went to Jesus, who
no sooner saw Nathaniel approach than He said,
" Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no
guile ! " Surprised beyond measure at this
recognition, Nathaniel asked, *' Whence know-
cst thou me ? " Jesus answered, " Before that
Philip called thee when thou wast under the
fig-tree, I saw thee."
It was not unusual for educated men among
the Jews to study the law under fig-trees, and
sometimes, although more rarely, to pray there.
This may indicate the act which Jesus had in
view. This answer implied our Lord's cog-
nizance of the private conversation between
Philip and him.self, and also of acts performed
by him in the secrecy of his own house or
garden. Overcome by this, he at once burst
out into the free and full confession — " Rabbi,
Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of
Israel ! " This gave occasion for what may be
regarded as the first prophecy of our Saviour,
" Because 1 said unto thee, I s.iw thee under
the fig-tree, believest thou ? Thou shait see
greater things than these. Verily, verily, I say
unto you, hereafter ye shall see heaven open,
and the angels of God ascending and descend-
ing upon the Son of man." Many think from
this thtit Nathaniel had been studying under
the fig-tree Jacob's vision at Bethel, of the
ladder reaching into heaven, and the angels of
God ascending and descending thereon ; and
that Christ designed to strengthen his convic-
tion by disclosing His knowledge of this fact.
Jesus had scarcely arrived at Nazareth when
He was called with His disciples to a marriage
feast at Cana, to which His mother had, it
seems, already gone ; we find him there on
the third day after leaving Bethabara. That
Joseph was not also present has led to the
notion that he was already dead ; and this is
more than probable, as he is not once men-
tioned as living, nor does he on any occasion
appear throughout the period of Christ's min-
istry. Cana was a small place about five miles
to the north of Nazareth, and was called Cana
of Galilee, to distinguish it from another place
of the same name.
The First Miracle.
The persons then married are supposed by
some to have been relations to Mary. It is
shown to be probable that her sister, the wife of
Cleophas, had lived at Cana, and had a grown-
up family in which this marriage may have
taken place ; and the somewhat prominent part
taken by Mary in giving general orders to the
attendants has been cited in support of this
conjecture. Among the Jews a wedding-feast
lasted seven days : and it would seem that
Christ and His disciples arrived in some of the
latter days. The wine then began to run
short, probably from the arrival of more guests
than had been expected. The presence of
Jesus, for instance, could not have been pro-
vided for, as it could not be known that He
would return in time to be present, or that He
would return with several persons in His com-
pany.
At such feasts the guests were composed of
two sorts of persons — those who came by
special invitation and those who went of their
own accord, but were expected to make a
present to the bridegroom and his bride. A
lack of wine towards the end of a feast might
therefore very naturally arise under the most
careful provision ; and that this happened at
the marriage in Cana by no means implies, as
usually stated, that the persons then married
DRIVING THE MONEY-CHANGERS FROM THE TEMPLE. — John ii. 1 5.
(391)
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392
JESUS AT CANA.
were in humble and destitute circumstances.
The attention of Jesus was drawn to this
want of wine by His mother. The intent with
which she did this has been much disputed.
That she expected that He would remove it by
a miraculous supply is the general interpreta-
tion, and is the one which seems to agree best
with all the circumstances. Jesus, however,
answered, Woman, what have I to do with
thee? Mine hour has not yet come." The
form of this answer was, among the Jews,
anything but disrespectful : but the sense im-
plies a gentle reprehension of any dictation to
Him in that capacity in which He was above
all human control, adding that the time for
this manifestation of His miraculous powers
was not fully come. Gathering from this that
the want would eventually be supplied in the
way she expected, Mary instructed the attend-
ants to pay exact attention to whatever in-
structions they might receive from Him.
The Marriage Feast.
There were on the premises six of those
large stone jars or water-pots in which the Jews
in those parts kept their water for use, which
had been brought in smaller vessels from the
well or fountain. They were preferred because
they kept the water cool in summer, and it is
a remarkable fact that such jars of ancient
date are at this day found in the neighborhood
of Cana. These water-pots Jesus secretly in-
structed the servants to fill with water ; and
they fill them to the very brim.
It was usual among the Jews and other
ancient nations, at all their larger entertain-
ments, to appoint one person as master of the
feast, to preserve order and to keep up a good
and cheerful feeling. Among the Jews a priest
was usually chosen for this purpose, as the
influence of his character enabled him the
more easily to keep the festivities within the
bounds of sobriety and prudence, while his
acquaintance with the law afforded some secu-
rity against ceremonial transgression. There
was accordingly a master to this marriage-
feast at Cana.
Jesus now directed the servants to fill their
goblets from the jar.*; which had been filled
with water, and submit them to the governor
of the feast. They did so, and he, unknowing:
whence the beverage came, pleasantly animad-
verted upon the impropriety of which the
bridegroom had been guilty in holding back
the best wine till the end of the feast. It was
the custom of the Jews to give the best wint
at the beginning of a feast, and afterwards,,
when the taste became blunted, an inferior
sort. " But thou," said the master of the feast
to the bridegroom — " thou hast kept the good
wine until now."
This was the first miracle of Christ ; and it
appears to have had a specific significance, in
drawing attention at the outset to the differ-
ence between the severities o£ John the Bap-
tist's ministry and the milder features of His
own.
Not long afler this the approach of the Pass-^
over rendered it necessary that Christ should
go to Jerusalem, there to celebrate the feast,,
as the law required. The incidents of the
journey are not related, But on His arrival,
Jesus commenced His public ministry at Je-
rusalem by expelling the money-changers, and
the dealers, who at that season were wont to
establish themselves in a certain part of the
Temple's outer court. It was not a common
market ; but was temporarily held for the usfr
of those who resorted to the Temple in great
numbers at this feast.
Such animals were there sold as were re-
quired for sacrifices — oxen, sheep, lambs, and
also doves ; and there were tables, where the-
money-changers gave Jewish money for the-
current Roman coins, it being held unlawful
to pay a Temple tribute of half a shekel with
heathen money. This ofiended Jesus, wha
provided Himself with a scourge of small
cords, and by the severity of His countenance
and of His words, rather than by His action.
He compelled all these traffickers to withdraw
in confusion, as He exclaimed, "Take these
things hence: Make not my Father's house
a house of merchandise ! "
This action of Christ is carefully to be dis-
tinguished from the similar action which He
JESUS BEGINS HIS MINISTRY.
303
performed towards the end of His ministry,
and which is the only one related by the other
evangelists. The second purification of the
Temple took place during the last week of our
Lord's life, after the death of John the Baptist,
when it could not be said, as is said here, that
afterwards Christ dwelt and baptized in Judea.
Herod Antipas had at first married the daugh-
ter of Aretas, king of Arabia. On a journey
to Rome he visited his brother Herod, sur'
named Philip, whose wife was Herodias,daugh>
ter of another brother, Aristobulus, and con*
sequently niece both to her husband and to
Herod Antipas. With this lady the tetrarch
Soon after Jesus quitted Jerusalem witM His | formed an attachment, and induced her to en-
disciples ; but, instead of at once returning to
Galilee, He remained some time in "the land
of Judea" (as distinguished from Jerusalem,
the metropolis), and began to baptize through
His disciples.
Jealousy of John's Disciples.
As John the Baptist was at the same time
gage that on his return she would quit her own
husband and live with him, on his undertaking
to divorce the daughter of Aretas.
She accordingly divorced herself from Philip,
and was then married to Herod, whose own
wife had retired to her father as soon as she
heard of this atrocious engagement. This
affair, of course, made a strong impression in
baptizing at ^non, near Salim.a place near the the country. Few, however, ventured to say
Jordan, not far from that where Christ had
been baptized by him, some of his disciples
took offence at this. In general the disciples
of John had more than those of Jesus of the
things which belonged to the strict character
of Judaism ; they also fasted much. For this
reason the Pharisees were displeased that Jesus
was soon more followed and baptized more
disciples than John, and by their representa-
tions, probably, did much to foment in John's
disciples a discontent at the apparent rivalry
of Jesus, and a jealousy of His superior claims. I
Some of John's disciples came and reported
these matters to him, expecting, doubtless, that
he would feel aggrieved at such proceedings
of one who had received baptism fron?, h<s
hands. But the truly humble Baptist, who
felt satisfied with his own Divine calling as a
harbinger, and was ever mindful of his true
position, first directed their attention to the
fact, that if any one was called to occupy so
great a sphere of action, this certainly could
not be done without the will of God. He there-
fore would not obtrude himself, for this state
of things was by no means unexpected by him,
as he had announced from the beginning that
he had himself only come to prepare the way
of Christ.
It was not long after this that the Baptist
was put in prison by Herod Antipas, the
tetrarch of Galilee. The occasion was this :
all they thought of the matter. But the Bap-
tist, with the honesty and boldness which be-
longed to his character, publicly condemned
the conduct of the tetrarch, and plainly told
him that it was not lawful for him to live witl>
his brother's wife. For this Herod put him
into prison, not, it would appear, with any view
of further punishment, but to stop him from
speaking in this manner to the people, with
whom his voice had great influence, of a trans-
action which would not bear the light. He-
rodias, herself, indeed, wished to have him put
to death, but the fear of the people who re-
garded John as a prophet, hindered Herod
from yielding to her barbarous desire at this
time. It was not until John had been cast inta
prison that Jesus returned from Judea to Gali-
lee. In doing this He must needs go through
the intermediate region of Samaria.
Jacob's Well.
In the valley below the mountain on which
their Temple stood, lay the chief city of
the Samaritans. It was the ancient Shechem ;
but at this time bore among the Jews the name
of Sychar, which seems in its origin to have
been a bye-name, imposed upou the city in
disparagement. On the approach to the town
was a well, which being on the spot of ground
which was the private property of Jacob, and
which he bestowed on his son Joseph, bore the
i T~
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(394)
THE WOMAN AT THE WELL. — ^John iv. 7.
JESUS BEGINS HIS MINISTRY.
;j»r)
name of Jncob's well. The present well, which i
passes under this name, a id which is in all :
prob ihility the same, is situated at the foot of'
Mount (iorizim, near the entrance of the valley
toward i Jerusalem. It is above a mile from;
the |)re>cnt town, which accounts for its being !
now deserted ; but it was probably nearer when
the town was larger, and extended farther in
this direction. It bears marks of high an- |
tiquity, and is dug in the solid rock. i
Jesus on His way to Galilee reached this well
about noon, and being weary with the journey,
rested here while His disciples went forward
into the town to purchase victuals. By this it
would seem that He intended, after rest and
refreshment, to continue His journey without
stopping in, or, perhaps, going through the
Samaritan city. From the depth at which the
water lay, Jesus, although thirsty, was unable
to obtain drink from it; when, therefore, a
woman came from the town to draw water,
He said to her, " Give me to drink." It was
not usual for Jews to speak to women in public,
and they avoided occasions of speaking to the
Samaritan people, and of eating or drinking
with them, or of using, in eating or drinking,
the vessels which they employed. j
Therefore, both as a woman and a Samaritan,
this woman was astonished, and asked, " How
is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of
me, who am a woman of Samaria?" Jesus
answered, " If thou knewest the gift of God,
and ivho it is that saith unto thee, Give me to
drink, thou wouldst have asked of Him and
He would have given thee living water."
Living water means water from a perennial
spring; and from the fact concerning the well
which had just been pointed out, we are led
to conclude that Jesus here intended an em-
phatic allusion to the circumstance that the
well to which she had then come was not (as
usually has been supposed) of living water, or
at le.!3t not from an unfailing spring.
Thi woman understood Him literally, and
ansv/ered accordingly : and when Jesus en-
deavored to draw her attention to His deeper
meaning, she still persisted in the literal un-
derstanding, by saying, " Sir, give me this water,
that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw."
Perceiving that she did not yet comprehend
Him, lie changed the conversation, and, by
intimating His knowledge of private circum-
stances of her life, which was discreditable,
so wrought upon her, that she ac'<nowledj,a'd
Him to be a prophet: but she hastened to
change a topic so unpleasant to her, by revert-
ing to the standing controversy between the
Jews and Samaritans — the Temple al Gerizim,
and whether that or the one at Jerusalem
" were the place where men ought to worship."
Much astonished was the wor ,.m to find a
topic which never failed to rous a Jew quietly
set aside by the Divine Teacher with the re-
mark, " Woman, believe me, the hour cometh
when ye shall neither at this mountain, nor yet
at Jerusalem, worship the Father. God is a
Spirit, and they that worship Him must wor-
ship Him in spirit and in truth."
The Woman's AittouiMliment.
This was still a deep matter for the Samari-
tan woman, and she answered only by referring,
as was the custom of the time, to the expected
Messiah, for the solution of this and all other
difficult and obscure m.itters. " I know," she
said, " that Messias cometh ; when He is come.
He will tell us all things." Jesus answered,
" I that speak unto thee am He ! " Aston-
ished, silenced, convinced, by this announce-
ment, which cast a sudden and strong light
upon all that she had not previously under-
stood, the woman cared no more for her water-
pot, but hastened away to the town, to make
the glad tidings known to her friends and
neighbors, to whom she cried, " Come, see a
man who told me all things that ever I did.
Is not this the Christ ? "
The disciples returned from the town before
this conversation of Jesus with the woman of
Samaria was quite concluded. For the reasons
assigned, they were astonished to find Him
talking with a woman and a Samaritan ; but
they made no remark. They pressed Him to
partake of the food which they had brought ;
but He said, " I have meat to eat that ye know
not of; " and finding they understood Him
if"
396
JESUS IN THE SYNAGOGUE.
'I! ill!*'
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literally, He added, " M> m^^ is to do the
will of Him that sent me, and to finish His
work."
The intelligence of the woman brought a
large number of the Samaritans from the town
to the well. They pressed Him to make
some stay with them. This a mere Jew would
have refused ; but Jesus entered the town, and
remained there two days, during which many
of the Samaritans became believers in Him as
the Messiah promised to the Hebrew fathers.
Jesus then pursued His journey into Galilee,
where He began to preach His Gospel. His
proceedings at Jerusalem, and the undescribed
miracles which He had there wrought, drew
much attention to Him on His return to Gal-
ilee ; and the position of a public teacher,
which He now assumed, soon spread His
fame throughout that region, and He was for
the time well received.
A Son Restored to Health.
On again reaching Cana of Galilee, where
His first miracle had been performed, an offi-
cer in the court of Herod Antipas, whose son
was at the point of death, at Capernaum, came
to implore Him to proceed to that place and
restore His son to health. 'This application
shows that the unspecified miracles of Christ
at Jerusalem were of the same character as
those which He afterwards performed. Jesus
told him to return home and he would find his
son well. Believing this, he returned, and on
the way he was met by messengers who had
been sent to inform him that his son was re-
covered. Finding that the fever had left his
son at the very time that Jesus had said to
him, " Thy son liveth," he and his bciame be-
lievers in Christ.
Jesus then proceeded to His own town of
Nazareth, where He attended the synagogue
on the Sabbath-days. The synagogues were
buildings in every town, in which the Jews
assembled for public worship, and reading and
expounding the Scriptures on the Sabbath-
days. In the time of Christ there was no town
in Judea which had not one or more of these
synagogues. Its affairs were managed by ten
persons of property and influence, three of
whom enjoyed a kind of superiority, and were
called rulers of the synagogue. These formed
a kind of magistracy for the decision of dif-
ferences between the members of the congre-
gation, for the maintenance of discipline, and
for the proper ordering of the public worship.
Each synagogue had a minister, whose duty
it was to offer public prayer, and to exhort, if
no one else undertook the duty. The reading
of the Scriptures formed no part of his ordinary
duty : but every Sabbath he called out seven
of the congregation in succession to perform
that service. He of course called forth only
such as he knew or supposed capable of reading
correctly. If a priest were present, he was
first called, then a Levite, afterwards any per-
sons on whom the minister might fix. The
person called upon went to the desk or raised
platform in the middle of the synagogue, and
unrolled the volume till he came to the section
he was to read; he read standing, and when he
had finished, was at liberty to add any words
of exhortation which he desired.
Jewish Worship.
There was but one synagogue in the little
town of Nazareth, and probably it resembled
in all respects, except in its humbler aspect
and materials, the synagogues of which we see
the ruins at Tell Hum and Irbid. It was simply
a rectangular hall, with a pillared portico of
Grecian architecture, of which the further
extremity (where the " sanctuary" was placed)
usually pointed towards Jerusalem, which,
since the time of Solomon, had always been
the consecrated direction of a Jew's worship, as
Mecca is of a Mohammedan's. In wealthier
places it was built of white marble, and sculp-
tured on the outside in alto-relievo, with rude
ornaments of vine-leaves and grapes, or the
budding rod and the pot of manna. On en-
tering there were seats on the one side for the
men ; on the other, behind a lattice, were
seated the women, shrouded in their long veils.
At one end was the ark of painted wood,
which contained the sacred Scriptures ; and at
one side was the elevated seat for the reader
JESUS BEGINS HIS MINISTRY.
397
gue in the little
bly it resembled
humbler aspect
of which we see
d. It was simply
lared portico of
ich the further
iry " was placed)
rusalem, which,
lad always been
few's worship, as
s. In wealthier
irble, and sculp-
;lievo, with rude
1 grapes, or the
manna. On en-
one side for thf^
a lattice, were
I their long veils,
f painted wood,
:riptures ; and at
at for the reader
or preacher. Clergy, properly speaking, there ' minister of the synagogue. Inferior in rank
were none, but in the chief seats were the ten i to these were the clerk, whose duty it was to
HEALING OF THE nobleman's SON — John iv. 47.
or more " men of leisure," or leading elders ; keep the sacred books ; the sacristan or verger;
and pre-eminent among these the chief or and the shepherds, who in some respects acted
398
EXCITEMENT AT NAZARETH.
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as deacons. ■. These were the various officials.
The service of the synagogue was not unlike
our own. After the prayers two lessons were
always read, one from the Law, and one from
the Prophets ; and as there were no ordained
ministers to conduct the services — for the office
3f priests and Levites at Jerusalem was wholly
different — these lessons might not only be
read by any competent person who received
permission from the chief, but he was even at
liberty to add his own comment.
The reading of the lesson from Moses was
apparently over when Jesus ascended the steps
of the elevated seat. Recognizing His claim
to perform the honorable function of reader,
the clerk drew aside the silk curtain of the
painted ark which contained the sacred manu-
scripts, and handed Him the roll of the prophet
Isaiah, which contained the lesson of the day-
Jesus unrolled the volume, and found the well-
known passage in Isaiah Ixi. The whole con-
gregation stood up to listen to Him. The
length of the lesson might be from three to
twenty-one verses, but Jesus only read the
firsi and pirt of the second; .stopping short,
in a spirit of tenderness, before the stern
expression, "The day of vengeance of our
God," so that the gracious words, " The accept-
able year of the Lord," might rest last upon
their ears and form the text of His discourse.
He then handed back the roll to the clerk,
and, as was customary among the Jews, sat
down to deliver His sermon.
A Remarkable Prophecy.
The passage which He had read, whether
part of the ordinary lesson for the day or
chasen by Himself, was a very remarkable one,
and it must have derived additional grandeur
and solemnity from the lips of Him in whom
it was fulfilled. It referred to works of mercy,
the healing of the broken-hearted, and the
deliverance of captives. Every eye in the
synagogue was fixed upon Him with a gaze of
intense earnestness, and we may imagine the
thrill of awful expectation and excitement
which passed through the hearts of the
listeners, as, in a discourse of which the sub-
ject only is preserved for us by the evangelist.
He developed the theme that He was Himself
the Messiah, of whom the great prophet had
sung 700 years before. His words were full
of a grace, an authority, a power which was at
first irresistible and which commanded the in-
voluntary astonishment of all.
But as He proceded He became conscious
of a change. The spell of His wisdom and
sweetness was broken, as these rude and violent
Nazarenes began to realize the full meaning
of His Divine claims. It was customary with
the Jews in the worship of their synagogue to
give full vent to their feelings, and it was not
long before Jesus became sensible of indignant
and rebellious murmurs. He saw that those
eager, glittering eyes, which had been fixed
upon Him in the first excitement of attention,
were beginning to glow with the malignant
light of jealousy ami hatred. " Is not this f/ie
carpenter ? is he not the brother of workmen
like himself — James and Josts and Simon
and Judas — and of sisters who live among us ?
do not even his own family disbelieve in him?"
Such were the whispers which began to be
buzzed about among the audience. This was
no young and learned Rabbi from the schools
of Gamaliel or Shammai, and yet he spoke
with an authority which not even the greatest
.scribes assumed ! Even a Hillel, when his
doctrines failed to persuade, could only se-
cure conviction by appealing to the previous
authority of great teachers. But this teacher
appealed to no one — this teacher who had but
been their village carpenter ! What business
had he to teach? Whence could he know
letters, having never learned ?
When He began by saying, " This day is
this Scripture fulfilled in your ears," they were
charmed with His words, expecting to see the
same beneficial acts performed among them-
selves, which were vonderful things for
"Joseph's son " to do. This was not His in-
tention; and He proceeded to explain why
this could not be. They looked upon Him as
the son of Joseph the carpenter, the relative
of persons well known to them, and were lit-
tle disposed to recognize in such a one, whom
JESUS BEGINS HIS MINISTRY.
399
the evangelist,
e was Himself
t prophet had
ords were full
r which was at
nanded the in-
they had seen djily in their streets, the illus-
lustrious personage of whom the prophets had
no miracles among them, but would confer His
benefits on others, of whatsoever country, who
DELIVERANCE FOR THE CAPTIVE. — Luke iv. l8.
spoken. Therefore, because they despised Him,
because they would not see Him in the char-
acter which He claimed — because in this, as
in every other instance, " a prophet hath no
honor in his own country," He would work
were desirous of His doctrine, and willing to
receive His instructions.
Jesus did not leave unobserved the change
which was passing over the feelings ot His
audience. He at once told them that He was
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400
HOSTILITY EXCIiED.
the Jesus whom they described, and yet with
no abatement of His Messianic grandeur.
Their hardness and unbelief had already de-
pressed His spirit before He had even entered
the synagogue. The implied slur on the hu-
mility of His previous life He passes by; it
was too essentially provincial and innately vul-
gar to need correction, since any Nazarene of
sufficient honesty might have reminded him-
self of the yet humbler origin of the great
herdsman Amos.
Nor would He notice the base hatred which
weak and bad men always contract for those
who shame them by the silent superiority of
noble lives. But He was aware of another
feeling in their minds; a demand upon Him
for some stupendous vindication of His claims;
a jealousy that He should .have performed
miracles at Cana, and given an impression of
His power at Capernaum, to say nothing of
what He had done and taught at Jerusalem —
and yet that He should have vouchsafed no
special mark of His favor among them. He
knew that the taunting and sceptical proverb,
" Physician, heal thyself," was in their hearts,
and all but on their lips.
But to show them most clearly that He was
something more than they — that He was no
mere Nazarene like any other who might have
lived among them for thirty years, and that
He belonged not to them, but to the world —
He reminds them that miracles are not to be
limited by geographical lines— that Elijah had
only saved the Phoenician woman of Sarepta,
and Elisha only healed the hostile leper of
Syria,
What then? were they in His estimation
(and He but " the carpenter ! ") no better than
Gentiles and lepers ? This was the climax of
all that was intolerable to them, as coming
from a fellow-townsman whom they wished to
rank among themselves ; and at these words
their long-suppressed fury burst into a flame.
The speaker was no longer interrupted by a
murmur of disapprobation, but by a roar of
wrath. With one of those bursts of sanguin-
ary excitement which characterized that
strange, violent, impassioned people — a people
whose minds are swept by storms as suddett
as those which in one moment lash into fury
the mirror surface of their lake — they rose in
a body, tore Him out of the city, and then
dragged Him to the brow of the hill above.
The little town of Nazareth nestles in the
southern hollows of that hill ; many a mass
of precipitous rock lies imbedded on its ilopes,
and it is probable that the hill-side may have
been far more steep and precipitous two thou-
sand years ago. To one of these rocky escarp*
ments they dragged Him, in order to fling
Him headlong down.
Jesus Escapes firom His Foes.
But His hour was not yet come, and they
were saved from the consummation of a crime
which would have branded them with ever-
lasting infamy. " He passed through the midst
of them, and went on His way." There is no
need to suppose an actual miracle ; still less
to imagine a secret and sudden escape into the
narrow and tortuous lanes of the town. Per-
haps His silence, perhaps the calm nobleness
of His bearing, perhaps the dauntless inno-
cence of His gaze overawed them. Apart
from anything supernatural, there seems to
have been in the presence of Jesus a spell of
mystery and of majesty, which even His most
ruthless and hardened enemies acknowledged,
and before which they involuntarily bowed.
It was to this that He owed His escape when
the maddened Jews in the Temple took up
stones to stone Him; it was this that made
the bold and bigoted officers of the Sanhedrim
unable to arrest Him as He taught in public
during the feast of Tabernacles at Jerusalem ;
it was this that made the armed band of His
enemies, at His mere look, fall before Him to
the ground in the garden of Gethsemane.
Suddenly, quietly He asserted His freedom,
waved aside His captors, and overawing them
by His simple glance, passed through their
midst unharmed. Similar events have occurred
in history, and continue still to occur. There
is something in defenceless and yet dauntless
dignity that calms even the fury of a mob.
And so He left them ; did any feelings of
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come, and they
lation of a crime
them with ever-
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' There is no
iracle ; still less
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the town. Per-
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dauntless inno-
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there seems to
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;h even His most
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ntarily bowed.
His escape when
Temple took up
3 this that made
of the Sanhedrim
taught in public
les at Jerusalem ;
ned band of His
ill before Him to
of Gethsemane.
ed His freedom,
I overawing them
:d through their
nts have occurred
to occur. There
nd yet dauntless
ury of a mob.
d any feelings of
(401)
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402
THE CITY OF CAPERNAUM.
\m
merely human regret weigh down his soul
while He was wending His weary steps down
the steep hill-slope towards Cana of Galilee ?
Did any tear start in his eyes unbidden as
He stood, perhaps for the last time, to gaze
from thence on the rich plain of Esdraelon,
and the purple heights of Carmel, and the
white sands that fringe the blue waters of the
Mediterranean ? Were there any from whom
He grieved to be severed, in the green secluded
valley, where His manhood had labored, and
His childhood played ? Did He cast one long-
ing, lingering glance at the humble home in
which for so many years He had toiled as the
village carpenter ? Did no companion of His
innocent boyhood, no friend of His sinless
youth, accompany Him with awe. and pity,
and regret? Such questions are not, surely,
unnatural ; not, surely, irreverent ; but they
are not answered. Of all merely human emo-
tions of His heart, except so far as they di-
rectly affect His mission upon earth, the Gos-
pels are silent. We know only that thence-
forth other friends awaited Him away from
boorish Nazareth, among the gentle and noble-
hearted fishermen of Bethsaida; and that
thenceforth His home, so far as He had a home,
was in the little city of Capernaum, beside the
sunlit waters of the Galilean lake. There
He found more congenial surroundings.
On several occasions Jesus withdrew from
His enemies, quietly departed from their
jibes and insults to more welcome treatment,
and in calm dignity pursued His lofty purpose
and addressed Himself to His merciful mis-
sion. Destined to suffering. He was resolved
not to suffer before His time; doomed to
martyrdom. He was not ready to meet His
fate until He had preceded it with the eloquent,
convincing testimony of His life.
CHAPTER XXXII.
• JESUS IN GALILEE.
NTIL His rejection by
the people of Nazareth,
Jesus considered this
town as His home. He
now proceeded to Ca-
pernaum, where He
henceforth usually re-
sided when in Galilee.
Often as this place is
mentioned in the New Testament
there yet occurs no specification of
its local situation, except the some-
what indefinite intimation that it lay
upon the sea-coast, that is, the Sea
of Tiberias, upon the borders of Za-
bulon and Nephthalim. It must,
therefore, have lain on the western
shore of the lake, and some incidental notices
in the Gospels enable us to determine that it
lay on that part of the western shore known as
the region of Gennesareth, which was a fer-
tile plain down upon the shore, below the
mountains which on that side form the basin
of the lake.
This small plain occurs in about the mid-
distance between the town of Tiberias and the
northern extremity of the lake, and is con-
tained within a triangular expansion of the
shore from the backward bending of the moun-
tains. Capernaum was evidently a place of
some importance in the time of Christ; but all
trace of it has long since disappeared, and the
very site which it occupied has become uncer-
tain. In this we may find a striking fulfilment
of Christ's denunciation ; " And thou, Caper-
naum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt
be brought down to hell : for if the mighty
works which have been done in thee had been
done in Sodom, it would have remained unto
this day." <
Here Jesus commonly resided when in this
part of the country. Home, in the strict sense.
He had none ; but the house of which He
made ordinary use appears to have been that
which belonged to His chief apostle. It is
true that Simon and Andrew are said to have
belonged to Bethsaida, but they may easily
have engaged the use of a house at Capernaum,
belonging to Peter's mother-in-law ; or, since
Bethsaida|is little more than a suburb or part
of Capernaum, they may have actually moved
for the convenience of their Master from the
one place to the other.
The first three evangelists have given lis a
detailed account of Christ's first Sabbath at
Capernaum, and it has for us an intrinsic in-
terest, because it gives us one remarkable
specimen of the manner in which He spent the
days of His active ministry. It is the best
commentary on that finest of all encomiums
that " He went about doing good." It is the
point which the rarest and noblest of His fol-
lowers have found it most difficult to imitate ; it
is the point in which His life transcended most
absolutely the attainment of His very greatest
forerunners. Nothing is more glorious on the
one hand, or more difficult on the other, than
the unwearied toil of a self-renouncing love.
The day began in the synagogue. If Caper-
naum was indeed the town now called Tell
Hum. then the white marble ruins which still
stand on the little eminence above the lake, and
still encumber the now waste and desolate site
of the town with their fragments of elaborate
sculpture, may possibly be the ruins of this
very building.
The synagogue, which is not very large,
must have been densely crowded ; and to teach
an earnest and expectant crowd — to teach as
He taught — not in dull, dead, conventional
phrase, but with "thoughts that breathed and
words that burned " — to teach as they do who
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JESUS IN viALILEE.
405
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arc swayed by the emotion of the hour, while
heart spL-aks to heart — must have required no
slight energy of life, must have involved no
little exhaustion of the physical powers. But
this was not all. While he was speaking,
while the audience of simple-hearted yet faithful,
intelligent, warlike people were listening to
Him in mute astonishment, hanging on His
lips with deep and reverential admiration —
suddenfy the deep silence was broken by the
Vtrild cries and obscene ravings of one of those
unhappy wretches who were universally be-
lieved to be under the influence of impure
spirits, and who— in the absence of any retreat
for such sufferers — had, perhaps, slipped in
unobserved among the throng.
Even the poor demoniac, in the depths of
his perturbed and degraded nature, had felt
the haunting spell of that pure presence, of
that holy voice, of that Divine and illuminating
message. But, distorted as his whole moral
being was, he raved against it, as though by
the voices of the evil demons who possessed
him, and while he saluted "Jesus the Na-
zarene " as the Holy One of God, yet, with
agonies of terror and hatred, demanded to be
let alone, and not to be destroyed.
Casting Out an Evil Spirit.
Then followed a scene of thrilling excite-
ment. Turning to the furious and raving
suflTerer, and addressing the devil which seenied
to be forcing from him these terrified ejacula-
tions, Jesus said, " Hold thy peace, and come
out of him." The calm, the sweetness, the
power of the Divine utterance were irresistible.
The demoniac fell to the ground in a fearful
paroxysm, screaming and convulsed. But it
was soon over. The man ro.se cured ; his
whole look and bearing showed that he was
dispossessed of the overmastering influence,
and was now in his right mind. A miracle so
gracious and so commanding had never before
been so strikingly manifested, and the wor-
shippers separated with emotions of indescrib-
able wonder.
Rising from the seat in the synagogue, Christ
retired into the house of Simon. Here again
He was met by the strong appeal of sickness
and suffering. Simon, whom He had already
bound to Himself on the banks of the Jordan,
by the first vague call to his future apostolate,
was a married man, and his wife's mother lay
stricken down by a violent fever. One request
from the afflicted family was sufficient : tliere
was no need, as in the case of the more worldly
nobleman, for importunate entreaty. He stood
over her; He took her by the hand; He
raised her up; He rebuked the fever; His
voice, stirring her whole being, dominated
over the sources of disease, and, restored in-
stantaneously to health, she rose and busied
herself about the household duties.
An Impressive Spectacle.
Possibly the strictness of observance which
marked the Jewish Sabbath secured for Jesus
a brief interval for refreshment ; but no sooner
did the sun begin to set than the eager mul-
titude, barely waiting for the full close of the
Sabbath hours, began to seek His aid. The
whole city came densely thronging round the
doors of the humble home, bringing with them
their demoniacs and their diseased.
What a strange scene ! There lay the lim-
pid lake, reflecting, in pale rose-color the last
flush of sunset that gilded the western hills;
and here, amid the peace of nature, was ex-
posed, in hideous variety, the sickness and
misery of man, while the stillness of the Sab-
bath twilight was broken by the shrieks of
demoniacs who testified to the presence of the
Son of God:
" A lazar house it seemed, wherein were laid
Numbers of all diseased; all maladies
Of ghastly spasm, and racking tortures, qua ms
Of heart-sick agony, a' ''everous kinds,
Demoniac phrenzy, moving melancholy
And moonstruck madness;"
and amidst them all, not
" Despair
Tended the sick, busiest from couch to couch,
And over them triumphant Death his dart
Shook," • . . . .
but far into the deepening dusk, the only per-
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406
TENDER COMPASSION.
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son there who was unexcited and unalarmed —
hushing by His voice the delirium of madness
and the screams of epilepsy, touching disease
into health again by laying on each unhappy
and tortured sufferer His pure and gentle
h'^nds — moved, in His 'love and tenderness,
the young Prophet of Nazareth.
Unalarmed, indeed, and unexcited, but not
free from sorrow and suflering. For sympathy
is nothing else than a fellow-feeling with
others; a sensible participation in their joy or
farthest parts of Syria, and we might well have
imagined that the wearied Saviour would have
needed a long repose. But to Him the dearest
and best repose was solitude and silence, where
He might be alone and undisturbed with His
heavenly Father. The little plain of Genne-
sareth was still covered with the deep darkness
which precedes the dawn, when, unobserved
by all, Jesus arose and went away to a desert
place, and there refreshed His spirit with quiet
prayer. Although the work which He was
JESUS TEACHING BY THE SEA-SIDE. — Luke V. 3.
woe. And Jesus was touched with a feeling
of their infirmities. Those cries pierced to
His inmost heart; the groans and sighs of all
that collective misery filled His whole soul
with pity; He bled for them; He suffered with
them ; their agonies were His ; so that the
evangelist Matthew recalls and echoes in
this place, with a slight difiference of language,
the words of Isaiah, "Surely He bore our
griefs and carried our sorrows."
The fame of that marvelous day rang
through all Galilee and Peraea, and even to the
sent to do obliged Him often to spend His
days amid thronging and excited multitudes,
He did not love the tumult, and avoided even
the admiration and gratitude of those who felt
in His presence a spring of life.
But He was not sufTered thus to emain,
even for a brief period, in rest and seclusion.
The multitude sought Him persistently; Si-
mon and his friends almost hunted for ilim in
their eager desire to see and to hear. They
even wishe ] tc detain him among them by
gentle force. But He quietly resisted their
JKSUS IN GALILEE.
407
importunity. It was not His object to become i
the centre of an admiring populace, or to \
spend His whole time in working miracles,'
which, though they were deeds of mercy, '
were mainly intended to open their hearts to
His diviner teaching. His blessings were not
to be confined to Capernaum. " Let us go,"
He said, " to the adjoining country towns to
preach the kingdom of God there, also ; for
therefore am I sent."
The UiisiicccmAiI Flsbermen.
It is doubtfi'', however, whether Jesus put
His intention ini ■> instant eflfect. It seems as i
if He so far yielded to the anxiety of the mul-
titude as to give them one more address before
He set forth to preach in that populous neigh-
borhood. He bent His steps towards the
shore, and probably to the spot where the lit-
tle boats of His earliest disciples were an-
chored, near the beach of hard white sand
which lines the water-side at Bethsaida. At
a little distance behind Him followed an ever-
gathering concourse of people from all the
neighborhood; and while He stopped to speak
to them, the two pairs of fisher-brethren, Si-
mon and Andrew, and James and John, pur-
sued the toils by which they earned their daily
bread.
While Jesus had retired to rest for a few
short hours of the night, Simon and his com-
panions, impelled by the necessities of a lot
which they seem to have borne with noble-
minded cheerfulness, had been engaged in
fishing ; and, having been wholly unsuccess-
ful, two of them, seated on the shore — proba-
bly in that clear, still atmosphere, within hear-
ing of His voice — were occupying their time
in washing, and two, seated in their boat with
their hired servants, and Zebedee, their father,
were mending their nets. As Jesus spoke the
multitude — some in their desire to catch every
syllable that fell from the lips of Him who
spake as never man spake, and some in their
longing to touch Him, and so be healed of
whatever plagues they had — thronged upon
Him closer and closer, impeding His move-
ments with dangerous and unseemly pressure.
He therefore beckoned to Simon to get into
his boat and push it ashore, so that He might
step on board of it, and teach the people from
thence. Seated in this pleasant pulpit, safe
from the inconvenient contact with the multi-
tude. He taught them from the little buat as it
rocked on the blue ripples, sparkling in the
morning sun. And when His sermon was
over He thought not of Himself and of His
own fatigue, but of His poor and disappointed
disciples. He knew that they had toiled in
vain; He had observed that even while He
spoke they had been preparing for some fu-
ture and more prosperous expedition; and
with a sympathy which never omitted an act
of kindness. He ordered Peter to push out his
boat into the deep, and all of them to cast out
their nets once more. Peter was in a despond-
ent mood ; but the mere word of One whom
he so deeply reverenced, and whose power he
had already witnessed, was sufficient. And
his faith was rewarded. Instantly a vast haul
of fishes crowded into the nets.
A Multitude of Fish.
A busy scene followed. The instinct of
work first prevailed. Simon and Andrew beck-
oned to Zebedee and his sons and servants to
come in their boat and help to save the mirac-
ulous draught and straining nets ; both boats
were filled to the gunwale with the load.
Peter's previous hesitation makes us the
better appreciate the amazement with which
he was filled by this event. A landsman
might not so readily have apprehended the
full force of all the bearings of this miracle ;
and Peter himself had been less astonished to
see Christ heal the sick — perhaps from a
notion, common among the Jews, that the
prayers of holy men accompanied by imposi-
tion of hands might have power to heal dis-
eases and to cast out evil spirits. But here
was a miracle more distinctly addressed to his
own perceptions, and which assured him that
Jesus of Nazareth held dominion even over
the sea and its inhabitants. He could not but
conceive that there was some peculiar presence
of God with a person who could perform a
■■rf\
JESUS IN GALILKE.
409
miracle like this, and the consciousness of sin frequent opi)ortunities of "teaching in the
made him fear to appear in the presence of synagogues."
such a One, lest some infirmity or offence' When Christ taught in the synagogue at
should expose him to more than ordinary pun- Capernaum, the people were astonished at His
ishment. doctrine, " for 1 le taught them as one that had
When, therefore, he perceived that the fish | authority, ami not as the scribes." By this
which had been taken at this draught filled] we understand, that He taught not as a com-
both the boats to that degree that they began mentator on the law of Moses, and on the
to sink, he fell down at the feet of Jesus, cry- traditions of the fathers, but as a prophet
ing, " Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, greater than Moses, come with a new law and
O Lord." But the Lord encouraged him and a new doctrine, and not bound by the literal
Andrew, whose sentiments he expressed, by , obligationr. of a covenant completed and fin-
saying, " Come ye after me, and I will make,ishcd by His own appearance on the earth,
you to become fishers of men." They under- \ Well might they who regarded the law and
stood this conventional formula of " Come the traditions as tne eternal counsel of God,^
after me," or " Follow me," as a summons to 1 be " astonished " at the new doctrine which
exclusive attendance upon Him henceforth, Jesus taught.
and, accordingly, they had no sooner landed' The renown of His preaching and miracles,
than they abandoned all their fishing concerns had by this time spread throughout Syria, and
and followed Him. John and James appear ] multitudes followed Him, or gathered around
to have hastened to the shore with their fish Him wherever He went. Many persons came
and nets in the other vessel, and had not
heard this call, though they shared in the
feelings which produced it. When, however,
Christ had landed with Peter and Andrew,
and proceeded a little way along the shore, he
beheld them busily engaged with their father
Zebedee in mending the broken nets. He
called to them, " Follow me," and they imme-
diately arose and followed Him, leaving their
father in the boat with the hired servants.
Jesus In the Synagrogue.
During his residence at Capen lum Jesus
followed his usual practice, and taught in the
synagogue on the Sabbath-day. It may be re-
marked that He was not now in His native place,
where He might be supposed to have had
more facilities in this respect, according to the
rules of the synagogues. But the fact is, that
the Jews in their synagogues were always de-
sirous of hearing any stranger who had taken
the character of a public teacher, or whoi
seemed to have any wish to address them, and '
hence when such persons happened to be
present, they were usually called upon by the
minister of the synagogue. Thus it was that
at Capernaum and other places, Jesus found
from the remotest parts of the land to hear
3;id see Him — even from Jerusalem and Judca»
and from the country beyond the Jordan.
Those who know what throngs of diseased
persons, at this day, in the East, gather around
any stranger who is supposed or rumored lo
possess medicines, or to be gifted with unusual
powers of healing, and with what urgent im-
portunities and cries they appeal to him for
relief, may form some notion of the crowds of
diseased persons who would and did gather to
One whose word, whose touch, whose look,
had power to drive away every kind of sick-
ness and disease. Then, and constantly dur-
ing the sojourning of Christ upon earth, were
accomplished the prophecies which one of the
English poets has so beautifully embodied :
The Saviour comes ! by ancient bard.s foretold :
Hear Him, ye deaf; and all ye blini! behold I
He from thick films shall clear the visual ray.
And on the sightless eye-ball pour the day.
'Tis He the obstructed paths of sound shall clear.
And bid new music charm the unfolding ear ;
The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego.
And leap exulting like the bounding roe.
Of all the miraculo'':, cures which were ef-
fected during this journey, only one ha;i been
I
! ; i
410
THE LEPROSY.
iiiii ! a
i
i ■ '
f
1
i
'■
i
^
u±
selected by the evangelist f^r particular notice:
this was the cure of a leper.
Leprosy was a skin disorder to which the
ancient nations appear to have been much
subject, and which was so common even in
Europe during the middle ages, that numerous
hospitals, or rather " iazar- houses," were es-
tablished for reception. The disease, in at
least one of its most usual forms, imparted an
unearthly pallor to the complexion, whence,
when Gehazi was punished with the leprosy
of which Naaman liad been cured, he is said
to have gone forth from his master's presence
■" a leper as white as huow."
A Loatlisdine Disease.
The disease was deemed incurable by med-
icine; it was certainly contagious, and was
even believed to be hereditary. Lepers were
hence compelled to live in a state of separa-
tion outside the towns by the laws of Moses,
and so rigidly was this law enforced, without
respect of persons, that the sister of Moses
and Aaron, when smitten with leprosy, was
put out of the camp, and king Uzziah, when
visited with a similar aflHiction, was compelled
to relinquish the government, and live secluded
in a separate house.
The dread of this disease and of the disa-
bilities connected with it was so great, that
still further precautions were judged necessary
to prevent contamination by accidental or un-
knowing contact with the leper. He was
compelled to wear his dress in such a manner
as sufBciently distinguished him even at a dis-
tance. His outer garment was rent open in
front, his head bare, and his lip was to be cov-
ered either with his hand or the skirt of his
garment. Nor was this all, for it was his
bounden duty by cries of " Unclean ! Un-
clean !" to give warning of his presence to
those who might happen to be near him.
These latter precautions were found so effec-
tual, that, although lepers resided outside the
towns, they were allowed to enter them in
day-time, and to appear in the streets and
public places.
As this state of the leper was one into
which no one would willingly enter, it may
easily be supposed that persons were not
brought into it without some kind of legal
process or examination. When a person was
suspected of being afflicted with leprosy, it
became the interest of all his friends and
neighbors to have the fact determined, as
they might all be subjected to unpleasant
consequences by continued intercourse with
him. He was, therefore, taken before the
priest, whose business it was to be qualified,
under certain rules laid down by the law, to
distinguish true leprosy from any disease
which might appear like it; and if it were
a real leprosy, the priest pronounced the man
unclean, and he went into separation. And
from this condition no one could be relieved
but by the same sanction.
The Outcast Restored.
If a leper believed himself healed, he was
to go before the priest, who examined him,
and pronounced whether he were really cured
or not. If it were so, the man then under-
went the ceremonies of purification, whi-:h
are minutely described in Leviticus. These
chiefly consisted in the slaughter of one of
two birds which had been brought for the
purpose, and the sprinkling of the person
with its blood after the body had been burned.
The other bird was set free, either to signify
that the leprosy had departed, or, as others
allege, to indicate the man's restoration to the
free intercourse of society in life. This restor-
ation did not, however, take place all at once.
The man remained apart both from lepers and
from clean persons for a week after the puri-
fication ; and he then again presented himself
before the priest, when, if no symptom of lei>-
rosy had reappeared, he presented a sacrifice,
and all restraint was withdrawn from him.
Under these circum.stances we can have no
difficulty in understanding how fervently a
leper would desire to be relieved from his
miserable condition, and considering the usu-
ally incurable nature of the disease we can
the better appreciate the strength of faith man-
ifested by the leper who fell down before Christ,
JESUS IN GALILEE.
411
and besought Him, saying, " Lord, if Thou
wilt, Thou canst make nie clean ! " The Saviour
of men was touched with compassion. He
put forth His hand and touched him, saying, I
" I will ; be thou clean ; " and immediately
the man's leprosy departed from him. Jesus
then charged him not to declare the manner
of his cure, but to go and show himself to
the priest in the usual course. This was in-
deed necessary to restore the man to his
civil privileges ; but in this case it had also
the effect of rendering the inspection of the
priest instrumental in authenticating the mira-
cle. The man, however, was unable to con-
trol the expression of his wonder and grati-
tude. He published the matter wherever he
went, and such was the effect that Christ was
unable to enter any town openly on account
of the crowds which beset his path.
Jesus returned to Capernaum, where dis-
eased persons continued to be brought to Him,
and large numbers of people from different
parts of the country attended His instructions.
He was once teaching in a house so crowded
with auditors, even to the door, that all means
of access were cut off Here a man entirely
laid up with palsy was brought to be cured by
Jesus ; and when his bearers found that they
could not in any other way bring him before
Christ, they took him to the top of the house,
and lowered him down through the tiling, in
his bed, to the feet of Jesus. This transaction
appears somewhat difficult, owing to the great
difference between the construction of eastern
houses and of our own.
A little explanation will make it clear. The
houses have flat roofs, protected by a rail or
parapet, and forming a fine terrace, to which
the people resort for air and exercise, and
where they sleep during the nights of summer.
There is usually a flight of steps near the
door, and another in the interior part of the
house communicating with the roof. If the
bearers of the palsied man could not get ac-
cess to the door, they doubtless carried him to
the roof of a neighboring house, and then
passed him over the separating parapet to the
roof of that house in which Christ was.
The buildings of an eastern house form one
or more sides of an interior court or quad-
rangle. The ground floor is usually occupied
by offices ; the first floor is fronted by a cov-
ered gallery, into which all the principal apart-
ments of the house open. If there be a sec-
ond story, there is a similar gallery to it. Now
the nature of the operation performed by the
person in charge of the paralytic depends en-
tirely upon the position which Christ at that
time occupied. He was not in the court
preaching to the people there, because in that
case it would not have been needful to remove
any tiling in order to let the sick man down to
Him. Neither was He in a room, as is usually
interpreted, for that would have necessitated
the removal or opening of the roof; and this,
from the materials of which the roofs are com-
posed, and from the manner of their construc-
tion, would not only have been a work of
much time and labor, but would have filled the
room below with dust and rubbish.
Difficulties Overcome.
It only, therefore, remains to conclude that
Christ was in the gallery. This was not only
the position likely to be taken by any person
desirous of being heard by the largest number
of persons, but the one which best agrees
with all the circumstances of the case. The
bearers of the paralytic man had, then, only
to remove the covering or pent-house of the
gallery, which is usually formed of materials
easily removed, and to let the sick man down.
The faith implied in the trouble taken and
the means employed in gaining access to His
presence, was that which first and most
strongly engaged the attention of Christ when
this poor creature was lowered down to His
feet. Therefore, he bestowed upon him a
greater boon than he came to seek, in the
words, " Man, thy sins are forgiven thee I "
This saying utterly confounded all the learned
and high-notioned persons — the scribes and
Pharisees — who happened to be present. They
knew that, although a man honored by the Al-
mighty might work marvels, as the prophets
of old had done, the forgiveness of sin was a
ill
,!!!'!,!
412
THE RECEIPT OF CUSTOM.
peculiar and special attribute of God, and hence
they thought among themselves," Who is this
that speaketh blasphemies ? Who can forgive
sins but God alone ? " Although they did not
speak this out, but only thought it, Christ per-
ceived their feeling in this matter, and, turning
to them asked, " What reason ye in your
heart ? Whether is it easier to say, * Thy sins
be forgiven thee,' or to say, ' Rise up and
walk ? ' " These were surprising questions.
The Paralytic Cured.
And then, using His power to say the latter
as an argument of His right to say the former,
He added : " But that ye may know that the
for their own profits than for the revenues of
the state, or lor the well-being of those by
whom the taxes were paid. These personages
of course employed large numbers of persons
to collect the taxes and customs, who were
mostly natives of the country in which the
taxes were collected.
These were also called publicans, and were
in general discredit — first, for their rapacious-
ness in the endeavor to make a purse for
themselves by extoitionate exactions upon
their own countrymen, and that too in the
payment of tributes odious in themselves ; and,
then, on account of their connection with and
dependence upon the conquering people. In
Son of man hath power on earth to forgive a conquered nation we always find those per-
sins " (and here He turned to the palsied man) sons odious who enter into the service of the
" I say unto thee. Arise, and take up thy couch, i conquering people, and much more when the
and go unto thine house ! " And immediately | service in which they engage is one which
the man felt his miserable limbs loosened
from their long bondage, he felt them gather
strength and substance, he felt them roused to
vital action ; and he sprung upon his feet, he
took up the couch on which he had the mo-
ment before lain helpless and impotent, and he
hastened therewith to his own house, glorifying
would be odious under any circumstances.
Now, if this were the case generally, we may
judge with what intensity these feelings would
operate among such a people as the Jews, who
abhorred the Roman yoke, who regarded as
almost impious the payment of tribute to the
heathen, and who deemed that intercourse
God. The astonished crowd also dispersed ; I with the heathen, which the office of the pub-
and men said to one another, " We have seen ' lican involved, as amounting to an absolute
strange things to-day ! " ! defilement.
If there were any people whom the Jews
detested more than even the Samaritans, more
than even the very heathen, it was the pub-
licans. This constantly appears in the Gospels,
where the proud Pharisees make it a frequent
matter of reproach to Christ that He associated
Matthew Called.
This disrepute of the office naturally oper-
ated in throwing into the hands of low and
unprincipled persons, whose conduct aggra^
vated and in some degree justified the odium
with " publicans and sinners." The publicans in which the employment was held. This was
were tax-gatherers — a body of men not much | so strong that the publicans formed, as it were.
I
liked in any country, but absolutely loathed in , a caste by themselves, with whom few would
Palestine. This requires some explanation.
The government taxes under the Romans
were usually sublet by persons of family and
consideration, and although they were called
publicans by the Romans, they are not to be
sit down to meat, and into whose houses few
would enter. No doubt there were some ex-
ceptions to the character thus given to them ;
no doubt there were among them respectable
and fair-dealing men ; but this was their
confounded with the publicans of the New Tes- 1 general character, and there were probably
tament. Even this office, however, had con- i fewer persons who thought well of the pub-
siderably declined from its ancient reputation, | licans than there were publicans who deserved
as the traffickers in the revenue began to let i to be well thought of.
it appear that they cared considerably more I One day when Jesus went forth from tht
JESUS IN GALlLIiE.
413
he revenues of
J ot those by
icse personages
)ers of persons
nis, who were
r in which the
; naturally oper-
inds of low and
conduct aggra-
itified the odium
held. This was
irmed, as it were,
^hom few would
hose houses few
town of Capernaum to the border of the lake, j foot of bridges, at the mouth of rivers, and by
attended by a crowd as usual. He observed a ■ the si^a-shore. They received tolls from those
publican named Matthew " sitting at the receipt who crossed the water, and delivered a ticket
i
HEALING THE PAI-SIED. — Mark ii. 4
forth from tht
of custom. ' Some think that he sat in the
maritime gate of the town, but it appears that
the publicans had booths or toll-houses at the
which exempted the person from any further
payment on the other side.
In the present c ise Matthew probably re-
111 »!
r
414
REMARKABLE WATERS.
i^iii't'iiii
l'i"rJi
11,11 ■ I
ceived the tolls of those who crossed the Lake
of Gennesareth at this poini, trafficking in fish
and other goods. Jesus called to this person,
"Follow me;" and immediately, " he left all,
rose up, and followed Him." This readiness
to follow Him who had not where to lay His
head is the more praiseworthy when we reflect
that Matthew was a man of some substance,
as indeed most of the publicans were, even the
fair gains of the occupation being very con-
siderable. That Matthew was such appears
from the great feast which he gave to Jesus
and His disciples that same evening, at which
so many publicans were present as gave occa-
sion for the first murmur against Jesus as one
who kept company with publicans and sinners.
The time of the Passover again came round,
and Jesus proceeded to Jerusalem with his dis-
ciples.
The Pool of Bethesda.
The gate by which sheep, especially those
destined for the service of the Temple, were
brought into the city, was called the Sheep-
gate. Not far from this gate was a bath or
pool, called the Pool of Bethesda. Under the
north wall of the Temple there is still a deep
reservoir which travellers identify with this
pool. This reservoir measures three hundred
and sixty feet in length, one hundred and
thirty in breadth, and seventy-five feet in depth
to the bottom, besides the rubbish which has
been accumulating in it for ages. It has ob-
viously been used as a reservoir, for the sides
have been cased internally with small stones,
and these again covered with plaster; but
there are some signs that this is a compara-
tively recent appropriation ; and Dr. Robin-
son is strongly persuaded that it anciently
formed part of the trench or ditch which on
this side bounded the Temple. This matter
requires and will doubtless receive further in-
vestigation, and meanwhile we must be con-
tent to remain in some doubt whether any
traces of the Pool of Bethesda now exist.
This pool was a kind of bath with some
healing property in its waters, which occa-
sioned it to be the resort of diseased persons,
for whose accommodation the place was pro-
vided with five porches. The account given
of this bath by the evangelist is: "An angel
went down at a certain season into the pool
and troubled the water : whosoever then first
after the troubling of the water stepped in, was
made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
In the porches of the bath at this time lay
a large number of diseased persons, the blind
the halt, the withered, waiting the opportunity
of going into the water as soon as the commo-
tion should be observed. As Jesus passed this
j way His attention was directed to a man who
' had been in a helpless condition for thirty-
eight years. To him Christ put the thrilling
question — " Wilt thou be made whole ?" But
the man, not apprehending the full drift of the
question, replied by explaining that hitherto
he had been unable to step into the water at
the time of cure ; for others, when the com-
motion was observed, went in before him and
reaped the benefit. Then Jesus said to him,
" Rise, take up thy bed, and walk !" And He
was instantly obeyed ; the man arose perfectly
whole and departed to his home bearing the
bed on which he had a moment before lain in
cureless paralysis.
Sabbath Observance.
I It happened to be the Sabbath-day on which
it was deemed unlawful to carry any burden.
■ The man was reminded of this by the persons
whom he passed. He pleaded the order of
the person who had made him whole, but who
' was unknown to him. He afterwards, how-
j ever, saw Christ, and was spoken to by Him
I in the Temple, and then he went and reported
j who it was that had made him whole.
I Now the man probably did this with good
intentions, but it furnished the Jews with a
ground of reproach against Him, not as one
who had directed another to break the Sab-
bath, but as one who had broken it Himself
by performing this cure on tjie Sabbath-day.
It was only in cases of urgent and extreme
necessity that the sick received the usual at-
tention on the Sabbath-day, the rule being not
to do anything for them which could be post-
JESUS IN GALILEE.
415
i-day on which
ry any burden,
by the persons
\ the order of
vhole, but who
:erwards, how-
;n to by Him
it and reported
whole,
:his with good
: Jews with a
m, not as one
•rcak the Sab-
cen it Himself
: Sabbath-day.
t and extreme
i the usual at-
rule being not
could be post-
poned to the next day without danger, and, 1 the next day, and not performed on the Sab-
therefore, in this case, they would argue that I bath. We are not to suppose that Christ had
HEALING THE IMPOTENT MAN AT THE POOL. — John V. 8.
seeing the man had lain so long in this state, [any intention to slight the Sabbath. The no-
the act of cure .should have been delayed till 1 tions to which his practice was opposed were
T, ,
!
1
1
r
t
jl !■
' ; ^i
^''
, (
1'
'■• 1 1
' 1
' ^;
■.
s>?
;!e !:i^
416
THE LORD OF THE SABBATH.
not sanctioned by the law of Moses, but were
the preposterous refinements of a later age.
But even if they had been required by the
law of Moses, He — with His equal. His far
higher commission — was not bound by its re-
strictions : for He came with a greater law of
His own, and was " Lord, even of the Sabbath-
ilay."
It is remarkable how many circumstances
are reoorted by the evangelists to have taken
place on the Sabbath-day. From this we must
infer that Christ purposely wrought His more
signal miracles on that day, for the reasons al-
ready indicated, or the evangelists select these
on account of the discussions to which they
gave rise. The latter seems the more proba-
ble conclusion. The next case on which this
discussion was raised was, however, an inci-
dent involving no display of Divine power.
Plucking^ the Ears of Com.
On the Sabbath following that on which the
paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda was cured,
Christ and His disciples were passing through
the corn-fields, when some of the latter, being
hungry, plucked some of the ears, and ate tiie
grain after rubbing it out between their hands.
Some Pharisees who were present seized hold
of this incident and asked, " Why do ye that
which it is not lawful to do on the Sabbath-
day?" The reader conversant with the law
of Moses will marvel at this question, for there
is certainly no law on the books of Moses, for-
bidding eating on the Sabbath-day, or forbid-
ding the plucking of the ears of corn, or rub-
bing them in the hands. It arose from one
of those preposterous refinements upon the
law to which the Jews of that age were prone.
Every simple prohibition of the law was
traced out to its remotest associations, which
were all deemed unlawful by the Pharisees,
which is another name for persons strongly
given to such refinements, and who deemed
the observance of them essential matters of
the law. The act of the disciples they would
consider as forbidden by the command : " Thou
shalt do no manner of work on the Sabbath-
day." Now plucking the corn they regarded
as a manner of work, a sort of reaping or of
plucking up corn — which is a mode in which
it was gathered among tiiciii ; nor was this all,
for the rubbing with the hands they held to be
also a manner of work of tlie same nature and
equivalent to the threshing' of corn.
The remark made to the disciples was an-
swered by Jesus Himself, with one of His usual
arguments, namely, that even assuming that
such acts were contrary to the law, He had a
power above the law and was not bound by
the restrictions which it imposed. In this
case He alluded to David, who without blame,
ate, when hungry, of the slu'W-bread, which it
was most decidedly unlawful for any but the
priests to eat. He also pointed out that, ac-
cording to their view, the very priests, in the
sacrificial acts of their sacred service, con-
stantly profaned the Sabbath-day, and yet were
blameless. If they enjoyed such exemption,
how much more He, who was greater than
even the Temple by which their priestly acts
were consecrated.
In conclusion Jesus added: "The Sabbath
was made for man and not man for the Sab-
bath : therefore, the Son of man is Lord also
of the Sabbath." All this is more precisely
levelled at particular Jewish notions than we
can find room to explain. But it must be un-
derstood that the last expression amounted
to an explicit claim to be regarded as the Mes-
siah ; for it was believed by the Jews them-
selves that the Messiah was Lord of the Sab-
bath, and that in His day all that was burden-
some in its observance would be removed.
The gist of the argument, therefore, is : "I am
the Messiah ; and I claim the privileges which
you admit to belong to that character."
The Man with a Withered HandL
Jesus the same day, apparently, attended at
one of the synagogues in Jerusalem. There
was conspicuously present a man whose hand
was withered, and the Pharisees present, now
fully alive to His views in a matter which they
deemed so essential, watched him closely to
observe His course of action, in order that
they might, if possible, find some ground of
JESUS IN GALILEE.
417
salem. There
n whose hand
1 present, now
ter which they
lim closely to
in order that
me ground of
accusation against Him in the Sanhedrim. ' shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit
Perceiving this, Jesus told the man to stand on the Sabbath-day, will he not lay hold on it
forward; on which the Pharisees, unable to and lift it out? how much then is a man bet-
contain themselves, asked, " Is it lawful to heal tcr than a sheep ? " They could not answer
on the S:ib'iath-day ? " This seems a most pre- 1 this ; and Jesus, after looking around upon
CHRIST AND HIS DISCIPLES IN THE CORN-FIELDS. — Lulce vi. I
posterous question, and such it was ; but we them with righteous indignation, bade the man
have already explained the view on which it ' ' "^ •
was founded. Christ answered uy referring to
a case which the law itself declared to be legal :
" What man shall there be among you, that
27
stretch forth his shrunk-up hand. That hand,
powerless so long, no longer refused to obey
his will ; he stretched it forth sound and per-
fect as the other.
418
HEROD ANTIPAS.
On this the Pharisees left the place in high
exasperation; this act having been the first
which was performed contrary to and in defi-
ance of their previous remonstrances. They
then first began to consult with the Herodians
how they might destroy Him. These Hero-
dians seem to have been a political party,
anxious to secure for Herod Antipas, the
tetrarch of Galilee, the regal titles and powers
which had been enjoyed by Herod the Great,
and who, therefore, had just the same grounds
for resisting the claim of Jesus to be re-
garded as the Messiah, which had at a former
time induced the elder Herod to seek the
destruction of the heaven-born " King of the
Jews."
A Malicious Plot.
The sole object of the scribes, Pharisees,
and Herodians was to watch what He would
do, and found upon it a public charge before
the Sanhedrim, or if not, at least to brand Him
thenceforth with the open stigma of a Sab-
bath-breaker. Therefore, they met the ques-
tion, " Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath-day ? "
by stolid and impotent silence. But He
would not allow them to escape the verdict
of their own better judgment, and therefore
He justified Himself by their own distinct
practice, no less than by their inability to
answer. " Is there one of you," He asked,
" who, if but a single sheep be fallen into a
water-pit, will not get hold of it, and pull it
out ? How much then is a man better than
a sheep ? " The argument was unanswerable,
and their own conduct in the matter was
undeniable; but still their fierce silence re-
mained unbroken. He looked round on them
with anger; a holy indignation burned in
His heart, glowed on His countenance, ani-
mated His gesture, rang in His voice, as
slowly He swept each hard upturned face
with the glance that upbraided them for their
malignity and meanness, for their ignorance
and pride; and then suppressing that bitter
and strong emotion as He turned to do His
deed of mercy.
Thus in every way were His enemies foiled
— foiled in argument, shamed into silence,
thwarted even in their attempt to find some
ground for a criminal accusation. For even
in healing the man, Christ had done abso-
lutely nothing which their worst hostility
could misconstrue into a breach of the Sab-
bath law. He had not touched the man ; He
had not questioned him ; He had not bid him
exercise his recovered power; He had but
spoken a word, and not even a Pharisee could
say that to speak a word was an infraction
of the Sabbath, even if the word were followed
by miraculous blessing !
They must have felt how utterly they were
defeated, but it only kindled their rage the
more. They were filled with madness and
communed one with another what they might
do to Jesus. Hitherto they had been enemies
of the Herodians. They regarded them as
half-apostate Jews, who accepted the Roman
domination, imitated heathen practices, adopted
Sadducean opinions, and had gone so far in
their flattery to the reigning house that they
had blasphemously tried to represent Herod
the Great as the promised Messiah. But now
their old enmities were reconciled in theii
mad rage against a common foe. Somethmg
— perhaps the fear felt by Antipas, perhaps
politicar suspicion, perhaps the mere natural
hatred of worldlings and renegades against
the sweet and noble doctrines which shamed
their lives — had recently added these Hero-
dians to the number of the Saviour's perse-
cutors. As Galilee was the chief centre of
Christ's activity, the Jerusalem Pharisees
were glad to avail themselves of any aid from
the Galilean tetrarch and his followers. They
took common counsel how they might de-
stroy by violence the prophet whom they could
neither refute by reasoning nor circumvent
by law.
This enmity of the leaders had not yet es-
tranged from Christ the minds of the multitude.
It made it desirable, however, for Him to move
to another place, because he would " neither
s«^rive nor cry, neither should any man hear
His voice in the streets," and the hour was not
yet come when He should "send forth judg-
into silence,
to find some
n. For even
done abso-
orst hostility
of the Sab-
the man ; He
i not bid him
He had but
'harisee could
an infraction
were followed
rly they were
:heir rage the
madness and
lat they might
been enemies
rded them as
d the Roman
ctices, adopted
one so far in
use that they
resent Herod
iah. But now
oiled in theii
e. Somethmg
itipas, perhaps
: mere natural
egades against
which shamed
d these Hero-
aviour's perse-
chief centre of
em Pharisees
if any aid from
llowers. They
hey might de-
lom they could
or circumvent
lad not yet es-
f the multitude.
»r Him to move
vould " neither
any man hear
le hour was not
:nd forth judg-
C119)
420
A SHARP REPLY.
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mcnt to victory." But before His departure
there occurred scenes yet more violent, and
outbreaks of fury against Him yet more marked
and dangerous, livery day it became more
and more necessary to show that the rift be-
tween Himself and the religious leaders of His
nation was deep and final ; every day it became
more and more necessary to expose the hypo-
critical formalism which pervaded their doc-
trines, and which was but the efflorescence of
a fatal and deeply seated plague.
Ccroiiiniiial Cleansing.
His first denunciation of the principles that
lay at the very basis of the Pharisaic system
was caused by another combined attempt of
the Jerusalem scribes to damage the position
of His disciples. On some occasion they had
observed that the disciples had sat down to a
meal without previous ablutions. Now these
ablutions were insisted upon with special sol-
emnity by the oral tradition. The Jews of
later times related with intense admiration how
the Rabbi Akiba, when imprisoned and fur-
nished with only sufficient water to maintain
life, preferred to die of starvation rather than
eat without the proper washings. The Phari-
sees, therefore, coming up to Jesus as usual in
a body, ask Him, with a swelling sense of self-
importance at the justice of their reproach,
" Why do thy disciples trangress the tradition
of the elders ? for they wash not their hands
when they eat bread."
The traditional ablutions observed by the
Pharisees and all the leading Jews were ex-
tremely elaborate and numerous. Before every
meal, and at every return from market, they
washed "with the fist," and if no water was at
hand a man was obliged to go at least four
miles to search for it. Beside this there were
precise rules for the washing of all cups, ban-
quet-couches, and brazen vessels. A compen-
dium of Rabbinical usages drawn up by Josef
Karo in 1567, contains no less than twenty-
six prayers by which these wa.shings were
accompanied. To neglect them involved a for-
feiture of eternal life. And yet the disciples
dared to eat with unwashen hands.
As usual, Jesus at once made common cause
with His disciples, and did not leave them, in
their simplicity and ignorance, to be overawed
by the attack of these stately and sancti-
monious critics. He answered their question
by a far graver one. "Why," he said, "do
you too violat the commandment of God by
this 'tradition' of yours? F"or God's com-
mand was, ' Honor thy father and thy mother;*
but your gloss is, instead of giving to father
j and mother, a man may simply give the sum
I intended for their support to the sacred
j treasury, and say he is exempt from any fur-
ther burden in their support! And many such
: things ye do. Ye hypocrites !" — it was the
first time that Jesus had thus sternly rebuked
them — " finely do ye abolish and obliterate the
commandment of God by your traditions ; and
well did Isaiah prophesy of you, 'This people
honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is
far from me ; in vain do they worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandment of
men.
The Traditional Law.
This was not only a defence of the disciples
— because it showed that they merely neg-
lected a body of regulations which were in
themselves so opposed to the very letter of the
sacred law as, in many cases, to be more
honored in the breach than the observance —
but it was the open rebuke of One who as-
sumed a superior and fearless authority, and a
distinct reprobation of a system which was more
reverenced than the books of Moses. The
Jews distinguished between the written law
and the traditional law, or "law upon the
lip," and the latter was asserted, by its more
extravagant votaries, to have been orally de-
livered by God to Moses, and orally trans-
mitted by him through a succession of elders.
So extravagant did the reverence for the tradi-
tional law become, that it was said to read the
Scriptures was a matter of indifference, but to
read the traditions was meritorious and re-
ceived the richest recompense.
And it was this foolish system of revered
commentary and pious custom which Jesus
now so completely discountenanced, as not
JESUS IN GALILEE.
421
only to defend the neglect of it but even cations, murders, theft, covetousness, wicked-
openly to condemn and repudiate its most ness, deceit, lasciviouhness, an evil eye, bias-
established principles. He that consigned phemy, pride, foolishness." Evil thoughts
to oblivion and indifference the entire mass of — like one tiny rill of evil, and then the burst
" legends " and " rules," which, though up to of all that black overwhelming torrent!
that period they had not been committed to
writing, were yet devoutly cherished in the
memory of the learned, and constituted the
wisdom of the Rabbis, or learned teachers.
The Pliaris*!e« Otluiided.
" These are the things which defile a man ; but
to L-at with unwashen hands defileth not a man,"
The time for Jesus to suffer death had not
yet come; His mission on earth was not yet
accomplished; and therefore He left Judea,
attended by His disciples, and returned to the
Turning away from them as though' they borders of the Lake of Genncsareth. In this
were hopeless. He summoned the multitude, journey He vvas followed by crowds of people,
whom they had trained to look up to them as anxious to hear Him and to see His mighty
little gods, and spoke these short and weighty works — not only from Jerusalem and Judea,
words: "Hear me, all of you, and under- and from the remote parts of Galilee, but from
stand ! Not that which goeth into the mouth Idumsea, the region beyond the river Jordan,
defileth the man ; but that which cometh out and even from Phoenicia
of the mouth, that defileth a man."
The Phari.sees were bitterly offended by
this saying, as well indeed they might be.
Condemnatory as it was of the common in-
fatuation for all that is merely ceremonial,
that utterance of Jesus was the final death-
knell of ceremonialism. His disciples were
not slow to inform Him of the indignation
which His words had caused, for they prob-
Jesiis ill Uic Tliroiifp.
Besides the thronging of this mixed mul-
titude around the Saviour whenever He ap-
peared in public, those who were afflicted with
diseases pressed close around Him, in the
hope that, if they might but touch Him, the
virtue whiti transpired from His sacred per-
son would suffice to accomplish their cute.
ably retained a large share of the popular j The inconvenience of this became at length
awe for the leading sect. But the reply of; so urgent, that it was arranged with the disci-
Jesus was an expression of calm indifference
to earthly judgment, a reference of all worth
to the sole judgment of God as shown in the
slow ripening of events, " Every plant which
my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be
rooted up. Let them alone. Tiiey be blind
leaders of the blind ; and if the blind lead the
blind, shall they not both fall into the ditch ? "
A little later, when they were in-doors and
alone, Peter ventured to ask for an explana-
tion of the words which He had uttered so
emphatically to the multitude. Jesus gently
blamed the want of comprehension among
His apostles, but showed them, in teaching of
deep significance, that man's food does but
affect his material structure, and does not
enter into his heart, or touch his real being ;
but that " from within, out of the heart of
men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, forni
pies, who had been fishermen at this place,
that a boat should be in attendance on the
.shore to receive Him when incommoded by
the crowd.
Jesus had now returned to Capernaum,
which has been indicated as His usual place
of residence when in Galilee. The crowds by
which He was followed from day to day,
wherever He appeared, made more dear to
Him the solitude, meet for prayer and medi-
tation, which He could only secure by with-
drawing secretly from the town, and remain-
ing all night in the neighboring mountains
and wildernesses. Often in those days —
"Cold mountains and the midnight air
Witnessed the fervor of His prayer."
We are told of one night in which He thus
withdrew to a mountain, and " continued all
i
i
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422
THE TWKLVE CIIOSKN.
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nifjht in prayer to God." This was prcpara- by many important considerations; tlic chieJ
tory to the nomination of tlic twelve apostles, of which seems to have heen that tliey, Ivrng
JESUS HEALING THE MULTITUDE. — Luke VI*. IQ.
The .selection of twelve from among His | ever about Him, hearing all He said and see^
more constant followers, to be always with i ing all He did, might, after His decease.
Him, and to act in His name, was dictated become competent witnesses of His whole
JESUS IN GALILEE.
42.'t
cDiiisc f>f life and action ; and be so well in-
structed in thj tilings of God, as to carry on
tlif work which it was His commission only
to coininoncc. The person- lioscn included
tlie six who had been alrcad) died to follow
Christ, namely, the brothers IVter and An-
drew; the brothers John and Jimcs; Philip
and Matthew; and six whose names have not
before occurred — B.irtholomew (supposed to
be the same with Nathaniel); James and
Judo, sons of Alphivus and first cousins of
Christ, on which account they arc sometimes
called Mis "brethren." Their mother appears
to have been a sister of the Vicgin Mary. The
others were Thomas, surnamed Didyn)us, or
the "twin;" Simon, surnamed Zelotes ; and
Judas, surnamed Iscariot.
A M«>niorabl4' DiMoniirHC.
A great multitude, composed as usual, and:
brought together by the usual motives, had by
this time gathered to Jesus in the open coun- '
try. Perceiving this. He ascended an eminence,
and there delivered the fiimous sermon on the
mount.
That which is supposed to be the mount
from which this sermon was delivered is now
called by Christians the Mount of Beatitudes.
The evangelists specify no particular moun-
tain, and there are near the lake perhaps a
dozen mountains which would answer to the
circumstances of the history.
But the sermon itself: — who can spf^ak of
these Divine words according to their claims
upon our admiration and respect ? How dif-
ferent from all that the philosophers and
poets of the heathen taught! — and how dilTer-
ent even from the teaching of the ancient
Hebrew prophets ! — and, above all, how dif-
ferent in spirit and essential matter from the
mean talk and petty questions with which the
great Jewish doctors of that age amused their
disciples I No wonder that this new style ot
teaching attracted such multitudes to hear
Jesus, and drew from them, on more than
one occasion, the acknowledgment that never
man spake like Him.
The scope of this discourse is to correct the
f.ilse notions which the Jews entertained con-
cerning the Messiah s kingdom, and to teach
what kind of happiness was to be .'xpected
from it, and to dcs\ ribe thedispositioI^s which
were necessary r- its .ittainment. Of the
multitude which J<.sus .a«ulresseil, a great put
were men of mei'ii station uid hpuble circuiii
stances, held in contempt by ll>e rulers, the
priests, and the Pharisees. Many (>' iiein,
perhaps all of then), expected from tlr Mes-
siah — and, in acknowledging Chris, lo be the
Messiah, expected from I ' 'in- -at least the
blessings promised by Mo ,cs, iffluence, pros-
perity, and whatever is though:, promotive of
worldly well-being. Hut of that there seemed
little hope from Jesus, as tho-se who had hith-
erto followed Him were not, ir that respect, in
any very enviable cond-tion. Jesus therefore
teaches them what was tc I>e expectetl and
aimed at by those who should submit them-
selves to His direction.
In order, too, that He miglit render His
hearers the more attentive, and that they
might the better remember his utterances, lie
conformably to eastern custom, propounds
His doctrinv i.i,- certain paradoxes, which
seem at first >ight false, but on examination
turn out to be true. In this discourse aisa
He advances in a very narked manner II is
claim !.o be considered as a legislator, not
c »1 equal to Moses, but superior to him.
The Jews allowed that the Messiah would be
greater than Moses, and, therefore, in advanc-
ing this claim, Jesus declares Himself the
Messiah, and was so understood.
It is often supposed that Christ here comes
forward to explain what the law of Moses
really meant — thus making Himself in fact a
commentator on that law : but it may rather
appear that He refers to the law of Moses in
order to illustrate by particular examples the
I superiority of the new doctrine which He
came to teach — of the new law which He
came to promulgate. So when He says,.
\ " Ye have heard that it hath been said, ' An
i eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,' but /
' say unto you that ye resist not evil." He
surely does not mean to develop any inner
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(424)
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. — Matt. V. I.
\ v:i
JESUS IN GALILEE.
42o
meaning of the old law which He cites, but
to produce a new and better law of His own.
It seems very certain that in delivering this
discourse Jesus had in view the city of Sapheth,
which is seated upon the summit of a tall and
very steep mountain, where it seems perched
iiigh in air, and scarcely accessible to mortal
foot. In fact this mountain and city must
have been visible from almost any point of the
locality in which the sermon was delivered.
This fact gives much force to some of the
allusions in the sermon, as, "A city that is
set on a hill cannot be hid ; " and above all
to the magnificent conclusion of the discourse:
— " Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine,
and doeth them, I will liken him to a wise
man who built his house upon a rock ; and
the rain descended, and the floods came, and
the winds blew, and beat upon that house ;
and it fell not ; for it was founded upon a
rock. And every one that heareth these
sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be
likened to a foolish man who built his house
upon the sand : and the rain descended, and
the floods came, and the winds blew, and
beat upon that house ; and it fell ; and great
was the fall of it."
A Koinaii Suldicr.
Jesus then returned to Capernaum, where
an incident awaited Him different in character
from any which had yet occurred. It seems
that there was a garrison of Roman soldiers
stationed in or near this place, one of whose
officers — perhaps the officer in command —
was a centurion (captain of a hundred men),
■who entertained towards the Jews a kind feel-
ing, and for their religion a respect, by no
means common among the Roman legions.
He had even built for the people at Caper-
naum the synagogue in which they wor-
shipped, and in which they had heard the
words of Christ and seen His miracles.
This centurion had a favorite slave, who had
fallen dangerously ill, and for whom he ex-
perienced great concern. Having heard — for
who had not heard ? — of the wonderful cures
performed by Christ, hope for his beloved ser-
vant arose within him. He was filled with a
far more exalted idea of the person and cliar-
acter of Jesus than the Jews them.sclves enter-
tained ; and, diffident of obtaining attention
from Him, he persuaded the chief Jews of the
place to apply on his behalf, and to say that ,
for him which he could not say for himself.
They did so, saying that he w.is worthy for
whom He should do this, "for He loveth our
nation and hath built us a synagogue."
Heuliiig- the Cviitiirion's Servant.
Then Jesus went with them to the cen-
turion's house , but before they reached it,
came a message from the centurion, saying,
" Give not Tiiyself this trouble ; I am not
worthy that Thou shouldest come under my
roof; nor did I deem myself worthy to come
in person to Thee : but speak one word only,
and my servant will be well." Jesus was much
struck by this. The Jews admitted His power
to heal, but deemed it needful that He should
be personally present and touch the diseased
person with His hand. But here was a for-
eigner, a lieathen, who had the faith — who be-
lieved that a word from Christ, spoken in the
absence of the diseased person, would suffice
to effect the cure.
Christ therefore turned round to the people
who followed Him, and said, " I have not
found such great faith — no, not in Israel ;" and
He added, " Many shall come from the east
and west, and shall sit down with Abraham,
I.saac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast
out into outer darkness." This is to us a very
intelligible allusion to the calling of the Gen-
tiles and the rejection of the Jews ; but to the
people it was obscure ; and as they probably
interpreted it to mean that many such heathen
would become proselytes to Judaism, it did not
give the offence with which some of the later
and plainer declarations on this point were re-
ceived.
The friends who had brought to Jesns the
message of the centurion returned to the house,
and found that he had received the reward of
his faith in the perfect recovery of his servant.
ki
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426
JESUS AT NAIN.
'' if. "
WPlli
■m
The day after this Jesus proceeded to Nain, I some consequence, but has now dwindled to a
thirteen miles to the south of the place where | small hamlet under the name of Nein. On
THE widow's son RESTORED TO LIFE. — Luke vii. I4.
the sermon on the mount is supposed to have ; approaching the f^ate of this town the crowd
been delivered. This was then a place of which attended Him was met by another.
JESUS IN GALILEE.
m
probably as numerous, issuing from the city. !
It was the becoming custom of the Jews to I
bury their dead outside of the towns : nor was
this peculiar to them, but common to all the
nations of the East and West, until the present '
custom of burying in or near churches, first ;
introduced in honor of the martyrs, was ex- 1
tended into general use. 1
The crowd which issued from the gate of'
Nain was in attendance upon the funeral of a 1
young man, the only son of a poor woman,
and her only stay — for she was a widow. The 1
attendance was so great on account of the
number of person*^ who were anxious to testify '
their sympathy and respect.
This scene was well calculated to move the •
compassion of Him "who went about doing;
good ; " and to lead Him to do a greater work
than any which He had yet performed. Full
of Divine tenderness. He cheered the desolate
mother, and said unto her, " Weep not;" and
the bearers of the corpse He directed to lay
down their melancholy burden. Among the
Jews the dead were carried to the grave upon
open biers, and not in closed coffins, the use
of which was, in the time of Christ, confined
to the higher classes. Turning to the bier,
Jesus said, " Young man, I say unto thee,
Arise ! " The " dull, cold ear of death" heard
His voice ; the youth rose up, and gave the
most satisfactory proof of his restoration to
consciousness and life by speaking to the per-
sons around him. Jesus then consigned him
to his mother. Who can tell the mysteries
of human feeling with which that mother re-
ceived her son from the dead, and held him
once more in her embrace ? Then indeed did
the " widow's heart sing for joy" — a joy so
great that in her case all wonder was doubtless
absorbed in it.
Now it was not so with the people present.
To heal the sick and to cast out unclean spirits
were indeed acts of wonder to all who saw
them ; but to restore defunct nature, and snatch
from the grave its prey, was a prodigy so great
as filled the beholders not only with amaze-
ment, but fear. They glorified God for visit-
ing His people by sending a great prophet
among them ; for although this act taken alone
did not evince that Jesus was the very Christ,
the greatness of the deed satisfied them of the
Divine power with which He was invested.
They could not but see in Jesus one greater
than even Elisha, inasmuch as without the ust
of prayer, or stretching himself upon the bod\',
but by a simple order. He had in a manner ut-
terly unexampled restored the dead to life.
JoliiiN Diwlples Visit Je»us.
This great miracle gave a new impulse to
the general discussion respecting the prophet
of Nazareth. It attracted the attention of
John the Baptist in his prison, and decided
him to require of Jesus an explicit declaration
as to whether He was or was not the promised
Messiah. He therefore sent two of his disci-
ples to Christ to ask the question, " Art thou
He that should come ? or look we for another ? "
Jesus, at the time the messengers came, was
engaged in healing the diseased, casting out
evil spirits, and restoring sight to the blind.
Instead of returning a direct answer, He de-
sired the disciples to tell their master the
things they had seen performed : — " Go and
tell John what things ye have seen and heard ;
how the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers
are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are
raised, to the poor the gospel is preached."
When John's disciples had departed, Jesus
began to speak to those around him of John
and his character and mission. He passed a
high encomium upon the austerity and holi-
ness of his person, the greatness of his func-
tion, and the Divine character of his mission.
He affirmed that John was greater than any
preceding prophet, indeed, the greatest of men
born of woman ; for besides his wonderful
birti a.id being himself the subject of ancient
prop ies, he had seen and known the Mes-
siah and had been His precursor. He was a
burning and a shining light, the second Elias
of the prophets — and yet, added Christ, with
startling abruptness, " He that is least in the
kingdom of heaven is greater than he ; " mean-
ing that, as belonging to the old system about
to be done away, or at most occupying art
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428
WARNING AGAINST UNBELIEF.
intermediate place betwecM the old and the
new, any Christian teacher, instructed in the
things pertaining to Christ's spiritual kingdom,
had points of superiority over even John the
Baptist.
Jesus concluded with a striking illustration
of the perversity of the nation, by reference to
the reception which He and the Baptist equally
met with, notwithstanding the difiereiice in
their course of conduct and procedure. The
Baptist, who came neither eating nor drink-
ing, that by his austere and mortified deport-
ment he might gain the reverence of the people,
could not obtain acceptance ; ne'>her could
Jesus, who, on the contrary, came eating and
drinking — that, by a moderate and affable life,
framed after the common use and habits of
men, He might make to Himself a place in
their sympathies and affections. The austeri-
ties of the one they ascribed to insanity ; and
the sociality of the other to a conviviality of
disposition unseemly in a teacher and a prophet.
This gave Him occasion more especially to
reprehend the towns which had witnessed
His greatest works, Capernaum, Choraz-in,
Bethsaida, in that their hardness and unbelief
had remained unmoved. For this a doom
harder than that of Sodom was declared to be
in store for them ; for even Sodom had sinned
against less light than had been shed upon
them.
Jesus concluded His admirable discourse by
calling upon His auditors to e.xchaiige the
heavy burden of the Levitical law for the
case, rest, and peace offered by the new reve-
lation of the Divine will, which He came to
promulgate. This invitation, equally applica-
ble to all the weary and heavy laden, from
every cause, in every age, was couched in the
emphatic and ever-memorable words — "Come
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you, and learn of me ; for I am meek and
lowly in heart ; and ye shall find rest unto
your souls. For my yoke is easy and my
burden is light."
This strain sounds through all of His
teachings. His words had in them healing
for human hearts, even as His touch had
health and life in it for the sick and dying.
With warm breathings of sympathy He moved
among the multitudes who were as sheep
without a shepherd. His look was compas-
sion, and His word was mercy.
'11;
CHAPTER XXXIII.
A CLUSTER OF PARABLES.
HE foregoing dis-
course seems to have
made considerable im-
pression upon some
even of the Pharisees j
who were present, and j
one of them, named |
Simon, invited Jesus
to dine at his house. It must
be understood that the Roman
custom of recUning on couches
at meal-time was at this pe-
riod in common use among
persons of the higher and
l»''V» '"''^'^'^ classes in Judaea. It is
^5^^ not, indeed necessary to sup-
pose that the Jews borrowed
5C^^^^^ it frot" the Romans. It was
^ '^ a Babylonian and Persian
custom, which, found its way to the west of
the Euphrates, and which the Hebrews proba-
bly acquired during their subjection to the
kings of the East.
Three benches were placed so as to form
three sides of a hollow square which contained
the table. The guests reclined upon the
benches or couches, with their feet turned out
behind and their faces toward the table, resting
their bodies in a half-raised position upon
cushions or upon the left arm. This explains
several passages of the New Testament, espe-
cially those which describe Lazarus as lying
in Abraham's bosom and John as leaning on
the bosom of Christ at the last supper ; the
person so described as lying on the bosom of
another was of course the one who reclined
next below that other, and whose head neces-
sarily approached to the bosom of the one
who lay above him. There was usually a
good space between the walls of the guest-
chamber and the back of the couches.
It was quite easy for any persons, at an
entertainment such as that to which Simon
invited Christ, to gain access to the public
guest-chamber, and to remain unmolested so
long as they did not interfere with the opera-
tions of the servants, which they were in little
danger of doing while they remained in the
side space between tiie walls and the bcick of
the couches, seeing that the business of the
servants was almost confined to the open side
of the square which the triclinium formed.
While they were at meat, a woman of the
place came and planted herself behind the
couch where Jesus reclined. She is described
as one " who had been a sinner," by which
it is understood that she had led an impure
life, and we see no reason to disturb this con-
clusion. We must only remember that this
woman, described distinctively as " a sinner,"
is not to be confounded with Mary Magda-
lene, nor with Mary, the sister of Lazarus, of
Bethany, of whom transactions nearly similar
are recorded. Much confusion has arisen
from regarding as one, three distinct persons
and transactions.
This woman, as Jeremy Taylor finely ex-
presses it, " came to Jesus into the Pharisee's
house, not — as did the staring multitude — to
glut their eyes with the sight of a miraculous
and glorious person ; nor — as did the centu-
rion, or the Syro-Phoenician, or the ruler of
the synagogue — for the cure of sickness, or in
behalf of friend, or child, or servant ; but — •
the only example of so coming— she came in
remorse and regret for her sins, she came to
Jesus to lay her burden at His feet, to present
Him with a broken heart, a weeping eye, and
1 great affection." She came trembling, and
wept bitterly for her sins at His feet. Simon
had neglected to order his servants to wash
1 the feet of Jesus, although this was an act of
(429)
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430
THE PRECIOUS OINTMENT.
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liiii ^'ii
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civility and attention then frequently observed
in Palestine, although less so than it had been
in more ancient times.
Perceiving this, the weeping sinner let fall
her tears upon them, and, having bathed them
with that tribute of her grief, wiped them with
the hair of her head. This in itself might have
been misunderstood, but as a preparation for
the act which followed, it becomes very intel-
ligible. She came to anoint his feet with
costly ointment. It was necessary they should
first be washed, and finding that this had been
neglected by the host, her fast-flowing tears
suggested the means to which she resorted.
Having thus bathed His feet, the woman
drew forth the vessel of precious nard, and
breaking off the stopple, the place was filled
with the rich odor of the perfume she cast
upon her Saviour's feet.
This anointing of the feet was by no means
a common act, and the anointing them with
this kind of ointment was accounted a lux-
urious extravagance even in kings. It must
have been worth fifty dollars of our money, or
probably more in comparative value, when the
great difference in the general cost of com-
modities is considered.
Tbe Woman Forgriven.
The fragrance of the ointment drew the
general attention of the guests to this act of
the woman. They formed their different opin-
ions upon it, and narrowly watched the effect
which it would have upon Jesus Himself, and
the manner in which it would be noticed by
Him. The thought which arose in the mind
of the host himself was eminently character-
istic of the Pharisee. We are told that " he
spake within himself, saying. This man, if he
were a prophet, would have known who and
what manner of woman this is that toucheth
him : for she is a sinner." It was this unut-
tered thought of the Pharisee which Jesus saw
fiitto mark out for His most pointed notice.
" Simon," He said, " there was a certain
creditor who had two debtors : the one owed
five hundred pence and the other fifty. And
when they had nothing to pay, he frankly for-
I gave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of
j them will love him most? " Simon could not
! but answer, " I suppose the one to whom he
I forgave most." Jesus answered, " Thou hast
[rightly judged;" and then turning towards
the woman. He added — " Seest thou this wo-
man ? I entered into thine house : thou gavest
me no water for my feet ; but she hath washed
tny feet with tears, and wiped them with the
hair of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss ;
but this woman, since the time I came in, hath
not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil
thou didst not anoint ; but this woman hath
anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore,
I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, ve
forgiven, for she loved much ; but to whom
little is forgiven, the same loveth little."
He then said more formally to the woman
herself, those great words which man or woman
never heard f'om mortal lips before: "Thy
sins are forgiven." This created a deep sen-
sation among those who heard it; for they
knew it was not for man to forgive sins ; and
yet they were by no means prepared to recog-
nize Jesus as more than man. While they
were murmuring among themselves, " Who is
this that forgiveth sins also ? " Christ, again
turning round to the woman, dismissed her
with — " Thy faith hath saved thee : go in
peace 1 "
The touching words of an English poet may
serve as the best comment on this beautiful
incident :
" She sat and wept beside His feet ; the weight
Of sin oppressed her heart ; for all the blame,
And the poor malice of the worldly shame,
To her were past, extinct, and out of date ;
Only the sin remained — the leprous slate.
She would be melted by the heat of love,
By fires far fiercer than are blown to prove
And purge the silver ore adulterate.
She sat and wept, and with her untressed hair,
Still wiped the feet she was so blessed to touch;
And He wiped off the soiling of despair
From her sweet soul, because she loved so much."
After this Jesus set forth upon another tour
in Galilee, performing His usual works of
mercy, and seizing all suitable occasions of
pouring forth those persuasive utterances on
A CLUSTER OF PARABLES.
481
which the people generally hung with admira-
tion and delight, while those who were wise in
their own conceits, the bigots of a system,
found in all He said matter for cavil and re-
proach. In this excursion He was attended
by the twelve apostles, and also by some
women of property and consideration, who out
of their abundance felt it their duty to provide
food and such other necessaries as the party
required.
Among these women we find particular
mention of Mary Magdalene, so called from
Magdala, near Capernaum, her native place ;
she was probably a widow, and is not to be
confounded with " the woman who was a sin- ]
ner," who has just been under our notice. She
owed a debt of deep gratitude to Christ, who
on some former occasion had dispossessed her
of " seven devils." Another of these women
was the wife, or more probably widow, of
Chuza, the steward of Herod Antipas ; and
another is only known by her name of Su-
sanna. This incidental statement by Luke is
corroborated, also very incidentally, by Mark,
who, speaking of the women who were present
at the crucifixion of Christ, says that when
Jesus was in Galilee, "they followed Him and
ministered unto Him of their substance."
We thus obtain information respecting the
mode in which Jesus and his apostles were
principally supported during those constant
movements which precluded them from earn-
ing their own subsistence. Most of them had
lived by their labor; and the few who may be
supposed to have had some property could
not long have supported the expenses of so
large a body, but through the assistance ob-
tained from these and other pious women, who
appear for the most part to have received from
Jesus — in the cure of painful diseases — benefits
which they estimated beyond all price.
The travelling of men and women in par-
ties from all parts of the country to Jerusalem,
at the great festivals, familiarized the mind to
such travel, and relieves all that seeming im-
propriety which the absence of any such cir-
cumstance in our own social habits might
induce us to connect with it.
Jesus did nothing more in this town which
is recorded, and at length again returned to
Capernaum. On His arrival He went with
His followers to the house which He com-
monly frequented, which was speedily so beset
by people anxious to see and hear Him that
the inmates were unable to take their usual
meals. Heedless of this, Christ, although just
arrived from a journey, and needing refresh-
ment, went forth and spoke to the multitude;
but when His friends within knew this, they
declared that He was carried by His zeal
away beyond Himself; and they went forth
and constrained Him to come in and obtain
refreshment and rest.
Jesus Cures a Demoniac.
The next recorded act of Christ, probably
on the following day, was the relief of a poor
creature who was brought to Him, "pos-
sessed with a devil, deaf and dumb." At His
word, the man's tongue was loosened, and bis
ears unstopped, and he who had long been
mute to all the world, and all the many-voiced
world mute to him, both spake and saw. A
man in his plight is usually well known in any
place which he inhabits. This miracle, there-
fore, made a strong impression upon the
people, and led them to throng after Jesus
with a fresh ardor wherever He appeared.
The Pharisees, and others of their mode of
thinking, were much troubled at this; and
seeing that they could not deny so plain a
miracle, they proceeded to account for it after
a peculiar fashion of their own. " This fellow,"
said they, "doth not cast out devils but
through Beelzebub, the prince of devils ;" that
is, he expels the weaker demons by the aid of
the stronger.
Christ was not slow in exposing the ab-
surdity of this reasoning. Citing a well-
known proverb. He said : — " Every kingdom
divided against itself is brought to desolation ;
and every city or house divided against itself
shall not stand;" and by way of applying
this. He continued, " If Satan cast out Satan,
he is divided against himself; how shall then
his kingdom stand?" And then He added —
!l
' !l
THE FOWLS AND LILIES.
..m
■i4
I' I
H',:\^
" If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom ,
do your children cast them out?" This ques-
tion supposes, what indeed appears from other
passages of Scripture, that besides Jesus and
His apostles, several at this time went about
pretending to cast out demons, both by exor
cisms and medical treatment. It is probable
that these exorcisms were sometimes effectual
by means of the accompanying medicaments.
This superstition continued for sometime after
the apostles, and even led in part to the use of
exorcisms in the early Christian Church.
