SACRED STREAMS; 
 
 OR THE 
 
 ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY 
 
 af tju 
 
 EDITED BY GEORGE B. CHEEVER, D.D 
 
 Author of " Lectures on the Pilgrim's Progress," &c., Ac. 
 
 IStnbrlltaljrtr fottf) JFtftg Elluatrattona from ffirtginal Besigns, 
 
 Engraved on Wood by J. W. Ort. 
 
 . 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 STRINGER & TOWNSEND, 222 BROADWAY. 
 
 1852.,
 
 R. CRAIGHEAD, PRINTER AND STEREOTVPER, 
 112 FULTON STREET.
 
 INTRODUCTION, 
 
 BY REV. GEORGE B. CHEEVER, D.D 
 
 THERE is no little theology, as well as history, abiding by 
 the sacred rivers ; whoever will trace them with care may 
 be a very learned man ; and he who will drink of them, 
 whenever he can, will be a man of life, as well as learning. 
 
 The first river went out of Eden ; it was the river of 
 Paradise, lost now, and as untraceable as the entrance to the 
 garden. The List river brings us to God and the New 
 Jerusalem ; it is the pure river of the water of life, clear as 
 crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and the Lainb. 
 But the first riv*r, like the first man, was of the earth 
 earthy ; the last river, like the second man, is the Lord from 
 heaven. 
 
 But there is an intermediate river, the foretaste of the 
 last, as the earnest of the Spirit is the foretaste of the 
 heavenly inheritance. There i a river, the streams whereof 
 shall make glad the city of our God, the holy place of the 
 tabernacles of the Most High. Divine Truth and Grace 
 constitute that river for the healing of the nations. That 
 was Ezekiel's vision of the holy waters, issuing from the 
 Sanctuary. The angel shall take you by the hand, and 
 bring you through them, and at first they shall only be .up
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 to the ankles. A thousand cubits more of heavenly 
 experience shall be measured to you, and still they shall be 
 only up to your knees. A thousand more shall be measured, 
 and the angel shall bring you through, and still they shall 
 be only up to the loins. But a thousand more, and it shall 
 be a river that you cannot pass over ; " for the waters are 
 risen, waters to swim in, that cannot be passed over." Hast 
 thou seen this ? 
 
 Behold, at the bank of the river are many trees, on the 
 one side and on the other. And it shall come to pass that 
 everything that liveth and moveth, whithersoever the river 
 shall come, shall live. And by the river, upon the bank 
 thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees 
 for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit 
 thereof be consumed. It shall bring forth new fruit, 
 according to his months, because their waters issued out of 
 the sanctuary ; and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and 
 the leaf thereof for medicine. 
 
 Hast thou seen this ? A man must xjome to Ezekiel's 
 river in this world, and know from experience something of 
 what is there taught by the Divine Spirit, if he would ever 
 walk with angels beside the river of the water of life in 
 glory, and have a right to the Tree of Life, to enter in 
 through the gates into the city. . He must take that leaf 
 
 .^W" Vft 
 
 which is for medicine here, those waters which are for 
 healing here, if he would eat of the fruit of that Tree which 
 is Life, if he would drink of that crystal stream which is in 
 heaven. There is health there, but no healing ; life there, 
 but no disease ; a fountain of life, but no medicine. The 
 time for medicine is here, the need of it is here, the use of it
 
 "V*" PREFACE. V 
 
 must be here ; but only the result of it is there, in Life 
 Everlasting. The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne 
 shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains 
 of waters. 
 
 Thou shall make them drink of the River of thy 
 pleasures. This is spoken of those who put their trust 
 under the shadow of God's wings. And it is said of a man 
 having this trust, that he shall not only be as a tree planted 
 by the river, with leaves always green, and never ceasing to 
 yield fruit, but that he shall be himself as a river of water 
 in a diy place. He shall make others green, and whatever 
 he doeth shall prosper. When the church of Christ, 
 everywhere, is made up of such men, there will be no more 
 dry places. Such men are as Artesian wells in the desert. 
 
 Thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures, 
 for with thee is the fountain of life. It is an argument 
 from the river to the fountain. They that drink of the 
 river here, shall come to the fountain hereafter. They that 
 drink of the river here, are never satisfied till they rise to the 
 fountain. As the hart panteth after the water-brook, so 
 panteth my soul after thee, O God ! When shall I come 
 and appear before God ! There is this paradox connected 
 with this truth, that the deeper experience a man has of this 
 heavenly thirst, the happier he is, and yet the more 
 unsatisfied. And the more unsatisfied, the nearer he is to 
 the fountain. There are different kinds of unrest ; the 
 unrest of the sinner and that of the holy soul, like a dove. 
 Each of them proves two different antagonistic worlds, 
 fountain-worlds, eternal. Who among us, says the one, 
 shall dwell with everlasting biddings ? But there, says the
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 other, the glorious Lord will be to us a place of broad rivers 
 and streams. And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick ; 
 the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. 
 
 When this imagery from the Old Testament reappeai-s in 
 the New, it is as a stream that has flowed underground from 
 one continent, and risen in another. Here still it is the 
 river of Faith, but there is a transfiguration of it into still 
 greater glory in Christ. The glorious Lord, who was to be 
 the place of rivers, stands in human form, and says, If any 
 man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He sits by 
 Jacob's well, and says, Whosoever shall drink of this water 
 shall thirst again ; but whosoever drinketh of the water that 
 I shall give him shall never thirst ; but the water that I 
 shall give him shall be in him a well of water, springing 
 up into everlasting life. 
 
 In the New Testament we are nearer the Great Fountain, 
 than in the Old. Here the Spirit and the Bride say come. 
 And let him that heareth say, come. And let him that is 
 athirst, come. And whosoever will, let him take the water 
 of life freely. He that believeth in me, as the Scripture 
 hath said, out of his soul shall flow rivers of living 
 water. 
 
 " When a man turns to the Lord," said one of the antique 
 Jewish writers, " he is like a fountain filled with living 
 water, and rivers flow from him to men of allegations and 
 tribes." We want many such fountain-men, men of deep, 
 original experience in the grace of faith ; men whose life is 
 the fruit of the Spirit. We want believing men, men that 
 can say of all God's antagonists, as Joshua and Caleb said 
 of the giants of Canaan, T/Ht/ be bread for us. We want
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 a life of faith, wherewith our peace shall be like a river, and 
 our righteousness in Christ like the waves of the sea. 
 
 This river-experience, which is at our own choice, being 
 placed at our own disposal, as God's free gift in Christ 
 Jesus, if we will have it, is what we need, to prepare us for 
 the experience of another river, which cannot be avoided, 
 which is neither chosen, nor desirable, and yet inevitable. 
 
 For between us and the City of God, the New Jerusalem, 
 lies the river of Death ; and every human being must go 
 down into it. Its waters are cold, icy-cold ; and a cloud and 
 thick gloom hang over it, which only the eye of Faith can 
 penetrate. Downward and upward are the exits from it ; 
 downward beneath the gloom, into deeper gloom, and 
 darker waters, or upward from it, and above it, into light, 
 joy, and glory. He that has taken a draught at the river 
 of the water of life, this side the stream of death, shall pass 
 safely over it. HE SHALL NEVER SEE DEATH. It was the 
 word of our Lord, Whosoever liveth, and believeth in me, 
 shall never die. 
 
 He shall pass from grace to grace, from life to life, from 
 glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the L ord. Where that 
 experience is going on, and just in proportion as it deepens, 
 Death is swallowed up in Victory. The River of Death, that 
 looked so broad and deep, so dark and terrible, appears 
 oftentimes, when the feet of the Pilgrims press its margin, 
 as an insignificant rill, and on the other side, the land of 
 glory shining, with multitudes of friendly angels waiting. 
 Sometimes the Pilgrims seem to go over dry-shod ; for step 
 after step, as faith advances, the tide retreats and separates. 
 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee ;
 
 Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee ; for He 
 is there, who layeth the beams of his chambers in the 
 waters, and who saith to the deep, Be dry. Even there, he 
 can spread his pavilion round about thee, and thou shalt be 
 as a sleeping child, carried even in the cradle from the 
 nursery to heaven. 
 
 On the whole, the subject of this volume is a beautiful 
 and fruitful theme. The sacred rivers are like celestial lines, 
 or golden threads of Providence, whereby you may trace 
 story and poetry, and count many divine lessons, not as 
 orient pearls at random strung, but having a great historic 
 life and unity of meaning. The author has selected his 
 sacred localities, and interwoven his descriptions, with a 
 pleasing and natural mixture of devout reflection, which 
 redeems the work from the dreary monotony of gilding, 
 engraving, fine type, and little else, characterizing so many 
 pictorial issues of the press for show. The volume is at once 
 profitable to the student, and grateful to the feelings of the 
 Christian. 
 
 New York, 1851. 
 
 jf '*'<*' 

 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 THE want of works suitable for reading on the Lord's day 
 has been often felt. Parents, teachers, and others who have 
 the care of youth, who feel the responsibility of training up 
 their charge in the knowledge and fear of the Lord, are often 
 at a loss how to direct the employment of time on this sacred 
 day. There are many hours not occupied in attendance on 
 the public means of grace, which they feel ought notf to be 
 spent in secular occupations, or mere amusement. A book 
 which shall convey divine truths in a manner calculated to 
 win the attention, engage the interest, and allure the reader 
 on from page to page with unabated pleasure, cannot but 
 be valuable. We can hardly expect that our children and 
 domestics, who have never yet become experimentally 
 acquainted with Divine grace, should be able to relish works 
 of a doctrinal or devotional character, which afford food and 
 minister refreshment to a spiritual person. And yet it 
 would be culpable negligence to permit them to follow their 
 own inclinations, without an effort to instruct their minds and 
 win their hearts to God. 
 
 A
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 The Author of the present volume proposed to himself the 
 production of a work which should embrace many subjects 
 of varied interest, treated in a lively and attractive manner, 
 yet not out of keeping with the sacred engagements and 
 associations of the Lord's day, to meet this want. The 
 Rivers and Streams of Palestine and the neighboring lande, 
 hallowed by their mention in the book of God, and the 
 narratives of high interest connected with these scenes in 
 Holy Writ, are the immediate subjects of the work ; while it 
 has been the object of the Author to draw from these events 
 and scenes the lessons of heavenly wisdom, the truths of 
 spiritual import, bearing on the faith .and practice of man, 
 for which they have been recorded. It is hoped that the 
 whole spirit and tone of these pages, as well as every 
 sentiment in them, may be found to be in harmony with 
 the " doctrine which is according to godliness," and promote 
 the glory of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 May He deign to use and to bless this little volume, as 
 well as any future ones, to which, if successful, it may be 
 preliminary. 
 
 LONDON, Sept. 1851. 

 
 SACRED STREAMS. 
 
 AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION. 
 
 VERY pleasant are the associations which we 
 habitually connect with a river ; whether we think 
 of it as bubbling out of its crystal fountain in the 
 mountain-side ; or dashing, in a sheeted cascade, 
 over green and slippery rocks, half hidden by jutting 
 ferns, whirled about in feathery tufts of spray by 
 every playful breeze, and lost in a perpetual cloud of 
 foam in the dark hollow beneath ; or brawling along 
 the valley in its pebbly bed, murmuring and fretting 
 at the petty opposition it meets with ; or silently 
 pursuing its broad and majestic course through the 
 plains and meadqjvs, fertilizing cultivated regions, 
 reflecting from its peaceful bosom villages, and towns, 
 and domed cities ; or at length, having received a 
 hundred tributaries, dilating into the vast estuary, 
 bearing the proud fleets of commerce and war, and 
 almost rivalling in grandeur the ocean into which it 
 is pouring its everlasting tribute of waters. 
 
 Sweet is it, in the heat of summer's noon, to sit 
 on the mossy bank, and watch the meandering 
 stream, now darkling and concealed from the sun by 
 
 1
 
 2 AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the overhanging shrubs and trees, whose branches 
 kiss one another across its bosom, now sparkling out 
 in the bright sunbeams that reveal and illuminate 
 every stone and shell upon its bottom, to feel its 
 coolness, and admire its clearness, and enjoy the 
 thoughts and images, associations and feelings, which 
 it presents to the mind, all peaceful, soothing, and 
 refreshing. 
 
 And pleasant it is to muse on the varied scenes 
 and events and characters, with which it has been 
 connected in by-gone ages, and in which its memory 
 is embalmed. To say, Here, on these banks, was 
 marshalled the little band, feeble in numbers, but 
 strong in their love of their native soil, and in their 
 righteous cause, who met the swarming hosts of 
 invading foes, and fought and conquered. Here, by 
 this stone, stood the dauntless man, who dared to 
 withstand a tyrant's cruel mandate, and delivered 
 his village from oppression. There, in that little cot, 
 was born the hero who led his country's fleets to 
 victory, and caused her name to be mentioned with 
 reverence among the nations. Along this verdant 
 bank has often mused the poet, whose burning 
 words have found a response iij many a land and 
 language ; and from the wild and beautiful scenery 
 of this lovely stream he caught his inspiration. 
 Yonder rising knoll has witnessed the experiments 
 of the philosopher, who subjected to man's will and 
 power the elements of nature. The music of this 
 murmuring brook used often to soothe the soul 
 of the philanthropist, as he mused on his plans for 
 ameliorating the condition of his suffering fellow- 
 men.
 
 AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION. 
 
 But if we in this temperate climate know a little 
 of the pleasant feelings connected with clear streams 
 and running waters, what must be their force in 
 lands where the severest trials of life are described 
 under the emblem of the fierce rays of the sun ! 
 where the protecting care of Jehovah for His dear 
 people is called a "shadow from the heat," the 
 " shadow of a great rock in a weary land !" and 
 where the sweetest joys of the heavenly rest are set 
 before the tried and tempted saints of God, under 
 similar imagery : " Neither shall the sun light on 
 them, nor any heat. For the Lamb . . . shall lead 
 them unto living fountains of waters !" 
 
 In such lands, nothing is more natural than that 
 fresh streams and flowing rivers should be constantly 
 used by the inspired poets and prophets, as emblems 
 by which to call up and shadow forth the sweetest, 
 holiest, and most comfortable thoughts. Is peace 
 spoken of? It shall " flow as a river." Is judgment 
 or righteousness prayed for ? It is that it may " run 
 down as waters, and as a mighty stream." The 
 advantages of wisdom in a man's heart are " as deep 
 waters, and as a flowing brook." Is a man under 
 the curse of God? "He shall not see the rivers, 
 the floods, the brooks of honey and butter." Do 
 desolation and confusion spread over the earth, 
 wasting and destroying like an irruption of the sea ? 
 The protection and preservation of the saints of God 
 are secured; for "there is a river, the streams 
 whereof shall make glad the city of God." The Lord 
 Jesus is set forth " as rivers of water in a dry place ;" 
 He will, by-and-by, bless restored Jerusalem, so 
 long withered and forsaken, and " extend peace to
 
 4 AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION. 
 
 her like a river, and tlie glory of the Gentiles like a 
 flowing stream ;" He will himself be to Israel " a 
 place of broad rivers and streams, wherein shall go 
 no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass 
 thereby.'' For He is the Fountain and Well-spring 
 of all blessing. 
 
 How great must have been the joy and comfort 
 which the ancient people of God took in their rills 
 and brooks wherewith their thirst was quenched, and 
 by which fertility was given to the beautiful and 
 goodly land, that " land of brooks of water," of 
 hills and valleys, which Jehovah had given them, 
 and from which so many sweet images and allusions 
 were drawn, turning their thoughts to earthly and 
 heavenly blessings, and to their gracious and loving 
 God! 
 
 And if historical and personal associations often 
 crowd upon the mind, as we walk by the bank of a 
 favorite stream in our own land, endearing it to our 
 imagination and heart, with what a deepened in- 
 terest should we tread where every spot is hallowed 
 by some ancient memory, some record of a history 
 in which God himself is the chief actor. Not a rill 
 or river but has some story to tell, some lesson to 
 teach, some song of praise to elicit, in lands where 
 angels talked with men, where inspired poets sang, 
 where prophets and seers unfolded the far-distant 
 future, where the visible glory of God dwelt, where 
 the arm of Jehovah was ever stretched out in bless- 
 ing, deliverance, protection or chastisement, where 
 patriarchs sojourned, and where, for a while, taber- 
 nacled Jesus, the glorious " Word made flesh."
 