Most of those whom Jesus addressed were
in such humble circumstances of life, as to be
in less danger from setting their hearts upon
earthly treasures, than from the cares of the
passing day and overmuch solicitude about the
necessary supplies of life. Against this He
therefore proceeded to caution them, and en-
couraged them to ease of mind in all these re-
spects, by the consideration that Divine Provi-
dence would not fail to make adequate provis-
ion for the real wants of all those who made
the kingdom of God and His righteousness
the first objects of their solicitude. This He
enforced, as usual, by lively illustrations drawn
from actual circumstances.
Divine Providence.
Observing a flight of "ravens," or rather
" crows," He said, " Consider the ravens ; for
they neither sow nor reap, neither have store-
house nor barn ; and God feedeth them. How
much more are ye better than the fowls?"
There is the more 'brce in this, when we bear in
mind how specially observable, in the opinion
of the ancients, was the good providence of
God with respect to this kind of bird. Several
of them remark that young crows are driven
away from the nest as soon as they are able to
fly, and are afterwards supported, we scarce
know how, by a remarkable providence of
God. Philo, a learned Jew of those times, also
remarks that many are naturally forgetful, and
often fail to return to their nests; yet, by
the wise and merciful providence of God, they
instinctively heap together in their nests
whatever may breed worms, by which their
abandoned young are nourished and preserved.
Some of these notion s concerning crows are now
known to be incorrect ; and we mention them
merely to show the emphasis which their ex-
istence in the popular mind must have afforded
to the beautiful allusion which Jesus makes to
these birds.
Again, lilies are abundant in Palestine — and
at the time of the foregoing discourse they
were probably in bloom. Referring to these
Jesus said, pursuing his illustration, "Con-
sider the lilies of the field " — not of the gar-
den, cultivated with care — "how they grow.
They toil not" — as men in their laborious
employments — "neither do they spin" — like
women in their more sedentary occupations;
"and yet I say unto you, that Solomon, in all
his glory, was not arrayed like one of these."
And then came the forcible application :
" Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the
field, which to-day is, and to-morow is cast
into the oven, how much more will He clothe
you, O ye of little faith !"
This will be the better understood when it
is remarked that after the moisture of spring
has been absorbed, all wild herbage and de-
cayed plants become rapidly dry in Palestine,
under the fervent heat of summer and are,
with all other decayed and dried vegetable prod-
ucts, collected for fuel. There was, and is,
much scarcity of fuel in Palestine; but except
in the depth of winter, there was little need
of it but for cooking and baking bread. This
is the reason that fuel is usually described as
being " cast into the oven." And this phrase
may be better understood if we remember
that the oven was usually a pit in the floor,
the fire in which served both for fuel and, in
winter, for warmth. These dry stalks and
twigs were particularly suitable for the baking
of bread, and were therefore preferred for the
oven when bread was to be baked.
Fall of the Siloam Tower.
When Jesus had concluded His disco ise,
some of the persons present began tu speak
of a matter which excited much attetition at
that time. A demagogue named Judas of
A CLUSTER OF PARABLES.
4;J3
Gaulonitis went about asserting that God was < many followers, chiefly in Galilee, who ^'ave
the only Sovereign of the Hebrew nation, and ; much trouble to the Roman govcrnnunt.
that consequently it was utterly unlawful to 1 Lately Pilate had slain a body of these men,
li,
i
.4,
SOWING THE GOOD SEED. — Matt. xiii. 3.
acknowledge any human sovereignty, much
less to pay tribute and yield obedience to a
heathen people like the Romans. He obtained
28
when they had gone to Jerusalem at one ot
the public feasts, so that, in effect, "their blood
was mingled with (that of) their sacrifices."
4;J4
A MULTITUDE OF HEARERS.
Now the Jews firmly believed that grievous
disorders or heavy calamities were sent by
God in punishment for sin. Perceiving that
the case was mentioned by those present with
this feeling, Jesus took occasion to give this
notion His authoritative contradiction; affirm-
ing that those who heard Him were equally
sinners before God, and should also perish
unless they repented. With the same view
He also referred to an accident which formed
the talk of the day — the fall of the tower of
Siloam, in Jerusalem, whereby eighteen per-
sons had been killed; asserting that these
persons were not necessarily sinners above
others for having been thus destroyed; al-
though this was the undoubted persuasion of
all His auditors. Mohammedanism, which
borrowed much from the Gospels, has pro-
duced a change of opinion in this respect in
western Asia, so that any one who now dies
by such an accident as the fall of a tower, or
of a wall, is regarded as a martyr.
The same day Jesus left the town, and went
out by the sea-shore; and, being still attended
by a great multitude of people, He went into
a boat, and addressed them from thence. His
discourse was still chiefly in parables. Speak-
ing of this, Jeremy Taylor remarks : " He
taught them by parables, under which were
hid mysterious senses." Being taken from
the culture of the soil, these were suggested
by the agricultural operations then actually
in progress before the eyes of the audience
upon the sides of the surrounding hills.
Parable of the Sower.
The first was the significant parable of the
sower, in which the different reception which
the truth finds in different hearts is compared
to the different soils in which the seed, broad-
cast by the sower, falls. The imagery of it
was derived, as usual, from the objects im-
mediately before his eyes — the sown fields of
Gennesareth; the springing corn in them; the
hard-trodden paths which ran through them,
on which no corn could grow; the innumera-
ble birds which fluttered over them ready to
feed upon the grain ; the weak and withering
struggle for life on the stony places; the
tangling growth of luxuriant thistles in neg-
lectec' corners ; the deep loam of the general
soil, on which already the golden ears stood
thick and strong, giving promise of a sixty
and hundred-fold return as they rippled under
the balmy wind.
To us, who from infancy have read the
parable side by side with Christ's own mter-
pretation of it, the meaning is singularly clear
and plain, and we sec in it the liveliest images
of the danger incurred by the cold and in-
different, by the impulsive and shallow^ by the
worldly and ambitious, by the preoccuniod
and the luxurious, as they listen to the tiuth.
I But it was not so easy to those who heard it,
I Even the disciples failed to catch its lull signi-
i ficance, although they reserved their .equest
I for an explanation till they and their Master
; should be alone. It is clear that parables
like this, so luminoub to us, but so difficult
to these simple listeners, suggested thoughts
which to then-i were wholly unfamiliar.
Parable of the Tares.
Then followed the parable of the tares sown
maliciously among good corn. These the
indiscreet zeal of the husbandmen would have
rooted up as soon as they appeared ; but was
prevented by the sage discretion of the master,
who feared that the tares could not be pulled
up without damage to the young wheat: " Let
both grow together unto the harvest," he said:
"and in the time of harvest I will say to the
reapers, Gather ye together first the tares,
and bind them into bundles to burn them ;
but gather the wh»it into my barn."
The three following parables, that of the
insensible growth of corn, certain and timely
while man goes about the daily business of
life and heeds not of it ; that of the smallest
of seeds becoming a large tree, in whose
branches the birds of the air find shelter,
and that of the small piece of leaven which,
left in three measures of meal, leavened the
whole mass ; all have seemingly the same
reference to the gradual but sure spread of the
gospel under the preaching of the apostles ;
A CLUSTER OF PARAHLES.
430
while, without doubt, there is in them a expounded to them some of the parables
secondary reference to the rise and progress which He had delivered to the people. To
of the new kingdom in the soul. them He then added sonic other short parables
.•^uW'KNG TAKES. — Matt. xiii. 25.
After this Jesus returned to the town ; and designed yet further to illustrate the character
•when He was alone with His disciples He and objects of the Divine kingdom. First, he
43U
A BKAUTIFUL JEWEL.
■M
I I
compared it to a treasure hid in a field, whicli
when a man had discovered, he joyfully
hastened to sell all he possessed to buy that
field. This, like most of the other parables,
had a foundation in local impressions which
are not a^ once apparent to a western reader.
But in the East, where in times of trouble
large amounts of property are concealed, the
owners of which are slain, or go away and
never return to reclaim what they hid, every
one is more or less a treasure-seeker, and
lives in the hope of being some day or other
enriched by the discovery of hidden treasure.
The same feeling was in England a growth
from the civil wars and troubles of former
ages, till at length "treasure-finding" became
a distinct branch of the occult sciences : and
at this day there are perhaps not many vil-
lages in the rural districts which do not possess
some tradition referring the enrichment of
some principal family in the neighborhood to
the discovery of a crock of gold.
Parable of the Goodly Pearl.
The next parable, of a merchant — that is,
a travelling dealer in jewels — seeking goodly
pearls, and selling all that he had to buy one
pearl of great price which he had found,
describes a circumstance which at present
occurs often to the highly intelligent and
most respectable class of men who follow that
vocation, and who not seldom spend the best
years of their lives in travelling to and from
distant lands in search of" goodly pearls " and
other precious stones. There is perhaps not
one of them who has not at times met with a
jewel of such great beauty and high price,
that he has been obliged to sell all his inferior
jewels and every valuable article he possessed
in order to obtain it.
The next parable compared the kingdom
of heaven to " a net that was cast into the sea
and gathered of every kind ; and when it was
full they drew to shore, and gathered the
good into vessels, but cast the bad away."
This is of course done more or less by all
fishermen, but it has perhaps not occurred to
many readers that this selection was a nice
and important matter among the Hebrews,
who were forbidden to eat fish devoid of fins
or scales, and among whom, therefore, the fish
described as " bad " must have been more
numerous than among other people.
Afterwards Christ, perceiving that the crowd
of persons assembled in the neighborhood
began to increase very rapidly by arrivals
from the surrounding districts, thought it ex-
pedient to pass over to the other side of the
lake. But before He departed, He found
occasion to deliver some emphatic and pointed
answers to the declarations of two or three
persons.
The first was one of the .scribes, who being
about to depart, said, " Ma.ster, I will follow
Thee whithersoever thou goest." Jesus neither
declined nor permitted this attendance, but
said what probably was enough to deter a
man in his condition — " The foxes have holes,
and the birds of the air have nests; but the
Son of man hath not where to lay His head '*
— meaning that He had no certain dwelling-
place, no home, for anyone who followed
Him ; which may satisfy us that even in
Capernaum, which seems to have been His
most usual residence, He neither occupied a
hired residence or lived in the house of a
disciple.
Another expressed the .same intention, but
said : — " Lord, suffer me first to go and bury
my father." It might certainly have been ex-
pected, in the first view, that Jesus, full of
kind affections, would have complied with this,
when even Elijah, severe as was his character,
allowed Elisha to bid adieu to his parents. But
Jesus answered in a kind of paradox, turning
upon the meaning of the word "dead." "Let
thedeadbury their dead, but go thou and preach
the gospel." Of two duties the lesser must
yield to the greater ; and the duty of following
Christ and preaching His gospel was more
urgent and quite as sacred as that which pre-
vented the high-priest among the Jews from
approaching the dead of his house, or show-
ing any signs of mourning for them.
When another said. " Lord, I will follow
Thee, but let me first go and bid them farewell
A clusti:r of i'arabli:s.
4:17
that are at home in my house ; " the reply of from the peculiar necessity which the plou^jher
Jesus was in an agricultural metaphor — "No 'is under of keeping his attention fixed upon
man having put his hand to the plough and the furrows ami not ailowiii'.: tliini to deviate;
11^
looking back is fit for the kingdom of God."
This interdiction, ''to cast one longing, linger-
ing look behind," is beautifully appropriate,
KlNDINfi HIDDEN TREASURE.— Matt. xui. 44.
and this necessity was peculiarly imperative in
eastern countries, as the extreme shallowness
of the furrow, where the plough does little
.,:-i'!i"i3
<a8
TESus ON thp: sea.
i|
!!■'
:-'fl
i
i ii'
Mj
i!#
' r
more than scratch the surface of the soil,
renders a deviation the inevitable effect of the
slightest inattention. It is indn-ed from this
circumstance that tiic proverb — for it is one —
originated and has come into general use.
Peace, Be Still.
Jesus then entere^ :he vessel that was to
bear Him to the other side of the lake. While
they were on the passage they encountered one
of those sudden and furious storms which not
unusually arise in lakes surrounded by moun-
tains. The waves broke over the frail bark,
an^ the danger was very great. And where
was Jesus ? He was quietly asleep in the
hinder part of the vessel, -nd slept on undis-
turbed by the noise and iproar the tempest
occasioned. At length, the disciples, who,
although familiar with the lake, were alarmed
at this danger, went and awoke Him, with the
words, " Master, care it thou not that we
perish ? " Christ immediately arose, and re-
buked the wind, and said to the raging sea,
" Peace, be still! " — and h an instant the storm
went down. It did not merely abate, but
ceased altogether for, " immediately there was
a great calm " — not only a calm, but a great
ca'm. In one instant the storm was raging at
the highest pitch, in the next scarccily a ripple
was upon the surface. Jesus then turned to
the disciples and said : " Why are ye so
fearful ? How is it that ye have no faith ! "
thus gently lebuking them for not having ex-
pected to be saved by Him asleep as well as
awake. We must certainly deem them to
have been somewhat excusable in not having
expected this, even from Him. Thoy were
filled with astonishment, and said one to
another, " What manner of man is this that
even the wind and sea obey Him ? " They had
seen Him heal the sick, which was no more
than physicians professed to do ; but now they
see the winds and the sea submissive to Him,
and in this they recognize a superhuman
power.
Jesus then passed to the other side of the
lake, and came into the country of the Gada-
renes, of which Gadara was the chief town,
and also the capital of Petraen. This country
was inhabited by a mixed population of Jews,
proselytes, and Syrians, who were looked down
upon by the less mixed Jews of Judiea. They
were placed by them much on the same level
with the Galileans, and deemed but one degree,
better than Samaritans.
Near the place where Jesus came to shore
there were many tombs, which were either
excavations in the living rock or such roomy
constructions as we still find in the East
These the.i, as now, often furnished places of
shelter to those destitute of or expelled from
human habitations ; and at the present day
such sepulchres are deemed the suitable abode
of ghouls and unclean spirits From these
tombs came forth a man to meet Je jus as He
came up the road. This man was one of those
demoniacs of whom we so often read in the
\ New Testament. He was one of a very pecu-
I liar and terrible sort. He " had devils a long
itime, and wore no clothes, who had his dwell-
ing among the tombs ; and no man could
bind him, no, not with chains ; because he had
been often bound V'i*h fetters and chains, and
jthe chains had been plucked asunder by him,
and the fetters broken in pieces ; neither could
any man tame him. And always, day and
night, he was in the mountains, and in the
tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones."
Casting Out Demons.
This man, seeing Jesus afar off, ran and
worshipped Him, and cried with a loud voice,
acknowledging Him as the Son of the most
high God, and imploring Him not to inflict
torments upon him. This supplication is sup-
posed to have been dictated by a vivid recol-
lection in such unfortunate persons of the
whips and chains with which they had been
constrained, the severe operations to which
they had been subjected, and the nauseous
medicines which had been forced upon them.
The like of this they v/ould naturally dread
from one in whom they recognized the power
to cast out devils. The man said, in the name
of his indwelling demens, that their name was
Legion, " for we are many:" and, perceiving;
A CLUSTER OF PARABLES.
I!
439
that Christ would effect a cure, he in their notion that, next to the sepulchres, the swine
name besought leave to enter into a herd of I formed the most suitable habilatiun for them.
THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE. — Matt. \iii. 45.
swine which was feeding hard by upon the Jesus granted this request, "and the un-
mountains. This was done seemingly under the clean spirits went out and entered into the
^.f^P'^^l^^^f!^
SISmaUimt&i»atisx&>J^i:M:^
440
CEREMONIAL POLLUTION.
h
I, 'i
swine; and the herd ran violently down a!
steep place into tlie sea (there were about two ]
thousand), and were choked in the sea."
It has been remarked that this and the
cursing of the barren fig-tree are the only
examples of severity recorded of Christ. The
Mit case is usually explained by supposing
Drcsei
ih.it the owners were Jews, whom the Levitical
law prohibited from eating or keeping swine. \
It is certain that they might not eat them, or
touch their dead carcasses, but it would be
difficult to find any order against feeding and ,
taking care of them. The prohibition of touch- !
ing the dead carcass implies that the living '
carcass might be touched ; and it has been
suspected that when Moses ordered the com-
mutation of a shekel and a half in lieu of the
first born of unclean animals, he had chiefly
swine in view.
There is, in fact, no ground for the notion
that the Jews might not keep swine, except
that there seems a want of sufficient reason for
keeping them when they were not used for
food. But they might rear them for sale to the
heathen, among whom they were in great de-
mand. And it appears that they did so till
about seventy years before Christ, when the
ceremonial pollution occasioned by the intro-
duction of a hog into the Temple led to the
issue of an order against keeping hogs. And
the terms of this order led to the conclusion
that the Jews then not only reared hogs for
sale, but used their skins, and employed the
fat for tallow and ointment. This order seems,
however, not to have been very strictly ob- 1
served; but its existence sufficed to justify
Christ in public opinion for permitting this ,
catastrophe. j
The owners, however, and the people of the j
neighborhood, who seem to have had more |
of these herds, were by no means satisfied
with this view of the matter. The swineherds ;
ran away and spread the news around. This j
brought many people to meet Jesus, and that |
apparently with uo very friendly intention ; but j
when they saw the late furious maniac sitting
quietly a^t the feet of Jesus, " clothed and in |
his right mind," they were afraid to act offen- !
sively, and were content to beseech Christ that
he would depart from them.
Jesus complied and leturnod to the ship.
The man who had been healed implored leave
to go with Mini. He probably feared that he
should again fall under the power of the
devils, if separated from his deliverer. But
Jesus would not allow this, but told him, " Go
home to thy friends, and tell them how great
things the Lord hath done for thee, and how
he hath had compassion upon thee." The
man more than obeyed, for he went far and
wide through Decapolis, proclaiming the great
deed which had been wrought in his behalf.
Dwellers In T(»iiibs.
The circumstances of this remarkable trans-
action are worthy of the most careful observa-
tion. Amid all the boasted civilization of an-
tiquity, there existed no ho.spitals, no peniten-
tiaries, no asylums ; and unfortunates of this
class, being too dangerous and desperate for
human intercourse, could only be driven forth
from among their fellow-men, and restrained
from mischief by measures at once inadequate
and cruel. Under such circumstances they
could, if irreclaimable, only take refuge in
those holes along the rocky hill-sides which
abound in Palestine, and which were used by
the Jews as tombs.
It is clear that the foul and polluted nature
of such dwelling-places, with all their associa-
tions of ghastliness and terror, would tend to
aggravate the nature of the malady; and this
man, who had long been afflicted, was beyond
even the possibility of control. Attempts had
been made to bind him, but in the paroxysms
of his mania he had exerted that apparently
supernatural strength which is often noticed in
such forms of mental excitement, and had al-
ways succeeded in rending off his fetters and
twisting away or shattering his chains ; and
now he had been abandoned to the lonely hills
and unclean solitudes, which, night and day,
rang with his yells as he wandered among
them, dangerous tohim.self and to others, rav-
ing, and gashing himself with stones, a terror
to all beholders.
A CLUSTER OF PARABLES.
441
It was the frightful figure of this naked and
homicidal maniac that burst upon our Lord
ahiiost as soon as He had landed at early
dawn ; and perhaps another demoniac, who
was not a Gadarene, and who was less griev-
ously afflicted, may have hovered about at no
great distance, although, beyond this allusion
to his presence, he plays no part in the narra- '
tive. The presence, the look, the voice of
Christ, even before He addressed these suf-
ferers, seems always to have calmed and over-
awed them, and this demoniac of Gergcsa was !
no exception. Instead of falling upon the dis-|
ciples, he ran to Jesus from a distance, and fell j
clown before Him in an attitude of worship.
Mingling his own perturbed individuality with
that of the multitude of unclean spirits which
he believed to be in possession of his soul, he
entreated the Lord, in loud and terrified ac-
cents, not to torment him before the time.
Astonished Swineherds.
That the whole scene was violent and start-
ling appears in the fact that the keepers of the ;
swine "fled and told it in the city and in the
country." The people of Gergesa, and the
Gadarenes and Gerasenes of all the neighbor-
ing district, flocked out to see the Mighty
Stranger who had thus visited their coasts,
What livelici or more decisive proof of His
power and His beneficence could they have
had than the sight which met their eyes ? The
filthy and frantic demoniac, who had been the
terror of the country, so that none could pass
that way — the wild-eyed dweller in the tombs
who had been accustomed to gash himself
\v\th cries of rage, and whose untamed fierce-
ness broke away all fetters — was now calm as
a child. Some charitable hand had flung an
outer robe over his naked figure, and he was
sitting quietly at the feet of Jesus,
"And they were afraid" — more afraid of
that Holy Presence than of the previous furies
of the possessed. The man indeed was saved ;
but './hat of that, considering that some of
their two thousand unclean beasts had per-
ished ! Their precious swine were evidently
in danger; the greed and gluttony of every
apostate Jew and low-bred Gentile in the place
were clearly imperilled by receiving such a
one as they saw that Jesus v;as. With dis-
graceful and urgent unanimity' they entreated
and implored Him to leave their coasts. Both
heathens and Jews had recognized already the
great truth that God sometimes answers bad
prayers in His deepest anger. Shakespeare
aptly says ;
We, ignorant of ourselves.
Beg often our own harms, which the wise powers
Deny us for our good.
The converse is seated in these striking
words by Mrs. Browning :
God answers sharp and sudden on some prayers.
And flings the things we have asked for in our face ;
A gauntlet with a gift in't.
Jesus Himself had taught His disciples not
to give that which was holy to the dogs,
neither to cast their pearls before swine, " lest
they trample them under their feet, and turn
again and rend you." He had gone across
the lake for quiet and rest, desiring, though
among lesser multitudes, to extend to these
semi-heathens also the blessings of the king-
dom of God. But they loved their sins and
their swine, and with a perfect energy of de-
liberate preference for all that was base and
mean, rejected such blessings, and entreated
Him to go away. Sadly, but at once. He
turned and left them. Gergesa was no place
for Him; better the lonely hill-tops to the
north of it; better the crowded strand on the
other side.
And yet He did not leave them in anger,
i One deed of mercy had been done there ; one
i sinner had been saved ; from one soul the un-
clean spirits had been cast out. And just as
the united multitudes of the Gadarenes had
entreated for His absence, so the poor saved
demoniac entreated henceforth to he with Him.
But Jesus would fain leave one more, one last
opportunity for those who hid rejected Him.
On others for whose sake mracles had been
performed He had enjoined 'ilence: on this
man — since He was now Ipuving the place —
He enjoined publicity " Go home," He said,
i
Kl
I
I - •l»P?|!f
(442)
A CLUSTER OF PARAlJLKS.
U:J
" to thy friends, and tell them how great things
the Lord hath done for tiiee, and hath had
compassion on thee." And so the demoniac
of Gcrgesa became the first great missionary
to the region of Decapolis, bearing in his own
person the confirmation of his words ; and
Jesus, as His little vessel left the inhospitable
shore, might still hope that the day might not
be far distant — might come, at any rate, before
over that ill-fated district burst the storm of
sword and fire — when j
" E'en the! witless (Imlarene,
Preferring Christ to swine, wouUl feel
That life is sweetest wlien 'tis clean.''
On the return of Jesus to Capernaum, the
apostle Matthew made a great feast for his
Master and fellow-disciples in his own house.
The other persons who were present at this
feast were chiefly " publicans and sinners," as
might be supposed from the position which
Matthew had filled, and the connections which
that position had led him to form. The Phar-
isees failed .lot, as usual, to take malicious no-
tice of t'.is ; and some of them said to the
disciples, " Why enteth your Master with pub-
licans and sinner;- ? " This was probably at
the end of the feast, when they were leaving
the house, for it was not likely that Pharisees
would enter the house of a publican. Jesus
heard this and He answered, " They that be
whole need not a physician, but they that are
sick. I am not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance."
On the same occasion Jesus had to meet
the implied objections of some of the disciples
of John. "Why," they asked, "do we and
the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples
fast not ? " This, doubtless, refers to private
fasts ; such, probably, as John's disciples kept
on accoimt of the impri.-onment of their
master, and such as the Pharisees observed
in obedience to the rules of their great doc-
tors. Jesus beautifully answered : " Can the
children of the bride-chamber (the attendants
on the bridegroom) fast while they have the
bridegroom with them? As long as they
liave the bridegroom with them they cannot
fast. But the days will come when the bride-
groom shall be taken away from them, and
then shall they fist in those days." This,
while it justified the disciples of John for
fasting, seeing that th(Mr bridegroom had
been taken from them, excused Mis own dis-
ciples for not fasting, seeing that their bride-
groom was still with them.
Jesus added several short parables, probably
suggested by their present circumstances.
One of them was — " No man putteth new
wine into old bottles, el.se the new wine will
burst the bottle and be spilled, and the bottle
slmll perish ; but new wine must be put into
new bottles, and both are preserved." And
this is only intelligible with reference to the
skin bottles, or bags made of the skins of kids,
goats, and even oxen, such as are still in u.se
tliroughout the Ivist, and even in some parts
I of Europe, such as Spain, Hungary and Tur-
1 key.
\l
■m
CHAPTER XXXIV.
WONnERFUL WORKS.
,iiti
'iMft
5^1. iLE Jesus was still
at V tie hou se of Matthew,
K.h^aged ir the kindly
■ aching which arose
oat of the question of
John's disciples, anoth-
er ivent occurred
which led in succession
to three of the greatest
miracles of His earthly
life. A ruler of ihe
synagogue — oi chief elder of
the congregation, to whom the
Jews looked with great respect
— came to Jesus in extreme agi-
tation. It is not improbable
that this ruler of the synr-rgogue
had been one of the very deputation who had
pleaded with Jesus for the centurion by whom
it had been built. If so, he kn:'w by experi-
ence the power of Him to whrm He now ap-
pealed.
Flinging himself at His feet with broken
words — which in the original still sound as
though they were interrupted and rendered
incoherent by bursts of grief— he tells Him
that his little daughter, his only daughter, is
dying, is dead; but still, if He will but come
and lay His hand upon her, she shall live.
With the tenderness which could not be deaf
to a mourner s cry, Jesus rose at once from
the table, a^^d vent with him, followed not
only by His disciples, but also by a dense ex-
pectant multitude, which had been wituiss
of the scene. And as He went the people
in their eagerness pressed upon Him and
thronged Hir .
But amoiif; this throng — containing doubt-
less some of the Pharisees and of John's dis-
ciples with hom he had been discoursing, as
well as SOI i • of the publicans and sinners with
(444
whom he had been seated at the feast — there
was one who had not been attracted by curi-
osity to witness what would be done for the
ruler of the synagogue. It was a woman who
fortwelve years had suffered from a distressing
malady, which unfitted her for all the relation-
ships of life, p.fid which war peculiarly afflict-
ing because in the popular mind it v/as re-
garded as a direct consequence of sinful hab-
its. In vain had she wa.sted her substance
and done fresh injury to her health in the
eflforl to procure relief from many different
physicians, and r->w, as a last desperate re-
source, she would try what could be gained
without money and Vvithout price from the
Great Physician.
Perhaps, in her ignorance, it was because
she had no loiiger any reward to offer ; per-
haps because she was a^.hamed in her feminine
modesty to reveal the malady from which she
was suffering ; but from whatever cause, she
d< tt rminrdas it were, to steal from Him, un-
kiiovn, iho blessing for which she longed.
Aiifi so, with the -trength and pertinacity of
despair, .she struggled in that dense throng
until she was near enough to touch Him ; and
then, perhaps all the more violently from her
extreme nervousness, she gra.sped the white
fringe of H is robe. By the law of Moses every
Jew was to wear fringes or tassels, bound by
a thread of .symbolic blue, to remind him that
he was holy to God.
Two of the.se fringes usually hung down at
the bottom of the robe ; two hung over the
shoulders where the robe was folded round
the person. !<• was probably one of these
that she touched with .secret and trembling
haste, and then, feeling instantly that she had
gained her desire and was iitalcd, she .shrunk
back unnoticed into the throng. Unnoticed
by others, but not by Christ. Perceiving that
M
>
r
o
H
y,
H
to
t>J
'<t.>M'S
^jS^SK
east — there
;d by curi-
one for the
voman who
I distressing
he relation-
iarly afflict-
it v/as re-
sinful hab-
r substance
alth in the
ny different
asperate re-
el be gained
ce from the
vas because
) offer ; per-
lier feminine
n which she
r cause, she
Ti Him, un-
she longed,
ertinarity of
iense thiong
;h Him ; and
;ly from her
:d the white
Moses every
Is, bound by
lindhim that
ung down at
Ling over the
folded round
me of these
id trembling
that she had
1, she shrunk
Unnoticed
erceiving that
(445)
446
THE TOUCH OF FAITH.
nt-tll!
t-.,fj
' .'U
healing power had gone out of Him, recog-
nizing the one magnetic touch of timid faith
€ven amid the pressure of the crowd. He
.stopped and asked, " Who touched my
clothes ? " There was something almost im-
patient in the reply of Peter, as though in
such a throng he thought it absurd to ask,
^' Who touched me?" But Jesus, His eyes
still wandering over the many faces, told Him
that there was a difference between the crowd-
ing of curiosity and the touch of faith, and as
at last His glance fell on the poor woman,
she, perceiving that she had erred in trying to
filch the blessing which He would have gra-
ciously bestowed, came forward fearing and
trembling, and, flinging herself at His feet,
told Him all the truth. All her feminine
shame and fear were forgotten in her desire to
atone for her fault.
The Daughter's Death.
Doubtless she dreaded His anger, for the
law expressly ordained that the touch of one
afflicted as she was caused ceremonial un-
cleanliness till the evening. But His touch had
cleansed her, not hers polluted Him. So
far from being indignant. He .said to her,
" Daughter " — and at once the sound of that
gracious word sealed her pardon — " go in
peace : thy faith hath saved thee ; be healed
from thy disease." Jesus addressed no other
woman by the title " Daughter." Legend has
assigned to this woman Veronica as a name,
and Paneas (Caesarea Philippi) as a residence.
An ancient statue of bronze at this place was
believed to represent her in the act of touch-
ing the fringe of Christ's robe ; and Eusebius
and Sozomen both mention this statue, which
is believed to be a curious testimony to the
reality of Christ's miracle.
The incident must have caused a brief
delay, and, as we have seen, to the anguish
of Jairus every instant was critical. But he
was not the only sufferer who had a claim on
the Saviour's mercy ; and, as he uttered no
complaint, it is clear that sorrow had not
made him selfish. But at this moment a
messenger reached him with the brief mes-
sage — " Thy daughter is dead ; " and then,
apparently with a touch of dislike and irony,
he added, " Worry not the Rabbi."
The message had not been addressed to
Jesus, but He overheard it, and with a com-
passionate desire to spare the poor father from
needless agony, He said to him those memo-
rable words, " Fear not, only believe." They
soon arrived at his house, and found it occu-
pied by the hired mourners and flute-players,
who, as they beat their breasts, with mercenary
clamor, insulted the dumbness of sincere sor-
row and the patient majesty of death.
Probably this simulated wailing would be
very repulsive to the soul of Christ ; and first
stopping at the door to forbid any '^f the mul-
titude to follow Him, He entered the house
with three only of the inmost circle of His
apostles — Peter, and James and John. On
entering. His first care was to still the idle
noise ; but when His kind declaration — " The
little maid is not dead, but sleepeth," — was
only received with coarse ridicule, He indig-
nantly ejected the paid mourners. When
calm was restored. He took with Him the
father and the mother and His three apostle.?,
and entered with quiet reverence the chamber
hallowed by the silence and awfulness of death.
Then, taking the little cold dead hand. He
uttered these two thrilling words, " Talitha
cuvii'^ — "Little maid, arise!" and her spirit
returned, and the child arose and walked.
An awful amazement seized the parents ; but
Jesus calmly bade them give the child some
food. And if He added His customary warn-
ing that they should not speak of what had
happened, it was not evidently in the intention
that the entire fact should remain unknown —
for that would have been impossible, when all
the circumstances had been witnessed by so
many — but because those who have received
from God's hand unbounded mercy are more
likely to reverence that mercy with adoring
gratitude if it be kept like a hidden treasure
in the inmost heart.
No one can fail to admire the ease and
unostentatious simplicity which reigns through-
out this transaction, as well as in the raising of
WONDKRI-UL VVOKKS.
44r
omary warn-
of what had
the intention
unknown —
ble, when all
lessed by so
lave received
rcy are more
with adoring
Iden treasure
the widow's son at Nain. The Divine tran-
quillity, the simple words, " I say unto thee,
Arise," speak the presence of One who is the
conscious master of all things — even of deatli.
The silence which Jesus imposed on the pa-
rents of the maiden was obviously founded upon
the dangers which this news, inconsiderately
spread, might bring upon His person and
The time was coming when thus..' mir.icles
might be referred lu by ci>iiipctciii wiiiicssos
in proof of His divine mission, and liien the
benefit which the cause of the Gospel must
derive from them would be realized. Iherc
was, however, nothing contradictory in His ap-
pealing to His works in proof of His mission,
as when He says — " If I do not the works ol
CHRIST RAISING THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS. — Mark V. 4I.
doctrine. His hour, as He repeatedly de-
clared, was not yet come. The renown of
this great miracle, after He had so recently
raised the son of the widow of Nain, would be
sure to bring upon Him in tenfold activity the
hate of His enemies, and lead them to plot
against Him, as actually happened afterwards,
when He raised Lazarus from the dead.
my Father, believe me not. Hut if I do,
though ye believe not Me, believe the works :
that ye may know, and believe, that the
Father is in Me, and I in Him." For he had
only under particular circumstances enjoined
this silence; and when it had been enjoined,
silence had rarely been observed as He
desired and directed that it should be.
i
448
THE CRY OF TWO BLIND MEN.
1
'■ ; ^ ','!
•|-*r
m-
On His return from the house of Jairus,
two blind men, hearing wljo passed by, fnl-
lowcd after Ilim, crying, " Tiiou son of David,
have mercy on us!" This calling Ilim "the
son of David" was a recognition of Ilim as
the expected Mi-'ssiah ; and it is not a little
remarkable that this, in gospel narratives,
comes from blind men almost exclusively. Is
it that the celestial light " shines inward," in
proportion to the privation of the outward
sense? Is it that the inner vision is "purged
with euphrasy and rue," till it is enabled toj
behold "things invisible to mortal sight?"
Be this as it may, the blind were, In
Christ's own time, ever the foremost to
acknowledge Him in His true character: and
the blind of that age, one would almost sup-
pose, had left the heritage of tlicir fiith to the
blind of latter ages; as among them we still
find unusual intensity of love towards the j
person and character of Jesus Christ, unusual
reliance of all the affections on Him. and
unusual strength of hope in His salvation and
glory.
"Let There Be Lif^rlit."
Jesus did rot appear to notice them till He
readied the house to which He was going. I
He then said to them, " Believe you that I am \
able to do this ? " They answered " Yea, !
Lord ; " on which He touched their eyes, and '
said, "According to your faith be it untoj
you." And they had much faith, for their!
eyes were opened. The light of day shone ;
in upon them, and the visible glories of this
beautiful world were no longer mysteries. i
Already Christ had begun to check, as it!
were, the spontaneity of His miracles. Hej
had performed more than sufficient to attest !
His power and mission, and it was important
that men should pay more heed to His Divine
eternal teaching than to His temporal healings.
Nor would He as yet sanction the premature,
and perhaps ill-considered, use of the Messi- 1
anic title, " Son of David " — a title which, had i
He publicly accepted it, might have thwarted
His sacred purposes, by leading to an instan- 1
taneous revolt in His favor against the Roman i
power. Without noticing the men or their |
!cry, He went to the house in Capernaum,
where he abode ; nor was it until they had
persistently followed Ilim into the house thai
He tested their faith.
Like so many whom He healed, they neg-
lected His stern command not to reveal it.
There are some who have admired their diso-
bedience, and have attributed it to the enthu-
siasm of gratitude and admiration ; but was it
not rather the enthusiasm of a blatant wonder,
the vulgarity of a chattering boast? How
many of these multitudes who had been healed
by Him became His true disciples? Did not
the holy fire of devotion which a hallowpd
silence must have kept alive upon the altar of
thuir hearts die away in the mere blaze of
empty rumor? Did not He know best? Would
not obedience have been better than sacrifice,
and to hearken than the fat of rams? Yes.
It is possible to deceive ourselves ; it is possi-
ble to offer to Christ a seeming service which
disobeys His inmost precepts — to grieve Him,
under the guise of honoring Him, by vain
repetitions, and the hollow semblance of a
dead devotion.
Better, far better, to serve Him by doing the
thinjTs He said than by a seeming zeal, often
false in exact proportion to its obtrusiveness,
for the glory of His name. The.se disobedi-
ent babblers, who talked so much of Him, did
but offer Him the dishonoring service of a
double heart ; their violation of His command-
ment served only to hinder His usefulness, to
trouble His spirit, and to precipitate His
death.
Soon after this Jesus once more visited Ca-
pernaum, being attended by His disciples. On
the first Sabbath after His arrival He taught
in the synagogue. But the men of Nazareth
were not now better prepared than formerly
to respect His character and office. Their
minds dwelt upon " all the disadvantages of
His youth, and kindred, and trade, and poverty ;
still retaining in their minds the infirmities and
humilities of His first years, and keeping the
same apprehensions of Him as a man and a
glorious prophet which they had to Him as a
child in the shop of a carpenter."
WONDERFUL WORKS.
449
Jesushimself indicated the principle of their —like all the greatest and most efftctiv©
conduct to Him by quoting the well-known missions which the world has ever known —
proverb—" A prophet hath nowhere less was to be simple and self-supporting,
honor than in his own country ;" a proverb The o- hospitality of the East, so often
still constantly verified by the daily experience used as oasis for a dissemination of new
of many who, after having gathered renown thoughts, would be ample for their mainte-
and honor among strangers, find that in their nance.
native town the circumstances out of which | Rcnan notices the modern analogy. "When
they have risen are far better remembered and travelling in the East no one need ever scruple
more thought of than those to which they
have attained, so that at home they are greater
strangers than in remote cities and lands.
to go into the best house of any Arab village
to which he comes, and he will always be
received with profuse and gratuitous hospi-
tality. From the moment we entered any
house, it was regarded as our own. There is
not an Arab you meet who will not empty
for you the last drop in his water-skin, or
sliare with you his last piece of black bread.
was the re-
Failure to Perform MiracIeN.
The influence of this feeling prevented the
Nazarenes from seeing Christ in His true great-
ness; for it is emphatically remarked that
" He could do no mighty works there because i The Rabbis said that Paradise
of their unbelief;" and this in two ways -for, [ ward of willing hospitality."
first, their knowledge of His humble birth \
effectually prevented that implicit reliance ' The Blessing of Peace.
upon His power which He invariably exacted, } On entering a town the disciples were to
and which could alone render them worthy of go to any house in it where they had reason
His protection and help; and then from the to hope that they would be welcome, and to
influence of the same feeling, they would not ■ salute it with the immemorial and much-
think it worth their while sedulously to bring, valued blessing, " Peace be to you," and if the
their sick to Jesus, and humbly to seek aid. 1 children of peace were there the blessing
It was not long after this that Jesus conferred j would be effective ; if not, it would return on
upon the twelve apostles power to accomplish j their own heads. If rejected, they were to
such miracles as He had Himself wrought, shake off the dust of their feet in witness that
even to the extent of raising the dead ; and
they were then sent forth, two and two, to
preach the gospel throughout the country.
Before sending them He naturally gave
them the instructions • which were to guide
their conduct. At present they were to con-
fine their mission to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel, and not extend it to Samaritans
or Gentiles. The topic of their preaching
was to be the nearness of the kingdom of
heaven, and it was to be freely supported by
they had spoken faithfully, and that they thus
symbolically cleared themselves of all respon-
sibility for that judgment which should fall
more heavily on wilful and final haters of the
light than on the darkest places of a heathen-
dom in which the light had never, or but
feebly, shone.
So far their Lord had pointed out to them
the duties of trustful faith, of gentle courtesy,
of self-denying simplicity as the first essentials
of missionary .success. He proceeded to for-
tify them agiinst the inevitable trials and
works of power and beneficence. They were
to take nothing with them; no scrip for food; j persecutions of their missionary work,
no purse for money; no change of raiment; j Th'^y needed and were to exercise the
no travelling shoes in place of their ordinary I wisdom of serpents no less than the harmless-
palm-bark sandals ; they were not even to | ness of doves ; for He was sending them forth
procure a staff for the journey if they did not | as sheep among wolves,
happen already to possess one ; their mission ] Doubtless these discourses were not always
29
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SELF-SACRIFICE.
l^■■
• in
i,;i|i
t
delivered in the continuous form in which
they have naturally come down to us. Jesus
seems at all times to have graciously encoi^r-
aged the questions of humble and earnest
listeners; and at this point we are told by an
ancient tradition, that Peter— ever, we may be
sure, a most eager and active-minded listener
— interrupted his Master with the not un-
natural question, " But how then it the wolves
should tear the lambs ? " And Jesus an-
swered, smiling perhaps at the naive and
literal intellect of His chief apostle, " Let not
the lambs fear the wolves when the lambs are
once dead, and do you fear not those who
can kill you and do nothing to you, but fear
Him who after you are dead hath power over
soul and body to cast them into hell."
Patient Endurance.
And then, continuing the thread of His dis-
course, He warned them plainly how, both at
at this time and again long afterwards, they
might be brought before councils, and
scourged in synagogues, and stand at the
judgment-bar of kings, and yetj without any
anxious premeditation, the Spirit should teach
them what to say. The doctrfne> of peace
shouM be changed by the evil passions of
men into a war-cry of fury and hate, and they
might be driven to fly before the face of enemies
from city to city. Still let them endure to
the end. for before they had gone through the
cities of Israel, the Son of man should have
come.
Then lastly, He at once warned and com-
forted them by reminding them ..of what He
Himself had suflered, and how He had been
opposed. Let them not fear. The God who
cared even for the little birds when they fell
to the ground — the God by whom the very
hairs of their head were numbered — the God
who held in His hand the issues of life and
death, and who was therefore more to be
feared than the wolves of earth — He was with
them; He would acknowledge those whom
His Son acknowledged, and deny those
whom He denied. They were being sent
forth into a world of strife, which would seem
even the more deadly because of the peace
which it rejected, but they were wrapped in
inipcnetrat|(e armor, and shielded by the Di>
vine presence.
Even their nearest and dearest might side
with the world against them. But they who
would be His true followers must for His
sake give up all ; must even take up their
cross and follow Him. And then, for their
comfort, He told them that they should be as
He was in the world; that they who received
them should receive Him ; that to lose their
lives for His sake would be to more than find
them ; that a cup of cold water given to the
youngest and humblest of His little ones
should not miss of its reward.
That the whole of this discour-vc was not
delivered on this occasion, that there are ref-
erences in it to later periods, that parts of it
are only applicable to other apostolic missions
which as yet lay far in the future, seems
clear; but we may, nevertheless, be g^teful
that Matthew, guided as usual by unity of
subject, collected into one focus the scattered
rays of, instruction delivered, perhaps, on
several siibseqhent .occasions — as, for instance,
before the sending of the seventy, and even at
the parting utterances of the risen Christ. It
was a wise and merciful provision that He
sent the disciples out two and two ; it enabled
them to hold sweet converse together, and
mutually to correct each other's faults.
Doubtless the friends and the brothers went
in pairs ; the fiery Peter with the more contem-
plative Andrew ; the sons of thunder — one
influential and commanding, the other emo-
tional and eloquent; the kindred &ith and
guilelessness of Philip arid Bartholomew;
the slow but faithful Thomas with the thought-
ful and devoted Matthew ; James with his
brother Jude ; the zealot Simon to fire with
his zeal the dark, flagging, despairing spirit
of the traitor Judas.
During their absence Jesus continued His
work alone, perhaps as He slowly made His
way towards Jerusalem; for if we can speak
of probability at all amid the deep uncertainties
of the chronology of His ministry, it seems
WONDERFUL WORKS.
461
■ the peace
V rapped in
by the Di-
might side
t they who
;st for His
Ice up their
;n, for their
hould be as
ho received
lose their
re than find
riven to the
little ones
•".e was not
lere are ref-
parts of it
)lic missions
ture, seems
be gjrateful
by unity of
he scattered
perhaps, on
for instance,
and even at
\ Christ. It
on that He
> ; it enabled
ogether, and
her's faults.
rothers went
lore contem-
hunder— one
other emo-
ed faith and
artholomew ;
the thought-
nes with his
to fire with
>airing spirit
sntinued His
ly made His
ve can speak
uncertainties
try, it seems
extremely probable that it is to this point that ! natural to suppose that He was now living in
the verse belongs—" After this there was a j the peaceful seclusion of that pious household
as a solitary and honored guest.
But even if John intends us to believe that
the occurrence of this feast was the imme-
diate cause of this visit to Jerusalem, we must
bear in mind that there is no proof whatever
of its having been in the time of Christ the fan-
tastic and disorderly commemoration and free
carousal which it subsequently became. The
nobler-minded Jews doubtless observed it in a
calm and grateful manner ; and as one part of
the festival consisted in showing acts of kind-
ness to the poor, it may have offered an at-
traction to Jesus both on this ground, and be-
cause it enabled Him to show that there was
nothing unnational or unpatriotic in the uni-
versal character of His message, or the all-
embracing infinitude of the charity which He
both practised and enjoined.
Vengeance of Herodias.
Just about this time the birthday of Herod
the tetrarch was celebrated with great festivity
in the court of Galilee. On this occasion
Herod was so much charmed with the dancing
of young Salome (so Josephus calls her), the
daughter, by her former husband, of that-
Herodias whom Herod had taken away from
his brother Philip, that he promised with an
oath to give her whatever she should ask.
From the effect which this dancing produced
upon the tetrarch, it would appear that it was
not that comparatively rude and unformed
style of dancing which was anciently used by
the Jewish maidens at public rejoicings ; but
that lascivious and pantomimic sort which,
by the movements of the hands and other
members of the bodVr. expressed human man-
ners and affection^, and whicjli had then latjily
been introduced from neighboring nations into
the Jewish court.
The damsel was old enough to know the
value of the promise thus given, and, instead
of giving utterance to any girlish wish, went to
ask her mother concerning the suit which she
should prefer. Herodias hated John the Bap-
tist on account of the protest he had uttered
feast of the Jews, and; Jesus went up to Jeru-
salem." There are ample reasons, as far as the
text is concerned, and as far as the time re-
quired by the narrative is concerned, for be-
lieving that this nameless feast was in all prob-
ability the feast of Purim.
The Purim Festival.
But how came Jesus to go up to Jerusalem
for such a feast as this ? a feast which was the
saturnalia of Judaism ; a feast which was with-
out Divine authority, and had its roots in the
most intensely exclusive, not to say vindic-
tive feelings of the nation ; a feast of merri-
ment and masquerade, which was purely social
and often discreditably convivial ; a feast which
was unconnected with religious services, and
was observed, not in the Temple, not even
necessarily in the synagogues, but mainly in
the private houses of the Jews ?
The answer seems to be that, although
Jesus was in Jerusalem at this feast, and went
up about the time that it was held, the words
of John do not necessarily imply that He went
up for the express purpose of being present at
this particular festival. The Passover took
place only a month afterwards, and He may
well have gone up mainly with the intention
of being present at the Passover, although He
gladly availed Himself of an opportunity for
being in Judaea and Jerusalem a month before
it, both that He might once more preach in
those neighborhoods, and that He might avoid
the publicity and dangerous excitement in-
volved in His joining the caravan of the Pass-
over pilgrims from Galilee.
Such an opportunity may naturally have
arisen from th^absence of the apostles on their
missionary tour. Jesus had friends and well-
wishers at Jerusalem and in its vicinity. He
must doubtless have paid visits to those regions
which are not recorded. Perhaps it was among
those friends that He awaited the return of
His immediate followers. We know the deep
afTeclion which He entertained for the members
of one household in Bethany, and it is not un-
mmm
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CHRIST FEEDING THE MULTITUDE. — Matt. xiv. IQ.
(462)
WONDERFUL WORKS.
453
against her connection witii Herod, but had
never been able to prevail upon the tetrarch to
bring him to any further punishment than im-
prisonment, and she seized with avidity the oc-
casion now offered, by instructing her daughter ;
to demand the head of the Baptist — "in a!
charger " (salver), a barbarously-minute addi- !
tion, strikingly characteristic of a peculiarity
often noticed in a woman's vengeance. Most'
men would have been content simply to de- 1
mand the head of the Baptist; but sh.* phrased!
it — "Givj ma here the head of John the Bap-j
tist in a charger" — "here" and in "a charger!" i
Herod was sorry that such a demand should |
have been made, for he had a sort of awe for
the Baptist, and justly dreaded the effect which
so barbarous an act might produce upon the
people, by whom the prophet was held in
high veneration. But as his onth had been
taken in the presence of so many witnesses,
he fancied that he could not draw back. The
word was given ; John was beheaded in the
prison where he had so long been confined,
and his head was brought in a charger to
Salome, who carried it to her mother. All the
circumstances of this tcansaction are exceed-
ingly revolting, and give a lively idea of an
age in which blood w is poured out like water,
and when even " tender and delicate women "
were familiar with all kinds of violence and
with every ghastly form of death.
Hertid Perplexed.
Tlje people were greatly disgusted and pro-
voked at the slaughter of John, and although I
they did not rise in sedition, as perhaps Herod
had apprehended, Josephus informs us that
they failed not to ascribe to this enormity the
destruction of his fine army by Aretas, king
of Arabia (the father of the tetrarch's former
wife), which soon afterwards took place.
It was not long after this that the doings of
Christ first came under the notice of Herod,
and perplexed him greatly : " John," he said,
" have I beheaded ; but who is this of whom
I hear such things ? " This implies doubt,
and it would seem that he was at length led
to conclude that Jesus was no other than the
Baptist raised from the dead, and became very
desirous to see him. Jesus probably heard of
this ; and, if so, we may conclude that it was
from the desire to avoid the court of Herod
and the snares of the tyrant, that He took
ship and withdrew into the more solitary
regions bordering the Lake of Tiberias.
The apprehension that the people, enraged
at the murder of John, and always prone to
sedition, might rise into actual rebellion, and
He incur the blame, may also have been one
of the reasons for this step. The need of rest
and refreshment after the season of excessive
fatigue to which He and His apostles, who
had by this time rejoined Him, had been ex-
posed, is also mentioned as a further reason
for this retirement.
Feeding the Multitude.
The desert place to which He withdrew
was not far from the town of Bethsaida. The
solitude which He sought was not, however,
allowed Him there. The people followed
Him, so that even in this solitary place He
was soon surrounded by a great multitude.
When Jesus beheld this large body of people,
so far away from their homes in the wilder-
ness. He was moved with compassion towards
them, " because they were as sheep not having
a shepherd ; " and He ascended an eminence
with His disciples, and He taught them many
things. Then perceiving that the day was far
spent, and that the people were exhausted
with walking and want of food, while the
places were so distant where food might be
procured, Jesus said to Philip, " Whence shall
we buy bread, that these may eat ? " This,
we are told. He said to prove him. His own
intentions having been already formed.
The feeding of tne five thous ind is one of
the few miracles during the ministry of Christ
j which are narrated to us by all four of the
I evangelists.
I The novel journeyin^^s of the apostles, the
agitation of His own recent conflicts, the con-
stant pressure of a fluctuating multitude which
absorbed the whole of their time, once more
rendered it necessary that the little company
ii
454
THE SHORE OF GALILEE.
¥^lM
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should recover the tone and bloom of their
spirits by a brief period of rest and solitude.
" Come ye yourselves," He said, " apart into
a desert place, and rest a while."
At the north-eastern corner of the lake, a
little beyond the point where the Jordan enters
it, was a second Bethsaida, or " Fish-house,"
once, like its western namesake, a small vil-
lage, but recently enlarged and beautified by
Philip, tetrarch of Itursea, and called, for the
sake of distinction, Bethsaida Julias. The
second name had been given it in honor of
Julia, the beautiful but infamous daughter of
the emperor Augustus. These half-heathen
Herodian cities, with their imitative Greek
architecture and adulatory Roman names,
seem to have repelled rather than attracted
the feet of Christ; and though much of His
work was accomplished in the neighborhood
of considerable cities, we know of no city
except Jerusalem in which He ever taught.
But to the south of Bethsaida Julias was
the green and narrow plain of El Batihah^
which, like the hills that closed it round, was
uninhabited then as now. Hitherward the
little vessel steered its course, with its freight
of weary and saddened hearts which sought
repose. But private as the departure had
been, it had not passed unobserved, and did
not remain unknown. It is but six miles by
sea from Capernaum to the retired and deso-
late shore which was their destination.
The Waitingr Throngr.
The little vessel, evidently retarded by un-
favorable winds, made its way slowly at no
great distance from the shore, and by the time
it reached its destination, the object which
their Master's kindness had desired for His
apostles was completely frustrated. Some
of the multitude had already outrun the ves-
sel, and were crowding about the landing-
place when the prow touched the pebbly
shore; while in the distance were seen the
thronging groups of Passover pilgrims, who
were attracted out of their course by the in-
creasing celebrity of this unknown prophet.
Jesus was touched with compassion for them,
because they were as sheep not having a
shepherd. We may conjecture from John
that on reaching the land He and His dis-
ciples climbed the hill-side, and there waited a
short time till the whole multitude had as-
sembled. Then descending among them He
taught them many things, preaching to them
of the kingdom of heaven, and healing their
sick.
The day wore on; already the sun was
sinking towards the western hills, yet still
the multitude lingered, charmed by that heal-
ing voice and by those holy words. The
evening would soon come, and after the brief
oriental twilight, the wandering crowd, who
in their excitement had neglected even the
necessities of life, would find themselves in
the darkness, hungry, and afar from every
human habitation. The disciples began to
be anxious lest the day should end in some
unhappy catastrophe, which would give a
fresh handle to the already embittered ene-
mies of Christ. But His compassion had
already forestalled their considerate anxiety,
and had suggested the difficulty to the mind
of Philip, who was especially thoughtful.
Barley Loaves and Fishes.
A little consultation took place. To buy
even a mouthful apiece for such a multitude
would require at least two hundred denarii
(more than thirty-five dollars); and even sup-
posing that they possessed such a sum !n their
common purse, there was now neither time
nor opportunity to make the necessary pur-
chases. Andrew hereupon mentioned that
there was a little boy there who had five barley-
loaves and two small fishes, but he only said
it in a desparing way, and, as it were, to show
the utter helplessness of the only suggestion
which occurred to him.
" Make the men sit down," was the brief
reply.
Wondering and expectant, the apostles bade
the multitude recline, as for a meal, on the
rich green grass which in that pleasant spring-
time clothed the hill-sides. They arranged
them in companies of fifty and a hundred, and
I j
WONDERFUL WORKS.
466
vas the brief
as they sat in these orderly groups upon the
grass, the gay red and blue and yellow colors
of the clothing which the poorest Orientals
wear, called up in the imagination of Peter a
multitude of flowers-beds in some well-culti-
vated garden.
And then, standing in the midst of His
guests — glad-hearted at the work of mercy
which He intended to perform — Jesus raised
His eyes to heaven, gave thanks, blessed the
loaves, broke them into pieces, and began to
distribute them to His disciples, and they to
the multitude ; and the two fishes He divided
among them all. It was an humble but a suf-
ficient and to hungry wayfarers a delicious
meal.
And when all were abundantly satisfied,
Jesus, not only to show His disciples the extent
and reality of what had been done, but also to
teach them the memorable lesson that waste-
fulness, even of miraculous power, is wholly
alien to the Divine economy, bade them gather
up the fragments that remained, that nothing
might be lost. The symmetrical arrangement
of the multitude showed that about five thou-
^^nd men, besides women and children, had
been fed, and yet twelve baskets were filled
•with what was over and above that which
had been eaten.
Each of the twelve apostles may be sup-
posed to have filled a basket, and probably
carried down to the boat the basket he had
filled. The supply was more than enough.
An Impressive Miracle.
This was in many respects the most con-
vincing, if not in itself the greatest, miracle
which Christ had yet performed. It accord-
ingly had a corresponding effect upon the
multitude, who said, " This is, of a truth, that
Prophet that should come into the world."
Believing Him to be the Messiah, they were
disposed to constrain Him to take the temporal
sovereignty, which they conceived to belong to
that character, and which He was manifestly
reluctant to assume. Many have attained to
thrones in this world with a less promising
beginning than the adhesion of five thousand
men ; and if Christ had any objects of worldly
ambition, an opportunity which few would
have neglected was here ofTered to Him. But
far different were the objects of His coming,
far different the mission to the world with
which He was charged.
The miracle produced a profound impression.
It was exactly in accordance with the current
expectation, and the multitude began to whis-
per to each other that this must undoubtedly
be " that Prophet which should come into the
world ; " the Shiloh of Jacob's blessing ; the
Star and the Sceptre of Balaam's vision ; the
Prophet like unto Moses to whom they were to
hearken ; perhaps the Elijah promised by the
dying breath of ancient prophecy ; perhaps the
Jeremiah of their tradition, come back to re-
veal the hiding-place of the Ark, and the
Urim, and the sacred fire. Jesus marked their
undisguised admiration, and the danger that
their enthusiasm might break out by force,
and percipitate His death by open rebellion
against the Roman government in the attempt
to make Him a king. He saw too that His
disciples seemed to share this worldly and
perilous excitement.
The time was come, therefore, for instant
action. By the exercise of direct authority,
He compelled His disciples to embark in
their boat, and cross the lake before Him in
the direction of Capernaum or the western
Bethsaida. A little gentle constraint was
necessary, for they were naturally unwilling to
leave Him among the excited multitude on
that lonely shore, and if anything great was
going to happen to Him they felt a right to
be present. On the other hand, it was more
easy for Him to dismiss the multitude when
they had seen that His own immediate friends
and disciples had been sent away.
So in the gathering dusk He gradually and
gently succeeded in persuading the multitude
to leave Him, and when all but the most en-
thusiastic had streamed away to their homes
or caravans, He suddenly left the rest, and
fled from them to the hill-top alone to pray.
He was conscious that a solemn and awful
crisis of His day on earth was come, and by
i\>i
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:iil':.!'i
fi'
456
ELEMENTS AT WAR.
communing wiih His Heavenly Father, He
would nerve His soul for the stern work of
the morrow, and the bitter conflict of many
coming weeks. Once before he had spent
in the mountain solitudes » night of lonely
prayer, but then it was before the choice of
His beloved apostles, and the glad tidings of
His earliest and happiest ministry. Far difl^
erent were the feelings with which the great
High-priest now climbed the rocky stairs of
that great mountain altar which in His temple
of the night seemed to lift Him near to the
stars of God. The murder of His beloved
forerunner brought home to His soul more
nearly the thought of death ; nor was He de-
ceived by this brief blaze of a falsely-founded
popularity, which on the next day He meant
to quench as something worthless.
The Boat in the Tempest.
The storm which now began to sweep over
the barren hills ; the winds that rushed howl-
ing down the ravines ; the lake before Him
bufTeted into tempestuous foam; the little boat
which — as the moonlight struggled through
the rifted clouds — He saw tossing beneath
Him on the laboring waves, were all too sure
an emblem of the altered aspects of His
earthly life. But there on the desolate hill-
top, in that night of storm, he could gain
strength and peace and happiness unspeak-
able ; for there He was alone with God. And
so over that figure, bowed in lonely prayer
upon the hills, and over those toilers upon
the troubled lake, the darkness fell and the
great winds blew.
Hour after hour passed by. It was now
the fourth watch of the night ; the ship had
traversed but half of its destined course ; it
was dark, and the wind was contrary, and the
waves boisterous, and they were distressed
with toiling at the oar, and above all there
was no one with them now to calm and save,
for Jesus was alone upon the land.
Alone upon the land, and they were tossing
on the perilous sea ; but all the while he saw
and pitied them, and at last, in their worst
extremity, they saw a gleam in the darkness.
and an awful figure and a fluttering robe, and
One drew near them, treading upon the ridges
of the sea, but seemed as if He meant to pass
them by ; and they cried out in terror at the
sight, thinking that it was a phantom that
walked upon the waves.
A Voice in the Storm.
And through the storm and darkness to
them — as so often to us, when, amid the dark-
nesses of life, the ocean seems so great, and
our little boats so small — there thrilled that
Voice of peace, which said, " It is I : be not
afraid."
That voice stilled their terrors, and at once
they were eager to receive Him into the ship ;
but Peter's impetuous love — the strong yearn-
ing of him who, in his despairing self-con-
sciousness, had cried out, " Depart from me! "
— now cannot even await His approach, and
he passionately exclaims —
" Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto
Thee on the water."
" Come," exclaimed the voice, that even the
winds obeyed.
And over the vessel's side into the troubled
waves he sprang, and while his eye was fixed
on Christ, the wind might toss his hair, and
the spray might drench his robes, but all was
well ; but when, with wavering faith, he glanced
from Him to the furious waves, and to the
gulfy blackness underneath, then he began to
sink, and in an accent of despair — how unlike
his former confidence! — he faintly cried, "Lord,
save me ! "
Nor did Jesus fail. Instantly, with a smile
of pity. He stretched out His hand, and
grasped the hand of His drowning disciple,,
with the gentle rebuke, " O thou of little
faith, why didst thou doubt ? " And so, his
love satisfied, but his over-confidence rebuked,
they climb — Jesus and His abashed apostle —
into the boat ; and the wind lulled, and amid
the ripple of waves upon the moonlit shore,
they were at the haven where they would be ;
and all — the crew as well as His disciples —
were filled with deeper and deeper amazement,
and some of them, addressing Him by a title
WONDERFUL WORKS.
467
come unto
at even the
which Nathaniel alone had applied to Him
before, exclaimed, " Truly Thou art the Son
of God." This was their bold confession.
was situated. It was then morning, and
Christ being immediately recognized 1 Ic was
soon attended by the usual crowd. Wherever
i
i
PETER SAVED BY JESUS. — Matt xiv. 3 1.
They came to shore in the " Land of Gen- 1 He went the news of His coming went before
nesaret," in which the town of Capernaum | Him, and all the sick were brought out has-
Ill I
468
LOYALTY OF THE DISCIPLES.
tily in their beds and laid in the streets through
which He was to pass ; and they who were so
happy as but to touch the hem of His garment
as he went by, were immediately cured of the
diseases with which they were afflicted.
The morning after Christ had recrossed the
lake, the people who had partaken of the
loaves and fishes, still continuing their search
for Him, concluded, from the absence of the
vessel in which He had arrived, that He had
taken His departure.
On this, so many of them as could find
boats to convey them over hastened across
the lake after Him. When they had found
Him at Capernaum, they asked, " Rabbi,
when camest thou hither?" which He an-
swered by reprehending them, as now seeking
Him, only because they had been, through
Him, satiated with food for the body, and
were now in hopes that He would exhibit new
miracles for their external benefit. Then,
taking advantage of the state of consciousness
which this accusation had produced, He pro-
ceeded to urge upon them the obligation of
seeking that spiritual nourishment, " the bread
of life," which He only could bestow.
The important discourse in which this view
was enforced is continued in the sixth chapter
of John's Gospel ; and it is remarkable, be-
yond many other parts of the sacred narrative,
for the marked effect produced on the hearers,
who frequently interposed their objections
and remarks, and who were so much offended
at some of Christ's sayings on this occasion,
that many, even of the disciples, who had
hitherto followed Jesus, left Him and departed
to their own homes. The chosen twelve,
however, remained steady. When Christ
pointedly asked them, "Will ye also go
away ? " Peter in the name of the rest an-
swered, " Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou
hast the words of eternal life, and we believe
and are sure that Thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God."
It was now the time of the Passover, being
the third Passover since the baptism of Jesus.
But this year He did not go up to Jerusalem,
knowing that the Jews of Judaea only sought
an occasion to put Him to death. He, there-
fore, remained in Galilee with His disciples.
He was not, however, allowed to carry on
Hi.'i proceedings unquestioned in G.iUlee, for
certain adepts in the law came to Him from
Jerusalem after the Passover, hoping to con-
found Him with their objections; but they
were only confounded by the attempt
YiHitingr the Oentilrs.
"Then Jesus went thence, and departed into
the regions of Tyre and Sidon."
Such is the brief notice which prefaces the
few and scanty records of a period of His life
and work of which, had it been vachsafed to
us, we should have been deeply interested to
learn something more. But only a single in-
cident of this visit to heathendom has been
recorded. It might have seemed that in that
distant region there would be a certainty, not
of safety only, but even of repose; but such
was not the case. We have already seen
traces that the fame of His miracles had pene-
trated even to the old Phoenician cities, and
no sooner had He reached their neighborhood
than it became evident that He could not be
hid.
A woman sought for Him, and followed the
little company of wayfarers with passionate
entreaties — " Have mercy on me, O Lord,
thou son of David : my daughter is grievously
vexed with a devil."
We might have imagined that Christ would
answer such a prayer with immediate an<l
tender approbation, and all the more because,
in granting her petition. He would symboli-
cally have been representing the extension of
His kingdom to the three greatest branches
of the pagan world. For this woman was by
birth a Canaanite, and a Syro-Phoenician ; by
position a Roman subject; by culture and
language a Greek ; and her appeal for mercy
to the Messiah of the chosen people might
well look like the first-fruits of that harvest in
which the good seed should spring up here-
after in Tyre and Stdon, and Carthage, and
Greece, and Rome. But "Jesus answered her
not a word."
Ihrist would
nediate and
ore because,
Id symboli-
extension of
st branches
man was by
enician ; by
culture and
al for mercy
eople might
it harvest in
ing up here-
arthage, and
mswered her
WONDERFUL WORKS.
469
In no other single instance are we told of a themselves: He may have desired to test the
similar apparent coldness on the part of Christ ;
feelings of His disciples, who, in the narrow
SYRO-PHCENiciAN WOMAN. — Mark vii.
nor are we here informed of the causes which
influenced His actions. Two alone suggest
spirit of Judaic exclusiveness, might be un-
prepared to see Him grant His blessings, not
)i
II!
>A
If
4G0
COASTS OF TYRE AND SI DON.
i «'
; ^(i^^
only to a Gentile, but a Canaanite, and de-
scendant of the accursed race. It was true that
He had healed the servant of the centurion,
but he was perhaps a Roman, certainly a
benefactor to the Jews, and in all probability
a proselyte of the gate. But it is more likely
that, knowing what would follow. He may
have desired to test yet further the woman's
faith, both that He might crown it with a more
complete and glorious reward, an.i that she
might learn something deeper respecting Him
than the mere Jewish title that she may have
accidentally picked up. And further than this,
since every miracle is also rich in moral sig-
nificance, He may have wished for all time to
encourage us in our prayers and hopes, and
teach us to persevere, even when it might
seem that His face is dark to us, or that His
ear is turned away.
An Agonizing Petition.
Weary with the importunity of her cries, the
disciples begged Him to send her away. But,
as if even their intercession would be unavail-
ing, He said, " I am not sent but unto the
lost sheep of the house of Israel."
Then she came and fell at His feet, and
began to worship Him, saying, " Lord, help
me." Could He indeed remain untouched by
that sorrow? Could He reject that appeal?
and would He leave her to return to the life-
long agony of watching the paroxysms of her
demoniac child ? Calmly and coldly came
from those lips, that never yet had answered
with anything but mercy to a suppliant's
prayer — " It is not meet to take the children's
bread and to cast it to dogs. "
Such an answer might well have struck a
chill into her soul ; and had He not foreseen
that hers was the rare trust which can see
mercy and acceptance even in apparent rejec-
tion, He would not so have answered her.
But not all the snows of her native Lebanon
could quench the fire of love which was burn-
ing on the altar of her heart, and prompt as
an echo came forth the glorious and immortal
answer :
" Truth, Lord ; then let me share the con-
dition, not of the children, but of the dogs, for
even the dog't eat of the crumbs which fall
from their master's table.
Tlio Vietory of Fuitli.
She had triumphed, and more than tri-
uiiiphetl. Not one moment longer did Jesus
prolong the agony of her suspense. "O
woman," He exclaimed, " great is thy faith :
be it unto thee even as thou wilt." And with
his usual beautiful and graphic simplicity
Mark ends the narrative with the touching
words, "And when she was come to her
house she found the devil gone out, and her
daughter laid upon the bed."
How long our Lord remained in these
regions, and at what spot He stayed, wc do
not know. Probably His departure was hast-
ened by the publicity which attended His
movements even there, and which — in a region
where it had been His object quietly to train
His own nearest and most beloved followers,
and not either to preach or to work deeds of
mercy — would only impede His work. He
therefore left that interesting land. On Tyre,
with its commercial magnificence, its ancient
traditions, its gorgeous and impure idolatries,
its connection with the history and prophecies
of His native land — on Sarepta, with its mem-
ories of Elijah's flight and Elijah's miracles —
on Sidon, with its fisheries of the purple
I murex, its tombs of once-famous and long-
forgotten kings, its minarets rising out of their
j groves of palm and citron, beside the blue his-
toric sea — on the white wings of the countless
j vessels, sailing to the isles of the Gentiles, and
I to all the sunny and famous regions of Greece
and Italy and Spain — He would doubtless
look with a feeling of mingled sorrow and
interest.
But his work did not lie here, and leaving
behind Him those Phoenician shrines of Mel-
karth and Asherah, of Baalim and Ashtaroth,
He turned eastward — probably through the
deep and beautiful gorge of the rushing
Leontes — and so reaching the sources of the
Jordan, travelled southward on its further
bank in the regions of Decapolis.
If
I,
!!
i
n
JESUS LEADS THE BLIND. — Mark viii. 22.
(461)
462
THE DUMB SPEAK.
Decapolis^wa^s the name given to a district
east of the Jordan, extending as far north
(apparently) as Dain^$cus, and as far south
as the river Jabbok, which formed the northern
limit of Persea. It was a confederacy of ten
free cities, in a district which, on their return
from exile, the Jews had never been able to
recover, and which was, therefore, mainly oc-
cupied by Gentiles, who formed a separate
section of the Roman province. The recep-
tion of Jesus in this semi-pagan district seems
to have been favorable.
Hearing Rt'Stored. •
Wherever He went He was unable to ab-
stain from exercising His miraculous powers
in favor of the sufferers for whom His aid
was sought ; and in one of these cities He
was entreated to heal a man who was deaf,
and could scarcely speak. He might have
healed him by a word, but there were evi-
dently circumstances in his case which ren-
dered it desirable to make the cur^ gradual,
and to effect it by visible signs. He took the
m^an aside, put His fingers in his ears, and
spat, and touched his tongue; and then St.
Mark preserves for us the sigh, and the up-
lifted glance, as He spoke the one word,
"Ephphatha!" "Be opened!" At that word
the string which had so long held the tongue
in bondage was severed, and the ears dead so
long, became at once sensible of each joyful
sound. He heard distinctly and spoke plainly.
And the Lord then returned him to his rejoic-
ing friends, who, although enjoined to silence,
could not control their gladness, but proclaimed
the matter everywhere, saying, " He hath done
all things well ; he maketh the deaf to hear
and the dumb to speak."
Some commentators remark that in the pre-
vious miracle Jesus, by curing an idolatrous
woman, and in this by curing one who, as
being deaf and dumb, was an atheist, knowing
nothing of any religion, showed He was the
Saviour of the whole human race: this as-
sumes that the youth had been born deaf and
dumb ; and, even so, this may be a mistake,
for do we not thus limit the truth, which can
find entrance to the soul of man when all the
ordinary avenues of human intercuurse are
shut in. silence or. in darkness ?
A lady who was traveling in Palestine was
attended by a deaf and dumb guide ; and on
occasion of an accident which befell her
daughter, and might have been attended
with dangerous consequences, his manner
touched the lady much. " He looked ear-
nestly at me and then pointed towards heaven,
as if to direct my gratitude thither. As Syria
is not likely to have produced a saint, this
poor man's sense of religion must have been
innate, and its impression was the more pure
and remarkable. I had observed it on an-
other occasion ; on dividing some bread with
him, he first kissed it, and then looked up-
ward most devoutly."
The people who had gathered around Jesus
at this time were so drawn on by their wonder
at the miracles of mercy which they were
constantly witnessing, that they followed
abqut for three successive days. Th^y, ^e-,
came so much exhausted that the benevbl^t
Savioui- was unwilling to dismiss them to
their homes without food, " lest they should
faint t>y the way." The recent miracle was,
therefore repeated. The whole multitude,
numbering four thousand persons, was fed
from seven loaves and a few small fishes, the
gathered fragments of which filled seven
baskets.
Immediately after this Christ and his diS'
ciples took ship upon the Lake of Tiberias, to
the coasts of Magdala and Dalmanatha. On
the passage the disciples were much con-
cerned on discovering that they had neglected
to bring with them a supply of bread. Christ
at the same time began to caution them to
beware of ' the " leaven of the scribes and
Pharisees." This was levelled at the hypo-
critical professions end self-exalting doctrines
of these classes. But the disciples, with their
minds preoccupied with the want of bread,
fancied that this discourse was aimed at their
neglect. Jesus discerned this, and reproved
them for their anxiety in this matter by re-
minding them of the recent miracles.
WONDERFUL WORKS.
463
u
n
II
At Bethsaida Julias, probably on the follow-
ing morning, a blind man was brought to
Him for heaUhg. The cure was wrought in a
manner very similar to that of the deaf and
dumb man in Decapolis. It has none of the
ready freedom, the radiant spontaneity of the
earlier and happier miracles. In one respect
it differs from every other recorded miracle,
for it was, as it were, tentative. Jesus took
the man by the hand, led him out of the vil-
lage, spat upon his eyes, and then, laying His
hands upon them, asked if he saw. The man
looked at the figures in the distance, and, but
imperfectly cured as yet, said, " I see men as
trees walking." Not until Jesus had laid His
hands a second time upon his eyes did he see
clearly. And then Jesus bade him go to
his house, which was not at Bethsaida; for,
with an emphatic repetition of the word, he is
forbidden to either enter into the town, or to
tell it to anyone in the town.
We cannot explain the causes of the method
which Christ here adopted. The impossibility
of understanding what guided His actions
arises from the brevity of the narrative, in
whicn — as is so often the case with writers
conversant with their subject — the evangelist
passes over many particulars, which, because
they were so familiar to himself, will, he sup-
poses, be self-explaining to those who read his
words. All that we can dimly see is Christ's
dislike and avoidance of these heathenish
Herodian towns, with their spurious Greek no-
tions, their tampering with idolatry, and even
their very names commemorating, as was the
case with Bethsaida Julias, some of the most
contemptible of the human race. We see from
the Gospels themselves that the richness and
power displayed in the miracles was correla-
tive to the faith of the recipients ; in places
where faith was scanty it was but too natural
that miracles should be gradual and few.
^M
■.fs"***?
!'l ^ t
CHAPTER XXXV.
JESUS TEACHING AND HEALING.
UR attention is next di-
rected by the New Testa-
ment narrative to a re-
markable conversation
between Jesus and the
disciples. He began to
question them respecting
the opinions which they had
-^ heard of Him. He was answered
that some supposed He was John
the Baptist ; some Elias ; others Jeremiah, or
one of the prophets. " But whom," asked
Jesus, " say ye that I am ?" Peter, as usual,
speaking for the rest, answered this important
question by repeating the declaration which
he had made on a former occasion : " Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
This called forth from Jesus the memorable
words — " Blessed art thou, Simon Bar Jona
[son of Jona] ; for flesh and blood hath not re-
vealed it unto thee, but my Father, who is in
heaven. And I say unto thee that thou art
Peter [a ' rock,' in Hebrew ' Cephas '] and
upon this rock I will build my Church, and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And
I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom
of heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven ; and whatso-
ever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed
in heaven.
From that time Jesus began to speak openly
of the mode in and by which the great objects
of His coming were to be accomplished,
namely, by His death on the cross, to be fol-
lowed by His resurrection from the dead.
Much had already occurred to prepare the dis-
ciples for this ; but having as yet no clear no-
tion of Christ's spiritual kingdom upon earth,
they were much distressed at this declaration.
Peter, in his ardent attachment to his
Master, was more especially moved, and he
464
began to reprehend notions so unworthy the
glory of the Messiah, saying : " Be it far from
thee. Lord ; this shall not be unto thee." This
interference drew from the mild Jesus one of
the severest reprehensions he ever uttered,
and which is the more signal in connection
with the high encomium which the faith of
this apostle had lately drawn from the same
lips which now reproved him.
About eight days after this, Jesus, accom-
panied by His three most favored apostles,
Peter, James, and John, withdrew into the
solitude of a mountain, supposed to be Mount
Tabor, to pray. While they were there, the
apostles wete favored with a glimpse of that
heavenly glory in their Divine Master which
belonged to His higher nature." " He was
transfigured before them ; and His face did
shine as the sun, and His raiment was white
as the light." Suddenly there also appeared
with Him Moses and Elias, who appeared in
glory, and were heard by the apostles to speak
with Him of the death He was soon to suffer
in Jerusalem.
There was a significance in this, which may
escape a reader who is not informed that there
was a general notion among the Jews that
Moses and Elias were to appear on earth in
the time of the Messiah. Peter, absorbed in the
splendor ofthis appearance, and forgetful of life's
cares and troubles, cried out in a rapture, "Mas-
ter, it is good to be here : — and let us make three
tabernacles — one for Thee, one for Moses, and
one for Elias." By " tabernacles " he meant
booths formed of branches of trees, such as
travellers construct when they meet with a
pleasant spot, unmindful of time and business.
The words had scarce been finished, when
a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice
was heard from out of the cloud, saying : —
" This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
possib
plied,
mine
Jesus
JESUS TEACHING AND HEALING.
«9&
pleased ; hear ye Him." Ovetpowered by the
radiant light, and awed by that voice, the men
fell to the ground as if struck by lightning;
and theystirred not until Jesus Himself touched
them and told them to arise. When then they
looked up, they saw that no one but their Master
was present, and He had resumed His usual ap-
pearance. He charged them to relate this glo-
rious vision to no one, till the Son of man
should have arisen from the dead ; and they
promised compliance, although they could not
but question one another as to what His " ris-
ing from the dead " might mean.
On rejoining the other apostles below the
mountain, they were found to be under much
perplexity and concern : it was about a very
distressing and violent case of demoniacal pos-
session, which the apostles, in the absence of
their Master, had attempted to relieve ; and the
attempt being abortive, had been much ridi-
culed on that account, by the scribe who hap-
pened to be present. When the approach of
Jesus was perceived, one man hastened out of
the crowd to meet Him, and kneeling down
before Him explained the matter. He said,
" Lord, have mercy on my son (for he is mine
only child) ; for he is a lunatic, and sore vexed;
for oft-times he falleth into the fire, and oft into
the water. And lo ! a spirit taketh him and
teareth him; and he foameth, and gnasheth
with his teeth, and pineth away ; and I spake
to Thy disciples that they should cast him
out, and they could not." He added, that he
had been thus affected from infancy.
Christ then directed the lad to be brought
to Him, and no sooner did he appear in that
august presence, than he fell into one of those
violent convulsions of which the father had
spoken, and who now implored more earnestly
for relief: " If Thou canst do anything, have
compassion upon us, and help us." Jesus an-
swered, " If thou canst believe — all things are
possible to him that believeth." The man re-
plied, with tears, " Lord, I believe ; help Thou
mine unbelief." Touched by this answer,
Jesus at once commanded the deaf and dumb
spirit to come forth; and He was obeyed,
though not without such rending throes as
30
left the lad like one dead. Some, indeed, said
that he was dead ; but Jesus took him by the
hand, lifted him up, and restored him perfectly
cured to his amazed and rejoicing parent.
The disciples afterwards took an opportunity
of asking Him why they could not effect this
cure ; and, as might be expected, He said that
it arose from the defect of their faith, and from
their want of sufficient confidence in the powers
which He had bestowed upon them.
Pajiiisr Tribute.
There was a sacred tribute paid yearly by
every adult male in Israel to the treasury of
the Temple. The amount was half a shekel,
regarded in the time of Christ as equivalent to
a didrachma, by which name the piece of
money that paid it is called in the Gospels.
When the usual time of payment came round,
the collectors at Capernaum inquired of Peter
whether his Master paid the tribute. He re-
plied in the affirmative ; but when h6 men-
tioned the matter to Jesus, he was tasked :
"What thinkest thou, Simpn? of whom do
the kings of the earth take tribute ? of their
own children, or of strangers?" Peter of
course replied, " Of strangers ; " and Jesus re-
joined, "Then are the children free." But
although thus free, He directed the tribute to
be paid, that there might be no occasion to al-
lege that He despised the Temple. But they
had not the money. The Saviour of the world
was not possessed of fifteen pence. But all
things were in His power and knowledge.
He directed Peter to go and angle in the lake,
and open the mouth of the first fish he took.
The apostle did so ; and he found in the fish a
coin called a stater, equal to a shekel, which
the fish had doubtless lately swallowed. This
was enough to pay two tributes, and Christ
directed Peter to pay with it for both.
When Jesus was afterwards with His dis-
ciples in the house which they occupied. He
questioned them respecting a discussion in
which they had been engaged on the road.
But no one auswered; all being ashamed to
confess that they had been disputing which
of them should be the greatest in their Mas-
Hlil
1 ; '(■
r-iflPi
IH'::: h'
! 1 ' i
J.''^iii
466
AMBITIOUS DISCIPLES.
to
ter's kingdom, which they still conceived
be of this world.
At 'he time Jesus took no notice of the
dispute. He left their own consciences to
Then He sat down, and taught them agaii^
as He had done so often, that he who would
be first must be last of all, and servant of all,
and that the road to honor is humility. And
work. But when they reached Capernaum ; wishing to enforce this lesson by a symbol of
TEACHING HUMILITY BY A LITTLE CHILD. — Luke ix. 47.
exquisite tenderness and beauty, He called to
Him a little child, and set it in the midst, and
then, folding it in His arms, warned them that
unless they could become as humble as that
little child, they could not enter into the king-
t-id were in the house, then He asked them
what they had been disputing about on the
way. Deep shame kept them silent, and that
silence was the most eloquent confession of
their sinful ambitions.
1 1
hem agaii^
who would
vant of all,
ility. And
symbol of
He called to
the midst, and
ned them that
umble as that
into the king-
. JESUS TEACHING AND HEALING.
dom of heaven. They were to be as children ; than carry that moral and spiritual millstone
in the world ; and he who should receive even of unresisted temptation which can drown the
one such little child in Christ's name should ; guilty soul in despair.
be receiving Him, and the Father who sent For just as salt is sprinkled over every sac-
Him. rifice for its purification, so must every soul be
The expression " in my name " seems to purged by salt, or by fire, or by both ; by the
have suggested to John a sudden question, salt of God's truth freely applied to the soul
which broke the thread of Christ's discourse, by the reason and the conscience ; or, if not,
They had seen, he said, a man who was cast- then by the fire of God's afflicting judgments
ing out devils in Christ's name ; but since the — the fire which purges, and so saves from
man was not one of them, they had forbidden the worse fire which consumes. Let this re-
him. Had they done right ? j fining, purging, purifying salt of searching self-
" No," Jesus answered ; "let the prohibition {judgment and self-severity be theirs. " Have
be removed.'' He who could do works of 1 salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one
mercy in Christ's name could not lightly speak { another."
evil of the name. He who was not against | And thus, at once to confirm the duty of
them was with them. Sometimes indifference 1 this mutual peace which they had violated.
and to show them that, however deeply rooted
be God's anger against those who lead others
astray, they must never cherish hatred even
against those who had most deeply injured
them. He taught them how, first by private
expostulation, then if necessary by public ap-
peal, at once most gently and most effectually
to deal with an offending brother.
The Forgiven Servant.
Peter, in the true spirit of formalism, wanted
a specific limit to the number of times when
forgiveness should be granted; but Jesus
taught that the times of forgiveness should
be practically unlimited. He illustrated that
is opposition ; sometimes neutrality is aid.
Children of the Kingdom.
And then, gently resuming His discourse
— the child yet nestling in His arms, and fur-
nishing the text for His remarks — He warned
them of the awful guilt and peril of offending,
of tempting, of misleading, of seducing from
the paths of innocence and righteousness, of
teaching any wicked thing, or suggesting any
wicked thought to one of those little ones,
whose angels see the face of His Father in
heaven. Such wicked men and seducers, such
human performers of the devil's work — ad-
dressing them in words of more bitter, crush-
ing import than any which he ever uttered — \ teaching by the beautiful parable of the ser-
a worse fate. He said, awaited them, than to vant, who, having been forgiven by his king
be flung with the heaviest millstone round a debt of ten thousand talents, immediately
their neck into the sea. I afterwards seized his fellow-servant by the
And He goes on to warn them that no sac- 1 throat, and would not forgive him a miserable
rifice could be too great if it enabled them to little debt of one hundred pence, a sum 1,250,-
escape any possible temptations to put such 000 times smaller than that which he himself
stumbling-blocks in the way of their own had been forgiven. The child whom Jesus
souls, or the souls of others. Better cut off had held in His arms might have understood
the right hand, and enter heaven maimed — that moral.
better hew off the right foot, and enter heaven Jesus had abstained from attending at Jeru-
halt — better tear out the right eye, and enter salem at the last Passover. Autumn had now
heaven blind — than suffer hand or foot or eye \ come, and with it the pleasant feast of Taber-
to be the ministers of sins which should feed ' nacles. The " brethren " of Jesus perceiving
the undying worm. Better be drowned in '. that He manifested no intention to attend this
this world with a millstone round the neck, ; feast either, urged Him to do so. Their feel-
468
NEW PROOFS REQUIRED.
! m
■n\$ik
'kii
W
•4-;
'■:i
Hr;,'
'■ f
1, i;i
ing in this it is not difficult to discover. They, i form inclined them to belief, but they were
who had always had the human presence of 1 ever anxious to receive proofs yet more mani-
Christ before their eyes, found it peculiarly
difficult to believe in Him with entire fixed-
ness. The miracles which they saw Him per-
THE CRUEL SERVANT. — Matt. Xviii. 23.
fest of the Divine dignity to which He laid
claim. They now wished to see Him in the
great theatre of the metropolis; still expect-
JESUS TEACHING AND HEALING.
4(){)
ing. probably, the arrival of a decisive moment ' There was a poor beggar, blind from his
in which He would reveal Himself with power birili. who was well known in the streets of
us the Messiah. Jerusalem. This man's eyes Jesus anointed
This moment, they supposed, would come with clay, and then sent him to wash them in
as soon as matters should be brought to a the Pool of Siloam. Instead of deriding
crisis by His appearance among his enemies means of themselves so inefficient, the man
at Jerusalem. Jesus, however, being unwilling obeyed, and he returned from the pool with
to excite attention without necessity, did not the perfect use of both his eyes. This cure
consider the present moment, when the bulk upon a person so well known excited more
of the people were in the road, as the most | attention than any other miracle which Christ
had yet performed.
The Man Bliiul from Birlli.
All the Jews were trained to regard special
sufferings as the necessity and immediate con-
sequence of special sin. Perhaps the disciples
supposed that the words of Jesus to the para-
lytic at Capernaum might seem to sanction
such an impression. They asked, therefore,
how this man came to be born blind. Could
suitable. He suffered His brethren to depart
alone ; but afterwards went up to the holy
city in a private manner with his disciples.
At Jerusalem the expectations of the assem-
bled multitudes were alive concerning Him,
and with different feelings men talked eagerly
to one anotl>er about the probabilities of His
appearance. At length he appeared.
After His arrival, He taught His doctrines
in His usual manner openly in the porticos
of the Temple ; and people who knew how ! it be in consequence of the sins of his parents ?
strongly the learned and priestly classes were , If not, was there any way of supposing that
irritated against Him, felt some surprise thati it could have been for his own? The suppo-
no one attempted to molest Him. " His hour
was not yet come," is the simple and abun-
dantly satisfactory reason for this which the
evangelist assigns.
On the last day of the feast, the Pharisees,
who were in authority, did send officers to
apprehend Him as He taught in the Temple;
for by that time they perceived that the cur-
rent of popular opinion was setting in strongly
in favor of His claims. Then said one to
another, " When Christ cometh, will He do
more miracles than those which this man
hath done?" Some averred, "Of a truth
this is the Prophet (which Moses foretold)
sition in the former case seemed hard ; in the
latter, impossible. They were fjerplexed.
Into the unprofitable regions of such barren
speculation Jesus refuses to follow them, and
He declined, as always, the tendency to infer
and to sit in judgment upon the sins of others.
Neither the man's sins. He told them, nor
those of his parents had caused that lifelong
affliction ; but now by means of it. the works
of God should be made manifest. He, the
Light of the world, must for a short time
longer dispel its darkness. Then He spat on
the ground, made clay with the spittle, and
smearing it on the blind man's eyes, bade him
Others said, " This is the Christ." But some " go wash in the Pool of Siloam." The blind
objected, " Shall Christ come out of Galilee ? I man went, washed, and was healed.
Hath not the Scriptures said that Christ; The saliva of one who had not recently
cometh of the seed of David, and out of the ; broken his fast was believed among the an-
town of Bethlehem, where David was ? " The cients to have a healing efficacy in cases of
officers sent by the Pharisees paused to hear \ weak eyes, and clay was occasionally used to
His discourse, and were so impres.sed by His '■ repress tumors on the eyelids. But that these
words that they made no attempt to arrest ] instruments in no way detracted from the
Him, but returned to their employers, saying, j splendor of the miracle is obvious ; and we
" Never man spake like this man." They ; have no means of deciding in this, any more
were confounded by His wisdom. 1 than in the parallel instances, why Jesus, who
470
THE TRUE SABBATH.
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sometimes healed by a word, preferred at
other times to adopt slow and more elaborate
methods of giving effect to His supernatural
power.
In this matter He never revealed the prin-
ciples of action which doubtless arose from
His inner knowledge of the circumstances,
and from His insight into the hearts of those
on whom His cures were wrought. Possibly
He had acted with the express view of teach-
ing more than one eternal lesson by the inci-
dents which followed.
The People Amazed.
At any rate, in this instance, His mode of
action led to serious results. For the man
had been well known in Jerusalem as one
who had been a blind beggar all his life, and
his appearance with the use of his eyesight
caused a tumult of excitement. Scarcely
could those who had known him best believe
even his own testimony, that he was indeed
the blind beggar with whom they had been so
familiar. They were lost in amazement, and
made him repeat again and again the story of
his cure. But that story infused into their
astonishment a fresh element of Pharisaic in-
dignation ; for this cure had also been wrought
on a Sabbath-day. The Rabbis had forbidden
any man to smear even one of his eyes with
spittle on the Sabbath, except in cases of
mortal danger. Jesus had not only smeared
6oik the man's eyes but had actually mingled
the saliva with clay !
This, as an act of mercy, was in the deepest
and most inward accordance with the very
causes for which the Sabbath had been or-
dained, and the very lessons of which it was
meant to be a perpetual witness. But the
spirit of narrow literalism and slavish minute-
ness and quantitative obedience — the spirit that
hoped to be saved by the algebraical sum of
good and bad actions — had long degraded the
Sabbath from the true idea of its institution
into a pernicious superstition. This kind of
Sabbath, with all its petty servility, was in no
respect the Sabbath of God's loving and holy
law. Paul calls it a " beggarly element."
And these Jews were so imbued with this
utter littleness, that a unique miracle of mercy
awoke in them less of astonishment and grati-
tude than the horror kindled by a neglect of
their Sabbatical superstition. Accordingly, in
all the zeal of letter-worship, they led off the
man to the Pharisees in council. Then fol-
lowed the scene which John has recorded in a
manner so inimitably graphic in his ninth
chapter.
First came the repeated inquiry, " how the
thing had been done ? " followed by the re-
peated assertion of some of them that Jesus could
not be from God, because he had not observed
the Sabbath ; and the reply of others that to press
the Sabbath-breaking was .to admit the mira-
cle, and to admit the miracle was to establish
the fact that He who performed it could not
be the criminal whom the others described.
Then, being completely at a standstill, they
asked the blind man his opinion of his deliv-
erer ; and he — not being involved in their
vicious circle of reasoning — replied with fear-
less promptitude, " He is a Prophet."
The Parents Questioned.
By this time they saw the kind of nature
with which they had to deal, and anxious for
any loophole by which they could deny or set
aside the miracle, they sent for the man's
parents. " Was this their son ? If they as-
serted that he had been born blind, how was it
that he now saw ? " Perhaps they hoped to
browbeat or to bribe these parents into a denial
of their relationship, or an admission of im-
posture ; but the parents also clung to the
plain truth, while with a certain servility and
cunning, they refused to draw any inferences
which would lay them open to unpleasant con-
sequences. " This is certainly our son, and he
was certainly born blind ; as to the rest, we
know nothing. Ask him. He is quite capa-
ble of answering for himself."
Then — one almost pities their sheer per-
plexity — they turned to the blind man again.
He, as well as his parent, knew that the Jewish
authorities had agreed to pronounce the ban
of exclusion from the synagogue, on any one
JESUS TEACHING AND HEALING.
471
■who should venture to acknowledge Jesus as
the Messiah ; and the Pharisees probably
or ignore the miracle, and to accept their
dictum that Jesus was a sinner.
HEALING THE MAN BORN BLIND. — John ix. I.
Iioped tha*^ he would be content to follow their
advice, to give glory to God, that is, to deny his parents. He was not to be overawed by
But the man was made of sturdier stuff than
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472
THE FIRST CONFESSOR.
their authority or baffled by their assertions.
He breathed quite freely in the halo-atmos-
phere of their superior sanctity. " We know,"
the Pharisees had said, " that this man is a
sinner." " Whether He is a sinner," the man
replied, " I do not know ; one thing I do know,
that, being blind, now I sec."
Then they began again their weary and futile
cross-examination. " What did He do to
thee? how did he open thine eyes?" But the
man had had enough of this. " I told you once,
and ye did not attend. Why do ye wish to
hear again ? Is it possible that ye too wish to
be His disciples ? " Bold irony this — to ask
these stately, ruffled, scrupulous Sanhedrists,
whether he was really to regard them as anx •
ious and sincere inquirers about the claims of
the Nazarene Prophet !
Clearly here was a man whose presumptu-
ous honesty would neither be bullied into sup-
pression nor corrupted into a lie. He was quite
impracticable. So, since authority, threats,
blandishments, had all failed, they broke into
abuse. " Thou art His disciple : we are the
disciples of Moses; of this man we know noth-
ing." " Strange," he replied, " that you should
know nothing of a man who yet has wrought
a miracle such as not even Moses ever wrought,
and we know that neither He nor any one else
could have done it, unless He were from God."
What!' was a mere blind beggar, a natural
ignorant heretic, altogether born in sin, to be
teaching them ! Unable to control any longer
their transport of indignation, they flung him
out of the hall and out of the synagogue.
But Jesus did not neglect His first confessor.
He, too, in all probability had, either at this or
some previous time, been placed under the ban
of lesser excommunication, or exclusion from
the synagogue ; for we scarcely ever again read
of His re-entering any of those synagogues
which, during the earlier years of His minis-
try, ha4 been His favorite places of teaching
and re.sort. He sought out and found the
man, and asked him, " Dost thou believe on
the Son of God ? " " Why, who is He, Lord,"
answered the man " that I should believe on
Him?"
"Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He
who talketh with thee." " Lord, I believe,"
he answered ; and he did Him reverence.
It must have been shortly after this time
that Jesus pointed the contrast between the
different effects of His teaching— they who
saw not, made to see ; and those who saw,
made blind. The Pharisees, ever restlessly
and discontentedly hovering about Him, and
in their morbid egotism always on the look-
out for some reflection on themselves, asked
"if they too were blind." The answer of
Jesus was, that in natural blindness there
was no guilt, but to those who only stumbled
in the blindness of wilful error a claim to the
possession of sight was a self-condemnation.
True and False Shepherds.
The thought naturally led Him to the
nature of true and false teachers, which He
expanded and illustrated in the beautiful apo-
logue — half parable, half allegory — of the true
and false shepherds. He told them that He
was the Good Shepherd, who laid down His
life for the sheep ; while the hireling shep-
herds, flying from danger, betrayed their
flocks.
He, too, was that door, of the sheepfold, by
which all His true predecessors alone had en-
tered while all the false — from the first thief who
had climbed into God's fold — had broken in
some other way. And then He told them that of
His own free will He would lay down His life
for the sheep, both of this and of His other
flocks, and that of His own power He would
take it again. But all these Divine my.steries
were more than they could understand ; and
while some declared that they were the non-
sense of one who had a devil and was mad,
others could only plead that they were not
like the words of one who had a devil, and
that a devil could not have opened the eyes
of the blind.