 I. 
 
 THE KIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 PARADISE. The Fall Grace The Promised Seed Sacrifice 
 Reconciliation Righteousness. 
 
 BABEL. The Builders The Tower The Confusion of Tongues 
 Birs Nimroud. 
 
 THE MIGRATION OF ABRAM. The Mesopotamian Valley The Ca- 
 valcade Abram and Lot The Call of Abram Sojourn at Char- 
 ran The Stranger and Pilgrim. 
 
 THE MISSION OF ELIEZER. Prayer -Rebekah The Return The 
 Antitype. 
 
 BABYLON The Hanging Gardens The Palace The Court 
 Daniel The Great Image The Kingdom of Christ. 
 
 THE CAPTIVES. Israel's Desolation Seraiah's Mission The Doom 
 of Babylon Belshazzar's Feast The Writing on the Wall 
 Daniel's Interpretation Cyrus The Last Night of Babylon. 
 
 SUBSEQUENT HISTORY. Topography Ruins of Babylon The Eu- 
 phrates Expedition Physical History A solemn Contrast. 
 
 GENESIS II. III. 
 
 A FAIR and goodly scene is spread before our reverent 
 imagination. A broad valley expands on either hand, 
 bounded by distant mountains, whose purple peaks, 
 range above range, glow in the beams of. the morning 
 sun. Hill and dale, irregular undulations, broad 
 swelling mounds, and gentle slopes, afford perpetual 
 variety to the surface. Through the centre there 
 flows, in winding course, a broad river, the smooth-
 
 6 THE KIVER P:UPHEATES. 
 
 ness of whose mirror-like bosom is unruffled by a 
 ripple, as it pours its volume of clear and calm waters 
 onward to the ocean. It is the majestic Euphrates. 
 This is Eden, the garden of God. Everything that 
 can gratify the sense is here in abundance, unmingled 
 with anything that can hurt or annoy. " Every tree 
 that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food," 
 grows here ; the spreading arms of the banian, the 
 baobab, and the terebinth, cover the ground with a 
 
 Oriental Vegctutu 
 
 refreshing shadow ; the massive forms of the oak 
 and the cotton-tree contrast with the taper elegance 
 of the poplar and the pine ; the graceful banana and
 
 PARADISE. 
 
 plantain wave their broad leaves, cut into strips by 
 the wanton breeze ; huge clumps of bamboos nod 
 like gigantic ostrich-plumes on the hillocks ; and 
 above all tower up into the sky the light and lofty 
 palms, waving their feathery green coronets against 
 the sparkling blue of heaven. 
 
 How temptingly the rich fruits hang and cluster 
 in these spicy groves ! On the highest knolls the 
 juicy apple and pear, the velvet peach, the blopmed 
 plum, the golden apricot, and the blushing cherry 
 stand in thick profusion ; in the lower glades, walled 
 in by the sheltering groves, are others richer still ; the 
 brilliant pomegranate, the yellow guava, the custard- 
 apple, so meltingly luscious, the odorous pine-apple, 
 the citron and orange, and the most delicious of 
 terrestrial productions, the crimson mangosteen, 
 invite the hand to pluck them. The queenly date- 
 palm is loaded with its ;. tveet bunches, over which 
 the vine, climbing to its lofty summit, has thrown 
 a drapery of graceful foliage, and formed a natural 
 arbour, thickly hung with empurpled clusters. 
 
 No trace of winter is here ; but the glories of 
 spring, of summer, and of autumn are united in one 
 sweet season, for which earth has no name. The 
 opening bud, the expanded flower, the matured fruit, 
 are everywhere seen together in beautiful harmony. 
 The air is redolent with the fragrance of flowers, and 
 the eye is enraptured with their beauty of colour and 
 of form. What gorgeous and fantastic parasites 
 droop from the branches of the great trees ! What 
 a magnificence of sheeted bloom is displayed by those 
 masses of purple rhododendrons ! 
 
 The roses are- here without thorns, and the fruits
 
 8 THE RIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 are not defended by brambles. No naked spots of 
 brown, barren earth appear, nor do any points of 
 jagged rock jut out through the verdant turf; but 
 here and there its greenness is varied by precious 
 gems lying unheeded, as if they had dropped out of 
 a royal diadem. The topaz, and the emerald, and 
 the golden chrysolite, the rich ruby, and the sparkling 
 diamond fling back most lustrously the rays of the 
 sun ; and where the placid river gently washes its 
 bordering sands, lie masses of gold and silver, some in 
 unformed magnificence, and others vying with the 
 vegetable productions around, in displaying various 
 arborescent and foliated forms of fantastic beauty. 
 
 Every thing speaks of wisdom, and power, and 
 skill ; but not of these alone : consummate goodness 
 is especially manifest. The scrupulous exclusion of 
 that not only which could injure or give pain, but 
 which could displease in the least degree, with the 
 accumulation of all that could afford delight, speaks 
 loudly of the benevolence of the Almighty Creator. 
 But who are the guests for whom this feast is spread ? 
 It is a new-born world on which we are looking, and 
 this garden is the very concentration of its glory, but 
 yesterday out of the hand of its Maker. Where are 
 the tenants for whom this residence is provided ? 
 
 Many living creatures walk among these groves, 
 and repose upon the enamelled greensward. The wolf 
 and the lamb are feeding together, and the speckled 
 leopard is lying <Jown with the kid ; the tiger is leaping 
 in gamesome play around the ruminating kine ; and 
 yonder the lordly lion is gently licking with his 
 rough tongue the fur of the gazelle that is lying 
 between his paws. These are all harmless and guile-
 
 PARADISE. 9 
 
 less ; yet none of them seem capable of more than 
 a superficial enjoyment of the loveliness amidst which 
 they dwell. Yonder comes one who by his superior 
 size and mien may claim a higher consideration ; as 
 he slowly marches through the grove of teak-trees, 
 the forest shakes with his tread, his eye beams with 
 intelligence and sagacity, and as he now and then 
 plucks a flower with his lithe proboscis, he seems to 
 have a higher appreciation of its beauty and fragrance 
 than his fellows. But as he draws nearer we see 
 that he is only one among them, and that the fair 
 garden was not made for him. 
 
 Is this beauteous scene then without an inhabitant 
 capable of ruling and of enjoying it ? No. Voices 
 come up from the banks of Euphrates, and there, 
 seated in a bower of jasmine and rose, are a pair 
 of God-like beings, to whom has been committed the 
 lordship of this paradise. Not like the beasts they 
 sit, but erect, and with their faces towards the 
 heavens ; nor clothed, but in naked dignity ; for as 
 yet there is no sin, and therefore no shame. Only 
 they two are seen, yet as they converse on high and 
 holy themes, a third voice, of awful yet gentle tones, 
 mingles with theirs. It is the voice of God, and yet 
 they are not afraid. 
 
 Do we seek to know the nature of the converse 
 between the Most High God and his creature man 
 as yet unfallen and stainless ? The gracious Creator 
 speaks of the glories of his new-made world, and 
 appoints Man his vicegerent over it. " Have do- 
 minion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of 
 the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon 
 the earth." He speaks also of higher things ; and 
 
 2
 
 10 THE RIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 to their grateful ears He reveals somewhat of his own 
 nature and character ; He tells them of his wisdom 
 and power, of his love and faithfulness, his holiness 
 and justice. He speaks to them of their relation to 
 himself ; of their duty ; claims implicit and exact 
 obedience at all times from them ; promises ever- 
 lasting continuance in happiness if they remain true 
 in allegiance to him, but warns them that the conse- 
 quence of disobedience will be DEATH. To all they 
 yield an intelligent and willing assent, and, conscious 
 of their uprightness, say Amen to the threatenings, 
 no less than to the promises. Finally, one test their 
 Almighty Sovereign gives theni, whereby he will 
 prove their obedience. There are in the midst of the 
 garden two trees of mystic power. The one is the 
 tree of life, whose fruit, yielded every month, is in- 
 tended to be, in case of obedience, the sacramental 
 pledge of immortality. The other is the tree of 
 knowledge of good and evil ; the fruit of which is 
 fair and beautiful to the eye, pleasant to the taste, 
 and good for food ; but it is hedged round by the 
 solemn prohibition of Jehovah, who thus promulgates 
 his only law, " Of the tree of the knowledge of good 
 and evil, thou shalt not eat of it : for in the day that 
 thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." The 
 knowledge of good shall be possessed while man 
 abstains in obedience to God : the fatal knowledge of 
 evil shall be introduced if he in disobedience partake 
 of its fruit. Thus is established, though but for a 
 brief season, the Covenant of Works. " The man 
 that doeth them, shall live in them."
 
 THE FALL. 11 
 
 It is evening. The effulgent sun, after having 
 climbed up to the zenith, has at length descended to 
 the horizon, and looks with slanting gaze upon a 
 scene whose loveliness he will not see on the morrow. 
 A pleasant breeze is whispering among the tremulous 
 leaves of the grove,' and breaking the surface of 
 Euphrates into a dancing and sparkling ripple. The 
 voice of the turtle comes plaintively over the river, 
 and the nightingale has already begun his nightly 
 hymn of praise. The beasts are gamboling in sportive 
 innocence, and all nature is enjoying the " cool of 
 the day." 
 
 But where are Adam and his wife ? Alas ! the 
 scene has no joy for them. They have listened 
 to the voice of the insidious tempter, and have eaten 
 of the tree of knowledge of good and evil ! They 
 have gained the knowledge of evil which before 
 they knew not ; their knowledge of good amoun : s 
 only to the assurance that they have lost it. 
 They perceive what hitherto had excited no feeling 
 of shame that they are naked ; they have lost the 
 covering robe of innocence, which was the assurance 
 of God's protection, and their bodily nakedness now 
 appears to them as an emblem and an expression of 
 that shameful and defenceless condition to which 
 their souls are reduced. They are engaged, in moody 
 and desponding silence, in endeavoring to sew to- 
 gether the broad leaves of a fig-tree, to form a flimsy 
 covering for their exposed persons. Yain attempt ! 
 as if a guilty and condemned sinner could, by any 
 works or contrivances of his own, repel or avert the 
 threatenings of divine wrath ! 
 
 Hark ! from the accustomed bower comes a well-
 
 12 THE RIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 known voice. Awful it had seemed in their innocence, 
 but now, how does it thrill through their trembling 
 hearts ! In their insanity of terror they seek to hide 
 among the trees from the omniscient Jehovah ; but 
 again the voice comes forth, " Where art thou ?" 
 And the terrific demand penetrates in a moment all 
 their disguises, and compels the reluctant reply. 
 
 Oh, who would not have expected that now the 
 sentence hanging over the guilty pair would be at 
 once pronounced, and as quickly executed ! The 
 doom would have been righteous, nor could a breath 
 have been uttered against the spotless holiness and 
 justice of the Most High God, if He had now glorified 
 himself in vengeance, as He had done before upon 
 the sinning angels. For " whatever there hath been 
 in any sin, of unbelief, ingratitude, apostasy, rebellion, 
 robbery, contempt, defiance, hard thoughts of, and 
 enmity against, God ; whatever there hath been of 
 idolatry, as comprehending faith in, worship of, and 
 obedience to, Satan, the god and prince of this 
 world ; of exorbitant pride, self-love, and self-will, in 
 affecting that independency, exaltation, and homage, 
 which belong to God ; and that inordinate love of 
 the creatures, in seeking our happiness in the pos- 
 session and enjoyment of them ; whatever of discon- 
 tent, sensual lust, covetousness, murder, and mischief, 
 were ever yet contained in any one, or all of the sins 
 which have been committed upon earth ; all con- 
 centred in this one transgression."* 
 
 But God's thoughts are not man's thoughts. It 
 is not for the execution of vengeance that He is now 
 
 * Scott, in loc.
 
 THE PROMISED SEED. 13 
 
 come down, but for the exhibition of a glorious 
 attribute in his character, which had never yet been 
 manifested. That attribute is GKACE. The Al- 
 mighty God hath once glorified himself by inflicting 
 righteous wrath upon the angels that kept not their 
 first estate ; He will now still more greatly glorify 
 himself in freely forgiving guilty man. 
 
 The poor culprits, indeed, little expect the exhi- 
 bition of mercy, and are only intent on hiding their 
 sin or extenuating its guilt. But Jehovah, unsolicited 
 and without waiting for any humiliation on their 
 part, reveals his purpose, and takes the side of the 
 sinner against the insidious destroyer. A Deliverer 
 is promised, the Seed of the woman, who shall suc- 
 cessfully contend with him before whom they have 
 fallen. He is to be the woman's Seed, tkafr He 
 may gain the victory in human form and nature, in 
 which it has been lost. But He is to be mightier 
 than Satan, the great enemy of God and man ; and 
 therefore Divine. Here, then, is the great promise 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, 
 as the repairer of the breach, and the reconciler of 
 man to God. 
 
 Not without cost, -however, can the reconciliation 
 be accomplished. " Thou shalt bruise his heel." 
 The Son of God, when, at the appointed time, he 
 comes to carry out this purpose of grace, must accom- 
 plish it by his own sufferings and death. Satan and 
 his seed, in the fury of their rage, shall succeed in 
 crucifying the Lord of glory, and thus appear to gain 
 a momentary triumph. But this is, in truth, the 
 victory ; for by His giving up himself as a sacrifice 
 for sin, and as a surety for guilty man, the righteous 
 claim of God's holy law is fully met, and Satan's
 
 14 THE RIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 power over the believing sinner for ever crushed and 
 broken. Thus, by the voluntary humiliation of the 
 Son of God, putting away sin by the sacrifice of him- 
 self, the majesty of the Divine holiness is more glori- 
 ously vindicated than it could have been even by the 
 infliction of the penalty on the guilty sinner ; while 
 at the same time it makes a way for the out-flow T ing 
 of that mighty grace for which the praises of count- 
 less millions of redeemed saints shall go up to God 
 throughout eternity. 
 
 To impress these solemn but most blessed truths 
 on the hearts of the pardoned sinners, and to teach 
 them to exercise an active and personal faith on the 
 promised Saviour, a striking scene is now enacted : 
 an altar of earth is quickly formed, an innocent lamb 
 is selected from the flocks playing around, and dies 
 by the hand of God ; and the body, placed on the 
 altar, is consumed by fire from heaven. They are 
 thus vividly taught that God accepts an innocent 
 victim, of whom this lamb is a shadow, instead of the 
 guilty, the guilt being transferred or imputed to 
 the representative. Through the sign they look to 
 the thing signified, thankfully accept God's Lamb 
 as their surety, and joyfully behold the flame of 
 Divine wrath averted from themselves and falling 
 upon their representative. 
 
 And now the skin of the slain victim is, by the 
 hand of God himself, made into garments, with 
 which He clothes their nakedness ; and their own poor 
 fig-leaves are gladly cast aside for ever. In this they 
 are taught not only a sinner's need of a righteous- 
 ness to cover him, better than any he can procure, 
 but that God himself provides that righteousness, 
 and clothes him with it; and that this is none other
 
 THE BUILDERS. 
 
 15 
 
 than the righteousness of the Lamb of God, whose 
 blood has already made atonement for his guilt. 
 
 Reader ! Have you ever felt the need of blood to 
 cancel your guilt, and of a spotless righteousness to 
 cover your soul before God ? And have you found 
 these in Christ ? 
 
 GENESIS XI. 
 
 NEARLY eighteen centuries have passed away ; and 
 the lovely garden of Eden has been so defaced and 
 destroyed by the overflowing of the flood, that not a 
 
 Tlie Kuphrate 
 
 vestige even of its situation remains. But " that 
 great river, the river Euphrates," still flows through 
 the same region as before, and on its banks we again 
 take our stand.
 