Thus, with but little fruit for them, save the
bitter fruit of anger and hatred, ended the visit
of Jesus to the feast of Tabernacles. And
since His very life was now in danger, He
withdrew once more from Jerusalem to Galilee,
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I believe,"
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THE GOOD SHEPHERD. — John X. II.
(473i
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474
ASSAULTED BY THIEVES.
for one brief visit before He bade to His old
home His last farewell.
About this time follow several important dis-
courses of Christ. One of them contained
the beautiful parable of the Good Samaritan.
This parable arose in Jiacourse with a
Pharisee, who, having stated the great com-
mandments of the law were — " Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart ; "
and "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy-
self;" was told "Thou hast answered right:
this do and thou shalt live." But he, being
willing to justify himself in the narrow con-
struction which he and all other Jews of his
class put upon the latter duty, asked, "And
who is my neighbor ? " To which Jesus
answered by this parable, if it be right to de-
scribe as a parable an incident real in all its
circumstances, and which might have hap-
pened on any day.
It describes a man as "going down" from
Jerusalem to Jericho, which stands on a plain
many hundred feet below the level of Jerusa-
lem, and the road to which lay in part through
a rocky wilderness, which was in those days
(as Joseph vouches) more beset by robbers
than any other road in Palestine. This man
•was attacked by thieves, who stripped him of
his raiment, which is at this day almost always
done by Eastern robbers, because the loose
clothes of the Orientals can be worn by almost
any person of average stature into whose
hands they come.
And they not only stripped him, but as he
had made some resistance, they handled him
so severely, that he lay by the roadside half
dead with wounds and bruises. Jericho was
then a great station for the priests, and priests
and Levites were continually passing on the
road to and from Jerusalem. A priest, who
had been at Jerusalem offering up prayers for
the safety of the people, came hard upon the
wounded man on his return home; " but when
he saw him, he passed by on the other side,"
Soon after a Levite passed on his way to
Jerusalem : he stopped, and even drew nigh
and looked upon the poor wretch ; but he
also went on without rendering assistance to
one whom he could not have but recognized
as a Jew, and as such a "neighbor," to whom
the law required him to show mercy. Next
came a Samaritan, one of the people between
whom and the Jews an inexorable enmity ex-
isted. But he paused not to consider this.
Although in haste, and on horseback, he in-
stantly alighted; and hastened to comfort him
with wine, and to mollify his stiffening sores
with oil. He then placed him carefully upon
his own beast, and led him tenderly to the
nearest inn, where he left him in charge of
the keeper to provide for his wants, with the
words, "Take care of him, and whatsoever
thou spendest more, when I come again I will
repay thee." This was genuine compassion.
Who WuH the Neighbor?
When he had concluded this parable, Jesus
pointedly asked the questioner, " Which now
of these three thinkest thou was neighbor to
him that fell among thieves?" He could not
but answer, " He that showed mercy on him ;"
to which Jesus rejoined, "Go thou and do
likewise."
About this time the seventy disciple^ re-,
turned to their Master from the mission on
which they had been sent. " Lord, even the
devils are subject to us through thy name,"
was their exulting report to Him. He re->
plied, " Behold I give you power to tread on
serpents and scorpions, and over all the power
of the enemy; and nothing shall by any
means hurt you." But to repress in them all
pride and conceit, in these preternatural gifts,
and to correct the notion that these formed
their greatest honor, He added — " Notwith-
standing, in this rejoice not, that the spirits
are subject unto you ; but rather rejoice, be-
cause your names are written in heaven."
The future life is here brought forward
under the image of an earthly commonwealth,
in which the names of citizens were inscribed
in a book, from which were occasionally ex-
punged the names of those who were thought
unworthy, and who thereby lost their civil
rights. The image which ascribes such a
book to God is frequent in the Bible.
'■"^i<i»jj
THE GOOD SAMARITAN. — Luke X. 33.
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476
RETURN OF THE SEVENTY.
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We cannot, of course, suppose that the
seventy returned in a body, but that from
time to time, two and two, as Jesus approached
the farious cities and villages whither He had
sent them, they came to give Him an account
of their success. And that success was such
as to fill their simple hearts with astonishment
and exultation. Though He had given them
no special commission to heal demoniacs,
though in one conspicuous instance even the
apostles had failed in this attempt, yet now
they could cast out devils in their Master's
name.
Jesus, while entering into their joy, yet
checked the tone of over-exultation, and rather
turned it into a nobler and holier channel.
He bade them feel sure that good was eter-
nally mightier than evil ; and that the victory
over Satan — his fall like lightning from heaven
— had been achieved and should continue for-
ever. Over all evil influences He gave them
authority and victory, and the word of His
promise should be an amulet to protect them
from every source of harm. They should go
upon the lion and adder, the young lion and
the dragon should they tread under feet ; be-
cause He had set His love upon them, there-
fore would He deliver them : He would set
them up because they had known His name.
And yet there was a subject of joy more deep
and real and true — less dangerous because less
seemingly personal and conspicuous than this
— on which He rather fixed their thoughts : it
was that their names had been written, and
stood unobliterated, in the Book of Life in
heaven. This was occasion for rejoicing.
The Pharisee and Publican.
And besides the gladness inspired in the
heart of Jesus by the happy faith and un-
bounded hope of His disciples, He also re-
joiced in spirit that, though rejected an*^ de-
spised by scribes and Pharisees, He wa »oved :
and worshiped by publicans and sinners. The
poor to whom He preached His Gospel — the !
blind whose eyes He had come to open — the
sick whom He had come to heal — the lost
whom it was His mission to seek and save; —
these all thronged with heartfelt and pathetic
gratitude to the Good Shepherd, the Great
Physician.
The scribes and Pharisees as usual mur-
mured, but what mattered that to the happy
listeners ? To the weary and heavy-laden
He spoke in every varied form of hope, of
blessing, of encourage, lunt. By the parable
of the importunate widow He taught them
the duty of faith, and the certain answer to
I ceaseless and earnest prayer.
By the parable of the haughty, respectable,
fasting, alms-giving, self-satisfied Pharisee —
who, going to make his boast to God in the
Temple, went home less justified than the poor
publican, who could only reiterate one single
cry for God's mercy as he stood there beating
his breast, and with downcast eyes — He
taught t!iem that God loves better a penitent
humility than a merely external service, and
that a broken heart and a contrite spirit were
sacrifices which He would not despise. Nor
was this all. He made them feel that they
were dear to God ; that, though erring chil-
dren, they were His children still.
There was soon another opportunity for
Jesus to enter a practical protest against the
notions concerning the Sabbath which in His
time were entertained. He was *eaching in
one of the synagogues on the Sabbath-day,
when He noticed the presence of a woman
who was doubled up by a disease under which
.she had been suffering for eighteen years. He
called the afflicted creature before Him, and
when He laid His sacred hands upon her, her
bent body became straight, and she glorified
God.
The ruler of the synagogue was filled with
indignation by this act, which he regarded as
a profanation of the holy day; and he said to
the people, " There are six days on which men
ought to work : in them, therefore, come and
be healed, and not on the Sabbath-day." The
severe answer of the benevolent Saviour re-
buked him for thinking it a matter of small
importance that the afflicted should be relieved
one day sooner from their sorrows. " Thou
hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the
JESUS TEACHING AND HEALING.
477
Sabbath day loose his ox or his ass from the to express the blessedness of those who should
stall, and lead him away to the watering; and live in the kingdom which he believed the
ought not this woman, being a daughter of Messiah was to establish on the earth.
Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo these! To this Jesus replied in the strikmg parable
eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on of the great supper, the obvious intention of
which is to reprove the prejudices which, from
notions of secular felicity and grandeur, the
nation in general entertained on this subject,
in consequence of which, that which they, in
prospect, regarded as a peried so full of bless-
ing to themselves, would, when present, be
exceedingly neglected and despised
The parable describes a person as making a
good supper to which a large number of friends
the Sabbath-day ? " No one cou . answer
this.
The Mustard Seed.
Soon after, Christ took occasion to compare
the small beginnings and eventual extension
of" the kingdom of God," meaning the church,
to a grain of mustard-seed, "which a man took
and cast into his garden ; and it grew, and
waxed a great tree, and the fowls of the air
lodged in the branches of it." He again com- were invited. When all things were ready,
pared it to leaven, "which a woman took and the servants were, according to custom, sent
hid in three measures of meal till the whole
was leavened." These familiar comparisons,
certain to be remembered, were prophetic in
to call the persons previously invited. But
they all excused themselves on one ground or
another. One said he had bought (condi-
their purport, and would be called to mind, tionally) a piece of ground, and must needs go
with much interest, when the result which | and see it ; and another, that he had bought
they indicate had been realized — when the
seed became a great tree, and when the morsel
had leavened the whole mass.
It was probably on the next Sabbath that
Christ dined in the house of a Pharisee, and
took notice of the manifest anxiety of the
guests to secure the most honorable places.
This is, at the present day, a matter of vast
solicitude and importance among the Orientals,
the rank and estimation of a man being deter-
mined by the place which he occupies; and that | themselves showed much disrespect for the
among the Jews there were frequent disputes host, and a disposition to undervalue him and
five yoke of oxen, and must go and prove
them. These excuses allude to a custom of
proving articles during a treaty for their pur-
chase. Another alleged that he had " married
a wife, and therefore could not come."
The Lost Sheep.
These excuses might be very good sepa-
rately taken, and on their own merits ; but
agreement among all the guests to excuse
about seats at a banquet, we learn from Jo
sephus and the Rabbinical writers.
Jesiis, with the freedom which belonged to
His character and office, reprehended this
practice, and proceeded to inculcate the su-
perior merits of those who feasted the afflicted
and needy, over those who bestowed their feasts
only on those from whom they expected a cor-
responding return. He does not in this pro-
hibit the reciprocation of hospitality among
the rich ; but He prefers the acts of benefi-
cence which are performed without the hope
of reward. Some one on this remarked,
" Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the king-
dom of God," by which he probably intended
the feast which he had provided. And thus
he felt it; for he was wroth, and commanded
his servants to bring in from the streets and
highways the destitute, the afflicted, the poor,
and the miserable, that they might enjoy the
feast which the invited guests had refused
The application of this parable, under the con-
siderations which have been indicated, is obvi-
ous, and must have been exceedingly galling
to the auditors.
Not long after this, Christ, finding that He
had incurred the blameful sneers of the Phari-
sees, on account of the number of "publicans
and sinners " who flocked to hear Him, ex-
plained and justified His conduct in several
•;-Mi'
478
SEEKING THE LOST.
striking parables. In the first He describes a
man possessing a flock of a hundred sheep,
and when one of them has gone astray, pro-
ceeds in search of it, and when it was found,
lays it on his shoulders (after a custom of the
Jewish shepherds which is still common in the
East), and returns home exulting more in the
one sheep he had recovered than in the ninety
and nine which he had not lost.
The beauty of these references to the shep-
herd and the sheep must be evident to all.
the Old Testament had for their occupation the
tending of sheep. David, the renowned king
of Israel, was summoned from the fields, and,
with the glow of health upon his cheek, and
the mark of the shepherd's crook still upon
his hand, he was called to the high sphere
which he filled so illustriously. It is easy to
see that Jesus in His endeavor to convey to
the minds of the people some knowledge of
the great things He came to teach, would be
likely to draw illustrations from the flock, the
FINDING THE LOST SHEF.P. — Luke XV. 4.
The Great Teacher always drew His illustra-
tions and parables from objects which were
mo.st familiar to the Jewish mind. He does
not wander far into abstractions and meta-
physics ; He is not among the clouds of
.speculation while His hearers are on earth,
living a practical life.
The office and duties of the shepherd were
well known in Palestine at this time, even as
they are at the present day. Some of those
who stand among the illustrious characters of
fold and the shepherd. And perhaps none of
His utterances are more beautiful and sug-
gestive than tho.se which deal with this com-
mon occunation. It is not a little significant
that the first announcement of the Saviour's
birth in Bethlehem, that event which has stirred
the world ever since, was made by the angelic
chorus to those who were guarding their flocks
by night.
Here we have a parable so simple and cap-
tivating that a child can understand it, while at
JESUS TEACHING AND HEALING.
479
the same time there is a depth of meaning in it
sufficient to interest the wisest sage. " If one
poor, wayward sheep go astray, what man is
there among you who would not leave the
ninety
lost?"
it down. His return is different from his
going, happier by far. Ninety and nine he left
behind him; now the hundredth is brought
back, and he finds a greater joy in this restored
and nine, and go after that which is one than in all the others.
That one poor sheep which we would I The interior meaning of this parable is siif-
naturally think would hardly be missed from ficiently plain. There were those who consid
the fold, is the very one that the shepherd
seeks and is anxious to recover. For the
time being he appears to have forgotten the
ninety and nine, and his whole thought is
fixed upon the one that has gone astray. And
he is willing to search for it, is ready to sub-
mit to the toil and weariness of that search,
and cannot rest until the lost one is found.
The Anxious Pursuit.
Across the fields, down through the dales,
over the rugged slopes, through brambles and
bushes, he presses on, casting his eager eye to
the right and the left, hoping at every moment
that he will hear the plaintive bleat, or dis-
cover the sheep that has departed from the
fold. Hours he spends; it maybe that even
the sun sets and the stars come out ; but
neither rugged hills nor lowering night can
turn him back from his anxious pursuit. At
length, after searching long and wearily, he is
rewarded by finding the sheep that was lost.
One of the most exquisite touches in this
remarkable parable is brought out in the
words, " He laid it on his shoulders rejoicing."
The shepherd is not represented as ill-treating
the sheep ; he does not beat nor bruise it ;
rather is there great rejoicing in his heart, as
when friend has met with friend. His treat-
ment might have been far otherwise, but all
this is resolutely excluded from the parable.
Perhaps the wanderer by this time is faint and
weary, but the shepherd has a strength which
he is ready to supply.
Carefully he lifts it, places it upon his shoul-
der, and turns his footsteps homeward. He is
not happy that his sheep has been lost, but he
rejoices in the fact that it is found. With
lighter footstep now he moves across the
fields, and, though heavy the burden may be
upon his back, he is not represented as laying
ered themselves righteous, who had a \cry
high opinion of themselve, and who consid-
ered that no particular fault could be found
with their lives. They were puffed up in their
own conceit, and did not think for a moment
that they had any need of righteousness be-
yond what they possessed already. One who
owns himself a poor penitent, one wanderer
from the fold of the Great Shepherd, lost on
the mountains, weary and sad nigh to death,
having been found in his extremity of suffer-
ing, brings by his return a satisfaction deep
and inexpressible. Very vivid are the color.t
of this picture — the scene drawn by a masterly
hand. Very graphic is the language and very
sweet is the meaning which it conveys. Unique
among all human utterances, whether of Plates.
or Homers, or Shakespeares, is this simple il
lustration, this scene by the wayside, this fas-
cinating picture among the craggy hills and
under the skies of the Orient.
The Prodigal Son.
The next parable has the same scope.
In
it a woman possessed of ten pieces of silver
loses one of them, and proceeds to light a
candle, and sweeps the house, searching dili-
gently till she has found it ; and when it is
found, rejoicing in that one piece.
The parable of the prodigal son, which next
follows, has the same general purport with the
others, teaching that God would have no one
perish, but willingly receives those who repent
of their sins, and grants them His forgive-
ness. In this beautiful parable, which has alt
the air of a fact from common life, and which
might easily be such, Jesus represents a wealthy
landholder having two sons.
The younger of them, full of animal spirits,
and impatient of the restraints of his father's
I house, obtains from him his share of the patri-
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THE prodigal's RETURN. — Luke XV. 20,
JESUS TEACHING AND HEALING.
481
mony, and hastens away to a distant place,
•where he may take his fill of sensual pleasures
without notice or control. Soon, all his ample
means were wasted in riotous living, " and he
began to be in want." At the same time a
famine arose in the land ; the gay companions
of his pleasures departed from him, and he
had no resource but to hire himself out as a
swineherd to " a citizen of that country." The
famine made provisions scarce and dear, and
his employment kept not from him the pangs
of hunger, so that very often he would fain
have appeased his appetite with the coarse
fruits of the carob-tree, which were given to
his hogs, and which none but the poorest of
human beings eat.
Thus degraded, thus miserable, the youth
at length " came to himself," for he had been
morally insane before : and then he thought
of the blessings of his father's house, the hired
servants in which had bread enough and to
spare, while he was perishing with hunger.
This brought him to the resolution — " I will
arise and go to my father, and will say unto
him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and
in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be
called thy son : make me as one of thy hired
servants."
The Compassionate Father.
He did as he had said. When he drew
nigh to his father's house, he doubtless con-
sidered much of the manner in which he
should make his approach : but he needed
not ; for his father, with the true instinct of
paternal love, knew the wretched prodigal
" while he was yet a great way off; " and he
was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell
on his neck and kissed him. The son began
to confess his unworthiness ; but the only an-
swer of the father was to tell his servants —
" Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him ;
and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his
feet : and bring hither the fatted calf and kill
it, and let us eat and be merry : for this my
son was dead, and is alive again ; he was lost,
and is found."
In the height of their rejoicing, the elder
81
brother (representing the Pharisees) came in
from the fields ; and when he understood the
cause of this unwonted gladness, he was
offended and would not enter the house ; and
when his father came out to him he com-
plained that, while his fliithful services and
steady conduct had obtained no reward, no
sooner did his wasteful brother return than
the fatted calf had been killed for him The
glad father answered, " Son, thou art ever
with me, and all that I have is thine. It was
meet that we should make merry and be glad;
for this thy brother was dead, and is alive
again ; and was lost, and is found."
Never certainly in human language was so
much — such a world of love and wisdom and
tenderness — compressed into such few im-
mortal words. Every line, every touch of the
picture is full of beautiful eternal significance.
The poor boy's presumptuous claim for all
that life could give him — the leaving of the
old home — the journey to a far country — the
brief spasm of" enjoyment " there — the mighty
famine in that land — the premature exhaustion
of all that could make life noble and endura-
ble — the abysmal degradation and unutterable
misery that followed — the coming to himself,
and recollection of all that he had left behind
— the return in heart-broken penitence and
deep humility — the father's far-off sight of
him, and the gush of compassion and tender-
ness over this poor returning prodigal — the
ringing joy of the whole household over him
who had been loved and lost, and had now
come home — the unjust jealousy and mean
complaint of the elder brother — and then that
close of the parable in a strain of music — all
this is indeed a Divine epitome of the wander-
ing of man and the love of God such as no
literature has ever equalled, such as no ear of
man has ever heard elsewhere.
Put in the one scale all that Confucius, or
Zoroaster, or Socrates ever wrote or said —
and they wrote and said many beautiful and
holy words — and put in the other the parable
of the prodigal son alone, with all that this
single parable suggests and means, and can
any candid spirit doubt which scale would
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482
THE SHADOW OF DOOM.
outweigh the other in eternal preciousness —
in Divine adaptation to the wants of man ?
So this great journey grew gradually to a
record of it which the evangelist Luke has
happily preserved. We seem to hear through-
out it an undertone of that deep yearning
close. The awful solemnity — ^the shadow, as
it were, of coming doom — the half-uttered
" too late " which might be dimly heard in its
tones of warning — characterize the single
which Jesus had before expressed — " I have a
baptism to be baptized with ; and how am I
straitened until it be accomplished ! "
It was a sorrow for all the broken peace
JESUS TEACHING AND HEALING.
483
and angry opposition which His work would
cause on earth — a sense that He was prepared
to plunge into the "willing agony" of the
already kindled flame. And this seems to
have struck the minds of all who heard Him ;
they had an expectation, fearful or glad ac-
cording to the condition of their consciences,
of something great. Some new manifes-
tation — some revelation of the thoughts of
men's hearts — was near at hand. At last the
Pharisees summoned up courage to ask Him
" when the kingdom of God should come ? "
There was a certain impatience, possibly also
a tinge of sarcasm and depreciation in the
question, as though they had said, " When is
all this preaching and preparation to end, and
the actual time to arrive ? "
His answer, as usual, indicated that their
point of view was wholly mistaken. The
coming of the kingdom of God could not be
ascertained by the kind of narrow and curious
watching to which they were addicted. False
Christs and mistaken Rabbis might cry, " Lo
here!" and " Lo there!" but that kingdom
was already in the midst of them ; nay, if
they had the will and the wisdom to recog-
nize and to embrace it, that kingdom was
within them.
That answer was sufficient to the Pharisees,
but to His disciples He added words which
implied the fuller explanation. Even they did
not fully realize that the kingdom had already
come. Their eyes were strained forward in
intense and yearning eagerness to some glori-
ous future, but in the future, glorious as it
would be, they would still look backward with
yet deeper yearning, not unmingled with re-
gret, to this very past — to these days of the
Son of man, in which they were seeing and
their hands handling the Word of Life.
In those days, let them not be deceived by
any " Lo there ! Lo here ! " nor let them
waste in feverish and fruitless restlessness the
calm and golden opportunities of life. For
that coming of the Son of man should be
bright, sudden, terrible, universal, irresistible
as the lightning flash ; but before that day He
must sufler and be rejected. Moreover, that
gleam of His second advent would flame upon
the midnight of a sensual, unexpectant world,
as the flood rolled over the festive sensualism
in the days of Noah, and the fire and brim-
stone streaming from heaven upon the glitter-
ing rottenness of the cities of the plain.
Jesus then addressed more particularly to
His own disciples, some of whom were
wealthy, the parable of the unjust steward,
with the view of inculcating the true use of
riches, and how they might be employed so as
to ensure advantage from them in a future
state. As, however, thg parable describes a
dishonest contrivance of the steward to gratify
his lord's debtors at his expense, that they
might thereby be induced to support him when
dismissed from his stewardship, the moral, or
application, is to be adduced, not from the act
itself, which was culpable, but from the anxiety
which the man felt to make his present means
available for his future good.
The Slave of Mammon.
Jesus here showed His disciples the neces-
sity of care and faithfulness, of prudence and
wisdom, in so managing the affairs and inter-
ests and possessions of this life as not to lose
hereafter their heritage of the eternal riches.
It was impossible — such was the recurrent
burden of so many discourses — to be at once
worldly and spiritual ; to be at once the slave
of God and the slave of mammon. With the
supreme and daring paradox which impressed
His Divine teaching on the heart and memory
of the world. He urged them to the foresight
of a spiritual wisdom by an example drawn
from the foresight of a criminal cleverness.
If such immense and needless difficulties had
not been raised about this parable, it would
have seemed almost superfluous to say that
the point held up for imitation in the steward
is not his injustice and extravagance, but the
foresight with which he anticipated, and the
skill with which he provided against, his ulti-
mate difficulties. It really seems as if com-
mentators were so perplexed by the parable as
hardly to have got beyond Julian's foolish idea
that it sanctions cheating !
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484
PRUDENT FORESIGHT.
What can be clearer than the very simple de- dishonesty : be ye faithful stewards, and show
ductions ? This steward, having been a bad the same diligence, purpose, sagacity, in sub-
THE UNJUST STEWARD. — Luke XVI. I.
steward, showed diligence, steady purpose, and
clear sagacity in his dishonest plan for extri-
cating himself from the consequences of past
ordinating the present and the temporal to the
requirements of the eternal and the future.
Just as the steward made himself friends of
JESUS TEACHING AND HEALING.
486
the tenants, who, when his income failed, re-
ceived him into their houses, so do^^ use your
wealth — (and time, opportunity, knowledge, is
wealth, as well as money) — for the good of
your fellow-men ; that when you leave earth
poor and naked, these fellow-men may wel-
come you to treasures that never fail.
Thrift Commeudedi.
The lesson is, in fact, the same as in the
famous traditional saying of Christ, "Show
yourselves approved money-changers." The
parables of the unjust judge and the importu-
nate suitor show quite as clearly as this par-
able that the lesson conveyed by a parable
may be enforced by principles of contrast, and
may involve no commendation of those whose
conduct conveys the lesson. It is very prob-
able that both these parables were drawn from
circumstances which had recently occurred.
The importance of this parable is such that
the reader will be pleased to get the comments
upon it of Dr. Geikie, the celebrated author of
the " Life and Words of Christ." Jesus is
represented as saying :
"A certain rich man had a steward, to whom
he left the entire charge of his affairs. He
learned, however, from some sources, that this
man was acting dishonestly by him, and scat-
tering his goods ; so he called him and let him
know what he had heard, telling him, at the
same time, to make out and settle all his ac-
counts, as he could no longer hold his office.
A Shrewd Scheme.
" The steward, knowing that he was guilty,
was at a loss what to do. ' I cannot dig,' said
he, to himself, ' for I have not been accustomed
to it, and I am ashamed to beg.' At la.st he
hit on a plan which he thought would serve
his end, and at once set himself to carry it out.
Going to all his master's tenants, one by one,
he asked each how much rent or dues he had
to pay, though, in fact, he knew all this before-
hand. When told, he pretended to have been
commissioned, in compliance with his own
suggestion, to lower the amount in each case ;
and he thus secured the favor of all. For
example, he went to one and asked hi.n, ' How
much owest thou to my lord ? ' and when told
'A hundred pipes of oil,' bade him take back
his bill, and write another, instead, for fifty.
A second, who owed a hundred quarters of
wheat, he told to make out a fresh writing
with only eighty. In this way, by leading
them to think him their benefactor, he made
sure of friends, who would open their houses
to him when he had been dismissed.
" Some time after, when his master heard
how cleverly he had secured his own ends, he
could not help admiring his shrewdness. And,
in truth, it is a fact, that bad men like this
steward— the sons of this world, not of the
next — are wiser in their dealings with their
fellows than the sons of light— my disciples —
are in theirs with their brethren, sons of my
heavenly kingdom, like themselves.
"As the master of that steward commended
him for his prudence, though it was so worldly
and selfish, I, also, must commend to you a
prudence of a higher kind in your relations to
the things of this life. By becoming my dis-
ciples, you have identified yourselves with the
interests of another Master than Mammon, the
god of this world — whom you have hitherto
served — and have before you another course
and aim in life. You will be represented to
your former master as no longer faithful to
him, for my service is so utterly opposed to
that of Mammon that, if faithful to me, you
cannot be faithful to him, and he will, in con-
sequence, assuredly take your stewardship of
this world's goods from you — that is, sink you
in poverty, as I have often said.
" I counsel you, therefore, so to use the
goods of Mammon — the worldly means still
at your command — that, by a truly worthy
distribution of them to your needy brethren —
and my disciples are mostly poor — you may
make friends for yourselves., who, if they die
before you, will welcome you to everlasting
habitations in heaven, when you pass thither,
at death. Fit yourselves, by labors of love
and deeds of true charity, as my followers, to
become fellow-citizens of the heavenly man-
sions with those whom vou have relieved.
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486
THE GREATER RICHES.
" If you be faithful, thus, in the use of your
possessions on earth, you will be deemed
worthy by God to be entrusted with infinitely
misused the lesser cannot hope to be entrust-
ed with a greater. If you show in your life
that you have not been faithful to God in the
greater riches hereafter, in heaven, for he that
is faithful in this lesser stewardship has shown
that he will be so in a higher, but he who has
use of this world's goods, entrusted to you by
Him to administer for His glory, how can you
hope that He will commit to your keeping the
JESUS TEACHING AND HEALING.
487
'\
unspeakably grander trust of heavenly riches ?
If you have proved unfaithful in the steward-
ship of what was not yours — the worldly
means lent you for a time by God — how can
you hope to be honored with the great trust
of eternal salvation, which would have been
yours had you proved yourself fit for it?
" Be assured that if you do not use your
early riches faithfully for God, by dispensing
them as I have told you, you will never enter
my heavenly kingdom at all. You will have
shown that you are servants of Mammon, and
not the servants of God ; for it is impossible
for any man to serve two masters."
Open Derision. .
Such unworldly counsels, so contrary to
their own spirit, were received with contempt-
uous ridicule by the Pharisees standing round,
as the mere dreams of a crazed enthusiast.
The love of money had become a character-
istic of their decaying religiousness, and it
seemed to them the wildest folly to advise the
rich, as their truest wisdom, to use their wealth
to make friends for the future world, instead
of enjoying it here. It is quite possible, in-
deed, that some of them felt the words of
Christ as a personal reproof, and were all the
more embittered.
Patient as He was in the endurance of per-
sonal wrongs and insults, the indignation of
Jesus was roused at such sneers at the first
principles of genuine religion, and He, at once,
with the calm fearlessness habitual to Him, ex-
posed their hypocrisy and unsafeness as spiri-
tual guides.
" You hold your heads high," said He, " and
affect to be saints, before men — such perfect
patterns of piety, indeed, that you may judge
all men by yourselves.
" But God, who knows all things, and
judges, not by the outward appearance, but
by the heart, knows how different you are in
reality from what you make men believe.
Your pretended holiness, which is so highly
thought of by men, is an abomination before
God. You ignore, or explain away the com-
mands of His law, when they do not suit
you, and thus are mere actors, for true godli-
ness honors the whole law. I condemn you
on the one ground on which you claim to be
most secure. You demand honor for your
strict obedience to the law ; I charge you with
hypocrisy, for your design and deliberate cor-
ruption of that law, to suit yourselves.
Tile Law of Divorce.
" Sincerity is demanded from those who
wish to serve God. That which Moses and
the prophets so long announced — that to
which all the Scriptures point, the kingdom of
the Messiah — has come. From the time
when the Baptist preached, that kingdom is
no longer future, but is set up in your midst,
and with what success ? Every one presses
with eagerness into it. But, as you know, I,
its Head and King, make the most searching
demands from those who would enter it, and
open its citizenship only to those who are
willing to overcome all difficulties to obtain it.
You charge me with breaking the law, but, so
far from doing so, I require that the whole law,
in its truest sense, be obeyed by every one
who seeks to enter the new kingdom. It is
easier for heaven and earth, I tell men, to pass
away, than for one tittle of the law to lose its
force. But how different is it with you !
" Take the one single case of divorce.
What loose examples does not the conduct
of some of your own class supply ? What
conflicting opinions do you not give on the
question ? I claim that the words of the law
be observed to the letter, and maintain, in op-
position to your hollow morality, that any
one who puts away his wife, except for
adultery, and marries another, himself com-
mits adultery, and that he who marries the
woman thus divorced is also guilty of the
same crime. Judge by this whether you or I
most honor the law — whether you or I are
the safer guides of the people. How God
must despise your boasts of special zeal for
His glory J"
Although Christ had been speaking to the
apostles, some of the Pharisees seem to have
been present and to have heard Him ; and it
488
CHIEF SEATS.
is a characteristic fact that this teaching, more
than any other, seems to have kindled their
most undisguised derision. They began to
treat Him with the most open and insolent
disdain. And why ? Because they were
Pharisees, and yet were fond of money. Had
not they, then, in their own persons, success-
fully solved the problem of " making the best
of both worlds?" Who could doubt their
perfect safety for the future ? nay, the absolute
certainty that they would be admitted to the
" chief seats," the most distinguished and con-
spicuous places in the world to come ? Were
they not, then, standing witnesses of the ab-
surdity of the supposition that the love of
money was incompatible with the love of
God?
Our Lord's answer to them is very much
compressed by Luke, but consisted, first, in
showing them that respectability of life is one
thing, and sincerity of heart quite another.
Into the new kingdom, for which John had
prepared the way, the world's lowest were
pressing, and were being accepted before them ;
the gospel was being rejected by them, though
it was not the destruction, but the highest ful-
filment of the law. Nay, even to the law
itself, of which not one tittle should fail, they
were faithless, for they could connive at the
violation of its most distinct provisions.
In this He alluded, in all probability, to
their relations to Herod Antipas, whom they
were content to acknowledge and to flatter,
and to whom not one of them had dared to
use the brave language of reproach which had
been used by John the Baptist, although by
the clearest decisions of the law which they
professed to venerate, his divorce from the
daughter of Aretas was criminal, and his
marriage with Herodias was doubly criminal,
and worse.
Dives and Lazarus.
Then followed the grand and somewhat
mysterious parable of the rich man and Laza-
rus. It represents a wealthy and luxurious
personage, " clad in purple," which, although
originally confined to royal and noble person-
ages, was, in the time of Christ, affected by
the rich and opulent ; " and in fine linen."
which, being in those days used chiefly by
women, was regarded as eflcminatc. The por-
tal or porch of a great man's house was a usual
resort of beggars ; and at this rich man's gate
was daily laid a beggar named Lazarus, who.
as often happens with persons in his wretched
condition, was " full of sores," the result of
some cutaneous disorder brought on by hard
fare and dirt.
He was thus brought to the rich man's gate,
that he might be fed with the crumbs that fell
from his table. This, it seems, he obtained
from the servants, but nothing from the rich
man himself — no kind inquiry, no notice, no
attempt to alleviate his condition — although
he must daily have observed this miserable
object as he went in and out. How great that
misery was, which this rich man deigned not
to notice, is shown by the fact that the street
dogs came and licked the sores of Lazarus,
which shows that they were open sores, and
that they were not " either closed, or bound
up, or mollified with ointment."
An InipasHable Gulf.
In course of time the rich man and the
poor man died; and then their conditions were
reversed. Lazarus — poor no more, no more
full of sores — " was carried by the angels to
Abraham's bosom," that is, to the society of
Abraham in heaven ; while the rich man lay
in fiery torments afar off". In this painful con-
dition he implored that Lazarus might be sent
with one drop of water to cool his parched and
burning tongue. Abraham replied, " Son, re-
member that thou in thy lifetime receivedst
thy good things, and 'fkewise Lazarus evil
things ; but now he is comforted and thou art
tormented." This is expressed conformably
to the notions of the Hebrews, who used the
phrase " receiveth his world " for a course of
secular felicity, and were wont to say, " He
who shall pass forty days without chastise-
ments has received his world, a full abundant
reward for all the good he hath done here."
Abraham also pointed to the obstacle which
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ich man's gate
Lazarus, who,
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ich man's gate,
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no notice, no
ion — although
this miserable
How great that
n deigned not
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pen sores, and
)sed, or bound
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nore, no more
the angels to
the society of
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is painful con-
might be sent
is parched and
ied, " Son, re-
ime receivedst
Lazarus evil
i and thou art
i conformably
who used the
or a course of
to say, " He
hout chastise-
full abundant
done here."
abstacle which.
CHRIST BLESSING LITTLE CHILDREN.
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JESUS TEACHING AND HEALING.
489
existed in the "great chasm," impassable to
either party, which lay between them. On
hearing this, the wretched soul's thoughts then
took another direction, and he implored Abra-
ham to send Lazarus to his five brethren, still
living in his father's house (which implies that
he had himself died young), to warn them lest
they also should come to that place of torment.
Abraham said, " They have Moses and the
prophets, let them hear them." But the other
urged, " Nay, father Abraham, but if one went
to them from the dead, they will repent ; " a
common but most erroneous belief, to which
Abraham cogently and truly answered, " If
they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither
will they be persuaded though one rose from
the dead." As Doddridge remarks, " The im-
penitence of many who saw another Lazarus
raised from the dead, and the wickedness of
the soldiers who were eye-witnesses to the res-
urrection of Christ, and yet that very day suf-
fered themselves to be hired to bear false tes-
timony against it, are most affecting and
astonishing illustrations of this truth."
After this Jesus addressed His disciples in
sundry discourses, in which He taught them to
avoid giving cause of ofTence, and to be for-
giving and merciful to one another, even under
repeated provocation. The disciples then,
having been taught so much respecting charity
and benevolence towards men, expressed a de-
sire to be taught also concerning faith towards
God, of which He had so often spoken to them,
and that they might have more of that faith
imparted to them, to which He had so often
alleged all things to be possible.
Approachingr Conflicts.
It may be while He was resting with them
in the cool of the evening, the incidents of the
whole day were passed in review, and Jesus
noticed that the words and bearing of His
opponents, respect for whom, as the teachers
of the nation, was instinctive with every Jew,
had not been without their effect even on His
disciples. It was evident that the very nature
of His demands — the trials and persecutions
to come, and the weakness of human nature —
would raise moral hindrances to the full and
abiding loyalty of not a few.
By way of caution, therefore, He now warned
them on this point. " It is impossible," said
He, " to prevent divisions, disputes, and even
desertion and apostasy, on the part of some
of you, in the evil times to come. Misrepre-
sentation, prejudice, the bent of different minds;
the weakness of some, and the unworthiness
of others, will inevitably produce their natural
results. The progress of my kingdom will, I
foresee, be hindered more or less from this
cause, but it cannot be avoided. Yet, woe to
him who thus hinders the spread and glory of
the Truth. It were better for him, if, like the
worst criminal, he were bound to a heavy mill-
stone, and cast into the sea, than that he should
cause a single simple child-like ^oul, who be-
lieves in me, to fall. Take heed that you
neither mislead nor are misled I Remember
that I tell you that offences must be prevented
or removed by a lowly, forgiving spirit on
your part. You know how far you are yet
from this ; how strong pride, love of your own
opinion, harshness, and impatience, still are in
your hearts. To further my kingdom when I
am gone, strive above>all things for peace and
love among yourselves.
Love and Forgiveness.
" The one grand means of avoiding these
causes of offence and spiritual ruin is un-
wearied, forgiving love; by that frame of
mind which you see so wholly wanting in the
Rabbis, that they have even now murmured
at my so much as speaking to sinners, from
whom such simple, lowly brethren are to be
gathered. If such an one sin against you,
and turn away from your fellowship, rebuke
him for his sin, but if he see his error and
repent of it, and come back, forgive him ; aye,
even if he wrong you seven times in a day,
and feel and acknowledge his error and promise
amendment, as often, you must each time for-
give him freely."
The twelve had listened to these counsels
with intense interest, but their moral grandeur
almost discouraged them. They felt that
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490
PRAYER FOR FAITH.
nothing is harder than constant patience and
loving humility — never returning evil for evil,
but ever ready to forgive, even when repeat-
meekness. They had talked over the whole
matter, and saw only one source of strength.
Coming to their Master, full of confidence in
edly injured without cause. It needed, as
they feared, stronger faith than they yet had,
to create such an abiding spirit of tender
His Divine power to ^jrant their request, they
openly, and with a sweet humility, prayed
Him that He would increase their faith.
JESUS TEACHING AND HEALING.
491
" This request," answered . Jesus, " shows
that faith, in a true and worthy sense, is yet to
be begun in your hearts. If you had it, even
in a small measure, or, to use a phrase you
hear every day, as a grain of mustard-seed,
instead of finding obedience to these counsels
too difficult, you would undertake and perform
even apparent impossibilities — acts of trust
which demand the highest spiritual power and
strength.
Master and Servant.
"To such efficiency and eminence in my
service will true faith in me lead you : but be-
ware, amidst all, of any thought of merit of
your own. Your faith must grow, and cannot
be given as a mere bounty from without : it is
a result of your own spiritual development
and true humility, which looks away from
self to me, as the one condition of this ad-
vancement. You shall have the increased
faith you seek, but it will be only by your
continued loving dependence on me, your
Master.
" If any of you had a servant ploughing or
tending your flock, would you say to him
when he comes home from the field in the
evening, 'Come near immediately, and sit
down to meat?' Would you not rather say,
' Prepare my supper, and make yourself fit to
wait on me at table, and after I have supped,
you shall eat and drink ? ' Would you think
yourself under obligation to the servant be-
cause he has been working for you, or because
he waits on you as required ? Assuredly not,
for your servant had only done what it was
right he should do as a servant. Be, you,
such servants. There is a daily work, with
prescribed tasks, required from you.
" The great supper will not be till this life is
ended ; but when it is ended, you must not
think of yourselves, on account of it, except
as becomes servants ; and should you be re-
warded or honored, you must not forget that
it is only from my free favor, and not as pay-
ment of any claim ; because, in fact, you have
done only what it was your duty, as servants.
duty, is guilty before his master, but he who
has done his duty, though he has avoided
blame, has no reason to think himself entitled
to reward. Feel, therefore, in any case, that
your work has not been beyond your rightful
duty, and that, though you have escaped con-
demnation, you have no claim for any merit."
The hostility of the Rabbis was growing
daily more bitter, after each fruitless attack.
At each town or village they gathered round
Him, and harassed Him at every step by at-
tempts to compromise Him with the authori-
ties.
On one of these last days of His journey
towards Jerusalem, a knot of Pharisees had,
thus, forced themselves on Him, and sought
to elicit something that might serve them, by
asking Him :
" Master, you have often represented your-
self, both by words and by mighty deeds, as
the Messiah, but we see no signs as yet of the
coming of the kingdom of God. When will
it come ? It has been long promised."
The New Kiiifirdom. .
"The kingdom of God," answered Jesus,
" is something entirely different from what you
expect. You look for a great political revolu-
tion, and the establishment of a Jewish empire,
with its capital in Jerusalem. Instead of this
it is a spiritual kingdom, in the hearts and
consciences of men, and, as such, cannot come
with the outward display and circumstance of
earthly monarchy, so that men may say, ' Lo,
here is the kingdom of God,' or, ' Lo, there.'
The coming of the kingdom develops itself
unobserved. I cannot, therefore, give you
any moment when it may be said to have come,
for, in fact, it is already in your midst. I, the
Messiah, live and work amongst you, and
where the Messiah is, there is His kingdom."
The malevolent question thus met a reply
which at once balked curiosity, and laid on all
the most solemn responsibilities ; for, if the
Messiah was really among them, how impera-
tive to fit themselves tor entering His king-
dom ! The interrogators presf^ntly left, and
to do. The servant who does less than his I Jesus resumed the subject with His disciples.
DAYS OF TROUBLE.
■^
m
1
1
■i|
1
' ','•
: 11
( ■ 1
ib^
Mill
" I have only spoken to these men," said
He, " of the growth and development of my
kingdom, unseen, and silently, in the hearts of
men. To you I would now speak of the fu-
ture. Days will come when trouble shall
make men's hearts long for one of the days of
the Son of man back again, and false Messiahs
will arise, pretending to bring deliverance.
But when they say to you, ' Lo, tl.ere is the
Messiah come at last,' ' Lo, here He is,' go not
out after them ; do not follow them. For the
coming of the Son of man will be as sudden,
as striking to all eyes, as mighty in' its power,
as when the lightning leaps from the cloud
and suddenly sets the whole heavens in flame.
There is no need of asking of the lightning,
' Where is it ? ' or for any to tell you of it.
" But this coming will not be now. I must
first suffer many things for this genera-
tion, and be rejected by it. Far from ap-
proaching with slow, royal pomp, seen and
welcomed from afar ; far from the world hail-
ing my coming, and preparing for it, as for
that of an expected king ; they will be busied
in their ordinary affairs when it is nearest;
till, suddenly, wide ruin and judgment burst
on them, as the flood on the men of the days
of Noah, and the fire from heaven on Sodom,
in the days of Lot, bringing destruction on
all. Men lived in security then ; they ate and
drank; they married and gave in marriage,
with no thought or preparation for the im-
pending catastrophe.
Startling' Predictions.
" It will be the same at my coming. Men
will be as secure ; the day will burst on them
as suddenly, when I shall be revealed in my
glory. When it comes, there will be an awful
and instant separation of man from man. The
good and evil will no longer be mixed to-
gether. He who would save himself must, on
the moment, part from them whom the peril
threatens. He who lives in a town, must, as
the destruction approaches, so hasten his flight,
that if he be on the housetop when it draws
near, he must not think of going into the
house to save anything, but must flee, at the
loss of all earthly possessions. He who is in
the open field, must not turn back to his house
for his goods, but must leave all behind him,
and escape with his life. You hear my words;
see that, in that day, you give heed to them.
Remember Lot's wife, who perished for look-
ing back, in disobedience to the Divine com-
mand. Whosoever, in that day, shall seek to
preserve his life, by unfaithfulness to me, shall
lose life eternal, and he who loses this life for
my sake, will secure heaven for ever."
Jesus continued to instruct His disciples. To
their remarkable words, " Increase our faith,"
He replied by the strong hyperbole, " If ye had
faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye might
say unto this sycamine (sycamore) tree, Be thou
plucked up by the root, and be thou planted
in the sea ; and it should obey you." Hyper-
boles like this, expressive of physical impossi-
bilities were common among the Hebrews,
and are to be taken not as literal propositions,
but as illustrative expressions.
Sons of Thunder.
It seems that Christ had returned from Jeru-
salem to Galilee, where some of the above
transactions occurred, for we next read that
He is again about to journey to Jerusalem,
probably to attend the feast of Dedication.
As His object was to preach the gospel on
His journey. He sent messengers before Him
as He went through Galilee and Samaria ; and
we cannot question that the intelligence of the
coming of the Prophet of Nazareth drew large
audiences to hear His utterances and to wit-
ness His miracles. Once they entered a vil-
lage of the Samaritans to make ready for Him ;
but, as He was on the way to one of the feasts,
they refused to receive him.
The annual festivals at Jerusalem were
odious to this people, who believed that they
ought to be celebrated at their own temple on
Mount Gerizim, and the feast of Dedication
was particularly disliked by them, as it was of
human institution, and they recognized no fes-
tivals or observances but such as Moses had
established. This refusal awakened the indig-
nation of the two sons of Zebedee — those
JESUS TEACHING AND HEALING.
493
He who is in
c to his house
behind him,
:ar my words;
leed to them,
hed for look-
Divine com-
shall seek to
is to me, shall
es this life for
ever."
(disciples. To
ase our faith,"
>le, "Ifyehad
:ed, ye might
;) tree. Be thou
; thou planted
'ou." Hyper-
frsical impossi-
the Hebrews,
;1 propositions,
were
eved that they
own temple on
of Dedication
:m, as it was of
ognized no fes-
as Moses had
ened the indig-
Jebedee — those
" sons of thunder " — and they said, " Wilt tliou
that we command fire to come down out
of heaven and consume tliem, even as Ellas
At another village ten men who were Itpcrs
heard with joy of the approach of one by whom
somany of their afflicted brotherhood had
rM.
3»
LAZARUS AT THE RICH MAN'S GATE. — Luke XVi. 1 9.
did?" But He turned and rebuked them,
saying, " The Son of man is come not to de-
stroy men's lives, but to save them."
been made whole. Not being allowed to enter
towns, or to mix with sound men, they stood
afar off, outside the town, and as the Saviour
i]
494
PRIESTS AND LEPERS.
■ ■'4l!
drew nigh they cried loudly, " Jesus, Master,
have mercy on us." A cry for mercy was
never heard by Him in vain. Yet He did not
immediately heal them, but, to try their faith,
sent them to show themselves for examination
by the priest, intending that they should be
healed on the way. Believing that He could
heal them, even when already gone, they
turned their steps with glad hearts towards the
holy city.
It is observed that Christ told the ' to go
and show themselves to the priests; and as
there was no need for one person to show
himself to many priests, it is hence inferred
that, the matter being one of merely medical
jurisdiction, He sent those of the lepers who
were Jews to Jerusalem, and those who were
Samaritans to Mount Gerizim, to be inspected
by their own priests. This is doubtful ; but it
is certain that they were perfectly cured as
they proceeded on their way.
A Happy Company.
It is easy to conceive with Bishop Hall,
" what an amazed joy there was among these
lepers whert they found themselves thus sud-
denly cured ; each tells other what a change
he feels in himself; each comforts other with
the assurance of his outward clearness ; each
congratulates other's happiness, and thinks,
and says, ' How joyful this news will be to
their friends and families ! ' " They hastened
on their way to show themselves to the priest
and claim the certificate of recovery, which
would restore them to the society of men and
to the pleasant intercourse of life.
There was among them one only whose
grateful emotions overcame for the moment
even this natural desire to realize the privileges
of his new condition ; and he wh' returned to
thank his deliverer was a Samaritan. Jesus
could not but remark on this circumstance.
He said, " Were there not ten cleansed ? But
where are the nine ? "
Soon after this, some of the Pharisees took
occasion to question Him when the kingdom
of God would come. By this they doubtless
meant the manifestation of the Messiah as a
conqueror and king; and from the tenor of
His answers we may infer that the question
was asked in some derision of His own claims.
He toid them in reply, that the Son of man
would not come with any of the external
show and pomp which they expected. He
then more particularly addressed His own
disciples, and warned them of the impostors
who should hereafter arise, claiming to be the
Messiah, and seducing many to follow them
to their ruin.
Then, in many striking comparisons. He
illustrated the suddenness and effect of His
coming to execute judgment upon the nation
from which He was about " to suffer many
things." "As it was in the days of Noah," He
said, " so shall it be in the days of the Son of
man. They did eat, they drank, they married
wives, they were given in marriage, till the
day that Noah entered into the ark, and the
flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise
also it was in the days of Lot ; they did eat,
they drank, they bought, they sold, they
planted, they builded ; but the same day that
Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brim-
stone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son
of man is revealed."
The Pharisee and Publican.
From this, by a natural transition. He passed
to enjoin the importance of constant prayer
and implicit reliance on the Divine assistance,
in the parable of the importunate widow, who
day after day urged an unjust and impious
judge to do her justice upon her adversary.
She could not upon the merits of her case or
from his compassion obtain attention ; but at
length he did her the justice she required, for
no other reason than to release himself from
her worrying applications. "And," said Jesus,
"shall not God," the just and merciful, who
does not despise, but love " His own elect,"
repel all injury from them, even though He
seem for a while regardless of their prayers ?
Jesus having thus taught the importance
and use of urgent prayer, proceeded to show
by another parable the spirit in which prayer
JESUS TEACHING AND HEALING.
495
)mparlsons, He
d effect of His
upon the nation
to suffer many
rs of Noah," He
s of the Son of
ik, they married
larriage, till the
he ark, and the
n all. Likewise
it ; they did eat,
hey sold, they
e same day that
jd fire and brim-
royed them all.
ly when the Son
sition, He passed
constant prayer
)ivine assistance,
nate widow, who
ust and impious
n her adversary,
ts of her case or
ittention; but at
she required, for
ise himself from
And," said Jesus,
nd merciful, who
His own elect,"
even though He
if their prayers ?
the importance
roceeded to show
: in which prayer
should be offered. Two men went up to the the Pharisee stood wrapt in himself, and said,
Temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, the other "God. I tliank Thee that I am not as other
m
THE IMPORTUNATE WIDOW. — Luke Xviil. I.
a publican. They both stood, no other post-
ure being allowed in public prayer except to
kings, who were not forbidden to sit. But
men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers — or
even as this publican. I fast twice in the week,
I give tithes of all that I possess."
1 jifh
i
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1
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I !
1 1^
^iiHli: }
4M
SCENE IN THE TEMPLE COURT.
This he said silently, or " within himself,"
since the rest of the congregation, who might
have supposed that he was praying for the
welfare of the people, would have taken um-
brage if they had discovered that he was only
speaking evil of others. In his unuttered
words he claimed a righteousness beyond the
law, and rested with proud confidence upon it.
The fasting twice in the week was not required
by the law, but was observed' by Pharisaic de-
votees ; the tithe of eiU that he possessed was
not exacted by the law, but vas minutely and
rigidly enforced by the Pharisees.
In this confidence of a claim on Heaven, the
Pharisee had planted himself in the interior
part of the Temple court, as near to the. sanc-
tuary as the regulations of Divine service
would admit; but the publican humbly stood
afar off in the outer borders of the Temple
court, " and would not so much as lift his eyes
to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying,
' God be merciful to me a sinner.' " " I tell
you (added Jesus) that Ms man went down to
his house justified rather than the other."
Jesus at Bethany.
It was not on the road from Galilee to Jeru-
salem, as some suppose, that Jesus was hospi-
tably entertained in the house of Martha.
She lived at Bethany, quite in an opposite
quarter ; which shows that Christ early visited
the place after his arrival at Jerusalem, and
perhaps lodged there, returning daily to the
city, Bethany being only just on the other side
of the Mount of Olives. Martha appears to
have been a widow, with whom lived her sister
Mary and her brother Lazarus. With this
family Jesus was very intimate, and Lazarus,
in particular, was favored with His friendship
and love. They were all rejoiced to see Him
again ; and Martha, " on hospitable thoughts
intent," busied herself in preparing for the en-
tertainment of Him and His disciples. This
was ker way of showing her regard for Christ ;
but her sister Mary chose rather to remain
near Him, that she might not lose the oppor-
tunity of profiting by His heavenly instruc-
tions and gracious words.
The task which Martha had imposed upoa
herself of providing handsomely for so large a
party, suddenly arrived, was heavy, and its
Iiurry and solicitude made her regard the
course taken by her sister as idleness, and as
neglect of a matter in which Christ and the
friends He had brought with Him were essen-
tially concerned. Confident that Jesus must
view it in the same light, and must fully ap-
preciate her bustlingcare for His entertainment,
she ventured to complain to Him, " Lord, dost
Thou not care that my sister hath left me to
serve alone ? Bid her, therefore, that she
help me." But how much was she astonished
to hear Him answer, " Martha, Martha, thou
art careful and troubled about matt}' things ;
but one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen
that good part, which shall not be taken away
from her." She could not but understand this
pointed contrast of the many cares of this life,
with that one matter of infinite concern to
man — the salvation of his soul.
This scene suggests some very practical les-
sons. It was natural that there should be
some stir in the little household at the coming
of such a Guest, and Martha hurried to and
fro with excited energy to prepare for His
proper entertainment. Her sister Mary, too,
was anxious to receive Him fittingly, but her
notions of the reverence due to Him were of
a different kind. Knowing her sister was only
too happy to do all that could be done for His
material comfort, she in deep humility sat at
His feet and listened to His words.
The Sisters of Bethany.
Mary was not to blame, for her sister evi-
dently enjoyed the task she had chosen of
providing as best she could for the claims of
hospitality, and was quite able, without any
assistance, to do everything that was required.
Nor was Martha to blame for her active ser-
vice ; her sole fault was that, in this outward
activity, she lost the necessary equilibrium of
an inward calm. As she toiled and planned
to serve Him, a little touch of jealousy dis-
turbed her peace as she saw her quiet sister
sitting — " idly," she may have thought — at the
""-'^Mij; j
JESUS TEACHING AND HEALING.
497
posed upoft
ir so large a
vy, and its
regard the
ness, and as
rist and the
1 were essen-
Jesus must
jst fully ap-
itertainment,
" Lord, dost
;h left me to
re, that she
le astonished
Martha, thou
nany things;
^ hath chosen
le taken away
iderstand this
es of this life,
2 concern to
r practical les-
re should be
at the coming
urried to and
:pare for His
:er Mary, too,
ingly, but her
Him were of
ister was only
2 done for His
lumility sat at
•ds.
her sister evi-
ad chosen of
the claims of
, without any
t was required,
her active ser-
this outward
equilibrium of
and planned
jealousy dis-
ler quiet sister
lought — at the
feet of their great Visitor, and leaving the
trouble to fall on her.
If she had taken time to think, she could
not but have acknowledged that there may
have been as much of consideration as of sel-
fishness in Mary's withdrawal into the back-
ground in their domestic administration ; but
to be just and noble-minded is always difficult,
nor is it even possible when any one mean-
ness, such as petty jealousy, is suffered to in-
trude. So, in the first blush of her vexation,
An imperfect soul, seeing v;hat is good and
great and true, but very often failing in the
attempt to attain to it, is apt to be very hard in
its judgments on the shortcomings of otiiers.
But a divine and sovereign soul — a soul that
has more nearly attained to the measure of the
stature of the perfect man — takes a calmer
and gentler, because a larger-hearted view of
those little weaknesses which it cannot but
daily see. And so the answer of Jesus, if it
were a reproof, was at any rate an infinitely
MARY AND MARTHA. — Luke X. 40.
instead of gently asking her sister to help her, if
help, indeed, were needed — an appeal which, if
we judge Mary aright, she would instantly have
heard — Martha almost impatiently, and not
quite reverently, hurries in, and asks Jesus if
He really did not care to see her sister sitting
there with her hands before her, while she was
left single-handed to do all the work. Would
He not tell Mary to go and help, and no
longer sit idle ?
gentle and tender one, and one which would
purify but would not pain the poor, faithful
heart of the busy, loving maiden to whom it
was addressed.
" Martha, Martha," so He said — and as we
hear that most natural address may we not
imagine the half-sad, half-playful, but wholly
kind and healing smile which lightened His
face ? — " thou art anxious and bustling about
many things, whereas but one thing is need-
I
498
CHRISTIAN PATRIOTISM.
I !
../I, I'
CI !■;
ful ; but Mary chose for herself the good part,
which shall not be taken away from her."
Paul, as has well been said, in his most fer-
vent activity, had yet the contemplativeness
and inward calm of Mary; and John, with
the most rapt spirit of contemplation, could
yet practise the activity of Martha. Jesus did
not mean to reprobate any amount of work
undertaken in His service, but only the spirit
of fret and fuss — the want of all repose and
calm — the ostentation of superfluous hospi-
tality — in doing it ; and still more that ten-
dency to reprobate and interfere with others,
which is so often seen in Christians who are
as anxious as Martha, but have none of Mary's
holy trustfulness ai;d perfect calm.
A Joyous Festival.
It is likely that Bethany was the home of
Jesus during His visits to Jerusalem, and from
it a short and delightful walk over the Mount
of Olives would take Him to the Temple. As
already remarked, it was now winter-time, and
the feast of the Dedication was being cele-
brated. This feast, according to Wieseler, fell
this year on December 20th. It was founded
by Judas Maccabaeus in honor of the cleansing
of the Temple in the year b. c. 164, six years
and a half after its fearful profanation by Anti-
ochus Epiphanes. Like the Passover and the
Tabernacles, it lasted eight days, and was
kept with great rejoicing. Besides its Greek
name of Encaenia, it had the name of "the
Lights," and one feature of the festivity was a
general illumination to celebrate the legendary
miracle of a miraculous multiplication, for
eight days, of the holy oil which had been
found by Judas Maccabaeus in one single jar
sealed with the high-priest's seal. Our Lord's
presence at such a festival shows that He looked
with no disapproval on the joyous enthusiasm
of national patriotism.
The eastern porch of the Temple still re-
tained the name of Solomon's porch, because
it was at least built of the materials which
had formed part of the ancient Temple. Here,
in this bright colonnade, decked for the fcnst
with glittering trophies, Jesus was walking up
and down, quietly, and apparently without
companions, sometimes, perhaps, gazing across
the valley of the Kidron at the whitcd sepul-
chres of the prophets, whom generations of
Jews had slain, and enjoying the mild winter
sunlight, when, as though by a preconcerted
movement, the Pharisaic party and their leaders
suddenly surrounded and began to question
Him.
Perhaps the very spot where He was walk-
ing, recalling as it did the memories of their
ancient glory — perhaps the memories of the
glad feast which they were celebrating, as the
anniversary of a splendid deliverance wrought
by a handful of brave men who had over-
thrown a colossal tyranny — inspired their
ardent appeal. " How long," they impatiently
inquired, " dost thou hold our souls in painful
suspense ? If thou really art the Messiah, tell
us with confidence. Tell us /tere, in Solomon's
porch nma, while the sight of these shields and
golden crowns, and the melody of these cith-
erns and cymbals, recall the glory of Judas the
Asmonaean — wilt thou be a mightier Macca-
baeus, a more glorious Solomon ? shall these
citrons, and fair boughs, and palms, which we
carry in honor of this day's victory, be carried
some day for Thee ? " It was a strange, im-
petuous, impatient appeal, and is full of sig-
nificance. It forms their own strong condem-
nation, for it shows distinctly that He had
spoken words and done deeds which would
have justified and substantiated such a claim
had He chosen definitely to assert it. And if
He had in so many words asserted it — above
all, had He asserted it in the sense and witli
the objects which they required — it is probable
that they would have instantly welcomed Him
with tumultuous acclaim, and hailed Him as
their King.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
DISCOURSES AND MIRACLES
I
'HEN the feast
was ended,
Jesus left
Jerusalem ; but,
instead of return-
ing to Galilee, He
went beyond the
Jordan, to the
place where John
at first baptized, and remained
there for some time. He was
here in a neighborhood, the peo-
ple of which had heard much of
the Baptist's instructions, and had
witnessed his course of proceedings ; and the
presence of Jesus reminded them, and many
others who flocked to Him, of the testimony
which John himself, whose memory they ven-
erated, had here borne to Christ. They con-
sidered that John had wrought no miracles,
and yet many had been disposed to regard him
as the Messiah ; how much, then, were they
bound to recognize the Messiah in Jesus, who
had wrought so many miracles, and to whom
John himself had borne his most distinct tes-
timony. The people were thus predisposed
to believe in Him ; and many, moved by
the testimony of John and by His own dis-
courses, did receive Him as the expected
Messiah. There, then, in comparative quiet,
among a well-disposed people, free from the
plots of the Sanhedrim and the malignant op-
position of the Pharisees, the Saviour of men
spent some portion of the last four months of
his life. It was one of those seasons of re-
pose which we often note to occur in the
iiistory of men, before they come to the great
and crowning struggle of their lives, and
which even the Saviour did not deem it unfit
to realize before He entered upon *^he tremen-
dous scenes of that " hour " which He had
so often said was not yet come ; but which
He knew to be now nigh at hand.
While still in the Pcrsan Bethany — Pcrsa
being the country east of the Jordan — Jesus had
received from the other Bethany, where He
had so often found a home, the solemn mes-
sage that "he whom He loved was sick."
Lazarus was the one intimate personal friend
whom Jesus possessed outside the circle of
His apostles, and the urgent message was
evidently an appeal for the presence of Him
in whose presence, so far as we know, there
had never been a death-bed scene.
But Jesus did not come. He contented
Himself— occupied as He was in important
works — with sending them the message that
" this sickness was not to death, but for the
glory of God," and stayed two days longer
where He was. And at the end of those two
days He said to His disciples, " Let us go into
Judaea again." The disciples reminded Him
how lately the Jews had there sought to stone
Him, and asked Him how He could venture
to go the»e again ; but His answer was that
during the twelve hours of His day of work
He could walk in safety, for the light of His
duty, which was the will of His Heavenly
Father, would keep him from danger.
And then he told them that Lazarus slept,
and that He was going to wake him out of
sleep. Three of them at least must have re-
membered how, on another memorable oc-
casion. He had spoken of death as sleep ; but
either they were silent, and others spoke, or
they were too slow of heart to remember it.
As they understood Him to speak of natural
sleep, He had to tell them plainly that Lazarus
was dead, and that He was glad of it for their
sakes, for that He would go to restore him to
life. " Let us also go," .said the aftectionate
but ever despondent Thomas, " that we may
(489)
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DEATH VANQUISHED.
die with Him " — as thouph he had said, " It is
all a useless and perilous scheme, but still let
us go." The evangelist adds, " Now Jesus
loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus,"
as if dcsifjnedly to point our attention to the
seemingly unaccountable conduct of Jesus in
remaining still for two days in the place with-
out apparent notice of the tidings which had
been brought to Him. So convinced were
the disciples that, from the exasperated feel-
ing of the Jews, this journey would end in the
death of their Master, that they followed Him
as men prepared for that result, and ready to
die with Him.
Tlio KcHurrectlon and the Life.
Starting early in the morning, Jesus could
easily have accomplished the distance — some
twenty miles — before sunset. But, on His ar-
rival, He .stayed outside the little village. Its
vicinity to Jerusalem, from which it is not two
miles distant, and the evident wealth and po-
sition of the family, had attracted a large con-
course of distir jui.shed Jews to console the
sisters, and mourn with them ; and it was ob-
viously desirable to act with caution in ven-
turing among such determined enemies. But
while Mary, true to her retiring and contem-
plative disposition, was sitting in the house,
unconscious of her Lord's approach, the more
active Martha had received intelligence that
He was near at hand, and immediately went
forth to meet Him. Lazarus had died on the
very day that Jesus received the message of
his illness ; two days had elapsed while He
lingered in Peraea, a fourth had been spent on
the journey. Martha could not understand
this sad delay. " Lord," she said, in tones
gently reproachful, " if Thou hadst been here
my brother had not died," yet, " even now "
she seems to indulge the vague hope that
some alleviation may be vouchsafed to their
bereavement.
The few words which follow are words of
most memorable import — a declaration of
Jesus which has brought comfort not to
Martha only, but to millions since — "Thy
brother shall rise again."
Martha evidently had not dreamt that he
would now be awaked from the sleep of death,
and she could only answer, " I know that he
shall rise again in the resurrection at the last
day."
Jesus said unto her, " I am the Resurrection
and the Life: he that believeth on me, though
he have died, shall live; and he that liveth and
believeth on me shall never die. Believest
thou this ? "
It was not for a spirit like Martha's to dis-
tinguish the interchanging thoughts of phy.s-
ical and spiritual death which were united in
that deep utterance; but, without pausing to
fathom it, her faithful love supplied the an-
swer, " Yea, Lord, I believe that Thou art the
Christ, the Son of God, which should come
into the world."
Having uttered that great confession, she at
once went in quest of her sister, about whom
Jesus had already inquired, and who.se heart
and intellect, as Martha seemed instinctively
to feel, were better adapted to embrace such
lofty truths. She found Mary in the house,
and both the secrecy with which she delivered
her message, and the haste and silence with
which Mary aro.se to go and meet her Lord,
show that precaution was needed, and that
the visit of Jesus had not been unaccompanied
with danger.
The Jews who were comforting her, and
whom she had thus suddenly left, rose to
follow her to the tomb, whither they thought
that she had gone to weep ; but they soon .saw
the real object of her movement. Outside the
village they found Jesus surrounded by His
friends, and they saw Mary hurry up to Him,
and fling herself at His feet with the same
agonizing reproach which her sister also had
used, " Lord, if Thou hadst been here my
brother had not died." The greater intensity
of her emotion spoke in her fewer words and
her greater self-abandonment of anguish, and
she could add no more. It may be that her
affection was too deep to permit her hopr to
be so sanguine as that of her sister; it may be
that with humbler reverence she left all to her
Lord.
DISCOURSES AND MIRACLES.
501
The sight of all that love and misery, the
pitiable spectacle of human bereavement, the
utter futility at such a moment of human con-
solation, the shrill commingling of a hired
and simulated lamentation with all this gen-
uine anguish, the unspoken reproach, " Oh,
why didst Thou not come at once and snatch
the victim from the enemy, and spare Tiiy
friend from the sting of death, and us from
the more bitter sting of such a parting?" —
all these influences touched the tender com-
passion of Jesus with deep emotion. A strong
effort of self-repression was needed — an effort
which shook His whole frame with a powerful
shudder — before He could find words to speak,
and then He could only ask, " Where have ye
laid him ? " They said, " Lord, come and see."
Scene at the Tomb of LAzariia.
As He followed them His eyes were stream-
ing with silent tears. His tears were not un-
noticed, and while some of the Jews observed
with respectful sympathy this proof of His
affection for the dead, others were asking du-
biously, perhaps almost sheeringly, whether
He who had opened the eyes of the blind
could not have saved His friend from death ?
They had not heard how, in the far-off village
of Galilee, He had raised the dead ; but they
knew that in Jerusalem He had opened the
eyes of one born blind, and that seemed to
them a miracle no less stupendous.
But Jesus knew and heard their comments,
and once more the whole scene — its gen uine sor-
rows, its hired mourners, its uncalmed hatreds,
all concentrated around the ghastly work of
death — came so powerfully over His spirit, that,
though He knew that He was going to wake the
dead, once more His whole being was swept by
a storm of emotion. The grave, like most of
the graves belonging to the wealthier Jews,
was a recess carved horizontally in the rock,
with a slab or mass of stone to close the en-
trance. Jesus bade them remove this.
Then Martha interposed — partly from con-
viction that the soul had now utterly departed
from the vicinity of the mouldering body,
partly afraid in her natural delicacy of the
shocking spectacle vvhich the removal of that
stf)nc would reveal. For in that hot climate
it is necessary that burial should follow im-
mediately upon death, and as it was the even-
ing of the fourth day since Liizarus had died,
there was too much reason to fear that by this
time decomposition had set in. Solemnly
Jesus reminded her of His promise, and the
stone was moved from the place where the
dead -.vas laid.
"I^zariiB, Gome Forth I"
He stood at the entrance, and all others
shrank a little backward, with their eyes still
fixed on that dark and silent cave. A hush
fell upon them all as Jesus raised His eyes
and thanked God for the coming confirmation
of His prayer. And then, raising to its clear-
est tones that voice of awful and .sonorous au-
thority, and uttering, as was usual with Him
on such occasions, the briefest words. He
cried, " Lazarus, come forth I "
Those words thrilled once more through
that region of impenetrable darkness which
separates us from the world to come ; and
scarcely were they spoken when, like a spectre,
from the rocky tomb issued a figure, swathed
indeed in its white and ghastly cerements—
with the napkin round the head which had
upheld the jaw that four days previously had
dropped in death, bound hand and foot and
face, but not livid, not horrible — the figure of
a youth with the healthy blood of a restored
life flowing through his veins ; of a life re-
stored — so tradition tells us — for thirty more
long years to life, and light, and love. This,
and similar deeds of power and compassion,
vividly recall those glowing lines of Bicker-
stith :
From His lips
Truth, limpid, without error, flowed.
Disease
Fled from His touch. Pain heard Him and waf not
Despair smiled in His presence. Devils knew.
And trembled. In the Omniix>tence of faith,
Unintermittent, indefectible,
Leaning upon His Father's m' jUt, He bent
All nature to Hu will. The tempest sank,
He whispering, into waveless calm. The bread
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EFFECT OF THE MIRACLE.
Given from His hands fed thousands, and to spare.
The stormy waters, as the solid rock.
Were pavement for His footstep. Death itself.
With vain reluctances, yielded its prey
To the stern mandate of the Prince of Life.
act was too stupendous not to draw general
attention, and, in the actual state of public
feeling towards Christ, to be attended with
important consequences. It was also per-
CHRIST BLESSING LITTLE CHILDREN. — Matt. xix. I J.
The mixed emotions with which the re-
appearance of one so many days dead affected
the sisters and friends of Lazarus and the dis-
ciples of Jesus, we must leave to the imagina-
tion of the reader, unless so far as they are
demonstrated by subsequent events, for the
formed in the immediate vicinity of the me-
tropolis, and upon a person who appears to
have been well known.
Most of the Jews present, overcome by this
exhibition of Divine power, believed in Jesus
as the Messiah ; but there were some whose
DISCOURSES AND MIRACLES.
t
503
nity of the me-
who appears to
sense being alienated from Divine things,
would not acknowledge it, but went away and
gave a perverted account of the transaction
to the Sanhedrin. This assembly, the high
spiritual council of the Jews, held its meetings
in the stone hall of the Temple, and, when
full, consisted of seventy-one members, al-
though twenty-three sufficed for the transac-
tion of business. The council was much
alarmed at the report of the resurrection of
Lazarus. They could not deny that Jesus
(" this man," as they contemptuously described
Him) had actually wrought miracles ; but in
their exasperation and prejudice against one
who taught doctrines so opposite to their own
practices and expectations, they allowed this
circumstance to weigh little with them.
But this conviction obliged them to take a
fresh ground for their hostility against Him.
If His party prevail, they said. He will excite
political commotions, which will result in
bringing down upon us the deprivation of the
privileges which the Romans have left to us.
This was probably no other than an ostensible
pretext for the course they then began to con-
template, for the purpose of silencing the mi-
nority in the Sanhedrin which thought favor-
ably of Jesus, and which had already caused
its voice to be heard. It is impossible that
this view could have been taken in sincerity ;
for Jesus never affected an earthly kingdom,
or inculcated any principles likely to lead to
revolt or tumult : whereas the Jews themselves
desired nothing better than to find in the Mes-
siah one who would have led them on to
shake off the hateful yoke of the Romans ;
and if Jesus had appeared in that character,
would have received Him and followed Him.
It was now, however, determined to lose no
time in bringing about the death of Jesus on
the ground which had thus been taken; and
in regarding their ensuing conduct as the
effect of this design, the reader will be better
able to apprehend the connection of the inci-
dents which compose the closing scenes of
the Redeemer's life. At once we hear low
whisperings, and see crafty men puttitig their
heads together and hatching deadly plots.
Jesus himself, being aware of this design,
withdrew with His disciples to Ephraim, a
small city a few miles to the east of Jerusalem,
in what was called the wilderne-is of Judsea,
whence he is supposed to have soon returned to
the parts beyond the Jordan from which He had
lately come. Here, as usual. He was attended
by large numbers of people, whom He taught,
and the diseased among whom He healed. He
was here among a well-disposed'people ; and
on one occasion many mothers brought their
children that he migiit bestow his blessing on
them.
JcsiiH and the Little Ones.
Jesus had been speaking against the practice
of divorce, which was then very common
among the Jews, and then, like -i touching
and beautiful comment on these high words,
and the strongest of all proofs that there was
in the mind of Christ no admiration for the
"voluntary service" which Paul condemns,
as a proof of His belief that marriage is hon-
orable in all — He took part in a scene that
has charmed the imagination of poet and
painter in every age. For as though to de-
stroy all false and unnatural notions of the
exceptional glory of religious virginity, He,
among whose earliest acts it had been to bless
a marriage festival, made it one of His latest
acts to fondle infants in His arms.
It seems to have been known in Peraea that
the time of His departure was approaching;
and conscious, perhaps, of the words which
He had just been uttering, there were fathers
and mothers and friends who brought to Him
the fruits of holy wedlock — young children
and even babes — that He might touch them
and pray over them. Ere He left them for-
ever, they would bid Him a solemn farewell;
they would win, as it were, the legacy of His
special blessing for the generation yet to
come.
The disciples thought their conduct forward
and officious. They did not wish their Master
to be needlessly crowded and troubled ; they
did not like to be disturbed in their high col-
loquies. They were indignant that a number
of mere women and children should come ob-
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AN EAGER INQUIRER.
truding on more important persons and in-
terests. Women were not honored nor chil-
dren loved in antiquity as now they are ; no
halo of romance and tenderness encircled
them ; too often they were subjected to shame-
ful cruelties and hard neglect.
The Disciples Rebuked.
But He who came to be the friend of all
sinners, and the helper of all the suffering and
sick, came also to elevate woman to her due
honor, centuries before the Teutonic element
of modern society was dreamt of, and to be
the protector and friend of helpless infancy
and innocent childhood. Even the uncon-
scious little ones were to be admitted into His
Church by His sacrament of baptism, to be
made members of Him, and inheritors of
His kingdom. He turned the rebuke of the
disciples on themselves; He was as much
displeased with them as they had been with
the parents and children. "Suffer the little
children," He said, in words which each of
the Synoptists has preserved for us in all their
immortal tenderness — " Suffer little children
to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of
such is the kingdom of heaven."
And when He had folded them in His arms,
laid His hands upon them, and blessed them.
He added once more His constantly needed,
and therefore constantly repealed, warning,
" Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom
of heaven as a little child, shall not enter
therein."
When this beautiful and deeply instructive
scene was over, Matthew tells us that He
started on His way, probably for a new jour-
ney to the other Bethany ; and on this road
occurred another incident, which impressed
itself so deeply on the minds of the specta-
tors that it, too, has been recorded by the
evangelists in a triple narrative.
The Rich Youngr Man.
A young man of great wealth and high
position seems suddenly to have been seized
with a conviction that he had hitherto neg-
lected an invaluable opportunity, and that
one who could alone explain to him the true
meaning and mystery of life was already on
His way to depart from among them. De-
termined, therefore, not to be too late, he came
running, breathless, eager — in a way that sur-
prised all who beheld it — and, prostrating him-
self before the feet of Jesus, exclaimed, " Good
Master, what good thing shall I do that I may
inherit life ? "
If there was something attractive in the
mingled impetuosity and humility of one so
youi;g and distinguished, yet so candid and
earnest, there was in his question much that
was objectionable. The notion that he could
gain eternal life by " doing some good thing "
rested on a basis radically false. If we may
combine what seems to be the true reading of
Matthew with the answer recorded in the
other evangelists, Jesus seems to have said to
him, " Why askest thou me about the good ?
and why callest thou me good ? One is good,
even God." He made no unfounded claim.
An Unexpected Answer.
He would as little accept the title " Good,"
as He would accept the title "Messiah," when
given in a false sense. He would not be re-
garded as a mere " good Rabbi." So far,
Jesus would show the youth that when he
came to Him as to one who was more than
man, his entire address, as well as his entire
question, was a mistake. No mere man can
lay any other foundation than that which is
laid, and if the ruler committed the error of
simply admiring Jesus as a Rabbi of pre-
eminent sanctity, yet no Rabbi, however
saintly, was accustomed to receive the title of
"good," or prescribe any amulet for the
preservation of a virtuous life. And in the
same spirit He continued : " But if thou wilt
enter into life, keep the commandments."
The youth had not expected a reply so ob-
vious and so simple. He cannot believe that he
is merely referred to the Ten Commandments,
and so he asks, in surprise, " What sort of
commandments ? " Jesus, as the youth wanted
to do something, tells him merely of those of
the second table, for, as has been well re-
DISCOURSES AND MIRACLES.
505
marked, " Christ sends the proud to the Law,
and invites the humble to the Gospel."
" Ma.ster," replied the young man in surprise,
" all these have I observed from my youth."
Doubtless in the mere letter he may have done
so, but he evidently knew little of all that
those commandments had been interpreted by :
the Christ to mean. And Jesus, seeing his]
sincerity, looking on him loved him, and gave 1
him one short crucial test of his real con-
dition. He was not content with the common-
place ; he aspired after the heroical, or rather
thought tha«- ht did ; therefore Jesus gave him
a heroic ict do. " One thing," He said,
" thou lack-:: -i' J bade him go, sell all that
he had, disl ' ''; it to the poor, and come
and follow Him,
It was too much. The young ruler went
away very sorrowful, grief in his heart, and a
cloud upon his brow, for he had great posses-
sions. He preferred the comforts of earth to
the treasures of heaven ; he would not pur-
chase the things of eternity by abandoning
those of time ; he made, as Dante calls it, " the
great refusal." And so he vanishes from the
Gospel history ; nor do the evangelists know
anythinif of him farther. But the sad, stern
imagination of the poet follows him, and there
among the myriads of those who are blown
about like autumn leaves on the confines of
the other world, blindly following the flutter
of a giddy flag, he sees the shade of him who
made through cowardice the great refusal.
The Camel and the Xeedle's Eye.
We may hope and believe a fairer ending
for one whom Jesus, as He looked on him,
could love. But the failure of this youth to
meet the test saddened Jesus, and looking
round at His disciples, He said, " How hardly
shall they that have riches enter into the
kingdom of heaven." The words once more
struck them as very severe. Could then no
good man be rich, no rich man be good?
But Jesus only answered — softening the sad-
ness and sternness of the words by the affec-
tionate title " children " — " Children, how hard
it is to enter into the kingdom of God ; " hard
for any one, but. He added, with an earnest look
at His disciples, and doubtless specially ad-
dressing Peter, " It is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle, than for a rich
man to enter into the kingdom of God." They
might well be amazed beyond measure ; things
impossible to nature are possible to grace;
things impossible to man are easy to God.
Then with a touch — was it of complacency,
or was it of despair ?— Peter said, " Lo, we
have forsaken all, and followed Thee," and
either added, or implied, In what respect, then,
shall we be gainers? The answer of Jesus
was at once a magnificent encouragement and
a solemn warning. The encouragement was
that there was no instance of se-lf-sacrifice
which would not even in this world, and even
in the midst of persecutions, receive its
hundred-fold increase in the harvest of spirit-
ual blessings, and would in the world to come
be rewarded by the infinite recompense of
eternal life; the warning was that familiar one
which they had heard before, that many of
tie first should be last, and the last first.
A Striking Parable.
And to impress upon them still more fully
and deeply that the kingdom of heaven is not
a matter of mercenary calculation or exact
equivalent — that there could be no bargaining
with the Heavenly Householder — that before
the eye of God's clearer and more penetrating
judgment Gentiles might be admitted before
Jews, and publicans before Pharisees, and
young converts before aged apostles — He told
them the memorable parable of the laborers
in the vineyard. That parable, amid its other
lessons, involved the truth that, while all who
serve God should not be defrauded of their
just and full and rich reward, there could be
in heaven no murmuring, no envyings, no
jealous comparison of respective merits, no
base struggling for precedency, no miserable
disputings as to who had performed the great-
est service, or who had received the least of
grace.
The householder early in the morning went
out into the market-place to hire laborers for
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lUE ELEVENTH HOUR.
his vineyard, and agreed with them for tlie eleventh hour. When they came to be paid,
wages of a dcnnrins (about fifteen cents) a day.
those who were hired last received a denarius.
HIRING
LABORERS FOR THE VINEYARD. — Matt. XX. 1.
At the third hour he hired others, promising
to give them what was right ; and so again at
he sixth hour, the ninth hour, and even the
on which those who had been first hired and
had labored all the day expected to receive
more. But the master reminded them of their
'I* I
DISCOURSES AND MIRACLES.
507
contract for the day's wages, and asserted his
own right to make the last comers equal to
them in the reward of labor. By this, Jesus
appears to have incu' .tcd that God regards
not how long a man works in spiritual things,
but how well ; and that ardor of intention and
singleness of motive will often make the labor
of one hour as valuable, in a moral calcula-
tion, as the ordinary labor of an entire day.
The time of the Passover now drew nigh,
and Jesus set forth for Jerusalem, much to the
consternation of the disciples, who expected
the most disastrous results from the hostility
and known designs of the Sanhedrin. But
He told them plainly that His hour was now
nigh at hand : " Behold, we go up to Jerusa-
lem, and all things that are written by the
prophets concerning the Son of man shall be
accomplished. For He shall be delivered unto
the chief priests and to the scribes, and they
shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver
Him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge
and to crucify Him : and the third day He
shall rise again." Tiiis tliey did not then un-
derstand. They understood the facts as stated.
They could not misunderstand them ; but tlicy
expected that the Messianic reign on earth
with which their minds were filled would com-
mence after the resurrection.
The Mother of Zebedee's Children.
This is shown by the petition which two,
certainly not the least intelligent of Christ's
apostles, namely, the sons of Zebedee, set their
mother upon asking of Him, " Grant that my
two sons may sit, the one on Thy right hand,
and the other on Thy left, in Thy kingdom."
This amounted to a request that they might
enjoy the first and second places among the
subjects of His earthly kingdom, the degree
of dignity being in oriental courts denoted by
proximity to the throne.
Let us ask what it was that induced Salome
to make the request that she did — in other
words, why did she seek to place her two sons,
the one upon the right hand, the other upon
the left, of the Saviour ? That which caused
her to take this step was a conversation our
Lord held with His twelve disciples, originated
with the design of preparing their minds to
meet the changes about to come.
In this conversation He stated that when
He, the Son of man, should sit upon the
throne of His glory, they. His twelve disciples,
should sit upon twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel. Now she, in common
with her two sons and the rest of the apostles,
interpreted this prophecy according to her
ov/n preconceived ideas. Indeed, they all
thought that the kingdom He was about to
establish must be an earthly one, like unto the
existing kingdoms, only with this difference,
that it would gradually extend its boundaries
until all other kingdoms became absorbed in
it, and the whole earth became full of the
knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the
sea.
Places of Honor.
To a certain extent they were quite correct
in their supposition, but they went astray from
losing sight of the fact that the nature of
Christ's kingdom was not a temporal so much
as a spiritual one ; and as one mistake gen-
erally leads to others, so it was in this case.
Supposing it to be an earthly kingdom that
was spoken of, they concluded that its affairs
must be administered after some existing
earthly model ; and so, as was natural, their
thoughts reverted to their own Sanhedrin.
The Sanhedrin, we read, was the highest
ecclesiastical court of the Jews, and Josephus
has given us a description of its constitution.
From his description we learn that the prince,
or president -"f the court, sat between two
rows of senators, or elders, having upon his
right hand and upon his left each a man of
great influence and authority. The person
upon his right hand was called the " Father
of the Court," and the person upon his left
was named the "Sage;" and in the absence
of the prince, or president, these two officers
represented him, and conducted the business
of the court. Bearing this in mind, the digni-
ties to which James and John aspired were the
highest He could bestow — in fact, as He Him-
self stated, they were higher than He could
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A STRANGE REQUEST.
bestow : " To sit upon My right hand and , bly. They thought to act for and stand in the
upon My left is not Mine to give, but it shall | place of Christ, and conceived it possible for
be given to them for whom it is prepared of | mortal men to exercise His authority, and
Salome's request for her sons. — Mark x. 35.
My Father." They aspired to hold the same
relation to Jesus that the " Father " and the
" Sage " of the Jewish Sanhedrin did towards
1}ie prince or president jf that august assem-
represent His presence when absent. But
they were mistaken.
It is not given to man to take the place of
Christ, and this they learned from their Mas*
DISCOURSES AND MIRACLPIS.
509
en absent. But
ter's lips in the reply He gave : " Ye know not
what ye ask ; " and then, as if to assure them
of what He said, He adds : "Are ye able to
drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to
be baptized with the baptism that I am bap-
tized with?" — an interrogation which they,
nothing daunted by his assertion of their
ignorance, answered in the affirmative: "They
say unto Him, We are able."
Symbols of Suffering'.
His cup and His baptism ! Here was a
further display of ignorance upon their part.
They could not have known what these sym-
bolic words foreshadowed. At furthest they
could only have supposed them to stand for
obstacles and difficulties in the enterprise upon
which they, in common with their Master, had
embarked : and such a view is borne out by
what followed. " Yes," says our blessed Lord,
replying to them, " yes, ye shall drink indeed
of My cup, and be baptized with the baptism
that I am baptized with."
He knew that His sufferings and shame
would be shared by these two men ere they
quitted this life, but he knew that it would not
be now, and that a long training was necessary
to enable them to go through with it: for al-
though John suffered banishment in the Isle
of Patmos for Christ, and although the head
of his brother James fell by an order of Herod
in the same glorious cause, yet these things
did not take place until Jesus had passed from
earth to heaven, and left His followers an
ever-memorable example of what real shame
and suffering were.
Before they were called upon to suffer, they
saw upon their Leader's head the crown of
thorns, upon His shoulder the purple robe,
and in His right hand the derisive sceptre.
They could not forget the betrayal, the trial,
and the insults offered Him by the Roman
soldiery. When summoned to death, they,
too, recollected the morning on which He
passed forth to execution, His feet tottering
with the burden of the cross He carried ; and
the cry that then broke forth from the lips
which had so often breathed health upon the
sick and life upon the dead, " Eli, Eli, lama
sabachthani I " still rang in their cars, and
added resolution to their will.
The transaction is of importance as showing
the entire misconception concerning the nature
of Christ's kingdom under which the apostles
still labored. Their views as to the actual
reign were not very different from those which
others entertained; but they believed that
Jesus was indeed the Messiah by whom these
views were to be brought out. They also had
modified notions as to the manner of His
reign ; for there can be no doubt that they ap-
plied to the conduct of His temporal kingdom
much which He intended to apply, and which
we now apply, to His kingdom in the souls of
men. It was left for a future day to correct
all their erroneous notions, and to make plain
all that they had previously misunderstood.
The Publican Zacclicus.
On arriving at Jericho, which was the second
city of Judaea, the people gathered in crowds
to see Him pass. Among them was the chief
of the tax-gatherers, Zaccheus, who being too
short to see Him in the crowd, in the intensity
of his desire to view one of whom he had
heard so much, mounted a sycamore-tree for
the purpose. Jesus when He came to the
place looked up, and called to him by name,
" Zaccheus, make haste and come down ; for
to-day I must abide at thy house."
Overwhelmed by an honor which he prob-
ably desired, but had not dared to ask, he left
the tree and hastened home to receive his great
guest, who alone of all the holy men of His
age did not despise even the publicans. The
mob as usual murmured at this preference ;
but Zaccheus, in the fulness of his heart and
his awakening convictions, stood forth and de-
clared that from that hour he would bestow
half his wealth to feed the poor, and would
restore fourfold the wrong which any man
could lay to his charge.
On leaving the city the next morning, a
blind man, who sat begging by the wayside,
hearing tlie noise of the passing crowd, in-
quired what it meant ; and being told that
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Zi\CCHEUS CALLED BY JESUS. — Luke xix. 5.
DISCOURSES AND MIRACLES.
511
Jesus of Nazareth was going by, began to cry
out, in his loudest voice, " Jesus, Thou Son of
David, have mercy on nie." till the Saviour
heard him and stopped. When he was told
of this, the blind man rose, and, in his eager-
ness, cast off his impeding outer garment as he
hastened to the place where Jesus stood.
On seeing him, Jesus asked, " What wilt
that I should do unto thee ? " He answered,
" Lord, that I might receive my sight." And
Jesus had compassion upon him, and said,
" Receive thy sight, thy faith hath saved thee."
Here we have again a striking instance of an
acknowledgment of Christ as the Messiah, in
the very first cry of a blind man, in the epi-
thet " Thou Son of David." And this faith—
that Christ was the Messiah, and that He
could restore his sight — was that to which the
Lord referred, and which touched Him so
deeply.
Jesus at Bethany.
It was customary for those who lay undti
ceremonial defilements to go up to Jerusalem
earlier than others, that they might undergo
the legal purifications before the commence-
ment of the Passover. Those who were thus
early at Jerusalem, as well as the residents,
met together in the fore-courts of the Temple,
and speculated anxiously on the probabilities
of Christ's appearance at the feast. As He
must have known of the resolution concerning
Him at which the Sanhedrin had now arrived,
most people concluded that He would keep
Himself out of the way.
However, six days before the feast, Jesus ar-
rived at Bethany, where He had lately raised
Lazarus from the dead. Here He spent the
remainder of the day, and the night. Many
persons at Jerusalem having heard of His ar-
rival at Bethany, went over in the hope of
seeing Him and the man He had raised from
the dead together ; and they were not disap-
pointed, for Lazarus was among those who
" sat at meat " with Jesus, at the supper which
was that evening provided. The mention of
this circumstance leads the evangelist to record
that many ruling men were so hardened as to
meditate the death of Lazarus himself, on ac-
count of the attention drawn towards Christ
by the presence and existence of a man He
had raised from the dead.
As we might expect from our previous
knowledge of tht sisters Martha and Mary,
they took very difL-.-^nt parts in the entertain-
ments of this remarkable evcnin.i';. As women,
they cull id not seat thcnistlvcs at the table;
but Martha, as usual, attended to the prepara-
tions of the supper, and busied herself in the
outward service, while Mary surrendered her-
self to the full feeling of affectionate devote-
ment to Chiist's person, rendered more lively
and intense, we may well suppose, on account
of her brother's resuscitation. She possessed
a large quantity of costly ointment ; and in
order to testify her love, she sacrificed it all.
She did what " the woman that was a sinner"
had done before ; she anointed His feet with
the precious "nard," till the house was filled
with the powerful fragrance.
An objection to this act as a wasteful ex-
travagance arose this time from no other per-
sonage than Judas Iscariot ; and the evangelist
John neglects not the opportunity of connect-
ing with this objection another trait in his
character. He had already pilfered from the
common fund of the disciples of Jesus, which
had been confided to his charge ; and hence
the secret source of his discontent that Mary
had not thrown the proceeds of her spikenard
into the common treasury, if she desired to
afford evidence of her love. Under an objec-
tion of ostensible worth, in which some well-
meaning disciples concurred, he concealed his
true character and disposition, which was ap-
parent only to the Saviour, who answered by
a touching justification of Mary's deed as a
preanointing for His coming burial, followed
by the pregnant remark — " The poor ye have
always with you ; but Me ye ha\^e not always."
Entry into Jerusalem.
By the following morning it was well known
in Jerusalem that Jesus would be that day in
the city, and the people generally determined
to give Him a grand reception. Impure hopes
may in part have prompted this course, and
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Christ's entry into Jerusalem. — Matt. xx. 19.
DISCOURSKS AND MIRACLKS.
618
they may have expected that if a proof of ]" on wliicli no man had ever yet sat." This
attachment, of reco<rnition. so public and so specification is not without moaning', as year-
froneral, were exhibitcil. Jesus might he in- hn^'s wliich have never borne tiie"y..ke. and
(luccd to appear openly as the King Messiali. never been employed fur common purposes,
A great multitude, therefore, went forth to were reserved for sacred uses.
. meet ilim, with such demonstrations of lionor This colt they were to unloose and to briu"
as were anciently shown to oriental kings, to Jesus; they louiid the c >lt, md were pr.r.
A great many i)alms grew on the way from ceeding to unloose it when the owners ob-
Jerusalem to Jericho; from these they broke jected ; but when the diseiples .saiil, " The
off blooming branches and strewed them in Lord hath need of him," tlu'\', shariu"' in the
the way: .some also carried green boughs and general feeling, felt gl id and Iionored, and
branches of blossoms in their hand:>, as was allowed them to take not only the colt, but
customary when they celebrated the taber- the dam, which from natural instinct followed
nacle and dedication feasts, while they sang her young. They brought them to Jesus, nr.d
songs of gratulation and praise. j laid their clothes upon them both, not i<now.
ing which of them he would choose to riile
" I ne mountctl the colt, and rode onward, at-
Ac'companied by the Jews who had come tended by the rejoicing crowd, uiio spread
over to see Lrv.arus, the Saviour left Bethany their garments in His path, and waved their
the same morning and came to Hcthphage — a, branches witii exulting shouts
row of houses on each side of the public way
surrountied by fig-trees, whence its name
"place of figs." The multitude had probably
come thus far to meet llim. Seeing the
favorable disjjosition of the people towards
The disciples fully shared in the enthusiasm
of that hour; ami when the triumphal nuilti-
tude came near to Jerusalem at the descent of
the Mount of Olives, thev broke forth in sin-'inr^
the verses fi -in the Il8th psalm, which were
"Hos.inna! liU'ssid is llie Kini; of Isr.iel,
That C'lmt'lli III tlie nauif cjI tlic l.unl I
BlfSSL-il he lliL- kiiijjdom of oui- fatlier I )avi(l,
That conicth in the name of the I.oiil I
llo^anna in the hi;^hest ! "
All the city was movevl by various emotions
Him, Jesus concluded to avail himself of it, usually sung at the feasts already mentioned,
in order to make an abiding impression upon and which were always considered to bear a
the di.sciples, wlien they should afterwards reference to the Messiah :
reflect upon the manner of His entrance into
Jerusalem. That He was really the Messiah
foretold by the prophets, and the true nature
of the Messianic character — these were the
facts which He desired to impress strongly |
upon their minds.
Now the prophet Zechariah had described I at this public entry of the Redeemer. Doubt-
the arrival of the Messiah as that of a peace- 'less general attention was directed to His
ful King who felt interested in the welfare of | movements, and to observe the .step which
His people, and who would enter the metrop- ■ would next be taken by Him. He enteretl at
olis of His kingdom riding upon an ass. The ' the gate near the Temple, and straightway
ass was an animal used for riding in time of j proceeded to the sacred courts. The blind
peace, while the horse was employed in times | and lame of the city no sooner heard of His
of war. In order to lead His disciples to the! arrival than they ha.stened to Him there, and
consideration that the prophetic view of Zecha- He healed tiiem. This was no other than His
riah, in regard to the condition of the expected usual course. It was wonderful, beneficent,
Deliverer, was fulfilled in Him, Jesus made great; but it was not for Him extraordinary,
choice of this very mode of entrance. He [ and the ill-founded expectations which had
sent two of His disciples forward to a place been raised were sorely disappointed. The
where He told them they would find a colt . children in the Temple still kept up the cry
33
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I'RUil-inCARING.
iliicli had before been raised ; and the priests
ami scribes in hi^^h displeasure called his at-
tention to it : " 1 Icarest Tliou what these say ? "
To which lie answered, " Yea ; have ye never
read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings
Thou hast perfected praise ? "
After some further discourse, which with
the previous proceedings occupied tlie rest of
the day, Jesus left the city and returned to
Bethany, where he lodged.