 16 THE KIVEK EUPHRATES. 
 
 Since our first scene the earth has been peopled, 
 depopulated, and is now fast filling with people again. 
 But they have not learned righteousness from God's 
 judgments. Pride, self-will, a haughty independency 
 of God, and a daring defiance of his purposes, are 
 their characteristics. They seek to aggrandize them- 
 selves, to do deeds of renown, that shall exalt their 
 own glory, and make their names to be remembered 
 with admiration among men. The Divine command 
 to replenish the earth is already operating, and 
 families are beginning to wander away eastward 
 and westward, and northward and southward. But 
 to the majority this is displeasing, and they seek to 
 resist, and, if possible, to prevent this dispersion, and 
 to form a great centre of unity, around which all the 
 families of mankind should gather under one govern- 
 ment. And other still more infidel thoughts are 
 working in their hearts : forgetful or regardless of 
 the promise that there should be no more a flood 
 to destroy the earth, they task their ingenuity to 
 devise means whereby they may laugh to scorn the 
 vengeance of Jehovah, should he again resort to such 
 a means of executing his wrath against sin. 
 
 A grand council is called ; and Nimrod, who has 
 already grown from a mighty hunter of beasts to be 
 a king of men, takes the lead in its decisions. In 
 their proud self-sufficiency, and in that consciousness 
 of power which is inspired by great masses of men 
 combining with unity of purpose, they think that 
 nothing can be restrained from them which they 
 imagine to do. " Go to," is their language, for they 
 encourage themselves in the evil matter ; " Go to, 
 let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may
 
 THE BUILDERS. 1 I 
 
 reach unto heaven ; and let us make us a name, lest 
 we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole 
 earth." 
 
 And lo ! a place is found which seems expressly 
 formed for the carrying out of their godless design. 
 An immense tract of level ground, the plain of Shinar, 
 expands on each side 
 of the Euphrates, 
 which, though two 
 hundred and fifty 
 miles from its mouth, 
 is here a noble river, 
 broad, deep, and ra- 
 pid. The soil is com- 
 posed of clay fit for 
 the making of bricks ; 
 and there are in the 
 vicinity fountains which throw up large quantities of 
 asphaltum, or mineral pitch, which being heated shall 
 serve them as a strong and durable cement. 
 
 But why, if it be their object to form a tower of 
 such an elevation as shall put them out of danger of 
 any future deluge, do they not rather select the sum- 
 mit of a mountain than. a level plain? Doubt- 
 less, because there the means of building such a 
 structure would be difficult to procure, while here 
 they are found in abundance ; not to mention 
 the eligibility of the situation, on the banks of a 
 mighty river, fora city which is intended to be the 
 metropolis of mankind. 
 
 In high hope and eager confidence of success, the 
 work begins. The earth dug out to form the foun- 
 dation is laid in heaps, fashioned into square bricks,
 
 18 THE RIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 and baked in a furnace. The bitumen, melted by 
 heat, is poured over the structure at every thirtieth 
 course of bricks, which, running down into the inter- 
 stices, cements the whole, by cooling, into one solid 
 mass. The city and the tower proceed simultane- 
 ously ; and as there are many artificers, both are 
 rapidly rising. What vastness and grandeur of de- 
 sign are apparent in the work ! One who saw both 
 long afterwards, describes the city as a square, each 
 side of which measured one hundred and twenty 
 stadia, or fifteen miles ; and the tower as having for 
 its basement a cube of solid masonry measuring a 
 furlong on every side. On this a smaller story is 
 erected, and on this another, until eight, successively 
 diminishing in size, already elevate the proud edifice 
 to the sky. A staircase, winding round the outside 
 of the building, leads from story to story. 
 
 But now it is time for God to interfere. He looks 
 down from heaven, and sees with displeasure, that, 
 with very few exceptions, all the children of men are 
 engaged in following the devices of their own evil 
 hearts. Noah and Shem, with perhaps a small godly 
 remnant, have protested against the baneful enter- 
 prise, but without effect, and they have retired from 
 their fellows. The work has been suffered to proceed 
 until the design of the contrivers has become fully 
 manifest, and their pride and rage against the Most 
 High abundantly developed. Yet he deals with them 
 in undeserved mercy ; He does not pour upon them 
 the fierceness of his wrath, but contents himself with 
 putting an effectual stop to their vain-glorious design. 
 
 Hitherto there had been no deviation from the 
 primitive tongue spoken by the antediluvians, and
 
 THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES. 19 
 
 preserved by Noah and his family. " The whole 
 earth was of one language and one speech." But 
 now, by a miraculous interposition, the Almighty 
 God confounds their language, introducing new 
 tongues and dialects, and obliterating from their 
 minds all remembrance of that which they had 
 hitherto spoken. Utter confusion is the immediate 
 consequence ; an undistinguishable jargon of sounds, 
 in which no man understands his fellow ; and hence 
 the work is brought to a sudden period, from the 
 impossibility of combined operation in the absence 
 of a common vehicle for the communication of 
 ideas. 
 
 Thus easily does God baffle the proudest designs 
 of men, when they interfere with his purposes. " He 
 that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh ; the Lord 
 shall have them in derision." And thus shall it ever 
 be ; those who set themselves up against the revealed 
 purposes of God, whether in providence or in grace, 
 and persist in their mad obduracy, shall not only find 
 that their schemes are vain and useless, but shall reap 
 everlasting shame and confusion as their portion. 
 
 The desire of these bold builders was to make for 
 themselves a name. Yet of not a single individual 
 of the mighty multitude has history preserved the 
 name ; if we except Nimrod, of whom it is emphati- 
 cally said, " The beginning of his kingdom was Babel 
 [confusion]." 
 
 More than four thousand years have elapsed since 
 the event which we have described took place ; yet 
 there, in the midst of the desolate plain of Shinar, 
 stands the mighty pile, a burnt and blackened heap, 
 an eloquent witness of the power and yet the impo-
 
 20 THE RIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 tency of man. Kingdoms and cities have risen and 
 fallen there, leaving scarcely a trace behind ; but 
 there rolls still, in silent dignity, the broad Euphrates, 
 and on its banks stands yet the shrunken and shape- 
 less, but still gigantic ruin. 
 
 The following description of the great heap, called 
 by the Arabs " Birs Nimroud," is given by Mr. Rich 
 in his " Memoir on the Ruins of Babylon," and is 
 interesting as showing the present condition of the 
 mightiest and most ancient of human works of art. 
 " The Birs Ximroud is a mound of an oblong form, 
 the total circumference of which is 762 yards. At 
 the eastern side it is cloven by a deep furrow, and is 
 not more than fifty or sixty feet high ; but at the 
 western side it rises in a conical figure to the eleva- 
 tion of 198 feet, and on its summit is a solid pile of brick 
 thirty-seven feet high by twenty-eight in breadth,
 
 THE MESOPOTAMIAN VALLEY. 21 
 
 diminishing in thickness to the top, which is broken 
 and irregular, and rent by a large fissure extending 
 through a third of its height. It is perforated by 
 small square holes disposed in rhomboids. The fine 
 burnt bricks of which it is built have inscriptions on 
 them, and so excellent is the cement, which appears 
 to be lime-mortar, that it is nearly impossible to ex- 
 tract one whole. The other parts of the summit of 
 this hill are occupied by immense fragments of brick- 
 work of no determinate figure, tumbled together, 
 and converted into solid vitrified masses, the layers 
 of brick being perfectly discernible. These ruins 
 stand on a prodigious mound, the whole of which is 
 itself a ruin, channelled by the weather, and strewed 
 with fragments of black stone, sandstone, and marble. 
 In the eastern part, layers of unburnt brick, but no 
 reeds, are to be seen. In the north side may be seen 
 traces of building exactly similar to the brick pile. 
 At the foot of the mound a step may be traced scarcely 
 elevated above the plain, exceeding in extent, by 
 several feet each way, the true or measured base ; 
 and there is a quadrangular enclosure round the 
 whole as at the Mujelibe, [another immense ruin, 
 supposed to have been the palace of the kings of 
 Babylon,] but much more perfect, and of greater 
 dimensions." 
 
 GENESIS xn. 
 
 LET us in imagination transport ourselves to 
 a winding valley in the midst of a wild and preci- 
 pitous mountain-region. Some of the loftiest peaks
 
 22 
 
 THE KIVEB EUPHRATES. 
 
 are covered with snow ; and patches of white, speck- 
 ling the mountain side, though the spring is far 
 advanced, tell us that we are now in a country where 
 the reign of winter is familiar. A stream of con- 
 siderable size pours through the lower ground, now 
 hemmed in by precipitous walls of rock, now dashing 
 in a sheet of foam over a broken ledge, now brawling 
 in its deep channel beneath, covered with fragments 
 of ice and half-melted masses of mountain snow, and 
 now spreading itself over a level tract in a broad and 
 shallow pool. We are again on the banks of the 
 Euphrates, in its upper course, and the uneven 
 country around us is the highland of Mesopotamia. 
 
 A .\jo3npota: 
 
 The water of the river is of a chilling coldness, yet 
 the air, in the sheltered bottoms, is mild and balmy, 
 and the rays of the sun, reflected from the mountain 
 sides, pour down with great power upon the verdant
 
 THE MESOPOTAMIAN VALLEY. 
 
 23 
 
 banks. The oak forests and groves of walnuts that 
 stud the higher slopes are already in full leaf, and by 
 the yellow-green hue of their newly expanded leaves, 
 refresh the eye of the beholder. The southern de- 
 clivities are cultivated : well-fenced fields, verdant 
 with the springing wheat, are interspersed with vine- 
 
 The Persian Cyclamen. 
 
 yards and olive-yards, and with orchards and gardens 
 in which grow the fig, the mulberry, the pomegra- 
 nate, the apple, the pear, the almond, nnd the apricot.
 
 24 THE RIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 These are for the most part richly covered with 
 their sheets of beauteous blossom. The silvery pine, 
 the tamarisk, and the poplar shoot out of the clefts 
 of the rocks, and the spreading limbs of a gigantic 
 plane-tree afford shadow to a cottage with its adjuncts. 
 
 The banks of the river, and the whole surface of 
 the valley, are like a vast flower-garden. Beds of 
 poppies, scarlet and white; bugloss, borage, and 
 larkspur of the richest azure ; white and blushing 
 cistuses ; anemones, with white, scarlet and delicately 
 pencilled petals ; ranunculuses, campanulas, and 
 a thousand other flowers with names unknown to us, 
 display their beauties or diffuse their fragrance on 
 every side. But chiefly the bulbous-rooted plants 
 abound in this region : wild tulips, white, red, and 
 blue, yellow daffodils and jonquils, gladioluses, hya- 
 cinths of many species, cyclamens with drooping, 
 blushing blossoms, and lilies of every gay hue, scar- 
 let, orange, yellow, white, purple, shoot up their 
 sword-like leaves and expand their lovely corollas 
 from the mossy turf, enamelling its surface like 
 a gorgeous carpet. 
 
 But what is that moving mass slowly emerging 
 from a dark gorge far up in the hills, and gradually 
 extending itself in a long winding line on the moun- 
 tain-side ? The shouts of men, softened by the distance, 
 ' come distinctly upon the ear, mingled with the lowing 
 of oxen, the bleating of calves and sheep, and other 
 confused sounds that are too far off to be recognised. 
 The tortuous train of living things still lengthens, 
 and long before the last of the file has issued from 
 the distant pass, the van has approached sufficiently 
 near for us to perceive the nature and character of
 
 THE MIGRATION. 25 
 
 the procession. Its course is evidently towards yon- 
 der level spot, where the Euphrates, spreading itself 
 over the ground in a broad but shallow lake, may 
 without much difficulty be forded. 
 
 In front, seated on a milk-white ass of great size 
 and noble bearing, is one who is evidently the lord of 
 the party. His fine features, though browned by 
 habitual exposure, have the freshness which marks 
 the native of an upland country. His erect carriage, 
 the calm dignity of his countenance, and the com- 
 pression of his finely-formed lips, tell of one accus- 
 tomed to command ; though at present he seems to 
 take little part in the active superintendence of the 
 cavalcade, and the fire of his large dark eyes is tem- 
 pered by a meekness that seems habitual to them. 
 He is clothed in a long white robe, as are many of 
 his companions, and only the large jewel that blazes 
 in the front of his richly-colored turban, distin- 
 guishes his dress from theirs. The raven blackness 
 of his hair begins to yield to the assaults of years, 
 yet the venerable man before us can scarcely yet be 
 considered as beyond the prime of life. 
 
 By his side, mounted like himself on a white ass, 
 is a man apparently of the same rank in life, but 
 considerably younger. His features are cast in the 
 same mould, but are less pleasing in their expression ; 
 and his unquiet eye lacks the meekness of his more 
 aged companion's. They converse together with an 
 unreserved freedom, and there is in their deportment 
 toward each other an aifectionate cordiality, which 
 indicates that they are bound by the tie of friend- 
 ship, if not of kindred. 
 
 The procession is evidently that of a wealthy 
 
 ** r\
 
 _ 
 
 26 THE RIVEK EUPHRATES. 
 
 pastoral emir, migrating with his numerous household 
 and retainers, and with his flocks and herds, from one 
 country to another. The long, curved, ungainly 
 necks of hundreds of camels rise above the general 
 level, and their hunched backs are loaded with tents, 
 poles, the larger articles of furniture, and various 
 packages of baggage, so as often to project far on 
 each side. On the very summit of some of these, 
 seated on the immense piles of lighter luggage, at an 
 elevation which makes us tremble for the security of 
 their position, we see women, old men, and even 
 children, who gaze about with an indifference or 
 a curiosity which shows us that the apparent danger 
 of their position is not at all occupying their thoughts. 
 These are the slaves and inferior domestics of the 
 household. 
 
 The baggage camels follow one another in single 
 file, each being led by a halter fastened to the 
 harness of the one that precedes it ; the foremost of 
 the number is guided by an experienced servant, who 
 either leads it by the halter, or rides upon its hunch. 
 Around are many saddled and bridled dromedaries, 
 camels of a lighter and more elegant form, differing 
 not in species, but only in breed, from their more 
 clumsy and ungainly fellows, just as a riding-horse 
 differs from a cart-horse. These bear the officer of 
 the establishment, the stewards, the chief herdsmen 
 and shepherds, and the superintendents of the various 
 classes of menials which belong to so extensive 
 a household, together with their wives and elder 
 children. They are not strung together like the 
 drudging baggage-camels, but each rider governs 
 his own beast.
 
 THE MIGRATION. 27 
 
 Asses are prominent in the cavalcade. Not the 
 poor, ragged, spirit-broken drudges of modern 
 times, with which we in the west are familiar, but 
 sleek, well-formed, high-mettled animals, little 'in- 
 ferior to horses in size, figure, or speed. Most of 
 these are led ; though a few are saddled, and bear 
 some of the most confidential of the domestic 
 servants, immediately behind the emir and his young 
 companion. The she-asses are accompanied by their 
 prancing foals. 
 
 Herds of lowing oxen and kine, some with long 
 pendent horns, and others with short horns and a 
 
 Oriental Cattle. 
 
 prominent hump on the shoulders ; flocks of sheep 
 of a beautiful breed, with tall twisted horns, and 
 goats with long hanging ears, bring up the rear, 
 making the rocks around vocal with the echoes of 
 their pertinacious cries. These are specially valuable 
 not only for their flesh, but also for their milk, which,.
 
 28 THE BIVEK ^EUPHRATES. 
 
 with the butter and cheese produced from it, consti- 
 tutes an important part of the food of the house- 
 hold. 
 
 The whole motley line is under the guidance and 
 supervision of the young and middle-aged ser- 
 vants. Vigorous and active youths, with garments 
 tucked up, and girded loins, run hither and thither, 
 accompanied by their useful, but somewhat despised 
 assistants, the " dogs of the flock." They find full 
 employment in repressing those animals that are too 
 exuberant, driving in those that wander from the 
 line of march, urging on the lagging, encouraging by 
 voice and caresses such as are becoming weary, taking 
 care of those that are hurt, and guarding against the 
 thousand mishaps and accidents that are constantly 
 liable to occur in such a journey. They carry a rod 
 or staff in their hands, but those whose special busi- 
 ness it is to mind the flocks, substitute for this the 
 well-known shepherd's crook. In general, however, 
 the voice is sufficient to guide the flock, for the sheep 
 know the shepherd's voice. Many of the men are 
 Seen carrying the young and weakly lambs in their 
 arms, or in the folds of their loose garments ; and 
 much care is exercised towards those which from age 
 or pregnancy, or any other cause, are incapable of 
 great fatigue. Hence the progress of the caravan is 
 slow, and often interrupted ; and its strength is 
 occasionally recruited by a lengthened rest, where 
 good pasturage is met with. 
 
 The interesting scene before us is a signal exhibi- 
 tion of Faith, "the substance of things hoped for, 
 the evidence of things not seen." The venerable 
 man at the head of the troop, is Abram, the Hebrew,
 
 FAITH. 29 
 
 and his companion is Lot, his brother's son. This 
 goodly array of flocks and herds is their worldly 
 substance, and the men, women, and children, are 
 their families and dependents. They are turning 
 their backs on their native country, at the command 
 of God, and they go forth, not knowing whither they 
 go, but content to be guided by the goodness and 
 wisdom of their Almighty Friend. 
 
 A few years ago these persons, who now walk by 
 faith as strangers and pilgrims, were dwelling in 
 consideration and comfort, in Ur of the Chaldees, a 
 region lying behind yonder mountain-range, between 
 the sources of the Euphrates and the Tigris. Idolatry 
 universally prevailed there, though little more than 
 three centuries have passed away since the judgment 
 of God against sin had brought in the flood upon the 
 world of the ungodly. So strong is the tendency of 
 man's heart to depart from the true God ! 
 
 To prevent the entire prevalence of idolatry over 
 the whole earth, and to establish a permanent witness 
 for Himself, the All-wise God determined to deal in 
 a different way from that in which He had already 
 dealt with man. He therefore elects one man to be 
 the progenitor of an elect nation, whom He will 
 separate to Himself, to perpetuate his worship, to be 
 the recipient of his revealed will, and especially to 
 be the channel through which, according to the flesh, 
 shall be born at the appointed time, the promised 
 Seed of the woman, God over all, blessed for evermore. 
 
 For this purpose the Divine sovereignty selected 
 Abram, the son. of Terah, and called him out from 
 his kindred, and his father's house, to an acquaintance 
 with Himself as the Living God. Not that this was
 
 30 THE KIVEK EUPHRATES. 
 
 owing to any fitness or worthiness on the part of 
 Abram ; he was doubtless by practice an idolater 
 like his fellows, till the distinguishing grace of God 
 found him. The favor of God is the origin of, and 
 can never spring from, any goodness in man ; and 
 Abram would never have sought the Lord, if the 
 Lord had not first sought him. But a divine and 
 quickening power accompanied the call ; like his 
 illustrious descendent ages afterwards, he was obedient 
 to the heavenly vision ; and thus became the Father 
 of the Faithful, and the Friend of God. 
 
 The God of glory who appeared to Abram hi 
 Mesopotamia, and separated him from his natural 
 relationships, did not reveal to him whither he was 
 to go. The terms of the summons were these : 
 " Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, 
 and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will 
 shew thee" What a trial must this have been to 
 faith ! For a man of substance to pack up all his 
 goods, muster his dependents, take his cattle with 
 him, and depart for a foreign land, without being 
 able to inform his wondering neighbors of even so 
 much as the name, the position, or the distance of the 
 region to which he is going ! All he could tell them 
 was, that a Being, whom they indeed knew not nor 
 recognised, but in whose wisdom, skill, power, faith- 
 fulness and love he had implicit confidence, had com- 
 manded the journey, and had promised to be his 
 guide and protector. 
 
 And is not this conduct imitated by every one who 
 has set out for the celestial Canaan ? Originally 
 dead in sins, and ignorant of God, he has been made 
 to hear a gracious call to come out and be separated
 
 THE CALL OF ABKAM. 3J 
 
 from that which is of the present world. The power 
 of the Holy Ghost, quickening him into new life, has 
 accompanied the call, and enabled him to obey it. 
 Henceforth his back is upon the world, and the eye 
 of his faith is upon the goodly inheritance by-and-by 
 to be revealed. Where it is he knows not ; none that 
 have ever been there before have returned to describe) 
 it to him; he cannot tell how near it is, or how 
 distant, nor when he shall arrive at it ; but he goes 
 
 7 O 
 
 forward, looking to the shepherd-care of his Lord and 
 Saviour, who he is sure will guide him aright, will 
 not let him want by the way, and will bring him 
 safely, and by the best road, to his heavenly rest. 
 
 The call of Abram had occurred several years 
 before the period of the scene which we have de- 
 scribed, and he had at once set out upon his journey. 
 His aged father, Terah, and his brother Nahor, had 
 accompanied him, perhaps persuaded, like the youtl 
 ful Lot, by the testimony of their relative, to 
 acknowledge and obey the true God. Certain it is, 
 that when, long afterwards, the sacred historian leads 
 the reader back to Mesopotamia, the name of Jeho- 
 vah is recognised among Terah's descendants, and 
 the God of Abram is called also the God of Nahor, 
 and the God of their father. Often when the sove- 
 reign grace of God has singled out an individual from 
 a godless family, it is that the favored one may be a 
 channel of blessing to the rest ; and the conversion 
 of a whole household has frequently resulted from 
 that of a single member of it. Yet neither Terah 
 nor Nahor ever crossed the Euphrates : they re- 
 mained " on the other side of the flood " all their 
 days ; the increasing infirmities of the former, and
 
 32 THE RIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 perhaps the supineness and love of ease of the 
 latter, prevailed to put an early period to the pilgrim- 
 walk that they had undertaken. For fifteen years 
 the migration of Abram and Lot was thus delayed, 
 during which time the whole family resided at Char- 
 ran. But now the aged Terah has gone the way of 
 all flesh ; Nahor is unwilling to remove again ; and 
 Abram has received a second intimation from the 
 Lord Jehovah, that country and kindred are to be 
 finally forsaken. 
 
 Henceforth the patriarch has done with cities and 
 with houses ; a stranger and a pilgrim dwelling in 
 tents, is to be henceforth his character. And even 
 when he comes to the Land of Promise, he is still to 
 walk by faith through it, in the same character. For 
 it is to be at present to him but the Land of Pro- 
 mise, not of Possession. The Canaanite is in it, and 
 will not just yet be dispossessed ; and until then, the 
 friend of God, though assured that it is his inherit- 
 ance, has no more than a tent and a pasture in it. 
 He will look onward " for a city which hath founda- 
 tions, whose builder and maker is God." 
 
 All this is beautifully illustrative of the walk of a 
 Christian. When he first turned his back upon the 
 world in which he was born, and in whose pleasures 
 and pursuits he was for a while engrossed, he did not 
 immediately get into the Canaan of rest. Many 
 delays intervene, and often through many years he 
 has to sustain the stranger and pilgrim character, 
 passing through the world, but not of it. He knows 
 that by-and-by " the meek shall inherit the earth, 
 and shall delight themselves with abundance of 
 peace ;" he is assured that a time is coming when
 
 THE MISSIOA* OF ELIEZEE. 33 
 
 over this wretched and sin-stricken world, where now 
 Satan rules, the peaceful and happy reign of Jesus 
 shall be extended, whose right it is ; and he has been 
 promised that he shall bear a part in the glory of his 
 reigning Lord. But meanwhile, " the Canaanite is 
 in the land ;" this world is in the possession of those 
 with whom he can have no fellowship, because they 
 reject his Master. He " abides in tents ;" he has no 
 home, no permanent resting-place here, but lookc 
 forward, like his great prototype, the faithful Abram, 
 to the City of the all-glorious foundations, that Holy 
 City, the New Jerusalem. 
 
 GENESIS XXIV. 
 
 LET us suppose the lapse of threescore years, and 
 again take our stand at this same ford of Euphrates. 
 A train of camels slowly approaches along the winding 
 path that leads from the Syrian desert, the very 
 track along which Abram had gone before, but in the 
 opposite direction. The beasts are attired in sump- 
 tuous housings, and bear rich ornaments on their 
 necks and on their head-gear : some of them carry 
 the peculiarly formed saddle which is used by ladies 
 of rank and station ; but no female is in the troop. 
 A venerable man is mounted on the foremost camel, 
 and the rest of the company are evidently attendants. 
 They cross the ford ; the old man looks round with 
 that expression of mingled curiosity and gratification 
 with which we recognise objects and scenes once 
 familial', but half-forgotten ; but the train pursues 
 
 2* 

 
 34 THE RIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 its way, winds up the opposite slope, and is presently 
 lost to view 111 the rocky gorge that leads the traveller 
 to the Upper Mesopotamia. 
 
 Three days afterwards, the quiet of the secluded 
 valley is again broken by the tinkling of the camels' 
 bells, and the same train is seen returning. No 
 difference is perceptible in the company, except that 
 now the most richly caparisoned dromedary carries 
 a young and beautiful lady, and several other females 
 accompany and follow her. The venerable conductor 
 rides by her side, and entertains her with conversa- 
 tion, which to judge from her smiles, and the color 
 that comes and goes upon her blushing cheek, is both 
 interesting and agreeable. They quickly pass ; we 
 trace their diminishing forms for a while ; until at 
 length the summit of yonder hill conceals them from 
 our sight, and enables them to catch a view of the 
 desert across which they have to travel on their way 
 to Canaan. 
 
 The history of this expedition is touching and in- 
 structive. Abraham has been blessed with a son, 
 the Child of Promise, who has now attained mature 
 age. The Patriarch, now stricken in years, looks on 
 his beloved son, the heir of his possessions, and the 
 heir of his piety too, the son to Avhose line the pro- 
 mised Blessing is expressly appropriated, and de- 
 sires to see him wedded to a suitable wife. But 
 where shall he find a help-meet for a man of God ? 
 Not among the filthy inhabitants of the land in 
 which he dwells ; not among the daughters of. the 
 idolatrous Canaanites, the licentious worshippers of 
 Baal-peor. From these can never be expected any 
 help or comfort to a servant of Jehovah, nor the
 
 THE MISSION OF ELIEZER. 35 
 
 bringing up of a u godly seed." The surrounding 
 nations are little better, all being plunged into the 
 grossest vice and the most debasing idolatry. 
 
 But intelligence has recently been brought to the 
 anxious Patriarch from his native country, Meso- 
 potamia, He learns that the family of his brother 
 Nahor are flourishing at Charran, and, what is still 
 better, that they are leading, in virtuous simplicity, 
 a pastoral life, and that they have preserved, in some 
 degree of purity, the knowledge and the worship of 
 Jehovah. Here then he determines to seek a bride 
 for his beloved son. 
 
 He calls his long-tried, faithful steward, the aged 
 Eliezer, born and bred up in his family, who had 
 originally accompanied him in his migrations, and 
 whose feelings, affections, and interests are identified 
 with his own. To him the careful parent reveals his 
 purpose, and to him he confides its execution. The 
 custom of the country and of the age prescribes such 
 a proceeding. Marriage is a subject of negotiation, 
 not between the bride and bridegroom themselves, 
 whose inclinations it is not considered essential 
 previously to consult, but between the parents or 
 families of the interested parties. Proposals are made 
 frequently through the medium of confidential ser- 
 vants, who have authority to conclude the nego- 
 tiation. Another thing contrary to western notions 
 of delicacy, but immemorially the custom in the 
 East, is the purchase of the bride from her family, at 
 a stipulated price, varying of course according to her 
 personal qualifications and rank in life. 
 
 We have said that the faithfulness and devoted 
 attachment of Eliezer have been long tried ; the
 
 36 THE RIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 entire government of his master's house is in his 
 hand ; but on an occasion so important as the pre- 
 sent, Abraham cannot be satisfied without the solem- 
 nity of an oath. The cautious domestic, however, 
 desires to know what will be his duty, on the suppo- 
 sition that he shall not be able to find a female of 
 his master's kindred who will be willing to come 
 with him. Abraham frees him from his obligation 
 in such a case, but nevertheless assures him that he 
 needs not fear ; for that Jehovah, who took him from 
 his father's house, and had given him great and pre- 
 cious promises, will surely send His angel with his 
 messenger and prosper his way. How beautiful is 
 this confidence in God ! Both of these men are 
 experimentally acquainted with the love and faith- 
 fulness of Jehovah ; but the faith of Abraham is 
 stronger than the faith of Eiiezer ! 
 
 The oath is given, and the trusty servant departs 
 with a train of attendants suitable for the high mis- 
 sion, and with jewels of gold and silver, valuable 
 raiment, as presents for the intended bride and her 
 relatives. The journey is long, but the trained dro- 
 medaries swiftly cross the Syrian desert, and arrive 
 at the frontier of Mesopotamia, where we have found 
 the procession. We will follow the venerable steward 
 on until he reaches the city of his destination,Charran, 
 where still reside the descendants of Nahor. It is 
 evening tide ; but, before he enters the town, he tar- 
 ries a while by the well, which, as usual, is situated 
 outside the gate. It is the time when the women of 
 the city come out to draw water ; a duty which, though 
 burdensome, is invariably assigned to females, and is 
 the less disliked because it affords them almost the
 
 THE MISSION OF ELIEZER. 
 
 37 
 
 only opportunity they possess of meeting together 
 for cheerful intercourse. None of them are yet 
 arrived ; and Eliezer determines to spend the few 
 minutes that may intervene, in prayer. Accordingly, 
 he makes his tired camels to kneel down, their usual 
 mode of taking rest ; while he, reverently standing, 
 wrestles with God for a token of blessing. His 
 solemn appeal is to Jehovah, the God of his master 
 Abraham ; and it is for his master's sake that he 
 pleads for a prosperous issue ; he disclaims his own 
 judgment in so important a matter, but seeks to find 
 the damsel whom God has appointed for his young 
 master ; and finally he ventures to ask for a sign 
 whereby he .may with certainty know the Divine 
 
 Women t Well. 
 
 decision. " Behold," he says, " I stand here by the 
 well of water ; and the daughters of the men of the 
 city come out to draw water : and let it come to
 
 38 THE RIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down 
 thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink ; and she 
 shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink 
 also : let the same be she that thou hast appointed 
 for thy servant Isaac ; and thereby shall I know that 
 thou hast shewed kindness unto my master." 
 
 Is not the example of Eliezer worthy of imitation 
 by every godly man engaged in any undertaking in- 
 volving important consequences ? We are taught, 
 whether we eat, or drink, or whatsoever we do, to do 
 it all to the glory of God. Therefore we should 
 seek earnestly to know the mind of God, even in the 
 things that concern the present life ; since there 
 is nothing in which a child of God - may lawfully 
 engage, on which he may not ask his heavenly 
 Father's direction and blessing. And he should 
 expect to have it too ; asking in faith, nothing waver- 
 ing. Let him watch the leadings and indications of 
 God's providence ; and the promise is clear and ex- 
 plicit, that wisdom shall ~be given to him who thus 
 asks it. The written Word, which Eliezer had not, 
 is now a Christian's rule of conduct ; and either by 
 precept or principle, it will meet every general case. 
 To be looking for manifest signs at every turn would 
 be now to walk by sight instead of by faith ; yet he 
 who habitually carries his undertakings and designs, 
 his difficulties and uncertainties to God, will not lack 
 special instances of interposition and direction, which, 
 however trivial they might seem if reported to others, 
 will to himself prove occasions of adoring wonder 
 and praise. 
 
 According as the good man prayed, so it comes 
 to pass. Even before he has done speaking, a lovely
 
 REBEKAH. 39 
 
 virgin comes forth bearing her pitcher on hershaulder. 
 a little circumstance indicative of her high station, 
 as the daughter of a lordly house, the women of in- 
 ferior rank habitually bearing the pitcher upon the 
 head. Her exceeding beauty and grace are equalled 
 only by her simplicity and modest affability. The 
 servant runs to meet her, hoping that one so fair may 
 indeed prove the destined bride ; he prefers his re- 
 quest, and receives the ready answer that his faith 
 had prescribed. He gratefully slakes his thirst at 
 her pitcher ; and then, in silent admiration not only 
 of the lovely maiden, but also of the goodness of the 
 Hearer of prayer, looks on while she with sweet ala- 
 crity runs again and again down the steep steps of the 
 well, and fills the trough with water, until the thirsty 
 beasts are satisfied. Surely Eliezer showed his wisdom 
 in the qualities which he desired to secure in a 
 wife for his master's son, and which his description 
 implied ! Simplicity, industry, humility, kindness, 
 affability, hospitality, readiness in obliging, and cheer- 
 fulness in service ; how valuable are these qualifi- 
 cations ; and how far superior to mere beauty of face 
 or form, or what, according to the fashion of this pre- 
 sent world, are considered feminine accomplishments! 
 The whole business is now soon accomplished. 
 The maiden, on being asked her parentage, declares 
 herself to be Rebekah, the grand-daughter of Nahor, 
 and invites the stranger to her father's house. He 
 immediately invests her with some of the precious 
 jewels, a nose-ring and bracelets of gold, which he 
 had brought for the purpose ; and declares his own 
 relation to Abraham. The negotiation with the 
 family involves a revelation of Abraham's greatness
 
 40 THE KIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 and wealth, and that Isaac is his sole heir, as also 
 of all the wondrous interpositions by which Jehovah 
 had marked out Rebekah as the destined bride. 
 The family consent to the marriage ; the maiden her- 
 self is willing to go ; and without any delay, for the 
 servant is anxious to fulfil his mission, she sets out 
 with him on his return, trusts herself to his protec- 
 tion and guidance across the dreary desert, cheered 
 doubtless by many a detail of the greatness and pa- 
 ternal kindness of Abraham, and of the gentleness 
 and love of Isaac, as they travel together. 
 