The next morning Jesus and His disciples
disciples, " Let no man eat fruit of thee hence*
forth forever." He then proceeded to the city,
on entering which He went to the Temple,
and expelled from the sacred court the dealers
and money-changers, by whose merchandise
and tables it was thronged in the week before
the I'assover. This act was sinular to that
with which, three years before, He had com-
menced his ministry in Jerusalem. He then
remained teaching in the Temple, and the at
tention with which the people heard Him pre-
THE WITHERED FIG-TREE. — Mark xi. I4.
again left Bethany to spend the day in Jeru-
salem. On the way Jesus observed a fig-tree
in full leaf, and, being hungry, went to it, ex-
pecting to find fruit thereon. As the fruit of
the fig-tree is perfected before the leaf, it was
natural to expect fruit upon a tree which made
this show of leaves ; as the time of fig-gather-
ing was not yet come, it was certain that the
fruit which this tree ought to bear had not yet
been gathered. But Jesus found the tree
without fruit, and said, in the hearing of His
vented His enemies from venturing to lay
hands upon Him. In the evening Jesus again
repaired to Bethany.
On returning to Jerusalem on the next
morning, the fig-tree on which He had the
preceding day laid the weight of His curse, and
which was then so rich in foliage, was found
to be dried away even to the roots. This pro-
ceeding must probably be regarded in the
light of a symbolical action, teaching that His
power to punish the guilty was as strong as
DISCOURSES AND MIRACI.KS.
r)ir)
f thee hence
d to the city,
the Temple,
ft the dealers
meichaiKlise
week before
nilar to that
;le had coiu-
m. Ho then
e, anil the at
unci Him pre-
■enturing to lay
ning Jesus again
:m on the next
ich He had the
of His curse, and
(liage, was found
roots. This pro-
regarded in the
teaching that His
was as strong as
that which He had more usually exercised in
conferring benefits. Hut witii the usual benefi-
cence of His character an<l actions. He dem-
onstrated this truth in tl way least of nil
others calculated to inflict uijury or pain. It
was exercised upon a fig-tree, barren, and
therefore unprofitable to any one, but having
the show, though it lacked the reality, of use-
ful life ; it was, moreover, a tree standing by
the public way, and therefore belonging to no
one who could complain that his property had
been destroyed, or in any way damaged,
A Ciiiiiilner Suaro.
On proceeding to teach in the Temple, the
priests and others in authority gathered around
Him, requiring to know by what authority
He taught in that place ; for it was the prov-
ince of the Sanhedrin to grant the right of
teaching in the Temple, and this Christ had
never received. They perhaps hoped that He
would answer that He acted under Divine au-
thority as the Messiah, and that they might
thus obtain matter of accusation against Him.
At another time He would perhaps so have
answered ; but now, being aware of the snare
laid for Him, He refrained from a direct
answer, but, as on some other occasions solved
the question by another : — " The baptism of
John, was it from heaven or of men ? "
A sudden pause followed. " Answer me,"
said Jesus, interrupting their whispered col-
loquy. And surely they, who had sent a com-
mission to inquire publicly into the claims of
John, were in a position to answer. But no
answer came. They knew full well the im-
port of the question. They could not for a
moment put it aside as irrelevant. John had
openly and emphatically testified to Jesus, had
acknowledged Him, before their own deputies,
not only as a Prophet, but as a Prophet far
greater than himself — nay, more, as the Prophet,
the Messiah. Would they recognize that au-
thority, or would they not ?
Clearly Jesus had a right to demand their
reply to that question Before He could reply to
*heirs. But they could not, or rather would
Mot answer that question. It reduced them in
fact to a complete dilemnui. They would not
say " fronj heaven." because they h A in heart
rijccteil il ; thc> daretl not say " of iicn," be-
cause the belief in Joiin (as we see even in
Josephus) was sc vehement riui so unanimous
that openly to -eject hiii, won '1 have been to
endanger their personal sr'''ty. Tlu-,- wen.
reduced, therefore— they, the ma . rs of
Israel — to the it,'nominious neces: ;>• ',.' say-
ing, " Wc cannot tell."
There is an admirabl : !T brew proverb
which .says, " Teach thy ongt > to say, * I do
not know.' " But to say, ' We do not know,"
in this instance, was a thing utterly alien to
their habits, disgraceful to their discernment,
a death-blow to their pretensions. It was
ignorance in a sphere wherein ignorance was
for them inexcusable. Tiicy, the appointed
explainers of the law — they, the accepted
teachers of the people — they, the acknowl-
edged monopolizers of Scriptural learning and
oral tradition — and yet to be compelled,
against their real convictions, to say, and that
before the i Ivitude, that they could not tell
whether at. i immense and sacred influence
— a man who acknowledged the Scriptures
which they explained, and carried into practice
thecur' i>ns which they reverenced — was a di-
vine'y nispired messenger or a deluding im-
postor!
Questioners CuiifoiiiKlcd.
Were the lines of demarcation, then, be-
tween the inspired Prophet and the wicked
seducer so dubious and indistinct? It was
indeed a fearful humiliation, and one which
they never either forgot or forgave. And yet
how just was the retribution which they had
thus brought on their own heads! The
curses which they had intended for another
had recoiled upon themselves; the pompous
question which was to be an engine wherewith
another should be crushed, had sprung back
with sudden rebound, to their own confusion
and shame.
Jesus did not press upon their discomfiture,
though He well knew — as the form of His
answer showed— that their "do not know"
was a " do not choose to say." Since, how-
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FOES BAFFLED,
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ever, their failure to answer clearly absolved " Neither tell I you by what authority I do
Him from any necessity to tell them further
these things."- By this they were silenced.
RESPONSES OF THE TWO SONS. Matt. XXi. 28.
of an authority about which, by their own
confession, they were totally incompetent to
decide. He ended the scene by simply saying,
So they retired a little into the background.
He continued the instruction of the people
which they had interrupted, and began once
DISCOURSES AND MIRACLES.
517
he background.
of the people
nd began once
more to speak to them in parables, which both
tiie multitude and the members •>( the San-
hedrin who were present could hardly fail to
understand. And He expressly called their
attention ta» what He was about to say.
"What think ye?" He asked, for now it is
their turn to submit to be questioned ; and
then, telling them of the two sons, of whom
the one first flatly refused his father's bidding,
but afterwards repented and did it, the other
blandly promised an obedience which he never
performed, He asked, " Which of these two
did his father's will?"
They could but answer, " the first ; " and
He then pointed out to them the plain and
solemn meaning of their own answer. It
was, that the very publicans and harlots, de-
spite the apparent open shamelessness of their
disobedience, were yet showing t/tei/i — them,
the scrupulous and highly reputed legalists of
the holy nation — the way into the kingdom of
heaven. Yet these sinners, whom they de-
spised and hated, were streaming before them
through the door which was not yet shut.
For John had come to these Jews on their
own principles and in their own practices, and
they had pretended to receive him, but had
not ; but the publicans and the harlots had re-
pented at his bidding. For all their broad
fringes and conspicuous phylacteries, they —
the priests, the separatists, the Rabbis of these
people — were worse in the sight of God than
sinners whom they would have scorned to
touch with one of their fingers.
The HiiMbaudinaii and Vineyard.
Then He bade them " hear another para-
ble," the parable of the rebellious husband-
men in the vineyard, whose fruits they would
not yield. That vineyard of the Lord of
Hosts was the house of Israel, and the men
of Judah were His pleasant plants ; and they,
the leaders and teachers, were those to whom
the Lord of the vineyard would naturally look
for the rendering of the produce. But in
spite of all that He had done for His vine-
yard, there were no grapes, or only wild
grapes. '' He looked for judgment, but be-
hold oppression; for righteousness, but behold
a cry."
And since they cou/(i not render any pro-
duce, and (faivti not own the barren fruitless-
ness for which they, the husbandmen, were
responsible, they insulted, and beat, and
wounded, and slew messenger after messenger
whom the Lord of the vineyard sent to them,
Last of all, He sent His Son, and that Son —
though they recognized H'-m, and could not dut
recognize Him — they beat and slew.
When the Lord of the vineyard came, what
would He do to them ? Either the people,
out of honest conviction, or the listening
Pharisees, to show their apparent contempt for
what they could not fail to see was the point
of the parable, answered that He would
wretchedly destroy those wretches, and let
out the vineyard to worthier and more faithful
husbandmen. A second time they had been
compelled to an admission, which fatally, out
of their own mouths, condemned themselves ;
they had confessed with their own lips that it
would be in accordance with God's justice to
deprive them of their f^xclusive rights, and to
give them to the Gentiles.
The Beloved Son.
In this parable of the rebellious husband-
men and the vineyard we have another in-
stance of the text taken from an object which
was very familiar to the Jews. Palestine was
a vine-growing country; warm and genial was
the sun, sweetening the rich clusters of grapes;
mellow and productive in many places was tl)e
soil ; heavy was the dew which fell in the even-
ing, while at night the sharp breath was taken
from the air, and balmy influences nursed the
young and growing life. A parable dealing
with a husbandman, his son, and his vineyard
would be readily understood, and this one
before us has a meaning no less deep than
others which fell from the lips of Him who
spake as " never man spake."
Among the prominent characters are the
lord of the vineyard and his son. It was but
natural to assume that the son was dear to the
heart of his father. He had ne.stled at the
; SSI
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518
PARENTAL AFFECTION,
parental feet, had been watched in his early naturally infer, for it is in keeping with the
life with tender interest, had come forth in the affections of human nature ; a son always being
THE SPEECHLESS GUEST. — Matt. Xxii. 12.
fulness of his strong, young manhood, and, to
those who loved him, was more than vine-
yards and their rich products. All this we
a dear object of parental regard, around whom
iiopes cluster as the vines cling to tiicir sup-
port, and whose welfare is always guarded.
(J
DISCOURSES AND MIRACLES.
519
Repeated messages, it seems, were sent by
the lord of the vineyard to the keepers of it,
and that which was expected in return was
only such as would reasonably be demanded.
No return, however, was made ; the vineyard
which nevertheless, by the marvellous purpose
of God, became the headstone of the coi ner ?
How could they remain builders any lunyer,
when the whole design of their workmans^liip
was thus deliberately overruled and set aside?
was a barren, fruitless thing, yielding no profit, \ Did not their old Messianic prophecy cleariv
and only occupying the fertile ground which
might have been employed for other purposes.
Now the lord of the vineyard resolves to send
his son, thinking that, of course, he will be
reverenced, and his mission will prove suc-
cessful.
Not for a moment does the tender-hearted
father imagine that n 3ad, unhappy fate awaits
the one whom he loves so much. He does
not fully understand the malicious nature of
those with whom he is dealing. A deep plot
is laid and bold men are ready to execute it.
The resolve is nothing less than the slaying
of the son when he arrives, putting him out
of the way entirely, robbing the lord of the
vineyard not only of the fruits of the vintage,
but also of his darling child.
Plain Truths.
Here a very startling question is asked.
When the lord of the vineyard comes, what
will he do with the wicked husbandmen who
have cruelly taken the life of his son ? Only
one answer, of course, could be given. It
was felt by those who listened to this parable
that but one course could be pursued. The
lord of the vineyard would destroy those who
had been guilty of acts so unjust and wicked.
Of course, this parable, like many others
spoken by Jesus, refers to the Jewish people
and their treatment of the prophets, and espe-
cially of the Messiah who stood in their
midst, unknown to them ; present, yet distant
as the unseen God. The Jewish people were
the wicked husbandmen, who, having failed
in many respects, resolved to take the Son
and put Him out of the way, and thus con-
tinue in their wickedness.
And to show them that their own Scriptures
had prophesied of this their conduct, He asked
them whether they had never read (in the i i8t!i
to
imply that God would call other builders
the work of His Temple?
Woe to them who even stumbled— as they
were doing— at that rejected stone ; but even
yet there was time for them to avoid the more
crushing annihilation of those on whom that
stone should fall. To reject Him in His hu-
manity and humiliation involved pain and loss;
but to be found still rejecting Him when He
should come again in His glory, would not
this be " utter destruction from the presence
of the Lord?" To sit on the seat of judg-
ment and condemn Him— this should be ruin
to them and their nation ; but to be con-
demned by Him, would not this be to be
" ground to powder ? "
They saw now, more clearly than ever, the
whole bent and drift of these parables, and
longed for the hour of vengeance ! But, as
yet, fear restrained them ; for, to the multi-
tude, Christ was still a Prophet.
The King's Son.
One more warning utterance He spoke on
this day of parables — the parable of the mar-
riage of the king's son. In its basis and
framework it closely resembled the parable
of the great supper uttered during His last
journey, at a Pharisee's house ; but in many
of its details, and in its entire conclusion, it
was different. Here the ungrateful subjects
who receive the invitation, not only make
light I it, and pursue undisturbed their
worldl) •" ocations, but some of them actually
insult and murder the messenger who had in-
vited them, and — a point at which the historv
merges into prophecy — are destroyed and
their city burned. And the rest of the stor>-
points to yet further .scones, pregnant witli
still deeper meanings. Others are invited ;
the wedding-feast is furnished with guests
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THE WEDDING GARMENT.
notices one who had thrust himself into the
company in his own rags, without providing
or accepting the wedding garment, which the
rommonest courtesy invariably required,
1
teeth ; and then follows, for the last time, ths
warning urged in varying similitudes, with a
frequency commensurate to its importance,
that " many are called, but few are chosen."
This rude, intruding, presumptuous guest is
cast forth by attendant angels into outer dark-
ness, where shall be weeping and gnashing of
Teachings so obvious in their import filled
the minds of the leading priests and Pharisees
with a more and more bitter rage. To bad
last time, ths
litudes, with a
s importance,
ire chosen."
I
eir import filled
ts and Pharisees
rasre. To bad
m^u-
Christ entering Jerusalem
DISCOURSES AND MIRACLES.
621
men nothing is so maddening as the exhibi-
tion of their own self-deception. So great
was the hardly concealed fury of the Jewish
hierarchy, that they would gladly havi seized
Him that very hour. Fear restrained them,
and He was suffered to retire unmolested to
His quiet resting-place. But either that night
or early on the following morning, His ene-
mies held another council — at this time they
seem to have held them almost daily — to see
if they could not make one more combined,
systematic, overwhelming effort " to entangle
Him in His talk," to convict Him of ignorance
or of error, to shake His credit with the mul-
titude, or embroil Him in dangerous relations
towards the civil authority.
He was scarcely seated in the Temple when
the result of the machinations of His enemies
on the previous evening showed itself in a
new kind of strategy, involving one of the
most perilous and deeply laid of all the
schemes to entrap and ruin Him. The deadly
nature of tne plot appeared in the fact that, to
carry it out, the Pharisees were united in
malicious conjuncture with the Herodians ; so
that two parties, usually ranked against each
other in strong opposition, were now reconciled
in a conspiracy for the ruin of their common
enemy, and were united to dismay and per-
plex Him. It was a confederacy of evil.
Who the Herodians Were.
The Herodians occur but seldom in the
Gospel narrative. Their very designation — ap-
plied to the Greek-speaking courtiers of an
Edomite prince who, by Roman intervention,
had become a Judaean king — showed at once
their hybrid origin. Their existence had
mainly a political significance, and they stood
outside the current of religious life, except so
far as their worldly interests led them to show
an ostentatious disregard for the Mosaic law.
They were, in fact, mere provincial courtiers ;
men who basked in the sunshine of a petty tyr-
anny which, for their own personal ends, they
were anxious to uphold.
To strengthen the family of Herod by
perialism, and to effect this good understand-
ing by repressing every distinctively Jewish
aspiration— this was their highest aim. And
in order to do this tiiey changed their names,
adopted Pagan habits, frequented amphithe-
atres, familiarly accepted the .symbols of
heathen supremacy, even went so far as to
obliterate, by such artificial means as they
could, the distinctive and covenant symbol of
Hebrew nationality.
That the Pharisees should tolerate even the
most temporary partnership with such men as
these, whose very existence was a violent out-
rage on their most cherished prejudices,
enables us to gauge more accurately the ex-
treme virulence of hatred with which Jesus
had inspired them. And that hatred was
destined to become deadlier still. It was
already at red-heat ; the words and deeds of
this day were to raise it to its whitest intensity
of wrath, and awaken its terrible fury.
A Fresh Attack.
The Herodians might come before Jesus
without raising a suspicion of sinister motives;
but the Pharisees, astutely anxious to put Him
off His guard, did not come to Him in person.
They sent some of their younger scholars,
who (already adepts in hypocrisy) were to
approach Him as though in all the guileless
simplicity of an inquiring spirit. They evi-
dently designed to raise the impression that a
dispute had occurred between them and the
Herodians, and that they desired to settle it
by referring the decision of the question at
issue to the final and higher authority of the
Great Prophet. They came to Him circum-
spectly, deferentially, courteously.
" Rabbi," they said to Him with flattering
earnestness, " we know that Thou art true, and
teachest the way of God in truth, neither
carest Thou for any man ; for Thou regarde.st
not the person of men." It was as though
they would entreat Him, without fear or fa-
vor, confidentially to give them His private
opinion ; and as though they really wanted
His opinion for their own guidance in a moral
keeping it on good terms with Roman im-' question of practical importance, and were
-19
')m
622
ROMAN TAXES.
quite sure that He alone could resolve their
distressing uncertainty. But why this sly
serpentine approach ? The forked tongue and
the envenomed fang appeared in a moment.
" Tell us, therefore" — since you are so wise,
so true, so courageous — " tell us, therefore, is
it lawful to give tribute to Cssar, or not?
This capitation tax, which we all so much de-
test, but the legality of which these Herodians
support, ought we, or ought we not, to pay it?
Which of us is in the right? — we who loathe
and resent, or the Herodians, who delight in
it?"
He must, they thought, answer " Yes " or
" No ; " there is no possible escape from a
plain question so cautiously, sincerely, and re-
spectfully put. Perhaps He will answer, " Yes,
it is lawful." If so, all apprehension of Him
on the part of the Herodians will be removed,
for then He will not be likely to endanger them
or their views. For although there is some-
thing which looks dangerous in this common
enthusiasm for Him, yet if one, whom they
take to be the Messiah, should openly adhere
to a heathen tyranny, and sanction its mo.st
galling imposition, such a decision will at once
explode and evaporate any regard which the
people may feel for him.
dinning' Hypocrites.
If, on the other hand, as is all but certain,
He should adept the views of His countryman
Judas the Gaulonite, and answer, " No, it is
not lawful," then, in that case too, we are
equally rid of Him ; for then He is in open
rebellion against the Roman power, and these
new Herodian friends of ours can at once hand
Him over to the jurisdiction of the Procurator.
Pontius Filatus will deal very roughly with
His pretensions, and will, if need be, without
the slightest hesitation, mingle His blood, as
he has done the blood of other Galilaeans, with
the blood of the sacrifices.
They must have awaited the answer with
breathless interest; but even if they succeeded
in concealing the hate which gleamed in their
eyes, Jesus at once saw the sting and heard
the hiss of the Pharisaic serpent. They had
fawned on Him with their " Rabbi," and " true "
and " impartial," and " fearless ;" He " blights
them with the flash " of one indignant A'ord,
" Hypocrites!" That word mu-st have unde-
ceived their hopes, and crumbled their crafti-
ness into dust. " Why tempt ye me, ye hypo-
crites ? Bring me the tribute-money." They
would not be likely to carry with them the hated
Roman coinage with its heathen symbols,
though they might have been at once able to
produce from their girdles the Temple shekel.
But they would only have to step outside the
Court of the Gentiles, and borrow from the
money-changers' tables a current Roman coin.
While the people stood round in wondering
silence they brought Him a denarius, and put
it in His hand. On one side were stamped
the haughty beautiful features of the Emperor
Tiberius, with all the wicked scorn upon the
lip ; on the obverse, his title of Pontifex Max-
imus!
It was probably due to mere accident that
the face of the cruel, dissolute tyrant was on
this particular coin, for the Romans, with that
half-contemptuous concession to national su-
perstitions which characterized their rule, had
allowed the Jews to have struck for their par-
ticular use a coinage which recorded the name
withou* bearing the likeness of the reigning
emperor.
" Whose image and superscription is this ? "
He asked. They say unto Him, " Caesar's."
There, then, was the simplest possible solution
of their cunning question. " Render, therefore,
unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's."
That alone might have been enough, for it
implied that their national acceptance of this
coinage answered their question, and revealed
its emptiness. The very word which He used
conveyed the lesson. They had asked, " Is it
lawful to give ? " He corrects them, and says,
" Render " — " Give back." It was not a vol-
untary gift, but a legal due; not a cheerful
offering, but a political necessity. It v per-
fectly understood among the Jews, and was
laid down by their greatest Rabbis in later
days, that to accept the coinage of any king
was to acknowledge his supremacy.
ind"true"
e " blights
iiant word,
have untle-
heir crafti-
-, ye liypo-
jy." Tliey
m the hated
n symbols,
)nce able to
iiple shekel,
outside the
vv from the
loman coin.
1 wondering
ius, and put
ere stamped
the Emperor
rn upon the
)ntifex Max-
iccident that
'rant was on
ins, with that
, national su-
leir rule, had
for their par-
ied the name
the reigning
tion is this ? "
n, " Csesar's."
jsible solution
der, therefore,
are CjEsar's."
:nough, for it
ptance of this
and revealed
rliich He used
asked, " Is it
icm.and says,
ras not a vol-
lot a cheerful
It w pcr-
ews, aiu'. was
abbis in later
e of any king
acy.
(523)
>)'*
m
m
m
524
HUSBAND AND WIFE.
By accepting the denarius, therefore, as a
current coin they were openly declaring that
CcEsar was their sovereign, and they — the very
best of them — had settled the question that it
zcas lawful to i)ay the poll-tax, by habitually
doing so. It was their duty, then, to obey the
power which they had deliberately chos«n,and
tlie tax, under these circumstances, only repre-
sented an equivalent for the advantages which
they received. But Jesus could not leave them
with this lesson only. He added the far
deeper and weightier words — " and to God the
things that are God's."
Imperial Caesar.
To Caesar you owe the coin which you have
admitted as the symbol of his authority, and
which bears his image and superscription ; to
God you owe yourselves. Nothing can more
fully reveal the depth of hypocrisy in these
Pharisaic questioners than the fact that, in
spite of the Divine answer, and in spite of their
own secret and cherished convictions, they yet
made it a ground of clamorous accusation
against Jesus, that He had " forbidden to give
tribute unto Ca;sar ! "
The Sadducees, a sect which disbelieved in
a future life, and whose opinions were very
prevalent among the upper classes in Judaea,
then put a question to IHm, proposing the
case of a woman who, under the law, married
seven brothers in succession, and asking whose
wife she would be in the life to come. This
question Jesus answered without reserve, de-
claring that the relation of husband and wife
did not exist in heaven ; and perceiving the
covert blow at the notion of a future life
which the question involved. He added further
a proof of it from that part of Scripture (the
Pentateuch, or books of Moses) which alone
they received as the revealed will of God.
This he did by reminding them that when
God called to Moses from the burning bush,
he said, " I am the God of Abraham," which
was a proof that then Abraham really lived,
seeing that He is not the God of the dead,
but of the living. This was a sufficient an-
rvev to their qsiestion.
Soon after Jesus broke forth into a terrible
denunciation of the Pharisees and tiieir doc-
triiiv-s, which He concluded by declaring that
the existing generation should not have passed
away till all the blood they had jhed, and all
the iniquities they had committed, had been
terribly avenged. Then, foreseeing the mis-
eries which awaited the devoted city. He added
mournfully, " O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou
that killest the prophets and stonest them
which are sent unto thee, how often would I
have gathered thy cliildren together, even as
a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings
— and ye would not ! Behold, your house is
left unto you desolate ! "
And has not that denunciation been fear-
fully fulfilled ? Speaking of the murder of the
younger Hanan.and other eminent nobles and
hierarchs, Josephus sr.ys, " I cannot but think
that i» was because God had doomed this city
to destruction as a polluted city, and was re-
solved to purge ilis sanctuary by fire, that He
cut off tl.ese their great defenders and well-
wishers ; while those that a little before had
worn the sacred garments and presided over
the public worship, and had been esteemed
venerable by those that dwelt in the whole
habitable earth, were cast to the wild beasts."
Jeriisnleni's Doom.
Never was a narrative more full of horrors,
frenzies, unspeakable degradations, and over-
whelming miseries than is the history of the
siege of Jerusalem. Never was any prophecy
more closely, more terribly, more overwhelm-
ingly fulfilled than fcliis of Christ. The men
going about in the disguise of women with
swords concealed under their gay robes ; the
rival outrages and infamies of John and Simon;
the priests struck by darts from the upper
court of the Temple, and falling slain by
their own sacrifices ; " the blood of all sorts
of dead carcasses — priests, strangers, profane
— standing in lakes in the holy courts ; " the
corpses themselves lying in piles and mounds
on the very altar slopes; the fires feeding
luxuriously on cedar-work overlaid with gold,
friend and foe trampled to death on the gleam*
to a terrible
id their doc-
cclaring that
t have passed
shed, and all
ed, had been
ing the mis-
ity, He added
iisalem, thou
stonest them
)ften would I
:ther, even as
der her wings
,'our house is
on been fear-
murder of the
;nt nobles and
inot but think
onied this city
f, and was re-
)y fire, that He
ders and well-
tie before had
I presided over
3een esteemed
in the whole
i wild beasts."
DISCOURSES AND MIRACLKS.
625
ing mosaics in promiscuous carnage ; priests, ■ casses ? "—to experience the "deep siUnce"
swollen with hunger, leaping madly into the and the kind of deadly iii^lit which seized
devouring flames, till at last those flames had | upon the city in the intiiTals of ra-a?— to
done their work,andwliai had been the Temple I see Goo.ooo dead bodies carried out'^t.f the
of Jerusalem, the beautifdl and holy House of [gates ?— to see friends fighting madly for-rass
God, was a heap of ghastly ruin, where the | and nettles, and the refuse of the drains ?"— to
burning embers were half-slaked in 'pools of ■ see the bloody zealots " gaping for want, and
gore. The work of destruction was terrible. Istumnling and stamrennrr nI..Mcr jik,. '„,ad
CHRIST WEEPING OVER JERUSALEM — Matt. Xxiii. 37.
And did not all the righteous blood shed
upon the earth since the days of Abel come
upon that generation ? Did not many of that
generation survive to witness and feel the un-
utterable horrors which Josephus tells? — to
see their fellows crucified in jest, " some one
way, and some another," till " room was want-
ing for the crosses, and crosses for the car-
dogs?" — to hearthe horrid tale of the miserable
mother who, in the pangs of famine, had de-
voured her owa child? — to be sold for slaves
such multitudes that at last none would
m
buy them? — to .see the streets running with
blood, and the " fire of burning houses
quenched in the blood of their defenders ? "
— to have their young sons sold in hundreds.
iCii'ri ,1'
626
UNPARALLELED CARNAGE.
or exposed in the amphitlieatrcs to the sword
of the gladiator or the fury of tiie lion, until
at last, " since the people were now slain, the
Holy House burnt down, and the city in
flames, there was nothing further left for the
enemy to do ? "
In that awful siege it is believed that there
perished 1,100,000 men, besides the 97,000
who were carried captive, and most of whom
perished subsequently in the arena or the
mine ; and it was an awful thing to feel, as
some of the survivors and eye-witnesses —
and they not Christians — did feel, that " the
city had deserved its overthrow by producing
a generation of men who were the causes of
its misfortunes ; " and that " neither did any
other city ever suffer such miseries, nor did
any age ever breed a generation more fruitful
in wickedness than this was, since the begin-
ning of the world."
It must have been clear to all that the great
denunciation just recorded involved a final and
hopeless rupture. After language such as this
there could be no possibility of reconciliation.
It was " too late." The door was shut. When
Jesus left the Temple His disciples must have
been aware that He was leaving it forever.
True and False Giving.
But apparently as He was leaving it — per-
haps while He was sitting with sad heart and
downcast eyes in the court of the women to
rest His soul, troubled by the unwonted in-
tensity of moral indignation, and His mind
wearied with these incessant assaults — another
and less painful incident happened, which
enabled Him to leave the actual precincts of
the House of His Father with words, not of
anger, but of approval.
In this court of the women were thirteen
chests, each shaped like a trumpet, broadening
downwards from the aperture, and each adorned
with various inscriptions. Into these were
cast those religious and benevolent contribu-
tions which helped to furnish the Temple with
its splendid wealth. While Jesus was sitting
there the multitude were dropping their gifts
and the wealthier donors were conspicuous
among them as they ostentatiously oflTercd
their gold and silver. Raising His eyes, per-
haps from a reverie of sorrow, Jesus at a glance
took in the whule significance of the scene.
At that moment a poor widow timidly
dropped in her little contribution. The lips
of the rich contributors may have curled with
scorn at a presentation which was the very
lowest legal minimum. She had given two
of the very smallest of current coins; for it
was not lawful, even for the poorest, to offer
only one. The coin was worth less than half
a cent of our money, and with the shame of
poverty she may well have shrunk from be-
stowing so trivial a gift, when the rich men
around her were lavishing their gold.
Contempt for tlie Poor.
We cannot understand the full force of this
act of the poor widow ; we cannot really ap-
preciate Christ's commendation of her, until
we call to mind the social position of the
humble poor at that time. If it is true now
that money is power, it was even more true
then, for of all the great the rich were the
greatest, and of all the lowly the poor were
the lowliest. Men had not yet learned to
strip off the external and see beneath it man
with immortality in his breast, and the name
of God written on his brow. Men were
judged, not as the offspring of a common
Creator, not as great in soul and possessed of
Divine endowments. This has been the mis-
take of the ages, that man was estimated and
measured, not in himself, but by what he pos-
sessed, or by what he could achieve.
Think of that climax in the answer of Jesus
to the disciples of John. Nothing could have
been more astonishing than that the poor
should have the gospel preached to them, and,
if man could have discovered it, nothing was
more truly an evidence of the Divine charac-
ter of Christ than His condescension and His
regard for the lowly; and so, in His estima-
tion, the poor garments of the widow who
casts her gift into the treasury are finer than
the purple of kings, and the two mites are
brighter than the gems of coronets.
DISCOURSKS ANU MIRACI.KS.
r)27
»oor.
nil force of this
nnot really ap-
)n of her, until
position of the
f it is true now
even more true '
rich were the
the poor were
yet learned to
beneath it man
t, and the name
w. Men were
; of a common
nd possessed of
IS been the mis-
,s estimated and
jy what he pos-
chieve.
; answer of Jesus
ling could have
that the poor
led to them, and,
it, nothing was
J Divine charac-
cension and His
in His estima-
the widow who
•y are finer than
two mites are
onets.
The commendation of this poor woman, we
say, is all the more remarkable because the
pot)r were despised and never commended, ami
remarkable also because the rich and the great
spirit. Tliiit is a great gift which has a heart
in it. aitliougli it may be nothing more than
tile look of an eye or the grasp of a liaiid.
The commercial spirit of the world wei<;li3
THE widow's mite. — Lukc xxi. 3.
were praised, and all they did was considered
of vast account. This scene, so impressive,
there in the Temple has in it a golden mean-
ing. It gives us an idea of the nature of true
giving, not by outward bulk, but by inward
things in scales, rattles the gifts upon the
counter, and counts them up ; looks at the fig-
ures on the subscription list, and sees whether
they are two or three in number, or more;
calculates in dollars and cents the benefit of
''<^'^1\ ^''ITJ'^.^.^^T^.'j
'', 'i
'i V
ft
''4
'^i
1 ■-(
IB 4
63i
FREE GIVERS.
the contribution. This is what the world does,
and in the eye of the world alone, the poor
widow is not more queenly thr^n those who
wear diadems, and ic not riciier than those
who live in palaces. Cluistian principle here,
as in many other instances, stands in contrast
wfth this commercial spirit. One throb of
sympathy, one sigh nom a noble soul, two
mites freely gi\en, are to be commemorated
in histories, where the lines are never obliter-
ated, and where the glory of the page is never
dimmed.
It is a beautiful consideration that all along
thi uugb, the Gospels we have these little inci-
dents, just those things which happen from day
to day, but which have ,< meaning so vast.
These incidents are fixed in vhe world's thought
and memory ; they live there in the world's
great heart as truly as the stone pyramids live
on the sands of Egypt. It was by little things
of this description, weighing so heavy, that
Jesus taught many of His most blessed truths,
and gave to men His heavenly wisdom. There
were those in the Temple, great and influen-
tial, who saw nothing in this poor widow's act
to admire, but when those two mites dropped
into the treasury, the sound rang through all
heaven ; more than this, it rangf through all
the ages to come, and the pooi' widow in the
Temple has an immoital fame.
The names of empires may be lost, the glory
of conquerors may be quenched in oblivion,
but, like the Mary whose story of spikenard
and tears is told wherever the gospel is
preached, .so this loving act of the poor widow
is a part of that same gospel, and the news
of it sounds equally far. Jesus was pleased
with the faithfulness and the self-sacrificing
spirit of the gift. It was like the "cup of cold
water" given for love's sake, which in His
kingdom should not go unrewarded.
He wished to teach forever the great lesson
tliat the essence of charity is self-denial ; and
the self-denial of this widow in her pauper
condition was far greater than that of the
wealthiest Pharisee who had contributed his
gold. " For they all flung in of their abun-
dance, but she of her penury cast in all she
had, her whole means of subsistence." " One
coin out of a little," says Ambrose, " is better
than a treasure out of much ; for it is not con-
sidered how much is given, but how much re-
mains behind." " If there be a willing mind,"
says Paul, " it is accepted according to that a
man hath, and not according to th„L he liatli
not."
Splendor of the Temple.
And now Jesus left the Temple for the last
time; but the feelings of the apostles still
clung With the loving pride of their nation-
ality to that sacred and memorable spot. They
stopped to cast upon it one last lingering gaze,
and one of them was eager to call His atten-
tion to its goodly stones and splendid offerings
— those nine gates overlaid with gold and sil-
ver, and the one of solid Corinthian brass yet
more precious; those graceful and towering
porches ; those bevelled blocks of marble
forty cubits long and ten cubits liigh, testifying
to the toil and munificence of so many gen-
erations ; those double cloisters and stately
pillars; that lavish adornment of sculpture
and arabesque ; thcje alternate blocks of rod
and white marble, recalling the cre.st and hol-
low of the sea-waves ; those vast clusters of
golden grapes, each cluster as large as a man,
which twined their splendid luxuriance over
die golden doors.
They would have Him gaze with them on
the rising terraces of courts — the court of the
Gentiles with its monolithic columns and rich
mosaic ; above this the flight of fourteen stepiv
which led to the court of the women ; then
the flight of fifteen steps which led up to the
court of the priests; then, once more, the
twelve steps which led to the final platform
crowned by the actual Holy, and Holy of
Holies, which the Rabbis fondly compared for
its shape to a couchant lion, and which, with
its marble whiteness and gilded roofs, looked
like a glorious mountain whose snowy sum-
mit was gilded by the sun.
It is as though they thought that the loveli-
ness and splendor of this scene would inter-
cede with Him, touc.ing His heart with mute
appeal. But the heart of Jesus was sad. To
into
rian,
buik
a mati
Hei
entitle
the R|
Holy
DISCOURSES AND MIRACLES.
529
e." " One
, " is better
is not con-
w much re-
ling mind,"
IS to that a
uL he hatU
; for the last
pestles still
heir nation-
spot. They
igering gaze,
11 His atten-
idid offerings
rrold and sil-
ian brass yet
md towering
; of marble
igh, testifying
so many gen-
s and stately
of sculpture
blocks of red
;rest and hoi-
st clusters of
rge as a man,
jcuriance over
with them on
court of tlie
mns and rich
fourteen step^
women; then
ed up to the
more, the
final platform
and Holy of
compared for
d which, with
roofs, looked
e snowy sum-
that the loveli-
e would inter-
eart with mute
was sad. Tt>
.'Jim the sole beauty of a Temple was the sin-
cerity of its worshippers, and no gold or mar-
ble, no brilliant vermilion or curiously-carved
cedar-wood, no delicate sculpturing or votive
gems, could change for Him a den of robbers
into a House of Prayer. The builders were
still busily at work, as they had been for nearly
fifty years, but their work, unblessed of God,
was destined — like the earthquake-shaken
forum of guilty Pompeii — to he destroyed
before it was finished.
Not One Stone Left Upon Another.
Briefly and almost sternly Jesus answered,
as He turned away from the glittering spec-
tacle, " Seest thou these great buildings ? there
shall not be left one stone upon another which
shall not be thrown down." It was the final
" Let us depart hence." Tacitus and Josephus
tell us how at the siege of Jerusalem was
heard that great utterance of departing gods ;
but now it was uttered in reality, though no
earthquake accompanied it, nor any miracle to
show that this was the close of ar other great
epoch in the world's history. It took place
quietly, and God " was content to show all
things in the slow history of their ripening."
Thirty-five years afterwards that Temple sank
into the ashes of its destruction ; neither Had-
rian, nor Julian, nor any other, was able to
build upon its site ; and now that very site is
a matter of uncertainty.
Henry Hart Milman, in his famous poem
entitled " The Siege of Jerusalem," represents
Ihe Roman general, Titus, as viewing the
Holy City, and exclaiming :
It must be^
And yet it moves me, Romans! It confounds
The counsel of my firm philosophy,
That ruin's merciless ploughshare must pass o'er,
And barren salt be sown on yon proud city.
As on our olive-crowned hill we stand,
Where Kedron ac our feet its scinty waters
Distils from stone to stone with gentle motion.
As through a valley sacred to sweet p^ -ce,
How boldly doth it front us ! how majestically I
Like a luxurious vineyard, the hill-side
Is hung with marble fabrics, line o'er line.
Terrace o'er terrace, nearer still, and nearer
34
There bright and sumpiuoiM
To the blue heavens.
palaces.
With cool and verdant gardens interspersed;
There towers of war that frown in massy strength;
While over all hangs the rich purple eve.
As conscious of its being her last farewell
Of light and glory to that fated city.
And, .ns our clouds of battle, dust, and smoke
Are melted into air, behold the Temple
In undisturbed and lone serenity,
Finding itself a solemn sanctuary
In the profound of heaven ! li stands before us
A mount of snow, fretted with golden pinnaclesi
The very sun, as though he worshipped there,
Lingers upon the gilded cedar roofs.
And down the long and branching porticos,
On every flowery-sculptured capital.
Glitters the homage of his parting beams.
By Hercules! the sight might almost win
The offended m.TJesty of Rome to mercy.
Returning to the narrative, sadly and si-
lently, with deep thoughts in their hearts, the
little band of disciples turned their backs on
the sacred building, which stood there as an
epitome of Jewish history /rom the days of
Solomon onwards. They crossed the valley
of Kidron, and climbed the steep foot-path
that leads over the Mount of Olives to Bethany.
At the summit of the hill they paused, and
Jesus sat down to rest — perhaps under the
green boughs of those two stately cedar trees
which then adorned the summit of the hill.
It was a scene well adapted to inspire most
solemn thoughts. Deep on the one side be-
neath Him lay the Holy City, which now, on
this day, had shown finally that she knew not
the time of her visitation. At His feet were
the slopes of Olivet and the Garden of Geth-
semane. On the opposite slope rose the city
walls, and the broad plateau crowned with the
marble colonnades and gilded roofs of the
Temple.
Turning in the eastward direction He would
look across the bare, desolate hills of the wil-
derness of Jud.-ea to the purpling line of the
mountains of Moab, which glow like a chain
of jewels in the sunset light. In the deep,
scorched hollows of the Ghor, visible in patches
of sullen cobalt, lay the mysterious waters of
the Sea of Lot. And thus, as He gazed from
i •SI'* •
II 111' '
" f
■1!
m
H
i
ifi i
f w
n
530
IMPENDING CALAMITIES.
the brow of the hill, on either side of Him
there were visible tokens of God's anger and
man's sin. On the one side gloomed the dull
lake, whose ghastly and bituminous waves are
a perpetual testimony to God's vengeance
upon sensual crime; at His foet was the glo-
rious guilty city which had shed the blood of
all the prophets, and was doomed to sink
through yet deadlier wickedness to yet more
awful retribution. And the setting sun of His
earthly life flung deeper and mure sombre
colorings across the whole scene of His eartiily
pilgrimage.
Seekin{ir a Sign.
It may be that the shadows of His thought
gave a strange solemnity to His attitude and
features, as He sat there silent among the
silent and saddened band of His few faithful
followers. Not without a touch of awe His
nearest and most favored apostles — Peter, and
James, and John, and Andrew — came near to
Him, and as they saw His eye fixed upon the
Temple, asked Him privately, " When shall
these things be ? and what shall be the sign
of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?"
Their " when ? " remained for the present un-
answered. It was the way of Jesus, when
some ignorant or irrelevant or inadmissible
question was put to Him, to rebuke it not di-
rectly, but by passing it over, and by substi-
tuting for its answer some great moral lesson
which was connected with it, and could alone
make it valuable. Accordingly, this question
of the apostles drew from Him the great dis-
course of the last things, of which the fouc
morai key-notes are " Beware 1" and " Watch ! "
and " Endure ! " and " JVay ! " The words
show plainly the deep solicitude which He
felt for His beloved disciples.
In this discourse, Jesus first warned them
of false Messiahs and false prophets ; He told
them that the wild struggling of nations and
those physical commotions and calamities
which have so often .seemed to keep time with
the great crises of history, were not to trouble
them, as they would be but the throe, the
first birth-pang of the coming era. He proph-
esied of dreadful persecutions, of abounding
iniquity, of decaying faith, of wide evangel-
ization as the signs of a coming end. And
as we learn from many other passages of
Scripture, these signs, as they did usher in
the destruction of Jerusalem, so shall reap-
pear on a larger scale before the end of all
things is at hand.
The next great paragraph of this speech
dwelt mainly on the immediate future. He
had foretold distinctly the destruction of the
Holy City, and He now gives them indica-
tions which should forewarn them of its ap-
proach, and lead them to secure their safety.
When they should see Jerusalem encompassed
with armies — when the abomination which
should cause desolation should stand in the
Holy Place — then even from the fields, even
from the housetops, they were to fly out of
Judaea to the shelter of the hills, from the
unspeakable horrors that should follow.
The Sudden Appearing.
Nor even then were they to be canird
away by any deceivableness of unrighteous-
ness, caused by the yearning intensity of
Messianic hopes. Many should cry, " Lc
here!" and "Lo there!" but let them pay no
heed; for when He came. His presence, like
lightning shining from the east even to the
west, should be visible and unmistakable lo
all the world, and like eagles gathering to thj
carcase should the destined ministers of His
vengeance wing their flight.
By such warnings the Christians were pre-
.served. Before John of Giscala had shut the
gates of Jerusalem, and Simon of Gerasa had
begun to murder the fugitives, so that "he
who escaped the tyrant within the wall was
destroyed by the other that lay before the
gates " — before the Roman eagle waved her
wing over the doomed city, or the infamies
of lust and murder had driven every worship
per in horror from the Temple courts — the
Christians had taken timely warning, and in
the little Pera;an town of Pella were beyond
the reach of all the robbery, and murder, and
famine, and cannibalism, and extermination
which made the siege of Jerusalem a scene
Ri.;
DISCOURSES AND MIRACLES.
531
^ride evangel-
cf end.
And
passages of
did usher in
;o shall reap-
the end of all
)f this speech
e future, lie
ruction of the
them indica-
heni of its ap-
e their safety,
n encompassed
lination which
d stand in the
:he fields, even
to fly out of
hills, from the
,d follow.
to be cariici!
of uniighteous-
g intensity of
3uld cry, " l.c
let them pay no
s presence, like
ast even ti.' the
iniiiistakable lo
athering to tlu
ninisters of Ills
5tians were pre-
ila had shut the
1 of Gerasa had
so that "he
in the wall was
lay before the
agle waved her
or the infamies
every worship
pie courts — the
warning, and in
la were beyond
\nd murder, and
;1 extermination
u sal em a scene
Of' greater tribulation than any that has been the shaking of the powers of heaven-si-^ns
recorded s,nce the begmnmg of the world. which may have a meaning both literal and
THE VIRGINS. — Matt. XXV, I3.
Then Jesus passed to the darkening of the metaphorical — which should precede the ap-
Jun and moon, and the falling of the .stars, and pearing of the Son of man in lieaven, and the
'^ -'^'j*«.-»':
fc ;«,;ii
I .','
532
WATCHING AND WAITING.
gathering of the elect from the four winds by
the trumpet-blast at the angels.
Tiiat day of the Lord should have its signs
no less than the other, and 'le bade His di.s-
ciples in all ages to mark _thos2 signs and in-
terpret them aright, even as they interpreted
the signs of the coming summer in the fig-
tree's budding leaves. But that day should
come to the world suddenly, unexpectedly,
overwhelmingly ; and as it should be a day
of reward to ail faithful servants, so should it
be a day of vengeance and destruction to the
glutton and the drunkard, to the hypocrite
and the oppressor.
Therefore, to impress yet more indelibly
upon their minds the lessons of watchfulness
and faithfulness, and to warn them yet more
emphatically against the peril of the drowsy
life and the smouldering lamp. He told them
the exquisite parables — so beautiful, so simple,
yet so rich in instruction — of the ten virgins
and of the talents.
Tho Houiseholder aiul Thief.
" Take heed," He says, " and watch : for ye
know not when the hour may strike. It will
be like the coming of a man who has taken
his journey into a far country, and has left his
house in the hands of his servants, and given
authority over it to them — to each his own
special work — and has commanded the keeper
of the gate to watch for his return. Watch,
therefore, like faithful, diligent servants, for ye
know not the hour when I, the Master of the
house, shall come, whether it will be in the
evening, or at midnight, or at cock-crowing,
or in the morning; lest, if I come suddenly, I
find you asleep. And what I say to you, My
apostles, I say to all. Be iwake and watchful at
all times, that ye may be able to escape all the
terrors of My coming, by being found faithful,
and thus may be set before Me by the holy
angels, to enter into My glory, and stand before
Me, as My servants, in My heavenly kingdom.
" You know how a householder would have
acted had he known beforehand at what watch
of the night the thief would come, to plunder
his goods. He would have watched, and not
have suffered his house to be broken into.
Therefore, be ready at all times, for the Son
of man will come, when, perhaps, ye least ex-
pect Him.
" Who among you will prove himself a
good and faithful servant? He will be like a
servant of him of whom I have spoken, who
took his journey to a far country — a servant
set over the household to give them their food
in due season, during his absence: who faith-
fully did it. Bles.sed -Ml be that servant, whom
his lord, when he retu.-ns, shall find so doing!
Verily I say to you, he will advance him to a
far higher post, for he will set him not only
over the food of his household, but over all
his substance. And blessed, in like manner,
will he be whom I, on My return, will find
faithful to the charge committed to him in My
kingdom !
" But if, instead of being faithful, you fail in
your duty, you will be like a servant of the
same master who should say in his heart, ' My
lord delays his coming,* and begin to beat hi?
fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the
drunken, at his master's cost. The lord of
that servant will come in a day when he does
not look for him, and in an hour when he does
not expect him, and will punish him to the
uttermost, and make him bear the just fate of
a hypocrite. Even so the hypocrite, in My
kingdom, shall be cast out into o ter dark-
ness.
Aleetiner the Bridegroom.
" In that day it will be as when, at a mar-
riage, the maidens invited to play and sing in
the marriage procession prepare to go out to
meet the bridegroom, to lead him to the house
of the bride, where the marriage is to be cele-
brated. Let me suppo.se there were ten such
maidens — five wise, five foolish. The five
foolish ones took their lamps with them, to
help the display, and lighten the path of the
bridegroom, but they forgot to take oil wiih
them, besides, to refill the lamps, when they
had burned out.
" But the wise not only took their lamps,
but oil in their oil-flasks as well. All tlu^ ten,
thus differently prepared, went forth from the
ful, you fail ill
servant of the
his heart, ' My
lin to beat hi?
drink with the
The lord of
when he does
when he does
sh him to the
the just fate of
pocrite, in My
to c ter dark-
DISCOURSES AND MIRACLES.
home of the bride and waited in a house, on the streets had heard the loud music and
the way by which the bridegroom must come, sliouts. and had seen the light of the lamps
to be ready to go out and escort him, when he
passed by.
" But he delayed so lonpr that they all grew
lieavy, and fell asleep. At last, at midnight,
tliey were suddenly roused ; for the people in
and torches of tlie procession afar, and raised
the cry at the doors — ' The bridegroom is
coming, go ye out to meet him.'
" Then they all arose, and trimmed each
her own lamp, to have it ready. The foolish
I
ft
'1
li
i\
534
LAMPS, BUT NO LIGHT.
. -M
i.W
I ' M '
'•;: ^(ii
ones now found that their lamps wcro going
out, because the oil was all burned, and asked
the wise ones to give them of ♦^'-cirs. But
they answered, ' We cannot possibly do so, for
our oil would assurcdl;, n )t suffice both for
ourselves and you • <>;i^, rather, to the sellers,
and buy for yourscUrs.'
" Whil.; '.1 ity \vt?r': uway buying it, however,
the bride; .00 in came, and the five who were
ready joiiif ,1 th: precession, a. d went in with
the bride: room to "ic marriage and the mar-
riage-feas , and ihc door was shut. After a
time the other five c?.nic, and knocked at the
gate with anxious entreaty — ' Lord, lord, open
to us.' But he answered, ' I do not know you.
You were not among the other maids of the
bride in the procession, and, therefore, you are
strangers to me, and as su:h have nothing to
do at my marriage.'
" Learn from this parable that they who
patiently watch and wait, doing the duty I have
assigned them, till I come, though they know
neither the day nor the hour when I ,hall do
so, will have a part in the joys of M^ heavenly
kingdom. All My followers will .hen be 't
were. My bride, and I their B'^idegroom ; but
those who are not faithful au-1 true to the end
will be shut out from the marriage-feast."
The King and Iiis Servants.
With that marvelous power of turning
every incident to practical account which
marked His teaching, He proceeded to repeat
a parable borrowed, in many particulars, from
facts in their recent or passing national his-
tory. Archelaus had set out for Rome, most
likely from jcricho itself, not many years be-
fore, to obtain investiture in the kingdom left
to him by ihc will of his father Herod, and the
Jews had sent a fruitless embas.sy after him to
prevent his obtaining it. All the princes of
the house ci'.' Herod had, indeed, been only
vassals of 7''.ome, and had had to go to the
imperial ci( 7, in each case, to seek their king-
dom as a r ft from the Roman senate.
"A ce . m man," said He, " of noble birth,
went to I distant country to receive for him-
self the ( gnity of king over his former fellow-
citizens, and then to return. Before doing so
he called ten of his servants, from whom, as
such, he had the right to expect the utmost
care for his interests in liis absence. He pro-
posed, in his secret minel, to entrust them witU
a small responsibility, by their discharge of
which he could judge, when lie returned, of
their fitness and worthiness to be put into
positions of greater consideration ; for he
wished to choose from them his future chief
officers for the administration of his affairs.
'ihe King'g Return.
" In the meantime he gave them, each, only
a mina, one hundred drachmae (about eighteen
dollars of our money), and said to them,
' Trade with this, on my account, till I return.'
If they proved to be faithful in this small
matter, he would be able to advance them to
!;ighcr trusts.
" It happened, however, that he was so un-
popular, tht't his fellow-citizens, in their hatred
of him, sent an embassy after him to the su-
preme power, complaining against huii, and
contemptuously declaring that they would not
have such a man to rule over them. But their
embas.sy failed, for, in spite of it, he obtained
the province, and was appointed their king.
" O V nis return, after he had ttius received
the government, he ordered the servants to
whom he had given the money to be called
before him, that he might know what each
had gained by trading. The first came and
said, ' Lord, thy talent has gained ten.' ' Well
done, good servant,' replied his master, ' be-
cause thou wast faithful in a very little, be
thou governor of ten cities.' The second
came, saying, ' Lord, thy talent has gained
five.' ' Be thou governor of five cities,' replied
his master.
" But another came and said, ' Lord, here is
thy talent, I have kept it safely tied up in a
napkin : you will find it just as I got it. I did
not know what to do witb it, and I was afraid
of thee ; for I know you trc; a hard man in
money matters, looking for great profits where
you have laid out next to nothing — taking up,
as they say, what you had not put down, and.
, nm^
DISCOURSES AND MIRACLES.
635
:fore doing so
rem whom, as
ct the utmost
ice. He pro-
•ust them with
discharge of
e returned, of
) be put into
ition; for he
is future chief
f his affairs.
II.
lem, each, only
about eighteen
said to them,
It, till I return.*
in this small
Ivance them to
he was so un-
, in their hatred
him to the su-
ainst h'm, and
they would not
icm. But their
it, he obtained
d their king.
i tnus received
the servants to
ey to be called
low what each
first came and
led ten.' 'Well
lis master, ' be-
very little, be
The second
ent has gained
e cities,' replied
, ' Lord, here is
;ly tied up in a
I got it. I did
md I was airaid
a hard man in
:at profits where
ing — taking up,
put down, and>
If needs be, reaping where you had not sown
— making good your loss, if there were any.
" ' I will judge you out of your own mouth,
wicked servant,' replied his master. 'You
THE TALENTS. — Matt. XXV. 1 4.
at his expense who caiised it — and so, to keep
myself saf-i, I thought it best to run no risk
one wav or other,'
say you icnew I was a hard man in money
matters, seeking gain where I had laid
nothing out to secure it, and reaping where
^^\.
%''
w
^ 4i^
i 1 f. , '
Ml
^::
536
THE EVENING AT BETHANY.
others have sown — why then did you not at
least give my money to some exchanger to
use at his table, that thus, on my return, I
might have got it back with interest ? ' Then,
turning to the servants standing by, he con-
tinued, ' Take from him the mina, and give it
him that has ten.' ' He has ten already,'
muttered the servants, half afraid. But the
king went on in his anger, without heeding
them — ' I tell you that to every one who
shows his fitness to serve me, by having
already increased what I at first gave him, I
shall give more ; but I shall take away what
I first gave from him who, by adding nothing
to it, has proved his unfitness to use what
might be put in his hands.' "
A Sacred Trust.
The lessons of the parable could hardly be
misunderstood. To the Jewish people, who
would not receive Him as the Messiah, they
spoke in words of warning alarm ; but the
twelve, themselves, heard a solemn caution
They had each, in being selected as an apostle,
received a sacred trust, to be used for his
Master's interests, till the coming again in
glory. Well for him who, when his Lord
returned to judgment, could give a good ac-
count of his stewardship ; woe to him who had
neglected his trust ! Though called to the
same honor at first as the others, as an
apostle he would be stripped of his rank, and
receive no share in the glory and dignities of
the Messianic kingdom. As to the Jews who
rejected Him, His coming would be the
signal for the sorest judgments.
On that day those who had shown the
least kindness to the least of these His
brethren should be accounted to have done it
unto Him. But then, lest these grand utter-
ances should lead them to any of their old
mistaken Messianic notions, He ended them
with the sad and now half-familiar refrain,
that His death and anguish must precede all
else. The occasion, the manner, the very day
are now revealed to them : " Ye know that after
two days is the Passover, and the Son of man
is betrayed to be crucified."
So ended that great discourse upon the
Mount of Olives, and the sun set, and He
aro.se and walked with his apostles the short
remaining road to Bethany. It was the last
time that He would ever walk it upon earth ;
and after the trials, the weariness, the awful
teachings, the terrible agitations of that event-
ful day, how delicious to Him must have been
that hour of twilight loveliness and evening
calm ; how refreshing the peace and afiTection
which surrounded Him in the quiet village
and the holy home.
Jesus did not love cities, and scarcely ever
slept within their precincts. He shrank from
their congregated wickedness, from their glar-
ing publicity, from their feverish excitement,
from their featureless monotony, with all the
natural and instinctive dislike of delicate
minds. An oriental city is always dirty;
the refuse is flung into the streets ; there is no
pavement; the pariah dog is the sole scav-
enger; beast and man jostle each other pro-
miscuously in the crowded thoroughfares.
The Approaeliiiig Passion.
And though the necessities of His work
compelled Him to visit Jerusalem, and to
preach to the vast throngs from every climate
and country who were congregated at its
yearly festivals, yet He seems to have retired
on every possible occasion beyond its gates,
partly it may be for safety — partly from pov-
erty — partly becau.se He loved that sweet
home at Bethany — and partly, too, perhaps,
because He felt the peaceful joy of treading
the grass that groweth on the mountains rather
than the city stones, and could hold gladder
communion with His Father in heaven under
the shadow of the olive-trees, where, far from
all disturbing sights and sounds, He could
watch the splendor of the sun,set and the
falling of the dew, and feel the awful hush be-
fore the coming storm.
And surely that last evening walk to Bethany
on that evening in Passion week must have
breathed deep calm into His soul. The
thought, indeed, of the bitter cup which He
was so soon to drink was doubtless present to
DISCOURSES AND MIRACLES.
087
upon the
t, and He
; the short
as the last
ipon earth ;
, the awful
that event-
t have been
lid evening
nd affection
uiet village
carcely ever
shrank from
II their glar-
cxcitement,
with all the
of delicate
ways dirty ;
; there is no
le sole scav-
;h other pro-
Ligh fares.
)iun.
f His work
cm, and to
livery climate
gated at its
have retired
nd its gates,
ly from pov-
that sweet
too, perhaps.
,' of treading
iiitains rather
lold gladder
iieaven under
lere, far from
s, He could
set and the
vful hush be-
|lk to Bethany
Ik must have
soul. Tlic
^p which He
2SS present to
Him, but present only in its aspect of exalted
sacrifice, and the highest purpose of love ful-
victory— the full, perfect, and sufficient atone-
ment — these we may well, though reverently,
.,>#OT^
filled. Not the pangs which he would suffer,
but the pangs from which He would save ; not
the power of darkness which would seem to
■win a short-lived triumph, but the redeeming
believe to have been the subjects which domi-
nated in His thoughts.
The exquisite beauty of the Syrian evening,
the tender colors of the spring grass and
!; it
; 1. .; j '
638
A MOUNT OF SORROW.
'(■'•!-1
I liipif
!ui:
flowers, the ravines around Him paling into
solemn gray, the distant hills bathed in the
primrose light of sunset, the coolness and balm
of the breeze after the burning glare — what
must these have been to Him to whose eye
the world oi nature was an open book, on
every page of which He read His Father's
name !
And tiiis was His native land. Bethany
was almost to Him a second Nazareth ; those
whom He loved were around Him, and He
was goini; to those whom He loved. Can we
not imagine Him walking on in silence too
deep for words — His disciples beside Him or
following Him — the gibbous moon beginning
to rise and gild llic twinkling foliagf: of the
olive-trees with richer silve'*, and moonlight
and twilight blending at each step insensibly
with the garish hues of day, like tiiat solemn
twilight-purple of coming agony into which
the noonday of His happier ministry had long
since begun to Tado ?
The Mount of OllTes.
Of the many scenes connected with the
early life oi Jesus, there is none nmre sacred
to the Christian mind than the Mount of
Olives. The Lake of Galilee may be said to
be next in point of interest, but the associa-
tions connected with the two places are alto-
gether different. The shores of the lake wit-
nessed the first events in the ministry of Christ,
but the Mount of Olives belongs to its close.
The one speaks of Jesus as full of gladness,
the other speaks of Him in tV ^ days of His
sorrow and tribulation. Genncsareth belongs
to joyous Galilee, but Olivet is associated with
dark Gethsemane. The first sermons of Jesus
— those preached by the lake — are redolent of
nature ; they flowed like streams of pure water
from His yet untroubled soul ; but His last
words and His last actions — those connected
with Olivet — have more of anguish and sorrow.
The Mount of Olives is west of Jerusalem.
The ascent begins as soon as the traveller has
crossed the brook Kidron. The top is two
hundred feet higher than Mount Moriah, so
that it commands a complete view of Jeru-
salem. The first mention of Olivet in the
Bible is when David heard of the conspiracy
of Absalom. It is recorded that he fled from
Jerusalem, and " went up by the ascent of
Mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and
had his head covered, and he went barefoot ;
and all the people that was with him covered
every man his head, and they went up, weep-
ing as they went up." It was a mount of
sorrow to David as well as to David's greater
Son. He too wept over Jerusalem, and in a
sense suffered for the sins of its children.
A Historic Spot.
Only once again is Olivet mentioned by
name in the Old Testament. In the Book of
Zechariah there is a prophecy of the destruc-
tion of Jerusalem, which is spoken of as con-
temporaneous with a coming of the Lord.
It is said, " His feet shall stand in that day
upon the Mount of Olives, which is before
Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of
Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof to-
ward the east and toward the west, and
there shall be a very great valley; and half
of the mountain shall remove toward the
north, aad half of it toward the south."
There are, however, several indirect allusions
to the Mount of Olives. It is said of kin^
Solomon, when his wives turned away his
heart after other gods, that he built " an high
place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab,
in the hill that is before Jerusalem," Because
of these high places it was called " the mount
of corruption," In Ezekiel it is said that
"the glory of the Lord went up from the
midst of the city, and stood upon the moun-
tain which is on the east side of the city."
In the Book of Nehemiah, the people were
instructed to keep the feast of Tabernacles
with olive, and pine, and myrtle, and palwi
branches, brought from the Mount of Olives.
Jesus loved the country. The simplicity
of nature accorded with His spirit. It was
His Father's work — or, rather, the sphere of
His Father's working. Everywhere God wa.s
present to Him: all scenes in nature, all
sounds, all forms, ever spoke to Him of His
t»!
DISCOURSKS AND MIRACLES.
5:^9
vet in the
conspiracy
le fled fron)
I ascent of
ent up, and
\t barefoot;
lim covered
It up, wccp-
a mount of
/id's greater
m, and in a
hildren.
lentioned by
the Book of
■ the destruc-
.■n of as con-
jf the Lord,
i in that day
lich is before
le Mount of
st thereof to-
he west, and
,cy; and half
toward the
the soutb."
irsct allusions
said of kiiii^
ned away his
,uilt " an high
ition of Moab,
;m." Because
;d " the mount
t is said that
up from the
)on the moun-
of the city."
.. people were
:)f Tabernacles
rtle, and palr.i
junt of Olives.
The simplicity
spirit. It was
, the sphere of
where God was
in nature, all
to Him of His
Father. The town was the abode of sin.
There men festered in moral corruption : the
atmosphere was impure; but in the green
fields, on the hill-sides, and in quiet hamlets,
Jesus found the purity of God.
It was on Olivet that Jesus wept for Jeru-
salem. He knew its impending doom. This
lamentation over the great city seems to have
intervened during the great triumphal proces-
sion towards the city. Jesus was going to
His cross; but He was also going to His
kingdom. He could rejoice, for He saw
before Him His final victory; but He wept
for those who were not to share it, those who
had rejected Him, and were soon to be His
murderers.
It is in the last scene of the life of Jesus
that the Mount of Olives occupies the most
conspicuous place in the Gospel history.
After the Paschal supper, " He came out, and
went, as He was wont," Luke says, " to the
Mount of Olives." John says that He went
"over the brook Kidron, where was a garden."
This was Geth.semane, at the foot of Olivet, the
scene of His agonies in the prospect of cruci-
fixion. Into this garden His disciples are not
permitted to enter, except the chosen three,
Peter and the two sons of Zebedee. But even
they had to stand at a distance in the moments
of His wre.stling with God. Three time.s did
He utter the prayer. " Father, if it be possible,
let this Clip pa.ss from me;" and twice Me ex-
prcsseii submission to the Divine will.
The Chr' 'ian traveller in the Holy Land
can gn?. no spot with more interest tiian
on the green sloiyjs of Olivet. Tlie olive-
trees are now but few in number, and the
aspect of Jerusalem from its summit is not
what it was when the Holy City was in its
splendor. Getliscmane is now enclosed by
the wall of a monastery. It contains cij;ht
large and venerable olive-trees, so old that
the imagination maj' not be wrong in sup-
posing them the very trees under which Jesus
knelt when His soul was exceeding sorrowful
even unto death.
Dean Stanley says: "They are now, indeed,
less striking in the modern garden enclosure,
built round them by the Franci.scan monks,
than when they stood free and unprotected on
the rough hill-side; but they will remain, as
long as their already protracted life is spared,
the most remarkable of their race on the sur-
face of the earth. Their gnarled trunks and
scanty foliage will always be regarded as the
mo.st affecting of the sacred memories in or
about Jerusalem ; the most nearly approach-
ing to the everlasting hills themselves in the
force with which they carry us back to the
events of the Gospel history."
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CHAPTER XXXVII.
CLOSING SCENES IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
I <(>
■P^
AVING determined to
put Jesus to death, the
Sanhedrin held a pri-
vate sitting in the
house of the high-
priest, Caiaphas,
where they deliber-
ated on the best means
of apprehending Him
with the least danger of creating an
uproar among the people.
Unhappily, they found one willing
to assist them. This was Judas Iscar-
iot, who came to them, and agreed,
for thirty pieces of silver, to seek an oppor-
tunity for betraying Him into their hands.
The motive of this wretched man has been
very much disputed. The more simple and
harsh view is that which holds that he be-
trayed his Master to death for this sum of
money ; but this has been judged incon-
sistent with the fact of his repentance so
soon as he saw that Jesus was actually con-
demned. This seems to show that he expected
a different result, and the paltry sum of money
might easily have been acquired by one who
had charge of the bag, without staining his
soul with so black a crime.
Upon the whole, we may readily believe
that Judas was a man whose characti-r was of
less unmixed evil than the popular judgment
deems ; although it x^^ill always be difficult to
determine the precise considerations by which
his conduct was influenced. It has been
supposed by some, that in the conviction that
Christ could and would, as on former oc-
casions, deliver Himself out of their hands,
he intended merely to trifle with the priests in
making this ofier to them. But others think
the whole proceeding best accounted for by
supposing that Judas, annoyed at the tardi-
(540)
ness of Jesus in openly avowing Himself to
be the Messiah, and of taking upon Him the
great power which belonged to Him in that
character, was solicitous to place Him in a
position which would compel Him to declare
Himself, and by that act commence His reign
on the earth.
Thursday at length arrived, when all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem prepared to celebrate
the Passover. At this feast strangers from all
parts of the land flocked to Jerusalem, and the
residents felt themselves bound to set apart and
make ready all the spare rooms in their houses,
for the use of the strangers in celebrating the
Passover. The ceremony itself consisted in
eating a lamb with particular ceremonies, in
commemoration of the deliverance from Egypt.
As it was necessary that a lamb should be
eaten and that none of it should be left, parties
sufficiently large for the purpose were usually
formed. The number who sat at the table
was usually from twelxje to fifteen ; and as
Jesus and His apostles were thirteen, they
were enabled to take this last and solemn
meal by themselves, without the presence of
strangers.
The time being fully come, Je.sus sent
Peter and John into the city, and told them
that they would meet a man bearing a pitcher
of water whom tiiey were to follow, and make
ready the Passover in the house to which he
went. It so happened: and on asking the
master of the house to show them the chamber
he had prepared for strangers, they were con-
ducted to " a large upper chamber, ready
furnished and prepared " with the requisite
seats, table, and utensils. Here the Passover
was made ready by the disciples, and in the
evening Jesus came and sat down with them
to eat of it.
Rising from the couch, and girding Him*
r Himself to
pen Him the
Him in that
:e Him in a
im to declare
ice His reign
when all the
i to celebrate
igers from all
alem, and the
) set apart and
I their houses,
elebrating the
consisted in
:eremonies, in
:e from Egypt,
mb should be
be left, parties
: were usually
■i at the table
fteen ; and as
thirteen, they
t and solemn
e presence of
e, Jesus sent
and told them
aring a pitcher
low, and make
ie to which he
)n asking the
m the chamber
they were con-
lamber, ready
the requisite
e tlie Passover
les, and in the
)wn with them
girding Him-
(641)
ter'-
642
AN ACT OF HUMILITY.
,i,ii«
1 1 •■»
self with a towel, like a sj^ve, after laying
aside His upper garments, He poured water
into a basin, and began to wash the feet of
His disciples. Pride and selfish ambition
could not be more strikingly and touchingly
reproved, than by such an act on the part of
one so exalted.
No greater proof could be shown of His
love, than that such an act of humility should
be its natural expression. Had they all been
true-hearted, it would have been amazing in
one so transcendently above them, but it was
still more so, when He knew that one of them
was already a traitor. He had proclaimed
Himself the Son of God, the future judge of
the world, the Messiah in whose gift were the
honors of heaven, and whose voice was to
raise the dead, and they were simple Galilsean
fishermen. There could be no commentary on
His demand for lowliness, as the true ground
of advancement in His kingdom, more vivid
than His voluntarily performing the lowliest
act of personal service to them all.
Peter's Bash Beftisal.
He seems to have begun with Simon Peter,
His chief apostle, but the warm heart and the
impulsive nature of the rock-like man shrank
from letting his Master humble Himself thus.
" Lord," said he, " dost Thou wash tny feet ! "
He had not realized the meaning of an act
intended as symbolical. " What I do," replied
Jesus, " thou understandest not now, but wilt
know hereafter." " Thou shalt never wash
my feet. Lord," reiterated the apostle. " If I
do not wash thee," said Jesus " thou hast no
part with Me." " Lord, if that be the case,"
broke out Peter, " wash not my feet only, but
my hands and my head." " It is not neces-
sary," said Jesus. " He who, according to
Jewish ways, has taken a bath before his meal,
needs no more than to cleanse the dust from
his feet, which has clung to them on the way
from the bath. Except this, he is clean, and
it is the same with you, except him who in-
tends to betray Me.
" By My word, which I have spoken to you,
and the faith waked in you by it, you are al-
ready clean in the sense I mean — right in the
desire of your heart towards Me. Yet, though
thus clean, the dust of earth still clings to you
in part, and makes a last washing needful."
The hour was at hand for this last crowning
act of love, and He would now prepare them
for it by this tender symbol, for it taught not
only humility, but that He alone could take
away sin. Having washed their feet and re-
sumed His garments. He once more took His
place on the couch.
A Startling Announcement.
" Do you know," He asked, as He did so,
"the meaning of what I have now done to
you ? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and
you are right, for I am both. Learn, then,
that, if I, your Master and Lord, wash your
feet, you, also, ought to wash one another's
feet, for I have done this as an example to
you, that you should do to each other as I
have done to you. You know, and I would
have you remember it, that a servant ,is not
greater than his lord, nor an apostle than He
who sent him forth, so that you may well imi-
tate Me, your superior, in My humility. If
you understand what I say, it will be well for
you if you act. on My teaching."
It was just after this that Jesus took occa-
sion to intimate that among the trusted dis-
ciples then present there was one who would
betray Him to His enemies. This gave them
great concern ; and, after a pause, they began
to ask Him severally, " Lord, is it I ? " At
this time they were seated, or rather reclining,
on the bench, or triclinium, which enclosed
the table; and they were placed in such a man-
ner that the " beloved disciple," John, lay with
his head towards his Master's bosom ; and to
him Peter beckoned that he should put the
question more distinctly.
He did so, by asking, probably in a low
voice, " Lord, who is it ? " To which Jesus
answered, probably also in a subdued voice,
"He to whom I shall give the sop when I
have dipped it ; " and immediately He dipped
the sop and gave it to Judas. It was usual
after the second cup of wine at the Paschal
CLOSING SCENES IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
643
■right in the
Yet, though
Ungs to you
ng needful."
ist crowning
)repare them
t taught not
; could take
feet and re-
ore took His
icnt.
s He did so,
now done to
id Lord, and
Learn, then,
■d, wash your
one another's
n example to
ch other as I
', and I would
servant .is not
lostle than He
may well inii-
humility. If
ill be well for
sus took occa-
le trusted dis-
ne who would
lis gave them
se, they began
is it I?" At
ither reclining,
lich enclosed
in such a man-
John, lay with
)osom ; and to
hould put the
ably in a low
which Jesus
;ubdued voice,
e sop when I
ely He dipped
It was usual
the Paschal
meal for the father of the house, or head of the
party, to take a piece of unleavened bread,
break it in pieces and give a bit to each of
those present, most commonly after having
dipped it in the broth. This was probably
the " sop " in question, and we may suppose
that it was the turn of Judas to receive it.
On this Judas, who, as being near enough
to receive this, had probably overheard John's
question, asked, in a low voice. " Lord, is it
very night, in completion of the engagement
into which he had already entered.
As the Passover repast began late in the
evening, and it was now already more than
half completed, the night must then have al-
ready set in when the traitor separated him-
self from this circle of humility and love, and
hastened through the lonesome darkness to
the enemies of Jesus.
When Judas had actually withdrawn, and
JESUS WASHING peter's FEET. — John xiii. 5.
I ? " and was answered in an undertone, " It
is thou," by Jesus, who then added, aloud,
" What thou doest, do quickly : " on which
Judas immediately left the place. The dis-
ciples generally had evidently not caught this
conversation, for they supposed that he had
gone forth on some charge connected with the
distribution of alms from the common purse,
with which he was intrusted. But in fact he
went to the priests to arrange the plan of
operation for betraying his Lord to them that
with that the certainty of his horrible deed
was fully determined, the consciousness of
victory over sin and death rose triumphant to
the mind of the Saviour, and absorbed for the
moment all other considerations ; and He said,
" Now the Son of man is glorified, and God is
glorified in Him." He then intimated to the
apostles that the time was near in which He
was to be taken from them, and added, "A
new commandment I give unto you, that ye
love one another as I have loved you."
,il
644
THE SIFTING OF SATAN.
Although Jesus had more than once ex-
pressed Himself with sufficient accuracy and
plainness respecting His approaching death,
and even the manner of it, the disciples, still
warped by their early notions respecting the
Messiah and His reign, could not understand
His words in the sense He intended to convey.
Possibly they thought only of a temporary
removal of the Redeemer, through which He
might escape from treason and from the plots
of His enemies.
Therefore the ardent Peter endeavored to
lead Him to a more definite explanation —
" Lord, whither goest Thou ? " Jesus answered,
" Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now ;
but thou shalt follow Me afterwards." Gath-
ering from this, perhaps, that some danger was
connected with the removal of his beloved
Master, Peter rejoined, " Why cannot I follow
thee now ? I will lay down my life for Thy
sake." But Jesus, looking through the soul,
perceived that this declaration arose more from
a swell of generous feeling, than from a firmly-
grounded purpose ; and therefore warned him
to look well to hjs own heart. The idea of
forsaking his Master, whom he loved so dearly,
was too inconceivable, however, to Peter, in
the self-confidence of his affection, to allow
him to accept it as possible. " Other men
may, perhaps, be offended on account of Thee,
Lore," said he, " but if all the wprld were to
be so, there is no fear of my failing. I, at any
rate, will never leave Thee."
Peter Warned.
"Simon, Simon," replied Jesus, using the
old name by which He had known him long
ago — " take care. Self-confidence will be your
undoing. Satan has seen it, and has sought
to get God to give you over into his power,
as he once did Job, and he has got you for the
time, to sift you as wheat is sifted. He would
fain have it that your professions are only
chaff, and he will shake and test you by temp-
tations, dangers, and troubles, to try to make
you turn against Me, and thus prove that it
is so.
"But I am mightier than your enemy, and I
have prayed for you that, though you fall, you
may rise again, and that your faith in Me may
not give way altogether, and separate you en-
tirely from Me. Though you will assuredly fall,
yet you will repent, and when you have done
so, see that you strengthen the faith of j'our
fellow-disciples, and become their helper, to
support and confirm them, if they, like you,
waver." This warning was as kind as it was
faithful, and was deeply impressive.
The Base Denial.
Peter was sorely distressed at such words.
Conscious of his honest love and fidelity, it
seemed as if Jesus doubted both. His warm
Galilaean heart was full. He felt as if his
Master spoke of his acting in a way of which
he could not believe himself capable. " Lord,"
said he, " I care not what happens to Thee. I
am ready to go with Thee to prison, or to die
with Thee, but I will never leave Thee, nor be
untrue to Thee." " Do you think so, Peter ? "
replied Jesus, with a voice full of tenderness —
" I tell you that this very night, before the cock
crow the second time, you will thrice deny tliat
you know Me." " If I were to die for it," an-
swered the apostle, " no one will ever hear me
deny Thee." " I can say the same," added all
the other apostles.
There was now a pause for a short time in
the conversation. Presently Jesus recom-
menced it. " You may wonder at My speaking
as I have done to-night," said He, " but there
are good grounds for it. Your circumstances
will be entirely different, henceforth, from what
they have been in the past. A time of care
and struggle lies before you. When I sent
you to travel through the country, preaching
the kingdom, and you had neither purse, nor
bag for food, nor sandals — did you miss any
of these, or want for anything ? " " Nothing,
Lord," said all the eleven.
" It will be very different now," replied
Jesus. " Whoever has money, let him take it,
and let him take provisions for the way, as
well ; and let him that has no sword sell his
coat to buy one, to defend himself He who
has money and provisions can help himself on
CLOSING SCENES IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
646
)u fall, you
in Me may
ite you en-
iuredly fall,
have done
ith of your
helper, to
y, like you,
id as it was
such words,
d fidelity, it
His warm
sit as if his
ray of which
ble. "Lord,"
5 to Thee. I
son, or to die
Thee, nor be
k so, Peter ? "
tenderness —
efore the cock
[rice deny that
jie for it," aii-
ever hear me
ne," added all
short time in
esus recom-
: My speaking
e, " but there
circumstances
rth, from what
V time of care
When I sent
try, preaching
her purse, nor
you miss any
" Nothing,
now," replied
\et him take it,
[r the way, as
sword sell his
Iself He who
|elp himself on
by them in his journeys, but he who has none
will need to ask hospitality, and, as he need
not hope to receive it, let him, at least, have
the means of protection. I speak in a figure,
for I do not really mean you to fight, or to
carry or use a sword, but I wish to impress on
you how hostile the world will, henceforth, be
to you, as you go on your journeys as my
apostles ; and what earnest energy and struggle
will be needful, on your part, while you are
thus carrying the news of the kingdom through
the world. For I tell you, solemnly, that the
words of Isaiah, 'And He was reckoned among
transgressors,' must be fulfilled in Me, for that
which has been written of Me in Scripture is
about to be accomplished."
This was the picture, tinged with gloom and
deeply shadowed by sorrow, which He painted.
Jesus plainly told His disciples that they
would share His sufierings, and also that
their reward was sure, both for their toils and
pains and their deeds of charity. This thought
is beautifully expressed by the poet Mont-
gomery in his pathetic poem entitled "The
Stranger and His Friend : "
A poor wayfaring man of grief
Hath often crossed me on mj way,
MTho sued so humbly for relief
That I could never answer " Nay."
I had not power to ask His name,
VHiither He went, or whence He came;
Yet there was something in His eye
That won my love — I knew not why.
Once, w!)en my scanty meal was spread.
He entered. Not a word He spake.
Just perishing for want of bread,
I gave Him all; He blessed it, brake,
And ate ; — but gave me part again.
Mine was an angel's portion then ;
For while I fed with eager haste.
That crust was manna to my taste.
I spied Him where a fountain burst
Clear from the rock ; His strength was gone;
The heedless water mocked His thirst;
He heard it, saw it hurrying on.
I ran to raise the sufferer up ;
Thrice from the stream He drained my cap^
Dipped, and returned it running o'er;— •
I drank and never thirsted more.
86
'Twas night ; the floods were out— it blew
A winter hurricane aloof;
I heard His voice abroad, and flew
To bid Him welcome to my roof;
I warmed, I clothed, I cheered my guest-
Laid Him on my own couch to rest ;
Then made the earth my bed, and seemed
In Eden's garden while I dreamed.
Stripped, wounded, beaten nigh to death,
I found Him by the highway side;
I roused His pulse, brought back His breath.
Revived His spirit, and supplied
Wine, oil, refreshment ; He was healed.
I had, myself, a wound concealed—
But from that hour forgot the smart,
And peace bound up my broken heart.
In prison I saw Him next, condemned
To meet a traitor's doom at mom;
The tide of lying tongues I stemmed.
And honored Him 'midst shame and scorn.
My friendship's utmost zeal to try.
He asked if I for Him would die ;
The flesh was weak, my blood ran chill.
But the free spirit cried, « I will."
Then in a moment, to my view.
The stranger darted from disg«ise;
The tokens in His hands I knew—
My Saviour stood before mine eyes.
He spake ; and my poor name he named-*
<• Of Me thou hast not been ashamed;
These deeds shall thy memorial be ;
Fear not I thou didst them unto Me."
The wine-cup was repeatedly handed round
during the Paschal suppers, and the Jewish
writers inform us that the wine was mixed
with water; although, indeed, this would be
scarcely needed with such weak wines as are
used at meal-times in the East. When they,
had come to the last of the wine-cups usually
taken, Jesus proceeded to institute the Sacra-
ment of His Supper, in the well-known words
which implied that the drinking of the cup
and eating of the bread was henceforth to be
taken as an act commemorative of Him — the
wine of His blood shed, and the bread of His
body given up for the sins of the world. By
this act, He in fact formally established a new
religion, to be ratified by His outpoured blood
and wounded body, of which ratification the
wine and bread were to become the symbols.
tmm'^
646
A BEAUTIFUL DISCOURSE.
I
After this, Jesus perceiving that the dis-
ciples were still very much distressed at what
He had before said, confirmed as it was by
the solemn intimations of the rite which had
been just established, proceeded to console
them in the beautiful discourse which occupies
the fourteenth chapter of John's Gospel, be-
ginning " Let not your heart be troubled." In
this He first consoles them by the considera-
tion, that by going from them (that is, by His
death and passion), mansions on high would
be prepared for them ; but being interrupted
by Thomas with a remark which showed that
he was still thinking of an earthly palace,
Jesus proceeded to explain that He was Him-
self the way to this high heritage, and that
only through faith could it be secured.
The Heavenly Comforter.
This faith they were to manifest by acts of
obedience to what they had already heard
from Him, or might hereafter be taught ; and
especially by obedience to His new command-
ment of mutual love. Then, to excite them
to the fulfilment of His commands, He added
a new promise, that of a Helper. During
His stay among them, their weakness and
faithlessness had been so great, that they had
never been able to dispense with Him as a
stay and support ; and now that He was about
to leave them, " another Comforter " would
come to them, from Him and from the Father,
"even the Spirit of Truth," by whom they
should be guided aright, and be taught much
which had hitherto been purposely left ob-
scure and unexplained.
Jesus then arose as if to depart, saying,
"Arise, let us go hence ; " but the importance
of these last precious moments, and His love
to His disciples, constrained Him, and He sat
down again. That He abides with them al-
though He departs, then became the theme
of His discourse ; and He warned them that
adhesion to Him in faith, and to each other
in brotherly love, was the only way in which
they could prosper. That this might be the
better understood. He employed a similitude
derived frojn a well-known object, namely, a
vine and its branches — which has suggested
to some the probability that the tendrils of a
vine had climbed up the wall and grown in
through the window of the room in which
they were sitting.
The Cross and Crown.
He then proceeded to explain that it was
not for them to expect prosperity and enjoy-
ment in this life. Far otherwise : He warned
them that many calamities, trials, and persecu-
tions awaited them, arising from the world's
hatred of those principles which it would be
their privilege and duty to promulgate. Being
thus forewarned, they would know, when
these things befel them, that the high purpose
of God was not frustrated by the sufferings to
which they were exposed, but accomplished ;
and that they did not come to them merely
as unforeseen misfortunes and accidents.
Jesus had now spoken a long time, and
He at length wished for some reply, to the
end that He might, as His custom was, add
thereupon new instructions. But perceiving
the disciples around Him in silence, surrender-
ing themselves up in sorrow at the idea of
that separation which He had brought so dis-
tinctly before them, He proceeded to animate
and encourage them by bringing before their
minds once more the great consequences
which would follow His departure, especially
as regarded the manifestation of the Comforter,
and the high teachings, powers, and succors
which He would impart. He added that
although He was Himself to be taken from
them, it was but to the end that He might
soon, in a more perfect and glorious manner,
be restored to them. Much of what He said
to theiii on this point they appear not then
to have understood; and perceiving this,
Christ admitted that He had often spoken to
them in such sayings, but the time was near
at hand in which all things would be made
plain to them.
An Impressive Prayer.
The hour of His passion was drawing on
now with rapid pace, and Jesus, having before
CLOSING SCENES IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
547
IS suggested
tendrils of a
nd grown in
}in in which
n.
n that it was
ty and enjoy-
; : He warned
, and persccu-
in the world's
ji it would be
ilgate. Being
know, when
; high purpose
le sufferings to
accomplished ;
I them merely
iccidents.
,ong time, and
reply, to the
istom was, add
But perceiving
nee, surrender-
at the idea of
rought so dis-
[ded to animate
ig before their
consequences
ture, especially
the Comforter,
s, and succors
e added that
be taken from
:hat He might
lorious manner,
,f what He said
ppear not then
lerceiving this,
iften spoken to
time was near
ould be made
jiycr.
l^as drawing on
5, having before
His eyes a distinct perception of the depress-
in" influence which it would exercise upon the
disciples, proceeded to offer upon their behalf
the earnest and beautiful prayer contained
in the seventeenth chapter of John's Gospel.
Nor was it for them only, for in this ujost im-
pressive and comprehensive address He con-
templated with satisfaction His almost finished
work : — " I have glorified Thee on earth ; I
have finished the work which Thou gavest
Me to do," He then prayed for the disciples,
" those whom He had chosen out of the
world ; " and for the Church to be formed
through their teaching.
Not unworthy of remark are the words of
Tholuck, who, in reference to this striking ad-
dress, states : " Before the happy Spener left
the world, he caused this address to be read
to him three times. ' In which we are to
suppose,' says his biographer, ' that he loved
this chapter with a peculiar affection, though
he was never willing to preach on it, with the
protestation that 'va did not understand it,
and that a correct ^ iderstanding of the same
transcended the measure of faith which the
Lord is accustomed to communicate to his
followers in their pilgrimage.' "
In describing this marvelous exhibition of
Christ's love to His disciples, Keble refers to
the touching story of Andromache in Homer's
"Iliad," and then finely depicts the Saviour's
ardent passion :
"Father to roe thou art and mother dear,
And brother too, kind husband of my heart "—
So speaks Andromache in boding fear.
Ere from her last embrace her hero pait^
So evermore, by faith's undying glow,
We own the Crucified in weal or woe.
Strange to our ears the church-bells of our home,
The fragrance of our old paternal fields
May be forgotten ; and the time may come
When the babe's kiss no sense of pleasure yields
Even to the doting mother; but Thine own
Thou never canst forget or leave alone.
We are as much His care, as if beside
Nor man nor angel lived in heaven or eaitfa ;
Thus sunbeams pour alike their glorious tide
To light up worlds, or wake an insect's mitthi
Tlifv shine and sliine v.illi unexhausted store —
'1 li"U nri thy Saviour's darhng— Aeek no more.
Yo vaullcil cells where martyred seers of old
I'ar ill the locky walls of Sioii sleep,
Green terraces and arclied fountains cold, .
Where lies the cypress shade so still and deep.
Dear sacred haunts of glory and of woe,
Help us, one hour, to trace His musings high and low :
One hearteiinolilim; hour ! It may not be.
Th' unearthly ihmights have passed from earth away,
And fast as eveniny suiibe.nms from the sea
Thy footsteps all in Sion's deep decay
Were blotted from the holy ground ; yet dear
Is every stone of hers ; for Thou wast surely here. •
There is a spot within this s.\cred dale
That felt Thee kneeling— touched thy prostrate browt
One angel knows it. O might prayer avail
To win that knowledge ! sure each holy vow
Less quickly from ih' unstable soul would fade.
Offered where Christ in agony was laid.
Might tear of ours once mingle with the blood
That from His aching brow by moonlight fell.
Over the mournful joy our thoughts would- brood,
Till they had framed within a guardian spell
To chase repining fancies, as they rise,
Like birds of evil wing, to mar our sacrifice.
So dreams the heart self flattering, fondly dreams;—
Else wherefore, when the bitter waves o'erflow.
Miss we the light, Gethsemane, that streams
From thy dear name, where in His page of woe
It shines, a pale kind star in winter's sky 7
Who vainly reads it there, in vain had seen Him die.
Jesus at length went forth from the house,
and proceeded across the valley of the Kidron
to a garden near the foot of the Mount of
Olives. The garden was called Gethsemane,
which name it derived from the oil-presses
which were or had been there. Arrived in
this place, Jesus desired the apostles to re-
main, while He Himself retired to some dis-
tance, attended only by His favored disciples,
Peter, James, and John. Then " He began to
be sorrowful and very heavy ; " and turning to
His disciples, who now witnessed the deep
distress of Him whom they had seen glorified
on the Mount of Transfiguration, He declared
to them His anguish, and desired them to
tarry there in watchfulness and prayer, while
He withdrew to a more retired part of the
m&"^
/ ,
MS
JESUS BETRAYED.
garden, about a stone's-throw distance from
them.
Here He underwent that terrible and mys-
terious agony of soul which made Him cry,
" O, my Father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me;" but He humbly added,
"Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou
wilt." He then rose and went over to the
three disciples, and found them all asleep.
He chid them gently, "What, could ye not
watch with Me one hour?" but kindly ad-
mitted that in them the spirit indeed was will-
ing, though the flesh was weak.
Agony in the Gktrden.
He then returned to the place he had quitted,
and again poured out the anguish of his soul
before God : — " O, my Father, if this cup may
not pass from Me without My drinking it. Thy
will be done." Returning to His disciples, He
found them again asleep; and, after rousing
them, werft back again to the former place.
This time His agony became more intense, and
his prayer more fervent ; so dreadful were His
sufferings, that, " as He prayed, His sweat was
as it were great drops of blood falling down to
the ground," although He was then in the open
air, and in the cool of the night. Then, in that
awful moment, there appeared an angel from
heaven standing near Him in a visible form,
strengthening Him by that sensible token of
the Father's favor, and suggesting such holy
consolations as were suitable to animate His
soul in such a struggle.
Rising after this dreadful mental conflict,
Jesus repaired once more to His disciples, and
found them again "sleeping for sorrow."
Knowing that His enemies had already en-
tered the garden. He said, " Sleep on now and
take your rest ; behold, the hour is come, and
the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of
sinners." This roused them eflectually: but
they had scarcely risen to their feet when a
band of armed nien appeared with lanterns and
torches, sent by the Sanhedrin to apprehend
Him. They were led on by Judas, who was
well acquainted with this favorite resort of His
Master, and had given them the token that the
man whom they should see him kiss was the
one they were to apprehend.
Accordingly the traitor went up straight to
Jesus, saying, " Hail, Master ! " and kissed
Him. Jesus said, " Judas, betrayest thou the
Son of man with a kiss ? " and, immediately
advancing to the armed men, asked them,
"Whom seek ye?" With that misgiving
which accompanies an evil conscience, asso-
ciated in their case with a vague impression of
the dignity of the person they came to seize,
they answered, " Jesus of Nazareth." He an-
swered, " I am He ; " on which the Divinity
flashed through their darkened consciences,
which had been already roused, and they fell
to the ground.
The abettors, meanwhile, as is customary in
such cases, seeing that those to whom the aiTair
was properly intrusted did not immediately
press forward, seem themselves to have laid
hands upon Jesus. Enraged at this, the ever
ardent Peter drew his sword, and the stroke
which he gave with it cut ofl* the right ear of
one of the most forward of the number, a
servant of the high-priest, named Malchus.
On this Jesus commanded him to sheathe his
sword, saying, "The cup which my Father
hath given Me, shall I not drink it ? " He
then put forth His hand and healed the wound
of His bitterest assailant, thus aflbrding a
splendid example of that return of good for
evil which He so constantly enjoined.
The House of the Hlgrh-Priest
When the immediate impression upon the
minds of the band by the Divinity in Jesus
had passed away, and when they had ona
more succeeded in silencing the voice of con-
science, they seized the Saviour, and led Him
back to the city, to the house of the high-priest,
in which a sufficient number of the Sanhe-
drin had already assembled for the occasioa
This was illegal, as the law then in operation
is known to have enjoined that all judicial
proceedings before that body should take
place in the day-time, and in the usual hall of
assembly.
When the apostles saw that Jesus was led
I kiss was the
CHRIST IN THE GARDEN. — Luke XXii. 39.
(64»)
600
CHARGED WITH BLASPHEMY.
away by his enemies, they dispersed in difTer-
ent directions, as Christ had foretold, appre-
hensive of being involved in His peril. Peter
and John, however, followed at a distance,
and, after a brief interval, the latter, who was
personally known at the house of the high-
priest, applied for admittance, and was allowed
by the portress to enter. Knowing that Peter
was outisde, John then sought admission for
him, and obtained it.
The woman who kept the gate, seeing him
with John, concluded that he also was a dis-
ciple of Christ, and made a remark to that
effect. She seems to have done so without
any particular meaning or ill intention, but
Peter, being thoroughly alarmed, denied the
charge with some vehemence. On enterin;^
the court they found themselves in front of the
public-room, or hall of audience, open in front
where sat the Sanhedrin, before which Jesus
then stood. The apdstles remained in the
court, and joined the party of officers of the
high-priest and others, who were gathered
round Pt, fire which they had kindled in the
open air ; for although at the time of the Pass-
over the days were warm in Judaea, the nights
were cool. They thus became witnesses of the
transactions .which then took place.
False Witnesses.
The high-priest at first attempted to draw
from Christ such admissions as would afford
easy ground for proceedings against Him.
But Jesus, knowing that the high-priest had
predetermined to condemn Him, and that His
answers were only sought as a ground and
support to that determination, appealed to
His public teachings, and declined to give any
specific response to an examination so invidious.
Failing in the design of condemning Him
from His own mouth, false witnesses were
produced against Him, whose testimony was,
however, found to be of little importance, till
two of them avowed that they heard Him say
that He was able to overthrow the Temple of
God, and in three days rear it up again. This
was, according to existing views, an accusation
of blasphemy against God, conformably with
which the religious tribunals of the Jews could
lawfully condemn Him. It was, thercfure,
eagerly taken hold of, and He was asked if
He admitted this charge. He was silent.
The high-priest then asked Him plainly
whether He was actually the Messiah. Christ,
who knew his disposition, answered, " If I
should tell you, you would not believe Mc."
But on being pressed for a definite answer,
"Art Thou then the Messiah ? " He answered,
" Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man in His
glory at the right hand of God." They were
incapable of understanding the expression of
the Divine consciousness which was contained
in this answer, but they understood it as con-
veying the admission which they sought ; and
they, therefore, rent their clothes as at some
horrid blasphemy, and, declaring that no
further evidence was required, they I.astened
to procure His final condemnation from the
Roman governor, by whom alone it could be
granted.
Peter's Denial.
While these transactions were taking place,
Peter, peceiving that he began to be eyed with
suspicion by the party around the fire, with-
drew towards the gate. Here he was again
charged by the portress as being " one of
them ; " which he again peremptorily denied,
and then went back to the group around the
fire. Here he was soon again accused of being
one of the followers of Christ. One, a relative
of Malchus, whose ear Peter had cut off, be-
gan to recollect that he had seen him in the
garden ; another alleged his Galilaean dialect
as a proof of the fact.
The fear of man prevailed. Peter again
most solemnly denied that he knew " the man
of whom they spoke," and while he was con-
firming this protestation with many oaths, the
crowing of the cock rang through the court
and struck him dumb. At the same moment
Jesus turned and looked upon Peter. That
sorrowful look, so full of tender reproach,
smote the apostle to the soul. He went out
and wept bitterly.
After He had been condemned by the high-
priest, Jesus was exposed to the insults and
CLOSING SCENES IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
661
le Jews could
IS, therefore,
was asked if
as silent.
Him plainly
ssiah. Christ,
iwered, " If I
believe Mc."
finite answer.
He answered,
of man in His
" They were
expression of
was contained
:ood it as con-
y sought ; and
:s as at some
ring that no
they l.astened
ition from the
ine it could be
e taking place,
be eyed with
the fire, with-
he was again
»eing "one of
ptorily denied,
up around the
icused of being
One, a relative
lad cut off, be-
:en him in the
alilaean dialect
Peter again
:new " the man
he was con-
lany oaths, the
ugh the court
same moment
, Peter. That
ider reproach.
He went out
:d by the high-
e insults and
maltreatment of the servants and officers while
waiting till the morning should be far enough
advanced to take Him before the Roman gov-
ernor. He was bufTctcd and .spit upon ; and
they even went so far as to blindfold Him, and
then to smite Him, asking, derisively, " Pro-
phesy who is it that smote thee ? " "All
which injuries might have been greater than
His patience," remarks Jeremy Taylor, " had
His patience been less than infinite."
Remorse of Judas.
When the wretched and mistaken traitor
Judas, who had been anxiously watching the
result of these proceedings, saw that Jesus was
condemned — that His acknowledgment that
He was the Messiah had not been attended
with the expected effect.s — and that Chri.st
Himself had not exerted the Divine powers
which rested in Him for the maintenance of
His claim — he was conscience-stricken and
terrified at the part he had himself taken.
He went forthwith to the council, and, ca.st-
ing down the silver he had received, cried, " I
have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent
blood." But they dismissed him with the cool
assurance that this was not their affair, but his;
upon which the miserable man went away and
hanged himself. The money which he had
leib with them could not be put into the treas-
ury, because it was " the price of blood ; " and
they therefore bought with it a field in the
neighborhood of Jerusalem, called the Potter's
Field, and set that field apart as a burying-place
for strangers.
Although the Jewish council had in fact
condemned Jesus to death as a false prophet
and a bla.sphemer, the sentence could not be
carried into effect without being confirmed by
the Roman procurator, the power of life and
death having already been taken away from
the Jewish tribunals. The procurator was al-
ways present in Jerusalem with a strong force
at the Passover, to repress any disturbances
which might arise among the vast numbers of
people whom this festival never failed to bring
to the Holy City. The actual procurator was
named Pontius Pilate, who had already held
the office for six years, during which he had
made himself so odious to the Jews by his
venality, exactions and severities, that he be-
gan to be alarmed lest they shouhl forward
complaints of his government to Rome, and
thus bring him into disgrace with the Kmpcror
liberius, who was known to be very attentive
to complaints against the provincial governors.
He was, therefore, at this time in a frame of
mind not further to disoblige the Jewish au-
thorities, but rather to take the line of con-
duct which he supposed would give them pleas-
ure. To this person Jesus was hurried away in
the eariy morning, that his confirmation of the
judgment passed by the Sanhedrin might be
obtained. The public business was transacted
in the Praetorium, which had formeriy been
Herod's palace, and to this place Christ was
taken. The Jews could not enter the Prasto-
rium, lest they should contract defilement in
the house of a heathen ; and therefore Pilate
caused his seat to be set in the Gabbatha, or
Pavement, in front of the porch, where on
such occasions he was .wont to hear the mat-
ters that were brought before him.
Accused of Sedition.
In order rather to determine the governor
to confirm their sentence, the accusers sank
as much as possible the religious point, which
was uppermost in their own minds, and strove
to give prominence and coloring to the po-
litical aspect of the accusation, alleging that
Christ wished to excite a tumult, and to es-
tablish an earthly kingdom. Pilate had al-
ready, without doubt, heard some things re-
specting Jesus, for he would seem from the
beginning to have formed a definite view with
regard to Him, as being a well-meaning en-
thusiast.
Entertaining this viev , and being well aware
how prone the Jewish ecclesiastics were to
act upon the impulses of private hatred, he
commenced the proceedings by putting ques-
tions with the view of ascertaining whether
these fanatical persons had really just cause
for condemning to death the man they had
brought before him. The members of the
'ta
,n»,ia
552
JESUS BEFORE PILATE.
Scinhedrin, who had been accustomed to see
the governor generally give a simple assent to
their decisions, were obviously unprepared for
any such investigation ; and they answered,
somewhat impertinently, " If this fellow were
not a malefactor, we would not have delivered
Him up unto thee."
Pilate, however, obviously considering that
there was nothing in the case to bring it under
his jurisdiction, told them to go and put in
force the enactments of their own law against
Him — implying that he considered the punish-
ment of scourging, or of expulsion from the
synagogue, quite sufficient for the occasion.
"Art Thou the Klngr of the Jews?"
Their quiet answer, " It is not lawful for us
to put any man to death," gave him very
plainly to understand that no less punishment
would satisfy them. Then seeing clearly that
Pilate, who had so often been compelled to
listen to their religious disputes, would not
take up the case on such grounds, they pressed
more strongly the charge of treason against
the Roman government, alleging that He had
forbidden tribute to be paid to Caesar, saying,
that " He Himself was Christ, a King."
On hearing this, Pilate went into the porch,
where Jesus stood in custody of the guard,
and asked, " Art Thou the king of the Jews ? "
To this Jesus, as if to ascertain the sense in
which he asked the question, whether in the
earthly sense which it must have had among
the Romans, or in the higher spiritual sense
which it had or should have had among the
Jews, asked, " Sayest thou this of thyself, or
did others tell thee of it ? " Pilate answered
with some heat, "Am I a Jew ? Thine own
nation and the chief priests have brought Thee
unto me: what hast Thou done?" — which
seems to imply that he desired his question to
be understood in the sense which the term
commonly bore among the Jews.
Jesus then readily replied, that His kingdom
was not of this world : adding, that He who
had permitted Himself to be apprehended by
His enemies, and brought before his tribunal
without resistance, could have no political de-
signs. Still desirous of adhering to a point
which was necessary for a juaicial opinion^
without troubling himself with other matters,
Pilate asked, " But dost Thou still claim to be
a king ? " Jesus denied not that He was a King,
but He guarded the admission by intimating
that His kingdom was not earthly — its subjects
being such as sought after and loved the
truth.
Pilate's Great Question.
Pilate, with all the contempt of a superficial
man of the world towards the higher objects,
of existence, exclaimed, "What is truth ?'*^
and, without waiting for an answer, went out to
the accusers, confirmed in his first notion, that
Christ was merely a well-meaning enthusiast,^
whom, as innocent of the designs laid to His
charge, he felt some sympathy for, and wished
to deliver from His malignant persecutors.
He declared to the excited assembly that
he could not find any crime in Him. On this
the accusers vehemently answered that He
had set the whole country in an uproar from
Judaea even unto Galilee. The mention of
Galilee, which was not in his jurisdiction, but
under the notorious Herod Antipas, suggested
to Pilate a means of getting rid of this afifair
— without, on the one hand, shedding innocent
blood, or, on the other, offending the San-
hedrin — by sending the prisoner to Herod^
who was then in Jerusalem. The doubts
which Herod entertained respecting Jesu»
have already been indicated. He was, there-
fore, g^lad to have Him before him, in the hope
of seeing some miracle performed by Him.
But Jesus was not minded to use His high
powers for the mere purpose of gratifying an
idle curiosity. Not only so, but when He
saw the empty and vain reasons of the world-
ling before whom He stood. He remained
silent while questioned by him. Provoked at
the indignity which he fancied to be thus
offered to him, the tetrarch abandoned Jesus
to the scornful treatment of his soldiers. It
was a matter of unconcern to him what fate
befell Jesus of Nazareth.
Clothed in a bright-colored robe, as a mark
of contempt in regard to the Messianic dig>
g to a point
icial opinion,
jther matters,
ill claim to be
[e was a King,
by intimating
^ — its subjects
nd loved the
Aon.
of a superficial
higher objects,
lat is truth?"
er, went out to
rst notion, that
ing enthusiast,
;ns laid to His.
for, and wished
jersecutors.
assembly that
Him. On this
/ered that He
an uproar from
he mention of
urisdiction, but
:ipas, suggested
id of this affair
dding innocent
iding the San-
ner to Herod,
The doubts
specting Jesu&
He was, there-
lim, in the hope
led by Him.
use His high
if gratifying an
but when He
IS of the world-
He remained
Provoked at
ed to be thus
jandoned Jesu&
lis soldiers. It
him what fate
robe, as a mark
Messianic dig-^
]f^*'\
;^ii
i!:i
Ti'i
In
(553)
Mi
1 1
I i
I I
Y
i
!a
564
BARABBAS RELEASED.
i
nity which He assumed, Herod sent Christ
back again to the Roman governor. The
latter, finding the case tlius returned upon his
hands, had again to contend with the embar-
rassment between his fear of man and his dis-
liive to abandon a person so clearly innocent
to His fate. One further alternative then oc-
curred to his mind. It was a custom at this
feast that the governor should set free a pris-
oner ; and there happened to be then in prison
a notorious robber and murderer named Bar-
abbas, whom he supposed the Jews would
not willingly liberate. He therefore proposed
to them the choice between this man and " the
king of the Jews," as he denominated Jesus.
Jesus Scourged.
The members of the Sanhedrin then present
forthwith exerted themselves to induce the
crowd to call for the release of Barabbas. It
was at this stage of the proceedings that
Pilate received a message from his wife, en-
treating him to deal justly with the person
now before him, on whose account she had
been visited with painful dreams that night.
This had some effect upon Pilate, but not
enough to induce him to stem that strong
current of popular clamor which, contrary to
his expectation, was expressed in the loud cry
of " Not this man, but Barabbas."
Yet the governor was willing to try one
last resource. He resolved to scourge Jesus,
in the hope that this might sufHce to appease
the madness of the people ; and he had the
more reason to hope this, as the Roman
scourging was very far more severe than the
flagellation in use among the Jews themselves.
It was inflicted by a scourge of thongs twisted
together ; and sometimes, in order to increase
the severity of the lash, small cubic pieces of
bone were woven into it. It is described, by
those who witnessed its effects, as lacerating
the flesh, and laying bare the veins and
arteries.
To this terrible punishment was Christ sub-
jected; and the soldiery, not satisfied with
inflicting the agonies of the scourge, but
taking the hint from the treatment He had
already received from Herod, proceeded to
invest Him with the mock insignia of royalty.
They set a diadem of sharp thorns upon His
head, they placed in His hands a reed for a
sceptre, and they cast over His bleeding
shoulders a purple robe. Then they scorn-
fully greeted Him with the salutation which
was commonly bestowed upon the emperor,
and smote Him with their rods upon the head,
causing the thorny diadem to tear his sacred
brows. At length Pilate bade them give over
their cruel sport, and bring forth their prisoner
to the people. Pilate preceded them, and said
to the Sanhedrin, " I have brought Him fortli
that ye may know I find no fault in Him;
and pointing to the pale and bleeding figure
which then appeared arrayed in the robes of
mockery, he cried^ ' Behold the man ! ' " And
were they not touched with compassion now ?
Was not their vengeance now satisfied ? No ;
they no sooner saw Him than they cried with
one voice, " Crucify Him ! crucify Him I "
Pilate Alarmed.
Pilate seems to have been appalled at the
mad fury which he witnessed; and he told
them to crucify Him themselves, for he would
himself have no hand in an act so un-
righteous. This, however, conveyed no formal
permission; and, accordingly, the Jews pro-
ceeded to urge their demand for the death of
Christ as a matter of right. At first they had
not wished to found their accusation against
Jesus upon His alleged violation of their re-
ligious laws, concluding that they might bring
the affair more quickly to a close by investinjr
it with a political aspect. But when they saw
that the governor did not take it up as they
had expected, they reverted to their religious
accusation. They cried, " We have a law,
and by our law He ought to die, because He
hath made Himself the Son of God."
When Pilate heard this, he feared still more.
He had already observed something extraor-
dinary in the conduct of Christ ; and when to
this was added the dream of his wife, a sort
of shuddering apprehension came upon him,
that there might possibly be something super-
CLOSING SCENES IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
MB
)roceeded to
ia of royalty.
(IS upon His
a reed for a
lis bleeding
they scorn-
itation which
the emperor,
pon the head,
ar his sacred
lem give over
their prisoner
them, and said
jht Him forth
fault in Him;
>leeding figure
i the robes of
man!'" And
npassion now?
atisfied ? No ;
:hey cried with
ify Him!"
ippalled at the
; and he told
s, for he would
act so un-
eyed no formal
■ie Jews pro-
»r the death of
t first they had
usation against
ion of their re-
ey might bring
»se by investing
when they saw
it up as they
their religious
have a law.
ie, because He
God."
;ared still more.
■ething extraor-
and when to
his wife, a sort
ame upon him,
imething super-
natural in this Jesus, and that He might be hence the question was whether he .laimed
the son of some heathen god. He therefore to derive His origin from heaven. Lnowing
CHRIST BEARING HIS CROSS. — ^John xix. 1 7.
tamed to Htmand asked, "Whenceart Thou?" I that a further discussion would be vain and
He already knew He was from Galilee, and I idle, Jesus was silent.
556
LINGERING TORTURE.
Thus left to his own impressions and pre-
sentiments, which had become painful, the
governor endeavored to compel an answer by
threats. " Speakest Thou not to me ? Know-
est Thou not that I have power to crucify
Thee, and have power to release Thee?"
Perceiving the inward anguish which Pilate
felt in his judgment concerning Him, Jesus
strengthened this impression by awakening in
him the consciousness of his dependence upon
a higher power ; but knowing far better than
His judge the awful significance attached to
his judgment upon the Son of God, He added
that the great guilt contained in it attached
less to him than to the accusers. The more
this expression of Jesus showed that He was
free from every feeling of personal hostility,
the more heavily did His case press upon the
mind of Pilate, and he wished with the more
sincerity to be able to release him. He
seems to have expressed himself to this effect
to the people.
"They Cried, Crucify Him!"
They were therefore full of fury at the pros-
pect that their prey might be torn from them ;
and delayed not to discharge the last arrow
in their quiver; and it was efiectual. They
had recourse to the means which they knew
would work most effectually upon Pilate.
" If thou lettest this man go, thou art not
Caesar's friend. Whosoever maketh himself
a king, sjjeaketh against Caesar." Knowing
how easy it was to awaken suspicion in the
mind of the Emperor Tiberius against the
governors of distant provinces, this expression
was full of terror to Pilate, who was conscious
of acts in his government which would not
bear examination, if the Jews should be so
far influenced against him as to denounce him
to the emperor. Regard for his own personal
safety prevailed over every higher considera-
tion, and he sought to suppress the loud voice
of conscience within.
He ascended the judgment-seat, and, caus-
ing Jesus once more to be led out before the
palace, said sarcastically," Behold your king! "
Then arose the rabid cry of " Crucify Him !
crucify Him ! " But Pilate asked, " Shall I
crucify your king ? " To which the Jews,
who had in fact no desire more intense than
to separate themselves from the Romans,
answered by hypocritically pretending the ut-
most attachment to them : " We have no
king but Caesar." Still torn between the
reproofs of his conscience and the fear of man,
the governor sought to allay the former by
calling for water, in which he washed his
hands before the multitude, intending by this
symbolical act to express that he wished to
have no part in this unrighteous condemna-
tion ; " I am innocent," he said, " of the blood
of this righteous person : see ye' to it." With
one voice they answered, " His blood be on
us and on our children I " — a, most fatal im-
precation, and most dreadfully fulfilled upon
them at the siege and destruction of Jeru-
salem.
The struggle was now over; the deep
malice of the many had prevailed, and the
judge had abandoned Jesus to their rage,
while believing Him to be innocent. The
place of execution was near the city. In
other cases it was not usual among the Jews
to carry into effect sentences of execution
immediately after they were pronounced ; but
in this case the popular madness would suffer
no procrastination. Having been condemned
by the Roman tribunal, the execution itself
took place after the Roman manner, and by
the hands of Roman soldiers. Under the
Jewish law the death would have been by
stoning, but Jesus Himself had long before
predicted that the lingering torture of cruci-
fixion was the death appointed for Him.
Among the Romans it was common for the
condemned to carry their own cross to the
place of execution. Jesus carried His through
the city itself; but having been exhausted by
His previous sufferings, when He arrived at
the gate the soldiers placed the cross upon a
certain Jew of Cyrene, named Simon, who
had probably manifested some sympathy for
Christ, and who with his family was attached
to Him. As the sad procession thus moved
on, it was followed by a large number of
, " Shall I
the Jews,
itense than
e Romans,
iing the ut-
e have no
etween the
fear of man,
; former by
washed his
Jing by this
le wished to
i condemna-
of the blood
it." With
blood be on
ost fatal im-
ilfiUed upon
Ion of Jeru-
r; the deep
iled, and the
their rage,
nocent. The
the city. In
ong the Jews
jf execution
lounced; but
1 would suffer
n condemned
ecution itself
inner, and by
Under the
ave been by
d long before
ture of cruci-
)r Him.
mmon for the
cross to the
I His through
exhausted by
le arrived at
cross upon a
Simon, who
sympathy for
was attached
n thus moved
number of
CLOSING SCENES IN VHE LIFE OF CHRIST.
667
people, particularly women, who, in the ful-
ness of their sympathy, wept and lamented
for Him greatly. Touched by their grief, the
Saviour turned and said to them, " Daughters
of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for
yourselves and for your children 1 " which He
said in reference to the calamities which, as
He had already declared, were to befall the
city and nation before that generation had
passed away, and which were sadly fulfilled.
The OrosB and its Victim.
On arriving at a place called Calvary, other-
wise Golgotha (" skull-place "), the cross was
planted in the earth. The form of the cross
and the mode of execution upon it are too
well, and in the main correctly, known from
paintings to require particular description. It
may suffice to mention that the cross consisted
of a piece of wood erected perpendicularly,
and intersected by another at right angles
near the top, so as to resemble the letter T.
There is no mention in ancient writers of
anything on which the feet of the crucified
person rested; but near the middle of the
perpendicular beam there projected a piece
of wood, on which he partly sat, and which
served as a support to the body, the weight of
which might otherwise have torn the hands
from the nails driven through them.
The naked victim was first elevated to this
small projection, and the hands were then tied
with a rope to the transverse beam, and nailed
through the palm. The feet were then nailed
to the perpendicular beam, not, as some allege,
by one nail through both feet, but by two
nails or spikes being driven one through each
foot.
The Romans were in the habit of affixing
to all criminals a roll containing a record of
the crimes for which they were punished,
which was by them denominated "titulus"
(title). Pilate manifested his sarcastic con-
tempt of the Jews by causing the title upon
the cross of Jesus to bear the inscription of
"Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews,"
in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Sorely an-
altered to " Jesus of Nazareth, who said, I ;
the King of the Jews;" but the governor
seems to have found enjoyment in their mor-
tification, and sent them away with the an-
swer, " What I have written I have written."
Those who were condemned to the cross
were crucified naked; and their clothes al-
ways became the portion of the soldiers to
whom the completion of the punishment was
intrusted. It would appear that Christ's cruci-
fixion was performed by four soldiers, and
they divided His clothes among them; but
finding the outer garment woven of one piece,
and consequently without seam, they cast lots
for the possession of it, thus unwittingly ful-
filling a prophecy of David in one of the Mes-
sianic Psalms: "They parted My raiment
among them, and for My vesture they did
cast lots." Thus history confirms prophecy.
Devoted Women.
Many Jewish women, who had attached
themselves to Christ as His disciples, and had
followed Him from Galilee, were now, in this
hour of agony, assembled around the cross
of their beloved Teacher. Among them were
the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, the
sisters of Jesus's mother, the wife of Cleopas,
and Salome, the mother of John the evangelist
Consideration of this last circumstance, the
presence of John's own mother, will give an
increased interest to the touching incident
which followed. Although suffering under
vhe burden of His own intense anguish, and
borne down with the feeling of the guilt of
sinful humanity, Jesus had still an affectionate
remembrance of those whom He left behind.
He perceived the presence of John, the dis-
ciple who was honored with His special at-
tachment, and, referring to His own mother,
Mary, He said to him, " Behold thy mother;"
which was as much as to say. Be a son to her,
even as to thine own mother now present.
John understood Him, and from that hour
made his house the home of the bereaved
Mary. From the circumstance that we find
John at Jerusalem a long time after the ascen-
noyed at this, the Jews endeavored to get itlsion, it would seem that he had a dwelling in
668
JESUS PRAYS FOR HIS ENEMIES.
,v.fr
that city ; and the fact that he alone was per-
sonally known to the people connected with
the high-priest, affords much corroboration to
this conclusion.
Christ was now upon the cross, undergoing
one of the severest deaths which the cruel in-
genuities of men ever invented ; and surely
now the malice of His enemies was .satiated ?
Scarcely so. Even on the cross He was ex-
posed to their insults and mockeries. " They
that passed by reviled Him, wagging their
heads and saying, Thou that destroyest the
temple, and buildest it in three days, save
Thyself. If Thou be the Son of God, come
down from the cross." The chief priests, with
the scribes and elders, also repeated the bitter
scoff at One who, after having delivered others,
proved unable, as they supposed, to deliver
Himself. " He saved others. Himself He can-
not save." To all this, and even with regard
to the sufferings and death to which they had
brought Him, Jesus only answered, " Father,
forgive them, for th,ey know not.what they do."
The Two Thieves.
Christ suffered not alone : two robbers were
crucified, one on each side of Him. One of
these two men, in the bitterness of his suffer-
ings, railed at Him, saying, " If Thou be the
Son of God, save Thyself — and us." But his
companion rebuked him, by reminding him
that they were suflering the just penalty of
their transgressions, whereas Jesus had been
convicted of no wrong-doing: and this man
then said to Jesus, " Lord, remember me when
Thou comest into Thy kingdom." The sense
in which the man made this wish may be
doubted ; but Christ was touched by it, and
answered it in that sense by which the sup-
pliant might best realize the benefit he desired :
* Verily, verily, I say unto thee, to-day shalt
thou be with Me in Paradise!" We may be
sure that, after that, this man's agonies fell
lightly on him. What mattered the fleeting
sufferings of noon, to one who, before the
setting sun, was to taste the joys of Paradise ?
By this time it was high noon, and nature
refused any longer to withhold her dread
sympathies — the sympathies which man de-
nied. Darkness overspread the land from
that time till three o'clock, the ninth hour,
when Christ cried out, " My God ! my God I
why hast Thou forsakem Me ? "
The conflict was soon ended, and Jesus
called for something to revive Him, in the
words " I thirst;" which thirst has been .shown
to be the natural result of the manner in which
this kind of capital punishment acted upon the
physical system of those who underwent it
It was customary at the commencement of a
crucifixion to offer .spiced wine to those who
were to be executed, for the purpose of stun-
ning them and of deadening their .sensibilities.
Tills the soldiers had offered to Christ, but He
refused it, as He desired to go through these
last sufferings with a clear and perfect con-
sciousness. The .soldiers had afterwards, in
contemptuous sport, offered Him sour wine to
drink ; and now .a Jew, hearing His words,
raised a sponge dipped in vinegar, on a hys-
■sop stem, to His mouth.
When Jesus had received this. He said, " It
is finished ! " — the great work He came to do
was accomplished ; the dread penalties which
He had incurred had been paid — all was
finished ; and f' He bowed His head and gave
up the ghost."
Stnrtlingr Phenomena.
At that greatest event which had ever hap-
pened in the world of spirits the irrepressible
sympathies of nature were again manifested.
The earth trembled. And now the curtain of
rich tapestry, which in the Temple separated
the sanctuary from the Temple wall, was rent
in twain, signifying that, by the death of Christ,
the human race were admitted to behold, with-
out veil, the mysteries which had from the be-
ginning of the world been hid with God.
Among the Romans the bodies of the cruci-
fied commonly hung upon the cross a con-
siderable time, although in many cases they
may have been given over to the friends of
the deceased for the purpose of burial. But
the Jewish law prescribed that criminals who
were hanged up should be taken down on the
d, and Jesus
Him, in the
IS been shown
inner in which
icted upon the
underwent it
incement of a
to those who '
rpose of stun-
ir sensibilities.
Christ, but He
through these
i perfect con-
afterwards, in
11 sour wine to
ig His words,
jar, on a hys-
had ever hap-
le irrepressible
lin manifested.
the curtain of
nple separated
wall, was rent
leath of Christ,
o behold, with-
id from the be-
vith God.
es of the cruci-
THE CRUCIFIXION. — Mark XV. 25, 26.
(659)
Midi
KM
" rA
in t'
1 .) 1
560
AN HONORABLE GRAVE.
same day. It was in particular deemed highly
improper that the corpse of a criminal should
be exposed to the eye upon a feast-day ; and
as, in this case, the Sabbath would commence
at sunset, it became important that the bodies
of those who had been crucified should be
disposed of early. The soldiers, therefore,
came to the crucified men in order to dispatch
them, for it was not usual to find them dead
so soon. The two robbers were still alive,
and their legs were broken with heavy blows
to end their lives.
But when they came to Jesus for the same
purpose, they found that He was already dead,
and forbore. Thus in the true Lamb of God
was accomplished a fact typified in the
Paschal lamb, of which it was directed that
" a bone of Him should not be broken." A
soldier, however, either to assure himself that
he was indeed dead, or to destroy Him in
case there should still be life in Him, thrust
his spear into His side. Blood and water
flowed from the wound, which seems to be
mentioned by the evaingclist to show that He
was already dead, and that if He had not been
so, the wound would have sufficed to extin-
guish whatever remained of life.
Burial in Joseph's Tomb.
It now became an object of solicitude to the
disciples of Jesus that the body of their Divine
Master should not be treated with disrespect.
Among these disciples were several persons
of consideration and influence ; one of them,
called Joseph, a native of the town of Arima-
thea (supposed to be the present Ramleh).
He was one of those Jews who, like old
Simeon, " waited for the kingdom of God ; "
and hence had a living desire for the com-
mencement of the Messianic period, and had
already enrolled himself among the disciples
of Jesus.
He was a member of the Sanhedrin, and,
as we may be sure, one of those who, as else-
where mentioned, had opposed the madness
of that assembly. His rank among the Jews
assured him attention from Pilate, to whom
he forthwith applied that the body might be
given up to him. Notwithstanding the hours
which had passed since the commencement
of the crucifixion, Pilate manifested some
surprise at hearing that Jesus was already
dead, and sent for the centurion who had
charge of the execution to assure himself of
the fact He then freely placed the corpse at
the disposal of Joseph, without requiring the
money which the greedy Roman governors
usually exacted for such a favor.
As the Jews were very anxious in matters
of sepulture, and desired beyond most things
an honorable grave for those they loved, this
concession must have been regarded with
great triumph by Joseph and the other friends
of himself and of the crucified Saviour, who
awaited the result of his application. Among
these was Nicodemus, another member of the
Sanhedrin, and the same who had come to
Jesus by night at the commencement of his
ministry.
He had provided a large quantity — not less
than a hundred pounds weight— of myrrh and
aloes; costly articles, in which the body
might be laid, and which evinces at once the
wealth of Nicodemus and his veneration for
Christ. The body was then taken down from
the cross and wrapped up in linen clothes with
the spices; and as the time was but short,
they hastened, without completing the opera-
tions usually observed on such occasions, to
lay the corps in the new sepulchre, hewn in a
rock, which Joseph had prepared for himself
in a garden belonging to him, which was
hard by the place of crucifixion.
The Sepulchre Guarded.
The body of Jesus being thus decently and
even honorably deposited in the sepulchre,
His enemies, the priests and Pharisees, finding
that the corpse had been given up to His
friends, called to mind the words of Christ
concerning his rising from the dead : and in
fear of the consequences which might ensue,
they repaired to Pilate, requesting him to set
a guard over the sepulchre to prevent the
disciples from stealing away the body, and
afterwards saying that their Lord had risen
CLOSING SCENES IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
Mt
ing the hours
immencement
ifested some
was already
ion who had
re himself of
1 the corpse at
requiring the
lan governors
•
3US in matters
d most things
iiey loved, this
regarded with
e other friends
i Saviour, who
ition. Among
member of the
had come to
ncement of his
intity — not less
— of myrrh and
lich the body
:es at once the
veneration for
ken down from
len clothes with
was but short,
:ting the opera-
h occasions, to
chre, hewn in a
red for himself
lim, which was
n.
rded.
us decently and
the sepulchre,
larisees, finding
ven up to His
vords of Christ
e dead : and in
might ensue,
ting him to set
to prevent the
the body, and
;^ord had risen
:h
from the dead ; " which last error," they said,
* would be worse than the first." Pilate told
them that they had a military guard at their
disposal, and that they might, if they pleased,
employ it on that service.
The sepulchre being thus given up to their
custody, they sealed up the door, that they
might know if it had been opened ; they then
rolled a large stone to the entrance to render
the opening difficult ; and, to crown all, a guard
of soldiers was set to watch and keep the sep'
ulchre. Thus it was providentially ordered
that the custody of the tomb should be in the
hands of the bitterest enemies of Christ, who
had brought Him to an ignominious death, to
render it impossible that they, or any doubters
after them, should, with any show of reason,
be able to allege that deception had been prac-
tised by the friends of Jesus.
The Sabbath passed with the usual ob-
servances, and then came the first day of the
week, when the faithful disciples of Jesus could
finish the decent observances towards the body,
which on the Friday evening they had been
constrained to leave incomplete. Many dis-
ciples were waiting for the morning, that they
might hasten to the tomb ; but, as usual in all
cases where vhe finer feelings and inner senti-
ments are engaged, the women were foremost
in their attentions and their cares.
" Love," says good Bishop Hall, " is restless
and fearless. In the dark of night these good
women go to buy their spices, and ere the day
break are gone from their own houses towards
the tomb of Christ to bestow them. This sex
is commonly fearful : it was much for then) to
walk alone in that unsafe season ; yet, as de-
spising all fears and dangers, they thus spent
the night after their Sabbath. Might they
have been allowed to buy their perfumes on
the Sabbath, or to have visited that holy tomb
sooner, can we think they would have stayed
so long ? Can we suppose that they would
have cared more for the Sabbath than for the
'Lord of the Sabbath,' who now keeps His
Sabbath in the grave? Sooner they could
not come, later they would not, to present
Aeir last homage to their dead Saviour."
36
On the way to the garden, they talked of tht
difficulty of getting access to the tomb, on ac-
count of the stone at its mouth, which was far
too great for their united strength to move.
The lively sorrow of Mary Magdalene led
her, as they approached the sepulchre, to hurry
on before the other women. She saw the
great stone which had been placed at the
mouth of the cave rolled aside and the tomb
open. Terrified at the sight, she hastened
away to impart the tidings to the male dis-
ciples of Jesus. When the other women drew
nigh, they also were astonished to find that
the sepulchre was open. Tremblingly they
saw at once that the body had disappeared.
The White Messenger.
Much were they alarmed at this, and not
less alarmed to perceive an angelic youth,
vested all in white, who was seated on the
right side of the tomb. On seeing him, they
bowed their faces to the earth ; and the angel
said to them, " Be not affrighted : for I know
that ye seek Jesus, who was crucified. Why
seek ye the living among the dead ? He is
not here, but is risen." He also reminded
them how distinctly this had been foretold by
Jesus Himself; and after showing them the
place where the Lord had lain, he enjoined
them to go and declare these matters to Peter
and the other disciples. They then hastened
fro;n the sepulchre " trembling and amazed,"
and hurried, with feet winged by joy, back to
the city with their glad tidings.
And how had all these things come to pass,
and what had become of the guard appointed
to watch the tomb ? There had been, at the
first dawn of that morning, a great earthquake,
in the midst of which the keepers of the tomb
beheld an angel descend from heaven and roll
back the stone from the door and seat himself
thereon. " His countenance was like light-
ning, and his raiment white as snow; and
through fear of him the keepers did shake and
become as dead men."
When they had sufficiently recovered, they
sped away to the chief priests and rendered an
account of what they had seen. This at first
m-ii
M2
FIRST AT THE SEPULCHRE.
5 't
U iU
confounded them ; but a council having been
called, it was concluded to give money to the
soldiers to induce them to say that the dis-
ciples of Jesus had come and taken away the
body of their Lord while they were asleep.
proceeding to the sepulchre. She, not having
heard the communication of the angel to the
other women, or indeed having seen the angel,
eagerly stated what she herself inferred from
the stone being rolled away and the door being
THE ANGEL AT THE TOMB. — Mark XVi
This was accordingly the story which they
thenceforth promulgated, and which, the evan-
gelist states, was " commonly reported among
Ae Jews unto this day." Thus they would
account for His disappearance.
Meanwhile Mary Magdalene in her way to
the city met with Peter and John, who were
open : " They have taken away the Lord out
of the sepulchre, and we know not where they
have laid Him," the answer indicating her dis-
appointment and grief.
Cn hearing this, both the disciples began to
run off to the sepulchre; and the enthusiasm
of the " disciples whom Jesus loved" urged
le, not having
: angel to the
leen the angel,
inferred from
the door being
y the Lord out
not where they
licating her dis-
sciples began to
the enthusiasm
s loved" urged
CLOSING SCENES IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
663
him on, so that he outran Peter and arrived
first at the tomb. Stooping down at the en-
trance, he perceived that the body of Jesus
was indeed absent, and that the grave-clothes
in which He had been wrapped were left
behind ; but he went not into the tomb, being
perhaps overcome by a natural aversion, or
being unwilling to incur without reason the
seven days' uncleanness which entrance into a
tomb involved.
By this time Peter also had come up, and
being desirous of more exact information, went
at once into the tomb, where he perceived that
the napkin which had enveloped the head was
not lying with the other Mnen clothes, but lay
wrapped up by itself. On reporting this fact
to his companion, John also went in to assure
himself of it. From the importance attached
to this circumstance, it would appear that they
gathered from it that the body had not been
stolen away. Had this been the case, the rob-
bers would not first have carefully taken off the
bandages, and have placed each one in a par-
ticular place; and hence it was natural for
them to infer that He had risen from the dead.
They therefore hastened away to impart these
tidings to the other apostles.
Two White-Robed Angels.
Mary Magdalene, who had turned back with
them to the sepulchre, remained behind after
they had departed. She had not been aware
of this new evidence, perhaps from not having
arrived at the garden till Peter and John had
gone away ; or being aware of it, she had not
drawn from it the same conviction which it
brought to them. Full of anxious solicitude,
Mary looked once more into the sepulchre,
and beheld two angels in white, sitting the one
at the head and the other at the feet where the
body of Jesus had lain.
They said to her, " Woman, why weepest
thou ?" In the simplicity of her heart, she
told them in plain words the cause of her
grief, without immediately thinking on super-
natural aid. " They have taken away my
Lord," she said, " and I know not where they
have laid him." When she had said this, a
voice close behind her asked, " Whom seekest
thou ?" Taking the person who thus accosted
her to be the gardener, and only half turning to
him, she said in her usual simple and childlike
manner, without any transport of fancy— "Sir,
if thou hast borne Him hence, tell me where
thou has laid Him, and I will take Him away."
On this the person to whom she had been
speaking pronounced her name, " Mary I " in
that dear and well-remembered voice, whose
accents had more than once brought peace to
her soul. On hearing it, she responded,
" Rabboni ! " and turning quickly round, fell
at the feet of her risen Lord. Imagining that
she now beheld Him in His higher being, she
would have rendered Him such homage as
He had never yet received on earth ; but He
prevented her by intimating that his glorification
was still future : " Touch Me not, for I am not
yet ascended to my Father."
The Walk to Emniaus.
He then sent her away to impart the fact ol
His resurrection to the apostles, and make
known to them that He intended to meet them
in Galilee. This was the same commission
which the other women had received from the
angel, and they were earlier than Mary in their
intelligence. The disciples received their ac-
count with a kind of doubting confidence;
some believed less and some more ; but as a
body they were left in a state of mind to re-
quire further evidence of a fact so strange and
unexampled.
The same evening, two men who had been
disciples of Jesus and whom many suppose to
have been among the seventy, were returning
to Emmaus, where they lived, from Jerusalem,
where they had probably been attending the
Passover. Emmaus was a small village dis-
tant about eight miles north-west of Jerusalem.
On the way they were talking earnestly of the
circumstances attending the death of Christ,
and of the strange report which the women
who went into the sepulchre had that morning
brought to the disciples.
These men, after the death of Christ, seem
no longer to have regarded Him as the Met-
ii
f
M
|! il
1'
i:^
664 JESUS REAPPEARS.
•iah; nor had they any faith in the accounts i bility, and hesitating to give credence to thcni,
given by the women, though their minds had | since the disciples had not themselves seen
HE IS RISEN.'" — Mark xvi
been so far struck with those accounts, that I Jesus. Asthey were thus communing together,
they were, it seems, discussing their proba- Ithey were joined by a stranger, who entered
CLOSING SCENES IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
665
>m lining together,
ger, who entered
Into conversation with them. This was Jesus
Himself But, probably through Divine In-
fluence in connection with the difference in his
dress and the absence of any expectation of
such a circumstance, He was not recognized
by them.
He asked them, "What manner of com-
munications are these which ye have one to
another as ye walk, and are sad ? " In an-
swer they expressed their surprise that any
one coming from Jerusalem could be ignorant
of things which had for some days been the
common talk of the Holy City. Jesus still
asked, "What things?" Then they briefly
recited how that Jesus of Nazareth, "a prophet
mighty in word and deed before God and all
the people, had been delivered unto death by
the chief priests and rulers ; " and this put an
end to the hopes which they and many others
had cherished, for they had, they said, trusted
that " this was He who should have delivered
Israel."
And besides this, some of their women had
thrown them into amazement by asserting
what seemed incredible — that they had been
told by angels that Jesus was still alive.
Then Christ broke forth, "O misjudging I and
slow of heart to believe all that the prophets
have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suf-
fered these things, and to enter into His
glory ? " Then beginning at Moses, and so
down through all the prophets, He opened to
them the Scriptures concerning Himself, show-
ing how the ancient purposes of God had
been accomplished, and salvation brought to
mankind by those very things which appeared
to them so mysterious and dark.
A JoyiW Revelation.
By the time He had ended His discourse,
the party had arrived near Emmaus, when
perceiving that the instructive companion of
their walk made a motion as if intending to
proceed farther, they urged Him to accom-
pany them to their home in the village, and
remain with them for the night, as the day
was drawing towards its close. He yielded
to their friendly importunities, and went.
Wlnt further passed until supper-time wt
know not; but at that meal the peculiar
manner in which Jesus took and blessed the
bread, and gavr it to them— which beside*
was an unusual thing for a guest to do— re-
vealed Him to their knowledge. But before
they could express their delight or reverence,
He disappeared fiom their view.
On this, although it was night, they girded
up their loins and hastened back to Jerusalem,
to make known to the apostles that the Lord
had indeed risen. On the way tliey had new
and higher matter for discourse, and they said
to each other, " Did not our hearts burn within
us while He talked with us by the way, and
opened to us the Scriptures?" On their
arrival at Jerusalem, they found the apostles
and chosen disciples of Christ assembled to-
gether, and already well assured, from the
evidence of Peter, that their Lord had risen
from the dead.
A Oraelous Blessing.
While they were talking of these matters,
Jesus Himself appeared unexpectedly and
suddenly among them, and saluted them in
His usual manner — "Peace be unto youl"
They were at first terrified at His appearance;
for although they believed He was risen, the
first appearance of one who had been dead,
and had lain in the grave, suggested to their
imagination the idea of a disembodied spirit.
To disabi'3s them of this impression, He
called their attention to the scars which the
nails had left upon His hands and feet ; and
to feel that He still possessed a material body.
The apostle Thomas was not present at the
time, and when told by the others that they
had seen the Lord, he immediately expressed
a strong doubt of the fact. They assured him
that they had seen the marks of His wounds ;
and he then declared that he must not only
see, but put his finger into the prints of the
nails, and his hand into the wounded side,
before he could believe. Eight days after,
Jesus again appeared to the disciples, when
Thomas was among them. He addressed
himself directly to the incredulous apostle.
'*r
jM^i
fill
)«'■
666
TOILING AND CATCHING NOTHING.
sayiiigi " Reach hither thy finger, and behold
My hands ; and reach hither thy liand, and
thrust it into My side : and be not faithless,
but believing." On this the rebuked apostle
was seized with a full and overflowing feeling
of the supernatural in the fact which his cool
mind -had been disposed to distrust, and with
intense acknowledgment he exclaimed, " My
Lord, and my God I "
After this, the apostles, who were all of
Galilee, returned to their own province and to
their friends, because Jesus had told tliem
beforehand that they might there expect to
hold further intercourse with Him.
The apostles at once returned to their
usual occupations ; which does not, however,
imply that they had abandoned the expecta-
tion of being employed in preaching the doc-
trine of Christ, since among the Jews the
office of a teacher seldom excluded the prose-
cution of some trade, but, on the contrary, the
two were frequently combined. Seven of the
disciples, all fishermen, were by the lake of
Tiberias, and launched forth one evening to
catch fish. They toiled all the night, and
caught nothing.
Jesus on the Shore of Galilee.
When the morning broke, Jesus stood upon
the shore, but in the dusk of the morning the
fishermen knew not their Master. He called
to them, to ask if they had any fish. They
still knew Him not by His voice, but probably
supposed Him one who wished to purchase
fish. They answered that they had none; on
which He told them to cast their nets in on
the right side of the ship, and they would find
enough. Supposing that He might from the
shore have observed something which led
Him to conclude that there were fish in that
place, they followed the directions of the sup-
posed stranger, and then they were unable to
draw the net, from the multitude of fishes
which it enclosed.
This miraculous draught immediately sug-
gested to John that the stranger upon the
shore was no other than Christ, and he men-
tioned this to Peter, who no sooner heard it
than he cast himself into the sea and swam to
the land. The others came in their boat;
dragging after them the net, which contained
not fewer than one hundred and fifty large
fishes, and, although there were so many, the
net was not broken. On landing, the dis ."pies
found a fire already kindled, with fish broiling
thereon, with bread provided for their refresh-
ment, and after some of the fish just caught
had been added, Jesus said unto them, " Come
and dine," an invitation at once accepted.
Peter Questioned.
After He had assured their minds, by this
act of confidential intercourse, Christ ad-
dressed Himself in a very pointed manner to
Peter, who must be supposed in a peculiar
state of mind with referen<ie to the recent denial
of his Lord, and asked him whether he now,
according to his former declaration, loved
Him with more entire devotedness than others,
in the words, " Simon, son of Jonas, lovest
thou Me more than these ? " Peter dared not
again make a bold promise. He mistrusted
his own knowledge of himself, and answered
only by a touching appeal to the conscious-
ness of Christ — " Yea, Lord, thou knowest
that I love thee."
Then Christ called upon him to prove his
words by his actions, in the emphatic words,
"Feed my lambs I" After a while Jesus
repeated the question, and having received the
same answer, charged him — " Feed my sheep."
Once more he pronounced the question ; and
although Peter was distressed at the doubt
implied in the repetition of the question, the
feeling of inward attachment was now so strong
within him that he appealed with entire con-
fidence to the high knowledge of the heart
which his Divine Master possessed: "Lord,
Thou knowest all things ; Thou knowest that
I love Thee." To this Christ repeated the
same significant chaise; and then at once
proceeded to apprise Him, in lang\^age not to
be mistaken, of the testimony of love to Christ
which would thereafter, in his old age, be re-
quired from him, by the violent death which
he would then be called upon to suffer.
CLOSING SCENES IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
567
John, who had always been present at con-
fidential conversations, also joined them here.
Peter, actuated more by idle curiosity than by
real solicitude for John, was led by this to ask
what was to be his future lot ; but Jesus, who i
in His answers had always regard to the moral |
condition of the questioner, answered evasively:
"If I will that he tarry till I come, what is
that to thee ? Follow thou Me." This doubt-
less refers to the time of the destruction of the
Hebrew polity and Temple, which John sur-
vived ; but some were led to conceive by this
that the beloved disciple would never die, and
die curious inquirer into ecclesiastical history
meets with nuany traces of this opinion.
" Sick <r healthful, slave or free,
Wealthy, or despised and poor—
What is that to him or thee
So his love to Christ endure ?
When the shore is won at last.
Who wiU count the billows past? "
The Great CommlsHfon.
Forty days after the Passover came the
feast of Pentecost ; and some days before this
the disciples returned to Jerusalem to cele-
brate the feast. There they were again met
by Jesus, who gave them His last and most
important charge, enjoining them to remain at
Jerusalem till they were gifted with powers
from on high, after which they were to go
abroad among the nations, "preaching the
Gospel to every creature."
He then led them forth to the Mount of
Olives as far as Bethany, where He lifted up
His hands to bestow on them His last solemn
blessing ; and while His hands were still oijt-
spread as in the act of blessing. He arose
gradually from among them, and disappeared
in the heavens — " where he sitteth on the
right hand of God." The disciples then
returned with joyful hearts to Jerusalem,
where they were constantly in the Temple
praising and blessing God.
The graphic lines of Alexander Pope, com-
memorating the sublime scenes in the life of
Christ, which were antecedent to His peaceful,
beneficent reign on earth, may well close this
description of the most momentous events in
the world's history :
From Jesse's root behold a branch arise.
Whose sacred flower with fragrance fills the skies;
The ethereal spirit o'er its leaves shall move,
Anil on its top descends the mystic dove.
Ye heavens ! from high the dewy nectar pour.
And In soft silence shed the kindly shower !
The sick and weak ihe healing plant shall aid,
From storms a shelter, and from heat a shade.
All crimes shall cease, and ancient fraud shall faii;
Returning justice lift aloft her scale;
Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,
And white-robed innocence from heaven descend.
Swift fly the years, and rise the expected mom!
Oh spring of light, auspicious Babe, be born !
See nature hastes her earliest wreaths to bring.
With all the incense of the breathing spring:
See lofty Lebanon his head advance.
See nodding forests on the mountains dance :
See spicy clouds from lowly Saron rise.
And Carmel's flowery top perfumes the skies!
Hark! a glad voice the lonely desert cheers;
Prepare the way 1 a God, a God appears :
A God, a God ! the vocal hills reply.
The rocks proclaim the approaching Deity.
Lo, earth receives Him from the bending skies I
Sink down, ye mountains, and, ye valleys, rise ;
With heads declined, ye cedars, homage pay ;
Be smooth, ye rocks : ye rapid floods, give way;
The Saviour comes' by ancient bards foretold I
Hear him, ye deaf, a.id all ye blind, behold !
He from thick films shail purge the visual ray.
And on the sightless eyeball pour the day :
'Tis He the obstructed paths of sound shall clear.
And bid new music charm the unfolding ear;
Tne dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego.
And leap exulting like the bounding roe.
No sigh, no murmur the wide world shall hear, '
From every face He wipes off every tear.
In adamantine chains shall death be Ixjund,
And hell's grim tyrant feel the eternal wound.
As the good shepherd tends his fleecy care.
Seeks freshest pasture and the purest air.
Explores the lost, the wandering sheep directs.
By day o'ersees them, and by night protects.
The tender lambs he raises in his arms,
Feeds from his hand, and in his bosom warms;
Thus shall mankind His guardian rare engage,
The promised Father of the future age.
No more shall nation against nation rise.
Nor ardent warriors meet with hateful cyt%
I
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:
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11
668
SALEM'S GLORY.
Nor fields with gleaming steel be covered o'er,
The brazen trumpets kindle rage no more ;
But useless lances into scythes shall bend,
And the broad falchion in a ploughshare end.
Then palaces shall rise ; the joyful son
Shall finish what his short-lived sire begun ;
Their vines a shadow to their race shall yield.
And the same hand that sowed shall reap the field.
The swain, in barren deserts with surprise
Sees lilies spring, and sudden verdure rise ;
And starts, amidst the thirsty wilds, to hear
New falls of water murmuring in his ear.
On rifted rocks, the dragon's late abodes.
The green reed trembles, and the bulrush nods.
jVaate sandy valleys, once perplexed with thorn,
The spiry fir and shapely box adorn ;
To leafless shrub, the flowering palms succeed,
And odorous myrtle to the noisome weed.
The lambs with wolves shall graze the verdant mead.
And boys in flowery bands the tiger lead ;
The steer and lion at one crib shall meet,
And harmless serpent^! lick the pilgrim's feet.
The smiling infant in his hand shall take
The crested basilisk and speckled snake,
Heased, the green lustre of the scales survey,
And with their forky tongue shall innocently play.
Rise, crowned with light, imperial Salem, rise t
Exalt thy towery head, and lift thy eyes !
See, a long race thy spacious courts adorn ;
See future sons, and daughters yet unborn,
In crowding ranks on every side arise.
Demanding life, impatient for the skies !
See barbarous nations at thy gates attend.
Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend ;
See thy bright altars thronged with prostrate kings.
And heaped with products of Sabean springs;
For thee Idume's spicy forests blow.
And seeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow.
See heaven its sparkling portals wide display,
And break upon thee in a flood of day.
No more the rising sun shall gild the mom.
Nor evening Cynthia fill her silver horn ;
But lost, dissolved in thy superior rays.
One tide of glory, one unclouded blaze
O'erflow thy courts; the Light Himself shall shin^
Revealed, and God's eternal day be thine I'
The seas shall waste, the skies in smoke decay.
Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away ;
But fixed His word. His saving power remains ;
Thy realm forever lasts, thy own Messiah reigns >
It, !.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE APOSTLES AT JERUSALEM.
' HE apostles had been
instructed by their
Lord to remain to-
gether at Jerusalem
till they should be en-
dued with power and
enlightenment from
on high, in preparation for the
great work to which they
were appomted.
After having witnessed the
ascension of their risen
Lord into the heaven of
heavens, they therefore re-
^ turned into the city and has-
tened to the privacy of the
upper chamber in some pri-
vate house (perhaps that
which John occupied), where they might pray
together and discourse with one another with-
out restraint. In the houses both of the Greeks
and Orientals there were certain upper apart-
ments, usually so constructed as to serve for
the purpose of dining-rooms, parlors, apart-
ments for taking exercise, and so forth ; and
from their stillness and privacy were often
appropriated as oratories for the purposes of
united and family worship, or religious retire-
ment and prayer. In such a chamber the
apostles, and those of the immediate disciples
of Christ who had witnessed the ascension, to
the number of one hundred and twenty, ap-
pear to have spent most of their time together
in this place during the few days which were
still to elapse before the feast of Pentecost.
On one of these intervening days Peter
stood up and urged upon the brethren then
present the expediency of appointing someone
to fill the place among the twelve apostles
which had been left vacant by the treason and
death of Judas. It was judged important that
the person who might succeed to this office
should be one who had from the first been a
witness of the life and works of Jesus : and
among those then present there were two who
seemed so equal in claims and qualifications
that it was found difficult to determine which
of them was the best fitted for the office.
One of these was Joseph surnamed Barsa-
bas ; and the other was called Matthias, both
of whom are, with good reasons, supposed to
have been among the number of the seventy
disciples. As there was some doubt in the
choice between persons whose claims were so
nearly balanced, the apostles invoked in solemn
prayer the direction of God upon their choice,
and then cast lots between them. The lot fell
upon Matthias, and he was thenceforth num-
bered with the eleven apostles.
The mode in which the lot was in this in-
stance cast cannot be determined, the ancient
methods of doing this being various. The
most usual mode, however, was to cast the
names written on equal substances, into an urn,
and decide the question by the act of drawing
them forth ; and this is generally supposed to
have been the plan adopted in this choice of
an apostle.
Forty-nine days since the Passover had at
length elapsed, and the fiftieth day, being the
Feast of Pentecost, had fully come, when the
one hundred and twenty disciples (or, as some
suppose, the apostles only) were assembled" in
one place," which we may conceive to have
been the same place which has already been
mentioned. They are supposed by some to
have assembled on this occasion with some
expectation that on the very day on which the
memory of the promulgation of the law on
Mount Sinai was celebrated, the promise of
Christ respecting the Holy Spirit to be sent
from heaven would have its compleiion ; and
1669)
670
THE TONGUE OF FIRE.
V I
! I
that God would, by some sign striking to the
senses, declare that the religion of Christ was
now to be more widely promulgated through
them.
But although they were thus waiting ap-
parently for the manifestation of. the Spirit,
they were wholly unprepared for the sudden
and very remarkable manner in which He came
upon them. At once the house was filled
with the sound as of a mighty wind sweeping
along like a tempest, and at the same instant
there appeared upon the head of every one of
them a lambent flame, described as " cloven
tongues of fire," from the resemblance of a
pointed flame to a tongue; and this was an
external sign or symbol of the mighty change
which at the same instant took place within
them, for "they were filled with the Holy
Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues
as the Spirit gave them utterance."
From that time they became as new men.
All their previous misconceptions concerning
the nature of Christ's kingdom passed away,
and the whole plan of the Divine economy of
man's redemption was open to them. They
were thus qualified to declare to others those
great mysteries of God ; and seeing that they
would have to declare them to many nations
whose languages they understood not, they
were enabled to speak at once in any human
tongue the great message intrusted to them.
Three Thousand Converts.
There weie at this time in Jerusalem Jews
from almost all the known countries of the
world — countries in which they were born, and
whose languages were their mother-tongues.
When the news of this strange event was
noised abroad, many of them, with others,
hurried to the spot; and great was their
amazement when they heard the uninstructed
disciples of Christ, most of them natives of
Galilee, speak to them in all their diflferent
languages. Some of those who were thus
drawn together hesitated what judgment to
form, but others hastily concluded that they
were under the influence of wine.
This dishonor to the great gift of God
roused Peter, who, courageously standing up
with the eleven, that the multitude might be-
hold in them the chief of Christ's followers,
refuted the calumny by calling attention to the
early time of the morning, the third hour, or
nine o'clock, being the time of morning prayer,
before which those who had any regard for
religion among the Hebrews never took food
or drink.
Not content with this, the earnest apostle
proceeded to show how the ancient prophecies
were accomplished by this event, as well as in
the death and resurrection of Christ, whom
he proved to be the Messiah promised to the
fathers. Under the Divine blessing, the eflect
of this calm, resolute, and well-reasoned dis-
course — this first Christian sermon — was most
wonderful. A great part of the audience were
smitten to the heart, and three thousand of
their number were that very day received by
baptism into the infant church. These, from
that hour, frequented the society of the
apostles, and joined in their holy feast and
devotions, showing a commendable zeal.
A United Band.
Most of them were strangers in Jerusalem,
and, probably, on publicly professing them-
selves as the disciples of Jesus and remaining
in the city longer than they had at first in-
tended, had become excluded from the hospi-
tality and kindness which the Jews commonly
exercised. This would all the more unite
them to the other disciples; and now regard-
ing themselves as one family, having common
wants and interests, without any separate ob-
jects in life, they threw their possessions into
a common stock, " and parted them' to all
men, as every man had need." This was not
compulsory upon them — it was the spontan-
eous act of their own minds, suited to the
circumstances of these first converts and to
the peculiar necessities of the infant Church.
Being thus disencumbered of the cares of
life " they continued daily with one accord in
the Temple (at the stated hours of prayer),
and breaking bread from house to house, did
eat their meat with gladness and singleness
y standing up
ide might be-
st's followers,
ttention to the
third hour, or
lorning prayer,
iny regard for
:ver took food
arnest apostle
lent prophecies
it, as well as in
f Christ, whom
tromised to the
ssing, the effect
1-reasoned dis-
non — was most
; audience were
:e thousand of
day received by
1. These, from
society of the
holy feast and
dable zeal.
1.
Ts in Jerusalem,
rofessing them-
s and remaining
had at first in-
from the hospi-
Jews commonly
the more unite
nd now regard-
laving common
,ny separate ob-
possessions into
:ed them' to all
This was not
vas the spontan-
^ suited to the
converts and to
infant Church.
of the cares of
:h one accord in
ours of prayer),
ise to house, did
and singleness
THE APOSTLES AT JERUSALEM.
871
of heart, praising God, and having favor with
all the people." Had then the mass of the
people become favorable to the doctrines of
the cross? This is not implied; but it is
understood that the humble, serious, and
devoted lives of the converts, disarmed for a
time the enemies of Christ, and won for them
a degree of tolerance and favor which secured
for the infant days of the Church a brief in-
terval of repose, needful to strengthen the
arms which were destined to overturn the
rank idolatries and dark systems of the world.
It is clear that the disciples continued to
resort to the Temple for devotion at the custom-
ary hours of prayer. Whether they joined in
the sacrifices of the Temple is not said, but it
is by no means improbable that they did ; as
they did not yet clearly^understahd the great
truth that the whole system of sacrificial
worship was, in fact, abolished by the death
of Christ, seeing that there remained "no
more sacrifice for sin " when He, in whom all
the sacrificial types were accomplished, was
offered up, " once for all," for the sins of the
world. The Temple was the place, and its
ritual service the manner, in which they and
their fathers had worshipped, and they came
very slowly to the conclusion that they were
to abandon this sacred place and its services,
as things which had become old and had
passed away.
We are told in general terms that, after the
outpouring of the Divine Spirit, many signs
and wonders were wrought by the apostles.
Of these wonders one is selected by the
sacred historian as an example of the others ;
and it is well suited to convey a distinct im-
pression of the great powers with which the
apostles were now vested ; and to convince us
that they were adequate to the great services
for the glory of God and the benefit of man-
kind which they were called to perform. It is
of much importance ♦or the confirmation of the
truth that this narrative has been given to us ;
and the evangelist, instead of contenting him-
self with the general statement that much was
done, proceeds to say in one marked instance
wAat was done, and in relation to whom and
under what circumstances a great miracle WM
performed. By the Jews, and the ancients
generally, no provision was made in hospitals
for the afflicted, or in almshouses for the poor.
They were, therefore, dependent upon the
charitable feelings of those who were in better
circumstances. It thus became important that
they should be placed where they could see
many people ; and hence it was customary to
place them at the gates of rich men ; and they
also sat by the side of the highway to beg
where many persons would pass.
Under such circumstances the entrance to
the Temple became a favorite station for beg-
ging, not only from the great numbers of
people who resorted thither, but because that,
going up for the purposes of religion, they
would be more disposed to give alms than at
other times : and this was particularly true of
the Pharisees, who, beyond all men, did their
alms " to be seen of men."
"Rise Up and Walk!'*
Peter and John went up together to prayer
at the Temple, at the hour of afternoon prayer,
being the ninth hour, or three o'clock. They
entered by that large and splendid gate, made
of Corinthian brass, near Solomon's porch,
which bore the name of Beautiful. Here they
observed a most afflicted creature, who had
been lame from his birth, and who had for
many years been carried daily to the Beautiful
Gate, to ask alms df those that entered in at
the Temple. From this circumstance his
person and condition were well known to the
Jews, not only of Jerugale'm, but of the
country, who constantly attended the sacred
services of the Temple during their periodical
visits to Jerusalem.
Perceiving that he had attracted the notice
of the apostles, the man asked alms of them.
Peter said to him, " Look on us," with the
view of drawing his attention to the act he
was about to execute, so that the man might
know him as the doer, and know that the
benefit he was about to receive came from
him. The beggar, expecting to receive some
large alms, failed not to take heed to the
^!'
^'-v3
**lj
**x*
I I
572
THE CRIPPLE HEALED,
• <! i
apostle; but Peter, looking earnestly upon
him, said, " Silver and gold have I none ; but
such as I have, give I thee : In the name of
Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk I "
Then, to show him that he was sincere in
this strange command, and to induce him to
make the required eflbrt, he took the poor
man by the right hand and assisted him to
rise. Immediately his feet and ankle-bones
received strength, and the man, who had never
stood, walked — he who had never walked, ran
The abounding' gratitude of the man failed
not to point out his benefactors; and Peter,
finding that he and his companion had thus
become objects of marked attention, took occa-
sion to proclaim aloud, that it was not by
any power or virtue in themselves, but through
the name of Jesus of Nazareth, whom they
had slain, but whom God had raised from the
dead, that this man had been healed. He ad-
mitted, however, that to a certain extent they
had done this through ignorance, and assured
AND JOHN AT THE BEAUTIFUL GATE. — ActS iii.
— and not only ran, but leaped in the fulness
of his joy, exulting and praising God.
The amazed and thankful man followed the
apostles into the magnificent covered way or
passage on the east side of the Temple, which
bore the name of Solomon's porch. Here a
wondering crowd soon gathered around them,
the people being greatly astonished to see the
lame beggar whom they knew so well, and
had just beheld lying at the Temple gate,
walking with so much agility among them.
them that the door of repentance \7as still
open, and exhorted them to enier therein.
To induce them to this, he went 3n lO prove
that this Jesus was the Messiah promised to
the fathers — the seed of Abraham, in whom
all the families of men were to be blessed.
His discourse was interrupted by the chief
priests, who had required the assistance of the
guard in the tower of Antonia in dispersing
the crowd. This guard was .stationed there to
preserve order and repress disturbances ; and
THE APOSTLES AT JERUSALEM.
673
the priests resorted to this summary mode of
arresting the impressions which seemed likely
to be made by the discourse of Peter, taken in
connection with the signal miracle which had
been performed. The more effectually to se-
cure their object, they seized the apostles and
consigned them to the custody of the guard,
till the next day ; for it was now evening, and
the council, before which the matter was to be
brought, was not then sitting. When the con-
spiracy was against the Lord Himself, the
council could meet irregularly in the dead of
the night ; but thi^^ less important matter could
abide the usual hours.
Pe«;er and John Arrested.
When Peter and John were the next day
brought before the council and asked, " By
what power or in what name have ye done
this?" Peter, who, when his Master had
lately stood on his trial before this very tribu-
nal, had shrunk with shameful timidity from
his duty, was now filled with the Holy Spirit,
and undauntedly seized the opportunity which
the question offered, of declaring the truth,
and of stating the evidence for the doctrine of
Christ.
The council was much struck by the bold-
ness of the apostles, as well as by the matter
of their address, especially as they perceived
that they were uneducated and illiterate men.
Certain members of the council then recol-
lected that Peter and John were among those
who had usually been seen in the company of
Jesus, and knew that what was said by them
concerning their Master was a matter of author-
ity, and would have weight with the people.
It was also f srceived that the man who had
been healed was in attendance, ready to attest
and extol his miraculous cure. Therefore,
after some consultation, it was deemed prudent
to let the matter drop, and to dismiss the
apostles with an injunction not in future " to
speak at all, or preach in the name of Jesus."
But the apostles resolutely declined to give any
such pledge, and were at length discharged
with a warning as to their future course of
owing to any want of inclination in the council
to inflict punishment ; but they knew that the
popular feeling was in favor of the apostles, in
consequence of the great and benevolent act
which they had performed : " for all men glori-
fied God for that which was done."
The liberated apostles returned to their com-
panions, who received with joy the account of
what had passed, and lifted up their voices in
praise to God, who by the mouth of David
had foretold the things which had now come
to pass : " And now. Lord," they concluded,
"behold their threatenings ; and grant unto
thy servants that with all boldness they may
speak Thy word, by stretching forth Thine hand
to heal, and that signs and wonders may be
done by the name of Thy holy child Jesus."
When they had concluded, the place in which
they sat was violently shaken, and as they
were all at the same time filled with the Holy
Ghost, they received this as a favorable answer
to their prayer, and were greatly cheered.
A Generous Giver.
It has already been mentioned that there
was a great anxiety among the more wealthy
of the new converts to prevent their poorer
brethren from feeling the pressure of want.
They therefore sent in pleutiful contributions,
and selling their possessions, gave the price
they brought to the apostles, who received it
of them for the public use, and distributed it
to every one as his necessities required.
Among these benevolent and faithful men,
none distinguished himself more than one
Joses, a Jew of Cyprus, of Levitical descent,
who received from the apostles the appropriate
surname of Barnabas (Son of Consolation),
who sold a piece of land which formed his
private property, and brought the full price of
it to the apostle, that they might dispose of
it according to their discretion. This man
afterwards became eminent — second only to
an apostle, and sometimes called an apostle,
in the Church. His conduct in this matter ap-
pears to be mentioned for the sake of painting
the contrast which was offered by the conduct
CM
(«ll
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proceedings. That they thus escaped was not of another disciple, whose name was Ananias.
. '11
rms
674
THE EVENING AT BETHANY.
The following exquisite poem by one of our
modern poets is an appropriate eulogy upon
the benevolent spirit so beautifully exem-
plified in Barnabas :
The world's a room of lickneu, where each heart
Knows its own anguish and unrest;
The truest wisdom there, and noblest art,
Ii his, who skills of comfort best ;
Whom by the softest step and gentlest tone
Enfeebled spirits own,
And love to raise the languid eye.
When, like an angel's wing, they feel him fleeting by : —
Fttl only — for in silence gently gliding
Fain would he shun both ear and sight,
'Twixt prayer and watchful love his heart dividing,
A nursing father day and night.
Such were the tender arms, where cradled lay
In her sweet natal day
The Church of Jesus ; such the love
He to His chosen taught for His dear widowed Dove.
Warmed underneath the Comforter's safe wing
They spread th' endearing warmth around :
Mourners, speed here your broken hearts to bring.
Here healing dews and balms abound:
Here are soft hands that cannot bless in vain,
By trial taught your pain :
Here loving hearts, that daily know
The heavenly consolations they on you bestow.
Sweet thoughts are theirs, that breathe serenest calmi.
Of holy offerings timely paid.
Of fire from Heaven to bless their votive alms
And passions on God's altar laid.
The world to them is closed and now they shine
With rays of love Divine,
Through darkest nooks of this dull earth
Fottring, in showery times, their glow of " quiet mirth."
O happy spirits, marked by God and man
Their messages of love to bear.
What though long since in heaven your brows began
The genial amarant wreath to wear.
And in th' eternal leisure of calm love
Ye banquet there above.
Yet in your sympathetic heart
We and our earthly griefs may ask and hope a part.
Comfort's true suns ! amid the thoughts of down
That strew your pillow of repose,
Sure 'tis one joy to muse, how ye unknown
By sweet remembrance soothe our woes,
Aad how the spark ye lit, of heavenly cheer,
Lives in our embers here,
Where'er the cross is borne with smiles.
Or lightened secretly by love's endearing wilei :
Where'er one Levite in the Temple keeps
The watch-fire of his midnight prayer,
Or issuing thence, the eyes of mourners steeps
In heavenly balm, fresh gathered there;
Thus saints, that seem to die in earth's rude strife,
Only win double life :
They have but left our weary ways
To live in memory here, in heaven by love and praise.
These glowing words are none too warm in
praise for such as Barnabas, but Ananias pre-
sented a different character.
This man was no doubt sincere in his con-
victions of the truth of the Christian religion ;
for the condition of the early Church offered
no inducement to a worldly man, and least of
ail to a Jew in good circumstances, to embrace
its doctrines. Having joined himself to the
disciples, he was not willing to appear behind
the foremost in liberality and zeal : and yet his
heart grudged the sacrifice which he had made
from regard to appearances; and therefore,
instead of bringing to the apostles the whole
price of the land which he had sold, he kept
back a considerable portion, and presented the
remainder as if it had been the whole.
Lying Punished.
How greatly was this man surprised and
confounded when Peter, instead of receiving
this offering with the expected approbation,
plainly charged him with the fact, in terms of
severe reprehension. The enormity of the
offence was indeed very great ; the meanness,
the hypocrisy, the worldliness of the whole
affair, is almost without known parallel, and
had it been allowed to pass unpunished, the
purity of the infant Church could not long have
remained free from the stain of worldly influ-
ences.
That the act of selling the land was entirely
voluntary on his part, and that even when sold
the whole sum rested entirely at his disposal,
were strongly urged upon him by Peter, to
point out the enormity of ' an offence com-
mitted solely with a view to the praise of men,
through an imposition upon the disciples and
THE APOSTLES AT JERUSALEM.
676
upon God. " Thou hast not lied," said the in-
dignant apostle, " unto men, but unto God."
This denouncement and exposure were in-
stantly fatal to one so covetous of human
praise. It came upon him with all the sud-
denness and effect of a thunderbolt, and he
fell down and gave up the ghost.
Death of Sapphiro.
Sapphira, the wife of Ananias, entered the
place about three hours afterwards, before the
meeting had separated. She was ignorant of
what had happened, but appears to have taken
an active part, if her suggestions did not origi-
nate the infamous transaction. Of her, Peter,
with marked emphasis, asked whether the land
had been sold for the sum which Arlanias had
named: she readily and unhesitatingly an-
swered in the affirmative, on which Peter, with
the sternness of a judge, said : " How is it that
ye have screed together to tempt the Spirit of
the Lord ? Behold, the feet of them who have
buried thy husband are at the door — and shall
carry thee out"
On hearing these terrible words, she also fell
to the ground and died : on which the young
men who had just returned from burying her
husband, carried her also away. The manner
of the death of Sapphira was even more strik-
ing than that of Ananias. Peter had not dis-
tinctly doomed him to death ; and he might be
supposed to have died from the stroke of an
over-burdened conscience; but in the other
case the direct judgment of God is brought
out more distinctly. Sapphira dies at the word
of Peter, and falls down death-struck at his
command.
This signal judgment made a profound im-
pression upon the Church. It tended to purge
away all low and selfish motives : to urge great
singleness of purpose, and to induce that re-
spect for the power and authority of the apostles
which was essential to their influence. It seems
however to have tended for a time to prevent
other men of substance from joining the apos-
tles : but, it is added with strong emphasis —
"but the people magnified them."
Many miracles were also wrought by them;
and their reputation became so high "that
they brought forth the sick into the streets,
and laid them on beds and couches, that at the
least the shadow of Peter passing by might
overshadow some of them." Whether they
were by this means healed is not stated, and is
left for us to conjecture. The news of this
even spread to the neighboring towns, whence
the diseased were brought in great numbers to
Jerusalem to be cured by the apostles.
The sensation which was thus excited at-
tracted the attention of the high-priest and
others, and by their orders the apostles were
apprehended and cast into the common prison.
But the night following they were delivered
by an angel of God, who opened the prison'
doors and brought them forth, with a charge
to proceed in their high course, speaking
boldly to the people in the very Temple the
words of eternal life. Next morning the
Sanhedrin assembled to examine the prisoners,
and officers were sent to bring them forth.
But they soon returned, stating that the pris-
oners had disappeared, although the prison-
doors were still closed, and the keepers care-
fully upon guard.
Escape firom Prison.
While they were confounded at this, a mes-
senger arrived with the intelligence that the
men whom they had cast into prison were
then actually in the Temple exhorting the
people. The officers then went and brought
them thence before the council ; but they did
this without disrespect or violence, as they
feared to excite a tumult among the people,
who were, as we have seen, iavorable to the
apostles, and had probably just heard from
them how marvelously they had been de-
livered.
On their appearance before the council, the
high-priest taxed them with disobedience to
the positive order they had received no more
to preach in the name of Jesus: " But, behold,'*
said the pontiff, "ye have filled Jerusalem with
your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's
blood upon us." To this Peter, in the name
of all the apostles, quietly answered, "We
.11).
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(676)
THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. STEPHEN.
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37
THE APOSTLES AT JERUSALEM.
677
ought to obey God rather than men ; " and
forthwith, in a few cogent words, stated with-
out reserve or qualification the great doctrine
which they, as chosen witnesses, felt bound to
testify. They were then taken outside for a
time, while the council deliberated on the
matter.
Some of the more violent were for putting
them to death ; but there was among them a
renowned teacher and expounder of the law,
named Gamaliel, who urged more prudent
counsels. He sagaciously observed, that if
this doctrine were of God they could not and
ought not to interfere to suppress it, and if it
were not of God it would certainly without
their interference come to nothing. He there-
fore counselled the great " let alone " policy ;
and his high reputation and influence gained
so much attention for it, that, after they had
scourged the apostles, they allowed them to
depart with an injunction that they should not
again speak in the name of Jesus.
But the apostles, rejoicing that they were
deemed worthy to suffer shame for the name
of Jesus, ceased not to preach Christ crucified
in the Temple and in every house they en-
tered. And their labors were blessed : for the
number of the disciples daily increased, and
the funds which their liberality and confidence
placed in the hands of the apostles were so
large, that the distribution became a matter of
great anxiety and labor to them, and there was
danger that this business would so take up
their time as to prevent the due discharge of
more important duties.
•
Choosing Deacons.
A dispute which arose between the Greek
and Hebrew converts, the former alleging that
their widows were comparatively neglected in
the daily ministrations, convinced the apostles
that it was time for them to seek relief from
such comparatively secular charges. " It is
not meet," said they, " that we should leave
the word of God and serve tables." They
therefore recommended the brethren to look
out seven men in whom they could confide,
to have the management of this department.
37
Seven such persons were accordingly nomi-
nated by the disciples, and were instituted by
the apostles in this important office by prayer
and the imposition of hands. These were the
first deacons. One of them, named Stephen,
was so active and so devoted, so powerful in
speech, and so mighty in deeds, that he
speedily attracted the attention of the Hellen-
istic and African Jews in Jerusalem : and in
their frequent disputations he so foiled them
in argument that they became exasperated
and determmed to get rid of him. Despairing
to do this in the ordinary course of affairs, as
then conducted under the cognizance of the
Romans, they suborned false witnesses to tes-
tify that they had heard him speak blasphem-
ous words against Moses and against God.
The First Christian Martyr.
On this allegation they excited the people
against him, and then the chief men ventured
to seize him and to bring him before the coun-
cil. The charge was there more formally
urged; and when the council turned their
attention to the man against whom such hein-
ous tilings were urged, they beheld a man
whose countenance was radiant with holiness
and peace — " as the face of an angel."
To the question of the high-priest, "Are
these things so?" Stephen answered by taking
a rapid view of the dispensations of God's
providence towards His people, with an ap-
parent view to the development of the Mes-
sianic character of Christ as foreshown in these
dispensations. We say apparent, for, as his
address was interrupted by the excited pas-
sions of the audience, its entire scope is not
clearly manifested. He had reached so far in
his illustrative exposition as to the building of
the Temple by Solomon, when he was much
interrupted by the angry clamor of the audi-
ence, and was provoked to exclaim : " Ye stifT-
necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears,
ye do always resist the Holy Ghost ; as your
fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets
have not your fathers persecuted ? And they
have slain those who showed before the com-
ing of the Just One, of whom ye have now
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678
STEPHEN'S VISION.
been the betrayers and murderers. Who have
received the law by the disposition of angels,
and have not kept it."
When the audience had heard thus far, their
rage and indignation passed all bounds, and
they even gnashed on him with their teeth.
Then, foreseeing his danger, and feeling that
there was no safety even in the great council
of the nation, nor any prospect of justice at its
hands, the holy man cast his eyes towards
heaven, and there beheld "the glory of God."
This phrase usually denotes the visible sym-
bols of the Divine Presence in some magnifi-
cent representation, or some resplendence —
such as that which in the old Temple abode
between the cherubim.
Stephen Assailed.
In Stephen's case there is every indication
of a vision representing what was most likely
to encourage him in that perilous moment, " the
heavens opened, and the Son of man standing
on the right hand of God." He declared what
he beheld ; and on hearing this the auditors
cried out with one voice, and stopped their
ears as against the pollution of some horrid
blasphemy, and ran upon him with one accord.
He was hurried outside the city, and there in
the madness of that hour stoned to death as a
. blasphemer. He died calling upon God, and
saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," and
praying that this act might not be laid to the
charge of his murderers. Thus worthily died
the first of the noble army of martyrs, who have
sealed with their blood the testimony of Jesus.
The council had no power to inflict death,
as we have already seen ; and although this
proceeding could not have been displeasing to
them, it had not their formal sanction; but
was entirely the ebullition of popular feeling,
which would not and could not abide the re-
sult of judicial movements. In this case the
witnesses, as was usual, took the first and
most active part in the execution ; and casting
off their outer robes for vigorous exertion.
they placed them in charge of a young man
named Saul, who had manifested ;.iuch zeal
against the new doctrines, and on the present
occasion against Stephen.
Saul must have been impressed with the
calm dignity of the Christian martyr, the
peaceful resignation which he exhibited in the
presence of his enemies, that wonderful seren-
ity which stood in such striking contrast to
the madness of his foes ; and, more than all,
he must have been impressed with the Christ-
like spirit of the martyr, showing itself in his
heartfelt prayer for those who were so cruelly
taking his life. Here was a proof of the self-
sacrifice inspired by the Christianity, the hero-
ism that endures to the end. and the lofty
faith which sees the invisible and hears the
unutterable.
It is not strange that the Christian Church
made such rapid progress as it did immedi'
ately after that period, for that is a true saying
concerning the blood of the martyrs: As
the drops of rain come from the clouds and
bring summer to the earth, so the baptism of
blood renews the Christian spirit and the gen-
eration of those who endure and serve is born
from the generation of those who perish. Very
rapidly Christianity advanced. When histories
are unfolded, and secret causes are traced, it will
undoubtedly be seen that the martyr spirit of
that early period has had much to do with the
existence and success of the Church of Christ,
which is now changing the face of the earth,
and " making the wilderness to blossom as
the rose."
If it appears strange that one of such faith,
courage, self-denial and excellence of charac-
ter should be left, as Stephen was, to the cold
mercy of a Jewish mob, it would be well to
remember that although the road he tr.ivelled
was rough, the end of it was glory. He
passed through storm and conflict, yet came
to his rest as sweetly as if his death-bed had
been made of down, and his attendants had
been ministering angels.
II
11 i
CHAPTER XXXIX.
SAUL'S REMARKABLE CONVERSION.
AUL was a native of Tar-
sus, in Asia Minor, where
many Jews were settled,
and enjoyed, by his birth,
there, of free parents, the
privileges of i Roman citi-
zen. His ci.ucation in his
native city was necessarily
less exclusive — more
Greek — than that which prevailed
among the Jews in Palestine. But as
the exclusive Jewish learning, in the
law, was supposed to be best taught in
Jerusalem, it was usual to send young
Jews, born in foreign lands, thither, to com-
plete their education.
Saul was accordingly sent to the Holy City,
where he studied the law with great diligence
and much distinction under its most eminent
• living teacher, Gamaliel. This fiery youth
threw all the ardor of his soul into the move-
ment against the innovating disciples of Jesus,
which was commenced by the death of Stephen;
for the popular rage was too thoroughly ex-
cited to be satiated with the blood of that holy
man, but sought new objects for its fury. A
great part of the converts fled before the
storm into other parts of the country, and
many returned to their houses in Asia Minor,
Cyprus, and other places, where they had made
known the Gospel they had received.
Philip, one of the seven deacons, left Jeru-
salem about this time to preach the Gospel in
Samaria. He was heard with great attention;
and the miracles of benevolence which he per-
formed, in casting forth evil spirits and in
healing the diseased, were witnessed with joy
and conviction by the right-minded. Among
those who were converted and baptized was a
man named Simon, who had acquired much
influence over the people by his skill in the
magic arts, and by impressing upon them that
he was in truth some great and mystcriouf
personage.
This man, when Peter and John had been
brought down to Samaria by the tidings of
Philip's success, saw the new converts receive
the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost at the
prayer of the apostles and the imposition of
their hands. Still really unconverted, and
perhaps regarding the holy apostles as only
greater masters of the art in which he was an
adept, Simon had the temerity to oflTer them
money if they would impart to him the power
which they possessed of conferring the gifts of
the Holy Ghost by the imposition of their
hands. This brought down upon him a severe
rebuke from Peter, who plainly told him that
" his heart was not right with God."
Philip and the Ethiopian.
After the apostles had by their labors con-
firmed and extended the work of God in Sa-
maria, they returned to Jerusalem ; but Philip
was directed by a Divine impulse to proceed
southward into the country lying towards
Gaza on the road to Jerusalem. In this quar-
ter, which was the usual route from Jerusalem
to Egypt, Philip encountered a great man of
Ethiopia, who was returning home in his
chariot from Jerusalem, where he had been to
attend the Passover.
Whether this personage was a Hebrew, who
had been raised to high office in Ethiopia —
like Joseph in Egypt, Daniel in Babylon, and
Mordecai in Persia ; or was a native of Ethi-
opia, in which distant country it has been al-
leged that Judaism had made considerable
progress — cannot with any certainty be deter-
mined. He was, however, treasurer to Can-
dace, queen of the Ethiopians; and Philip
perceived that, as he rode, he was reading in a
(679)
1'4
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If \\^k
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BAPTISM OF THE EUNUCH.
book ; and as the Orientals always read aloud,
he found that his attention was engaged by the
fifty-third chapter of Isaiah. Philip then saw
the purpose for which he had been sent into
this remote quarter, and he accosted the reader
with "Understandest thou what thou readest ?"
The eunuch candidly replied, " How can I, ex-
cept some man should guide me ? " And then
he desired Philip to come and sit with him in
the chariot, for his question implied that he
could give the instruction desired.
What perplexed the eunuch was to !:now
whether the very striking words of the passage
of Scripture which engaged his attention ap-
plied to the prophet himself or to some other
person. It was easy for Philip to show that
they applied to Jesus, the mysteries of whose
Gospel he fully opened to the astonished Ethi-
opian, who received them with the most sincere
conviction. Being thus instructed, he asked,
on coming to some water, " What doth hinder
me to be baptized?" Philip answered, "If
thou believest with all thine heart, thou
mayest ; " and on his replying " I believe that
Jesus is the Son of God," he consented to bap-
tize him. The chariot was then stopped, and
they went down together into the water, where
the Ethiopian was baptized in the name of
Christ. Philip then left him, and the eunuch
" went on his way rejoicing, even as one who
had found a pearl of great price."
Saul Struck Blind.
Meanwhile the zeal of Saul against the fol-
lowers of Jesus had not escaped the notice and
approval of the Sanhedrin, from which he was
intrusted with a commission to proceed to
Damascus, where the Jews were settled in
great numbers, and, with the co-operation of
the synagogues in that place, to apprehend and
bring to Jerusalem those who had become fol-
lowers of Christ. He proceeded on his way
with a suitable escort, full of the conviction
that he was doing God service, and his heart
overflowing with bitterness and wrath against
the believers in a crucified Messiah.
He had already nearly reached Damascus,
when he was suddenly blinded and struck to
the ground by the excess of light which fell
upon him, while a voice was heard from
heaven, saying, " Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou Me ? " He then naturally asked, " Who
art Thou, Lord ? " and was answered, " I am
Jesus whom thou persecutest." On hearing
this, all the proud confidences of this man
broke suddenly from him ; his fierceness
passed away, and he became gentle and sub-
missive. Trembling and astonished, his only
question was, " Lord, what wilt Thou have
me to do ? " and he was told to proceed to
Damascus, and wait further directions in that
city, which would be furnished him.
Saul Visited by Ananias.
The attendants had seen the light, and had
heard the sound of a voice without distinguish-
ing the words. Saul had -not only seen that
light, but had seen in it the glory of Jesus,
who had been the object of his contempt and
hate. He had instinctively closed his eyes
when that effulgence beamed upon him. Now
he opened them, but saw not: he was blind;
and his attendants had to lead him by the hand
to Damascus. There he remained three days
without sight, and during those days he par-
took not of meat or drink — ^his absorbing
thoughts and new convictions being food
enough for him.
At the end of that time, a disciple of Da-
mascus, named Ananias, was instructed in a
vision to go to him. Having heard of his
character and his mission to Damascus, Ananias
was astonished at this charge : but the Lord
said unto him, " Go thy way, for he is a chosen
vessel unto Me, to bear thy name before the
Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel.
For I will show him how great things he must
suffer for My name's sake."
Thus encouraged, Ananias went to the
house where Saul lodged, and putting his
hands upon him, he said, in terms which rec-
ognized him as a fellow-Christian, " Brother
Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto
thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me,
that thou mightest receive thy sight and be
filled with the Holy Ghost" On diis his
SAUL'S REMARKABLE CONVERSION.
681
light which fell
/as heard from
why persecutest
ly asked, " Who
inswered, " I am
t." On hearing
ces of this man
; his fierceness
gentle and sub-
onished, his only
wilt Thou have
Id to proceed to
lirections in that
ed him.
jianlas.
the light, and had
thout distinguish-
ot only seen that
le glory of Jesus,
his contempt and
r closed his eyes
I upon him. Now
lot: he was blind;
d him by the hand
mained three days
those days he par-
ik — ^his absorbing
tions being food
, a disciple of Da-
as instructed in a
ving heard of his
Damascus, Ananias
rge : but the Lord
•, for he is a chosen
ly name before the
; children of Israel,
reat things he must
nias went to the
i, and putting his
in terms which rec-
Christian, " Brother
that appeared unto
mest, hath sent me,
thy sight and be
lost." On this his
sight was on the instant restored to him, and
immediately after he joined himself by baptism
to the Church of Christ.
Thus marvelously was the most determined
enemy of the truth in Jesus struck down " in
his pride of place," and humbled to the very
feet of Him whose servants he had so relent-
lessly pursued: and thus were all his high
talents and the indomitable energies of his
character, forcibly and against all probable
circumstances, enlisted into the service of that
great cause which he had so zealously labored
to destroy.
The reader will be interested in the poem of
Keble, finely descriptive of the conversion
of Saul, and picturing the remarkable scene in
vivid colors :
The midday sun, with fiercest glare.
Broods o'er the hazy, twinkling air;
Along the level sand
The palm-tree's shade unwavering lies.
Just as thy towers, Damascus, rise
To greet yon wearied band.
The leader of that martial crew
Seems bent some mighty deed to do.
So steadily he speeds.
With lips firm closed and glaring ce.
Like warrior when the fight is ntgh.
Nor talk nor lamiscape heeds.
What sudden blaze is round liim poured.
As though all heaven's refulgent hoard
In one rich glory shone ?
One moment — and to eaith he falls :
What voice his inmost heart appals ?
Voice heard by him alone.
For to the rest both words and form
Seem lost in lightning and in storm.
While Saul, in wakeful trance,
Sees deep within that dazzling field
His persecuted I^rd revealed
With keen yet pitying glance ;
And hears the meek upbraiding call
As gently on his spirit fall
As if th' Almighty Son
Were prisoner yet in this dark earth.
Nor had proclaimed His royal birth, , '
Nor His great power begun.
"Ah wherefore persecut'st thou Me?"
He heard and saw, and sought to free
His strained eye from the sight;
But Heaven's high magic bound it there,
Still gazing, though untaught to bear
Th' insufferable light.
" Who art Thou, Lord ?" he falters forth i
So shall sin ask of heaven and earth
At the last awful day.
" When did we sec Thee suffering nigh,
And passed Thee with unheeding eye ?
Great God of judgment, say I "
Ah ! little dream our listless eyes
What glorious presence they despise,
While in our noon of life,
To power or fame we rudely press^
Christ is at hand, to scorn or bless,
Christ suffers in our strife.
Though heavenly gates long since have dosed.
And our dear Lord in bliss reposed
High above mortal ken,
To every ear in every land
(Though meek ears only understand)
He speaks as He did then.
" Ah wherefore persecute ye Me ?
'Tis hard, ye so in love should be
With your own bitter woe.
Know, though at God's right hand I live,
I feel each wound ye reckless give
To the least saint below.
" 1 in your care My brethren left.
Not willing ye should be bereft
Of waiting on your Lord.
The meanest offering ye can make—
A drop of water — for love's sake,
In Heaven, be sure, is stored."
O by those gentle tones and dear,
When Thou hast stayed our wild career,
Thou only hope of souls,
Ne'er let us cast one look behind,
But in the thought of Jesus find
What every thought controls.
As to Thy last apostle's he.irt
Thy lightning glance did then impart
Zeal's never-dying fire,
So teach us on Thy shrine to lay
Our hearts, and let them day by day
Intenser blaze and higher.
And as each mild and winning note
(Like pulses that round harp-strings float,
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(682)
THE CONVERSION OF SAUL. — ActS ix. 3-;
SAUL'S REMARKABLE CONVERSION.
583
When the full strain is o'er)
Left lingering on his inward ear
Music, that taught, as death drew near,
Love's lesson more and more :
So, as we walk our earthly round.
Still may the echo of that sound
Be in our memory stored :
" Christians 1 behold your happy state ;
Christ is in these, who round you wait;
Make much of your dear Lord 1 "
After having continued for some time in
daily intercourse with the disciples at Damas-
cus, Saul began to declare in the synagogues
that Jesus was the Son of God. This excited
a profound sensation among the Jews of that
city, who were well acquainted with the nature
of the business which he came to transact
with those very synagogues in which he now
preached the name of Jesus. But he daily
wielded with increasing power the weapons
which God had placed in his hands, proving
by irrefragable arguments that Jesus of Naz-
areth was indeed the Messiah.
Saul's Life in Dangler.
After this Saul withdrew for a time into
Arabia, we know not for what purpose, and
then returned to Damascus, where he for a
long while pursued his evangelical labors with
success, till the Jews became so highly exas-
perated against him that they watched the
gates of the city day and night to slay him in
his going forth. Being apprised of this, the
disciples let him down in a basket over the
wall and he proceeded to Jerusalem, which he
entered a very different man from the Saul
who had set forth, three years before, on his
persecuting mission to Damascus.
The disciples at Jerusalem, better informed
of his original character than of his conversion
and subsequent proceedings, were at first afraid
to admit him into their societies. But Barna-
bas, who had probably been intimate with him
in former times, was convinced of his sincerity,
and introduced him to the apostles, describing
to them the remarkable circumstances of his
conversion, and how boldly he had preached
Jesus in the synagogues of Damascus.
The doctrine of Christ was daily advocated
by Saul in public during his stay in Jerusalem,
especially among those foreign Jews, speaking
the Greek language, who had come to the
Holy City. These became at last so exasper-
ated against one who had lately been so dis-
tinguished a member of their own body that
they formed a plan for causing him to be put
to death as an apostate.
Saul at Tarsus.
On the other hand, the prospect opened to
him of a wider sphere of action among heathen
nations. As he was one day in the Temple,
and by prayer lifting up his soul to the Lord,
he was borne aloft from earthly things. In a
vision he received an assurance from the Lord,
that although he would be able to effect
nothing in Jerusalem, through the animosity
of the Jews, he was destined to carry the doc-
trine of salvation to other nations and to re-
mote regions.
Accordingly, after a stay of only a fortnight
at Jerusalem, he was obliged to leave it through
the machinations of the Jews. He now re-
turned to Tarsus, his native place, where he
spent several years, certainly not inactively,
for by his labors the gospel was spread both
among Jews and Gentiles in Tarsus and
throughout Cilicia; and there is good reason
for believing that to him the Gentile Churches,
which in a short time we find in Cilicia, owed
their origin.
During this interval the turn of public affairs
in Judaea became, upon the accession of the
Emperor Caligula, so critical and exciting to
the Jews, that it engaged all their interest and
attention. Under this influence the persecu-
tion of the followers of Jesus abated, and the
Churches thus obtained an interval of rest, by
which they were strengthened for new con-
flicts. Peter availed himself of this to make
a tour through the country, to visit and
strengthen the communities of believers. In
the course of this journey he came to Lydda,
a town six miles inland from Joppa, on the
road from Jerusalem.
Here his attention was directed to a man
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DORCAS.
named Eneas, who, from his Greek name, was
probably a Hellenist Jew, and had been for
eight years kept to his bed with the palsy.
Him. Peter cured; commanding him to arise
from the bed on which he had lain so long, in
words carefully framed to refer all the power
and glory of the act to Jesus. He said,
" Eneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole ;
arise and make thy bed." Tliis signal miracle
the disciples sent to him tidings of this heavy
loss to the Church, and desired his presence to
sustain and comfort them in their affliction.
The apostle immediately obeyed the call, and
went over to Joppa. He was, by his own desire,
conducted to the chamber where the corpse
lay, and was much moved when he witnessed
the lamentations of the poor widowed women
who had been supported by her beneficence,
ANANIAS AND SAUL. — ActS ix. I7.
made a strong and convincing impression
upon the minds of many persons in that
neighborhood, who thereupon " turned to the
Lord."
At Joppa there was among the believers an
excellent woman named Tabitha (in Greek,
Dorcas), who " was full of frood works and
almsdeeds which she did." This woman was
taken ill and died, and the body was prepared
in the usual manner for interment, and laid out
in an upper chamber. As Lydda, where Peter
was known then to be, Wcis not far from Joppa,
and who recounted to one another the chari-
table deeds of their benefactress.
Peter desired to be left alone with the body ;:
and then he kneeled down and prayed, prob
ably with more agonizing fervor than he de-
sired that they should witness. His faith being'
thus stren<Tthened, he turned to the body, .ind
cried, " Tabitha, arise I " She then opened her
eyes, as one awakening from sleep, and when
she saw Peter, she sat up. He then presented
her his hand, and she arose, and was presented
alive to those who had so lately bewailed her
SAUL'S REMARKABLE CONVERSION.
586
i of this heavy
his presence to
their affliction.
:d the call, and
his own desire,
ere the corpse
n he witnessed
idowed women
er beneficence,
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ather the chari-
ss.
with the body ;
prayed, prob
vor than he de-
His faith beinpr
o the body, .ind
then opened Iier
sleep, and when
then presented
id was presented
;ly bewailed her
dead. This was the first miracle of the kind
which was performed by the apostles, and it
produced an impression fully corresponding to
its importance.
After this Peter remained some time in
Joppa, dwelling with one Simon, a tanner,
whose house was by the sea-shore.
A Remarkable Vision.
Joppa was but a few miles south from Caesa-
rea, which was the seat of the Roman gover-
nor, and the political metropolis of Judzea. In
the Roman cohort which formed the garrison
of that place was a centurion named Cornelius,
a Gentile, who, dissatisfied with the old popular
religion, and seeking after one which would
tranquillize his mind, had been led to Judaism,
and had become a proselyte of the gate.
Having with his whole family professed the
worship of Jehovah, he testified by his bene-
factions the sympathy which he felt with his
fellow-worshippers of the Jewish nation, and
observed the hour of prayer customary among
the Jews.
It was customary with the Jews, and became
so with the early Christians, to devote them-
selves to fasting and prayer when, in any
emergency from inward or outward distress,
they sought relief and illumination from God.
In some such emergency Cornelius had for some
days fasted and prayed before God. What was
it that troubled him? It may be supposed!
that he was disturbed by the various opinions
which he heard respecting the doctrines of
Christ, and his only object and interest being
to find in the truth rest to his soul, he sought
in earnest prayer, accompanied by fasting,
guidance in the right way.
While he was thus engaged, he beheld an
angel, who was sent to apprise him that his
abundant alms were accepted as an evidence
of piety towards God, and he was enjoined to
send to Joppa for Peter, who was able to in-
struct him in all truth. No sooner had Cor-
nelius received this gladdening intimation, than
he sent two slaves, and a soldier who waited
on him, to solicit the presence of the long-
wished-for teacher and guide.
But it was necessary that Peter himself
should be prepared for a call so unexpected,
and so adverse to the notions which still filled
his mind, that the blessings and promises of
the Gospel were limited to the seed of Abra-
ham.
It was about noon the next day when Peter
withdrew to the flat roof of the house in which
he lodged, in order to offer up his midday
devotions. He then beheld, as in a vision,
a multitude of various beasts collected to-
gether, and a voice was heard, "Arise, Peter;
slay and eat." At this, although hungry, he
demurred, seeing that most of the beasts were
such as the Jewish lav/ declared unfit for food.
He said, therefore, " Not so. Lord ; for I have
never eaten anything that is common or un-
clean." The voice answered, "What God
hath cleansed, that call not thou common."
Peter at Csesarea.
While Peter mused as to the purport of this
vision, the messengers from Cornelius came
inquiring for him and the mystery on which he
pondered was unravelled when the voice en-
joined him to go with them " nothing doubt-
ing." He accordingly departed on the following
day, accompanied by six other disciples, to
whom he had imparted the matter, and who
awaited the result with eager expectation. As
the distance was too great for one day's
journey, they made two of it, and it was not
until the fourth day from the departure of the
messengers that they arrived at Caesarea.
When at length the centurion saw the holy
man cross his threshold, he fell down at the
feet of one whom, after what had passed, he
was disposed to regard as a super-earthly
being. Peter, however, raised him with the
words, " Stand up, I myself also am a man."
Cornelius, in expectation of the arrival of
the divinely appointed teacher, had assembled
his household and friends to meet him, form-
ing, with those who accompanied Peter, a con-
siderable audience, to which he proceeded to
explain how he had been taught to disregard
the common scruples of the Jews re.specting
intercourse with heathens, which would have
[i0
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386
PETER AND CORNELIUS.
:i
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precluded him from attending to the call, or
from coming under that roof. Cornelius in
hke manner explained how he had been in-
duced to send for Peter, and concluded with
expressing ^n anxious desire to hear the
things which God had commissioned him to
speak.
Peter was affected and astonished ; his per-
ceptions were enlarged in witnessing this
anxiety for Divine truth in one who had been
born and brought up in the midst of heathen
abominations ; and he expressed his conviction
in the remarkable words, " Of a truth, I per-
ceive that God is no respecter of persons."
He proceeded to preach to them the doctrine
of Christ. His words fell like dew from
heaven upon their thirsty souls, and as he
proceeded they were impelled to express their
feelings in inspired praises to God.
Good News for all Men.
This prevented any of the Jewish Christians
present from urging objections when Peter
proposed that these Gentiles should be bap-
tized into the Church of Christ; and the
same facts furnished Peter with unanswerable
grounds of justification, when his conduct, in
thus unclosing the gates of hope to the Gen-
tiles, was shortly afterward called in question.
" Go up and watch the new-born rill
Just trickling from its mossy bed.