 In this interesting transaction, we have not only 
 a picture of the pastoral life of antiquity drawn with 
 inimitable simplicity and beauty by the pen of inspi- 
 ration, and valuable moral and spiritual instruction 
 given in a lively and attractive manner, but also 
 a precious type of the greatest mystery of grace, the 
 preparation of the Church of Christ, and her presen- 
 tation to Him. The Father loveth the Son, even 
 that only-begotten and well-beloved Son whom He 
 hath once given up, with his own free and perfect 
 consent, as a sacrifice. He " hath given all things 
 into his hand," so that the Son can say, " All things 
 that the Father hath are mine." But to consummate 
 the joy, the Father determines to " make a marriage 
 for his Son," and having chosen a bride out of 
 a distant land, He sends forth the Holy Ghost to 
 persuade her to " forget her own people and her 
 father's house." He, in obedience to the Father's 
 will, finds her out, tells her of all the glory of the 
 Father's house, which is also the glory of Jesus, and 
 thus makes her willing to forsake all, and to travel 
 through the wilderness with Him for her guide and
 
 BABYLON. 4:1 
 
 comforter. Then he covers her with a spotless robe 
 of righteousness, and adorns her with gifts and 
 graces, the pledge-jewels of Jesus' love, and of her 
 betrothal to Him ; and thus He conducts her home, 
 cheering her as she goes along with thoughts of Him 
 to whom she is going ; " taking of the things that are 
 his and showing them to her," and " showing her 
 things to come," even the glory which she shall 
 share, when, presented at length as a chaste virgin to 
 Christ, the marriage day shall come, and she shall be 
 manifested as one with Him, in everlasting union, to 
 the praise of his glorious grace. 
 
 DANIEL II. 
 
 THE most renowned city of antiquity was Babylon. 
 "We have already glanced at its early foundation by 
 Nimrod, the grandson of Ham, and the confusion of 
 which.it was the scene. We will now look at it as it 
 was in its maturity, " the golden city," " the lady of 
 kingdoms," "the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency." 
 
 It was situated in a vast plain watered by two 
 great rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris, the former 
 of which ran through its centre, dividing it into two 
 portions. Its form was that of a square of 480 stadia 
 or 60 miles in circumference, each side being 15 
 miles in length. A wall encompassed it 350 feet 
 in height, and 87 in thickness. An idea may be 
 formed of this wall, by comparing it with the dome 
 of St. Paul's, which is about equal in height, and by 
 saying that its breadth was considerably more than 
 half as much again as that of London Bridge. A
 
 THE KIVEB EUPHRATES. 
 
 moat surrounded the whole, deep and wide, and 
 always filled with clear water from the Euphrates. 
 We must not suppose that the whole of the immense 
 space within the walls was occupied, as it would be 
 in a modern European city, with streets and squares ; 
 extensive fields were embraced in this area, which 
 were intended to supply the inhabitants with corn in 
 the event of a siege. A hundred massive gates of 
 brass, at regular distances, gave ingress and egress to 
 the thousands that were constantly pouring in and 
 out of the city ; each of these gates was the extremity 
 of a street, which traversed the city in a straight 
 line. There were thus fifty streets, intersecting each 
 other at right angles, besides lanes and alleys innu- 
 merable ; the houses were generally three or four 
 stories in height. Transverse avenues led down to 
 the river, pierced through a wall or breastwork of 
 brick, and closed by smaller brazen gates. The 
 Euphrates, which was nearly a quarter of a mile wide, 
 was crossed by a bridge of stone. 
 
 In the centre of one of the divisions of this vast 
 city, stood that mighty monument of early audacity, 
 the Tower of Babel. It seems never to have been 
 carried beyond the height which the first builders 
 attained ; but the topmost turret, the eighth in 
 succession, was used as a chapel, and devoted to Bel 
 or Belus, the national idol. No statue was in this 
 apartment, which contained only a magnificent couch, 
 and a table of solid gold ; but in other chambers of 
 the buildings, there were colossal images, altars, and 
 thrones, of the same precious metal. 
 
 The centre of the other division, separated from 
 the former by the river, was occupied by the royal
 
 BABYLON. 43 
 
 palace. It was a structure of prodigious magnifi- 
 cence, one particular of which it may suffice to men- 
 tion. The queen of Nebuchadnezzar was a native of 
 Media, a mountainous country and well wooded, and 
 in these respects the very opposite of Babylonia. To 
 please her and gratify her taste for rural scenery, 
 this prince formed hanging gardens, terrace above 
 terrace, until they equalled the height of the walls of 
 the city. These he planted and laid out in the most 
 costly manner, with flowers, shrubs, and trees, brought 
 from distant parts of his dominions. The most 
 gigantic forest-trees flourished in these paradises ; 
 for they were built on hollow piers of brickwork, 
 sixty feet square, which were filled with earth. Thus 
 support to the stupendous structure was afforded, and 
 at the same time sufficient space was allowed for the 
 roots of the most spreading trees. 
 
 A few years ago an interesting discovery was made 
 by our countryman, Mr. Rich, while exploring the 
 ruins of ancient Babylon. In the Mujelibe, a vast 
 shapeless heap much like the Birs Nimroud, supposed 
 to have been this royal palace, he excavated one of 
 these supporting shafts. It was a " hollow pier, sixty 
 feet square, lined with fine brick, laid in bitumen, 
 and filled up with earth." 
 
 The fertility of the surrounding country was almost 
 without a parallel. Rich by nature, the productive- 
 ness of the soil was greatly increased by irrigation, 
 the region being crossed by numerous canals that 
 connected the waters of the Tigris with those of the 
 Euphrates ; and these were again intersected by 
 a multitude of smaller channels ; whence the water 
 was distributed partly by manual labor and partly
 
 44 THE RIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 by hydraulic engines. Thus the three requisites of 
 fertility, a rich soil, abundant moisture, and a hot 
 climate, combined to render Babylonia the most 
 fruitful region of the whole East. Corn was its chief 
 staple ; of which a two-hundred fold increase was the 
 common expectation; and in favorable seasons it 
 occasionally reached three hundred ; besides being of 
 prodigious size ; an astonishing return, which the 
 historian is almost afraid to record lest he should be 
 suspected of exaggeration. 
 
 And now let us in imagination turn to the centre 
 of all this glory, where Nebuchadnezzar, the mightiest 
 of earth's monarchs, sits in the marble halls of his 
 royal palace. A magnificent apartment extends before 
 us, of lofty height and immense length, along each 
 side of which runs a series of columns of white 
 marble. The broad avenues separated by this colon- 
 nade are ceiled with cedar, painted in a rich pattern 
 with blue and vermilion, but the still broader central 
 area is open to the sky, the clear cloudless azure of 
 the serene heavens forming its majestic roof. The 
 walls are panelled with enormous slabs of alabaster, 
 series above series, the lower compartments sculp- 
 tured with eagle-headed figures representing the 
 objects of idolatrous worship, or the monarch as the 
 high priest engaged with his subordinate priests in 
 various acts of religious homage. The upper panels 
 are painted in the most vivid colors, representing in 
 colossal proportions the exploits, real or imaginary, 
 of the monarch himself. In one place he is seen in 
 his war chariot leading on his warriors to battle ; in 
 another he is slaying with his own hand the adverse 
 chieftain ; then he is depicted driving his conquered
 
 THE 1'ALACK. 
 
 45 
 
 before him, and transfixing them with his 
 arrows ; or besieging a fortified city ; or fording 
 a broad and rapid river ; or returning in triumphal 
 pomp to his palace with the trophies of conquest. Or 
 the exciting scenes of the battle field are exchanged 
 for the sports of hunting ; the royal hunter, like his 
 illustrious ancestor, the founder of his kingdom, pur- 
 
 Eagle-Headed Idol. 
 
 sues in his chariot the wild bull and shoots him to 
 tke heart, or on foot seeks the maned lion in his lair,
 
 40 THE RIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 and engaging him in single combat, slays him with 
 his short sword. 
 
 To the upper parts of the marble pillars are attached 
 rings of massive silver, through which pass cords of 
 purple silk intertwined with silver thread ; on these 
 hang curtains richly embroidered with figures and 
 scenes analogous to those on the walls, but wrought 
 in purple on white silk ; they are gathered into 
 graceful folds by loops of silken cord, revealing the 
 luxuriously cushioned diavns that range along the 
 walls. The pavement is of porphyry and alabaster 
 set in various fantastic forms and labyrinthine 
 patterns, reflecting from its polished surface the 
 glittering columns, the painted figures of the walls, 
 and the placid blue sky above all. 
 
 On each side of the portal of this noble hall, stands, 
 like a guardian demon, a form of grand and awful 
 aspect. The stature is thrice that of man, and the 
 proportions are conformable to it. It is one of those 
 compound embodiments by which the human mind 
 has sought to exhibit to sense the abstract attributes 
 of the Divinity. The head and visage are those of 
 man, full of intelligence and grandeur ; the body and 
 limbs are those of a lion, the representative of 
 strength and ferocity ; and from the back rise the 
 wings of an eagle, expanding their ample plumes, 
 the symbol of clear-sighted omniscience, of omni- 
 presence, and of wide dominion.* 
 
 * In the above description we have not scrupled to make use of 
 the recent interesting discoveries of the ancient Ninevite marbles. 
 In the customs of two nations so nearly related in time, in situation, 
 in origin, and in language, as Assyria and Babylon, we may be per- 
 mitted, in the absence of any contrary evidence, to suppose a close
 
 THE COURT. 4? 
 
 At the upper extremity of the room stand in like 
 manner two other cherubic figures, and between 
 them, on an elevated dais, is placed the royal throne. 
 It is constructed of ivory richly carved and inlaid 
 with gold ; crouching lions form the arms, and the 
 feet terminate in lion's claws. A footstool of similar 
 materials stands before it, and above it is suspended 
 the winged globe, another symbol of deity. 
 
 On the throne, the centre and object of a homage 
 scarcely less than adoration, sits the monarch. He 
 is in the prime of vigorous life, a man of tall and 
 martial figure, whose noble features bear the impress 
 of power, and tell of one born to be a king of kings. 
 His commanding height is increased by his conical 
 turban, from which long tassels depend behind. He 
 is clad in a robe of w r hite linen richly embroidered 
 with pictures of his own exploits, and girdled with a 
 knotted girdle of twined silk, from which the chased 
 haft of a dagger projects, blazing with precious stones. 
 Golden figures of the sun, moon, and stars are hung 
 as a necklace around his neck, and armlets of the 
 same metal, with rams' heads for clasps, encircle his 
 muscular arms and wrists, which are otherwise naked. 
 His right hand grasps with energy a ponderous mace 
 of bronze, fashioned at the end into a globe. 
 
 Eunuchs richly attired stand around the king ; one 
 holds over his royal master a parasol of silk ; another 
 fans him continually with a tuft of ostrich plumes ; 
 
 similarity. The more so, as the remains of a much more distant 
 region, Egypt, exhibit many points of remarkable resemblance. 
 The compound forms, in particular, a bestial body with wings and 
 a human countenance, are found in the monuments of Nineveh, 
 Thebes, and Persepolis.
 
 48 THE KIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 I 
 
 and others carry his arms, his bow and quivers, his 
 javelins, his sword and spear, and his shield. 
 
 Priests too are here in groups around the throne : 
 they also are clad in embroidered robes, and wear 
 caps or turbans, each adorned with a silver horn ; 
 they all bear implements of worship, cups, cones of 
 the pine-tree, baskets, and other mysterious emblems, 
 and some are furnished with ample spreading wings 
 attached to their shoulders. Princes and satraps 
 clothed in scarlet, and bearing golden chains of 
 office, mingle with the priests ; and behind them, 
 at respectful distance, are the military chiefs and 
 chosen captains, glittering in coats of scale armour, 
 with close-fitting helmets of the same falling down 
 over the shoulders and neck, each of them girt with 
 his sword upon his thigh, and his spear in his hand. 
 
 Profound silence reigns throughout the hall, and 
 every countenance is turned upon the monarch in 
 fear and uncertainty. At the foot of the throne are 
 six white-bearded men, clad in long white robes, all of 
 them with their foreheads on the ground in the most 
 abject humiliation. In the midst of them stands a 
 youth, tall and comely, indeed, but scarcely arrived 
 at man's estate, whose fair and ruddy face shows as 
 yet no traces of a beard. In the splendor of that 
 court he stands erect and unabashed, not with an 
 impudent gaze, but with a noble gravity of demeanour 
 that commands involuntary respect. His features 
 are not cast in the same mould as those of the com- 
 pany around, and when he speaks it is with the 
 accent of a stranger ; yet he is clothed with a white 
 robe in all respects similar to those of the aged men 
 whose faces are on the ground.
 
 THE GREAT IMAGE. 
 
 * '* 
 
 Chagrin and anger are strongly depicted in the 
 countenance of the monarch : for he has been per- 
 plexed by a dream, the solemn effect of which remains 
 on his mind, though the particulars resist all his 
 efforts to recall them. In his perplexity he demands 
 the aid of his magicians, whose claims to supernatural 
 knowledge he commands them to prove by the re- 
 production of his vision. But they are helpless, and 
 the vehement rage of the king has just been vented 
 in threats of degradation and instant death. These 
 are the men who, in the most pitiable prostration of 
 body and mind, seek to mollify the vehemence of the 
 royal indignation. 
 
 In this crisis, the captain of the guard has just 
 brought in Daniel, a youthful Jewish captive, in 
 whom is the Spirit of the Holy God ; who modestly 
 but confidently professes his ability to make known 
 to the king both the dream and the interpretation. 
 Yet not to himself does he arrogate the glory, nor 
 does he pretend to any superior wisdom of his ow^n, 
 but points to the Living God as the only revealer of 
 secrets, who thus makes known to Nebuchadnezzar 
 what shall be in the latter days. 
 
 The subject of the forgotten vision had been a 
 great and splendid image. Its head was of fine gold, 
 its breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of 
 brass, its legs of iron, its feet part of iron and part 
 of clay. Presently a stone cut out of a mountain 
 without hands, smote the image upon its feet, and 
 the whole splendid figure instantly crumbled to dust, 
 and was carried away by the wind of heaven ; while 
 the stone that smote it became a great mountain and 
 filled the whole earth. 
 
 3
 
 50 THE KIVEK EUPIIKATES. 
 
 This mysterious vision is now explained by the 
 youthful prophet. It was a revelation of the five 
 great empires, which commencing with the times 
 then present should reach onward to the end of the 
 world. 
 
 The Babylonian monarchy was represented by the 
 head of this image ; which, on account of its sur- 
 passing grandeur, wealth, and magnificence, was 
 represented as made of gold. After a little while 
 this should be overthrown, and succeeded by another 
 kingdom, that of the Medes and Persians, here 
 symbolized by the breast and arms of silver ; which 
 should be inferior to the former in all that dazzles 
 and attracts the attention of this world. But the 
 Persian monarchy was destined to yield to the 
 Macedonian, represented by the belly and thighs (or 
 sides) of brass ; a metal peculiarly suitable to prefigure 
 the Grecians, inasmuch as it was the material of 
 which their armor was made, (" the brass-coated 
 Greeks,") and their dominion, while lacking in 
 wealth and splendor, was obtained and supported by 
 the extraordinary military power of Alexander. At 
 length this also should succumb to the iron monarchy 
 of Rome, which despising wealth, magnificence, and 
 luxury, should establish its wide dominion by a stern, 
 unrelenting, ferocious valor, grinding the nations 
 without pity or mercy. The government, so long 
 vested in two equal consuls and at length in two 
 emperors, might be well expressed by the legs of the 
 image, and the ten toes might prefigure the ten 
 Gothic kingdoms into which the whole empire should 
 at length be broken up. Some of these kingdoms 
 are powerful, retaining the old iron character of
 
 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 51 
 
 martial Rome ; others are weak and degenerate, fit 
 only to be compared to miry clay. 
 