Streaking the heath-dad hill
With a bright emerald thread.
" Canst thou her bold career foretell,
What rocks she shall o'erleap or rend,
How far in ocean's swell
Her refreshing billows send ?
" Perchance that little brook shall flow
The bulwark of some mighty realm.
Bear navies to and fro
With monarchs at their helm.
" Even so, the course of prayer who knows ?
It springs in silence where it will,
Sprii)gs out of sight, and flows
^ At first a lonely rill :
" But streams shall meet it by and by
From thousand sympathetic hearts.
Together swelling high
Their chant of many parts.
" Unheard by all but an^el ears
The good Cornelius knelt alone.
Nor dreamed his prayers and tears
Would help a world undone.
" The while upon his terraced roof.
The loved apostle to his Lord
In silent thought aloof,
For heavenly vision soared.
*' Far o'er the glowing western main
His wistful brow was upward raised.
Where, like an angel's train.
The burnished water blazed.
" The saint beside the ocean prayed,
The soldier in his chosen bower.
Where all his eye surveyed
Seemed sacred in that hour.
" To each unknown his brother's prayer.
Yet brethren true in dearest love
Were they — and now they share
Fraternal joys above.
" There daily through the open gate
They see the Gentile spirits press,
Brightening their high estate
With dearer happiness.
" What dvic wreath for comrades saved
Shone evcir with such deathless gleam ?
Or whc-n did perils braved
So sweet to veterans seem ? "
Peter, on his return to Jerusalem, found that
his having admitted Gentiles to the privileges
of the Gospel was little relished by the Jewish
converts, who had hitherto not apprehended
that such privileges were other than the pecu-
liar heritage of the seed of Abraham. They
were not, however, selfishly desirous of en-
grossing these privileges ; for when they under-
stood, from the plain account of the matter
which the apostle gave them, that such was
the will of God, " They held their peace, and
glorified God, saying. Then hath also God
granted to the Gentiles repentance unto life."
In their, convictions on this subject they
were confirmed by hearing that some of the
disciples who had dispersed during the perse-
cution, had ventured to preach the Lord Jesus
to Gentiles as well as Jews at Antioch, and
SAUL'S REMARKABLE CONVERSION.
087
that their labors had been attended with the
most signal success. Whether or not the dis-
ciples at Antioch had been encouraged to this
step by having heard of the proceedings of
Peter cannot be known; but the manifest
blessing from heaven upon it abundantly jus-
tified the disciples in the eyes of the Church at
Jerusalem, which forthwith despatched Bar-
nabas to carry on the work which had been
thus auspiciously commenced.
Saul's Name Cliangred to Paul.
That good man, on his arrival, was glad-
dened to witness the progress which the Gospel
had made in the metropolis of the East, and
employed his most ardent exertions to advance
the work. The extensive prospect of efficient
labor in the cause of Christ which was here
opened led him to invite Saul, who had been
active among the Gentiles in Cilicia, to become
his fellow-laborer.
From this point in the history the Hebrew
name of Saul is exchanged for the correspond-
ing one of Paul, a common Roman name, by
which he had been known among his Gentile
neighbors.
An evidence of the power with which the
doctrine of Christ spread itself in an inde-
pendent manner among the Gentiles was the
new name of " Christians," which was at
Antioch first given to believers ; among them-
selves they were called the Disciples of the
Lord, the Brethren, the Believers. By the
Jews, names were imposed upon them which
implied undervaluation or contempt, such as
the Galileans, the Nazarenes, the Paupers, and
so forth, and they of course would not give
them a name literally meaning the Adherents
of the Messiah. The Gentiles had hitherto,
on account of their observance of the ceremo-
nial law, been unable to distinguish them from
Jews. But now, when Christianity was spread
among the Gentiles unconnected with the ob-
servance of the law, its professors appeared as
an entirely new religious sect ; and as the term
" Christ " was held to be a proper name, the
adherents of the new religion were distin-
guished by a word formed from it, as the
adherents of any school of philosophy were
wont to be named after its founder.
From that time forth Antioch occupied a
most important place in the propagation of
Christianity, for which there were now two
central points; what Jerusalem had hi'.herto
been for this purpose among the Jews, that
Antioch now became among the Gentiles. As
there grew up considerable intercourse between
the two Churches of Jerusalem and Antioch,
Christian teachers frequently came from the
former to the latter. Among these was a
prophet named Agabus, who prophesied an
approaching famine, which would be felt
severely by a great number of the poor Chris-
tians in Jerusalem, and he called upon the be-
lievers at Antioch to assist their poor brethren.
This famine actually occurred in the year
44 A. D.
The Church at Antioch cheerfully responded
to this call, and sent their contributions, before
the beginning of the famine, to Jerusalem by
the hands of Pauland Barnabas.
A Storm of Persecution.
The Church at Jerusalem had enjoyed eight
years of repose since the persecution which
commenced with the martyrdom of Stephen,
but was now assailed by a violent though
transitory tempest. King Herod Agrippa — a
grandson of Herod the Great, who had been
brought up at Rome — to whom the Emperor
Claudius, in whose favor he stood high, had
granted the government of Judaea, deemed it
prudent to affect great zeal for the strict ob-
servance of the ancient ritual, in order to in-
gratiate himself with his subjects. He there-
fore manifested great animosity against the
teachers of the new doctrine, concerning whom,
indeed, none but unfavorable reports had
gained access to him.
He caused James, the son of Zcbedee, anc
brother to John, who probably by some act
or discourse had excited the anger of the
Jewish zealots, to be put to the sword ; and
finding that this act was l]ighly pleasing to
the Jews, he, during the Passover of the year
44, cast Peter into prison, intending that after
*M
,|«'t'»i
688
BROKEN CHAINS.
'
the feast he also should suffer death. Shut
up in prison, in charge of four quaternions
(or sixteen) soldiers, to two of whom he was
fastened by chains, one on each side, and sub-
ject to the fell purposes of an unscrupulous
tyrant — there seemed no human hope of
escape for the apostle.
he had been aroused, and passing safely be>
tween the first and second guards who were
fixed in preternatural sleep, he reached the
iron gate leading to the city. This opened
of its own accord before the angel, who con-
ducted him beyond the reach of immediate
pursuit, and then departed from him.
DELIVERANCE OF PETER FROM PRISON. — ActS xii. 7.
But the Church, which knew that all things
were possible with God, despaired not, but
offered up most fervent prayers on his behalf.
And God, who had yet great services for this
his servant to accomplish, heard their prayer.
It was the night immediately preceding the
day on which Herod intended to bring forth
the apostle to his death, and Peter lay fast
asleep between the two soldiers to whom he
was chained, when he was smitten on the side,
and a voice urged him to rise up quickly and
go forth. As h» arose, the chains fell from
his hands ; and hastily casting his garments
about him, he followed the angel by whom
Touched by a strange hand, he started up ;
his chains were unbound ; the breath of free-
dom floated through the old dungeon, and he
stepped out, a free man.
Overcome by amazement, the apostle
deemed all that passed a vision, and in the
suddenness and rapidity with which it was
done, he had no time for cool reflection. But
when the angel had left him, he became alive
to his real position, and hastened to the house
of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname
was Mark. Many of the disciples, knowing the
danger that awaited him on the morrow, were
at that moment, and in that house, engaged
H
h m
SAUL'S REMARKABLE CONVERSION.
689
in prayer on his behalf. Having with some
difficulty obtained admittance to them, he
briefly reported to them all that had passed be-
tween him and the angel, and taking leave of
them, withdrew to a place of greater safety.
Herod Smitten with Death.
The next morning there was no small stir
in the palace of Herod and in the common
prison ; for the prisoner, so securely guarded,
was nowhere to be found. Vexed and disap-
pointed, the tyrant ordered the keepers to be
slain, and then departed to Caesarea ; where,
in the excess of his pride, he, on some public
occasion, not only did not repel, but received
with complacency the Divine honors which
were tendered to him. For this he was smitten
of God with one of the most loat;h||ome and
terrible diseases with which the pride of man
was ever humbled : " He was eaten of worms,
and gave up the ghost."
It seems to have been in the midst of the
trouble occasioned by the measures of Herod
Agrippa, that Paul and Barnabas arrived at
Jerusalem with the benefactions of the Church
at Antioch. It is probably for this reason
that their stay was short, and that nothing of
importance connected with their visit is re-
corded ; although in the Epistle to the Gala-
tians, Paul himself relates that he was well
received by James, Peter, and John, who
recognized him as an apostle specially ap-
pointed to preach the gospel to the Gentiles,
as they were, they believed, " to the circumci-
sion," or to the seed of Abraham.
Paul himself knew that he was not inferior
in authority and power " to the very chiefest
of the apostles," and his claim was now recog-
nized by those who seemed to be regarded at
Jerusalem as " the pillars of the Church." On
their departure Paul and Barnabas took with
them the above-named John, surnamed Mark,
who was the nephew of Barnabas, and who is
usually supposed to be the same with the
evangelist Mark, but this is not certain.
They first proceeded to Antioch, and were
there soon joined by Peter, who appears to
have proceeded thither after his deliverance.
Peter at first freely associated himself, even in
the eating of food, with the Gentile converts ;
but when some came from Jerusalem who
alleged that James had expressed an opinion
unfavorable to this course he ceased to do so.
Many other Jewish Christians, and even Bar-
nabas, were carried away by this example;
and a marked line would thus have been
drawn between the Jewish and Gentile con-
verts had not Paul interposed and publicly re-
buked Peter, in the presence of the congrega-
tion, for the painful inconsistency and discour-
aging effect of his proceedings.
The Apostles at Cjrpros.
They first repaired to Cyprus, to which Bar-
nabas belonged, and traversed the island from
east to west, from Salamis to Paphos. In the
latter place they found the proconsul, Sergius
Paulus — a man dissatisfied with all that the
popular religion and all that philosophy could
offer for his religious wants, and anxious to
avail himself of anything that might offer in
the shape cf a communication from heaven.
In this framt, of mind he had given ear to a
Jewish impoitor, Bar-Jesus, but better known
by his foreign title of " Elymas," which means
the same as Magian, or " wise man."
Feeling that his influence and personal in-
terests were in danger, this man vehemently
opposed Paul and Barnabas in the presence
of the proconsul. But Paul, being filled with
holy indignation, declared that the I^ord would
punish him with the loss of his eyesight The
sentence was immediately fulfilled ; the dark-
ness of night came upon him, and he went
about seeking some one to lead him by the
hand.
Paul and his companions, on quitting Cyprus,
passed over to Pamphylia in Asia Minor, and
proceeding along the borders of Phrygia,
Isauria, and Pisidia, made some stay at the
considerable city of Antioch, distinguished as
Antioch in Pisidia. On the first Sabbath-day
after their arrival in this place they repaired to
the synagogue, and after the reading of the
law they were asked by the rulers of the syna-
gogue if they would address the people.
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590
AN IMPRESSIVE ADDRESS.
*^!
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Paul gladly accepted the call, and his ad-
dress, which is given in Acts xiii. 16-42, is
an admirable specimen of the wonderful power
which this extraordinary man possessed of
adapting his discourse to the audience he ad-
dressed, as well as of his peculiar antithetical
mode of developing Christian truth. Uttered
as it was, with all the impressiveness of firm
conviction, and yet evincing great tenderness
towards the Jews, it made at first a favorable
impression upon the audience, and he was re-
quested to expound the same doctrine more
fully on the next Sabbath.
This was the general feeling; but there were
among them some, especially those who had
been converted from paganism to the Jewish
religion, who were more deeply affected than
the rest by the power of truth. These could
not wait till the next Sabbath, but hast-
ened after Paul, who had left the synagogue
with Barnabas, and besought more ample in-
struction.
Paul and Barnabas gladly availed themselves
of this opening, and employed themselves dur-
ing the week in explaining the doctrine of
Christ in private houses, and likewise in mak-
ing it known to the Gentiles. Hence, by the
next Sabbath, the new doctrine had acquired
notoriety throughout the city, and a great num-
ber of Gentiles flocked to the synagogue along
with the Jews to hear Paul's discourse. But
the temper of the Jewish audience had changed.
Their spiritual pride was shocked to perceive
that the redemption which Paul preached was
not to be regarded as the peculiar property of
the seed of Abraham, but was freely offered,
"without money and without price," to the
Gentiles also.
He was therefore interrupted by violent
contradictions and reproaches; on which he
at length plainly told them that he had dis-
charged the obligation he was under of de-
claring to them the mercy of Cod in Christ,
and that, since they rejected it, to their own
condemnation, he would now turn to the Gen-
tiles, who were more disposed to receive it,
and were equally with them entitled to its ben-
efits.
Paul and Barnabas then left the synagogue,
followed by the Gentile believers ; and a suit-
able chamber in the house of one of them was
probably the first place of assembly for the
congregation which was now formed. Chris-
tianity then spread with great rapidity through
the city and the surrounding district. But the
Jews were meanwhile not idle; they contrived,
by means of the female proselytes to Judaism,
belonging to the most respectable families of
the city, and through their influence on their
husbands, to raise so strong a persecution
against Paul and Barnabas that they were
obliged to leave the plac*.
They repaired to a city about ten miles to
the east, in Lycaonia, called .Iconium (now
Konieh), where they had access to both Jews
and Gentiles. The former, however, here
proved quite as hostile as at Antioch, so that
they were soon driven from this city also.
They then repaired to other cities in the same
province, and first tarried in the neighboring
town of Lystra.
Paul Heals a Cripple.
Here there were few Jews and no syna-
gogue; so that Paul and Barnabas could make
known the Gospel only by entering into con-
versation, in places of public resort, and thus
leading persons to listen to their discourse
on religious subjects : gradually small groups
were formed, which were increased by many
persons, who were attracted by curiosity to
enter into the subject of conversation, End
hear the new doctrines.
One day, while Paul was thus occupied, he
noticed a poor cripple, who had never walked,
looking steadfastly on him, and drinking in
with eager attention the precious words which
fell from his inspired lips. The apostle called
to him with a loud voice, " Stand upright on
thy feet ; " and he stood up and walked. This
miracle, parallel to that which Peter and John
had performed at the beautiful gate of the
Temple in Jerusalem, attracted here at least
equal attention with that which the earlier had
done in the Holy City. The sight drew to-
gether a vast crowd, and the credulous multi-
jt ten miles to
.Iconium (now
>s to both Jews
however, here
Intioch, so that
this city also,
ties in the same
;he neighboring
SAUL'S REMARKABLE CONVERSION.
rm
tude took up the notion that the gods had ; very superior order. The unthinking multi-
come down to them in tiie likeness of men. j tude can deify a very poor god. There would
Men have always been inclined to hero- j have been less mistake in worshipping Paul
PAUL COMMANDING THE CRIPPLE TO STAND UP. — ActS XIV. 10.
worship, and we have the authority of Mr.
Carlyle for saying that the hero idolized by
the mad populace has not always been of a
and Barnabas than has often happened, yet
they were not seeking homage of any kind. A
most profound impression must have been pro-
i
(ft','
r^(! '
692
OLYMPIAN JOVE.
I m
duced by them ; they were clothed with a mys-
tery which had something unearthly about it.
Now in this city, Zeus, or Jupiter, was wor-
shipped as the tutelary god, and a temple
dedicated to him stood near the gate. Accord-
ingly the people supposed that their own tute-
lary god Jupiter had come down to them, and
they identified him with Barnabas, probably
from his grave manner and noble presence,
while the eloquent and active Paul they took
to be Hermes, or Mercury. The news of the
appearance of these supposed divinities soon
reached the Temple, and the priests hastened
with oy.en and with garlands to adorn them,
purposed to offer sacrifice to the descended
gods for the welfare of the city. Paul and
Barnabas were filled with consternation as soon
as they discovered this design. They rent their
clothes, and rushed among' the crowd exclaim-
ing, " Sirs, why do ye these things ? We also
are men of like passions with you, and preach
unto you, that ye should turn from these
vanities to the living God." Even by this as-
surance they scarcely prevailed upon them to
desist from their purpose.
Yet the impression which had been made,
strong as it was, had no duration, being made
rather upon the senses than the heart; and
when, soon after, some Jews came to Lystra
from Iconium, they found little difficulty in in-
stigating a large body of the people against
Paul, whom they had lately been ready to
worship. He was stoned in a popular tumult,
and dragged out of the city for dead. But it
seems that he had only been rendered insen-
sible by one or more of the blows he had re-
ceived ; and while the believers stood around
him, he arose strengthened by the power of
God, and returned with them to the city.
He remained only for the rest of that day,
and departed the next morning to the neigh-
boring city of Derbe, with Barnabas. When^
they had for a time labored in that city, they
had the Christian courage to return to the
towns from which they had been driven by
stoning and persecutions; the welfare of the
infant Churches being of far more consequence
to them than their own safety. After this
>■
they returned by their former route to Antioch
in Syria.
They remained ".a long time" at Antioch.
In fact there is a period, variously computed
from five to eight years, during which no ac-
count of their movements is given by the sacred
historian, and which would at the first view
seem to measure the period of their stay at
Antioch. It is certain, however, that Paul
made several journeys, of which we have no
particiUar account in the New Testament, and
it is possible that some of these journeys oc.
curred during this interval. Thus he preached
the Gospel as far as Illyricum ; and there is an
account of trials and persecutions, of many of
which we have no distinct record, and which
might have occurred during this period.
TrlalH and Dissensions.
While in this manner Christianity spread
itself from Antioch, the parent Church of the
Gentile world, a schism gradually arose be-
tween it and the other parent Church at Jeru-
salem, by which the cause of the Gospel
seemed at first to be placed in great peril.
There came to Antioch many strictly phari-
saical-minded converts from Jerusalem, who
took upon them to assure the Gentile converts
that without circumcision they could obtain
no part in the kingdom of God. These per-
sons reproved Paul and Barnabas for their lax
and unauthorized proceedings, in dispensing
with the observances of the old covenant and
they raised so much dissension and coi.ro-
versy that it was at length determined that
Paul and Barnabas, accompanied by certain
leading men in the Church at Antioch, should
proceed to Jerusalem, and confer with the other
apostles in this great matter.
The proposal of such a deputation probably
originated with Paul himself; for he informs
us, in the Epistle to the Galatians, that he
knew, from Divine revelation, that in explana-
tion on the subject had become essential to the
well-being of the Church. He took with him
a converted youth of Gentile descent, named
Titus, who afterwards became his chief asso-
ciate in preaching, in order to exhibit in his
SAUL'S REMARKAHLR CONVKRSION.
>r route to Antioch
time" at Antioch.
ariously computed
ring which no ac-
given by the sacred
i at the first view
id of their stay at
owever, that Paul
which we have no
ew Testament, and
these journeys oc-
Thus he preached
im ; and there is an
utions, of many of
record, and which
I this period.
ensionit
Christianity spread
rent Church of the
radually arose be-
;nt Church at Jeru-
ise of the Gospel
in great peril.
nany strictly phari-
m Jerusalem, who
iie Gentile converts
they could obtain
God. These per-
nabas for their lax
ngs, in dispensing
old covenant, nnd
nsion and coi.ro-
determined that
panied by certain
at Antioch, should
mfer with the other
eputation probably
!lf; for he informs
Galatians, that he
n, that m explana-
>me essential to the
He took with him
lie descent, named
me his chief asso-
to exhibit in his
person a living example of the power of the
Gospel among the heathen.
Before a public consultation was held at
Jerusalem, there were many private confer-
ences among the apostles. The most important
result was, that after Paul had given a full
account to the apostles James, Peter, and John,
of his course in publishing the Gospel amonj;
the heathen, and of the fruit of his labors
among them, they acknowledged fully and
69n
Barnabas recounted what the Lord had effected
throi'gh their preaching anion^; the Gentiles,
their accounts were received with much interest
and satisfaction, liut at length some converts,
wlio had passed over from the school of the
Pharisees, began to demur at the exemption
of the Gentiles from circumcision, and hinted
at the necessity of subjecting Titus to that
rite. But Paul ^ trenuously asserted the equal
privileges of the Gentiles in the kingdom <rf
PAUL AND BARNABAS AT ANTIOCH. — ActS xiv. 27.
unreservedly the divine origin of his apostle-
ship, instead of presuming to dictate to him as
superiors. They agreed that he should con-
tinue to labor independently among the Gen-
tiles, making only one stipulation, that the
Gentile churches should continue to relieve out
of their abundance the temporal wants of the
poor brethren at Jerusalem. " The same which
I also was forward to do " says Paul, in giving
his account of these tiansactions.
In the private circles in which Paul and
98
God, and affirmed that their faith placed them
in the same position towards God as believing
Jews. This controversy gave rise to so much
vehement discussion, that it was thought nec-
essary that the subject should be considered
and settled in a convention of the whole
Church ; but this was afterwards changed into
a meeting of chosen delegates.
In this first Council of the Christian Church,
held in 52 a. d., Peter stood up and appealed
to the testimony of his own experience in the
^
!
T(f*i»l J
594
JAMES' PROPOSAL.
mat-.er of Cornelius, in favor of the view which
Pyal had taken. The weighty words in which
h;: urged the conclusions derivable from this
experience were heard with profound attention ;
and, as no one undertook to answer them, Paul,
and after him Barnabas, rose to state the results
of their own experience to the same effect, and
appealed with great force to the miracles by
which God had been pleased to aid and sanction
their labors.
When the minds of the assembly had been
thus prepared, James came forward with a
proposal suited to his own peculiar modera-
tion, and well suited to compose the existing
differences. James was held in great respect
by the Jews, from his strictness in observing
the law, and therefore his words had the
greater weight with the Jewish converts.
A Message to the Churches.
Referring to the preceding statements, he
skilfully demonstrated that in this admission
of the Gentiles into the blessings of the Mes-
siah's kingdom, the eternal purposes of God,
as announced in old time by the prophets, had
been fulfilled ; and it behoved thena to be care-
ful not to obstruct or retard so great, a work.
He therefore proposed that they f^puld en-
join nothing further upon the converted Gen-
tiles than abstinence from meat offered to idols,
or of animals strangled, from blood, and from
unchastity. Most of these things belong to the
precepts to which men were trained before
the giving of the law ; and, therefore, although
included in the law of Moses, were not pecu-
liar to it. The observance of these offered a
sort of common ground, in which the Jewish
and Gentile converts could meet ; and the sug-
gestions of James approved themselves to the
good sense of the meeting, and under the in-
fluence of that higher spirit by which their
councils were animated, were immediately
adopted, and were forthwith carried into effect
by being formally communicated to the Gen-
tile Churches in Syria and Asia Minor, in an
epistle drawn up in the name of the assembly.
Two persons of high repute in the Church,
Joses, surnamed Barabas, and Silas, were
chosen to be the bearers of this important
missive, and to accompany Paul and Barnabas,
whose authority would be much supported by
the presence and aid of persons known to be
delegates from the Church at Jerusalem. A
copy of the letter, the earliest public document
of the Christian Church, is given in Acts xv.
They were also accompanied by the nephew
of Barnabas, John surnamed Mark, who had
been the companion of the first journey of
Paul and Barnabas into Asia, but who had lei^
them when they entered Pamphylia, and re-
turned to Jerusalem. Here Barnabas met him
again, and having brought him to a sense of
his former misconduct, induced him to become
once more their companion.
After Paul and Barnabas had spent some
time with the Church at Antioch, they resolved
to revisit the Churches which they had in their
former journey into Asia Minor established,
and to extend their operations still further in
the same direction. Barnabas wished to take
his nephew, Mark, again with them as a com-
panion ; but Paul thought that his unfitness
for this vocation was evinced by the lightness
with which he had formerly cast off its obliga-
tions, and refused his assent to the proposal.
YonngT' Timothy.
Barnabas took this so ill that he parted
company from one with whom he had hitherto
so diligently and affectionately labored. He
struck out another sphere of action for him-
self; and, taking Mark with him, departed for
Cyprus, his native country. Paul then, on his
part, adoped Silas for a companion, and pro-
ceeded to work out the original plan of the
journey. Good came out of this seeming
evil ; for the sphere of labor was enlarged by
this separation ; and Mark himself seems to
have profited by this severity of Paul towards
him, for he afterwards continued faithful in his
vocation.
On leaving Antioch, Paul travelled through
the neighboring parts of Syria, to Cilicia, Pisi-
dia, and the towns in which he had labored in
his first journey. At Lystra — the town where
he had been first worshipped and then stoned
SAUL'S REMARKABLE CONVERSION.
696
this important
1 and Barnabas,
:h supported by
US known to be
Jerusalem. A
lublic document
ven in Acts xv.
1 by the nephew
Mark, who had
irst journey of
)ut who had left
iphylia, and re-
arnabas met him
m to a sense of
d him to become
had spent some
ch, they resolved
they had in their
inor established,
is still further in
s wished to take
I them as a com-
lat his unfitness
by the lightness
ast off its obliga-
:o the proposal.
ly.
that he parted
1 he had hitherto
ly labored. He
action for him-
lim, departed for
•aul then, on his
lanion, and pro-
inal plan of the
of this seeming
was enlarged by
limself seems to
of Paul towards
led faithful in his
ravelled through
, to Cilicia, Pisi-
e had labored in
-the town where
and then stoned
—he found a young man named Timothy, who,
by the instructions of his mother — ^a pious
Jewess, but married to a heathen — had received
reli°'ious impressions which had an abiding
effect. His mother was converted when the
apostle first visited the town, and young
Timothy also became a zealous confessor of
the Gospel.
Even at Iconium Paul heard of his Chris-
tian zeal ; and the Church to which he be-
longed entertained the belief that he was
destined for great things in the Church of
Christ. • Paul heard this of his young convert
with great joy, and gladly permitted him to
accompany him in his travels, to render him
the services which in those days disciples ren-
dered to their teachers, and to witness and to
take part in his labors and sufferings.
After Paul had visited the Churches already
founded in those districts, he proceeded to
Phrygia. It was scarcely possible that he
should visit all the large towns of this large
and populous province; and he therefore
seems to have left much to be accomplished
by his pupils, such, for instance, as by Epa-
phras at Colosse, who afterwards founded a
Church there, and in the towns of Hierapolis
and Laodicea. It is evident that Paul took
much interest in these Churches, to the first of
which he wrote an invaluable epistle, in which
the others are mentioned, and in which the
name of Epaphras repeatedly occurs ; and it
seems most probable that the relation which he
formed with them, and which led them to re-
gard him as their spiritual father, took place
during this journey in the way which has been
indicated.
From Phrygia Paul proceeded northward to
Galatia, where his Divine message appears to
have been well received. Some interesting
particulars concerning this visit are preserved
in tlie Epistle to the Galatians, which the Acts
of the Apostles do not record. Paul often
speaks of unusual affliction, which he calls "a
thorn in his flesh — the messenger of Satan to
buffet him," by which he was often humbled
and brought low, and out of which Divine
grace was magnified. >
Wliat this was cannot be known. Some
think it was a diminutive stature ; others, dis-
eased eyes; others, an imperfect utterance;
others, more probably, that it was some acute
bodily pain, which gave to his person a wasted
and wan, if not a distorted appearance. He
was under the strong influence of this infirmity
when he visited Galatia ; but the Divine power
of his word and his works contrasted so strik-
ingly with the feebleness of the material organ,
that the stronger impression was made.
Paul's luflrmlty.
He mentions this very gratefully in his epis-
tle to them : " My temptation which was in my
flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but re-
ceived me as an angel of God, even as Jesus
Christ." He adds afterwards, " I bear you
witness that, if it had been possible, ye would
have plucked your own two eyes and have
given them to me ; " and this is the passage
which has chiefly led some to suppose that the
" infirmity" of Paul lay in his eyesight.
On leaving Galatia, Paul was at first uncer-
tain in what direction to turn, since new fields
of labor opened to him on different sides. At
one time he contemplated going in a south-
westerly direction, to Proconsular Asia, and
afterwards of passing in a northerly direction
into Mysia and Bithynia ; but either by an in-
ward voice or a vision he received a monition
from the Divine spirit which caused him to
abandon both these plans. He then formed
an intention of passing into Europe; but wait-
ing to see whether he should be encouraged
or withheld by a higher guidance, he betook
himself to Troas ; and a nocturnal vision, in
which he beheld a man in the garb of a Mace-
donian calling to him for aid, confirmed his
resolution to visit Macedonia.
At Troas he met with Luke the physician,
perhaps one of the proselytes who had been
converted by him at Antioch, and who now
joined the party of Paul, and remained at-
tached to it in labor and travel till the inspired
record terminates. That record, as contained
in the Acts of the Apostles, is usually held to
have been written by Luke ; and it would appear
I
3 :i
n"n|
m
PAUL AT ROME.
Ill .
"4
itmm
|4ij
that he wrote it at Rome during Paul's first
imprisonment, and while his cause, which he
had referred to the imperial tribunal, was still
undecided.
At least the narrative is, as we shall find,
brought down to that point, and there stops
with some abruptness — which is strongly in
Luke was a faithful friend. He clung to
Paul through all his varying fortunes, and was
his companion in the old Roman dungeon.
Others forsook the great hero, but Luke was
not of the number.
We have been accustomed to consider Paul
as a rugged sort of man, one whose external
PAUL WRITING HIS EPISTLES IN PRISON. — 2 Tim. iv. II.
favor of this conclusion. Henceforth Luke is
to be regarded as a companion of Paul, except
during a short interval, although he scarcely
allows his own presence to be indicated in his
narrative, otherwise than by the occasional use
of the pronoun we, in recording the proceed-
ings of the apostolic mission.
appearance was not very attractive; br.t, as
when Moses smote the rock in the wilderness
the sweet waters came forth, so there may be
a rugged, rocky nature which contains foun-
tains of deep feeling. Paul was not only re-
markable for his intellectual endowments; he
was equally remarkable in his emotional na-
id. He clung to
fortunes, and was
Roman dungeon.
;ro, but Luke was
i to consider Paul
le whose external
SAUL'S REMARKABLE CONVERSION.
597
ture, in the strong affections which he dis-
played, which are brought to our notice in
many parts of his history, and which come to
us as a sudden, pleasant surprise.
How strongly attached had he become to
Luke ! Think of his wonderful fondness for
the young Timothy, whom he regarded almost
as his son. This part of the history that we
have just passed shows us the apostle in com-
pany with Luke, the historian. There were
those who clung to Paul even to the last, and
if anyone did prove to be a heretic, it was on
account of the doctrines which the apostle
preached more than on account of any offen-
sive traits that he possessed.
His disposition was such as to draw people
to himself. He was bold, he was magnetic,
he was devout, he was a thousand men in one.
Paul had something to do with empires. Paul
had something to do with subsequent history.
His life has entered into the life of the world,
and he is one of those few men whom history
does not dwarf He is one of those majestic
figures that look the moie majestic through
the backward vista of time.
This much may be said of him as we see
him for a moment in the old dungeon with his
faithful companion by his side, the companion
of his travels and the chronicler of his mar-
velous deeds, making records that are des-
tined to immortality.
" Look in, and see Christ's chosen saint
In triumph wear his Christ-like chain;
No fear lest he should swerve or faint ;
' His life is Christ, his death is gain.'
" Two converts, watching by his side,
Alike his love and greetings share;
Luke the beloved, the sick soul's guide,
And Demas, named in faltering prayer.
" Pass a few years — look in once more—
The saint is in his bonds again ;
Save that his hopes more boldly soar,
He and his lot unchanged remain.
" But only Luke is with him now ; —
Alas ! that even the martyr's cell.
Heaven's very gate, should scope allow
For the false world's seducing spell.
"Vainly before the shrine he bends,
Who knows not the true pilgrim's part J
The martyr's cell no safety lends
To him, who wants the martyr's heait.
" But if thero ije^ \vho follows Paul
As Paul his Lord, in life and death,
Where'er an aching heart may call.
Ready to speed and take no breath ;
" Whose joy is, to the wandering sheep
To tell of the Great Shepherd's love|
To learn of mourners while they ^eep
The music that makes mirth above;
" Who makes the Saviour all his theme,
The Gospel all his pride and praise —
Approach : for thou canst feel the gleam
That round the martyr's death-bed plays."
m ^
attractive; but, as
in the wilderness
1, so there may be
lich contains foun-
iil was not only ra-
il endowments; he
his emotional na-
li--|
CHAPTER XL.
PAUL AT PHILIPPI AND ATHENS.
EFORE making an
extended tour
through Macedonia,
Paul remained a
short time at Phil-
ippi, an important
place which derived
its name from its
founder, Philip, the
father of Alexander
the Great, and which
acquired celebrity
from several battles
being fought there during the civil wars of the
Romans, particularly the great battle between
Brutus and Antony, which decided the fate of
the Roman empire. It was here that Brutus
killed himself; and this is the Philippi to
which Paul eventually wrote the epistle which
bears its name.
The number of Jews at this place was not
sufficient to enable them to establish a syna-
gogue. Probably they were only proselytes
from heathenism ; and they had outside of the
town, among the trees on the banks of the
Strymon, a small place for prayer, such as
were used in the absence of a synagogue, and
which appears to have had much resemblance
to the analogous prayer-places of the Moslems.
Paul repaired to this place the first Sabbath
after his arrival, and addressed the women
whom he found assembled there, with, his
usual impressiveness, respecting the things of
Christ. His words strongly affected the heart
of Lydia, a dealer in purple from the town of
Thyatira, in Lydia ; and at the conclusion of
the day's service she and her whole family
were baptized by him ; and he and his com-
panions were constrained by her hospitable
importunities to take up their abode in her
house.
(698)
There was in Philippi a female slave, who,
in a state resembling somnambulism, was ac-
customed to answer, unconsciously, questions
proposed to her, and was regarded as possessed
by the Pythian Apollo, or as a prophetess in-
spired by him when the afflatus came upon
her. She had then, and afterwards, frequent
opportunities of hearing Paul, and his words
made an impression upon her mind. In her
convulsive fits these impressions were revived,
and, mingling what she had heard from Paul
with her own heathenish notions, she fre-
quently followed him and his companions
when on their way to the place of prayer, cry-
ing out, " These men are the servants of the
Most High God, who show unto us the way
of salvation ! "
This testimony from a womian. supposed to
be inspired was calculated to draw the atten*
tion of the people to the new doctrine. But it
was far from the temper of Paul to avail him-
self, or even to endure, a testimony which,
although true, was rendered impure by the
medium through which it passed. At first he
took no notice of her : but at length he turned
to her, and in the name of Jesus commanded
the spirit which held her powers in bondage
to depart from her.
The masters of the woman had driven a
thriving trade by the fees which they received
from those who desired to obtain the benefit
of her oracular responses ; and seeing all their
gains cut off by her cure, their rage against the
strangers became boundless, and they seized
upon Paul and Silas, and haled them before
the magistrates of the place. Before this
tribunal they accused them, not immediately
of their own grievance, which would have ren-
dered their motive too transparent, but as tur-
bulent Jews, whose religious practices were
contrary to the Roman laws.
PAUL AT PHILIPPI AND ATHENS.
699
nale slave, who,
bulism, was ac-
ously, questions
Jed as possessed
I prophetess in-
itus came upon
rwards, frequent
1, and his words
' mind. In her
ns were revived,
leard from Paul
otions, she fre-
his companions
e of prayer, cry-
servants of the
jnto us the way
ijan. supposed to
draw the atten*
loctrine. But it
ul to avail him-
stimony which,
impure by the
ed. At first he
ength he turned
sus commanded
irers in bondage
n had driven a
ch they received
)tain the benefit
i seeing all their
rage against the
and they seized
led them before
Before this
lot immediately
would have ren-
irent, but as tur-
practices were
This charge .oused the multitude against
these holy men ; and the magistrates, without
hearing the matter further at present, directed
them to be publicly scourged, and then sent
them to the town prison, probably with the
view of punishing them on a future day ac-
cording to the forms of law. The smart of
the lash, the gloom of the prison, the painful
confinement of the stocks in which their feet
were fastened, and the expectation of suffering
and wrong which lay before them, could not
depress their souls — nay, rather their hearts
exulted in the consciousness that they suffered
in the cause of Christ — and even at midnight
they gave vent to their feelings in singing the
praises of God.
A Startling Eiarthquake.
As they were thus employed the place was
shaken by an earthquake to its very founda-
tion, so that every door was burst open and
the bonds of every one fell from him. The
governor of the prison being thus awakened
suddenly from his sleep, and finding all the
prison doors wide open, concluded that the
prisoners, for whose safe keeping he was re-
sponsible, had made their escape ; and, in his
agitation and alarm, drew his sword with in-
tent to destroy himself therewith. This re-
source to a man from dangers which he could
not escape was approved by the philosophy
of the time, and was recommended to the
heathen by many eminent examples; but,
happily, the jailor of Philippi was spared from
it, for Paul and Silas calmed his fears by call-
ing out, " Do thyself no harm, for we are all
here!"
The earthquake, which gave them the op-
portunity to escape, their neglect to avail
themselves of the opportunity, made them ap-
pear as something more than men to the re-
lieved jailer. " He called for a light, and
sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down
before Paul and Silas : and besought them and
said, ' Sirs, what must I do to be saved ? ' "
That momentous question was answered, " Be-
lieve in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt
be saved, and thy house." Gladly did the
apostles avail themselves of this opening to
declare the great message with which they
were charged, and to bring light and gladness
to their prison walls. The jailer and his house-
hold received that light into their souls, and
were gladdened by it. They were baptized
without delay ; and the jailer brought them to
his private residence, bathed their wounds,
and caused food to be placed before them.
The next morning early the magistrates
sent the lictors to the jailer, enjoining him to
let his prisoners depart. But having been
ignominiously whipped tha preceding day,
Paul thought that it became him to assert the
civil privileges which belonged to him as a
citizen of Rome ; and he and Silas (who must
also have been in possession of the Roman
citizenship) refused to leave the prison unless
the magistrates came in person to release
them, in attestation of their innocence.
Paul and Silas Released from Prison.
So alarmed were the magistrates at having
committed the high crime of subjecting Ro-
man citizens to the scourge, that they came
and conducted them out of the prison. They
had intimated a wish that Paul and Silas
should leave the city, with which they thought
proper to comply after they had visited the
house of Lydia, and imparted some final com-
fort and encouragement to their friends.
Luke and Timothy, who had not been in-
volved in the recent tumult, remained behind,
but afterwards rejoined their party — Timothy
v.t Thessalonica, or Beraea, and Luke at a later
period. The Church which was thus formed
at Philippi continued to entertain the most
affectionate attachment to Paul, which they
evinced by bringing contributions for his
maintenance, although he was by no means
prone to seek such gifts from his converts, but
often chose rather to labor with his hands
for a subsistence than be suspected of inter-
ested motives.
From Philippi Paul and Silas proceeded to
Thessalonica, about twenty miles distant, the
largest city in Macedonia, and a place of con-
siderable traffic, where many Jews resided.
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PAUL AT PHILIPPI AND ATHENS.
601
Here they found a synago<^ue, which for
three weeks Paul visited on the Sabbath-days.
The Jews were obstinate, but many of the
" devout Greeks " — who in dissatisfaction with
their native idolatries had become proselytes
to the Jewish religion — rejoiced in the glad
tidings which he brought, and found it\ the
doctrine of Christ a firmer and happier resting-
point for their troubled minds than Judaism
offered.
" Chief women, not a few " — that is, women
connected with families of rank and influence
in the place — are specially mentioned among
those who were favorably affected by the
preaching of the apostle. The same had hap-
pened on other occasions, as at Antioch in
Pisidia, and, more recently, at Philippi; and
perhaps we may conclude from such instances,
which are probably but examples of many
other cases not specified, that women of this
class and character bore a more important
part and exercised a more important influ-
ence in the early propagation of the Gospel
than they have had credit for. At a subse-
quent period Paul wrote two epistles to the
Church which he founded in Thessalonica; and
from that we learn that he was not long con-
tent with addressing the proselytes only once
a week at the meetings of the synagogue,
where his preaching would have been confined
to the small number of the Gentiles who had
joined the Jews in their worship, and where
also he was obliged to adopt such a method
and form of address as was suited to the pecu-
liar condition of the Jews.
He availed himself of all openings and op-
portunities for making the Gospel known in
the city ; and ere long those Gentiles, whose
attention had been awakened by the proselytes
assembled in various places to hear the apostle,
and from them chiefly was formed that body
of Christians which, as Paul himself testifies,
became " ensamples to all them that believe in
Macedonia and Achaia." From the epistles
another interesting point transpires. It was a
custom among the Jews that all their sons
should learn a manual craft of some kind or
other. Even those whose circumstances
suggested no probability that their sons
would ever need this provision against the
changes of life, deemed it criminal to neglect
this mode of securing to them a means of
support.
Under this view Paul had been taught the
trade of a tent-maker; and he now found good
use of the attainment. Being now cut off
from the resources which his birth and con-
nections opened to him, he had but two alter-
natives—either to subsist on the bounty of the
converts, or to work for his maintenance.
Patil Working at lii» Trade.
Our apostle acted in this matter according
to the circumstances. He accepted freely
what was freely offered ; or if on any occasion
he uspected that his motives might be mis-
construed, he chose rather to work night and
day, to provide not only for his own wants,
but for those of his companions — availing
himself of such opportunities of declaring the
gospel as the incidents and intervals of labor
offered. This he did at Thessalonica. " Ye
remember, brethren," he says, " our labor
and travail ; for, laboring night and day, be-
cause we would be chargeable to any of you,
we preached unto you the Gospel of Christ."
The speedy and cordial reception which the
Gospel met with among the Gentiles of this
place soon roused the indignation and anger
of the Jews. They had themselves little
power in a heathen city : but by their mis-
representations of the character and objects of
the apostolical party, they stirred up some of
the common people, who forced their way into
the house of Jason, a Christian, with whom
Paul was staying. Not finding the apostle,
they dragged Jason himself and those who
were with him before the judgment-seat.
The accusation here rendered was different
from the usual one, but was well calculated to
gain the attention of the magistrates, and
was chosen for that reason. Paul had spoken
much of the future kingdom of Christ, and the
accusers took hold of this to lay a charge of
political delinquency against him. The terms
of the accusation, indeed, convey a remark-
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602
HANNAH MORE'S TRIBUTE TO PAUL.
able intimation of the extent to which Chris-
tianity had already become a matter of wide
report among the natioas, as well as of the
vague notions which were entertained of it.
" These that have turned the world upside
down,"' cried the mob, " are come hither also ;
whom Jason has received : and these all do
contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there
is another king, one Jesus." But the authori-
ties would not credit or entertain so vague a
charge against the respectable and well-known
citizens who were brought before them as
being implicated in it; and after they had
taken security from Jason that there should
be no violation of the public peace, and that
the parties whose proceedings were questioned
should soon leave the city, the complaint was
dismissed.
A Tumult at Bersea.
The same evening Paul and Silas departed
from the city — much sooner than they wished,
or than they thought good for the Church
they had been enabled to establish. Paul,
however, formed the intention of returning as
soon as the excitement against him should
have subsided.
Paul and Silas proceeded to Beraea, a town
about ten miles distant ; and here they had
the same pleasure of finding Jews open to
conviction, and disposed to examine by the
Scriptural tests to which they referred the
doctrines which they advanced. Some im-
pression was also made upon the Gentiles in
this place ; but the stay of Paul and Silas was
but short, as some Jews from Thessalonica
soon arrived at Beraea, and raised such a
tumult against them that Paul was constrained
to quit the place, accompanied by some of
the believers, leaving Silas and Timothy behind
him.
From Beraea, which was near the sea, Paul
proceeded to Athens — a new and memorable
scene for the labors of our great apostle.
Hannah More, who in her very eloquent
" Essay on the Character of St. Paul," has put
forth all her strength in describing his pro-
ceedings at Athens, here remarks : — " Though
the political and military splendor of Athens
had declined, and the seat of government,
after the conquest of Greece by the Romans,
had been transferred to Corinth, yet the sun
of her glory was not set. Philosophy and the
liberal arts were still carefully cultivated ; stu-
dents in e\'ery department, and from every
quarter, resorted thither for improvement;
and her streets were crowded by senators and
rhetoricians, philosophers and statesmen. As
Paul visited Athens with views which had in-
stigated no preceding, and would probably be
entertained by no succeeding traveller, so his
attention in that most interesting city was at-
tracted by objects far different from tlieirs.
" He was in all probability qualified to range
with a learned eye over the exquisite pieces
of art, and to consult and enjoy the curious
remains of literature — theatres and temples,
and schools of philosophy, sepulchres and
cenotaphs, statues of patriots and portraits of
heroes — monuments by which the artist in-
sured to himself the immortality he was con-
ferring. Yet one edifice alone arrested the
apostle's notice — an altar of the idolatrous
worshippers. One record of antiquity alone
invit<*d his critical acumen — the inscription
' To the Unknown God.' "
Supreme Court of Athens.
While Paul waited at Athens the arrival of
his companions, " his spirit was stirred within
him when he saw the city wholly given to
idolatry;" or rather, "filled with temples,
altars, and idols." He could not withhold his
testimony to the truth of God against these
lying abominations. In the synagogues he
debated with the Jews and proselytes, and in
the market-places with the people who there
congregated. A stranger with a new doctrine
soon attracted the attention of the most idle,
curious, and critical population in the world;
for as the sacred writer, with characteristic
accuracy, remarks, "All the Athenians and
strangers which were there spent their time in
nothing else but either to tell or to hear some
new thing."
Among the rest the apostle encountered
some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers ; and
H
u
of government,
by the Romans,
inth, yet the sun
lilosophy and the
^ cultivated ; stu-
and from every
r improvement;
I by senators and
d statesmen. As
vs which had in<
ould probably be
J traveller, so his
isting city was at-
It from theirs,
qualified to range
? exquisite pieces
enjoy the curious
res and temples,
, sepulchres and
s and portraits of
ich the artist in-
ality he was con-
lone arrested the
of the idolatrous
)f antiquity alont^
— the inscription
Athens.
ens the arrival of
vras stirred within
wholly given to
ed with temples,
I not withhold his
jod against these
e synagogues he
jroselytes, and in
people who there
ith a new doctrine
of the most idle,
tion in the world;
rith characterfstic
le Athenians and
spent their time in
1 or to hear some
Dstle encountered
jhilosophers ; and
1
V'
604
ADDRESS TO THE ATHENIANS.
II
iK'
when they heard him speak of Jesus and the
resurrection, some said, " What meaneth this
babbler to say ? " Others, " He seemeth to
be a setter forth of strange doctrines." The
former were probably Epicureans, who denied
the possibility of a future life, while they stig-
matized the doctrine of the resurrection " the
hope of worms ; " and the latter Stoics, who
regarded Jesus as some new demon or hero
whom Paul recommended to their notice.
Paul's Eloquent Discourse.
By them the apostle was conducted to the
Areopagus, or Mars' Hill, which was the place
where the Areopagites, the celebrated supreme
judges of Athens, were wont to assemble. It
was a hill almost in the middle of the city,
which is almost entirely a mass of stone, and
is not easily accessible, its sides being abrupt
and steep. On many accounts this was the
most celebrated tribunal in the ancient world.
Its decrees -were distinguished for justice and
correctness ; nor was there any court in Greece
in which so much confidence was placed.
It had cognizance of all kinds of offences
against the public weal, and was particularly
attentive to blasphemies against the gods, and
to the due performance of the sacred mysteries
of religion. It does not appear, however, that
this tribunal, which usually met by night, was
at this time sitting, or that Paul was in any way
brought to trial : there were no accusations, no
witnesses, none of the forms of judgment.
They seem to have resorted thither merely
because it was the place where subjects of
religion were usually discussed ; and because
it was a place of concourse for the judges,
philosophers, and citizens of Athens.
A trial might, however, have been the ulti-
mate result; and this contingency, together
with the conflicting opinions and high educa-
tion of the audience, made the occasion suf-
ficiently solemn and trying, and called for all
the fine tact and ability with which the apostle
was so eminently gifted. Nor did they fail
him in this grea{ emergency : the consummate
address with which Paul acquitted himself on
this new and difficult occasion, and the readi-
ness with which his opulent mind found res
sources equal to the demands upon him, have
won the admiration and respect of all ages.
The writer of the " Elssay of the Character
of St. Paul" has furnished an eloquent and
discriminating account of this discourse, with
.some portions of which we may indulge the
reader:
" The disposition of this people, their pas-
sion for disputation, their characteristic and
proverbial love of novelty, had drawn together
a vast assembly. Many of the philosophical
sects eagerly joined the audience. Curiosity is
called by an ancient writer the wantonness of
knowledge. These critics came, it is likely,
not as inquirers, but as spies. The grave Stoics
probably expected to hear some new un-
broached doctrine which they might over-
throw by argument; the lively Epicureans,
some fresh absurdity which would afford a
Hv-w field for diversion ; the citizens, perhaps,
crowding and listening, from the mere motive
that they might afterwards have to tell the new
thing they should hear.
Igrnorant Worship.
" Paul took advantage of their curiosity. As
he habitually opened his discourse with great
moderation, we are the less surprised at the
measured censure, or rather, the implied
civility of his introduction. The ambiguous
term translated ' superstitious,' which he em-
ployed, might be either construed into respect
for their spirit of religious inquiry, or into dis*
approbation of its unreasonable excess; at
least he intimated that they were so far from
not reverencing the acknowledged gods, that
they worshipped one that was unknown.
"With his usual discriminating mind, he
did not reason with these eloquent and learned
polytheists ' out of the Scriptures,' of which
they were totally ignorant, as he had done at
Antioch and Cxsarea before the judges who
were trained in the knowledge of them; he
addressed his present auditors with an elo-
quent exposition of natural religion, and of
the providential government of God, politely
citing passages from one of their own authors."
PAUL AT PHILIPPI AND ATHENS.
These quotations enabled him, without
having recourse to Scripture, to controvert the
Epicurean doctrine, that the Deity had no in-
terference with human concerns; showing
them, on their own principles, that " we are
the offspring of God," and that "in Him we
live, and move, and have our being;" and it is
worth observing that he could select from a
poet sentiments which come nearer to the
truth than any from a philosopher.
Tlie orator, rising with his subject, after
briefly touching on the long-suffering of God,
awfully announced that ignorance would be
no longer any plea for idolatry ; that if the
Divine forbearance had permitted it sc long,
it was in order to make the wise not only see
but feel the insufficiency of their own wisdom
in what related to the great concerns of re-
ligion ; but he now " recommended all men,
everywhere, to repent." He concludes by an-
nouncing the solemnities of Christ's future
judgment and the resurrection from the dead.
Athenian Idolatry.
In considering the apostle's manner of un-
folding to tiiese wits and sages the power and
goodness of that Supreme Intelligence who
(as the Unknown God) was the object of their
" ignorant worship," we are at once astonished
at his intrepidity and his management ; intre-
pidity, in preferring this bold charge against
an audience of the most accomplished scholars
in the world — in charging ignorance uiion
Athens! blindness on "the eye of Greece!" —
and management, in so judiciously conducting
his oration, that the audience expressed neither
impatience nor displeasure till he began to un-
fold the most obnoxious and unpopular of all
doctrines — Jesus raised from the dead.
The great command of language, argu-
ment, and temper which the apostle manifested,
will be better understood, if we consider how
utterly repugnant to all his ideas and feelings
were the various objects which met his view
from the high place in which he stood. In-
spired by feelings that were implanted from
his youth in the mind of a pious Jew, and
glowing with zeal for the honor of God, the
apostle must have been really horror-struck at
the spectacle of idolatry which met him
wherever he turned his eye:..
A graphic writer in Mr. Kitto's "Cyclo-
paedia of Biblical Literature" thus describes
the objects which met the view of the apostle :
" Having come up from the level parts of the
city where the markets (there were two, the
old and the now) were, he would probably
stand with his face towards the north, and
would then have immediately behind him the
long walls which ran down to the sea, affording
protection against a foreign enemy. Near the
sea, on one side, was the harbor of Peiraeus,
on the other that designated Phalerum, with
their crowded arsenals, their busy workmen,
and their gallant ships. Not far off, on the
ocean, lay the island of Salamis, ennobled for-
ever in history as the spot near which Athen-
ian valor chastised Asiatic pride, and achieved
the liberty of Greece.
"The apostle had only to turn towards is
right hand to catch a view of a small but cel-
ebrated hill rising within the city, near that on
which he stood, where, standing on a block
of bare stone, Demosthenes and other distin-
guished orators had addressed the assembled
people of Athens, swaying that arrogant and
fickle democracy, and thereby making Philip
of Macedon tremble, or working good or ill
for the entire civilized world.
Magnificent Works of Art.
" On the left, somewhat beyond the walls,
was beheld the academy, with its groves of
plane and olive trees, its retired walks and
cooling fountains, its altars to the Muses, its
statues of the Graces, its temple of Minerva,
and its altars to Prometheus, to Love, and to
Hercules, near which Plato had his country-
seat, and in the midst of which he had taught,
as well as his followers after him. But the
most impressive spectacle lay on his right
hand, for there, on the small and precipitous
hill, named the Acropolis, jvere clustered to-
gether monuments of the highest art, and
memorials of the national religion, such as no
other equal spot of ground has ever borne.
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606
THE UNKNOWN GOD.
" The apostle's eye, in turning to the right,
would fall on the north-west view of the emi-
nence, which was here (and all around) cov-
ered and protected by a wall, parts of which
were so ancient as to be of Cyclopean origin.
The western side, which alone gave access to
what, from its original destination, may be
termed the fort, was, during the administra-
tion of Pericles, adorned with a splendid flight
of steps, and the beautiful PropylaM, with its
five entrances and two flanking temples, con-
structed of finest marble, at a cost of two
thousand and twelve talents, or nearly two
and a half million dollars. In the times of
the Roman emperors there stood before the
Propylaea equestrian statues of Aup'istus and
Agrippa. On the southern wing of the Pro-
pylaea was a temple of the Wingless Vi''.tory ;
on the northern a superb picture gallery.
" On the highest part of the platform of the
Acropolis, not more than three hundred feet
from the entrance buildings first described,
stood (and yet stands, though shattered and
mutilated) the Parthenon, justly celebrated
throughout the world, erected of white Pen-
telican marble, and adorned with the finest
sculptures from the hand of Phidias.
Sanctuary of the Gods.
" Northward from the Parthenon was a com-
pound building, which contained the temple
of Minerva Polias. This sanctuary contained
the holy olive-tree sacred to Minerva, the
holy salt-spring, the ancient wooden image of
Pallas, and was the scene of the oldest and
most venerated ceremonies and recollections
of the Athenians. Near was the colossal
bronze statue of Pallas Promachos, the work
of Phidias, which towered so high above the
other buildings that the plume of her helmet
and the point of her spear were visible on the
sea between Sunium and Athens. Moreover,
the Acropolis itself was occupied by so great
a crowd of statues and monuments that the
account, as found in Pausanias, excites the
reader's wonder, and makes it difficult to un-
derstand how so much could be crowded into
a space which extended, from the south-east
corner to the south-west, only eleven hundred
and fifty feet, while its greatest breadth did
not exceed five hundred feet.
" On the hill where Paul had hi tation was,
at the eastern end, the temple of the Furies
and other national and commemorative ed-
ifices. The court-house of the council, which
was also here, was, according to the simplicity
of ancient customs, built of clay. In the same
place were seen two silver blocks, on one of
which stood the accuser and on the other the
accused. Near them stood two altars erected
by Epimenides, one to Insult and the other to
Shamelessness."
This description will furnish the reader with
a distinct impression of the innumerable sym-
bols and monuments of idolatry which met
the apostle's view, and will suggest the grounds
on which, even before he stood on Mars' Hill,
" his spirit was stirred within him when he
saw the city wholly given to idolatry."
A Bold Announcement.
The very skilful use to which, in his dis-
course, Paul applied the inscription on the
altar may claim a few words of further no-
tice. " Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in
all things ye are too superstitious. For as I
passed by," he said, " and beheld your devo-
tions, I saw an altar with this inscription, ' To
the Unknown God ; ' whom, therefore, ye ig-
norantly worship declare I unto you."
If the word translated "superstitious" was
employed in its good sense, as is now gener-
ally believed, we perceive that the apostle,
after applauding the strength of the sentiment
of religious dependence among the Athenians,
cites as an instance of it this altar and its in-
scription to the unknown God.
This inscription, certainly, as understood by
those who framed it, by no means proved that
they had attained to the conception of an un-
known god exalted above all other gods; but
only that, according to their belief, they had
received good or evil from some unknown
god. But Paul cites this inscription in order
to attach a deeper meaning to it. " I announce
to you Him," he said, " whom without know-
PAUL AT PHILIPPI AND ATHENS.
607
' eleven hundred
test breadth did
d hi tation was,
>le of the Furies
(itnemorative ed-
le council, wliicli
to the simplicity
ay. In the same
tlocks, on one of
on the other the
:wo altars erected
and the other to
ih the reader with
nnumerable sym-
)Iatry which met
ggest the grounds
od on Mars' Hill,
in him when he
idolatry."
lement.
vhich, in his dis-
iscription on the
is of further no-
'. perceive that in
itious. For as I
leheld your devo-
s inscription, ' To
therefore, ye ig-
nto you."
uperstitious" was
, as is now gener-
that the apostle,
1 of the sentiment
ng the Athenians,
s altar and its in-
d.
as understood by
leans proved that
:eption of an un-
other gods ; but
belief, they had
some unknown
icription in order
it. " I announce
m without know-
ing him, ye worship ; " and proceeded to im-
press the idea of one God, whose oflspring, by
one act of creation, all mankind equally were ;
and after ably racinr* the latent • onsciousness
of this great fac c evinred by f heir own acts, and
even by the words of their poets, he came to
apeak of Jesjs and the rest i rection.
As soon as lie begar to touch ipon iiie
doctrine of the Gospel — calling ■■'a ptoud
audience to repentance througl: '-r us Christ,
and declaring his resurrection from the dead ,s
the confirmation and ze. > >:■' ihis great miss.r-:!
upon earth, and as a t stim nial of a general
resurrection to take place hereafter — he was
interrupted with ridicule on the part of some
of his hearers. Others said, that they would
hear him speak of the matter another time —
thus courteously intimafln'jr to the apostle that
they wished him to close his address, or else
really intending to hear him ttgain.
There were only a few ir dividuals in the
assembly who joined themselv es to the apostle,
listening to his further instructions, and became
believers. Among them was Dionysius, a
member oi r-e Areopagite council, and "a
woman namcid Damaris." Of Dionysius noth-
ing more is certainly known than is here
stated, although he became the subject of many
le^*^ ids. The only authentic tradition con-
cerning him seems to be, that he was the prin-
cipal instrument of forming a Church at Athens,
and became its overseer.
While Paul was at Athens, Timothy re-
turned from Macedonia, and the anxiety of
Paul for the new Church at Thessalonica in-
duced him to send his young fellow-laborer
thither, that he might contribute to the estab-
lishment of their faith, and to their consolation
under the sufferings to which they were ex-
posed ; for Timothy had communicated to him
many distressing accounts of the persecutions
which had befallen this Church.
Paul then quitted Athens himself, travelling
alone. He proceeded to the city of Corinth,
the metropolis of the province of Achaia, and
the seat of the Roman governor. This city,
within a century and a half after its destruction
by Julius Caesar, once more became the centre
of intercourse and traffic to the eastern and
western parts of the Roman empire, for which
it was eminently fitted by its natural advan-
tages, namely, by its situation on the isthmus
connecting the Peloponnesus with the main
land of Greece ; and by the possession of two
ports, on the opposite sides of the isthmus, one
facing towards the Lesser Asia and the East,
and the other towards Italy and the West.
Being thus situated, Corinth became an im-
portant position for spreading the Gospel
through a greater part of the Roman empire ;
and hence Paul chose the city, as he had
chosf ; oners similarly situated, to be the
place wiiere he made a long sojourn.
Paul at Corinth.
At Corinth Paul found two opposite mental
tenH^ncit* strongly opposed to the reception
of the doctrine he came to promulgate. The
first of these was an inordinate devotedness to
speculative inquiries, to the neglect of all mat-
ters of practical importance ; and the other,
the disposition to mingle the sensuous ten-
dency with the religious sentiment. Hence the
large measure of attention which the apostle
devoted to these matters in the admirable
epistles which at a subsequent period he ad-
dressed to the Corinthian Church. The first he
designates by the phrase " seeking after wis-
dom," and the other by "seeking after a
„;„„ »
Sign.
The first of these tendencies was chiefly
manifested among the large number of persons
in Corinth who made pretensions to mental
cultivation. And these were not few ; for the
new Corinth was distinguished from the more
ancient cit>' ci?>fly by becoming, in addition
to its comm<. r.' al celebrity, a seat of philos-
ophy and literature, so that a tincture of high
mental cultivation pervaded the place. The
second was moreapparent among the numerous
Jews who had settled themselves in that great
commercial emporium, and who entertained
the common material conceptions respecting
the Messiah and his kingdom.
And, besides, a great obstacle to the Chris-
tian doctrine was found in the gross corrup-
n
^♦»1; ^
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(608)
ili
I'llpl.,
PAUL AT PHILIPPI AND ATHENS.
609
(608)
tion of morals which at this period pervaded
all the great cities of the Roman empire, and
which at Corinth was especially promoted by
the worship of Venus Aphrodite, to which a
celebrated temple was here erected, and which
in some degree consecrated that sensual in-
dulgence, to which the usual incitements of a
place of great wealth and traffic were already
too numerous.
All Enterprising Tent-Maker.
The efficiency of Paul's ministrations in this
important but very difficult station appears to
have been much promoted by his meeting
there a friend and zealous advocate of the
Gospel in the person of Aquila, a Jew of Pon-
tus, at whose house he lodged, and with whom
he obtained employment at tent-making for his
livelihood. Tent-making was in those times
and climates a profitable business, and it
seems to have been conducted on a large scale
by Aquila.
He was lately from Rome, which does not,
however, appear to have been his fixed resi-
dence; for he is supposed to have taken up his
abode at different times, as his business might
require, in various large cities, the seats of
commerce and luxury, where he found him-
self equally at home. This is a mode of con-
ducting certain kinds of business still common
in the East ; and the present is not the only
trace of it which we find in the Scriptures.
He had, however, been constrained to leave
Rome under a decree of the Emperor Claudius,
who found in the turbulent disposition of the
Jewish residents at Rome, who were mostly
freed-men, a reason or a pretence for banishing
them from the imperial city.
It is not clear whether Aquila was already
a Christian when Paul met with him at Corinth.
The circumstance that Paul needed employ-
ment in his trade will sufficiently account for
their coming together, without this supposi-
tion ; and there is something pleasing to the
mind in contemplating the holy apostle as,
during or in the intervals of his honest labor,
discoursing to his friendly employer of the
great facts and doctrines which filled his soul^
38
and which he was always ready and anxious,
" in season and out of season," to impart to
others ; till at length he was enabled to add
Aquila and his excellent wife Priscilla also to
the number of those who looked to him as
their spiritual father.
But whether first converted to Christianity
or not through the instrumentality of the
apostle, his intercourse with them had doubt-
less great influence in the formation of their
views of Christian truth ; and from this time
we find Aquila a zealous preacher of the Gos-
pel, in which his frequent journeys and changes
of residence gave him no ordinary advantages;
and in all his labors he was worthily seconded
by his wife Priscilla, so that Paul emphatically
designates both of them as his " helpers ia
Christ Jesus."
Paul Accused.
Paul, as usual, commenced his public ser-
vices at Corinth by preaching on the Sabbath
days in the synagogues: but he was soon
driven, by the hostile disposition which the
Jews manifested, to direct his labors to the
Gentiles, through the medium of the prose-
lytes, to whom a small number of Jews joined
themselves. The great cause to which the
apostle was devoted soon made such progress
at Corinth as must have consoled the apostle
greatly for his small success at Athens ; and
the fact of the contrast thus formed in his mind
serves to illustrate many allusions in his Cor-
inthian Epistles.
From this source we learn that he came to
Corinth with a very depressing conviction of
the insufficiency of human means — of address,
of learning, of eloquence — in procuring ac-
ceptance for the Divine Word ; and that there-
fore he had determined at Corinth to address
himself at once and directly to the main point
— salvation through Jesus Christ. The suc-
cess which attended this course of proceeding
very soon excited the ill-will of the Jews, who
availed themselves of the arrival of a new pro-
consul, Annaeus Gallio, a brother of Seneca,
the philosopher, to arraign Paul before his
tribunal.
The ground of accusation in this case was
k'i
l""T^^:i
610
GALLIOS ADVICE.
Mi
■'M
that divisions among them were promoted by
Paul, which they alleged to be contrary to the
law, under which they were allowed the free
and unmolested enjoyment of their religious
privileges. But the mild Gallio was by no
means inclined to involve himself in what
, must have appeared to him the idle, internal
disputes of the Jews ; and instead of listening
to them, he caused them to be driven from his
tribunal. " If it were a matter of wrong or
wicked lewdness, O ye Jews," he remarked,
" reason would that I should hear you : but if
it be a question of words and names, and of
your law, look ye to it, for I will be no judge
of such matters."
On this declaration from the judgment-seat,
the heathen auditors, always glad to be let
loose upon the Jews, took Sosthenes, the chief
ruler of the synagogue, and beat him severely
as he was leaving the tribunal. He had
probably headed the Jewish party on this oc-
casion; but there is reason to hope that he
afterwards became a convert, like Paul him-
self, to the faith he had once persecuted, and
that he eventually joined the apostle in his
labors, for his first epistle to this very Church
begins, " Paul .... and Sosthenes our
brother, unto the Church of God which is at
Corinth."
SuccesHl'iil Labors.
The frustration of this attempt against the
apostle enabled him to pursue his labors for a
good while without further molestation in
this quarter, so that their influence at length
became apparent throughout the whole region
of Achaia; but it is not certain whether in
these more discursive labors he used the in-
strumentality of his disciples, or occasionally
suspended his residence at Corinth by a jour-
ney into other parts of the province, and then
again returned to the principal scene of his
ministry.
At length, after having been joined by Tim-
othy from Thessalonica, Paul resolved, before
entering upon new operations, to revisit his
former fields of labor, and also proceed to Je-
rusalem. His soul was grieved at the differ-
ences which appeared to be again arising be-
tween the Gentile and Jewish converts, and he
hoped to be able to mollify them by his per-
sonal influence in the Asiatic Churches, as
well as by taking measures to remove the only
plausible ground of accusation which the Jews
and Jewish Christians urged against him,
namely, that he was an enemy of their nation
and of the religion of their fathers.
There was at this time a cUslom among the
Jews, arising apparently out of Nazariteship,
under which a person visited with sickness, or
subject to any other calamity, vowed, if he
were restored, to bring a thank-oflering to
Jehovah in the Temple, to abstain from wine
for thirty days, and to shave the head. Paul,
on his deliverence from some danger during
his residence in or journey from Corinth, re-
solved publicly to express his grateful acknowl-
edgments in the Temple at Jerusalem. The
form of his doing this was in itself a matter of
indifference, ^nd in the spirit of that Christian
wisdom with which he was so eminently en-
dowed, he felt no scruple to become, in respect
to form, to the Jews a Jew, as to the Gentiles
a Gentile. When he was on the point of sail-
ing with Aquila to Lesser Asia, from Cenchrea,
he began the fulfilment of his vow by shaving
his head.
Paul left Aquila and Priscilla at Ephesus,
and hastened to Jerusalem, where he visited
the Church and presented his offering in the
Temple. He then travelled to Antioch, where
he i.iade a considerable stay, and met with
Barnabas and other old friends and former
associates in the labors and hopes of the Gos-
pel. On quitting Antioch he passed through
Phrygia and Galatia, strengthening the
Churches in those parts in his way to Ephe-
sus, which he had chosen as his next scene of
labor, and where he had indeed promised to
rejoin Aquila and Priscilla.
The ancient writers, in speaking of Ephesus,
were prodigal of epithets describing its glory
and excellence. It is mentioned by Strabo as
one of the best and most glorious of cities, the
great emporium of Asia Minor ; while others
distinguish it as one of the "eyes" of Asia —
Smyrna being the other. But all this glory
PAUL AT PHILIPPI AND ATHENS.
611
has long since departed, and long has this
<rreat city been venerable only for its ruins.
A few unintelligible heaps of stones, with
some mud cottages untenanted, are all that re-
main of the great city of the Ephesians.
Even the sea has retired from the scene of
desolation, and a pestilential morass, covered
with mud and rushes, has succeeded to the
waters which brought up the ships laden with
merchandise from every country. The moic
interesting ancient ruin is that of the amphi-
theatre — the very same, no joubt, which is
mentioned in the apostolic record, and which
is deemed to have been capable of containing
thirty thousand spectators.
Paul at Ephesus.
Ephesus owed much of its distinction to the
famous temple of Artemis (Diana), which was
accounted one of the seven wonders of the
world, and which drew devotees and pilgrims
from all parts to worship at the shrine of the
goddess, whom we are not to picture as
" The huntress chaste and fair "
of classic sculpture and poesy, but, as repre-
sented at Ephesus, under the more homely
but certainly not less significant symbol of a
woman covered with breasts — an apt emblem
of prolific and abundant nature. Ephesus was
also eminent as a seat of heathen occult arts,
which originally proceeded from the mythic
worship of Artemis ; and here also the Jewish
magic, connecting itself with the heathen, be-
came very prevalent, for the Jews, as Josephus
informs us, were very numerous in Ephesus,
and enjoyed there the highest class of muni-
cipal privileges.
/ I T for three months declaring the gospel
in 1 le synagogues, the apostle was, as usual,
constrained by the opposition and deep malig-
nity of the Jews to turn his attention to the
Gentiles, by whom his message was more
willingly received. He met his hearers daily in
a school belonging to one of their number, a
rhetorician named Tyrannus. It was perhaps
important in a place like Ephesus that the
Divine authority under which the new doctrine
was offered to the people should be manifested
by some striking miracles and " signs." And
these were not refused: "God wrought
special miracles by the hand of Paul, so that
Trom his body some brought unto the sick
handkerchiefs and aprons, and the diseases
departed from them, and the evil .spirit went
out of them."
Jugglers Confused.
One remarkable occurrence is forcibly re-
, lated, as it probably tended more than any
I other single circumstance to evince the op-
position of the Gospel to those juggling arts
which held the people in mental bondage.
There were at Epliesus a number of Jews who
went about pretending they could expel evil
spirits from possessed persons by means of
incantations, fumigations, the use of certain
herbs, and other arts which they had derived
from Solomon; and these people could at
times, whether by great dexterity in deceiving
the senses, or by availing themselves of cer
tain powers of nature unknown to others, or by
the influence of an excited imagination, pro-
duce apparently great effects, although none
which really promoted the welfare of man-
kind.
When these persons observed the mar-
velous effects which were produced by Paul
in the name of Jesus, they also resolved to use
it as a charm for the exorcism of evil spirits.
On hearing the words " We adjure thee in the
name of Jesus whom Paul preacheth," the
demon answered, "Jesus I know, and Paul I
know, but who are you?" On which the
demoniac, worked into ungovernable rage,
flew at them, and with the strong arm of mad-
ness " drove them from the house naked and
wounded."
This circumstance, by showing the real
difference between the miracles wrought by
the apcstle and those to which these Jewish
impostors pretended, brought great honor
upon the name of Jesus ; and many who had
before regarded Paul merely as a more skilful
magician than them.selves, and the name of
Jesus as a name which might be employed in
;ifV'
612
THE MAGICAL BOOKS BURNED.
M 1
m
their magical arts, could they but use it had professed "curious arts" brought their
rightly, were now not only convinced, but magical books — the books explaining and
PAUL PREACHING AT EPHESUS. — ActS xix. I9.
alarmed. They repaired to Paul and confessed teaching their art, and committed them to the
their former practices, and many of them who flames. This was no small sacrifice at a time
PAUL AT PHILIPPI AND ATHENS.
613
when all books, and especially books of this '
sort, were so rare and costly ; and in this case
it is therefore remarked, with peculiar com-
mendation, that the books were worth, or
would have sold for, " fifty thousand pieces
of silver."
The temple which existed at the time of
Paul's visit was the second, the first having
been destroyed by fire, kindled by Erostratus
to immortalize his name, on the night that
Alexander the Great was born. The volun-
tary ofierings of the citizens, and the liberal
contributions sent in from all parts, soon sup-
plied the means for its restoration to more
than its ancient magnificence. The building
was four hundred and twenty-five feet in
length, and two hundred and twenty in
breadth, supported by one hundred and
twenty-seven marble columns sixty feet high,
of which thirty-six were curiously sculptured,
and the rest polished.
The Temple of Diana.
These piHars are said to have been the gifts
of as many kings ! and the bas-reliefs of one
of them were wrought by Scopas, one of the
most famous of ancient sculptors, and the
altar was almost entirely the work of Prax-
iteles. The first architect, and he who seems
to have planned the whole work, was Dinoc-
rates — the same who built Alexandria, and
who offered to carve Mount Athos into a
statue of Alexander the Great.
Not long after this a violent popular tumult
was raised in the city against the apostle, which
indirectly furnishes striking evidence of the
signal success which attended his labors in this
quaiter. The devotees who flocked to the
temple of Diana were wont to take home with
them as relics small models in gold and silver
of that far-famed shrine. This branch of manu-
facture contributed much to the wealth of the
city, and formed a most lucrative business to
the Ephesian silversmiths.
A man named Demetrius, who had a large
manufactory of such models, and a great
number of worjvmen, felt that the sale of his
*ares had been considerably affected by the
success of the Gospel, and apprehended that
if means were not taken to arrest its progress,
the gains of his trade would soon be lost.
He assembled his numerous workmen, and
easily inflamed their anger against the enemies
of their gods, who threatened to deprive Ar-
temis of her honor, and them of their gainful
craft.
Gicat Excitement.
A great tumult was thus easily kindled, and
all hastened to the theatre, where they usually
assembled, some crying one thing, and some
another, without any clear notion why they
were thus congregated. The Jews, living pre-
cariously in the midst of a heathen population,
began to fear that they would be regarded as
the authors of this tumult, as the heathen did
not distinguish very accurately between Jews
and Christians. They therefore put forward
one Alexander to speak on their behalf; but
no sooner did the mob perceive that he was a
Jew, than they broke forth into a mighty shout
of " Great is Diana of the Ephesians," which
they kept up at intervals for the space of two
hours.
These feelings were, however, confined to
the populace; for when Paul himself at-
tempted to enter the place to address the
excited crowd, some of the high magistrates
who were that year at the head of the religious
ceremonies of Lesser Asia, sent to request him
not to expose himself to so great a danger.
At length the chamberlain of the city suc-
ceeded in gaining a hearing, and managed to
calm the minds of the people by his representa-
tions, and by requiring from them the reason
of their assembling, of which most of them
were totally ignorant.
As this transaction took place in the amphi-
theatre, it might naturally suggest to the
apostle images derived from the enforced com-
bats of men with beasts, and with one another,
which often there took place. It is thus that
we may interpret the allusion which the apostle
makes in the Epistle to the Corinthians, which
j seems to have been written from this place:
i"If, after the manner of men, I have fought
! with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it
'■; 1^
Nri
614
FIGHTING WITH BEASTS.
•'if''
m
me?" Some, however, hold the expression
more literally, and believe that the apostle did
actually on this or some other occasion combat
with wild beasts in the theatre of Ephesus.
We know that it was certainly often the case
in later times, in the persecutions of the early
Christians, that the raging multitude called for
the enemies of the gods to be cast " to the
lions " or " to the beasts." The crowd raised
by Demetrius might certainly have uttered
such cries, but there is no sign that it received
any attention from the authorities. It would,
however, be hazardous to affirm that Paul did
not literally " fight with beasts at Ephesus," as
it appears from the apostle's own writings that
in the course of his labors he was exposed to
many dangers which are not recorded in the
Acts of the Apostles.
Corinthian Games.
The probability that this is merely an allu-
sion to the combats of the amphitheatre is,
however, much strengthened by the fact that
not only are there many such allusions in the
Epistles of this apostle, but some are found in
the very Epistle in which this occurs. Thus
in First Corinthians there are strong images
taken from the games of manly contest — the
racing, boxing, and wrestling — for which Cor-
inth itself was famous ; as well as allusions to
the training which the intended competitors in
those games were obliged to undergo, and to
the " corruptible crowns " which became the
reward of their triumph.
If Paul literally fought with the beasts at
Ephesus, it could hardly have been a more
frightful experience than many he passed
through. Whether he was ever in the arena,
engaged insuch a terrible combat, certain it is
that through struggles equally terrible he was
compelled to pass while carrying on his great
work, and fulfilling the mission upon which
he was sent. If the way had been blocked
with wild beasts from Jerusalem to Asia, he
would not have swerved, nor would he have
turned aside. When told to advance, he had
nothing to do but to go forward ; when told
to halt, he had nothing to do but to stop;
when told to live, he had nothing to do but to
live and labor; when told to die, he had
nothing to do but to peacefully lay down his
life. This was Paul, the great apostle to the
Gentiles,and the great hero of the early Church.
No sooner did one journey end than
another was planned, and, unless he stops to
work at his trade incidentally, or is shut up in
prison, as good men have been in all the past
ages, we see him constantly occupied in his
Divine calling. From one place to another
he passes swiftly: the older he grows the
brighter does the flame of his devotion burn ;
his zeal is always on fire, and his tongue is
always touched with the live coal from the
altar. Undaunted in conflict, unmoved in af-
fliction, he presses on with his eye lifted up
and his footsteps firm. To write his history
is simply to write his eulogy.
We shall soon see him engaged in healing
the dissensions which from time to time
sprung up in the Churches he founded. Hu-
man nature was the same then as at tlie pres-
ent time: we have troubles in Clnirches now,
and sometimes it seems as though the breth-
ren hated each other with Christian fervor.
The apostle found the same to be true in Iiis
day, and undoubtedly this will always come
to pass so long as the world endures, and hu-
man nature is not transformed into the an-
gelic. Paul himself could get mad, or it
would be better to say he could become in-
dignant and show righteous resentment. This
he did on several occasions, and still he was
Paul, the child of grace and the herald of the
cross.
been blocked
;m to Asia, he
vould he have
dvance, he had
ird ; when told
3 but to stop;
ng to do but to
die, he had
y lay down his
apostle to the
le early Church,
ney end than
;ss he stops to
or is shut up in
in all the past
iccupied in his
ace to another
he grows the
devotion burn ;
1 his tongue is
coal from the
in moved in af-
5 eye lifted up
rite his history
ged in healing
time to time
bunded. Ha-
as at the pres-
Ciuirches now,
ugh the breth-
iristian fervor,
be true in his
always come
dures, and hu-
into the an-
et mad, or it
Id become in-
entment. This
id still he was
: herald of the
CHAPTER XLI.
PAUL AND HIS PERSECUTORS.
'AUL had some time
since planned a jour-
ney into Greece, for
the purpose, among
others, of rectifying the
irregularities which
had grown up in the
Corinthian Church,
and to re-establish his
apostolical authority, which the
Judaizing converts had been dis-
posed to impugn. Ample infor-
mation concerning the points which
required his attention is given in
his two Epistles to the Corinthians,
both of which appear to have been
written from Ephesus. Finding it
needful to delay this journey, the
apostle, some time after the first of these Epis-
tles had been despatched, sent Timothy to
forward the collection which he was making
for the Church in Jerusalem, and to observe
and report on its effect; and after the return
of Timothy, the apostle sent another Epistle
by Titus.
It is uncertain whether or not the tumult at
Ephesus induced the apostle to set forth upon
this journey sooner than he had intended, but
it is certain that he departed shortly after on
his second journey into Greece. Arriving at
Troas, he remained some time there before he
embarked, in the hope that Titus would there
return to him with an account of afiairs at
Corinth, and of the effect which his second
Epistle had produced. But as Titus came not,
he departed with feelings somewhat troubled,
to meet him in Macedonia.
In the Churches which he had formerly
established in this region he met with gratify-
ing evidences of their advance in the Christian
life and doctrine, which their conflict with the
world had only tended to promote. The con-
verts in those parts had suffered much ; not,
indeed, that any persecution against Chris-
tianity had been commenced by the authorities
of the state, but because that by withdrawing
from the national religion they had excited
the enmity of the people among whom they
lived, and had besides to contend with the
bitter and untiring enmity of the Jews. The
extent, and in the same degree the manner, in
which the great and influential majority might
in such cases oppress and injure, at least in
their worldly prospects, those who had turned
aside from the common course, may, as Nean-
der remarks, be seen in what the converts of
India have had to endure from their heathen
relatives and connections, although under a
Christian government.
But die Macedonian Christians cheerfully
endured all things for the cause of the Gospel ;
and, however much their means of subsistence
had been injured, they were ready, even be-
yond their power, to take an active part in the
collection which Paul was then making for
the Church in Jerusalem, which it was his in-
tention to visit.
In Macedonia Paul met with Titus, and re-
ceived from him very encouraging accounts of
the effects which his last Epistle had produced
among the Corinthian converts. He spent the
rest of the summer and autumn in Macedonia,
probably extending his labors into the neigh-
boring country of Illyria, after which he re-
moved into Achaia, where he spent the winter.
It was the intention of Paul that, after visit-
ing Jerusalem in the ensuing spring, he would
change the scene of his labors in the West,
and visit for the first time the Roman metrop-
olis. It must therefore have been gratifying
to him that during his stay in Achaia he was
enabled to form a sort of anticipatory acquaint-
(615)
r^j^l
616
THE PARENT CHURCH.
< (/
ance with the Church in that city. The
journey of Phcebe, a deaconess of the Church
at Cenchrea, to the great city, gave him a
suitable opportunity, while at the same time he
recommended her to the care and kind offices
of the Church in Rome. To this we owe the
Epistle to the Romans.
The number of persons at Rome, manifestly
of Gentile origin, who were known to Paul,
and to whom he sends his salutations at the
end of this Epistle, enables us to see that he
had in fact a stronger existing connection with
the Christian Church at Rome than might at
first sight appear. As he could only have
known these persons in the places where he
had previously labored, it would appear that
many persons resident at Rome, or who had
occasion to repair to that great centre of many
nations, had been converted by him or his
followers, and that they at Rome became the
founders and leading men of the Church in
that city — formed at first, doubtless, by the
reunion in one body of men who had abroad,
in different parts, been brought to the knowl-
edge of the Gospel, principally through Paul
and his followers, who regarded it as their
vocation to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles.
Gifts of the Gentile Cluirclies.
After Paul had spent about three months in
Achaia, he purposed to close his mission to
the East by proceeding to Jerusalem with the
collection which had during the past year
been making under his direction in Lesser
Asia and in Greece. That the sum thus ob-
tained was equal to his expectations appears
from the intimation made some time before in
the Epistle to the Corinthians, that if the
amount were such as he wished, he should
himself convey it to Jerusalem. It would be
taking too narrow a view of a matter which
engaged much of his solicitude, if we limit his
intention merely to the relief of the temporal
necessities of the Church in Jerusn' m.
His great object and desire \> as to heal the
differences which had unhappily grown up
between the Jews and Gentile Christians ; and
he justly considered that this magnificent act
of liberality on the part of the Gentile Churches
towards the parent Church at Jerusalem,
which was entirely composed of converted
Jews, would go far to produce a better
state of feeling, not only from the act itself,
but as a recognition of their unity in Christ,
and as a tribute of that love which should
exist between all those who are one in Him.
Paul departed from Corinth in the spring
of the year, A. d. 58 or 59, about the time of
the Jewish Passover, with the intention of being
in Jerusalem at the Pentecost. His six com-
panions (Sopater, Aristarchus, Gains, Timothy,
Tychicus, and Trophimus) went before him to
Troas, and there waited for him. He first
himself visited Philippi, where he joined Luke,
whom he had left there some time before, and
whom he now took with him.
Paul Restores Eutychua.
After five days' voyage the apostle landed
at Troas, and remained there seven days.
The day before his departure was " the first
day of the week, when the disciples came to-
gether to break bread ; " and having to quit
them on the morrow, perhaps forever, the
earnest apostle was induced to prolong his
discourse far into the night. The meeting was
held in a large upper chamber, the window of
which was open to admit the air; in this
window sat a young man named Eutychus,
who, being overpowered with sleep, lost his
balance and fell backward into the court below,
and lay there for dead.
Paul immediately hastened down, and cast
himself upon the seemingly lifeless body,
which he embraced in tenderness and com-
passion. Whether he had been onlj- stunned
by the fall, and the apostle then discovered
the signs of life, or that he had been killed
outright, and was restored to life under the
strong action of the apostle's faith, is a point
much doubted, and has never been satisfactor-
ily determined. It is certain, however, that
Paul in raising himself from the body said to
the alarmed and afflicted congregation,
"Trouble not yourselves, for his life is in
him."
sntile Churches
at Jerusalem,
of converted
duce a better
ithe act itself,
jnity in Christ,
: which should
e one in Him.
I in the spring
lut the time of
itention of being
His six com-
jaius, Timothy,
It before him to
him. He first
he joined Luke,
time before, and
(TCllUS.
: apostle landed
re seven days.
i was " the first
iciples came to-
I having to quit
ps forever, the
to prolong his
The meeting was
the window of
he air; in this
imed Eutychus,
sleep, lost his
the court below,
down, and cast
lifeless body,
rness and com-
en only stunned
then discovered
ad been killed
ife under the
faith, is a point
Deen satisfactor-
, however, that
le body said to
congregation,
his life is in
PAUL AND HIS PERSECUTORS.
617
He was then committed to the care of his
friends; and the apostle returned to finish his
discourse. By the time he had concluded
and taken some refreshment before his depar-
ture, the morning broke; and Eutychus was
then introduced alive and well, to the great
comfort of the assembly. Having left Troas
with his companions, Paul, pressed for time,
did not venture to go to Ephesus, but when
at Miletus sent for the elders of the Ephesian
Church to meet him there.
Paul was by no means ignorant of the great
dangers which awaited him at Jerusalem and
he longed to avail himself of this opportunity
of pouring out the feelings of his full heart to
those who had engaged so large a portion of
his solicitude, and of bestowing upon them
what might prove his last counsels and his
benedictions. " Behold," he said to them, " I
go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not know-
ing the things that will befall me there ; save
that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city,
saying that bonds and afflictions abide me."
An Affecting' Partlngr.
Jesus, and all the blessedness stored with
Him, then rose to the mind of the apostle, and
he added : " But none of these things move
me, neither count I my life dear unto myself,
so that I might finish my course with joy.
And now, behold, I know that ye all among
wliom I have gone preaching the kingdom of
God shall see my face no more." He then,
in that strong conviction, called them solemnly
to witness that he was " pure from the blood
of all men," inasmuch as he had " not shunned
to declare unto them the whole counsel of
God." He warned them of the dangers arising
from false teachers coming among them : — " I
know this, that after my departure shall griev-
ous wolves enter in among you, not sparing
the flock ; " while even among themselves per-
verse men would arise, striving to alienate them
from the simplicity of the great truths which
he had taught.
He closed his address by a becoming ref-
erence to the example which he had set during
his long residence among them : — " Remember
that by the space ot three years I ceased not
to warn every one, night and day, with tears.
I have coveted no man's silver or gold, or ap-
parel. Yea, you yourselves know that these
hands have ministered unto my necessities,
a:id to them that were with me." Finally,
" When he had thus spoken he kneeled down,
and prayed with them all. And they all wept
sore, and fell upon Paul's neck and kissed
him: sorrowing most of all for the words
which he spake, that they should see his face
no more." '
No words can heighten the simple pathos
of this scene. Accompanied by these attached
friends the apostle forthwith proceeded to the
ship, and, bidding them finally farewell, con-
tinued his voyage. The ship took a straight
course to Coos, a small island of the Greek
Archipelago, a short distance from the south-
western point of Asia Minor, celebrated for its
wine and silk ; and the day following arrived
at the island of Rhodes, so called from its
abundant roses. Tne principal town, also
called Rhodes, was chiefly noted for the brazen
colossus which had formerly stood across the
mouth of the harbor, and which strode so high
that vessels could pass between its legs. This
useless thing was one of the seven useless
things called "the wonders of the world;"
but it had been thrown down by an earthquake
long before this time.
Paul at Renowned Tyre.
From Rhodes the ship proceeded to Batara,
which was a maritime city of Lycia in Asia
Minor, over against Rhodes. This was the
port to which the ship was bound ; and here,
therefore, the apostle and his party embarked
in another ship bound for Phoenicia. They
passed Cyprus with its coast on their left hand,
and soon arriving in Syria, landed at Tyre, at
which still great emporium the ship was to
discharge her cargo.
We have not before read that the Gospel
had been introduced into Tyre ; but Paul
found there Christian brethren among whom
he remained seven days ; they were so strongly
impressed with the perils which awaited the
^
h1
HJ
'< I I
'"
h Am
1 ,
iff.
1
1
018
I'AUL AT CitSAREA.
apostle at Jerusalem, that they urged him to
abandon his intention of proceeding thither ;
but, earnest in the course which his duty
seemed to enjoin, the apostle could not be
moved from his purpose. Then, says the nar-
rator, who was himself one of the party, " We
departed and went away ; and they all brought
us on our way, with wives and children, till we
were out of the dity ; and we kneeled down on
the shore and prayed."
After having taken leave of them the apostle
Here also Christian br^threr were foun*
with whom Paul enjoyed one day's hapjiy in-
tercourse, and then proceeded to Caesarcn. a
city which had been built by Hcrotl the Grrat,
who by means of a mole had jormecl there a
safe and commodious harbor, which made it a
seat of maritime traffic, and the usual point o(
embarkation and debarkation from and to
Palestine. Here also was the seat of the
Roman government, and the chief station of
the cohorts which held the country in military
PAUL PARTING FROM THE ELDERS OF EPHESUS. — ActS XX. 37.
entered another ship, bound for Caesarea, In
those days ships coasted along, and put in at
every port; and so Paul's ship put in at
Ptolemais or Acre, a place which, although of
.cry ancient date, is but little mentioned in
Scripture. It became of great importance
after the close of the Old Testament canon,
and is often mentioned in the books of the
Maccabees and in the pages of Josephus ; and
there is no city which has figured more in the
modern history of Palestine.
occupation. Of this most flourishing and
celebrated c»*v, built with a magnificence un-
exampled in Palestine, scarcely a trace now
remains, and even the site is forsaken by man,
and abandoned to the jackals and other beasts
of prey.
At Caesarea the apostle was entertained at
the house of Philip, one of the seven deacons,
where he remained "many days." During
his stay, a believer named Agabus — the same
who had foretold the dearth which came to
lourishing and
nagnificence un-
ely a trace now
brsaken by man,
and other beasts
PAUL AND HIS PERSECUTORS.
619
pass in the days of Claudius Caesar— arrived j tion of the charge openly, by taking part in
at Casarea, and by a significant action pre | the Jewish worship, in a mode which was
nionished Paul of the treatment in store for highly esteemed among pious Jews. I Ic
him at Jerusalem.
joined himself to four members of the Cluirciv
who had taken a Nazarite's vow for
seven
He loosened Paul's girdle,
and bound therewith his own hands and feet,
saying, "So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bindjdays: he submitted to the restraint which tiiis
the man that owneth this girdle, and shall d*'* "
liver him into the hands of the Gentiles."
On this Paul's own companions, and all the
friends at Caesarea who heard the prophet's
words, implored the apostle to desist from his
intention. He was much moved by their
earnestness, but made answer: " What mean ye
to weep and to break mine heart ? I am ready
not to be bound only, but also to die at Jeru-
salem for the name of the Lord Jesus." When
the friends found that he could not be pre-
vailed upon by the prospect of personal danger
to change his well-considered purpose, they
ceased to importune him, saying, " The will
of the Lord be done."
Soon after Paul proceeded to Jerusalem,
which was distant but two days* journey from
Cffisarea. The day after his arrival he called
James, sometimes called " the Lord's
on
brother," which may, perhaps, mean no more
than that he was a cousin or other near rela-
tive of jesus. At the house of James he met
the presbyters of the Church at Jerusalem,
who listened with much interest to the ac-
count which he gave of his proceedings and
Si ccess among the Gentiles.
But James called his attention to the fact
that a great number of Jews who believed in
Jesus as the Messiah, but who were yet zealous
and strict observers of the Mosaical law, were
prejudiced against him; for those Judaizers,
who had everywhere sought to obstruct the
ministry of Paul, had, it seems, circulated the
report that, not content with insisting on the
. freedom of the Gentiles from the observance
of the Mosaical law, he had required the Jews
who lived among them not to observe the law,
and not to circumcise their children.
As this charge was not true, and as it is
important to remove the impression which it
had created, Paul readily consented, at the
suggestion of James, to give a practical refuta-
vow imposed, and intimated to the priests tliat
he would be answerable for the expense of the
offerings, which were to be presented on the
accomplishment of the purification.
Paul noiincl in Chains.
But although this measure may have satis-
fied the minds of all the well-disposed Jewish
Christians, the inveterate zealots among the
Jews were not thus to be conciliated. On the
contrary, they were only the more incensed
that the man who, as they said, had every-
where taught the people of God to blaspheme
the Law and the Temple, had ventured to take
a part in the Jewish worship. They had seen
one of the Gentile Christians, Trophimus, in
company with him, and hence the fanatics
concluded that he had taken a Gentile with
him into the holy place and defiled it.
A violent tumult hence arose in the Temple;
and Paul was only rescued from being torn in
pieces by the enraged multitude through the
interference of the Roman tribune, who has-
tened to the spot from the tower or citadel of
Antonia, which was close to the Temple, and
in which the Roman garrison was stationed.
But to let the multitude see that thefe was no
intention to rescue a criminal from justice, but
only to keep the peace, the apostle was bound
with two chains, and led off as a prisoner to-
the castle.
Arriving there, he requested and obtained
permission from the tribune to address the ex-
cited mob, and therefore, mounting the stairs,
he turned round and beckoned with his hand
for silence, which, in the curiosity of some
and anxiety of others to hear what he would
say, was easily secured. He began to speak
to them in the mongrel Hebrew, which had at
that time become the vernacular language of
Palestine, not only because it would be under-
stood by a larger number than the Greek, but
^
♦ffs
'!■'
f •
f
;,
t*.i'
■ .. !
620
A FURIOUS MOB.
because It would in some degree conciliate the
people to be addrcsst'd in their own language.
He had not in this miscalculated, for, " when
they heard him speak in the Hebrew tongue,
they kept the more silence."
The charge against Paul was that he had
every where endeavored to prejudice the minds
of men against the Jews, their Law and their
Temple. To meet this charge, he showed
that he had been born a Jew, and had enjoyed
the advantages of a first-rate Jewish education
broke forth Into a storm of human fury, cry.
ing at the top of their voices : "Away with
such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit
that he should live ! " and in the madness of
their rage they cast off their outer garments,
as intending to stone him, and tossed about
their arms, throwing dust into the air.
From that frightlul scene the tribune with.
drew the apostle into the castle; and all that
had passed being unintelligible to him, he was
proccedin;^, according to the custom of the
Paul's address before the council. — Acts xxiii. i.
under Gamaliel, the most eminent of their doc-
tors. He then recounted the circumstances
of his conversion, with the reasons which led
him to believe that he was called to preach
the Gospel. He proceeded to state the reasons
why he went among the Gentiles, and evi-
dently designed to vindicate his conduct there:
but he was not allowed to finish his address ;
for no sooner did he begin to open the subject
x£ his mission to the Gentiles, than the mob,
■'which had given him audience to that word,"
Romans, to extort from him a confession as to
the cause of all this tumult by scourging,
when Paul saved himself from this ignominy
by declaring himself a Roman citizen. It was,
however, still necessary to the tribune, in the
discharge of his public duty, to ascertain the
real nature of the demonstration raised against
the apostle ; and he therefore on the next day
summoned a meeting of the 3anhedrin, or great
judicial council of the nation, before which he
produced his prisoner.
PAUL AND HIS PKRSKCUTURS.
621
human fury, cry.
:cs: "Away with
I, for it is not fit
I the madness of
■ outer garments,
md tossed about
o the air.
the tribune with*
istlc ; and nil that
)Ie to him, lie was
le custom of the
a confession as to
It by scourging,
)m this ignominy
an citizen. It was,
le tribune, in the
, to ascertain the
ion raised against
s on the next day
anhedrin, or great
n, before which he
After a brief but earnest survey of the body '
before which he stood, Paul began his address:
" Men and brethren, I have lived in all good |
conscience before God unto this day." Of-
fended at this bold declaration, Ananias, who |
had been formerly high-priest, and who, during
the vacancy which at present existed, dis-
charged the functions of that high office, com-
manded the men that stood near the prisoner
to smite him on the mouth. Warned by this
indignity, the apostle cried out, " God shall
smite thee, thou whited wall ! for sittest thou
to judge me after the law, and commandest
me to be smitten contrary to the law?"
Those who stood by reproved him for
speaking so disrespectfully to " God's high-
priest;" on which Paul, who knew that the
office was really vacant, declared he knew not
that Ananias was the high-priest, and had not
accosted him in that capacity. The survey
which Paul had made of the assembly assured
him that it was composed partly of Sadducees
and partly of Pharisees, the latter greatly pre-
ponderating, and extremely bigoted.
Tlie Apostle Cheered by a Vision.
" Men and brethren," he said, "I am a
Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee : of the hope
and resurrection of the dead I am called in
question." This bore on the great point of
controversy between the Pharisees and Sad-
ducees ; and these words at once had the effect
of uniting the former in favor of the prisoner,
and of involving them in a hot debate with
the Sadducees, to whom the officiating high-
priest himself belonged. The Pharisees be-
came at once unable to find any fault in him.
If he had said that the spirit of a deceased
person or that an angel had appeared to him
(alluding to what he had said concerning the
appearance of the risen Jesus), whatever he
might mean by that, or whatever he averred,
whether true or not, they did not pretend to
determine, nor trouble themselves about it ;
still the thing was possible, and afforded no
ground on which to criminate him. In the
confusion that arose, the Roman tribune, who
must have been much struck and not much
edified by the scene, took upon him to with-
draw the prisoner, for whose safety .11110111^ the
eager disputants he began to entertain appre-
hensions.
In the following night the apostle was
cheered by a vision which assured him that
he was in the path of duty, and that all these
confusions were but accomplishing the pur-
poses of the Divine will : " Ik i>f ^rood dieer,
Paul," were the words of encouragement which
he heard ; " for as thou hast testified of me in
Jerusalem, so must thou do also at Rome."
We have now to see how this was brought
about.
A Tcrrilile V«»w.
The enemies of Paul now despaired of ac-
complishing his destruction through the ordi-
nary forms of judicature; and some of the
more desperate of them resolved to remove
him by a more summary and certain process.
Not less than forty of them bound tlieniselves
by a vow not to eat or drink till they had de-
stroyed him. They made this known to seme
members of the Sanhedrin, and prevailed upon
them to require the tribune again to produce
him before the council, intending to fall upon
him and murder him on the way. This plot
however became known to Paul's nephew, and
was by him imparted to the tribune, who forth-
with resolved to clear his hands of the busi~
ness by sending the prisoner off" under a guard
to Ciesarea, that the whole matter might be
examined by the procurator Felix.
Knowing the desperate character of the men
who were leagued against Paul, the escort was
made very strong, consisting of nearly five
hundred men, and departing with the prisoner
at nightlall, thev by a quick march had reached
Antipatt's, %nich was thirty-five miles from
Jerusaleni, by the morning. Inmiediate danger
being here passed, the soldiers and spearmen
returned, leaving the horsemen to escort the
apostle the remaining twenty-five miles to
Caesarea.
Felix, the Roman procurator, before whom
Paul was brought on his arrival at Caesarea, was
originally a slave, as was also his brother
Pallas, of the emperor Claudius, and received
m
& , K.tl
622
A HARD MASTER.
km.
ii ill 1J :
M i|
their freedom from him. This weak emperor
was in fact governed by his freedmen, of whom
Pallas held the highest place in his favor, and
Felix himself was very dear to him. This
personal favor of the emperor, coupled with
the influence of Pallas, procured him high and
profitable employment. He first received
promotion in the army ; and while serving in
Syria, he rendered himself so acceptable to
the Jews, that on the recall of Cumanus they
solicited and obtained the appointment of Felix
to the vacant government. They soon had
reason to repent their choice.
A Roman Guvernor.
It is a saying in the East that no man is so
Aard a master as he who has been once a
dlave; and this proved true in the case of
Felix. As governor, he displayed a very dif-
ferent character from that in which he had
first appeared ; and the Jews soon had cause to
groan under his cruelty, injustice, and avarice.
This man's wife, Drusilla, was a daughter of
Herod Agrippa, and sister of the " King
Agrippa " mentioned hereafter. She had left
her Iiusbanu Azizus, King of Emesa, who had
submitted to the initiatory rite of Judaism to
obtain her, and joined herself to the Roman
governor, and for his sake renounced Judaism,
even as her former husband had renounced
Paganism for hers. This absolute want of
principle in high quarters strikingly illustrates
the corruption of manners which had at this
time overspread the land.
On the arrival of Paul at Caesarea, the escort
surrendered him to the governor, who de-
clined to adjudicate upon the case till his
accusers should arrived from Jerusalem. In five
days they arrived in great force, with Ananias
at their head, and accompanied by one Tertul-
lus, a Roman advocate, whom, being them-
selves but imperfectly acquainted with the
Roman law, they had engaged to state their
case. The accusation which ihe Sanhedrin,
by their counsel, brought against Paul, was
Uie only one which they could with any show
»f reason have lade — namely, that he every-
irhere disturbed the Jews in the enjoyment of
the privileges secured to them by the Roman
law, the peaceful exercise of their religious
worship; that he excited disturbances and
divisions among them, and that he had at
length even desecrated the Temple.
The tribune at Jerusalem was also accused
of having unduly interfered to prevent them
from exercising judgment upon him according
to the privileges secured to them by law.
This was the amount of the charge which the
orator urged against the apostle. Paul an-
swered it in a very solid manner; and Felix,
who was by no means disposed to meddle in
the internal disputes of the Jews, and perceiv-
ing that no offence tangible to the Roman law
could be brought against the accused, broke
up the court without announcing any decision.
Felix Trembles.
He would in fact have dismissed the
prisoner, if he had not hoped, as was his prac-
tice, to make justice venal, by obtaining money
from him or his friends. He therefore de-
tained him in the easy custody of a centurion,
with the privilege of free intercourse with his
friends. He afterwards saw him several times,
once with his notorious mate Drusilla, who
seems to have had a wish to hear something
of the new sect from one of its leading men.
The undaunted apostle availed himself of this
hearing to discourse before the unprincipled
but powerful Felix, and the equally unprin-
cipled but very beautiful Drusilla, of such un-
palatable subjects as " righteousness, temper-
ance, and judgment to come;" and this he
did with such force and eloquence that the
hard conscience of the governor was touched,
he trembled in his high place, and abruptly
closed the audience by saying that he would
hear the rest — " at a more convenient season."
Paul remained in custody, as he was not
willing to purchase his freedom and thereby
bring suspicion upon himself and the holy
cause to which his life was devoted. Therefore
Felix, who was at that time unwilling to dis-
oblige the Jews without a strong pecuniary in-
ducement, left him still in custody when he
was recalled to Rome.
lem by the Roman
of their religious
disturbances and
id that he had at
Temple.
1 was also accused
d to prevent them
ipon him according
to them by law.
e charge which the
apostle. Paul an-
lanner; and Felix,
»osed to meddle in
Jews, and perceiv-
: to the Roman law
;he accused, broke
icing any decision.
t>les.
ve dismissed the
;d, as was his prac-
)y obtaining money
He therefore de-
ody of a centurion,
ntercourse with his
' him several times,
late Drusilla, who
to hear something
of its leading men.
iled himself of this
e the unprincipled
le equally unprin-
rusilla, of such un-
teousness, temper-
me ; " and this he
eloquence that the
jrnor was touched,
ace, and abruptly
ing that he would
onvenient season."
y, as he was not
jdom and thereby
ielf and the holy
:voted. Therefore
unwilling to dis-
rong pecuniary in-
custody when he
PAUL AND HIS PERSECUTORS.
623
Paul had been in custody two years when
Porcius Festus, the new procurator, arrived in
Palestine, and proceeded to Jerusalem. While
in that city the high-priest and other leading
men among the Jews brought the case of Paul '
under his notice, and desired that he might be I
brought back to Jerusalem to be tried there. 1
Their intention was, it appears, to employ at
set of murderous ruffians, who might at that !
time be had in any number for money, to way- 1
lay and destroy him. Festus probably got|
any palpable or gross injustice against one who
was protected by the rigius of Roman citizen-
ship. When, therefore, lie perceived that he
could make nothing of tiie case as against the
prisoner, he asked him whether he would go
to Jerusalem and have the matter tried there.
Perceiving from this that the governor was
disposed to sacrifice him to his enemies, the
apostle at once took his stand upon his right
as a Roman citizen ; and said — " I stand at
Caisar's judgment-seat, where I ought to be
intelligence of this design, and, feeling it his
duty to protect a Roman citizen, answered
that he was himself about to proc?'"^ to
Caisarea, and that they could then go a(so
and appear against the prisoner before his
tribunal. With this they were obliged to be
content.
Paul was accordingly brought before the
judgment-seat of Festus, as soon as the latter
arrived at Caesarea. He was very willing to
please the Jews, so that he could do so without
PAUL BEFOKE I'ELI.X. — ActS Xxlv. 25.
judged : I appeal unto Caesar! "
This settled
the question; for whenever a citiz,cn had once
appealed to the imperial tribunal, aii other
processes were superseded, and norhing re-
mained but to send him with all care and
expedition 'lo Rome. Paul knew this: and
his determination to make this appeal was
probably influenced by his previous wish and
intention to preach the Gospel of Christ in
the imperial city.
A short time after this King Agrippa, th.
,. V''
; til
1--
V:v\
AN IMPRESSIVE ADDRESS.
'L : \
Mk
w '< '
m
-ffi *■ '"^
son of Herod Agrippa and grandson of Herod
the Great, arrived at Caesarea with his sister
Berenice, to compliment the procurator en his
arrival in his government. Agrippa had been
brought up at Rome, and was much attached
to the Roman people ; and as he was also well
instructed in the Jewish religion, Festus had
the advantage of obtaining the judgment of a
qualified person on the case of Paul, which
was to himself unintelligible. He could not
now judge him, seeing that he had appealed
to Rome ; but he wanted materials on which
to found the report which it was necessary he
should send with the appellant It was there-
fore arranged that a hearing should be given
to Paul before Festus, Agrippa, and Berenice.
lOug Agrippa.
When Agrippa intimated to Paul that he
was at liberty to speal: for himself, the apostle
stretched forth his hand, and commenced an
eloquent address by declaring the satisfaction
whicli he felt in having his case brought
before one so competent to apprehend its
merits. His defence on former occasions had
been befor .; Roman maijistrates, who had but
little acquaintance with Jewish customs and
opinions, and who lister. :;d t/ith impatience to
t.h- discussion Ci Lubjects which they were
Ktierly unable; to understand.
This, in order to gain a hearing, the ac-
cusers had to lay their charge and '.he accused
his defence upon points not involving the real
merits of the case, but such as were supposed
to be within the grasp of the Roman judge.
Paul therefore sincerely rejoiced that his case
was now before one who was on the one hand
well acquainted with the Jewish religion, and
on the other, from having been brought up
Rmong Gentiles, was not disposed to be so
much shocked as the great body of the Jews
at the doctrine of Paul — that the Gentiles were
not shut out from the mercies of God, and
the Redeemer's kingdom.
The apostle knew that he was not now upon
his trial, but that the impression made upon
Agrippa would, through Festus, determine the
tone of the report to be sent with him to Rome,
He therefore gave a plain but impressive ac-
count of his education and conversion, and of
his call to preach the Gospel of Christ to the
Gentiles. Wiienever he arrived at this point
in his narrative in the presence of Jews, he had
almost invariably been tumultuously inter-
rupted ; but Agrippa manifested no impatience
or offence, and the apostle then proceeded —
" Having therefore obtained help of God, I
continue unto this day witnessing both to
great and small, saying none other things than
those which the prophets and Moses did say
should come: — that Christ should suffer,
that he should be the first that should rise
from the dead, and that he should show light
unto his people and to the Gentiles."
Here, however, he had come upon a matter
— the resurrection from the dead — which was
nearly as much a stumbling-block to the Gen-
tiles as the preaching of the Gospel bejond
the Hebrew pale was to the Jews — and Festus,
unwilling to seem altogether passive in the
matter, and having found something which he
fancied he could grasp, cried out, " Paul, thou
art beside thyself: much learning hath made
thee mad."
But with calm confidence the apostle an-
swered, " I am not mad, most noble Festus,
but speak the words of truth and soberness i "
and then said : — " King Agrippa, believest thou
the prophets? — I know that thou believest."
Under a sudden but, unhappily, also transient^
impulse of conviction, Agrippa said — "Almost
thou persuadest me to be a Christian ! " To
which the apostle, who with the manacles on
his arms, knew that he possessed that which
was wort) much more than all the glory of the
world, answered in the noble words : " I
would to God that not only thou, but also all
who hear me this day, were not only almost,
but altogether, such as I am — except these
bonds."
\fter this the court broke up; and Festus
and Agrippa agreed that Paul had done
nothing worthy of death or of bonds, and
might have been set at liberty if he had not
appealed to the emperor, which rendered it
obligatory that he should be sent to Rome.
ut impressive ac-
:onversioii, and of
1 of Clirist to the
ived at this point
ice of Jews, lie had
multuously inter-
jted no impatience
then proceeded —
d help of God, I
itnessing both to
e other things tlian
nd Moses did say
st should suffer,
it that should rise
should show light
Gentiles."
Dme upon a matter
: dead — which was
;-block to the Gc:v
he Gospel beyond
Jews — and Festus,
her passive in the
Dmething which he
:d out, " Paul, thou
:arning hath made
ce the apostle an-
nost noble Festus,
:h and soberness i "
ippa, believest thou
at thou believest."
pily, also transient^
jpa said — "Almost
a Christian 1 " To
the manacles on
sessed that which
all the glory of the
noble words : " I
thou, but also all
not only almost,
am — except these
ce up ; and Festus
Paul had done
or of bonds, and
jcrty if he had not
which rendered it
e sent to Rome.
CHAPTER XLII.
LAST DAYS OF PAUL
T was by no means unusual to
send from Judaea to Rome per-
sons who, under the right of
Roman citizenship, had ap-
pealed to the imperial tribunal ;
and there seems to have been a
considerable number embarked
at the same time with the
apostle in a ship belonging to
Adramyttium. They were
placed under the charge of an
officer nan^ed Julius, who was
a centurion in "Augustus's
band " or cohort. Two of Paul's friends and
followers, Luke and Aristarchus, took their
passage in the same ship, to share his dangers,
to com fori him by their presence, and to enjoy
the benefit of his society and friendship. The
presence of Luke is only indicated by the use
of the pronoun "we," and in the phrase,
" Aristarchus being with us."
The ship in which the prisoners were em-
barked voyaged along the coast ; as was usual
in these times touching at different ports on
its way. A day after the departure from
Caesarea the ship reached Sidon, where the
centurion, who must have been apprised of the
favorable opinion which was entertained by
Festus of the apostle's case, courteously al-
lowed him to land that he might " go unto his
friends to refresh himself" He had often
travelled this way in going to and from Jeru-
salem, and probably had friends in all the
principal towns ; and doubtless the friends at
Sidon availed themselves of the opportunity
of providing such supplies as might make
more comfortable the voyage which lay before
him, which voyage was in thore days long and
perilous.
The original plan Oi the voyage, which was
to go along by the coast of Asia Minor,
40
would have taken the ship between the north
of Cyprus and the southern coast of the
peninsula; but contrary winds obliged them
to leave the coast, and take a direct course
from Sidon to the coast of Lycia, thereby
passing Cyprus on the south. Having then
crossed what i^ called " the sea of Cilicia and
Pamphylia," they at length entered the port
of Myra, which was at that time the metropolis
of Lycia.
To this place the ship in which the voyage
had been thus far performed was bound ; but
a ship of Alexandria bound for Italy was
found in the harbor, and to this the centurion
removed the prisoners. From the sequel this
appears to have been one of the numerous
vessels employed in conveying corn from
Alexandria to Italy, and which usually crossed
over to Myra, and there took in supplies for
the remainder and more perilous part of the
voyage. Having sailed slowly for several
days, they passed the gulf of Caria, and had
arrived " over against the promontory of
Cnidus," intending to pass to the north of
Crete, when they were again driven out of
their course by adverse winds, and were con-
strained to round the Salmone promontory,
and pass to the south of the island, when
they found refuge from the adverse weather in
the Fair Havens near the town of Lasea.
Much time having been consumed through
contrary winds, the season had become far
advanced ; and they had still to perform a part
of the voyage, which they expected to have
by this time completed. This navigation was
at this time of the year considered highly
dangerous from tempestuous winds, and was
seldom attempted by the mariners of ancient
days. The danger was real, through the im-
perfect build of the ships, the unskilfulness of
the sailors, and, above all, from the want of
(626)
j!
it-."*-*
626
THE SHIPWRECK.
\%m
tfie compass. All parties were sensible of this,
and it was agreed to winter in Crete ; but al-
though Paul, who had established his claim to
respect on board the ship, advised that the vessel
should remain in the Fair Havens to avoid the
calamities which he foresaw, Julius deemed it
most prudent to rely upon the experience of
the captain and supercargo of the vessel, who
urged the propriety of endeavoring to gain the
safer harbor of Phenice at the western ex-
tremity of the island.
In this attempt the vessel was encountered
by a fierce wind which blows at this season,
called euroclydon. It blows from all points
between N.E, and S.E., frequently shifting
within this range, and is called by British
mariners a Levanter, and by the Italians tuf-
fone — from the ancient name, typhon.
The Ship in a Gale.
Going from the Fair Havens, the ship was
caught by this wind and driven " under " far
south of the small island of Clauda (now
Gaudos), which is twenty-five miles south of
the port of Phenice, which they had hoped to
reach.
At this point they had much difficulty in
securing the boat attached to the vessel from
being di; ihed to pieces. Every ship had a
boat, but in those times it was not taken up
and secured on deck, as is now done, but was
towed at the stern of the vessel. The reason
for this difference is clear. Our mariners on
leaving port bid adieu to the land; whereas
the ancient mariners in creeping along the
coast maintained much intercourse with the
shore, for which the boat was always kept
ready. When, however, a storm arose, the
boat was secured by being drawn up close
under the stern, which doubtless was the
mode in which the boat was in the present
case secured.
Having taken this precaution, the voyagers
became apprehensive lest the ship should be
driven upon the dreaded quicksands of the
African coast, and there go to pieces: and
they therefore " used helps, undergirding the
ship," which seems to mean that they drew
strong cables around the hul' keep its tim.
bers together or break the shoe . of a concus*
sion. Instances of such a practice occur even
in modern voyages ; and that it was resorted
to anciently appears from the following lines
of Horace:
The wounded inast
And sail-yards groan beneath the southern blast ;
Nor without ropes the keel can longer brave
The rushing fury of th' imperious wave.
Further to avoid the danger of being driven
on the dreaded quicksands, they struck sail,
and, as our sailors would say, " scudded under
bare poles." This striking of the sail was in
ancient ships effected not by reefing the sails
to the yards, but by lowering both the yards
and sails together to the deck. This explana-
tion relieves some of the obscurity which in-
volves the nautical details of this portion of
our history. On the third day from the com-
mencement of the storm, it was found neces-
sary to lighten the shijj by throwing overboard
all the tackling whir.h was not indispensable
to its preservation.
i^fter this the marinp. • entirely lost their
reckoning, and knew aot whither they were
going ; for, in the absence of a compass, the
ancient seamen, when out of sight of land,
relied upon the sun by day and the stars by
night ; but now neither the sun nor stars had
been visible for many days. Under these dis-
couragements the spirits of both the crew and
passengers gave way, and all hope that they
should be saved was abandoned. At this
juncture Paul stood forth, and, after remind-
ing them that this danger would not have
been incurred had his advice been taken, he
exhorted them to be of good cheer, for that,
although the ship itself must be lost, all their
lives would be saved.
As his authority for this, he alleged that in
the night he had been visited by an angel "of
the God whose I am and whom I serve;"
who said to him, " Fear not, Paul : thou must
be brought before Caesar : and, lo, God hath
given thee all them that sail with thee." Tlie
apostle added, " Wherefore, sirs, be ot good
cheer ; for I believe God, that it shall be even
lul' keep its tim.
shoe . of a concus*
practice occur even
hat it was resorted
the following lines
wounded mast
the southern blast ;
in longer brave
-ious wave.
ger of being driven
Is, they struck sail,
ly, " scudded under
g of the sail was in
by reefing the sails
ing both the yards
;ck. This explana-
obscurity which in-
1 of this portion of
day from the com-
t was found neces-
throwing overboard
5 not indispensable
entirely lost their
whither they were
of a compass, the
: of sight of land,
y and the stars by
sun nor stars had
Under these dis-
both the crew and
all hope that they
indoned. At this
, and, after remind-
r would not have
'ice been taken, he
3od cheer, for that,
jst be lost, all their
he alleged that in
:d by an angel "of
whom I serve;"
t, Paul : thou must
and, lo, God hath
with thee." The
r, sirs, be ol good
lat it shall be even
LAST DAYS OF PAUL.
as he hath told me. Howbeit we must be cast
upon a certain island." As men in desperate
circumstances readily grasp even the shadow
of a hope, there is no doubt that Paul's inti-
mation was received with more gladness and
confidence than any intimation from him
might in more prosperous days have com-
manded.
This tempestuous scene recalls the graphic
description of a shipwreck and the remarkable
iaith of a child, given in the following lines :
627
Ai thus we sat in darkness.
Each one busy in his prayers,
•• We are lost J " the captain shouted
As he staggered down the stairs.
But his little daughter whispered,
As she took his icy hand,
" Isn't God upon the ocean
Just the same as on the land ? "
Then we kissed the litUe maiden,
And we spoke in better cheer,
And we anchored safe in harbor
When the morn was shining clear.
ANCIENT SHIPS
We were crowded in the cabin.
Not a soul would dare to sleep,—
It was midnight on the waters
And a storm was on the deep.
'Tis a fearful thing in winter
To be shattered by the blast,
And to hear the rattling trumpet
Thunder, " Cut away the mast 1 "
So we shuddered there in silence,—
I'or the stoutest held his breath.
While the hungry sea was roaring.
And the breakers talked with Death.
— Acts xxvii. 2.
On the fourteenth night from the commence-
ment of the storm the mariners deemed by the
soundinfTS that they were approaching the
land, and fearing to be dashed to pieces on the
rocks, they stayed the ship by casting four
anchors out at the stern, and remained long-
ing for daylight to disclose the position in
which they lay. The seamen having let down
the boat under color of getting the anchors
out at the foreship also, man festcd an intention
to escape in it from the ship: but Paul de-
i^
t f ip
m
I X<<it
t '■■
628
THE CARGO THROWN OVKRIJOARD.
clared to the centurion and the soldiers, " Ex-
cept these abide in tlie ship, ye cannot be
saved;" on which, such was the influence lie
had acquired, they cut the rope and let the
boat go adrift.
While they remained waiting for the day, the
apostle repeated his assuiance that not a hair of
anyone of their heads .should fall to the ground,
and in that assurance he urged them to take
some refreshment after the long abstinence
which their distress had occasioned, and he
cheerily set them the example by eating some
bread in their presence. On this, " they were
all of good cheer, and also took some meat."
Being thus strengthened, they applied them-
selves to the task of still further lightening the
ship, by throwing overboard the corn v/ith
which it was laden.
The Sbip Stranded.
At length the wished-for dawn appeared ;
they lound themselves near a shore which
none of them could recognize. Opposite them
was a creek which seemed to offer a practicable
harbor and safe anchorage, and into this they
concluded to carry the ship. They therefore
again took up their anchors and hoisted their
sails. But falling into a place " where two
sf a.s met" at the entrance of the creek, the ship
went aground, so that the fore part stuck fast
among the roclcs, while the hinder part was
broken by the violence of the waves.
The soldiers who had charge of the prisoners
on board then proposed that they should all be
killed, lest they should swim ashore and escape.
This shocking proposal was, however, over-
ruled by the centurion, chiefly, as it appears,
out of regard for Paul, who would have been
involved in the massacre ; and a general order
was given that all who could .swim should cast
themselves into the sea and endeavor to reach
the land. This they did, and then those
who could not swim managed to reach
the shore by the helo of boards and broken
pieces of the wreck, -; that every soul on
board, to the number of two hundred and
seventy-six, reached the shore in safety, with-
out the loss of a single life.
Having reached the shore, it was soon ascer-
tained that they were upon an island called
Melita, which is generally supposed to iiave
been ilie pre.sent Malta. Here " the barbarous
people," .says the historian, " showed us no
little kindness; for they kindled a fire, and
received us every one, because of the present
rain, and because of the cold."
Paul and the Viper.
The apo.stle, with his usual cheerful alacrity
in every useful labor, employed himself in col-
lecting sticks for this fire. Concealed in the
bundle which he collected was a poisonous
serpent, in a torpid state. But when the wood
was cast upon the fire, the viper became
warmed by the heat, and darted forth, and
fastened upon Paul's hand. When the natives
of the island beheld this, and concluded that
he must needs die, they said among them.selves,
" No doubt thi" man is a murderer, whom
though he hath escaped the vengeance of the
sea, yet justice anffereth not to live."
In reaching this "onclusion the people
reasoned in strict accordance with the preva-
lent notions of the age, which indeed are not
yet wholly extinct. It was believed that great
criminals were often preserved by Divine jus-
tice from one kind of death to perish by
another more painful and horrible. It was also
a general impression that the offending mem-
ber in most cases received the punishment;
and the people of the island doubtless felt that
in the case before their eyes, the viper had
fastened upon the very hand which had taken
the life of a fellow-being.
It was also generally believed, by both
heathen and Jews, that no murderer, however
he might evade human justice, ever finally
escaped the righteous judgments of Heaven.
Serpents were to a certain extent regarded as
the appropriate instrument of such punish-
ments. The Jewish writers themselves give
the story of a man who slew his friend,
but was immediately after bitten by a .serpent
and died. They also alljge that when the
power of infiictiiig death was taken from th
nation by the Romans, all the guilty did not
LAST DAYS OF PAUL.
629
re, it was soon ascer-
»on an island called
y supposed to have
lere " the barbarous
an, " showed us no
kindled a fire, and
cause of the present
old."
) Viper.
sual cheerful alacrity
iloyed himself in col-
. Concealed in the
ed was a poisonous
But when the wood
, the viper became
id darted forth, and
d. When the natives
i, and concluded that
id among themselves,
; a murderer, whom
the vengeance of the
not to live."
nclusion the people
lance with the prcva-
vhich indeed are not
as believed that great
terved by Divine jus-
death to perish by
horrible. It was also
t the offending mem-
ved the punishment;
,nd doubtless felt that
eyes, the viper had
and which had taken
y believed, by both
lo murderer, however
justice, ever finally
idgments of Heaven,
n extent regarded as
ent of such punish-
iters themselves give
irho slew his friend,
ir bitten by a serpent
ill'jge that when the
1 was triken from th
,11 the guilty did not
escape ; if a man deserved to be burnt, he fell I the centurion concerning Paul, and the wonder
into the fire, or a serpent bit him ; or if he de
served to be .strangled, he fell into a river, or
was taken off by the quinsy. These remarks
will go to illustrate the class of impressions
under which the kind people of Melita con-
ceived that the hand on which the viper fast-
ened was stained with blood.
But the apostle quietly cast off into the fire
the snake which they knew to be venomous ;
so lately wrought as regarded the serpent, in-
troduced the apostolical party to the especial
and favorable notice of this personage. This was
amply repaid by Paul through the powers more
precious than wealth which were vested in him.
The father of Publius lay ill of the dy.sen-
tery, by which he had been brought to the
brink of the grave ; and the apostle no sooner
heard this than he entered the chamber in
and they stood watching the effects of the i which the afflicted man lay, and, after having
PAUL BITTEN BY A SERPENT. — ActS XXviii. 5<.
poison which they believed to have entered
his frame. But he remained cheerful and un-
harmed: and then the people changed their
minds, and believed that he whom they had
just regarded as a murderer could not be less
than a god.
The shipwrecked men received a most kind
and courteous entertainment from Publius the
Roman jovernor of the island, who, numerous
as they were, provided them wilh lodging and
provisions during their stay. The report of
prayed, laid his hands upon him and restor
him to health. When this was noised abn .,
the people of the island hastened to bring their
sick friends to obtain the like benefit, and they
all received health and cure from the hands of
the apostle. The good people of the island
did all in their power to express their sense
of favors so important. "They honored us
with many honors," .says the narrator, "an''
when we departed they loaded us with such
things as were necessary."
ift^
Itl!^
m^ '
i
+i,j-tii' ,. >■
i'»'
630
A FRIENDLY PORT.
«t • 'I' I
The departure did not take place till three
months after the shipwreck ; for not till then,
when the winter had passed, was any vessel
willing to leave for Italy. Then they embarked
in another ship of Alexandria, doubtless a
corn-ship, which had wintered at the island,
and which "bore the sign of Castor and
Pollux," whose special province it was, in
the classical mythology, to succor persons in
danger of shipwreck.
The ship put in at the port of Syracuse, on
the eastern coast of Sicily, and then the capital
of that island. Syracuse was founded by the
Corinthians about seven hundred years before
Christ; and the enterprising colonists, being
greatly enriched by comir.erce, soon raised
this, their principal seat, to great importance
and magnificence. In its best state it was ac-
counted the largest and richest city belonging
to the Greeks. It was twenty-two miles in cir-
cuit, and was considered to rival Carthage
in wealth. It was often styled " quadriplex,"
being divided into four parts, each of which
was equal to a large city. The ancient writers
are untired of expatiating on the fine pros-
pects of Syracuse — its port, banked up with
marble, and surrounded with elegant buildings
— its magnificent public statues and monu-
ments — and its splendid and commodious resi-
dences.
Remains of a Magrniffcent City.
Syracuse long maintained its power as an
independent state ; and the Carthaginians and
Athenians assaulted it in vain. But about two
hundred years before Christ, it was taken by
the Romans, although not until the siege had
been protracted for three years by the me-
chanical contrivances of Archimedes. Syra-
cuse remained a flourishing commercial town
under the Romans; and although now no
longer the chief city of the island, it still sur-
vives as a considerable town, belonging, with
the rest of the island, to the kingdom of
Naples.
As ther^ has always been much intercourse
between Malta and Sicily, the ship had probably
taken in some lading or passengers to discharge
at Syracuse, Although Syracuse had even
then declined from its ancient importance, it
still exhibited the magnificence for which it
had been renowned ; and although this had
now disappeared, it is still a place of some im-
portance. Here the passengers landed, and
remained three days, the ship having probably
to discharge a portion of her cargo at this
port.
Tlie Yoyagre Ended.
Again departing, the vessel coasted along
the eastern side of Sicily, and arrived in due
course at Rhegium, nearly opposite Messina,
and on the Italian side of the strait which
separates Sicily from the peninsula. At this
place, which still subsists under the name of
Reggio, the ship tarried one day, when the
wind, blowing from the south, became favor-
able to their passage through the strait, and
brought them on the next day to Puteoli, on
the north side of the Gulf of Cumae, now
called the Bay of Naples, and about eight miles
northwest from the city of that name. This
was the end of the voyage, as ships from Alex-
andria and the East usually put in and landed
their cargoes and passengers, partly to avoid
doubling the dreaded Promontory of Circeium,
and partly because there was no commodious
harbor nearer to Rome.
Puteoli was thus well known to travelled
Jews, who landed and embarked here in their
journeys to and from Rome. This place was
celebrated for its numerous hot springs, reputed
to cure various diseases. Within its limits
were thirty-five natural baths of different sorts
of tepid water ; and from these baths or pits
of water, called in Latin puiei, the place is said
to have derived its name of Puteoli. Baise, on
the other side of the creek of Puteoli, and
similarly noted for its warm springs, is fre-
quently noticed by the Latin writers as a fa-
vorite resort of the emperors for relaxation or
health, being in fact the popular watering-place
of Italy ; and Puteoli partook of its distinction
and prosperity, being connected with it by a
line of villas. Puteoli is now called Pazzuoli,
and has a few thousand inhabitants.
At Puteoli Paul found Christian brethren,
Syracuse had even
icient importance, it
ficence for which it
I although this liad
a place of some im-
iengers landed, and
hip having probably
f her cargo at this
Ended.
'essel coasted along
and arrived in due
y opposite Messina,
of the strait which
peninsula. At this
\ under the name of
one day, when the
iouth, became favor-
■ough the strait, and
ict day to Puteoli, on
\u\i of Cumae, now
ind about eight miles
of that name. This
, as ships from Alex-
ly put in and landed
gers, partly to avoid
nontory of Circeium,
was no commodious
known to travelled
barked here in their
ne. This place was
hot springs, reputed
Within its limits
ths of different sorts
these baths or pits
ttei, the place is said
•f Puteoli. BaiaB,on
:ek of Puteoli, and
arm springs, is fre-
atin writers as a fa-
ors for relaxation or
jular watering-place
)ok of its distinction
nected with it by a
low called Pazzuoli,
habitants.
Christian brethren,
LAST DAYS OF PAUL.
631
with whom he tarried for a week, and was then
conducted towards Rome. At Appii Forum, a
town upon the celebrated Appian Road from
Rome to Capua, and about midway between
Puteoli and Rome, from which it was distant
fifty-one miles, Paul and his party seem to
have taken rest, the probability of which cir-
cumstance had drawn several Christian breth-
ren all the way from Rome to meet them.
About half way between this place and Rome
there was another resting-place, called Tres
Tabernae (translated "three taverns"). This
name has suggested to most commentators
the probability that there were here three
hostelries, or places for the entertainment of
the numerous travellers upon this road. This
may have been the origin of the name, but
the place appears to have become a town,
which in the time of Constantine was of suffi-
cient consequence to be the seat of a bishopric.
The Apostle met by Friends.
At the Tres Tabernse other brethren from
Rome met the apostolical party, including
probably many persons who had become per-
sonally acquainted with Paul in Greece and
Asia Minor ; and when he saw so many, who
by coming so far to meet him evinced the in-
terest they took in his labors and welfare, " he
thanked God and took courage." He had
long desired to see the Christians at Rome,
and he was now grateful to God that he was
permitted to do so, although in bonds.
At length they arrived at Rome — the im-
perial city — then the mistress of the world,
and at the height of its external g'-eatness and
magnificence ; that marvelous ci^', whose do-
minion, which has passed away; whose reli-
gions, which have changed ; and whose arts,
laws, literature, and history, which are im-
perishable, have in all ages, even to this day,
by their direct or indirect influences, held cap-
tive the minds of men, and ruled them as with
a rod of iron.
At Rome the kind centurion, who had so
much befriended the apostle, resigned his
charge of the prisoners into the hands of the
commander of the Prietorian cohort, called
" the captain of the guard," to whose custody
prisoners arriving from the provinces were
usually consigned.
After a time inc frivolous and malignant
nature of the charges against Paul being
known through the rescript of the governor
Festus, and through the representations of the
centurion, the apostle was allowed to remain
in what was considered the easiest confinement
consistent with his safe custody. He was per-
mitted to live in a house which he hired for
himself, in the charge of a soldier, to whose
arm his own arm was chained, and who -n
consequence was always with him.
Chained to a Soldier.
This kind of custody was less averse to
ancient Roman or Eastern habits than to ours ;
and Paul probably regarded it as little more
than a petty annoyance, seeing that it inter-
fered less than any other kind of custody with
his great vocation of declaring the Gospel of
Christ, which he freely preached to all who
came to him.
One of the first steps taken by the apostle
after his arrival was to call the chief of
the Jews in Rome together. He had prob-
ably two objects in view in this : one to vindi-
cate himself from the suspicion of crime, or
to convince them that the charges alleged
against him were false ; and the other, to ex-
plain to them the Gospel of Christ. He thus,
in accordance with his general custom, seized
the earliest opportunity of making known to
his own countrymen the Divine message which
was committed to him ; and he naturally sup-
posed that charges highly unfavorable to his
character had been sent forward against him
to the Jews in Rome by those in Judaea. They
assured him that this was not the case, as no
letters or messengers had arrived to create an
impression to his disadvantage; and for the
rest they said, " We desire to hear of thee
what thou thinkest ; for as concerning this sect,
we know that it is everywhere spoken against."
They accordingly came again on an ap-
pointed day to his lodging, when, from morn-
ing till night, he explained to them the doctrine
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63S
THE APOSTLE IMPRISONED.
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of Christ, meeting their objections, answering
their questions, and "persuading them con-
cerning Jesus out of the Law and out of the
Prophets."
Some of the auditors were awakened to
further inquiry, but the general result was as
usual discouraging, and the apostle plainly
told them — " Be it known, therefore, unto you,
that the salvation of God is sent unto the
Gentiles — and they will hear it."
Paul Two YearH in Rome.
After this Paul remained " two whole years
in his own hired house, and received all that
came in unto him ; preaching the kingdom of
God, and teaching those things which concern
the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no
man forbidding him."
With these words the apostolical record con-
cludes. Why Luke closed his history at this
point is unknown. It maybe that he was not
afterwards the companion of Paul ; or that he
may have been himself removed by death. It
is agreed on all hands that he did not attend
the apostle in his subsequent travels ; and we
should infer from the conclusion of the book,
that he Hid not survive the apostle, as it is
almost incredible that, in case he did, he should
not have mentioned his release and death. It
is the uniform account of antiquity that Luke,
after the transactions with which the Acts of
the Apostles closes, passed over into Achaia,
where he lived a year or two, and then died at
the age of eighty-four years.
The reader is naturally anxious to know
something further of the life and labors of that
great apostle whose course he has doubtless
followed with much of interest and instruction.
The materials for this purpose are but scanty,
and not altogether satisfactory ; but they have
been collected and arranged with great care by
Cave, Lardner, Neander and others ; and we
cannot better occupy the small space left to us
than in stating the result of such researches.
Paul's imprisonment, so far from reducing
him to an inactive condition, opened to his
eager mind new and extensive means of use-
fulness. During his confinement, anxiety for
the extension of the kingdom of God, and for
the prosperity of the Churches which he had
founded, occupied him far more than his
personal concerns. As all persons had free
access to him, his opportunities of preachin^r
the Gospel were not few. Through the sol-
diers who relieved one another in standing
guard over him, it became known among tiicir
comrades of the prxtorian cohort, and hence
to a wider extent in the city, that this remark-
able prisoner was in confinement not for any
civil offence, but for his zeal in behalf of the
new religion ; and this tended to promote it,
since a cause for which its foremost advocate
had suffered the loss of all things was sure of
attracting attention. By his example the
Roman Christians were also roused to publish
the truth with zeal and boldness.
Untlrinff Zeal.
The concern of the Churches in Asia Minor
also engaged the apostle's solicitude, and to
this we owe several of those ii'.valuable Scrip-
tures, known as the Epistles of Paul, which
have become the heritage of ages, and which
alone would be rich and ample fruits of his
imprisonment. The investigations concerninjr
the dates and circumstances of these Epistles
do not belong to this place, although the in-
timations which they contain afford the land-
marks which direct our course.
Up to a certain point, we can form a tolerably
clear notion of the apostle's condition and
course of proceeding at Rome: but beyond
that point all is uncertain and obscure. The
first question which arises is, whether he
ended this confinement with martyrdom, or
whether he was released from it, and entered
afresh upon his apostolical labors ? The de-
cision of this question depends partly upon
the depositions of historical witnesses, and
partly on the result of an examination of
Paul's Second Epistle to Timothy. The ques-
tion is, whether this Epistle, which was evi-
dently written during a confinement at Rome,
must be classed among those written during
his first imprisonment, or whether we may
assume the existence of a second ?
m of God, and for
lies which he liad
• more than his
persons had free
lities of preacliing
Through the sol-
other in standing;
nown among tiicir
cohort, and hence
, that this remark-
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1 in behalf of the
led to promote it,
foremost advocate
things was sure of
his example the
roused to publish
ness.
sal.
hes in Asia Minor
solicitude, and to
: ip.valuable Scrip-
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f ages, and which
mple fruits of his
jations conccrninjr
of these Epistles
although the in-
afiford the land-
se.
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s condition and
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nd obscure. The
is, whether he
h martyrdom, or
m it, and entered
labors ? The de-
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634
PROBABLE RELEASE OF PAUL.
The narratives of the fourth century, which
allege that he was set at liberty and published
the Gospel in Spain, cannot be taken into ac-
count, for they may all have been founded
upon what he says in his Epistle to the Romans
of his intentions of visiting Spain. More at-
tention is due to the testimony of a man who
was in part a contemporary and probably a
disciple of the apostle. Clement of Rome
says expressly, in the second Epistle to the
Corinthians, that Paul suffered martyrdom after
he had travelled to the boundaries of the West.
By this expression we naturally understand
Spain ; and although Clement might have had
in view some other place or country, and per-
haps even Britain, as some allege, yet we can-
not in any case suppose that a person writing,
as Clement did, at Rome, could intend by "the
farthest limits of the West" that very city, but
some region more remote.
From this account of Clement's, if we must
infer that Paul carried into effect his intention
of travelling into Spain, or that at least he
went beyond Italy, we shall also be obliged to
admit that he was released from his confine-
ment at Rome. A close examination of the
Second Epistle to Timothy indicates a very
dissimilar set of circumstances from those
which attended the apostle's first imprisonment,
and shows feelings and expectations entirely
different from those which are known from in-
ternal evidence to have been written during
the first confinement It is in fact a solemn
farewell to his beloved adherent, in the knowl-
edge that his end was approaching : " I am
now ready to be offered, and the time of my
departure is at hand. I have fought a good
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept
the faith ; henceforth there is laid up for me
a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous Judge, shall give me at that day."
All comparison of circumstances tends to
show that these impressions were not appli-
cable to the first confinement, from which he
confidently expected to be released ; and there-
fore the conclusion is inevitable, and in ac-
cordance with the intimation of Clement, that
he was released, and that the Second Epistle
to Timothy was written during a subsequent
and final imprisonment.
Now if Paul was released from his first im-
prisonment, it must have been before the per-
secution against the Christians, raised by the
conflagration of Rome in the year 64; for
had he been at that time a prisoner, he would
most assuredly not have been spared ; and it
agrees with other chronological data, that after
more than two years' imprisonment, he re-
gained his freedom in the latter end of 62 or
the beginning of 63 — a result of the proceed-
ings which, in the circumstances described in
these pages, is by no means improbable, but
such as the reader is naturally led to expect
An Ancient Tradition.
The accusation of raising a tumult in Jeru-
salem was proved to be unfounded ; and the
inherent antagonism of Christianity to the re-
ligion of the Roman state had not then been so
understood as to attract public attention. It
could not altogether have escaped notice ; but
no definite law existed on the subject, and
under Nero, who derided the established re-
ligion and gave himself little concern about
the ancient Roman enactments, such a point
might the more easily be waived. The friends
whom Paul had gained by his behavior during
his confinement would probably exert their in-
fluence in his favor.
Thus he might and probably did regain his
freedom; and, as Neander justly observes,
" the ancient tradition that he was beheaded,
and not crucified like Peter, if true, favors his
not having suffered death in the persecution of
64 ; for had he been put to death in that perse-
cution, so much regard would not have been
paid to his Roman citizenship as to spare
the hated leader of a detested sect from the
more painful and ignominious mode of execu-
tion."
We have therefore to assume that Paul was
released from his first confinement, and did not
perish in the persecution of the year 64.
We know from the epistles written during
his first confinement what Paul intended to
do in case he obtained his liberty; and by
LAST DAYS OF PAUL.
635
comparing these intentions with the fact re-
corded by Clement, some notion of his subse-
quent proceedings may be obtained.
Last Journeys.
Before his confinement, Paul had formed the
intention of visiting Spain ; and the testimony
of Clement leads to the belief that he eventu-
ally fulfilled that intention. But during his
imprisonment it appears that he altered his
views, and concluded to visit once more the
field of his early labors in Lesser Asia, and a
question arises as to which of these intentions
he first executed after his release ? It would
be possible that after his release he travelled
first into Spain; that he there exerted himself
in the establishment of Christian Churches,
and then revisited the former sphere of his
ministry ; and that he was on his return to the
West, in order to close there his apostolical
commission, but, before he could reach his des-
tination, was detained and put to death at
Rome.
But the want of any memorial of Paul's
labors in Spain does not favor the supposition
that he spent any length of time in that coun-
try ; and hence the other explanadon, that he
first renewed his labors in the East, and then
proceeded to Spain where he was soon seized
and sent a prisoner to Rome, and there be-
headed, seems to have the best claim upon our
confidence.
Under this explanation, it may not be alto-
gether impracticable to trace the course of the
apostle's journeys. It seems, then, that he in
the first place executed his intention of revisit-
ing t!ie Churches in Asia Minor, and found
them fallen into disorder, which he labored
hard to rectify. After spending some time in
those parts, he left Ephesus to visit the
Churches in Macedonia. On his wav thither
he appears to have revisited the island of
Crete. The circumstances of his former visit
to that island during the stormy voyage which
ended in the wreck at Malta, have been al-
ready noticed. It does not appear that there
were then any Christians in the island, as Luke
does not there, as usual with him, record the
kind attentions of Christian brethren ; and it
is therefore probable Paul even then formed
the intention of planting the Gospel of Christ
upon its shores. After having accomplished
this intention, he left Titus to complete the
work he had commenced, and proceeded to
Macedonia, whence he wrote the Epistle to
Titus, which exists in the Christian Scriptures.
The apostle had then the prospect of spending
the winter at Nicopolis, and wished Titus to
join him there. There were many places of
this name ; but it is supposed that the present
was the one in Epirus, which was built by Au-
gustus to commemorate his great victory at
Actium.
The Crown of Life.
It would seem, however, that circumstances
induced the apostle to go back to Ephesus,
where he left Timothy, and once more pro-
ceeded westward. It was now probable that
he executed his long-cherished intention of
visiting Spain, as already intimated, and was
from thence sent as a prisoner to Rome. The
Second Epistle to Timothy, which affords an
important clue to these movements, shows that
the situation of Paul in the imperial city was
by no means what it had been during his pre-
vious imprisonment.
It was then universally allowed that he was
in custody for no usual or political ofTence, but
only for preaching the Gospel, and many were
encouraged by his example boldly to confess
their faith ; whereas now he was in fetters as
an " evil doer," for all Christians were then re-
garded at Rome as criminals, and only a few
had courage openly to avow themselves as his
friends and companions in the faith of Jesus.
Now, he considered his martyrdom far more
probable than his release ; whereas before his
deliverance had seemed by far the more proba-
ble event. His feelings in the prospect of
that event are inimitably expressed : this, his
last Epistle — his elevated composure, his self-
forgetfulness, his tender fatherly care for his
disciple Timothy, his concern for the cause of
the Gospel, which he was about to leave ex-
posed to so many attempts to adulterate it ;
yet his confidence in the Divinity of that
iB»t«'»i'l
)m
THE FINAL SCENE.
cause, and of its certain triumph over every
obstacle, rose high above every doubt or fear,
being based upon the almightiness of Him who
watched its progress and conducted all its
developments.
him. It was doubtless in one of the last
years of Nero's reign, and probably in or
about the year 67 a. d. The general account,
which rests on no certain authority, and which
has been shown to be scarcely compatible with
I AM NOW READY TO BE OFFERED,
With the particulars of the last scene of all
in thf Hfe of this great benefactor to mankind
we are unacquainted, and are not even certain
of the year in which he received the crown
which the Righteous Judge had laid up for
the facts of the case, alleges that Paul and
Peter were at Rome in A. D. 64 ; and that they
both perished in the furious and bloody perse-
cution which was in that year excited against
the Christians in consequence of the dreadful
LAST DAYS OF PAUL.
G37
(ire which raged for a whole week in the im-
perial city, and of which they were most falsely
said to have been the authors.
A Historic Dungreoii.
At this time it is alleged that Peter was cru-
cified, while Paul was, as a Roman citizen, be-
headed. That he was put to death at Rome,
and that by being beheaded, is highly proba-
ble, although both the time and the occasion
appear to be in this tradition erroneously
stated. The prison in which Paul and Peter
are supposed to have been confined is still
shown at Rome ; and it is alleged that Paul
was beheaded at a place called the Salvian
Waters, about three miles from Rome, and
that he was buried in the Ostian Way, where
a magnificent Church was aflerwards erected
over his supposed sepulchre. But the name
of Paul needeth not such memorials. His
record is on high ; and his memory is em-
balmed, beyond the wreck of worlds, in the
thousands of immortal souls, who, through his
living ministrations and his imperishable words,
now bear their triumphal palms in that innum-
erable host of " all nations, and kindreds, and
people, and tongues, who have come out of
great tribulation, and have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb."
We are unwilling to quit the great apostle
whose labors we have endeavored to trace,
without recalling the attention of the reader
to the leading points of a character of inferior
interest to none which the Scriptures offer, and
perhaps as difficult to understand distinctly and
truly to appreciate as are those of Moses and
David. The contradictions which go to make
up human character usually consist of qualities
and defects warring against each other, and of
virtues and vices which might seem to exclude
each other. But in the character of Paul, the
antagonism seems to be that not of" virtues and
contrary vices, but of opposing virtues. Under
this point of view, Paul almost stands alone.
Never was man more equal, or more various.
He was humble, yet never himself cast down ;
he was most gentle, yet terrible to those who
had by their bad faith compromised the great
cause to which all his energies were devoted.
He was wise and prudent, yet possessed of an
ardor which irresistibly carried him onward to
the accomplishment of his designs, and was
endowed with a frankness which no fears
could check or deference arrest. Firm in
danger, and unshaken in affliction, he was yet
careful of his safety, and never exposed his
life or person to needless risk.
A Heroic Soul.
Of inf^efatigable activity, a severe taskmaster
upon himself, and indifTerent to his lot, so that
the great objects which he had set before him
were advanced, no man ever possessed a heart
more tender, or a soul more open to the
peaceful emotions of friendship and joy. His
will had all the tenacity and his conduct all
the perseverance essential to the accomplish-
ment of great enterprises ; whatever he willed,
he willed with his whole heart : half-measures
and partial successes were both unpleasant to
him ; he threw himself wholly into every un-
dertaking which his judgment approved, or to
which his duty called him, and he deemed
nothing accomplished while anything remained
to be done.
The example of Paul shows very clearly
that the points which constitute a man's char-
acter and give him his individuality among
men, remain unchanged under circumstances
which entirely alter his sentiments and condi-
tion. In this respect we see that Paul was the
same under the Gosp>el as under the Law. He
had the same ardor, the same force of will, the
same moral courage in coming forward to
take great responsibilities upon him. He has
changed his weapons, and his course is dif-
ferent, but we recognize the same champion
whose ragings under Judaism have become
heroisms under Christ.
Before his conversion Paul had already be-
come a man of note among the Jews ; and it
may be safely said that in any age, in any
country, in any moral or social condition of a
people — a man of his character and genius
would, according to all ordinary probabilities.
..lit" .. ^ -■
638
THE MAN AND HIS MISSION.
have become great among his fellows — must
have taken a chief part in whatever religious,
political, or moral movement the circumstances
of the age might originate. The ordinary cir-
cumstances of life would have been insufficient
to exercise and regulate the mighty energies
which were bound up in him; and when it
pleased the Almighty to press them into the
service of the Gospel, not only was one who
would have probably become the most bitter
enemy of the cause turned into its friend, but
Paul himself received a task sufficient to
occupy even to the uttermost all the peculiar
talents and powers which had been given to
him. This task was the greatest that man
could receive.
The €U>8pel for All Meni
Under God Moses formed a people for his
service; and under Him Paul became the
chief instrument of throwing open the doors
of the New Covenant to a far more numerous
and a mightier host, and of extending to the
whole race of Adam higher privileges than
those which had till then been specially re-
served for Abraham's children.
The dignity of his appointment to his great
mission was commensurate to the greatness
of the occasion ; and with what sublimity of
genius, of eloquence, of devotedness, and of
virtue did he not embrace and accomplish his
grand vocation! And all that he did was
done, and all he suffered was suffered, without
any taint of that sin by which angels fell.
The traditions and the historical statements
respecting the last days of Paul and his death
have already been presented to the reader. It
seems not a little singular that one so gifted,
so devoted, so useful in his day, should have
been left to a fate so cruel, and, in our thought,
so unsatisfactory. As we take in the full
measure of the man and follow him through
his brilliant career, we cannot help wishing
him a happy old age and a peaceful trans-
lation to the skies. Nothing could have
been more fittinjj in our estimation than that
he, who has found a home in the great heart
of the world, should have had a quiet home in
his later life, should have been freed from
persecutions and cares, and should calmly
have awaited the setting of the sun, the ap-
proach of the twilight, and the coming out of
the stars.
Such, however, was not to be the case.
And here we have one of those mysteries
forced upon us, of which there are so many in
the providence of God and in the history of
His Church. The most worthy of earth's he-
roes have been those who toiled the hardest,
fought the bravest, suffered the most. Their
march has been through fiery furnaces ; their
breath has been a long-drawn sigh; their
voices have been like the wail of troubled
winds ; while they have endured as seeing the
invisible, it has certainly been an endurance
and a very hard one. The great apostle is no
exception to this rule.
Let it be so ; he and they who were like
sufferers have in this tempestuous manner
proved their faith, and have shown themselves
superior to the world and its spirit. Christi-
anity has needed such confessors, and Chris-
tianity has had them. While their names and
the memory of their deeds endure, those great
truths, which have given light to man, com-
fort to human hearts, and hope of celestial
glory, will abide, and mankind will cherish
them as its richest legacy.
We close the history of the apostle Paul
with tender reflections upon his heroic char-
acter, and the great service which he has ren-
dered to after c^es. Monument of marble or
bronze he has none; but the world is filled
with his personality, and this grows more
majestic and attractive with the advance of
time. Men may write epics concerning
Achilles and Leonidas ; here is one who writes
his own great story in the hearts of men, and
no brilliant epic is equal to his greatness, and
no history can do justice to his marvelous
achievements. Great Paul, born for conquest,
born for immortality !
CHAPTER XLIII.
TEACHINGS OF THE APOSTLES.
I HE lessons learned from the
various Epistles sent to the
Churches, and from others
of a general character, are
vivid and impressive. It is
impossible to read what is
said so vigorously by Peter,
James and Paul, as well
as others, without being
deeply affected thereby. Among the wonders
of the sacred volume must be classed the
prominent teachings of the apostles, those
great facts and truths which are made so plain
by the men who, untaught in the schools of
philosophy, were yet teachers who could draw
the attention of the world.
One of these very prominent lessons relates
to self-.sacriiice and suffering in the cause of
Christianity. Nothing good was ever yet
brought into the world without pain ; trial is
the birth-pang of new ideas, destined to revo-
lutionize society. As in the teachings of
Christ, persecution, suffering, martyrdom, are
distinctly set forth as the heritage of His fol-
lowers, so in the teachings of the apostles, the
sdme ideas are brought out, and in such a way
as to arrest the attention of every reader. It
vill not be amiss to trace this heroic spirit,
Doth in the lives of the apostles and, in some
instances, among their successors of a later
period.
The predictions of sufTerings for which Jesus
prepared His disciples were, according to the
New Testament and subsequent history, liter-
ally fulfilled to most of those who listened to
them. In the first onset of danger " they for-
sook Him and fled " — ^they could not, as He
said to Peter, follow Him then, but they did
" follow Him afterwards."
To Peter himself Jesus said, " When thou
shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands.
and another shall gird thee, and carry thee
whither thou wouldest not. This spake He,
signifying by what death he should glorify
God." Accordingly we learn from the very
general tradition of antiquity that Peter was
crucified at Rome under Nero.
James was "killed by the sword" by Herod,
the king, at Jerusalem,
We have not the evidence of Scripture con-
firming the violent deaths of the other apos-
tles and evangelists; but early Christian
writers say that Paul was beheaded at Rome,
under Nero, from anger at the conversion of
his favorite cup-bearer. Many historians have
mentioned the early traditions that Andrew
suffered death in Achaia, James in Palestine,
Philip in Phrygia, Bartholomew (or Nathan-
ael) in Armenia, Thomas in India, Matthew
in Ethiopia, Jude in Persia, Simon Zelotes at
Jerusalem, Mark at Alexandria, and Luke in
Greece.
Ere these things happened to them they
were, as St. Paul tells us, " counted the off-
scouring of all things ; " " troubled on every
side;" "persecuted but not forsaken; cast
down but not destroyed;" "always bearing
about in the body the dying of the Lord
Jesus;" "always delivered unto death for
Jesus' sake; beaten, stoned, in hunger and
thirst, in cold and nakedness, in stripes above
measure, in prisons frequent, in death oft."
Such was the history of the apostles. The
New Testament comes down to us through a
line o*f crowned heads, but their crown was
the crown of* martyrdom.
The first Pagan persecution against the
Christians was raised by the emperor Nero,
about thirty years after the crucifixion. This
is mentioned by the great Roman historian,
Tacitus, He says, that " Rome being set on
fire, Nero declared it was the work of the
(639)
!l'-'ffi
640
BLOODY NERO.
Christians, and put great numbers of them to
death, after frightful tortures." Other heathen
writers mention the Christians as being " pun-
ished with the troublesome coat," which was
made like a sack, of coarse cloth, besmeared
with pitch, wax, and sulphur, and, being dressed
in this coat, they were hung by their chins on
sharp stakes fiy 'n the ground, and then
burnt :
" In that pitched shirt in which such crowds expire.
Chained to the bloody stake and wrapped in tire."
Nero had them burnt at midnight, as he
said, " for torches to the city." This persecu-
tion lasted for three or four years, and spread
through the Roman empire. An inscription
dug up in Spain shows that the Gospel had al-
ready penetrated that country, and that the
Church there had her martyrs.
Persecutions in BritalUi
In the reign of Nero, Suetonius was sent into
Britain, and attacked the Druids in their strong-
holds in Mona. He caused many of them to
be burned in the fires they had prepared for
their expected captives, and destroyed their
groves and altars. St. Paul was sent to Rome,
according to Eusebius, in the second year of
Nero, that is, a. d. 56, and he stayed there,
according to Luke, two years. The British
prince Caractacus, and his father Bran, were
sent to Rome in the year 5 1 , and stayed there,
as hostages, for seven years. It is said, in the
Welsh " traids," that Bran was the first who
brought the Christian faith to the Cymry, or
Welsh. He had, therefore, in all probability,
received it from Paul at Rome; thus early
came the pure Gospel to Wales. It is said
that Bran brought back with him three Chris-
tian teachers — Illtid, an Israelite ; Cyndaf ; and
Arwystli, which is Welsh for Aristobulus, to
whom Paul sends salutation in the sixteenth
chapter of Romans.
Tacitus likewise informs us that London at
that time contained many merchants and much
merchandise. How unlike was the London
of which he speaks to the London of to-day !
Its very pathways were different ; for traces of
Roman floors and highways are found twenty
feet below our present streets. There is little
doubt that the Romans brought in their train
from the large family of Christian brethren in
Rome, some manuscripts of the Gospels, some
teachers of the Story of Peace among those
men of war ; and that there would be hymns
sung to Jesus Christ in some corner of the old
Roman town. Christianity, through the labors
of the apostles, had taken deep hold of the
people in the south of Europe; and many
flourishing churches were, as we know, estab-
lished in Greece.
Death Preferred to Dishonor.
A person asked Apollo how he should
cause his wife to relinquish Christianity. " It
is easier, perhaps," replied the oracle, "to
write on water, or to fly into the air, than to
reclaim her. Leave her alone in her folly, to
hymn in a faint mournful voice, the praises of
the dead God, who publicly suflered death from
judges of singular wisdom."
As an account of the great woe that came
upon the Holy City has already been given,
we will append only a brief notice of the
dreadful destruction of Jerusalem by Titus,
A. D. 70. The Jews having refused the usual
tribute to the Romans, he came to enforce it.
The city and Temple were burnt, and the
ground ploughed up, for the purpose of obtain-
ing the precious things buried in the rubbish.
The wicked Jews had said, " His blood be on
us and our children," and it was so. Never
was destruction of any city or people so ter«
rible. A hundred thousand were sold as slaves
to the neighboring nations; multitudes were
transported to the mines of Egypt ; and more
than a million perished by famine and sword,
by pestilence and crucifixion. Only those
among the Jews who were believers in Christ
were prepared for this final breaking up of their
national gloty and the visible splendors of
their Temple — having learned that the priest'
hood of Christ took the place of all other
priesthoods, and rendered utterly useless any
further ceremonies or sacrifices at Jerusalem.
They had no "continuing city," but they
TEACHINGS OF THE APOSTLES.
641
sought one to come. The Epistle of Paul to
these Hebrews is full of consolation, especially
suited to their sorrowful hearts.
In the year 8i occurred the Domitian per-
secution, during which Christianity appears to
have been carried to Scotland by some of the
disciples of the apostle John. These perse-
cutions, of which there are said to have been
ten, were always the means of scattering still
more widely the seed of the Word. Wherever
Christians were driven, they were sure to take
some portions of their Scriptures with them.
No historian, like Tacitus, celebrated their
heroic sacrifices and secret escapes. Heroes
and statesmen have their records here; the
saints, on high.
Blndingr the Strongr Man.
Jesus related a parable in which He declared
Himself as come to take possession of a house,
and of the things in it : this house was the
world, and the things in it were the souls of
men. He had come to rescue these from
Satan's power. He compares Satan to the
strong man who v>uy n the house, and who
tried to prevent the Sa iour from entering in.
He said he must first bind the strong man,
and then he would spoil his goods.
The first century was alone that in which
the persons lived, who were inspired to record
Christ's sayings ; and the living teaching of
inspired persons, although very precious, could
not have been continual. The apostles were
all missionaries. They went forth into all the
world to plant Churches, and seldom stayed
long in one place. The Gospels and Epistles
were only in course of writing — not written,
and gathered together till the close of the
century — therefore very few Churches and still
fewer individuals were in possession of more
than separate manuscripts.
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke
were not written, as Mr. Home thinks, till
about the time of Nero's persecution, a. d. 62,
and these, with the inspired Epistles or letters
to the already founded Churches, became emi-
nently necessary to check the errors and
heresies which had arisen in them.
41
Yet internal frictions, amounting in some
instances to warm dissensions, were tame
compared with the difficulties which the dis-
ciples in the early centuries encountered at
various periods from outside foes. It was
thought that by burning the believer the belief
could also be burned. Superstitious notions
sometimes appeared in connection with these
fiery persecutions.
There is a quaint old poem called "The
Legend of the Roses," which accounts in a
singular way for the origin of this flower. It
is found in a work entitled " The Voyage and
Travel of Sir J. Maundevile, Knight," which
was published in 1332.
A fair maiden was slandered
For wrong she had not done ;
Doomed to the death to pay her sin,
And yet her sin was none.
She prayed unto our Saviour dear
That He miglit give her aid,
And prove thereby to all the world
She was a holy maid.
Then forth she stepped wilh great faith,
Unto the stake slie hied ;
Meekly she bowed her head to all
A farewell ere she died.
The angry crowd, for blood athirst,
Unto the pile set fire —
The blazing flames mount to the sky
With piercing strength full dire.
When, sudden at her feet, instead
Of brands and fiercest flame,
Are roses fair of simple troth.
And roses red from shame,
To see so cruel, wicked deed
Against the pure and true —
They clasp her feet, they climb arouitd.
They shroud her in from view.
None other roses till this day
Had yet been seen on earth,
'Tis sure thay came from Paradise
To prove this fair maid's worth.
That many of the early Christians had
struggles and conflicts to pass through, foes to
face, and suflerings to endure, may account in
part for what is said so eloquently in the New
?:!■
642
THE HEAVY-LADEN.
Testament concerning cliarity, and that heav-
enly sympathy which is due toward those
who are in distress.
Not oaly in the writings of the apostles, but
teachings. Sympathy, the disposition to suf.
fer with another and help the heavy-iaden to
bear their burden, is one of the great tliemes
of the apostles, especially of Paul, and it will
"doomed to the death."
throughout the whole range of literature those
beautiful sentiments of love and charity are
expressed which fell from the lips of Jesus,
and formed so large a part of his public
be interesting to notice how this sweet Bible
strain is echoed in the writings of uninspired
authors whose brilliant productions have
charmed the world.
TEACHINGS OF THE APOSTLES.
643
>sitiou to suf.
-•avy-Iadcii to
great tliemes
ul, and it will
'Ill
lis sweet Bible
5 of uninspired
Auctions have
The Rev. Thomas Guthrie, of Scotland,
whose eloquence in the pulpit was equalled
only by his missionary spirit and his self-deny-
ing labors among the poor, says: "Though
the lower animals have feeling, they have no
fellow-feeling. Have not I seen the horse en-
joy his feed of corn when his yoke-fellow lay
a-dying in the neighboring stall, and never
turn an eye of pity on the sufferer ? They
have strong passions, but no sympathy. It is
said that the wounded deer sheds tears ; but it
belongs to man only to * weep with them that
weep,' and by sympathy to divide another's
sorrows and double another's joys.
"When thunder, following the dazzling
flash, has burst among our hills, when the
horn of the Switzer has rung in his glorious
valleys, when the boatman has shouted from
the bosom ot a rock-girt loch, wonderful were
the echoes I have heard them make; but there
is no echo so tine or wonderful as that which,
in the sympathy of human hearts, repeats the
cry of another's sorrow, and makes me feel his
pain almost as if it were my own. They say
that if a piano is struck in a room where an-
other stands unopened and untouched, who
lays his ear to that will hear a string within,
as if touched by the hand of a shadowy spirit,
sound the same note. But more strange how
the strings of one heart vibrate to those of an-
other; how woe wakens woe; how your grief
infects me with sadness ; how the shadow of a
passing funeral and nodding hearse casts a
cloud on the mirth of a marriage party ; how
sympathy may be so delicate and acute as to
become a pain.
" There is, for example, the well-authenti-
cated case of a lady who could not even hear
the description of a severe surgical operation
but she felt all the agonies of the patient;
grew paler and paler, and shrieked and fainted
under the horrible imagination. Not a fancy;
for the dog has that, and, asleep on the warm
hearth, he dreams of battles and of hunts : not
reason; for there is an intelligence in his
lionest eye, and a skill in his tasks, that at
least apes and imitates the intellect of man — it
is not these, but fellow-feeling, which elevates
our race above the unimmortal brute, and
brings us near to Him whose sympathy is our
chief comfort in sorrow, and of whom we arc
assured— thank God in life's dark hour for the
as.surance--that'in all His people's affliction
He is Himself afflicted."'
Equally striking is the tribute paid by Mrs.
Norton to the little child, whose tender heart
is easily touched and whose love it is not
difficult to awaken :
"A child's eyes ; those clear wells of unde-
filed thought: what on earth can be more
beautiful? full of hope, love and curios-
ity, they meet your own. In prayer, how
earnest ; in joy, how sparkling ; in sympathy,
how tender. The man who never tried the
companionship of a little child has carelessly
passed by one of the great pleasures of life, as
one passes a rare flower, without plucking it
or knowing its value. A child cannot under-
stand you, you think; speak to it of the holy
things of your religion, of your grief for the loss
of a friend, of your love for someone you fear
will not love in return ;— it will take, it is true,
no measure or soundings of your thought— it
will not judge how much you should believe,
whether your grief is rational in proportion to
your loss, whether you are worthy or fit to at-
tract the love which you seek — ^but its whole
soul will incline to yours, and engraft itself as
it were on the feeling which is your feeling for
the hour."
Value of a Friend.
One of the £nest things Lord Byron ever
wrote is contained in these truthful lines :
** There's nought in this bad world like sympathy |
'Tis so becoming to the soul and face —
Sets to soft music the harmonious sigh,
And robes sweet friendsiiip in a Brussels lace."
Among the many sayings of Jeremy Taylor,
those brilliant gems which lend so rich a lus-
tre to English literature, the following must be
accounted as one of the choicest :
" Every man rejoices twice when he has a
partner of his joy ; a friend shares my sorrow
and makes it but a moiety ; but he swells n^
joy and makes it double.
644
POWER OF SYMPATHY.
" For so two channels divide the river and
lessen it into rivulets, and make it fordable
and apt to be drunk up by the first revels of
the Syrian Star; but two torches do not divide
but increase the flame ; and though my tears
are the sooner dried up, when they run on my
friend's cheeks in the furrows of compassion,
yet when my flame hath kindled his lamp, we
unite the glories and make them radiant, like
the golden candlesticks that burn before the
throne of God, because they shine by numbers,
by unions, and confederations of light and
joy."
Henry Ward Beecher also adds the follow-
ing beautiful tribute to those already quoted :
" Happy is the man who has that in his soul
which acts upon the dejected as April airs upon
violet roots. Gifts from the hand are silver and
gold, but the heart gives that which neither
silver nor gold can buy. To be full of good-
ness, full of cheerfulness, full of sympathy,
full of helpful hope, causes a man to carry
blessings of which he is himself as unconscious
as a lamp is of its own shining. Such a one
moves on human life as stars move on dark
seas to bewildered mariners ; as the sun
wheels, bringing all the seasons with him from
the south."
F. W. Robertson uses the following striking
language :
" We must not make too much of sympa-
thy, as mere feeling. We praise feeling and
praise its possessor. But feeling is only a
sickly exotic in itself— a passive quality, hav-
ing in it nothing moral, no temptation and no
victory. A man is no more a good man for
having feeling, than he is for having a delicate
ear for music, or a far-seeing optic nerve.
The Son of man had feeling — He could be
'touched.' The tear would start from His
eyes at the sight of human sorrow. But that
sympathy was no exotic in His soul, beautiful
to look at, too delicate for use. Feeling with
Him led to this, ' He went about doing good.'
Sympathy with Him was this, 'Grace to help
in time of need.' "
It is said of the saintly George Herbert, the
quaint old English Church poet, that once in
j a walk to Salisbury, to join a musical party, he
saw a poor man with a poorer horse that was
fallen under his load. They were both in dis-
tress and needed present help, which Mr Her-
bert perceiving, put off his canonical coat, and
helped the poor man to unload, and afterwards
load his horse. The poor man blessed him tor
it and he blessed the poor man, and was so
like the good Samaritan, that he gave liin
money to refresh both himself and his horse.
ObJectH of Cliarlty.
Thus he left the poor man ; and at his com-
ing to his musical friends at Salisbury, they
began to wonder that Mr. Herbert, who used
to be trim and clean, was so soiled and dis-
composed. But he told them the occasion;
and when one of the company told him " he
had disparaged himself by so dirty an em-
ployment," his answer was " that the thought
of what he had done would prove music to
him at midnight, and that the omission of it
would have upbraided and made discord in his
conscience whensoever he should pass by that
place ; for if I be bound to pray for all that be
in distress, I am sure that I am bound, so far
as it is in my power, to practice what I pray
for; and let me tell you, I would not willingly
pass one day of my life without comforting a
sad soul, or showing mercy, and bless God for
this occasion." Oh, how many might have
anxious thoughts which often infest their mid-
night hours changed into sweet music, if they
would only be more frequently seen with full
hands and friendly words in the abodes of
poverty and suflfering ! These are the places
in which to attune one's conscience to mid-
night harmonies.
Says the celebrated Dr. Chalmers: "No-
thing seems much clearer than the natural
direction of charity. Would we all but re-
lieve, according to the measure of our means,
those objects immediately within the range of
our personal knowledge, how much of the
worst evil of poverty might be alleviated 1
Very poor people, who are known to us to
have been honest, decent, and industrious,
when industry was in. their power, have a
isicai party, he
lorse that was
re both in dis-
hich Mr Mcr-
nical coat, and
and afterwards
)lcssed him tor
in, and was so
he gave liiir
ind his horse.
ind at his corn-
Salisbury, they
lert, who used
ioiled and dis-
the occasion;
' told him " he
dirty an em-
at the thou{,'ht
irove music to
omission of it
!e discord in his
lid pass by that
r for all that be
1 bound, so far
:e what I pray
d not willingly
comforting a
d bless God for
ly might have
nfest their mid-
t music, if they
' seen with full
the abodes of
are the places
cience to mid-
lalmers: "No-
an the natural
we all but re-
ef our means,
in the range of
much of the
be alleviated I
nown to us to
lid industrious,
power, have a
t!l
BEAR YE ONE ANOTHER'S BURDENS. — Gal. vi. 2.
i
\i.%
.,. '
.ii'^
' '«
,!4>*k|
(646)
'i\
646
REWARD OF WELL-DOING.
claim on us, founded on our knowledge, and
on vicinity and neighborhood, which have in
themselves something sacred and endearing to
every good heart. One cannot, surely, always
pass by in his walks for health, restoration, or
delight, the lone wayside beggar, without oc-
casionally giving him an alms. Old, care-
worn, pale, drooping, and emaciated creatures,
who pass us by without looking beseechingly
at us, or even lifting up their eyes from the
ground, cannot often be met with, without ex-
citing an interest in us for their silent and un-
obtrusive sufferings or privations. A hovel,
here and there, round and about our own com-
fortable dwelling, attracts our eyes by some
peculiar appearance of penury, and we look in,
now and then, upon its inmates, cheering their
cold gloom with some small benefaction.
These are duties all men owe to distress ; they
are easily discharged ; and even such tender
mercies as these are twice blessed."
These glowing tributes to that fellow-feeling
which comes to the weary world as the sum-
mer sun comes with soft gales and fragrant
blossoms, making the earth glad, are in keep-
ing with the teachings of the New Testament,
and in fact were born of the sayings of Christ
and the apostles. What they uttered is echoed
in the words of a thousand others, and finds a
response in every human heart.
One of the great themes of Paul is found in
his short, practical precept : " Bear ye one an-
other's burdens." The thought of human
suffering is always present with him ; the vision
of want and distress throws its dark shadow
across his path ; the sigh of another is a pang
in his own soul ; the tear that falls so silently
awakens in his heart unutterable sympathies.
In the presence of his foes he is a lion ; in the
presence of sorrow he turns to a ministering
angel.
" Let us not be weary in well doing," he
says, " for in due season we shall reap if we
faint not. As we have therefore opportunity,
let us do good unto all men." The warm
and limitless charity of the apostle stands
here in striking contrast to that selfishness
which seeks only its own good.
" Forever the sun is pouring his gold
On a hundred worlds that l)eg and borrow;
His warmth he squanders on summits cold,
His wealth, on the homes of want and sorrow.
To withhold his largess of precious light
Is to bury himself in eternal night :
To give is to live,
" The flower shines not for itself at all,
Its joy is the joy it freely diffuses ;
O* beauty and lialm it is prodigal.
And it lives in the life it sweetly loses.
No choice for the rose but glory or doom —
To exhale or smother, to wither or bloom ;
To deny is to die.
•< The seas lend silvery rain to the land.
The land its sapphire streams to the ocean ;
The heart sends blood to the brain of command^
The brain to the heart its constani motion ;
And over and over we yield our breath-
Till the mirror is dry and images death :
To giveis to live.
<■ He is dead whose hand is not opened wide
To help the need of sister or brother;
He doubles the worth of his life-long ride
Who gives his fortunate place to another;
Not one but a thosuand lives are his
Who carries the world in his sympathies ;
To deny is to die.
" Throw gold to the far-dispersing wave.
And your sliips sail home with tons of treasure;
Care not for comfort, all haidships brave,
And evening and age shall sup with pleasure ;
Fling health to the sunshine, wind, and rain,
And roses shall come to th^^ cheek again :
To give is to live."
It is one of the happy characteristics of the
Bible that it takes such account of human
weakness and infirmity. While the ancient
Stoics believed that the only way for over-
coming sorrow was to steel the heart against
it, thereby turning the sufferer into a creature
of bronze or granite, the Gospel comes to us
with hope and good cheer. Paul affirms that
the strong should support the weak, and this
in effect is reiterated again and again ; it comes
out through all the Bible, and especially in the
teachings of Christ and the great apostle. The
spirit of the Bible is found in the angelic song
of good-will to men.
It was customary in those days, days of
TEACHINGS OF THE APOSTLES.
647
oppression and violence, for the strong to
crush the weak, " breaking tiie bruised reed,"
and " quenching the smoking flax." A new
method of dealing with the weak, that of lift-
ing them up, befriending them, helping them,
acting the part of the good Samaritan, was so
contrary to the prevailing ideas and principles
of the time that strong opposition was
awakened against Christianity because it took
such tender account of the poor and oppressed.
The great lesson that we are considering
here is not merely a lesson from the human
heart moved to sympathy, but it may even be
found in other realms. While the whole
creation groans and travails in pain, the whole
creation seeks a remedy for its groanings and its
complaints. Think how, in the brute creation,
dumb suffering appeals to creatures themselves
dumb, but which seem to have somewhat of
the feeling of human brotherhood. There is
a motherhood in the animal creation which is
sometimes as striking as that to be found in
our humanity. The fierce beasts, the lions,
the tigers, the panthers, the bears, all show
this wonderful affection for their young, for
the helpless little ones that would perish x-
cept for maternal care. Thus the terrible fe-
rocity of the brute creation is softened, and
the wild beast that would rend you in pieces
turns toward its helpless offspring in a ministry
as unexpected as it it- beautiful.
Birds Be8cuin£r their Mates.
Think also how a bird will place its own
feathered breast between its young and danger.
This is a lesson that we may see around us in
our summer fields, derived from these creatures
of the air which are so often used in the Bible
as symbols for teaching the most blessed and
comforting truths.
Instances are well known where the olde:
birds have- gone to the relief of one of their
wounded companions, and have actually borne
it aloft, away from further harm, when, by
reason of its own broken and helpless wings,
it could not bear itself. This is a happy illus-
tration derived from natural history, and re-
minding us of the words of Paul, that " they
who are strong should bear the infirmities of
the weak."
An interesting writer gives us the following
striking thoughts, which we take the liberty
of quoting : " When we see how the active,
the earnest, and the devout often suffer, it
were well if we pondered what a kindly word
can do, and, above all, if we avoided sharp
and bitter ones. Let unkindness never send
another arrow into the hearts around us.
They will not be with us very long, nor we
with them. Let unfilial carelessness never
wound ; let pride never pass over the poorer
friends with cool indifference. Let us help
men and women, seeing there is enough, in-
deed, to make them sigh.
" One of Solomon's proverbs shows the con-
nection that exists between the mind and the
man : ' Heaviness in the heart of man maketh
it to stoop.' The picture is beautiful. We see
how weakened men become by heavy-hearted-
ness. They seem less able to cope with dif-
ficulty ; and so, indeed, it is. Make a man's
heart light, and you make him stronger;
weaken him there, and he is enfeebled — he
stoops as though age and infirmity were com-
ing upon him. He is not so able to face his
adversary as he was before ; not so able to bid
defiance to the storm and breast the waves.
" Wc should soon become a stooping race
if it were not for the smile of man and the
kind blessing of God. Of course, I have felt
as you have, that this truth runs through the
Bible, that God's favor and blessing makes us
happy — happy even in tribulation; but we
have also as clearly revealed the relation we
sustain to each other : * Bear ye one another's
burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.' "
The Golden Rule.
There is something sweet and beautiful in
the very derivation of the word "benevolence."
Bene volens, good willing, or willing the good.
This is the burden of that glorious song which
broke across the world when the mysterious
and despised Nazarene came into it. It was
His mission; and because of it there has passed
out upon the world, since His death, a fragrance
I i
648
TRUE BENEVOLENCE.
that shall cling to it while time endures. Be- 1 To give rightly we must have given purely
nevolence, as the meaning of the word indi-iwith the heart before puttinpr forth the hand.
THE STRONG SUPPORTING THE WEAK. — Roill. XV, 1.
cates, has much a passive as an active virtue ;
or rather, which is the better way of putting it,
must be passive before it is active.
Then will come the right gift. The heart's
suggestions being right, true deeds will follow
in their train. But is it not often this: "do
TEACHINGS OF THE APOSTLES.
unto others as ye would that they should not
do unto you ? " There is evidently something
wrong here. We are really noble as we feel
and act for others. Platitudes, it may be said,
to which all can subscribe without prejudice,
but which business men cannot attend to.
Nevertheless, men are chiefly worthy as they
reduce such things from platitudes to practi-
calities.
A life spent in good deeds must, of necessity,
bring pleasant reminiscences in old age, and
vice versa. The closing scenes of the lives of
men who have been benefactors to mankind
would be much more desirable than those of
the ill-livers — Wycherley, for instance. We
are told of the dramatist, that in his declining
years he frequently looked at the portrait
painted of him when at the age of twenty-
eight, by Lely, but never without a sigh ; and
that when he did so he murmured, " Quantum
mutatus ab illo ! " How changed, indeed !
but had he thought of others, instead of
his own passions and their gratification, the
review would not have been so bitter, for some
kind act might have broken in like a sunbeam
upon the gloomy firmament.
Not that the fact of having lived well is
enough to support the spirit, alone and un-
aided, when the present world recedes and the
next advances ; but if there be a pleasure in
doing good, that pleasure can be enjoyed as a
reminiscence in after life as well as at the time
of the performance of the deed. The brothers
Cheeryble must surely descend into the grave
more honored and beloved than the mere
Jacob Astors — the accumulators — of society.
There is one little preliminary to the exercise
of benevolence to be mentioned which sopie
are in the habit of forgetting, namely, that
they must first get in order to give. This is
only another mode of reading the adage, " Be
just before you are generous." It is really
astonishing, even in this world of appropria-
tion, to see how many there are who can afford
to be lavish with the resources of others.
One of the principal features of New Tes-
tament teaching relates to the ministry of
angels. Heaven and earth are placed side by
649
pass and repass
side, and glad
from one to the other. In the writings of the
apostles the veil which divides two worlds is
repeatedly drawn aside, and celestial beings
appear in white raiment and immaculate beauty.
Entertaiiiiugr Angels.
" Some have entertained angels unawares,"
says the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews.
Abraham did so. When sitting at his tent
door, under the shade of the terebinth of
Mamre, while the eastern sun blazed fiercely
around, he saw three mysterious men near his
habitation.
He rose, went forward to greet them, made
ready a lordly meal; and thus entertained,
" unawares," messengers from the unseen
world. Lot did so. Sitting at the gate of
Sodom, as the sun shot slanting beams along
the western sky, he discerned in the gloaming
two strangers approach the city. These he
pressed to spend the night under the shelter
of his roof; and thus unconsciously did honor
to the heavenly ambassadors whom God had
sent to deliver him and his from the destruction
impending the place. Gideon did so.
While threshing out his father's corn at
Ophrah, he was startled by the sudden ap-
pearance of an unfamiliar form. He made
ready some food for the wayfarer ; but this was
made to serve as a sacrifice, in the flame of
which the stranger rose as a seraph to the sky.
In these cases, " angels that do always behold
the face of our Father in heaven" stood face
to face with man; and those whose voices
swell the symphonies of the skies spoke to
human ears. Thus heavenly messengers dis-
guised in earthly garb, received as men, enter-
tained as " strangers," disappeared with their
higher nature disclosed.
Not thus visibly do angels appear now ; but
often still do heavenly messengers visit us in
veiled form, so that we do not recognize their
high origin until they " brighten as they take
their flight;" and sometimes not even then
does their true nature appear to us. It is well,
then, that we should be prepared to receive
them in disguise, and should be ready to en-
m
\ 111
1)1
\ ■!;;
6a>
THE MASTER VIRTUE.
tertain God's servants, whatever form they may
assume. Let us, then, think of some of the
"angels" whom we are apt to "entertain un-
awares."
Scarcely any subject, however, is more
prominent in the teachings of the apostles
than faith. This is the master virtue, and its
praises are sounded on every page of Script-
ure.
"All men," says Dr. Guthrie, "are born
with faith. Faith is as natural to a man as
turns ; and when the babe holds out its little
arms to her, I see in these arms the arms of
faith ; and when, like a believer restored to tin;
bosom of his God, it is nestling in a mother's
embrace and the cloud passes from its brow,
and its tears are changed into smiles, and its
terror into calm serenity, we behold the prin-
ciple of faith in play.
" This is one of its earliest and — so far as
nature is concerned — one of its most beautiful
developments. So natural indeed is it for us
BBBBn
" ANGELS UNAWARES." — Heb. xili. 2.
grief or love, or anger. One of the earliest
flowers that spring up in the soul — it smiles
on a mother from her infant's cradle ; and liv-
ing on through the rudest storms of life, it
never dies till the hour of death.
" On the face of a child which has been left
for a little time with strangers, and may be
caressed with their kisses and courted with
their smiles, and fondled and dandled in their
arms, I have seen a cloud gathering and grow-
ing darker till at length it burst in cries of
terror and showers of tears. The mother re-
to confide, and tru.st and believe, that a child
believes whatever it is told, until experience
shakes its confidence in human veracity. Its
eye is caught by the beauty of some flower, or
it gazes up with wonder on the starrj' heavens;
with that inquisitiveness which in childhood,
active as a bee, is ever on the wing, it is curi-
ous to know who made them, and would be-
lieve you if you said you made them yourself.
" Such is the faith which nature gives it in
a father that it never doubts his word. It be-
lieves all he says, and is content to believe
n * .>.
TEACHINGS OF THE APOSTLES.
651
where it is not able to comprehend. For this
as well as other reasons, our Saviour presented
in a child the living model of a Christian. He
left Abraham, the father of the faithful, to his
repose in heaven ; He left Samuel undisturbed
to enjoy the quiet rest of his grave; He allowed
Moses and Elias, after their brief visit, to re-
turn to the skies and wing their way back to
glory. For a pattern of faith He took a boy
from his mother's side, and setting him up in
his gentle, blushing, shrinking modesty before
the great assembly. He said, ' Whosoever shall
not receive the kingdom of God as a little
child, shall in nowise enter therein.' "
The Queen of Graces.
Says quaint old Thomas Adams : " When
Samuel came to anoint one of the sons of
Jesse, Eliab was presented to him, and he said,
'Surely the Lord's anointed is before him.'
He was deceived; he might have a goodly
countenance and a high stature ; but it was not
he. Then passed by Abinadab ; nor is this he.
Then Shammah ; nor 's this he. Then seven
of his sons were presented : ' The Lord hath
chosen none of these.'
" ' Be here all ? ' saith Samuel. Jesse an-
swered, ' No; the youngest is behind, and he
keepelh the sheep.' 'Then,' saith Samuel,
'send and fetch him, for we will not sit down
till he come.' When he was come, he ' was
ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance
and goodly to look on. And the Lord .said,
Arise and anoint him, for this is he.'
" If we should make such a quest for the
principal grace ; temperance is a sober and
matronly virtue, but not she ; humility in the
lowest is respected of the highest, but not she;
patience, a sweet and comfortable virtue, that
looks cheerfully on troubles, when her breast
is red with the blood of sufferance, her cheeks
are white with the pureness of innocency, yet
not she ; charity is a lovely virtue, little inno-
cents hang at her breasts, angels kiss her
cheeks : ' Her lips are like a thread of scarlet,
and her speech is comely; her temples are
like a pomegranate within her locks;' all
the ends of the earth call her blessed, yet not she.
" Lastly, faith appears, beautified with the
robe of her Saviour's righteousness, adorned
with the jewels of His grace, and shining in
that fairness which He gave her. yam re-
gina vaiit, now comes the queen oi graces :
this is she."
Faith Needs to be Trained.
Richard Cecil one day went into a room
where his little girl was, bright-eyed and
happy as she could be. Somebody had just
given her a box of very beautiful beads. The
little child ran to her papa immediately to
show this little gift. " They are very beauti-
ful, my child," he said ; " but now, my dear,
throw them into the fire." The little girl
looked for a moment. It was a great trial.
" Now I shall not compel you to do it ; I leave
it to you ; but you never knew papa ask you
to do a thing that was not kind to you. I
cannot tell you why, but if you can trust me,
do so."
It cost a great effort ; but the little child be-
gan in her own way to think, " Father has al-
ways been kind to me ; I suppose it is right,"
and she took the box, and, with a great effoit,
threw it into the fire. The father said no
more for some time. The next day, however,
he presented her with something far more
beautiful, and which she had long desired.
" Now," said he, " my child, I did this to teach
you to trust in that great Father in heaven.
Many a time in your life He will require you
to give up and to avoid what you cannot see
the reason for avoiding ; but if you trust that
Father as you have trusted me, you will al-
ways find it best." That was training the
child's faith.
Only benefit can come from the trial of faith.
There was a British regiment once ordered to
charge a body of French cuirassiers. The
trumpets sounded and away they went boldly
at them ; but not to victory. They broke like
a wave that launches itself against a rock.
They were sacrificed to trader's fraud. Forged
not of truest steel, but worthless metal, their
swords bent double at the first stroke. What
could human strength or the most gallant
65:
THE TRIAL OF FAITH.
bravery do against such odds? They were
slaughtered like sheep on the field. And ever
since I read that tragedy, I have thought I
much to be proved as his faith — its truth and
genuineness? This in effect is what Dr.
Guthrie says concerning the trial of faith.
'^f.JS/^
t-i A ^^^*TO-
FAITH. — Heb. xi. I.
would not go to battle unless my sword were
proved. I would not go to sea with anchors
that had not been tried. But of all things for
a man's comfort and peace, what needs so
" Triumphant Faith !
Who, from the distant earth, looks up to heaven,
Seeing invisibility, suspending
Eternity upon the breath of God.
Longfellow :
TEACHINGS OF THE APOSTLES.
i63
She can pluck mountains from their rooted thrones,
And hurl tbem into ocean ; and from pain,
And prisons, and contempt, extort the palm
Of everlasting triumph. She doth tread
Upon the neck of pride, like the free wind
On angry ocean, 1m ! with step erect
She walks o'er whirlpool waves and martyr fires,
And depths of darkness and chaotic voids;
Dissolving worlds, rent heavens, and dying suns;
Yea, and o'er paradises of earth's bliss.
And oceans of earth's gold, and pyramids
And temples of earth's glory ; all these pave
Her conquering path to heaven— all these she spurns
With feet fire-shod, because her hand is placed
Immovably in God's ; her eye doth rest
Unchangeably on His ; nor will she stop
Till, having crossed the stormy waves of pain
And fiery trial, she may lay her head
Upon her Father's brtast and take the crown
From love's rejoicing hand."
Faith and Works.
Faith and works are as necessary to our
spiritual life as Christians, as soul and body
are to our natural life as men ; for faith is the
soul of religion, and works the body. Says
Longfellow :
Therefore love and believe, for works will follow spon-
taneous.
Even as the day the sun ; the right from the good is an
offspring.
Love is a bodily shape ; and Christian works are no more
than
Animate faith and love, as flowers are the animate spring-
tide.
The second chapter of the Epistle by James
seems to describe a spiritual wedding. We are
" bidden to a marriage." And as at the older
marriage in Cana of Galilee, the Holy Mas-
ter is present, and consummates the nuptials,
The parties to be united are but symbolic per-
sonages, and yet are real and lifelike too. The
bride is young and beautiful — ever young, and
ever clothed upon with light as with a gar-
ment. Like Milton's Eve, she was
" For softness formed, and sweet attractive grace."
Her face is clear as the day — her look is firm,
and yet trustful. She is not of the earth, but
heaven-born, and wears her celestial parentage
in every lineament of her radiant countenance.
Her name is Faith. She is the daughter of God.
And beside her stands one whose lusty form
was made for deeds of daring and endurance.
He is sinewy and athletic. There is valor in
his eye, and " cunning in his ten fingers," and
strength in his right arm. He was created to
act, to do, to suffer. He was formed for strife
and struggle. His name is Action.
With solemn rites the two are joined in wed-
lock. They are both to love and both to
obey. They are always to live, and move,
and suffer, and conquer together. They are
to be the fruitful parents of everything good
on earth. On them, while united, Jehovah
pronounces a "blessing" richer than that
which gladdened the nuptials of Isaac and
Rebekah, or of Jacob and Leah. While united,
they are to live, and grow, and conquer. When
separated, they are to droop and perish. For
each other, and in each other, and with each
other, their days of struggle and victory are
to be passed, until time shall be no longer.
And so Faith and Works were coupled by In-
finite Wisdom, and in the presence of the
world it was solemnly announced, "What
God hath joined together, let no man put
asunder."
From that union has sprung up a glorious
progeny. All the mighty deeds which have
ennobled and elevated humanity own that
parentage. Faith and Action have been the
source, under God, of everj'thing good, and
great, and enduring, in the Church of Christ;
the very Church itself exists through them.
The early apostles went out with their glad
evangel to the nations under this double im-
pulse, and with this double watchword. It was
not enough to " believe my Gospel ; " they were
also to " preach my Go.spel." It was not
enough to love in the heart; the whole life
was to be an embodiment and outflow of
love. It was not enough to have a meek and
gentle spirit; the young Church was to re-
turn good for evil, and thus overcome evil
with good.
The Church was not only to be sound in
heart, but active in limb and sinew also. It
was to be a militant Church, contending ear-
nestly for the faith delivered to the saints; a
III
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654
FAITH AND ACTION.
courageous Church, standing fast for the Gos-
pel; a suppliant Church, praying without
ceasing ; a busy Church, redeeming the time ;
a patient Church, bearing with all long-suffer-
ing ; and a conquering Church, to evangelize
all nations.
Its model men were men of faith and action.
The great apostle seems to fly like a thunder-
bolt, kindling, and consuming! He is all
ablaze with zeal. At Lystra rebuking the de-
luded worshippers — at Jerusalem confronting
the Pharisees and the rulers on the castle-
stairs — ^at Caesarea startling Agrippa on his
tribunal — at Rome preaching the reviled
Gospel, both in his "own hired house" and in
Cxsar's palace — he is everywhere the believer
in full action, with the heart to feel and the
hand to do.
Two gentlemen were one day crossing the
river in a ferry-boat. A dispute about faith
and works arose ; one saying that good works
were of small importance, and that faith was
•everything ; the other asserting the contrary.
Not being able to convince each other, the
ferryman, an enlightened Christian, asked per-
mission to give his opinion.
Consent being granted: he said: " I hold in
my hand two oars. That in my right hand I call
' faith ; ' the other, in my left, ' works.' Now,
:gentlemen, please to observe: I pull the oar of
faith, and pull that alone. See ! the boat goes
round and round, and the boat makes no pro-
gress. I do the same with the oar of works,
and with a precisely similar result— no advance.
Mark! I pull both together: we go on apace,
and in a very few minutes we shall be at our
landing-place. So, in my humble opinion," he
added, " faith without works, or works without
faith, will not suffice. Let there be both, and
the haven of eternal rest is sure to be reached."
As the flower is before the fruit, so is faith
before good works. Faith is the parent of
works, and the children will bear a resem-
blance to the parent.
It is not enough that the inward works of
a clock are well constructed, and also the dial-
plate and hands; the one must act on the
other, the works must regulate the movement
of the hands.
" Lo I when the boatman stems the flowing tide.
And aims direct his little boat to guide ;
With both oars working he can headway make.
And leave the waters foaming in his wake ;
But if one oar within the boat he lays,
In useless circles round and round he plays.
So faith and works, when both together brought,
With mighty power and heavenly life are fraught.
To help the Chi'istian on his arduous road.
And urge him forward on his way to God ;
If faithor works, no matter which, he drops,
Short of his journey's end he surely stops."
h^
CHAPTER XLIV.
THE mm OF JOHN.
MOST remarkable book
v^ is the last in the
Bible, which is the
Revelation of John.
There is a mystery
about it which even
adds to the interest
with which all read-
ers peruse it. Its
language is lofty; its imagery is sublime, at
times even terrible ; its meaning is now plain,
and now inscrutable, and throughout woful
denunciations of evil are mingled with glow-
ing descriptions of the heavenly world.
A brief account of the author of the book
will serve to show his remarkable traits, and
will help to a correct understanding of his
various writings.
The epoch of the destruction of Jerusalem,
at which the Son of man visited as a judge
the city that had rejected its King, and inaugu-
rated that spiritual kingdom upon earth which
had now been established in Churches gathered
from every nation of the civilized world — that
epoch does not close the New Testament
History. One apostle, of those whose names
are prominent in the foundation of the Church,
not only remained upon the earth to fulfil his
work, but the more special part of that work
— according to the views generally held of the
date of his writings — may be said to have been
but just beginning. It was not till the founda-
tion of Christianity was historically complete,
that the apostle John was divinely commis-
sioned to utter prophecies of its future course,
and to develop in his Epistles and Gospel
those doctrinal aspects of Christ's teaching
which were needed to correct the heresies now
rapidly taking their rise.