 Here then is an epitome of the world's history 
 from the epoch of King Nebuchadnezzar. It reaches 
 down to us ; for the ten monarchies of the Roman 
 world, which have existed now for twelve centuries, 
 have not yet passed away. We stand then upon the 
 very extremity of the last division of the great image ; 
 not only upon the toes, but, so to speak, upon the 
 very tips of the toes. What a solemn thing it is to 
 look into God's infallible almanack of prophetic 
 history, and to see our own place there. For we 
 cannot but perceive that, according to the vision, the 
 dominion of these ten kingdoms is not to run on 
 indefinitely, but to come to a sudden, violent, and 
 total extinction. 
 
 The fifth kingdom, represented by the mighty 
 stone, was to differ in important respects from the 
 preceding four. They were earthly in their origin and 
 character, this was to be heavenly ; they were cha- 
 racterized by qualities that the natural mind appreci- 
 ates, splendour, riches, magnificence, military skill, 
 and brutal force ; this, like a small stone from the 
 face of a mountain seems worthless and mean, yet it, 
 shall fill the whole earth : they were each destined to 
 pass away, and yield to a superior ; this shall never 
 be removed, but shall stand for ever. The stone is 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, despised and cast out by men, 
 but elect and precious in the sight of God, and 
 destined to " grind to powder" (Matt. xxi. 44) whom- 
 soever it shall fall upon. The world is pluming itself 
 on its advancing liberty, its discoveries, its science, 
 its intellect, its power; and is flattering itself with
 
 52 THE KIVEK EUPHRATES. 
 
 the hope of ages of prosperity to come ; " to-morrow 
 shall be as this day, and much more abundant." But 
 what says the great dial of Prophecy ? The circle of 
 its hours is well-nigh completed, and its silent finger 
 is pointing to a period that cannot be far off, when 
 " the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the 
 gold," all that is considered great and valuable by 
 the world, shall be " broken to pieces, and become like 
 the chaff of the summer threshing-floors," by him 
 whose name it loves not to hear, and whose authority 
 it rejects and scorns. 
 
 Yet most blessed it is to the Christian, the " scribe 
 instructed in the things of the kingdom of heaven," 
 to know that the reign of his Lord and Saviour is 
 fast approaching. "With the world's glory he has, or 
 ought to have, no fellowship, as well knowing who is 
 the " prince" and " god of this world ;" nor can he 
 regret that its termination is nigh, seeing that it has 
 ever been in opposition to the glory of Jesus. Mean- 
 while, his duty is now quiet subjection to authorities 
 and powers for the Lord's sake ; not resisting evil, 
 nor seeking to set right by force that which he sees 
 wrong ; contented to suffer with Christ, knowing that 
 he shall also reign with Him. 
 
 " Babylon, with its eagle-wings of pride, has ap- 
 peared and fallen. Persia, with its two-fold dynasty, 
 has succeeded in its turn. The mighty invasion of 
 Xerxes has been fulfilled and become the theme of 
 poets and orators, a proverb of history, for more than 
 two thousand years. The empire of Macedon, and 
 the triumphs of Alexander, have appeared on the 
 shifting scene of history, and vanished away. Home, 
 the fourth and mightiest empire, strong as iron, has
 
 THE CAPTIVES. 53 
 
 risen to power, and after stamping its name deep on 
 the world's calendar, has been broken as here an- 
 nounced, and lived on, though rent and divided, 
 surrounded with the monuments of its departing 
 glory. And thus, in the steady sweep of Providence, 
 we are brought to the verge of that predicted king- 
 dom which shall not be given to another people, but 
 wherein the dominion shall be given to the saints of 
 the Most High, and they shall reign for ever and 
 ever. If such glorious hopes of the triumph of 
 Divine goodness in this lower world dazzle and con- 
 found us by their brightness when they are set before 
 us in general and abstract promises, here they are 
 blended in with the whole range of history ; and all 
 the events recorded in profane historians, and by the 
 orators and poets of Greece and Rome, become so 
 many pledges to us of that everlasting kingdom 
 which God has promised to them that love him. 
 Our hopes may thus rove freely through all the 
 magnificent range of coming ages of blessedness, and 
 yet, all the time, retain a firm anchor-hold upon 
 every main event of recorded history for two thousand 
 years."* 
 
 PSALM CXXXVII. JEKEMIAH LI. 
 
 BENEATH the willows that droop their long pendent 
 branches into the murmuring river, as if weeping in 
 sympathy with those that seek their sombre shade, 
 sit a group of mourners. They are strangers in a 
 
 * Dirks' Elem. of Prophecy, p. 429.
 
 54 THE KIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 strange land, the captive daughters of Judah, who 
 have sought a brief respite from the insulting scorn 
 of their cruel oppressors, demanding mirth from their 
 broken hearts. How can they sing the Lord's song 
 in a strange land ? or how shall they tune their harps 
 to the praise of that Name which the haughty heathen 
 only demand to hear that they may treat it with 
 derision ? They have hanged their harps upon the 
 willows, where the mournful breeze sighing through 
 the branches sweeps over the strings and awakens 
 low and plaintive chords, in unison with their sor- 
 rowful thoughts. 
 
 They sit in silence, for their hearts are too heavy 
 for converse : their heads are covered with their long 
 enveloping veils, or they bury their faces in their 
 hands, while the tears flow fast from their eyes. They 
 remember Zion ; the happy days when they dwelt in 
 her palaces, clothed in scarlet, with many delights ; 
 when the noise of the pipe, and the tabret, and the 
 viol was in their feasts, and their light hearts 
 thought not of the approach of evil. They remember 
 the glorious temple, the perfection of beauty, the joy 
 of the whole earth ; its priestly ministrations, its 
 holy service ; where they habitually went up to join 
 in the solemn worship, and to swell the pealing 
 chorus of praise that ascended to Jehovah from 
 assembled multitudes keeping holy-day. But the 
 spoiler has been let loose upon Zion ; her palaces 
 and her strongholds lie level with the ground ; and 
 the adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her 
 pleasant things : a fire hath been kindled in Zion, 
 and hath devoured even its foundations. The house 
 of the Lord is utterly desolate, it is overthrown and
 
 s 
 
 THE CAPTIVES. 55 
 
 burned with fire ; Jehovah hath abhorred his sanc- 
 tuary, and given it into the hand of the heathen ; 
 He hath despised, in the indignation oi' his anger, 
 the king and the priest. The sons and daughters of 
 Jerusalem, the thousands of Judah, are violently 
 carried away captive ; and the city sits solitary that 
 was full of people. No daily lamb smokes on the 
 brazen altar ; no songs ascend now from the courts 
 of the Lord's house ; silence is within those black- 
 ened walls, for they who were wont with joy to 
 minister there have sprinkled with their blood its 
 hallowed stones, or are sitting in the dust in sack- 
 cloth and ashes, in this alien land. The proud 
 idolater has triumphed in the heritage of Jehovah, 
 and blasphemously ascribed his success to his sense- 
 less idols. 
 
 Ah ! these are sad recollections for the poor pining 
 captives ; but there are thoughts that will obtrude 
 themselves, that are far, far more bitter. Why is 
 Jehovah thus dishonoured, his sanctuary polluted, 
 his worship profaned, his city destroyed, his people 
 carried into captivity ? Hath his promise failed ? 
 hath He forgotten his faithfulness, or was He not 
 able to maintain his own cause against the proud 
 ones of the earth ? It is for Israel's sin, that the 
 Lord is wroth with his inheritance. His people 
 have apostatized from Him, and turned to idols. 
 " My people," saith Jehovah, " have committed two 
 evils ; they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living 
 waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, 
 that can hold no water." Yet has He borne long 
 with them ; He has solemnly admonished them, has 
 sent unto them his prophets, with invitations to
 
 56 THE RIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 return to Him, with gracious offers of free forgive- 
 ness and full reconciliation, and with awful threaten- 
 ings of his wrath if they persisted in disobedience. 
 He has abundantly shown that judgment is his 
 strange work, and that He delighteth in mercy. But 
 they despised his long-suffering, poured contempt on 
 his messages, stoned his prophets, and laughed to 
 scorn his threatened wrath, till at length it arose, 
 and there was no remedy. And now the rebellious 
 people of God are in their enemies' land, left to 
 mourn over their terrible sin and its consequences, 
 if so be they will turn in their distress to Him from 
 whom they have deeply revolted. 
 
 Meanwhile, Jehovah will take care of his own 
 honour : brief shall be the scornful boasting of the 
 heathen whom He hath used as the rod wherewith 
 to smite his people ; yet a little while, and Babylon, 
 the queen of kingdoms, that saith, " I shall be a lady 
 for ever," shall become a perpetual desolation. The 
 dreadful doom is already pronounced : Jehovah will 
 soon avenge himself on the senseless idols ; Bel shall 
 bow down, Nebo shall stoop, and on the backs of 
 weary beasts shall go into captivity. Babylon, the 
 proud, the mighty city, whose walls tower up to 
 heaven, shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for 
 dragons, an astonishment and a hissing, without 
 inhabitant. 
 
 Yonder comes one of the princes of the royal line 
 of Judah ; as he slowly walks along the rushy brink 
 of the river, he often turns to gaze upon the lofty 
 walls and loftier towers, the temples, and palaces, 
 and brazen gates of the queenly city, and then takes 
 a parchment roll from the bosom of his robe, and
 
 SEE A I AH 's MISSION. 51 
 
 reads awhile therein. He approaches the willow- 
 shade where the mourning captives sit, and addresses 
 them in language of sympathy and consolation. lie 
 speaks of the covenant love of Him whose hand is 
 heavy upon them, of his willingness to receive the 
 penitent mourner, of his promise to hear the prayer 
 of his people when in their enemies' land, and to 
 turn their captivity ; and gives them something to 
 hope for, in the assurance that God hath recently 
 limited the bondage of his people to seventy years. 
 Then he speaks of the magnificent city before them, 
 how he has been round about it, to survey its 
 strength, grandeur, luxury, pride, idolatry, cruelty, 
 and sensuality ; and tells them that he is the mes- 
 senger of the Divine doom to guilty Babylon. And 
 now he takes from his bosom the roll of prophetic 
 woe, which has been committed to him by the vene- 
 rable Jeremiah, and reads its awful burden in their 
 hearing. Yet a little while, and this glorious city 
 shall be utterly thrown down, and become a burnt 
 mountain. It shall be overthrown like Sodom and 
 Gomorrah, and be utterly desolate and forsaken. 
 A great nation shall be raised up against her from 
 the north, who shall rush upon her as a chafed lion 
 driven from his thicket by the swelling of Jordan ; a 
 cruel nation, who will show no mercy; who will 
 break her idols in pieces, slay her valiant men, and 
 dash upon the stones her children. Her mighty 
 river, her boast and pride, the source of her pros- 
 perity, shall be the instrument of her overthrow ; for 
 it shall be dried up before the advancing host, and its 
 channel shall be their high road into the city. The 
 brazen gates shall open their ponderous valves to the 
 3*
 
 58 THE KIVEE EUPHRATES. 
 
 conqueror, and he shall enter into the streets before 
 the inhabitants are aware. One post shall run to 
 meet another, to tell the King of Babylon that his 
 city is taken at each end ; that the passages are 
 stopped, that the reeds are burned with fire, and that 
 the men of war are affrighted. Anguish shall take 
 hold of the monarch, and he and all his host shall 
 utterly perish. Jehovah hath decreed wrath against 
 Babylon, till it be wholly desolate ; every one that 
 goeth by shall be astonished at her plagues. " It 
 shall never be inhabited, from generation to genera- 
 tion : neither shall the Arabian pitch 'tent 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 satyrs shall dance there. 
 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their 
 desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant pa- 
 laces." She shall be cast up as heaps ; she shall be 
 destroyed utterly ; nothing of her shall be left. 
 
 These awful predictions, with many details, appa- 
 rently little likely to be fulfilled upon the flourishing 
 metropolis of the world, the Divine messenger reads 
 aloud ; and, having finished, he binds a ponderous 
 stone to the roll, and heaves it far into the bosom of 
 the Euphrates. The surging waters close over it, 
 and, as it sinks, the prophet lifts up his right hand 
 to heaven, saying, " Thus shall that great city 
 Babylon sink, to rise no more !"
 
 BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST. 59 
 
 DANIEL v, 
 
 YEARS passed on, and the words which Seraiah had 
 uttered were remembered if remembered at all by 
 the Babylonians, only as the ravings of an angry 
 enthusiast. The captives, too, had waited for their 
 accomplishment, till they were weary of expecting, 
 and most of them had now forgotten them. But not 
 one jot or one tittle of God's word, whether of pro- 
 mise or thf^tening, can ever fail ; and there were a 
 few aged men in Babylon, who still treasured up the 
 words of solemn import, and expected, with an 
 earnest faith, their entire fulfilment. They remem- 
 bered, also, the promised limitation of the captivity 
 to seventy years, which period had now elapsed since 
 Nebuchadnezzar's first capture of Jerusalem. 
 
 The sound of revelry and mirth is in the royal 
 palace, for there, in the magnificent hall where for- 
 merly Nebuchadnezzar received the message from 
 heaven, Belshazzar the king has made a feast to a 
 thousand of his lords. It is night ; but hundreds 
 of lamps, fed with perfumed oil, and suspended by 
 chains of gold, illuminate the glittering scene, and 
 almost put out the radiance of the stars, that sparkle 
 in the purple sky above the heads of the revellers. 
 Heaps of fragrant wood are burning on tripods of 
 bronze, and mingle their rich odours with that of the 
 sweet lotus-lily, that is set in porcelain vases, or 
 hung in negligent wreaths around in the greatest 
 profusion. The charms of music are not wanting ; 
 the tabret and viol, the pipe and the harp, unite with 
 many voices of men and women, now in martial
 
 60 
 
 THE RIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 strains extolling the valour of the king, now sinking 
 to softer melody, melting the soul to love. For on 
 the embroidered couches recline many of the beauties 
 of the Babylonian court, gracing with the charm of 
 loveliness, if not of modesty, the festive scene. The 
 incense, the music, and the wine, are doing their 
 work ; the mirth is boisterous ; the loud blasphemy 
 or obscenity provokes the louder laugh, and the king 
 is the merriest reveller of all. The grim counte- 
 nances of the demon-gods around seem, to glare with 
 a fiendish expression, and the shadowy ^erms of his 
 royal ancestors frown down in silence from their 
 lofty panels. 
 
 A sudden thought strikes the monarch's mind ; 
 and, amidst the drunken approbation of his guests, 
 
 nt Cups. 
 
 he commands to be brought the sacred vessels of 
 gold and silver, which had been plundered from the
 
 THE WRITING ON THE WALL. 61 
 
 temple of Jehovah at Jerusalem. Hitherto they had 
 been preserved untouched ; for Nebuchadnezzar, 
 who had taken them away, had abstained from pro- 
 faning them. The vessels are brought, and filled with 
 sparkling wine ; and while the unhallowed lips of the 
 king, his princes, and his ladies, inhale the draught, 
 the song of praise goes up from a thousand voices, 
 to the helpless idols of gold, and silver, and stone. 
 
 But what has suddenly arrested the monarch's 
 loud laugh, and thrown an ashy paleness over his 
 lately flushed cheek ? See, how his frame trembles, 
 as he clutches at the table for support ; how. his 
 white lips quiver, and how his eyes are starting from 
 their sockets, as they stare upon the wall beside him ! 
 The uproar of the board is hushed, and every face is 
 turned to the spot ; and there, upon the alabaster 
 wall, in the full glare of the great central lamp, is 
 seen a cloudy hand. Slowly those ghostly fingers 
 move along, and trace upon the polished slab, in the 
 sight of the paralysed throng, mysterious characters ; 
 every letter distinctly visible, and flashing with corus- 
 cations of ghastly light. 
 
 The king cries aloud for his astrologers and sooth- 
 sayers, offering the highest honours and rewards to 
 him w r ho shall decipher and interpret the mysterious 
 writing. But the astrologers and soothsayers can only 
 gaze in mute dismay ; for all their wisdom is vain and 
 worthless here. The confusion and terror have reached 
 the apartments of the venerable widow of Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, who, though she would not give the sanction of 
 her countenance to the indecent revelries of her grand- 
 son, approaches, in the hour of his anguish, to admi- 
 nister counsel and consolation. She remembers the
 
 62 THE RIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 heavenly wisdom of the Hebrew Daniel, when in his 
 youth he interpreted the vision of the king, that had 
 baffled all the skill of Babylon ; and she expresses 
 her confident assurance that he will be able both to 
 read and to interpret the mysterious writing. 
 
 And now, by the royal mandate, Daniel appears ; 
 not as when we first saw him in this hall, in the 
 bloom of flowery youth, but bearing the burden of 
 fourscore years. He listens to the king's demand, 
 declines the proffered honours, but declares his 
 ability to read the inscription. But first he faith- 
 fully rebukes the pride, ingratitude, idolatry and 
 blasphemy, which, refusing to profit by lessons of 
 mercy, have provoked the righteous vengeance of the 
 living God. The conscience-stricken monarch trem- 
 bles under the word ; he can offer no extenuation of 
 his crimes, thus set in order before him ; but the 
 joints of his loins are loosed, and his knees smite one 
 against another, as he gazes on the cloudy fingers, 
 slowly writing what he feels to be his own awful doom. 
 
 At length the hand has vanished, but the writing 
 remains ; and the Prophet reads the words, 
 
 " MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSEST." 
 
 And this is the interpretation : 
 
 " MENE, God hath numbered thy kingdom, and 
 finished it. 
 
 " TEKEL, Thou art weighed in the balances, and 
 art found wanting. 
 
 " PERES,* Thy kingdom is divided, and given 
 to the Medes and Persians." 
 
 * The words literally signify " Number, number, weight, and 
 divisions." PERES and UPHARSIN are essentially the same word,
 
 THE SIEGE OF BABYLON. 63 
 
 Scarcely had the word of doom left the Prophet's 
 lips, before it was executed. In that night was King 
 Belshazzar slain. 
 
 All through this reign there had been war between 
 Babylon and the advancing power of the Medes and 
 Persians. Cyrus, the Persian conqueror, had gradu- 
 ally been subduing the surrounding nations, and the 
 provinces of this kingdom, until at length this ancient 
 and mighty city was the only place that held out 
 against his victorious arms. Two years had the siege 
 of Babylon now lasted ; but such was the strength 
 of the city, so high and massive the walls, so im- 
 pregnable the fortifications, so great the number of 
 warriors, so abundant the supplies of all kinds of 
 provisions, that no hope seemed to exist that ever 
 Cyrus would be able to eifect an entrance. He had 
 at first attempted to take it by assault, but in vain ; 
 and latterly had contented himself with cutting 
 around it a trench, both wide and deep, hoping to 
 starve it into surrender. But the city was provisioned 
 for twenty years, and had besides open land enough 
 within the walls, both for pasture and tillage, to 
 supply the inhabitants for an indefinite period. The 
 river, moreover, was here so broad, that ships 
 keeping in the middle of the channel could enter 
 the city both from above and below ; and thus the 
 besiegers had the mortification of seeing supplies 
 
 PERES being the radical word, the prefix u being merely the copula- 
 tive "and"; FH and rare the same letter; the vowels are dubious, 
 and the affix IN is the Chaldee plural termination. There is a sort 
 of pun or paronomasia in the last term, the word PERES (oiC) S ^S~ 
 nifying Persia, as well as divide ; and the plural form may have 
 expressed, as in an enigma, the double application.
 
 O* THE RIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 continually brought in, without being able to pre- 
 vent it. 
 
 At length stratagem succeeded where force had 
 failed. Having learned that a great festival was ap- 
 proaching, which the Babylonians were accustomed to 
 keep by devoting the whole night to revelry, drunken- 
 ness, and all sorts of disorder, Cyrus determined to 
 
 surprise them in the midst of their debaucheries. 
 One of the great works of Nebuchadnezzar had been 
 the construction of an artificial lake above the city, 
 for the sake of receiving the superfluous waters of 
 the Euphrates in the annual floods. This lake was 
 square, fifty-two miles every way, or upwards of two 
 hundred in circumference, and in depth thirty-five 
 feet ; BO that it was capable of holding an immense
 
 THE LAST NIGHT OF BABYLON. 65 
 
 volume of water. Into this lake Cyrus determined 
 to draw off the water of the Euphrates, and enter 
 the city through the bed of the river. In the even- 
 ing of this eventful night he sent up a party of men 
 to cut the dam that separated the river from the 
 lake, and then dividing his forces into two parts, 
 he posted one division at the point where the river 
 entered the city, and the other where it issued from 
 it. Some hours elapsed before the waters were 
 sufficiently shrunken to be fordable, though the 
 Persian general had opened also his great trench. 
 About midnight, however, the soldiers were able to 
 inarch in the diminished stream, and entered the 
 city. In the neglect and disorder of the festival, the 
 brazen gates that led from the streets to the river 
 had been carelessly left open, so that the armies met 
 with no impediment, but marched up into the streets. 
 The two parties met, according to agreement, at the 
 royal palace, where they surprised the half-intoxicated 
 guards, and soon despatched them. 
 
 The king, trembling under the judgment just pro- 
 nounced upon himself and his kingdom, heard the 
 noise from within, and commanded some to see what 
 it meant. But no sooner was the great gate opened, 
 than the victorious Persians rushed in and took the 
 palace ; and the wretched monarch and his thousand 
 lords were all put to the sword. 
 
 Thus did Jehovah avenge his own honour; and 
 thus did he, according to his predictions, in the most 
 marvellous manner, accomplish his purpose upon 
 Babylon ; and thus did he effect the deliverance of 
 his people from captivity, after the lapee, as predicted, 
 of exactly seventy years.
 
 66 THE RIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 The glory of Babylon did not altogether depart 
 when it was taken by Cyrus, though it then began to 
 decline. The removal of the seat of empire to 
 Shushan degraded it from the metropolis of the 
 world to the head of a province; yet it still con- 
 tinued to retain its wealth, its grandeur, its temples, 
 its sumptuous palaces, and its impregnable walls. 
 The pride of strength impelled its inhabitants to 
 revolt -from Darius, the successor of Cyrus, and to 
 raise the standard of independence. For several 
 years they had been laying up stores, and when the 
 Persian monarch brought up his army, they did not 
 attempt to meet him in the field, but, shutting their 
 hundred gates, defied his power. The horrible 
 cruelty of putting the women and children to death, 
 to save their provisions, leaving only one woman and 
 a maid-servant in every house, did not avail them ; 
 for, by the stratagem of a pretended deserter from 
 the Persian army, the gates were opened, after a 
 siege of one year and eight months. 
 
 Now the queenly city was farther humbled ; for 
 the conqueror took away the hundred brazen gates, 
 and beat down the lofty walls from two hundred 
 cubits to a fourth part of that height. The spoil 
 of the city was given up to the Persian army, and 
 three thousand of the revolters were impaled. 
 
 A third time was Babylon taken by Alexander the 
 Great. It no longer trusted in its fortifications, for the 
 Persian commander surrendered it into the conqueror's 
 hands without a blow. Its degradation was sufficiently 
 proved when the inhabitants flocked upon the walls 
 to see their new king take possession, unresisted, of 
 their city. Here Alexander died soon afterwards.
 
 
 SUBSEQUENT HISTORY. 67 
 
 Jehovah had declared that he would make Babylon 
 " a possession for the bittern, and pools of water," 
 and that " the sea should come up upon her, and she 
 should be covered with the multitude of the waves 
 thereof." The breaking down of the dam, by Cyrus, 
 fulfilled in a remarkable manner these predictions ; 
 for when the lake was filled, the water of the river, 
 still continuing to enter at the breach, soon over- 
 flowed and deluged the surrounding country, spread- 
 ing ruin and desolation over the whole region to the 
 west of the Euphrates. From the same cause, the 
 current of the river that passed through the city was 
 so greatly diminished, as scarcely to suffice for the 
 smallest boats, though large vessels used to navigate 
 it. Alexander, who intended to make Babylon the 
 seat of his empire, began to rebuild the dam, with 
 a design to remedy the evil ; but his death put a stop 
 to the work, which was never afterwards undertaken. 
 Even now the western bank of the Euphrates, at 
 this part, is not discernible, and the river flows un- 
 restrained over the country, turning it into a vast 
 morass, which remains covered with water long after 
 the general subsidence of the stream. 
 
 This doomed city was again taken by Demetrius, 
 the son of Antigonus, who ravaged the whole pro- 
 vince. But its utter desolation was now at hand ; 
 for Seleucus soon afterwards built the city Seleucia, 
 on the Tigris, which in a short time grew to vast size 
 and grandeur. The shallowness of the Euphrates, 
 and the inundation of the surrounding country, had 
 made Babylon so inconvenient, that the new city 
 soon drained it of its remaining inhabitants ; a result 
 which was aided by the political and municipal 

 
 THE KIVEB EUPHRATES. 
 
 Fnrirons of Ancient Bnbylon.
 
 
 SUBSEQUENT HISTORY. 69 
 
 privileges conferred by Seleucus upon his own city. 
 Thus in a short time afterwards Babylon became 
 wholly deserted and desolate, nothing remaining of 
 her but the empty houses and walls. 
 
 These remains of her ancient grandeur, however, 
 resisted for many centuries the general ruin ; for the 
 walls, at least, were still standing in the fourth 
 century after Christ. They served a singular pur- 
 pose ; for the whole area of the ancient city was 
 turned into a park of wild beasts by the Parthian 
 kings, who took their sport within the enclosure, the 
 walls being preserved and repaired as the fence of 
 this royal domain. 
 
 After this we hear no more of Babylon, till the 
 twelfth century, when Benjamin of Tudela found 
 nothing left but " some ruins of Nebuchadnezzar's 
 Palace," which men were afraid to approach, " by 
 reason of the many serpents and scorpions that were 
 there." In the sixteenth century, Rauwolf found 
 some arches and ruins of the bridge which had once 
 connected the parts of the city, on the opposite banks 
 of the river, as well as the ruins of the palace, which, 
 he also says, were full of venomous reptiles. Still 
 more recently, the place has been often visited, and its 
 present condition we shall hereafter briefly describe. 
 Perhaps there is no spot upon the world's surface so 
 awfully desolate as the silent plain of Shinar, strewn 
 with its burnt and vitrified mounds, where once proud 
 Babylon reared her diademed head to the skies, the 
 centre whither thronged busy multitudes the me- 
 tropolis of the glory, wealth, and power of the world ! 
 
 -*
 
 TO THE KIVEK EUPHRATES. 
 
 The Euphrates, whose history we have been tracing, 
 is a great and majestic river, rolling its noble flood of 
 waters through a course of nearly 2,000 miles from 
 its sources in the mountains of Armenia to its termi- 
 nation at the head of the Persian Gulf. Two springs 
 divide the honour of its origin ; the more western, 
 known as the Kara-su, rises a little to the north of 
 Erzeroum ; the other, or eastern branch, which bears 
 the name of the Murad-chai, flows from a point near 
 Bayazid, far to the east. The name of Phrat (Eu- 
 phrat-es), by which this magnificent river was dis- 
 tinguished in the very earliest times, and w r hich it 
 still bears, is said to signify either fruitfulness or 
 dispersion, the former term descriptive of the country 
 through which it flows, the latter commemorative of 
 its early history. The name appears to be applied 
 to each of the branches, with the respective additions 
 of Western or Eastern Phrat. 
 
 After flowing through many a wild glen and fertile 
 valley of the mountainous Armenia, the two streams 
 unite into one channel at the foot of the mountains, 
 separated only by a narrow ridge from the source of 
 the Tigris ; and presently the full river precipitates 
 itself through a cleft in this ridge, and pursues its 
 way, hemmed in by lofty precipices, and interrupted 
 by many bristling rocks, foaming rapids and cascades. 
 Its course is now nearly due south, and thus it forms 
 the western boundary of the ancient Naharaim or 
 Mesopotamia. On the east bank of the river is the 
 modern town of Bir, and not far from it is Urfah, 
 considered to be the TJr of the Chaldees, the birth- 
 place of Abraham. Not far from Bir, therefore, 
 we may suppose to be the spot where the patriarch
 
 TOPOGRAPHY. 
 
 71 
 
 crossed the stream on his pilgrimage, as already 
 narrated. 
 
 The town of Bir has been visited by Mr. Bucking- 
 ham, to whose Travels we are indebted for the accom- 
 panying representation of its appearance. It contains 
 about 4,000 inhabitants, and 400 houses, built on the 
 side of a very steep hill. The Euphrates is here a 
 strong and rapid river. Its width varies, at different 
 
 seasons of the year, from 600 to 200 yards. Rauwolf, 
 in 1575, considered it a mile broad ; but Maundrell and 
 Buckingham agree in comparing it with the Thames 
 at London. The water is turbid, of a dull yellowish 
 colour, and soon deposits an earthy sediment, if 
 allowed to stand. The stream cannot be forded here ; 
 but large boats are \L-ed to ferry passengers and 
 merchandise ; and the natives often cross upon an
 
 72 THE RIVEK EUPHRATES. 
 
 inflated goatskin, which they tightly clasp with their 
 hands, propelling themselves with the feet. 
 
 The Euphrates, now freed from all obstacles, main- 
 tains a steady and majestic course through a wide 
 and verdant valley, and soon takes the south-east 
 direction, which it afterwards pursues to the sea. 
 Little of interest detains us on its banks till it enters 
 the great Plain of Shinar, except the bituminous 
 fountains of Hit, noticed by Herodotus, which are 
 situated about seventy miles above. Through a level 
 and now barren country, but once rich with luxuriant 
 vegetation, and everywhere covered with cultivation, 
 the ancient river still flows on, till the ruins of old 
 Babylon rise in uncouth and shapeless mounds upon 
 the view. The traveller, at first sight, might suppose 
 them to be natural hills of earth or rock ; so immense 
 are they, yet so shapeless, and so utterly unlike any 
 work of human art. On close examination, however, 
 their true character is discovered. On the east side 
 of the river are two large mounds, and several 
 smaller ones, formed by the decomposition of 
 buildings, furrowed and channelled by the rains of 
 centuries, and strewn with fragments of brick, 
 bitumen, and pottery. To the north of these is an 
 extensive heap, called Mujelibe, or "the overturned," 
 about 140 feet in height, and half a mile in circum- 
 ference. Traces of chambers, passages, and cellars 
 are discernible ; but all is a mass of confusion ; 
 " wild beasts and doleful creatures cry in the deso- 
 late houses, and dragons are in the pleasant palaces ;" 
 venomous reptiles of various kinds being very nume- 
 rous in the ruins. 
 
 In another part of the ruins on this side of the
 
 THE EUINED PALACE. 73 
 
 river stands the kasr or palace, a remarkable pile of 
 brick architecture, so surprisingly fresh, that it was 
 only on a careful and minute examination that Mr. 
 Rich could be satisfied of its being a remnant of 
 ancient Babylon. It consists of several thick walls, 
 strengthened with buttresses, built of fine burnt 
 brick, still perfectly clean and sharp, imbedded in 
 lime-cement of such tenacity that it is almost im- 
 possible to extract a brick whole. Parts of it are 
 split and overthrown, as if by an earthquake, and 
 the whole is enveloped in an enormous mass of 
 rubbish. Near it is an ancient tree, which the Arabs 
 believe to have grown in Babylon itse^ and to have 
 survived its desolation. " It stands on a kind of 
 ridge ; one side of its trunk, with verdant branches 
 at the top, alone remains. The branches waving in 
 the wind produce a melancholy rustling sound. It 
 is an evergreen, something resembling the lignum 
 vitae, and not common in Babylon. A tree of the 
 same kind is said to grow at Bassorah." 
 