The prominent place filled by John in the
Gospel history, as one of the four disciples
who formed the innermost circle of the friends
of Christ, and the high distinction of being
" the disciple whom Jesus loved," might raise
our surprise at reading so little of him in the
Acts, did we not reflect that his special work
is to be sought for in his writmgs. The por-
tion of his life which stands out in the broad
daylight of the Gospels is preceded and fol-
lowed by periods over which there brood the
shadows of darkness and uncertainty.
In most passages of the Gospels, John is
named in connection with his brother James ;
and from the prevailing order it is inferred
that he was the younger. Their father was
Zebedee, their mother Salome, whom tradition
makes the daughter of Joseph by his first wife,
and consequently the half-sister to Jesus.
They were brought up at Bethsaida, on the
lake of Galilee, the town of that other pair of
brothers — the sons of Jonas — who were to
share with them Christ's closest intimacy, and
with whom we find them partners in their oc-
cupation of fishermen.
The mention of the " hired servants," of
Salome's "substance," of John's "own house,"
implies a position removed by at least some
steps from absolute poverty. The fact that
John was known to the high priest Caiaphas
— as that acquaintance was hardly likely to be
formed with a disciple of Christ — suggests the
probability of some early intimacy between the
two families. Of Zebedee we know nothing
beyond his interposing no refusal when his
sons were called to leave him ; and his disap-
pearance from the Gospel narrative leads to
the inference that his death set Salome free to
join her children in ministering to Christ.
Her character presents to us the same great
features that were conspicuous in her son.
From her — who followed Jesus and ministered
to Him of her substance, who sought for her
(656)
! ,<^-<
656
JOHN'S EARLY YEARS.
two sons that they might sit, one on His right
hand, the other on His left, in His kingdom —
he might well derive his strong affections, his
capacity for giving and receiving love, his
eagerness for the speedy manifestation of the
Messiah's kingdom.
The early years of the apostle were passed
under this influence. He would be trained in
all that constituted the ordinary education of
Jewish boyhood. Though not taught in the
schools of Jerusalem, and therefore in later
life liable to the reproach of having no recog-
nized position as a teacher, no Rabbinical
education, he would yet be taught to read the
Law and observe it? precepts, to feed on the
writings of the Prophets with the feeling that
their accomplishment was not far off. For him
too, as bound by the law, there would be, at the
age of thirteen, the periodical pilgrimages to
Jerusalem. He would become familiar with
the stately worship of the Temple, with the
sacrifice, the incense, the altar, and the priestly
robes. May we not conjecture that then the
impressions were first made which never after-
ward wore off?
Assuming that there is some harmony be-
tween the previous training of a prophet and
the form of the visions presented to him, may
we not recognize them in the rich liturgical
imagery of the Apocalypse — in that union in
one wonderful vision of all that was most
wonderful and glorious in the predictions of
the older prophets ?
Concurrently with this there would be also
the boy's outward life as sharing in his father's
work. The great political changes which
agitated the whole of Palestine would in some
degree make themselves felt even in the vil-
lage town in which he grew up. The Galilean
fishermen must have heard, possibly with some
sympathy, of the efforts made (when he was
too young to join in them) by Judas of Ga-
mala, as the great asserter of the freedom of
Israel against their Roman rulers.
Like other Jews, he would grow up with
strong and bitter feeling against the neighbor-
ing Samaritans. Lastly, before we pass into
a period of greater certainty, we must not for-
get to take into account that to this period of
his life belongs the commencement of that
intimate fellowship with Simon Bar-jonah of
which we afterward find so many proofs. Tliat
friendship may even then have been^ in count-
less ways, fruitful for good upon the hearts of
both.
The Beloved DiHciple.
Of the four who enjoyed their Lord's espe-
cial intimacy, while Peter appears as the leader
of the apostolic band, to John belongs the
higher distinction of being "the disciple whom
Jesus loved ; " and this love is returned with a
more single undivided heart by him than by
any other. If Peter is the one who loved
Jesus, John is the one whom Jesus loved.
Some striking facts indicate why this was so —
what was the character thus worthy of the
love of Jesus of Nazareth. They hardly sus-
tain the popular notion, which is fostered by
the received types of Christian art, of a nature
gentle, yielding, effeminate. The name Boa-
nerges implies a vehemence, zeal, intensity,
which gave to those who bore it the might of
Sons of Thunder.
That spirit broke out once and again — when
they joined their mother in asking for the
highest places in the kingdom of their Master,
and declared that they were able to drink of
the cup that he drank, and to be baptized with
the baptism that he was baptized with — when
they rebuked one who cast out devils in their
Lord's name, because he was not of their com-
pany — when they sought to call down fire
from heaven upon a village of the Samaritans.
This energy added to the love of hiin who
reclined at the Last Supper with his head
upon his Master's breast the courage to follow
Him into the council-chamber of Caiaphas,
and even the prxtorium of Pilate, and to stand
by His cross — with Christ's mother and his
own, and Mary Magdalene — when all the rest
forsook Him and fled. There he received the
sacred trust, which must have influenced all
his subsequent home life, giving him a second
mother in the blessed Virgin. He gave a
home also to the penitent Peter; and when
they, first of the apostles, learned from Mar;
THK VISION OF JOHN.
657
was so —
Magdalene the resurrection of the Lord, it|
throws a light upon their respective characters
that John is the more impetuous, running on
most eagerly to the rock-tomb ; Peter, the less
restrained by awe, is the first to enter in and
look.
Peter's Ardent Nature.
So, too, when Jesus appeared to tl'em by
the Lake of Galilee, John is the first to recog-
nize, in the dim form seen in the morning
twilight, the presence of his risen Lord ; Peter,
the first to plunge into the water and swim
toward the shore where He stood calling to
them. The last words of the Gospel reveal
to us the deep affection which united the two
friends. It is not enough of Peter to know
his own future. That at once suggests the
question-7" Lord, and what shall this man
do ? " The reply of Jesus, which was perverted
into the legends that gather about the close of
John's life, surely means something more than
a rebuke of Peter's curiosity. The words —
"If I will that he tarry till I come" — are
doubtless a prophecy, as well as an hypothesis;
and they seem to intimate that, alone of all
the apostles, John should survive that catas-
trophe of the Old Dispensation in the destruc-
tion of Jerusalem, which made way for Christ's
coming in His kingdom.
The association of Peter and John appears
still in the opening scenes of the Acts — their
attendance together to worship in the Temple
—the miracle of healing the blind man — the
confessorship before the Sanhedrin — the gift
of the Holy Ghost to those very Samaritans
on whom John once wished to call down fire
from heaven.
This is his last appearance in the Acts ; and
he is not mentioned either in connection with
Paul's first visit to Jeru.salem after his conver-
sion, nor as engaged in labors like those of
Peter at Lydda, Joppa, and Caesarea, nor in the
persecution in which the sword of Herod di-
vided him from his brother James. Neither
does John appear as taking an active part in
the so-called " Council at Jerusalem ; " but he
was present at the private conference of the
apostles with Paul and Barnabas; and Paul
43
names John, with James and Cephas, as a
"pillar" of the Church, and as one of tliose
whose mission it was to " go to the circum-
cision."
This one passage proves that the scene of
John's labors thus far was Jerusalem and
Judaea. To the work of teaching, organizing,
and exhorting the Hebrew churches may
have been added special calls, like that which
had drawn him with Peter to Samaria. The
fulfilment of the solemn charge intrusted to
John may have led him to a life of loving and
reverent thought, rather than to one of con-
spicuous activity. We may, at all events, feel
sure that it was a time in which the naiural
elements of his character, with all their fiery
energy, were being purified and mellowed,
rising step by step to that high serenity which
we find perfected in the closing portion of his
life.
A Tradition Concerning John.
The tradition which ascribes to him a life
of celibacy receives some confirmation from
the absence of his name in i Cor. ix. 5. It
harmonizes with all we know of his character,
to think of his heart as so absorbed in the
higher and diviner love that there was no room
left for the lower and the human.
After a long interval, the apostle reappears
in that close connection with the Churches of
Asia Minor, which is attested alike by the
Apocalypse and by the uniform tradition of
the Church. It is a natural conjecture that he
remained in Judaea till the death of the Virgin
released him from his trust. Tradition carries
him from Judaea to Ephesus ; but it gives us
no clear light as to the motives of his removal :
the time is so variously fixed, under Claudius,
Nero, or even Domitian, as to prove that
nothing certain was known : and our only safe
conclusion- is to reject the two extremes.
The Pastoral Epistles of Paul absolutely ex-
clude the idea of any connection of John with
Ephesus down to their date, that is, to A. D. 66
at the earliest. On the other hand, it seems
almost a necessary inference, from John's
Epistles to the Seven Churches of Asia, that
the apostle who writes to them with such high
'h
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S,:
658
A CHRISTIAN CONFESSOR.
authority and such familiar knowledge of tiieir
condition, had already labored .some time
among them. This is in accordance with the
analogy of Paul's letters to churches which
he had recently visited — for example, the Thes-
salonians and Galatians ; but these cases may
also warn us not to exaggerate the time of the
previous ministration.
It is the plain meaning of John's own words,
in the opening of the Apocalypse, that he had
been banished as a Christian confessor to the
island of Patmus at a time of general persecu-
tion ; and the place seems to suggest that he
had been arrested in the province of Asia.
Though his banishment may have resulted
from some more local and temporary cause,
the que.stion has been generally narrowed to
the issue between the two great persecutions
under Nero and Domitian. The consent of
Christian antiquity is in favor of the latter
view: the former is a modern theory, based on
the internal evidence of the book, and con-
nected with a particular scheme of interpreta-
tion. Some of those who hold the later date
regard the Apocalypse as the latest book of the
New Testament ; but others place the Gospel
and the Epistles after it
Persecution and Banishment.
The tradition of the Church uniformly rep-
resents the apostle as spending his last days at
Ephesus, and the general outline of his work
there may be gathered from the Revelation
and the Epistles. The facts which these writ-
ings assert or imply are — that, having come to
Ephesus, some persecution, local or general,
drove him to Patmos: that the Seven Churches,
of which Asia was the centre, were .special
objects of his solicitude : that in his work he
had to encounter men who denied the truth on
which his faith rested ; and others who, with a
railing and malignant temper, disputed his au-
thority.
If to this we add that he must have outlived
all, or nearly all, of those who had been the
friends and companions of his maturer years
—that this lingering age gave strength to an
old imagination that his Lord had promised
him immortality — that, as it remembering the
actual words which had been thus purvc-rtctl,
the longing of his soul gathered itself up in
the cry, " Even so, come. Lord Jesus " — that
from some who spoke with authority he re*
ceived a solemn attestation of the confidence
they reposed in him — we have stated all that
has any claim to the character of historical
truth.
Sinffiilnr Legends.
The picture which tradition fills up for us
has the merit of being full and vivid, but it
blends together, without much regard to har-
mony, things probable and improbable. He
is shipwrecked off Ephesus, and arrives there
in time to check the progress of heresies
which sprang up after Paul's departure. Then,
or at a later period, he numbers among his dis-
ciples men like Polycarp, Papias, Ignatius. In
the persecution under Domitian he is taken to
Rome, and there, by his boldness, though not
by death, gains the crown of martyrdom. The
boiling oil into which he is thrown has no
power to hurt him. He is then sent to labor
in the mines, and Patmos is the place of his
exile.
The accession of Nerva frees him from
danger, and he returns to Ephesus. There he
settles the canon of the Gospel history by for-
mally attesting the truth of the first three Gos-
pels, and writing his own ^o supply what they
left wanting. The elders of the Church are
gathered together, and John, as by a sudden
inspiration, begins with the wonderful opening,
" In the beginning was the Word." Heresies
continue to show themselves, but he meets
them with the strongest possible protest. He
refuses to pass under the same roof (that of
the public baths of Ephesus) as their foremost
leader, lest the house should fall down on
them and crush them. Through his agency
the great temple of Artemis (Diana) is at
length stripped of its magnificence, and even
levelled with the ground ! He introduces and
perpetuates the Jewish mode of celebrating
Easter. At Ephesus, if not before, as one who
was a true priest of the Lord, he bore on his
brow the plate of gold with the sacred name
THE VISION OK JOHN.
669
engraved on it, which was the badge of tiic
fewish pontiff.
In strange contrast with this ideal exalta-
triflinjj hy tlic familiar apologue of the bow
that must souk times be unbent.
More true to the Now Testament character
THE APOSTLE JOHN AT PATMOS. — Rev. i. lO.
tion, a later tradition tells us how the old man
used to find pleasure in the playfulness and
fondness of a favorite bird, and how he de-
fended himself against the charge of unworthy
of the apostle is the story, told by Clement of
Alexandra, of his special and loving interest
in the younger members of his flock ; of his
eagerness and courage in the attempt to rescur
•is ^
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6G0
THE SOARING "EAGLE."
one of them who had fallen into evil courses.
The scene of the old and loving man, stand-
ing face to face with the outlaw chief whom,
in days gone by, he had baptized, and winning
him to repentance is one which we could
gladly look on as belonging to his actual life.
The Closing Scene.
Not less beautiful is that other scene which
comes before us as the last act of his life.
When all capacity to work and teach is gone
— when there is no strength even to stand —
the spirit still retain." the power to love, and
the lips are still open to repeat, without change
and variation, the command which summed
up all his Master's will — " Little children, love
one another."
The very time of the apostle's death lies
within the region of conjecture rather than of
history, and the dates that have been assigned
for it range from A. D. 89 to A. D. 120.
In relation to Christian doctrine, John is, as
in the title of the Apocalpse, " John, the Holy
Divine" — not in the modern sense of a theo-
logian, but from his witness that " the Word
was God." This also was the fruit of his
intimate converse with his Lord, and of a
spirit fitted for such fellowship. Nowhere is
the vision of the Eternal Word, " the glory as
of the only begotten of the Father," so un-
clouded; nowhere are there such personal
reminiscences of the Christ in His most dis-
tinctively human characteristics.
It was a true feeling that led the latter in-
terpreter of the mysterious forms of the four
living creatures round the throne — departing
in this instance from the earlier traditions — to
see in him the " Eagle" that soars into the
highest heaven, and looks upon the unclouded
sun. Descending from the regions of fancy to
those facts on which the truth of the Gospel
rests, it is this testimony to Christ that is so
emphatically asserted alike in the opening of
his General Epistle, and in what we may call
the attestation clause of his Gospel — whether
that clause was penned by an inspired self-con-
sciousness, or added as the testimony of those
among whom he lived and wrote : " This is the
disciple which testifieth of these things, and
wrote these things, and we know that his tes-
timony is true."
The way is now prepared for us to consider
the extraordinary vision recorded in the closing
book of the Bible.
The book entitles itself: "A revelation of
Jesus Christ, which God gave unto 'lim, to
show unto His servants things which must
shortly come to pass ; and He sent and sig-
nified it by His angel unto His servant John ;
who hath declared this word of God and the
testimony of Jesus Christ, according as he
saw." Blessed they who read, hear and obey :
— ^the time is at hand ! " John, to the seven
Churches in Asia," wishes grace from the
Eternal God and the seven spirits before His
throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful wit-
ness, the first-born from the dead, and the ruler
of the kings of the earth. Everlasting glory
to Him for our redemption ! Amen !
The Angelic Messenger.
" Lo, He Cometh in the clouds, and every eye
shall see Him, even they that pierced Him, and
all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because
of Him. Even so. Amen. I am Alpha and
Omega (the beginning and the ending), saith
the Lord God, who is and was and is to be —
the Almighty."
John proceeds to state that he, their brother
in Christian hopes and trials, was in the island
of Patmos on account of his Christian pro-
fession ; and being in the spirit on the Lord's
day, he heard a trumpet-like voice commis-
sioning him to write in a book, and send to
each of certain seven Churches of the province
of Asia the several messages following.
Looking round, he saw, in the midst of
seven golden candlesticks, a majestic and daz-
zling vision of Christ, with seven stars in his
right hand. He falls down as if dead before
this celestial personage, who raises him and
bids him not fear, saying, " I am the first and
the last and the living, living forever though
I was dead, and possessing the keys of death
and Hades." The seven candlesticks allegori-
cally mean the Churches to which he is to
'h'
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VISION OF THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICK — Rev. i. 12.
(661)
662
MESSAGES TO THE CHURCHES.
write, and the seven stars the angels of those
Churches.
To the angel of the Cluirch at Ephesus he
is to write in praise of his faithful zeal in
opposing false apostles, antl his patient endur-
ance ; reminding him, however, that he has
relaxed from his earlier generosity and kind-
ness, and urging him to resume it, lest his
candlestick be removed. He is to be especially
commended for his antipathy to the Nicoiai-
tans. He that conquereth shall eat of the tree
of .life in God's Paradise.
Patient Endurance Commended.
The message to the angel of the Church at
Smyrna praises their endurance of poverty and
reproach at the hands of the Jews (that syna-
gogue of Satan!). Some of them will suffer
imprisonment. Let them be faithful even unto
death. The conqueror shall not suffer harm
from the second death.
The angel of Pergamos has been faithful to
the name of Christ, though the throne of Satan
is near his dwelling. But there are among that
Church some followers of Balaam. As that
false prophet led the Israelites to idolatry and
fornication, so, among the Pergamene Chris-
tians, there were some who adopted the hateful
Nicolaitan practices. The conqueror shall eat
of the stored-up manna, and receive a white
stone inscribed with a new name.
The Church at Thyatira is commended, and
its later works are pronounced better than its
first. But there is a false prophetess, a Jezebel,
seducing the servants of Christ into the same
practices as the Balaamite prophets at Per-
gamos and Ephesus. She and her votaries
shall be smitten with illness. Let those who
have hitherto escaped this corruption per-
severe ; and the conqueror shall rule over the
nations and have the brightness of the morning
star.
Stern Reproof.
To the ansfel of the Church of Sardis the
message is one of deep reproof. If they do
not forthwith repent, the judge will come upon
them unawares. Yet there are a few names,
even in Sardis, of those who have not defiled
their garments, and who shall walk with Christ
in white.
To the angel of Philadelphia it is written
that the opposing synagogue of Satan (who
wrongly call themselves Jews!) shall come and
fall at his feet, and this Church shall be kept
safe in the coming trial ; after which the con-
queror shall become a pillar ih the temple of
God, inscribed with the names of God and of
the New Jerusalem, and with the new name
of Jesus.
The angel of the Laodicean Church is re-
proached for indifference, wordliness, and
carelessness ; he is neither hot nor cold, but
lukewarm ; says he is rich, and does not know
that he is wretched and miserable and poor
and blind and naked. The Lord rebukes and
chastens those whom He loves. Let these re-
pent. He knocks at the door, and will come
in to those who open for Him. The conqueror
shall sit with Him on His throne.
The Celestial Throne.
A second vision .shows the elder " a door
opened in heaven." The same voice that he
had heard before says : " Come up hither and
I will show thee what must come to pass after
these things." Immediately he is " in the
spirit," and sees the Divine throne, much in
the manner of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel's
visions. It is encompassed with twenty-four
other thrones, on which the twenty-four elders
sit, clothed in white, with golden crowns on
their heads. Seven lamps represent the seven
administrative spirits of God. Four living
creatures " full of eyes," and each having six
wings, with the faces respectively of a lion, a
calf, a man and an eagle, adore before the
throne continually.
A book sealed with seven seals is produced,
and proclamation is made, demanding who is
worthy to open the book. None could do it,
except a little lamb that stood before the throne
as if it had been slaughtered. It had seven
horns and seven eyes, representing " the seven
spirits of God sent forth into all the earth."
It took the book from the right hand of Him
upon the throne ; and then the four creatures
THE VISION OF JOHN.
663
alk with Christ
and the twenty-four elders sang blessings upon
the name of the Lamb ; myriads of angels
responded ; and all creation joined in praise of
Him upon the throne and of the Lamb.
The opening of the seven seals then takes
place. On the first being broken, there comes
forth a rider on a white horse, conquering and
to conquer (doubtless the emblem of Chris-
tianity, if not of Christ personally).
On the second seal being broken, a rider on
a bay horse comes forth, commissioned to take
peace from the earth — the messenger of War.
The third seal being broken, a rider appears
on a black horse, representing Famine.
The fourth being opened, a pale horse, with
a rider named Death, appears ; and the grave
goes with him. He is empowered to kill one-
fourth of the earth's population.
On the opening of the fifth seal, the souls
of Christian martyrs are seen under the altar,
crying for vengeance. White robes are given
to them, and they are told to rest a while, till
their number should be filled up by those who
were still to be slain.
Terrible Phenomena.
The Lamb opens the sixth seal, and there
is a mighty shaking of sun, moon, and stars ;
the heaven shrivels up as a roll of parchment;
hills and islands are moved ; men of all grades
hide themselves in dens and mountains, and
say to the hills and rocks, Fall on us I
The opening of the seventh seal is delayed.
Four angels stand at the four corners of the
earth restraining the four winds. Another
angel hastens from the east with a warrant
from the living God, crying out to the four
not to hurt earth or sea till the servants of God
shall have been sealed on their foreheads. A
hundred and forty-four thousand are so sealed,
namely, twelve thousand of each tribe. A vast
multitude from all nations, clothed in white,
with palm branches in their hands, praise God
and the Lamb.
The seventh seal is opened, amid silence in
heaven for half an hour. The seven angels
have their trumpets given them. Another angel
comes and stands by the altar with a golden
censer, in which he offers much incense, that
incense being "the prayers of the saints."
Then he fills the censer with fire from the
altar, and throws it upon the earth ; and amid
thunder, lightning, and earthquake, the seven
angels prepare to sound their trumpels.
Sounding the Trumpets.
.The first angel sounds his trumpet; hail
and fire destroy a third of the trees and all the
grass.
The second angel sounds; and a third of
the living creatures of the sea die, and a third
of the vessels upon it are destroyed.
The third angel sounds his trumpet ; and a
third part of the water becomes wormwood,
and many die from the bitterness of the watera
The fourth angel sounds ; and the third of
the sun, moon, and stars are smitten ; where-
upon a compassionate angel is heard lamenting
for what still impends.
The fifth angel sounds; and a star falls
from heaven to earth. The angel unlocks the
bottomless pit; and amid the smoke, locusts
come out to torment those who had not the
seal of God on their foreheads. For five
months these awful locusts harass their vic-
tims. They have a king over them, the angel
of the bottomless pit, whose Hebrew name is
Abaddon, and Greek Apollyon (Destroyer).
This first woe is to be followed by two more.
The sixth angel sounds his trumpet ; where-
upon a voice from the horns of the golden
altar commands him to " loose the four an-
gels which are bound at the great river Eu-
phrates." They come forth commissioned for
an hour, a day, a month, and a year, to slay a
third part of mankind. Their army is two
hundred millions. They do their commission ;
but the rest of mankind do not repent of their
idolatry and wickedness.
Another mighty angel then descends, with
a little book open in his hand ; and setting his
right foot upon the sea and his left upon the
land, swears that there shall be no longer
delay, but that so soon as the seventh angel
shall sound his trumpet, " the mystery of God
shall be finished, according to His glad-tidings
fS
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THE ANGEL WITH THE BOOK. — ReV. X. I.
THE VISION OF JOHN.
6G5
to His prophets." John receives from the]
angel the little open book, which he is directed I
to eat. He does so, and finds it sweet to tlic I
taste, but bitter afterwards. The angel tells
him that he must prophesy further respecting
many peoples and nations, and tongues and
kings.
He gives him a measuring-rod, and bids him
measure the Temple, exclusive of the outer
court, which is given to the Gentiles, who will
tread the holy city under foot forty-two months.
Two witnesses meanwhile shall prophesy 1,260
days in sackcloth ; they are " the two olive-
trees, and the two candlesticks standing before
the God of the earth." But when they hive
finished their testimony, the beast from the
bottomless pit will kill them, and their bodies
will be exposed in the city of Jerusalem,
" spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where
also our Lord was crucified." The Gentiles
will exult over their death ; but after *hree
days and a half they will rise to life again, and
ascend into heaven in a cloud ; a great earth-
quake will destroy one-tenth of the city and
7,000 men; and the survivors, alarmed, will
give glory to God. This is the second woe ;
the third is close at hand.
War iu Heaven.
The seventh angel sounds ; and great voices
in heaven proclaim that " the kingdoms of the
world are become the kingdoms of our Lord
and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever
and ever." The twenty-four elders fall on their
faces and thank God that He has taken to
Him His great power, and that the time has
come for judging the dead and recompensing
His saints. The Temple of God in heaven is
laid open to view.
Another scene now opens. A woman,
clothed with the sun, having the moon at her
feet and twelve stars on her head, seems to
represent religion, or the Gospel, or the
Church. A huge dragon is her antagonist.
She brings forth a son, destined to " tend the
Gentiles with an iron crook." The child is
carried away to the throne of God ; the woman
retreats to the wilderness for 1,260 days.
There is war in heaven between Michael and
his angels and this dragon, who is the Devil
and Satan. The latter and his angels arc
thrown down to the earth. Heaven rejoices;
but woe for the inhabitants of the earth and
sea, against whom the Devil now rages, con-
scious that his time is coming to an end. He
pursues the woman, to whom wings are given
to escape from him. He pours a torrent of
water from his mouth to carry her away; but
the earth drinks it up in her rescue. The
dragon then " makes war upon the rest of her
offspring who keep God's commands and have
the testimony of Jesus Christ."
The narrator is next standing on the sea-
shore (in Patmos, we suppose), when he sees
a wild beast coming up out of the sea, with
seven heads and ten horns, a diadem on each
horn, and a name of blasphemy upon each
head. This wild beast is mixed up of leopard,
bear and lion ; and the dragon gives him his
own power and throne and authority. One of
his heads seems to receive a deadly wound^
but it is healed ; and the beast, aided by the
dragon, receives new homage everywhere.
He is enabled to make war on the saints and
overcome them, and has power, for forty-two
months, over all but tho.se whose names are
in the Lamb's book of life. But retribution
shall come. Let the saints have patience!
Another beast comes up out of the earth, with
two horns like a lamb, but with speech like a
dragon. He wields the authority of the first
beast, performs wonders, and seduces men to
the worship of the principal beast, putting a
name or number on their right hands or fore-
heads, without which no one may buy and
sell. This mysterious number seems to be
666.
Vision of tlie Glorifled.
The next vision, amid the sound of heavenly
music, shows the Lamb standing on Mount
Zion, with the 144,000 redeemed Israelites be-
fore mentioned in the seventh chapter. They
are " the first fruits to God and the Lamb,"
pure from all taint of idolatrous pollution.
Another angel flies forth with the Gospel, to
offer it with all urgency to every nation, de-
'■*■.
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THE VISION OF JOHN.
087
daring that the hour of Divine judgment is
come. Another angel follows, crying, " Baby-
lon is fallen, is fallen " (evidently meaning
Roman paganism).
A third angel follows, proclaiming everlast-
ing Divine wrath against all who worship the
beast and receive his mark. Let the saints be
patient! A voice from heaven proclaims,
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord
henceforth ! Then a Son of man appears
upon a white cloud, with a sickle in his hand;
and another angel, from the Temple, bids him
reap the ripe harvest of the earth, A third
angel from the Temple, armed with a sickle, is
ordered by a fourth from the altar (who has
power over fire) to gather the earth's vintage
and cast it into the great wine-press of the
wrath cf God. All this is done accordingly.
The Vials of Wrath.
Another vision shows seven angels having
the last seven plagues to complete the wrath
of God. Those who have successfully re-
sisted the beast and his image and his mark
are singing the songs of Moses and of the
Lamb to the One Almighty. The seven
angels are seen coming out of the Temple.
One of the four living creatures gives them
each a golden vial full of the wrath of the
ever-living God. A voice from the Temple
bids them go and pour their vials out upon
the earth. The first vial produces ulcers upon
those who worship the image of the beast.
The secopd is poured upon the sea and turns
it into blood, destroying all life. The third is
poured upon the rivers and springs, and they
become blood. Then the angel of the waters
acknowledges the justice of this retribution
upon those who had shed the blood of the
saints ; and an angel from the altar responds.
The fourth vial is then poured upon the sun,
causing it to scorch men ; and they blaspheme
instead of repenting. The fifth vial is poured
upon the beast's throne and darlrens his king-
dom ; and blaspheming increases. The sixth
is poured upon the river Euphrates, drying it
up so that the kings from the east can pass
over.
Three unclean spirits, like fiogs, come out
of tlic mouths of the dragon, the beast and the
false prophet, and go to all the kings of the
whole world to summon them for one final
and desperate battle at "Ariuagecklon" (mount
of assembling). Then the seventh angel pours
his vial into the air. and Heaven shouts, It is
done ! Amid awful thunder, lightning, earth-
quake and hail, the great city breaks into
three parts, and the other Gentile cities fall,
and the great Babylon is remembered in
wrath. But men blaspheme still.
Great Babylon.
One of the seven angels calls the seer in
spirit into the wilderness, and shows him this
judgment under another emblem — that of a
woman sitting upon a scarlet beast with seven
heads and ten horns, whose idolatrous abomi-
nations and persecution of the saints are de-
scribed. Upon her head is the mysterious (or
enigmatical) inscription, " Babylon the Great,"
etc. The beast upon which she sits " was. but
is not, and will appear again ; " it is " about to
ascend out of the bottomless deep and go to
perdition."
The enigma is then expounded as follows :
"The seven heads are seven mountains, on
which the woman sits." " They are also seven
kings, of whom five have fallen, and one is,
and the other is not yet come ; and when he
Cometh he must continue but a short space.
And the beast that was and is not is himself
both an eighth and one of the seven, and is
going to destruction." The ten horns arc ten
future kings, of transient power, to be derived
from the beast, and used in his service in war-
ring against the Lamb. The Lamb will over-
come them, and they will then turn their
power against the woman, Babylon.
A powerful and glorious angel now pro-
claims, " Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen !"■'
Another voice calls upon the people of God to
come out of her, lest they partake of her sins
and punishment. In language recalling to
mind that of the old Jewish prophets against
the literal Babylon and Tyre and other doomcii
heathen cities, this voice denounces her and
:1
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A MILLSTONE CAST INTO THE SEA.
makes the heathen earth mourn for her, while
heaven and apostles and prophets rejoice over So shall the blood of the saints be avenged!
struction and oblivion that shall befill her.
OVERTHROW OF DIABOLUS. — ReV. XX. 8.
her ; and a mighty angel dasfies a millstone l All heaven praises God for this execution
into the sea, as an emblem of the utter de- 1 of vengeance. The four-and-twenty elders
THE VISION OF JOHN.
669
and the four living creatures worship and
praise God for it. Heavenly voices proclaim
the approaching marriage of the Lamb. His
bride is ready, clothed in the righteous deeds
of the saints. The seer falls down and would
have done homage to the angel that showed
him these things ; but the angel forbade, say-
ing, "I am thy fellow-servpnt and of thy
brethren : worship God."
Heaven opens again, and the rider upon a
white horse appears. His name is " Faithful
descends from heaven with the key of the
bottomless pit and a chain, and binds the
dragon, that old serpent, the Devil and Satan,
and casts him into the pit for a thousand
years.
Thrones are set out, and those who sit upon *
them are deputed to pass judgment. The
souls of martyrs and of all who had refused to
worship the beast and his image come to life,
to reign with Christ the thousand years. This
is the first resurrection. Happy he who shares
THE RIVER OF LIFE. — Rev. XXJi. I.
and True," "The Word of God," "King of
kings and Lord of lords." An angel, stand-
ing in the sun, invites the birds of prey to
banquet On the enemies of God. The beast
and the kings of the earth gather their armies
together against the rider upon the white
horse; the beast and the false prophet are
seized and cast into the lake of burning brim-
stone; and the rider slays the rest with his
sword which issues from his mouth, and the
birds banquet on their carcasses. An angel
in it ! The second death will have no power
over such. The rest of the dead are not to
come to life till after the thousand years.
At that period Satan will be set loose again,
and will seduce the nations, Gog and Magog
among the rest, to attack the camp of the
saints and the beloved city ; but they are de-
stroyed by fire from heaven, and the Devil,
their seducer, is finally cast into the fiery lake,
to join the beast and the false prophet in tor-
ment forever and ever. Then all the dead are
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670
AMEN.
judged according to their works. Death and
the grave are thrown into the lake of fire, with
all who arc not written in the book of life.
This is the second death.
A more minute vision of the Millennium is
now presented. Earth and heaven pass away,
and a new earth and heaven arise. The New
Jerusalem descends from heaven, and God
will dwell with mankind in it. He who sits
on the throne proclaims the ble ;: edness of
every one that conquereth, and devotes all the
wicked to the " second death." One of the
seven angels of punishment carries the seer
away in the spirit to a high mountain, where
he sees the New Jerusalem, " the Lamb's
wife," as it descends from heaven.
The First and the Last.
A gorgeous des( i "ption of it follows. Its
extent, on measuren<ent by the angel, proves
to be 12,000 furlongs (about 1,380 miles)
square. It has twelve gates, denoting the
tribes of Israel ; and its walls have twelve
foundations (all of precious stones), denoting
the twelve apostles of Christ. There is no
Temple in this holy city, " for the Lord God
Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it ;"
nor are sun and moon needed to light it. The
nations shall walk in its light, and the kings
of the earth shall bring honor and glory to it.
Nothing that defines shall enter it.
A pure river of living water, proceeding
from the throne of God and the Lamb, flows
along its streets ; and between the street and
the river, at intervals, the tree of life grows,
bearing fruit every month, and healing the
nations by its leaves. There the servants of
God, with His name upon their foreheads, shall
worahip Him and behold His face, and reign
forever and ever.
The angel (Jesus apparently) asserts the
truth of these visions, and their speedy fulfil-
ment : " Behold, I come quickly ; blessed is
he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy
of this book." John falls down at the angel's
feet to do him homage (as once before), and is,
as before, directed to worship God.
He must not seal up this prophecy, for the
time is at hand. He that is unjust will now
remain so, and he that is righteous will b&
righteous still. " Behold, I come quickly"
(the angel pursues), "and my reward is with
me, to give every man according as his work
shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the begin-
ning and the end, the first and the last."
" Blessed they who do his commandments,"
the seer responds.
The angel resumes : " I, Jesus, have sent
mine angel" (my messenger, John) "to testify
unto you these things in the Churches. I am
the root and offspring of David and the bright
morning star. And the spirit and the bride
say, Come ! And let him that heareth say,
Come I And let him that is athirst come. And
whosoever will, let him take the water of life
freely." Imprecations are uttered by the seer
against any who should add to, or take from,
the words of this prophecy; and the book
concludes with the often-repeated intimation
that its fulfilment is immediately at hand :
" He which testifieth these things saith,
Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so,
come, Lord Jesus ! The grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."
BIBLE STOHIES FOR THE YOUNG,
COMl'UlsiNd CAl'TlVATlNd
NARRATIVES 01' SCENES AND EVENTS.
THk: FALL OF OUR FIRST PARBNTS.-Ocn. Ui. 6,
The Fall of our First Parents. — The
Bible begins with an account of the creation
of the world. The sun , moon and stars, the land
and water, the trees, plants and an-
imals, were made, and the whole
work was pronounced to be very
good. Then Adam was formed
from the dust of the earth, a living
soul was breathed into him, and
Eve was given to be his companion
and helpmeet. A beautiful garden
for their abode was planted east-
ward in Eden, and they were per-
mitted to eat of every tree of the
garden with the exception of one.
If they tasted the fruit of this tree
they would die. Eve was tempted
by the serpent, and was told that
disobedience would not result in
death, but she would become as a
god, knowing good and evil. She
listened and ate, and from that mo-
ment the curse of sin came upon
43
the earth. She in turn became the
tempter of Adam, who yielded to
her persuasions, as she did to those
of the serpent. This is the Script-
ural narrative of the fall of our
first parents. Having been created
holy in the image of God, by one
great act of folly they lost their
first estate.
Adam and Eve Driven from
Paradise. — The banishment of the
guilty pair from the bowers of
Eden followed their sin. They
were startled by a voice which was
heard in the garden in the cool of
the day. Suddenly alarmed, they
hid themselves among the trees and
endeavored to escape. Fear was
awakened when it was too late, and
the Lord God having called unto Adam, he
was put on trial for his sin, and both he and
Eve were driven forth from their happy home.
ADAM AND EVE DRIVEN FROM PARADISE.-Gen. iil. 33. M-
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BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
BANISHMBNT FROM PARADISE.— Otn. Ui. ig.
After the Banishment from Paradise. —
The exiles from Eden went forth into an in-
hospitable world. Their life henceforth was
to be one of toil and sorrow. Bereft of their
fair Paradise, they were to learn the meaning
of suffering and death. The fatal moment
was past; the early innocence could not be
recalled; on every side were signs of woe;
the dust to which the guilty ones
were destined to return must be
wet with their tears. The ground
which, in its virgin state, could give
birth to the bloom and beauty of
Eden, now bore thorns and this-
tles, and the ruined earth presented
a pathetic contrast to the loveliness ^
of the garden which formed the
first abode. Yet it must not be
supposed that no gleams of hope
and mercy tingeJ the dark cloud
which had so suddenly appeared.
There was to be enmity between
the evil tempter and the woman,
and the assurance was given that
the serpent should be bruised and
his power finally destroyed. While
we have in the first chapters of the
Bible the unhappy narrative of a
Paradise lost, we have in the clos.
ing chapters a Paradise regained.
Sacrifice of Cain and Abel.—
Two sons were given *o Adam and
live, and in time they grew to be
men! The name of the elder was
Cain, whose occupation was tilllnfr
the ground; the name of the
younger was Abel, who was a
shepherd. The practice of worship
and sacrifice had already been com-
menced ; the smoke from the altar's
flame had already ascended toward
iicnven. Abel understood quite
well that an offering from his floclc,
the lamb, which is an emblem of
innocence and purity, would be ac-
ceptable to God. Cain also wished
to make an offering, and so brought
of the fruits of the earth, and was
profe.ssedly as devout a worshipper as his
brother. The Lord had respect to the offer-
ing of Abel, but that of Cain was rejected.
The anger of Cain was excited at once, and
showed a sudden jealousy and hatred of his
brother. God asked the occasion of his wrath,
and assured him if he did well he would be
accepted. Alas, he had done a great wrong.
SACRIFICE OF CAIN AND ABEL..-Gen. iv. 4,^
lUHLK STORIKS 1-OR Till.; YOUNG.
073
DEATH OF ABEL.-Ocn. Iv. 8.
The Death of Abkl. — In the very morn-
ing of creation the earth was stained with
blood. The fires of sacrifice kindled by these
two brothers liad gone out, but not the fire of
envy and revenge in the heart of one of them.
Cain talked with Abel, and at the same time
watched his opportunity to strike the fatal
blow. When they were in the field together
Abel was slain, and now in the an-
nals of the first family of the human
race we have the first record of the
greatest crime that can be com-
mitted. The elder brother was a
murderer. Sin had grown with
startling rapidity, and had proved
its desperate nature. Promptly, as
appears from the nairrative in Gene-
sis, the Lord said to Cain, Where is
Abel, thy brother? Cain, as if
hoping like all criminals to conceal
his guilt, replied that he did not
know. No language could be more
graphic than that in which his crime
was stated. He was told that his
brother's blood was crying from the
ground. From that hour Cain was
a marked man; swift punishment
overtook him ; the Divine judgment
was speedily pronounced, and the
;.;uilty criminal wont forth to be a
wanderer in the earth.
Noah Commakded to Hlh.dthe
Akk. — Coming to the histoi)' of
Noah, we find that during his tin>c
the earth had grown to be very
wicked. A race of mighty men
had appeared, but very little of good
could be .said concerning them.
The statement is that every thought
and imagination were only evil con-
tinually, and that God resolved to
send a flood of waters to sweep
away the wicked generation. Noah,
however, endeavored to be an up-
right man, and preparations were
made to save him and his family.
He was commanded to build an
ark which should float upon the
great deep, and for the space of one hundred
and twenty years he patiently worked upon
the huge vessel, receiving Divine direction as
to its construction. The kind of wood to be
used, the length, breadth and height, the num-
ber of stories, the position of the door and
window, the method of stopping the crevices
to keep the water out, were all stated.
P
NOAH COMMANDED TO BUILD THE ARK -Gen. vi. 13-18.
674
BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
NOAH LEAVING THE ARK.— Qen. viii. i8, 19.
Noah Leaving the Ark. — Upon the com-
pletion of the ark Noah and his family, com-
prising in all eight souls, entered it, and took
with them two of a kind, male and female, of
beasts, fowls, and everything that creepeth, in
order that life in the earth might not be en-
tirely destroyed. Then the foundations of the
great deep were broken up, and the windows
of heaven opened. Forty days and
nights the torrents poured down,
turning the land into a sea, filling
the valleys, rising above the moun-
tains, and carrying destruction far
and wide. One world was drowned,
but a new one was floatitig in the
ark. A vivid picture is given in
Genesis of the desolation which pre-
vailed. Everything, even to the
herbs of the field, perished. One
hundred and fifty days the waters
prevailed. During this period Noah
took measures to ascertain whether
the waters were subsiding. We
have the picture of a dove going
forth from the window of the ark
and returning without finding a
resting-place. A^ain it went forth,
and came back with an olive
branch, showing that land was
somewhere to be found. On its
next excursion it did not return, but
.settled itself in its new home. The
wandering ark finally rested on
Mount Ararat.
Noah's Thank-Offering. — The
first act of Noah and his family
upon leaving the ark was that of
worship and thanksgiving. An
altar was erected and loaded with
offerings. As the consuming fire
flashed heavenward the Lord was
well pleased with the fragrance of
the sacrifice. His infinite pity was
moved, and He resolved in His
heart never to flood the earth again.
Seed-time and harvest, cold and
heat, summer and winter, were
promised so long as the earth re-
maineth. One of the most attractive parts of
this .scene of worship is the making of a cov-
enant, and fixing the sign of it in the heavens.
In this covenant every living creature was in-
cluded, and was assured of the Divine protec-
tion and care. The seven-colored rainbow,
arching the sky, was made the pledge that the
covenant never would be broken.
NOAH'S THANK-OFFERINQ.-Gen. viil. ao.
BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
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NOAH CURSES HAM.-Qen. ix. 34, 35.
Noah Curses Ham. — Looking again at
the history in Genesis we learn that Noah,
after leaving the aric, followed the life of a
husbandman. Broad fields were to be tilled,
and the promise had been given that seed-time
and harvest should not fail. The earth would
yield its increase and labor would be rewarded.
Noah planted a vineyard, drank of the fruit
of the vine, and became drunken.
Lying uncovered in his tent, he was
seen by Ham, one of his three .sons,
who, instead of concealing his
father's weakness and shame, called
his two brothers to come and wit-
ness it. This was showing a dis-
respect which brought down the
curse of the father upon the head
of the son. The two brothers took
a garment, and laying it upon f.ieir
choulders, went backward and
covered their father's nakedness.
This dutiful act stands in strong
contrast to the conduct of Ham,
who was ready to expose the shame
of his father. When Noah awaked
he knew what had been done by
his thoughtless, ungrateful son, and
he pronounced a curse upon Ham
and his descendants, duclaring that
they should be .servants unto their
brethren. At the same time he
':^avii 1 is blessing to Shcni and
Japlicth.
The Tower of £abel. — After
the family of Noah took possession
of the earth the number of inhabi-
tants was soon greatly increa.sed.
All are represented as speaking one
language which was easily under-
stood. As the tide of population
rolled eastward it came to a plain
in the land of Shinar, where a set-
tlement was speedily made. The
people, not profiting by former ex-
amples of sin, resolved to build a
tower that should reach to heaven.
Their plea was that they were anx-
ious to make for themselve;) a name,
lest they should be scattered abroad upon the
face of the whole earth. They wished to found
a city, and by the erection of a tower gratify
their pride. The Lord, we are told, saw their
ambitious project, their language was at once
confounded, the tower of Babel was over-
thrown, and from that time the human race
spoke with many tongues.
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THE TOWER OP BABBL.-Qen. xi. 7> >•
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BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
ENTERING THE PROMISED LAND.-Qen. xii. 3-7.
Abraham Sees the Promised Land. —
One of tlie best men whose lives are recorded
in the Bible was Abraham, sometimes called
" the father of the faithful." In the land of
Ur, where he resided, idolatry was almost
universally practised. He received Divine
direction to go forth, and pursue his journeys
until he should reach a land which the Lord
would show him. He was to leave
his- kindred and his father's house,
and in so doing the promise was
made that he should have many
descendants and become a great
nation. He did not know the coun-
try which was to be his future abode,
nor the way to it, but being a man
of strong faith he immediately de-
parted to his new home, taking
with him his nephew. Lot, and
Sarah, his wife. The journey was
long and was attended with many
difficulties. They finally came to
the land of Canaan, a country which
during all the centuries since has
been associated with the history of
the Jewish people. Abraham passed
through until he came to the plain
of Moreh. The Divine promise was
criven that this land should belonrr
to him aid his posterity, and he
built an aitar unto the Lord. Pass-
ing on he came to a mountain on
the east of Bethel, and there erected
another altar, carrying his spirit of
worship wherever he went.
God's Promise to Abraham. —
Abraham was in a strange country,
and was among people not alto-
gether friendly to him and his re-
ligion, but he was protected r.nd
dwelt in security. When a famine
arose he and Lot went for the time
being to Egypt, yet not intending
to remain long. Upon their return
they repaired to the plain of Moreh,
where an altar had previously been
erected. These men had met with
great prosperity ; had become pos-
sessed of many flocks, and had grown to be
rich. Their herdsmen could not agiee, and
Abraham and Lot resolved to separate, each
going his own way and selecting his own place
of residence. Lot made choice of the plain of
Jordan, and thus the peace was secured which
I Abraham earnestly desired. It seemed to him
I an unhappy thing to have any quarrel.
GOD'S PROMISE TO ABRAHAM.-Qen. xv. 5.
UIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
LEAVINQ SODOM.-Qen. xix. 34-36.
Lot and his Daughters Leaving Sodom.
— In the plain of the Jordan two cities, Sodom
and Gomorrah, had become notorious for their
wickedness. After separating from Abraham
we are told that Lot pitched his tent toward
Sodom. This city was to be destroyed, and
Abraham was told by angels what was com-
ing. With great earnestness he interceded in
behalf of Lot, and was told that if
ten righteous men could be found
in the city it would be .spared. Lot
was also visited by two angels, who
warned him of the approaching
danger, and urged him to flee to tew.^
some other place. The angels took
Lot, his wife and his two daughters
by the hand and led them out of the
city. They were told to escape for
their lives ; to flee without any de-
lay; to betake themselves to the
mountain, for the city would surely
be overthrown. The special request
of Lot that he should be permitted
to flee to a small place called Zoar
was granted, and thither he and
his daughters directed their hasty
steps ; but the representation is that
Lot's wife lingered in the plain and,
stopping to look uack, was turned
to a pillar of salt. The storm of
fire descended from heaven and
consumed the wicked cities.
Jacob's Departure for Ca-
naan. — Jacob had been instructed
by his father Isaac not to take a
wife from among the daughters of
Canaan. He went to Padan-aram
to visit Laban,his mother's brother.
There, after a service of fourteen
years, he obtained Rachel, one of
Laban's daughters. Being thrifty,
industrious and upright, he pros-
pered and gained large possessions.
The time at length came when he
wished to return to Canaan to visit
the relatives from whom he had
long been separated. Laban sought
to detain him, realizing that his own
fortunes had been blessed through the Divine
favor granted to Jacob, and had some harsh
things to say concerning the contemplated
departure. A Divine message which came at
this time to Jacob determined his conduct and
brought him to a decision. He prepared to
leave, and take with him his wives, children
and cattle. All finally reached Canaan.
JACOB'S DEPARTURE FOR CANAAN-Gen. zxxi. i7-4«.
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BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
WRESTLING WITH THE ANOEL.-Oen. xxxii. 34,
Jacob Wrestling with the Angel. — AH
through the Bible accounts are given of the
visits of angels, who are represented as bring-
ing nies.sages to men, befriending those who
are in trial, protecting those who are in danger,
and performing various offices of mercy and
love. On one of his journeys Jacob found
himself alone as night came on, and we aie
told that a man wrestled with him
until break of day. It was a re-
markable contest, and the description
of it forms one of the exciting inci-
dents related in Genesis. Jacob was
very much in earnest, for he was
seeking a blessing, and when the
angel wished to break away and take
his departure, Jacob refused to let
him go. The angel wished to know
the name of the one who was so
determined to detain him, and hav-
ing received the answer he assured
Jacob that a new name should be
given to him, and he would be
called Israel, the meaning of which
is prince, for as a prince he had pre-
vailed with God. The spot where
the wrestling took place was consid-
ered sacred by Jacob.
Mo.sEs Destroying the Tables
OF THE Law. — In a little bulrush life-
boat beside the river Nile, a daugli-
ter of Pharaoh one day found a little
babe. It had been rt>ncealed by
its mother to escape the decree of
the king that every new-born son of
the Hebrews should be destroyed to
prevent them from becoming too
numerous. The child was named
Moses, was adopted by the princess,
and brought up at the court of Egypt.
Afterward he became a shepherd, and
when the Hebrews were brought out
of Egypt, where they had been in
bondage for more than four hundred
years, Moses was made their leader.
They departed in a single night,
passed the Red Sea, and soon came
to Mount Sinai, where they halted
while Moses went up into the rugged mountain
to receive from God his law, and also directions
for building the tabernacle. During his ab-
sence, which lasted forty days, the people
became very uneasy, and wished Aaron to
make a god for them to worship. He took
the jewelry of the women and made a golden
calf, and the people worshipped it.
MOSES DESTROYINQ THE TABLES.— Ex. xxxii. 19.
BIBLE STORIES EOR THE YOUNG.
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Joshua Divu)ing the Land. —
After the death of Mose.s the duty
of .settling the Hebrews in Canaan
was intrusted to Joshua. He, with
Caleb, had come out of Egypt forty
years before, and on account of their
uprightness and obedience were per-
mitted to Uvc, and enjoy the inheri-
tance from which others had been
excluded. When the people came
into their new country, a large part
of it was still in possession of the
first inhabitants. Surveying parties
were sent out to measure the terri-
tory, and learn what would be re-
quired in the attempt to conquer it
Forty-eight cities were set apart for
the priests and Levites, and these
they were to occupy. The people
were also directed to choose cities
the I of refuge. These would be places of safety to
death of Israel's great leader and lawgiver j any one who by accident had killed another,
brings to a close the history of a very remark- ' provided he could reach a city of refuge in
able man. He conducted the people during advance of his pursuers. Thus provision was
the forty years in which they were seeking the | made for the exercise of mercy. The land was
promised land, but he was not permitted to partitioned and divided up according to the
enter the land, and died before the great host various tribes. By the casting of lots Joshua
THE DEATH OF MOSES.-Deut. xxxiv. s, 6.
Death of Moses. — The account of
he had led so long crossed over
Jordan to their new home. We are
told that he went up to Mount Pis-
gah, and was there shown the fair
country which the Lord had prom-
ised to his people. From the sum-
mit of this mountain he could look
far awny beyond the Jordan, and
behold cities and plains, hills and
valleys, palm-trees and shepherds'
pastures. This was the goodly land
which the seed of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob were to possess. This
was his last look upon earth. His
work was done ; his departure was
at hand. He was not old as age
was reckoned in those days, when
men lived much longer than they
do now. His eye had not grown
dim, when he fell asleep at the age
of one hundred and twenty.
the river
determined where the tribes were to be located.
DIVIOINO THE LAND AMONG THE TRIBES.-Jo»h. xiii. 6,7.
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BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
JEPHTHAti-S RASH VOW.— Judges xi. 34.
Jephthah and his Daughter. — In olden
times a vow was considered as something
very sacred, and having once been made, on
no consideration could it be broken. Jeph-
thah, we are told, was a mighty man of
valor. A battle with the Ammonites was to
be fought, and Jephthah made a vow that if
the Lord would grant him the victory he
would make a burnt-offering of
whatever met him at his own door
on his return from the battle. The
forces fought with bravery, Jephthah
proved his generalship, and victory
perched upon his banner. To his
surprise and grief, his only daughter
came out with music and dancing to
greet her fatlier. He rent his clothes,
and manifested all the signs of sor-
row and remorse. He told his
daughter that he had opened his
mouth unto the Lord, and could not
take back his word. With the most
dutiful submission she answered that
if he had made a vow he should do
as he had said. She gave her life
that her rash father might keep the
word which never ought to lia\e
been spoken.
Samson and the Lion. — In the
book of Judges an account is given
of Samson and his wonderful feats
of strength. From liis birth he
seems to have been marked for an
extraordinary career. As he grew
up the Spirit of the Lord began ta
move him at times in the camp of
Dan. On a visit to Timnath to obtain
a wife from the Philistines, Samson
performed his first great feat of
strength. Being met by a young
lion, the Spirit of the Lord came
upon him mightily, and seizing the
lion he rent him in pieces. Samson
paid a visit to the daughter of the
Philistines whom he was seeking,
and she pleased him well. After a
time he returned to take her, and
turning aside to see the carcass of
the lion he had slain, he found a swarm of
bees had made a hive in it, and had deposited
honey. He took away some of the honey,
and, according to the custom of the young
men of the time, made a feast and invited his
companions. The story in Judges gives a full
description of this feast, and the failure of
the young men to guess Samson's riddle.
SAMSON SLAYINO A LION.— Judget xiv. 6.
BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
681
SAMSON SLAYS THE PHILISTINES.— Judgei xv. i6
Samson and his Enemies. — Having been
deceived by his wife's father, the narrative states
that Samson caught three hundred foxes, tied
them together in pairs, attached a firebrand to
each pair, set these on fire, and sent the foxes
into the harvest-fields of the Philistines. The
standing corn, as well as that already cut, and
also the vineyards and olives, vere burned, and
a great amount of injury was in-
flicted. Samson fled to the top of
a high rock and three thousand
Philistines went to capvure him.
They promised him that if he would
permit himself to be bound they
would not put him to death. He
was brought into camp bound with
strong cords, but suddenly his great
strength was aroused, and he broke
the cords as if they had been noth-
ing more than spiders' threads. Seiz-
ing the jawbone of an ass he slew a
thousand of his enemies, and carried
consternation through their ranks.
We next find him at the city of
Gaza, where he seized the gates
and their posts and carried them
away, proving that no city's gates
were strong enough to imprison him.
The Giant Loses his Strength,
— The Philistines tried to capture
their foe and deprive him of his
extraordinary strength. Here a
woman whose name was Delilah
appears upon the scene, and we find
her in company with Samson for
the purpose of ascertaining the
secret of his power. If she suc-
ceeded she was to be rewarded with
a large sum of money. Samson
told her to try tying him with seven
cords made of the thin branches of
trees. This was done when he wa&
asleep, but on waking he was as
mighty as ever. Then he told
Delilah to bind him with new ropes^
but these proved to be useless.
Next he deceived her by requesting
that his hair should be arranged in
a certain way. This also failed. As Samson
was a Nazarite, his hair had been allowed to
grow, and here was the secret of his strength.
In an unguarded moment he revealed this
secret, and when he was asleep his locks
were shaved off, his doom was sealed, and,,
having fallen into the hands of his enemies, his
eyes were put out, and he was thrust into prison.
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SAMSON SHO..><< OF HIS STKENGTH.— juJges kvi. ai.
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BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
SAMSON'S VENGEANCE AND DEATH.— JudKCi xvi. 29, 30.
Samson Slain. — The prisoner was rudely
treated. His victories had been too many for
him now to escape the revenge of the foes who
had finally captured him. In his blindness he
was made to grind the mills in the prison-
house. Samson's hair had been shorn, but
the roots remained; it grew again, and his
wonderful strength returned to him. It was
the custom of the people to invite
him to their merry-making festivals,
and he entertained them and made
himself a general favorite. The
Philistines were idolaters, and after
the capture of Samson they offered
a great sacrifice to Dagon, their god,
because, as they supposed, Dagon
had delivered their foe into their
hands. A large number of the people
were assembled in the temple, and to
this place Samson was led by a boy.
He asked to be allowed to feel the
pillars of the temple. Then he
grasped them in his mighty arms,
and with a violent shake brought
them to the ground. The building
fell, large numbers were killed.^and
among them was Samson, who lost
his life taking vengeance on his foes.
Ruth and her Benefactor. —
The beautiful account of Ruth given
in that book of the Bible which
bears her name represents her as
strongly attached to Naomi, who
was her mother-in-law. Each had
lost her husband, and being com-
panions, a warm affection existed
between them. From wealth they
had been reduced to poverty, and
as Ruth did not wish to leave
Naomi and return to Moab, her
own land, she resolved to support
herself by gleaning in the fields of
Boaz, a rich man who was well
known for his kindness to the
poor. Boaz took a special interest
in Ruth, told the workmen to show
her kindness, and directed that she
should glean in no field except his
own. In a short time Ruth became the wife
of her benefactor, Boaz, and one of the an-
cestors of Christ. The friends of Naomi
were much pleased at the happy lot which
had befallen Ruth, telling her that after all
her trials she would find comfort in her
daughter-in-law, and her old age would he free
from care and sorrow.
RUTH GLEANING IN THE FIELD OF BOAZ.— RuU li. 5.
RIBLK STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
PAKTINO OF DAVID AND JONATHAN.-I Sam. xx. 4a
David and Jonathan. — Saul, the king of
Israel, was anxious that his son Jonathan
should finally come to the throne, and as he
knew David was likely to be made king, he
wished 'to put David to death. David and
Jonathan were firm friends. When Jonathan
became aware of his father's plot, he sent
David away from the palace. Saul was en-
raged, declaring that his son could
never be king so long as his rival
was alive. But Jonathan was more
anxious to insure the safety of the
one he dearly loved than he was to
gain the throne, and they agreed
upon a sign. David was to hide
behind a rock, and Jonathan would
shoot three arrows, and send a lad
to pick them up. If Jonathan should
call to the lad that the arrows were
on one side of him, I vid would
know that Saul was no longer an-
gry; if the arrows were on the
other side, David must flee for his
life. D.ivid was compelled to flee,
and tin; two friends separated after
proiiiisinj; to continue their love for
each other, and each gave expres-
sion to his grief at parting.
David and .Aiiui.Mi,. — \Vc have
liere an interesting incident in the
life of David. On one occasion he-
was encamped near the residcncu
of a man named Nabal, who was
noted for his meanness. He was
unneighborly and ill-tcnipered. Al-
though David's men were hungry,
Nabal refused to allow them to take
oven one sheep from his flocks
which were feeding near. When
David sent some of his men to ob-
tain food, they returned without
any, and reported that Nabal had
treated them and their master with
contempt. The anger of David was
aroused, and choosing four hundred
men he set out to deal with Nabal
as he deserved. Nabal's wife, a
beautiful woman named Abigail,
heard of her husband's insolence, and taking
a number of asses and loading them with food,
and mounting one herself, she started to meet
David, to appease his anger, and save Nabal
from the merited chastisement. In this she
was successful ,, her appeal to David was not
in vain. A few lays after this Nabal died, and
David obtained Abigail to be his wife.
t !.
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DAVID AND ABIGAIL. -I Sam. xxv. 33,33.
684
BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
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SAUL AND THE WITCH OP ENDOR.-I Sim. xxvili. i6, 17.
King Saul and the Witch. — Saul wa.s in
great trouble because his enemies, the Philis-
tines, were preparing to make war against him.
They had a large army, and Saul was afraid
they would obtain the victory. In his alarm he
sought the Lord, but on account of his sins the
Elijah and the Widow's Son.
— The prophet Elijah came at a time
when a dreadful famine was in tlie
land. He was sent to a poor widow
at Sarepta, with whom he was to live
for a while, and share her scanty
store. She had only a handful of
meal in her barrel, and a little oil in
her cruse ; but being requested by
the prophet to prepare him some-
thing to eat, she cheerfully com-
plied, and was assured that her
stock of food would not grow less.
Neither the barrel nor the cruse
failed, a happy instance of the re-
ward that comes to those who are
willing to bless others. At length
the son of the widow died. In her
di.stress and grief she appealed to
Elijah, who.se heart was touched by
her sorrow. He took the child away to his
own chamber, and called on God. The cry
of the prophet was answered, and we have here
the picture of a life restored, and a dead son
returned to his mother to be her comfort and
joy. Now more than ever the woman was
Lord would not answer him. Saul consulted convinced that Elijah was a man of God, and
a woman at Endor who professed to have ' was endowed with miraculous power,
control over spirits that would come
when she called them. Although
Saul had sent many such persons
out of the kingdom, maintaining
that they were deceivers, yet he was
ready to consult this woman. He
disguised himself, went to her at
night, and asked to have an inter-
view with Samuel, who had been
dead many years. Saul was told
that the Lord had forsaken him,
that he would lose the kingdom
and it would be given to David, that
the Philistines would obtain the
victory, and on the morrow he and
his sons would be among the dead.
All this came to pass as had 'leen
foretold. David was an upright man,
■well fitted to reign, and he was made
king in the place of Saul.
THE WIDOW'S SON RESTORED TO LIFE i Kings xvii. 11.
BIHLE STORIES FOR THK YOUNG.
685
11' II
The Chariot of Elijah. — We
are told that the manner of Elijah's
departure from the earth was in
keeping with his extraordinary
c^reer. He had made a powerful
impression upon the nation, remark-
able deeds had been performed by
him, and when his oarthly life was
ended he was translated without
suffering death. He and Elisha
were walking together, and Elisha
expressed the earnest desire that a
double portion of the spirit of his
friend and companion might rest
upon himself. Elijah replied that
this was a hard thing to be granted,
but if Elisha should see him when
he departed, the blessing which was
sought might be obtained. Sud-
denly there appeared a chariot of
Elijah at Mount Horeb. — Elijah in his fire, with flaming steeds, and Elijah was soon
flight from Jezebel, who was seeking his life lost to view. Elisha exclaimed, " My father,
OOD APPEARINO TO ELIJAH.— i Klngi xix. n, ii.
because he showed how false was the religion
of her prophets, came to a juniper tree in the
desert. Here an angel brought him food that
gave him strength for forty days. He con-
tinued his flight to a rocky mount named
Horeb. Here he lodged in a cave, and the
word of the Lord asked him what
he was doing there. He replied
that he had been very jealous for
the religion of the God of Israel,
had thrown down the altars of false
prophets, and his enemies were now
seeking his life. He was directed
to go and stand on the mount. A
strong wind rent the mountains and
broke the rock in pieces, but the
Lord was not in the wind. After
this came an earthquake, but the
Lord was not in the earthquake.
Then a fire appeared, but the Lord
was not in this. When all these
had passed there came a still, small
voice, and the prophet knew that
God was there. He was directed to
return and finish the work that had
been given him to do.
my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horse-
men thereof! " The chariot and horsemen
were emblems of power and victory, and the
exclamation meant that Elijah was the great
helper and defender of Israel. His mantle,
fell toward the earth, and Elisha secured it.
lu
I
THE TRANSLATION OF ELUAH — a Kingi ii. ii
686
HIHLK SIORIKS FOR 11 IK VOUNG.
DANIEL IN THE LIONS' DEN.— Dan. vi. t9,M.
Daniel amokg the Lions. — At the time
of the captivity, when the greater part of the
Jewish nation was carried away to Babylon, a
remarkable youth was among the number.
Daniel secured the favor of the king of
Babylon by his interpretation of dreams, and
his- sturdy, upright character. He believed in
the religion of the Hebrews, and when com-
manded to cease performing his re-
ligious duties for a certain number
of days, he flatly refused. Some
jealousy had been excited against
him on account of the power he had
gained in the nation, and his enemies
thought they would obtain ad-
vantage over him by forbidding him
to pray, under penalty of being cast
into a den of lions. The king's
heart was troubled,, but having
signed the law he was resolved to
carry it into execution. Daniel was
cast to the wild beasts, and early in
the morning the king hastened to
see what was his fate. Daniel
assured him that his God was
able to shut the mouths of lions,
and, by his angel, had already
done it, so that he was unharmed.
Judith .\nm IIolofkunks. — Ji;.
tilth was a HcIjicw woiii.m of .struiv'
will, great decision of character, and.
in hcT blind zeal, capable of any deed
which she thought would promot.
her religit)n and confound fKul-
enemies. She was even ready t.
take human life, and commit ili
crime of murder, under pretem
of thereby accomplishing soiiil
good. Holoferncs was considertii
to be tlic enemy of her nation, and
believing she had autiiority to de-
stroy all such she took his life. Pre-
tending to be friendly, she gained
access to his tent, fascinated him by
her beauty and wit, gained his con-
fidence by fair speeches, and soon
had him completely in her power.
When he was under the influence
of wine she took dowti his falchion, and with
a double blow severed his head from the
body, and handed it over to her maid. Her
plot had succeeded, and her deed was ap-
plauded by her own people. When they saw
her at the gate of the city with the head of
Holofernes, they praised God for thus deliver-
ing them from the hand of their enemy.
JUDITH BEHEADS HOLOFERNES.— Judith xiH. g, 10.
huuA: sr(jRii.:s for tiik young.
«N7
BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.-Luke i. 6l-«4
John the BAFrisr, — It was foretold by the people,
prophet Malachi that previous to the advent
of Christ a forerunner, or prophet, would
appear to prepare the way for him. His duty
-..'ould be to call the people to repentance, and
announce tiiat the kingdom of God was at
hand. During the reign of King llerod in
Judjea there was a priest named Zacharias;
the name of his wife was Elizabeth.
An angel appeared to Zacharias one
ilay in the Temple, and announced
that he would have a son, and was
to give him the name of John.
Zacharias was told that he would
be unable to speak until the child
was born. The people wondered
why the priest remained so long in
the Temple, and when he came out
they saw that he was dumb. The
promised son was born, and when he
was eight days old he was brought to
the Temple. ' The people wished to
name him after his father, but the
mother insisted upon calling him
Jolin, Tliey objected because none
of his kindred bore that name, but
Zacharias wrote on a tablet that John
was to be the child's name.
44
TlIK Artur.i, AnnOUNCTS the
Saviour's Hikiii — In Juii;ua, near
the village of Hcthlchcm, there were
shepherds who watchcti tlieir flocks
by niglit. The time had coiuc for
Christ to be born. As far hack as
the days of ;\ilam and live tl>e
Divine assurance had been given
that the seed of the woman should
bruise the head of tlic serpent, and
sin would be destroyed. The birth
of John I lie liaptist was the sure
sign that one greater than John
would soon come. As the sliep-
herds were fi;uarding their flocks
one night an angel suddenly visited
them. They were afraid, but were
told by the angel not to fear, for a
message of great joy had been sent
to them, which was to be for all
The happy announcement was made
that a Saviour was born in Bethlehem.
Suddenly a multitude of the heavenly host
appeared, praising God, and saying, " Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good
will toward men," The shepherds hastened to
Bethlehem, and, to their surprise and joy, found
that what the anjel told them was true.
THB ANQBL AND SHEPHERDS. -Luke ii. lo. if.
688
BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.— Luke ii. lo-ia.
The Nativity. — The shepherds who had
heard the song of the angels and the statement
that a Saviour had been born, left their flocks
and went to Bethlehem to see what had come
to pass. Naturally excited over the glad
tidings brought to them, they made haste, and
when they arrived in the village they were re-
warded by a sight of the new-born child.
There they found Mary and Joseph,
and the babe lying in a manger.
The shepherds having satisfied
themselves of the truth of the mes-
sage brought by the angel, hurried
away with the joyful news, and
spread the glad tidings to others.
All who heard what had happened
were filled with wonder. We are
told that Mary, the mother of Jesus,
kept these things in her heart, and
thought about them. The shep-
herds returned to their flocks, glo-
rifying and praising God for all the
things they had seen and heard.
This is the beautiful description
given us of the birth of Jesus.
Every Christmas we celebrate the
advent of Christ, whose name is
Wonderful.
The Flight into Egypt-. — The-
parents of Jesus brought him to
the Temple at Jerusalem. They
could not remain there ; their first
concern was to save the young life
committed to their love and care.
They knew the cruelty of Herod,
and his wicked design to slay the
children, in the hope that Jesus
would be among the number. They
obeyed the Divine warning, and
taking their young treasure fled
with all possible speed to Egypt,
a country which was outside of
Herod's dominions. There was a
place of safety, and having reached
it, they remained until the death of
Herod put an end to his ambition
and cruelty. Then the angel of the
Lord appeared again unto Joseph,
assured him that those who sought the life of
the child were dead, and directed him to return
to his own country. He did so, and made his
home in the despised town of Nazareth, where
the early life of Jesus was spent. Thus the
prophecies were fulfilled that Israel's ruler
would come out of Egypt and would be a de-
spised Nazarene, one of the poor and lowly.
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THE FLIGHT INTO E3YPT.— Matt. ii. 14, 15.
BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
G89
DEATH OF THE CHILDREN OF BETHLEHEM -Matt. ii. i6
Putting the Children to Death. — It
was expected by Herod that the wise men
who were seeking the child, whose name, ac-
cording to the prophet Isaiah, was Wonderful,
would return to him at Jerusalem after their
visit to Bethleliem. They found the mar-
velous babe, presented their gifts, and wor-
shipped at His feet. They did not return,
however, to Jerusalem. The history
tells us that they were warned by
God in a cream not to go back to
Herod, and so they departed to their
own country by another way. This
apparent slight on the part of the
wise men made Herod very angry ;
it looked very much as if one had
been born who was expected to be-
come king of the Jews. He gave
orders for all the male children in
Bethlehem and in all the borders
thereof to be put to death. There
was great sorrow in the land, and
the prophecy of Jeremiah was ful-
filled that there would be weeping
and mourning. The object of the
horrible massacre was not accom-
plished, although many lives were
sacrificed.
Jesus Brought to the Temple.
— As already stated, when Jesus
was eiglit days old His parents
brought Him to the Temple to make
an offering of two pigeons, accord-
ing to Jewish custom. There was
a good old man at Jerusalem named
Simeon. It had been revealed to
him by the Spirit that he should
not die until he had seen Jesus.
He was directed to go to the
Temple, and when Joseph and
Mary appeared with their child,
Simeon knew that he was to be
gratified by a sight of the infant
Saviour. The old man took the
child in his arms, blessed God, and
said," Now lettest Thou Thy servant
depart in peace, for mine eyes have
seen Thy salvation." The parents
of Jesus wondered at the things which were
spoken concerning Him. Simeon blessed the
child, and told His mother that through Him
many would receive a blessing, while a woe
would come to others. A prophetess, named
Anna, was also present, and she, too, gave
thanks. The Jews had the happy custom of
taking young children to the Temple.
ill:, ii
§
?;»■
THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE.— Luke U. I7i a8.
690
BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
CHRIST TEACHES IN THE TEMPLE.-Lukeii.46.47.
Chi;vst in the Temple. — The most im-
portant feast of the Jews was the Passover, and
the parents of Jesus were accustomed to go to
Jerusalem every year to attend it. When Jesus
was twelve years old He accompanied His
parents. After the feast was over they started
to return to their home, but He remained be-
hind. It was not long before they missed
Him, but supposed He was in com-
pany with their relatives, who were
with them on the journey. Failing
to find Him, they became very
anxious, and went back to Jeru-
salem in search of Him. After
three days they discovered Him in
the Temple talking with the learned
doctors, and showing such wisdom
as astonished His hearers. They
were amazed that one so young
should have such knowledge and
understanding of the Scriptures.
When His parents asked Him why
He had forsaken them, He replied :
" Do you not know that I must
be about my Father's business ? "
Thus early in life He showed the
spirit of obedience to His Father's
will, and set us a good example.
Jesus AND THE Money-Changers.
— At the feast of the Passover oITlt-
ings were made as a part of worship,
and persons who desired to make a
profit by the sale of animals offered
in sacrifice had gone to the Temple,
taken possession of the court of the
Gentiles, and converted it into a
place for buying and selling. There
were also those who made a busi-
ness of exchanging Roman money
for Jewish money, and gained some-
thing by the transaction* Jesus was
very iPf'''Tr'ant when He found that
one pi rt b» Temple was used for
a mark" ing those who were
engagec liC business of sellin<»
offerings and changing money. He
made a whip of small cords, and
drove them out, telling them it was
written that the house of God should be a
place of prayer, but they had made it a den
of thieves. The tables were overturned, the
money was poured on the ground, the animals
were driven away, and all unlawful traffic
ceased in the courts of the Lord's house. He
had a better right to drive out the " thieves "
than they hac' to carry on their trade then-
JESUS DRIVES OUT THE MONEY-CHANQERS -John ii. is, it-
BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
091
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CHRIST TEACHES NICODEHUS.— John iii. a, 3.
Christ and Nicodemus. — One of the rulers
of the Jews, a man named Nicodemus, came
to Jesus one night to learn more of Him and
His doctrine. Jesus began at once, to instruct
him, told him many things he did not know
before, and some things hard to be understood,
among them the mystery of the new birth.
When Nicodemus was not able to fully under-
stand what was said to him, Jesus
spoke of something that happened
a long time before when the chil-
dren of Israel were in the wilder-
ness. The people had been bitten
by poisonous serpents, and to save
them from death Moses was di-
rected to make a brazen serpent,
place it on a pole in the camp
where all .could see it, and those
who looked upon it would be healed.
Just so, said" Jesus to Nicodemus,
tlie Son of man must be lifted up,
and those who turn the eye of faith
to Him will receive the blessing of
life and forgiveness. We read of
Nicodemus after this, and are told
tiiat he was among the friends of
Jesus who stood by Him faithfully
to the last.
The Woman of Samakia. — Jesus
liad been in Judaea, and was return-
ing to Galilee. On his way He
passed through Samaria, and He
and His disciples came to Jacob's
well. Being weary with His jour-
ney. He sat down to rest while thei
disciples went into a village not far
away to procure food. A woman
of Samaria came to the well, and
He asked for water to drink. The
woman was surprised at this request
because the Jews and Samaritans
had no dealings with one another.
Jesus made use of the water as an
emblem of the water of life, assur-
ing the woman that those who
drank of that would never thirst
again. She asked that this water
might be given to her. Then He
spoke of her past life, and by convincing her
that He knew all a^out it, convinced her also
that He was a prophet. She told Him she
knew Messias would come, who is called
Christ. He answered, " I that speak unto
thee am He." Many people in the city be-
lieved on Him on account of what He said to
this woman, and became His followers.
S^
CHRIST AND THE WOM.\N OF SAMARIA.-John iv. aj, a6.
-^-
092
BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
CHRIST RAISES THB WIDOWS SON.— Luke vii. 14, 15.
The Widow's Son Restored to Life. —
The Biblical narrative points in numerous
instances to works of Christ which showed
that He was possessed of all power. One day
He came to the city of Nain, and was accom-
panied by His disciples and a large number
of people. As He approached the gate of the
city a funeral procession was passing out. The
only son of a widowed mother had
died, and the relatives and friends
were on their way to bury him.
The scene touched the heart of
Jesus, and with great compassion
and tenderness He said to the be-
reaved mother, " Weep not." He
put His hand upon the bier, and
those who were carrying it stood
still. Then He said, " Young man,
I say unto thee, arise ! " His omnip-
otent voice pierced the ear of death,
and new life quivered through the
body which a moment before was
cold and stiff The young man sat
up, and began to speak. Jesus
gave him back to his rejoicing
mother. This miracle, which was
performed in the presence of a large
company, filled them with awe.
The Daughter of Jairus. — A
ruler of the synagogue, Jairus by
name, came to Jesus and informed
Him that his daughter was lying at
the point of death, and requested
Him to go to the hou >e and lay His
hands upon her that she might be
healed. Soon certain persons ar-
rived who told Jairus that his
daughter was already dead, and
asked why he sl.ould trouble the
Master any further. Jesus told him
not to fear, but to believe. He took
with him Peter, and James, and
John, and went to the ruler's house,
where a number of persons were
assembled. When Jesus asked why
they wept, and assured them that
the maid was not dead, but only
asleep, they laughed Him to scorn.
The first thing to do was to put the scoffers
out of the house. This He did, and taking
the father and mother, and the disciples who.
were with Him, He entered the room where
the damsel was lying. Grasping her hand.
He called upon her to arise. To the astonish-
ment of all she immediately obeyed, arose to
her feet, and walked as well as ever.
CHRIST RAISES THB DAUOHTBR OF JAIRUS.— Matt v. 41,4a.
BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
693
SENDING FORTH THE TWELVE APOSTLES.-Matt. x. 5-7.
The Twelve Apostles. — The time had
come for the glad tidings to be made known,
and Jesus sent out His disciples, telling them
to go first to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel, because they were the chosen people
of God, and the Gospel must be preached to
them first. They were to announce that the
kingdom of heaven was at hand. Power was
given them to cure diseases, and do
many other wonderful things. A
good Providence would watch over
them, and therefore they were not
to take any money in their purses,
nor were they to provide themselves
with two coats. They were to go
without shoes for their feet, and
without even a stafif for the journey.
When th«.^ entered a city they were
to find out who were worthy, and
there make their abode. On enter-
ing a house they were to salute it,
and their peace was to rest upon it,
if it was worthy; if not, the blessing
of peace was not to be given. If
they were not well received, they
were to depart, and, as a sign of
righteous resentment, they were to
shake oflf the dust of their feet.
Jesus and Peter on the Water.
— ^Jesus had directed His disciples to
get into a boat, and cross to tlie other
side of the Sea of Galilee. The wind
that night was high, and the disciples
were in danger. During the fourth
watch of the night, or some time
after three o'clock in the morning,
Jesus went to them, walking on the
water. They saw Him, and were in
great fear and trouble. They sup-
posed they had met a spirit, and
they were alarmed. Jesus at once
quieted them by saying, " Be of good
cheer ; it is I ; be not afraid." Peter
replied, " If it be Thou, bid me come
unto Thee on the water." Jesus
took him at his word, and told him
to come, Peter stepped out of the
boat and made the attempt, but
finding the wind very boisterous, and the
waves very high, his courage failed, and he
began to sink. Jesus immediately stretched
forth His hand and caught him ; and rebuked
him for his lack of faith. When they had
entered the boat the wind ceased, and the dis-
ciples worshipped Jesus, saying, " Of a truth
Thou art the Son of God.
JESUS SAVES PETER FROM SINKINO.-Hatt. xiv. 30, }i.
694
BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
THE QOOD SAMARITAN.— Luke s. 33, 34-
The Good Samaritan. — A certain lawyer
asked what a person was to do to inherit
eternal life. Jesus told him to love God with
all his might, and his neighbor as himself.
The lawyer immediately asked, " Who is my
neighbor ? " The reply was stated in the form
of a parable, namely, that a man who was on
his way from Jerusalem to Jericho fell among
thieves, and was not only robbed,
but was severely injured. The high-
waymen fled, leaving him half dead.
A priest came along, a man who
might have been expected to be-
friend a sufferer, but he passed by
on the other side. A Levite did
the same, and left the wounded man
to his fate. Then came a Samar-
itan, and although the Samaritans
had no dealings with the Jews, he
took pity on the poor sufferer, had
him conveyed to the nearest inn,
directed that he should receive good
care, promising on his return to pay
all the expense. The lawyer saw
at once from this story who was
the neighbor, and was directed to
go and show to others a similar
spirit.
The Lost Found. — We have
here the picture of a wanderer who
went away to another country.
There he fell in with bad company,
became a spendthrift, and at length
liis money was all wasted. A dis-
tressing famine came upon the
country, and he was in great want ;
he would have been glad to get the
husks that were eaten by the swine,
but no one gave him even these.
His condition was very different
from what it had been in the com-
fortable home he had forsaken.
Having returned to his senses, he
began to think of the hired servants
in his father's house who had more
than enough for all their wants,
while he was perishing with hunger.
He resolved to go back ; and when
his father saw him coming he ran out to
meet him, gave him the kiss of love, and
welcomed him home. The best robe and
ring were put upon him, and there was great
rejoicing in the household. Nothing was
too good for him now, for " he that was lost
was fQund, and he that was dead was brought
to life." Both father and son were ^jappy.
THB RETURN OF THE PROOIQAU SON.-Luke xv. 23.
BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
695
JESUS BLESSING LITTLE CHILDREN.-Hark x. 14,
" Suffer Little Children to Come Unto
Me." — Tlie Jewish mothers naturally wished
to bring their children to Jesus that they might
receive His blessing. This was something
that pleased Him, yet gave offence to His dis-
ciples. They appeared to think He could not
be expected to take any notice of little chil-
dren, and so they attempted to prevent the
mothers from gaining His attention,
and were ready to rebuke those who
were seeking His blessing. When
Jesus saw this He was displeased.
He knew that childhood, which is
the forming period of the whole
life, was not to be despised ; and,
besides, there was too much love in
His heart to exclude even a little
one. The words spoken by Him
on this occasion are familiar to all
readers of the Bible. Having said,
*' Suffer the little children to come
unto me," He took them in His
arms, put His loving hands upon
them, and blessed them. The
•Jewish mothers were made very
happy that day on account of
the love shown by Jesus to the
little ones.
The Box of Ointmlnt. — Jesus
came to Bethany, a little village
a short distance from Jerusalem,
There was t'.ie residence of Maitlia
and Mary and Lazarus, in whose
house He had frequently been a
guest. Here, on this occasion, a
feast was made for Him in the house
of Simon, the leper. He received
a beautiful expression of affection
from Mary, who, we are told else-
where, had sat at His feet, heard
His words, and chosen the good
part which would not be taken away
from her. Mary brought a box of
ointment of spikenard, very pre-
cious, and anointed His head and
feet. It appeared to the disciples
to be simply a waste of money.
Jesus commended her act, saying
she had come to anoint Him for His burial,
which was near. She had done what she
could, and this offering of her heart was grate-
fully accepted. Wherever the Gospel should
be preached this anointing by Mary would be
spoken of for a memorial of her. This has
come true, for whoever has heard the Gospel
has heard of this act of Mary of Bethany.
U
MARY ANOINTINO JESUS. -Muk xiv. J.
bOG
BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
CHRIST'S ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM.— Matt. xxi. 8, 9.
Christ Welcomed with Hosannas. — The
narrative in the Gospels states that when Jesus
and His disciples came nigh to Jerusalem, He
sent two of them to bring Him a colt on which
no man had ever riden. If the owner asked
Washing the Disciples' Fect.
— There had been a dispute among
the disciples as to who should be
greatest, and Jesus wished to show
them that His true followers are
humble, and to serve is their highest
ciUiiig. The Jews had the custom
of washing the feet of their guests;
this was something commonly done
by the sei-vants of the household. *
The last supper being over, Jesus
took a towel and basin of water, and
began to wash the feet of His dis-
ciples, Peter was surprised that
Jesus should do such a thing, and
said he would not allow it. Jesus
replied that although what He did
now was not understood by Peter,
it would be hereafter ; He also as-
sured the impulsive disciple that he
could have no place in the new kingdom
unless he was submissive, and willing to have
this act of service performed. Peter then told
Jesus to wash not only his feet, but also his
hands and his head. Christ assured the dis-
ciples that He had done this to set them
any questions, or made objection to their
taking the colt, they were simply to say that r an example of humility, and show them how
the Lord had sent them. This proved to be | they ought to love and serve one another.
sufficient, and having obtained the
colt the disciples put their clothes *
on him and placed Jesus thereon.
As He rode along He was greeted
by a great multitude who spread
their garments in the way, while
others cut down branches from the
trees and strewed them in His path,
seeking thus to show their respect.
Crowds went before Him, and others
followed. We are told that they
cried, saying, " Hosanna to the Son
of David ; blessed is He that cometh
in the name of the Lord; ho-
sanna in the highest 1 " He passed
through the gate, and found the
people were greatly moved on ac-
count of His coming. His tri-
umphal entry was ended. Soon the
sad cry was heard, "Away with Him!"
CHRIST WASHES HIS DISCIPLES' FEET.-John xiii. a-
BTBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
607
THS END OF JUDAS ISCARIOT.— Matt, xxvii. 3-5.
A Traitor. — There wa.s one disciple who
was unUke all the others. He was fond of
money, and was willing to do anything to
obtain it. This man betrayed Christ, and for
thirty pieces of silver sold Him to the chief
priests, and aided in His arrest and condemna-
tion. A sign was agreed upon between Judas
and the men who came to take Jesus. This
sign was a kiss. When the hour
arrived, and the men were readj' to
make the arrest, Judas went to Jesus, ^^
exclaimed, " Master, Master," and
kissed Him. Jesus said to him,
"Judas, do'st thou betray me with a
kiss ? " Then the men laid hands
on Jesus and took Him. At this
moment all the disciples left Him
and fled. Judas, seeing now that
his wicked act of betrayal would
result in the death of Jesus, became
alarmed, and bringing the thirty
pieces of silver threw them down
before the high priest, saying he
had betrayed one who was innocent.
The history states that he then
went away and hanged himself. No
name is more despised than that of
Judas Iscariot.
CiiKisT Bearing His Cross. —
Afler Jesus was sentenced to death,
the Roman soldiers took off His
purple robe and put upon Him His
own clothes. He was scourged, and
was made the victim of every pos-
sible insult and indignity. The ex-
cited crowd jeered and mocked Him,
and in derision called Him the king
of th. _;...o. When the hour ai •
rived for Him to be put to death
His cross was laid on Him, and He
was led away to Golgotha, the place
where criminals wt -e executed. He
was already weary with His s-iffer-
ings, and His strength was not equal
to bearing the heavy load ; He sank
down under it, exhausted and help-
less. A certain man named Simon,
a Cyrenian, was there, and the mob
laid hold of him, put the cross upon him, and
made him carry it. A great company of
people, including women, followed, and ex-
pressed their sorrow at the sufferings of one
whom they had come to love. Jesus told the
daughters of Jerusalem not to weep for him.
Two thieves were in the company, who were
also sentenced to death.
CHKIST FALLS UNDER THE CROSS.— Luke zxiii. iC
698
BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
THE CRUCIPIXION.-John xix. a8-30.
Christ Ckucified. — In his last hour Jesus
showed His love for His mother, and His
anxiety for her future welfare. He asked her
to henceforth look upon John as her son, and
told John to regard her as his mother. John
afterward took hfer to his own house, and gave
her a home. After this Jesus said, " I thirst."
A sponge filled with vinegar was offered Him.
In the accompanying engraving may
be seen an inscription of four letters
written upon the cross ; the meaning
of these is, " Jesus of Nazareth, King ^
of the Jews " — an inscription placed
there in mockery. On each side of
Him was one of the thieves who had
also been condemned to death. One
of them asked the Lord to remem-
ber him when He came into His
kingdom. He was assured by
Jesus that he would be in Paradise
that day. One of the most remark-
able utterances of Christ on the
cross was His dying prayer for His
enemies, asking His Father to for-
give them, for they knew not what
they did. The crucifixion lasted
from the morning until the middle
of the afternoon.
Jesus Buried. — It was contiaiy
to Jewish custom to allow ihu
bodies of those who had been cruci-
fied to hang upon the cross over
the Sabbath. A request was there-
fore made to Pilate, the Roman
governor, that the body of Jesus,
with those of the nialefactors,
should be removed. The soldiers
came to break their legs, as was
customary, but Jesus being already
dead, His body was not molested,
and so the prophecy was fulfilled
that not a bone of Him should he
broken. A rich man, Joseph by
name, had a new tomb in a gar-
den near Golgotha, and having ob-
tained the body of Jesus, he
wrapped it in fine linen, and laid
it in his sepulchre. Jesus had said
that after three days He would rise again;
Pilpte feared the disciples would come and
take away the body, saying He had risen
from the dead. To prevent this he sent
soldiers to guard the sepulchre. They took
every precaution to make the sepulchre safe.
This was a sad ending to the life of Jesus,
which vfas employed in doing good to others.
THE BURIAL op CHRIST.-John xix. 41, 4a.
niRLK STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
009
THE RESURRECTION.-Man. xxviii. a-4.
Resurrection of Christ. — The soldiers of
Pilate who were serjt to watch the tomb in
which Jesus was laid met with a sudden fright.
The narrative states that on the night of the
third day after the crucifixion an angel came
down from heaven and rolled the stone away
from the door of the .sepulchre. His counte-
nance was lirce lightning, and his raiment was
white as snow. The keepers who
were guarding the tomb shook with
fear, and became as dead men. It
was but natural that they .should flee
from the place. In the early morn-
ing some of the women who had
been the firm friends of Jesus, and
were mourning His death, came with
spices to the sepulchre. To their
surprise they found the stone rolled
away, and as they entered they saw
an angel clothed in white. The
angel quieted them by bidding them
not to fear, telling them he knew
they were seeking Jesus. Then he
assured them that He was risen,
and asked them to come and see
the place where the Lord lay. He
then directed them to go and tell the
glad news to the disciples.
The VVomkn at the Tomb. — A
full account is given <>f the visit to
the sepulchre on the morning of the
tliird (lay afci-r Jesus was crucifii'i!,
Mary Magdalene, Salome, ami Mar\-
the mother of James, all came to-
gether. It was a practice among
the Jews to prepare the bodies of
the dead for burial by anointing
them. The.se women hastened to
the tomb at the early daw n cif the
third day, bringing with them sweet
spices. They knew a great stone
had been placed at the door, and as
they came near and looked, ihey
were amazed to find that the stone
was removed. They ventured in,
and there on the right side saw a
young man of startling appearance,
clothed in a long white garment.
They were frightened, but were told by the
angel not to be afraid. Having assured them
that the Lord had risen, and was nt)t there, he
sent them away to tell the disciples, Peter es-
pecially, that Jesus would go before them int ■
Galilee, and they were to meet Him then:.
Quickly the women departed, for they trembled
and were amazed
THE WOMEN AT THE TOMB OF CHKIST.-Mark xvi. s.6.
70U
BIBLE STORIKS FOR THE YOUNG..
The Ascension.— a full account
is tjivcti us of the departure of
Christ from the eartli. According
to His promise He met Ills dis-
ciples, and told them to <jo and
preach the Gospel to a' nations.
He assured them that .u. power
was given Him in heaven and earth,
and He would be with His people
even unto the end of the world.
Not only did He have interviews
wit^i the apostles, and niaUc Him-
self known to them, but we are told
that He .ippcarcd to five hundred
brethren at once. The closing
scene was quite as extraordinary
as any of the miraculous wonders
that preceded it. After forty days
had passed Jesus met His disciples
CHRIST APPEARS TO TWO OF HIS DISCIPLBS.-Luke xxiv. 13. .,„.,.-„» t I „ tr -^ 1 1 1
' agam at Jerusalem. He told them
The Walk to Emmaus. — On the day wlu-n to tarry there until they were endowed with
the resurrection took place, it is related that I power from on high. The hour had now
come for Him to be separated from them ; He
was to be with them no longer in bodily shape
two of the disciples went to Emmaus, a village
a few miles from Jerusalem. While tliey
were engaged in earnest conversation Jesus
drew near and walked with them ; but they
did not know Him. He asked them what
they were conversing about, and why they
appeared so sad. Cleopas inquired
if He had not heard of the things
that had come to pass. He asked,
" What things ? " They answered,
^* Concerning Jesus of Nazareth."
Then they spoke of the crucifixion,
and said they had trusted that Jesus
was the one who would redeem
Israel. They also related the visit
of the women to the tomb, and the
fact that they had found it empty.
Jesus told them these things seemed
strange because they did not under-
stand what had been foretold by
the prophets. When they arrived
at the village He accepted their in-
vitation to tarry with them, and as
they were breaking bread together
He vanished from their sight. Then
they knew who He was.
and presence. Then He led them out to
liethany, lifted up His hands and blessed
them, and while doing this He was parted
from them and carried up into heaven.
THE ASCENSION.-Luke xxiv. 90, ji.
RIRLK STORIKS FOR TIIK YOUNG.
rui
PAUL AND BARNABAS AT LYSTRA.-AcU xiv. 14, 15.
Paul and Barnabas. — .vi Lystra there was
a cripple, a man who had never been able to
walk. Paul and Barnabas, wiio were on a
missionary tour, came to Lystra, and as Paul
was preaching this lame man he.'.rd him. The
attention of the apostle was drawn to the poor
sufferer, wh .-vidently had faith and believed
the words v; rtere spoken. Paul therefore
felt convinced that there was a
blessing for him and, calling to him
with a ! ud voice, told him to stand
i>o. i'he impotent man obeyed,
and leaped to his feet, although he
had never done such a thing before
in his life. It is not strange that
the people who saw what had
been done were greatly amazed ; it
seemed to them that more than
human power had been employed
in curing the lame man, and they
lobked upon Paul and Barnabas as
gods. The priests went to the idols'
temple and brought oxen to sacrifice
to them, but the apostles rent their
clothes, and ran among the peojile,
forbidding any sacrifice, as they
wee only men. They had difficulty
i preventing their worship.
Pali, Pariinc; with thk Klui.rs.
— A Church h.ul bccu planted at
Ephcsus, and Paul was anxious to
visit it, but being in a hurry to reach
Jerusalem, he sent to l^phcsus for
the ciders of the Churcli to come
down to the sea-shore where the
vessel in which he was making his
journey was waiting. The greeting
they gave Paul was very hearty and
affectionate. He told them he knew
very well that afflictions and perse-
cutions awaited him, but he could
not remain with them, for duty
called him away. He assured them
that he was not only willing to go
. Jerusalem, but was ready to even
ilie for the Lord Jesus. He spoke
of his fidelity in declaring the whole
truth, said he had coveted no man's
silver or gold "nd with his own hands had
wr:',.<jd for his support. Then he kneeled
down and prayed with them all. The parting
was with sadness and tears. The elders wept
as they bade him good-bye, and were espe-
cially sorrowful at the thought of seeing him
no more. They went with him to the ship,
and he pursued his journey.
PAUL TAKING LEAVE OF THE ELDERS.-AcU xx. 37, 38.
702
BIBLE STORIES FOR THE YOUNG.
OPENING OF THE SEVENTH SEAL.— Rev. viii. x-6^
The Seventh Seal. — The book of Reve-
lation is mostly taken up with the visions of
the apostle John. He saw many wonderful
things, the meaning of which is not in all
instances very plain. The opening of the
seventh seal in heaven was followed by
silence for the space of half an hour. Seven
angels were seen, and to them were given
seven trumpets ; these are repre-
sented in the foreground of the
engraving. Another angel came
witli a golden censer, and stood at
the altar. We have in the picture
a cloud of incense ascending from
the censer in the angel's hand.
Then he filled the censer with the
fire of the altar, and cast it into the
earth. This was followed by voices,
and thunderings, and lightnings,
and an earthquake. The trumpets
of the seven angels then sounded,
one after another, and there were
terrible signs in the earth. When
the seventh angel sounded it was
announced that the kingdoms of
this world had become the king-
doms of our Lord and of his
Christ
The New Jerusalem. — Theapos.
tie John also tells us that in one
part of his vision he saw a new-
heaven and a new earth. He draws
a beautiful picture of the glory of
the heavenly world. The city of the
New Jerusalem, in other words tlie
redeemed Church, was seen coming
down from heaven, adorned as a
bride for her husband. A great
voice said that the tabernacle of
God was now with men, and He .
would dwell with them, and would
wipe away all tears from their eyes.
A glowing description is given of
the peace and joy of the new Para-
dise. A river of water of life flows
from the throne, on the banks of
which the tree of life is growing.
The servants of God serve Him
day and night in His temple. They behold
the face of the King in His beauty, and are
sealed with His name. The inscription at the
top of the accompanying engraving announces
that they are blessed who are called to the
marriage supper of the Lamb, and the one
near the bottom says, "Alleluia, for the Lord
God omnipotent reigneth I "
THE NEW JBRUSALRM."R«v. xsi. i, t.
•The apos«
at in one
w a new-
He draws
glory o(
:ity of the
ivords the
;n coming
•ned as a
A great
M-nacle of
, and He.
ind would
their eyes,
> given of
new Para-
r life flows
banks of
; growing,
erve Him
ey behold
y, and are
tion at the
announces
led to the
i the one
■ the Lord
m