 On the western side of the Euphrates is the Birs 
 Nimroud, " the most stupendous and surprising 
 mass of all the ruins of Babylon." It is about ten 
 miles to the south-west of the Mujelibe, and about 
 six west of the river. But this wondrous remnant of 
 antiquity we have already described in the words of 
 Mr. Rich. 
 
 Travellers who have visited these majestic ruins 
 speak in striking language of the awful impression 
 which they convey, as forming an irrefragable proof 
 of the power and omniscience of God, and of the 
 truth of his prophetic word. " I cannot portray," 
 says Captain Mignan, " the overpowering sensation
 
 74 TIIE KIVEK EUPHRATES. 
 
 of reverential awe that possessed my mind, while 
 contemplating the extent and magnitude of ruin and 
 devastation on every side." And on first entering 
 its ruins, Sir Kobert Ker Porter observes, " I could 
 not but feel an indescribable awe in thus passing, as 
 it were, into the gates of fallen Babylon." 
 
 The following vivid picture of the whole scene, 
 drawn on the spot, is from the pen of the accom- 
 plished writer just named. " The whole view was 
 particularly solemn. The majestic stream of the 
 Euphrates, wandering in solitude, like a pilgrim 
 monarch, through the silent ruins of his devastated 
 kingdom, stij^appeared a noble river, under all the 
 disadvantages of its desert-tracked course. Its banks 
 were hoary with weeds, and the grey osier-willows 
 were yet there, on which the captives of Israel hung 
 up their harps, and, while Jerusalem was not, refused 
 to be comforted. But how has the rest of the scene 
 changed since then ? At that time, those broken 
 hills were palaces those long undulating mounds, 
 streets this vast solitude filled with the busy 
 subjects of the proud daughter of the east. Now, 
 wasted with misery, her habitations are not to 
 be found ; and, for herself, the worm is spread over 
 her."* 
 
 Nearly opposite to the awful " burnt mountain" 
 the Birs Nimroud, stands the modern town of Hillah. 
 It is built on both sides of the river, which is here 
 not more than 430 feet wide, (so is "the flood" 
 diminished !) across which communication is main- 
 tained by a floating bridge of pontoons. The town 
 is pleasantly situated amidst gardens and groves of 
 
 * Travels, ii. 237.
 
 THE LATE EXPEDFriON. 75 
 
 date-palms ; it is fortified, and contains about 7,000 
 inhabitants. Much of it, including its wall and 
 
 numerous towers, is built of bricks, dug out of the 
 ruins of Babylon. 
 
 After passing another town, called Siik-el Shuyukh, 
 which contains 10,000 inhabitants, the Euphrates 
 unites its majestic stream with that of its rival in- 
 celebrity, the Tigris, at a place called Korna, whence 
 the united river forms a tidal channel, about half-a- 
 mile wide, called the Shat-el-Arab, or the river of 
 Arabia, until about 100 miles farther down it reaches 
 the Persian Gulf. A little above its debouchure, it 
 passes the commercial city of Bassorah, containing 
 about 20,000 inhabitants. 
 
 The late expedition under the command of Colonel 
 Chesney, has greatly increased our knowledge of the 
 Euphrates and the Tigris. The object was the
 
 76 THE KIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 establishment of steam communication with India, 
 through one of these rivers, from the head of the 
 Mediterranean. The materials and engines of two 
 large iron steamers were, with immense labour, 
 transported across the Syrian desert, to the Euphrates, 
 near the town of Bir, where they were put together. 
 They were named after the names of the rivers, the 
 Euphrates and the Tigris. The latter, unhappily, was 
 overwhelmed and sunk in a dreadful hurricane, with 
 the greater part of her brave crew; the former 
 explored the river after which she was named, to its 
 mouth ; and then ascended the Tigris, to a distance 
 of 400 miles above its junction with its sister 
 stream. 
 
 In a course of 1,850 miles, from a lofty moun- 
 tainous region, on the shores of the Black Sea, to 
 the level plains at the head of the Persian Gulf, 
 there must be considerable diversity in climate and 
 productions. Near the sources of the river, the cold 
 is severe in winter, and the snow has been known to 
 be two feet deep, and sufficiently drifted to bear a 
 horse. Yet the valleys in summer are excessively 
 hot, from the radiation of the sun's rays from the 
 mountain sides. In the plains, the thermometer 
 frequently rises in summer to 115 in the shade. Mr. 
 Rich has seen it as high as 120 in the day, and 110 
 at night. The whole plain is subject to violent 
 storms, one of which overwhelmed the Tigris steamer, 
 as already mentioned. 
 
 The geological character of the mountainous re- 
 gions is pretty uniform. Igneous rocks, of the later 
 formations, predominate, with some of granitic 
 structure. They are rich in metallic deposits. Mines
 
 NATURAL HISTORY. 77 
 
 of gold, silver, lead, copper and iron, are found, and 
 on the WQst ( side of the Kara-su boulders of native 
 iron are met with, some of them three feet long, 
 and a foot and a-half thick. Below the mountains, 
 soft white chalk, with flints, composes the cliffs and 
 banks of the Euphrates. The bitumen and naphtha 
 fountains at Hit have been already noticed. In the 
 great central plain the soil is pebbly ; to this succeeds 
 a clayey soil, covered with mould or sand ; farther 
 down are the Lemlun marshes, consisting of a soft 
 alluvial mud, with many fresh-water shells. Below 
 Bassorah, the soil is alternate mud and sand ; and as 
 we approach the Gulf, it is entirely of marine origin, 
 and contains sea-shells. In some parts of this 
 vicinity, the surface is covered with salt, which lies 
 like snow upon the ground, sometimes to the depth 
 of an inch. 
 
 In the elevated plains at the sources of the Kara- 
 su and the Murad-chai, there are no timber trees ; 
 but farther to the south-west, in the recesses, and on 
 the declivities of the mountains, there are extensive 
 forests of oaks, groves of pines, firs, walnuts and 
 mulberries. Many of the valleys resemble gardens 
 in the luxuriant beauty of their vegetation. The 
 vine, fig, almond, and olive ; the apple, pear, apricot, 
 and plum, yield abundant fruit ; and wheat is culti- 
 vated with success. The plane tree attains an enormous 
 size. In spring, the ground is gay with the numerous 
 liliaceous and other bulbous plants, and with or- 
 chidese. Wormwood is very abundant on the east 
 side of the river, as the camomile and camel-thorn 
 are characteristic of the west. In the plains there 
 is little wood ; the date-palm is the only important
 
 78 THE KIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 tree ; groves of which are very numerous in the lower 
 course. Succulent plants are common ; Mesembry- 
 anthemums and asters clothe the great plain of 
 Shinar ; the broad pools of water are covered with 
 water-lilies and ranunculuses, and are bordered with 
 a luxuriant margin of reeds and rushes. Groves of 
 tamarisks and acacias grow on the banks, and a spe- 
 cies of poplar, with willow-like leaves, (gliarah^) is 
 abundant ; of this kind may have been the " willows" 
 ( garav, ^5) on which the captives of Israel hanged 
 their harps, though osiers and other species of the 
 willow are also numerous. 
 
 The zoology of this region has not been very dis- 
 tinctly observed. The lion stalks over the plain, and 
 Sir Robert Ker Porter was startled by the sight of 
 two or three of these lordly animals, standing on the 
 very summit of the Birs Nimroud. Bears, wolves, 
 foxes, lynxes, and other beasts of temperate regions, 
 inhabit the mountains, and in the southern plains, 
 the leopard, the hunting tiger, the hyena, and the 
 jackal pursue their prey. Herds of fallow deer 
 inhabit some parts of the region, and the desert 
 plains are ranged by gazelles and wild asses. The 
 elegant jerboa, a creature somewhat like a rabbit, but 
 with the motions of the kangaroo, leaps and burrows 
 in the level tracts. The disproportion between its 
 fore and hind limbs is very remarkable. Yarious 
 breeds of domestic animals, the camel, the horse, the 
 ass, the ox, the sheep, and the goat are cultivated. 
 Otters are found both in the Euphrates and the Tigris. 
 The bustard scours the lofty table-lands at the heads 
 of these rivers as did the ostrich in ancient times ; 
 the latter is not now known in Asia. Pheasants,
 
 NATURAL III8TOKY. 
 
 partridges and quails are numerous, as are vultures, 
 hawks and owls. Many of the smaller birds familiar 
 to Europe are common to these regions, as the 
 thrush, lark, nightingale, and most of the finches ; 
 some species of kingfishers, of brilliant plumage, 
 are peculiar to the river. Of the fishes and insects, 
 
 we know but little, except that at the mouth of the 
 Euphrates, there is a very curious species of fish, 
 (Lophius,) analogous to our own fishing-frog, which 
 is able to leave the water, and crawl about for many 
 hours upon the land ; this it is enabled to do by the 
 length of the bones of its pectoral and ventral fins, 
 and by the peculiar structure of its gills, which can
 
 80 THE KIVEK EUPHRATES. 
 
 long retain the moisture necessary for respiration. 
 Reptiles of many repulsive forms and venomous 
 natures are particularly abundant in the heaps of 
 ruins that strew the plain of Shinar, as has been 
 already noticed. 
 
 Here we bring to a close our account of this 
 renowned river, and the region through which it 
 flows. We have sketched the picture of its ancient, 
 and that of its modern condition. Such it was once ; 
 such it is now ; and we cannot conclude with more 
 forcible words than those in which a valuable writer 
 thus sums up the contrast between the scene which 
 its rolling tide once witnessed, and that which it 
 witnesses now. 
 
 " From palaces converted into broken hills ; from 
 streets to long lines of heaps ; from the throne of 
 the world to sitting in the dust ; from the hum of 
 mighty Babylon to the death-like silence that rests 
 upon the grave to which it is brought down ; from 
 the great store-house of the world, where treasures 
 were gathered from every quarter, and the prison- 
 house of the captive Jews, where, not loosed to return 
 homewards, they served in a hard bondage, to Baby- 
 lon the spoil of many nations, itself taken from 
 thence and nothing left ; from a vast metropolis, the 
 palace of palaces, and- the glory of kingdoms, whither 
 multitudes ever flowed, to a dreaded and shunned 
 spot, not inhabited nor dwelt in from generation to 
 generation, where even the Arabian, though the son 
 of the desert, pitches not his tent, and where the 
 shepherds make not their folds ; from the treasures 
 of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, to the 
 taking away of brick, and to an uncovered naked-
 
 THE CONTRAST. 81 
 
 ness ; from making the earth to tremble, and shaking 
 kingdoms, to being cast out of the grave like an 
 abominable branch ; from the many nations, and 
 great kings from the coasts of the earth, that have so 
 often come up against Babylon, to the workmen that 
 still cast her up as heaps, and add to the number of 
 pools in her ruins ; from the immense artificial lake, 
 many miles in circumference, by means of which the 
 annual rising of the Euphrates was regulated and 
 restrained, to these pools of water, a few yards round, 
 dug by the workmen, and filled by the river ; from 
 the first and greatest of temples, to a burnt moun- 
 tain desolate for ever ; from the golden image, forty 
 feet in height, which stood on the top of the temple 
 of Belus, to all the graven images of her gods, that 
 are broken unto the ground, and mingled with the 
 dust ; from the splendid and luxurious festivals of 
 Babylonian monarchs, the noise of the vials, the 
 pomp of Belshazzar's feast, and the godless revelry 
 of a thousand lords, drinking out of the golden vessels 
 that had been taken from Zion, to the cry of wild 
 beasts, the creeping of doleful creatures, of which 
 their desolate houses and pleasant palaces are full, 
 the nestling of owls in cavities, the dancing of wild 
 goats on the ruinous mound, as on a rock, and the 
 dwelling-place of dragons, and of venomous reptiles ; 
 from arch upon arch, and terrace upon terrace, till 
 the hanging gardens of Babylon rose like a moun- 
 tain, down to the stones of the pit, now disclosed to 
 view ; from the palaces of princes, who sat on the 
 mount of the congregation, and thought in the pride 
 of their heart to exalt themselves above the stars of 
 God, to heaps cut down to the ground, perforated as 
 
 4*
 
 82 THE RIVER EUPHRATES. 
 
 the raiment of those that are slain, and as a carcase 
 trodden under feet ; from the broad walls of Babylon, 
 in all their height, as Cyrus camped against them 
 round about, seeking in vain a single point where 
 congregated nations could scale the walls or force an 
 opening, to the untraceable spot 0n which they stood, 
 where there is nothing left to turn aside, or impede 
 in their course, the worms that cover it ; and, finally, 
 from Babylon the great, the wonder of the world, to 
 fallen Babylon, the astonishment of all who go by it ; 
 in extremes like these, whatever changes they in- 
 volve, and by whatever instrumentality they may 
 have been wrought out, there is not to this hour, 
 in this most marvellous history of Babylon, a single 
 fact that may not most appropriately be ranked 
 under a prediction, and that does not tally entirely 
 with its express* and precise fulfilment ; while at the 
 same time they all united show, as may now be seen, 
 reading the judgments to the very letter, and looking 
 to the facts as they are, the destruction which has 
 come from the Almighty upon Babylon."* 
 
 * Keith's Evidence of Prophecy, 359 (35th Edition).
 
 II. 
 
 THE RIVER HIDDEKEL. 
 
 PHYSICAL HISTORY. Site of Paradise Pison Gihon Tigris To- 
 pographyNineveh Assyria. 
 
 THE MISSION OF JONAH. The City The Painted Walls The 
 Throng at the Gate The Woe Royal Penitence The Proclama- 
 tion The Petulant Prophet Evening Morning The Fast The 
 Sheltering Gourd The Divine Reproof Corruption of the Heart 
 The Lord's Mercy. 
 
 SUBSEQUENT HISTORY. Arbaces Shalmaneser Sennacherib Esar- 
 haddon Nahum's Prophecy The Fall of Nineveh Recent Dis- 
 coveries Ruins Sculptures Other Relics Truth of Prophecy. 
 
 THE LOWER RIVER. Topography Seleucia Ctesiphon Al Modain 
 Bagdad. 
 
 DANIEL'S VISION. The Glory of the Lord Its Effect upon Daniel 
 The Second Coming of Christ. 
 
 GENESIS II. 
 
 THE site of the terrestrial Paradise, the garden of 
 delights, which the beneficence of Jehovah planted 
 for his creature's residence, while innocent, has been 
 defined by the inspired historian, by its connexion 
 with four rivers. Yet, notwithstanding the particu- 
 larity with which three of these are described, great 
 uncertainty involves the question as to where it was 
 actually placed. This obscurity arises from the 
 difficulty of finding any two rivers answering to the 
 Pison and the Gihon, in so close proximity to the
 
 84 THE RIVER HIDDEKEL. 
 
 Euphrates and the Hiddekel, (or Tigris,) as shall meet 
 the requirements of the sacred text. It may indeed 
 be that the flood has so altered the surface of the 
 land that the two smaller rivers no longer exist, with- 
 out destroying the channels of the Tigris and the 
 Euphrates ; yet the impression of one who reads the 
 Book of Genesis, must certainly be that the sacred 
 historian intended to identify the scene by geogra- 
 phical features, which existed at the time that he 
 wrote. Somewhere upon the courses of the Euphrates 
 and Tigris, we may safely assume that the garden 
 was placed, but whether near the sources, or near the 
 termination of these rivers, the opinions of the 
 learned are conflicting. 
 
 Some have supposed, with Calvin, Bochart, and 
 others, that we must seek the site at the confluence 
 of these great rivers, where now the town of Korna 
 is situated. The united channel, now called the 
 Shat el Arab, flowed, on this hypothesis, through the 
 garden, and then entered the Persian Gulf by two 
 mouths. Thus the river has been compared to a 
 highway crossing a forest, which may be said to 
 divide itself into four ways, two on one side, and two 
 on the other side of the forest. The western of the 
 discharging channels is supposed to have been the 
 " Pison ;" and the " Land of Havilah," which it 
 bordered, to be represented by the eastern part of 
 Arabia, at the head of the Gulf. Strabo mentions 
 a people, named XauXoraibi, (Chaulotaioi,) in this 
 vicinity, whose name resembles the word Havilah, or 
 Chavilah ; and the productions mentioned, gold, the 
 onyx, and " bdellium," are all characteristic of this 
 region, whether we consider the latter substance
 
 SITE OF PARADISE. 85 
 
 to be a gum-resin, or, as seems more probable, 
 pearls. 
 
 The Gihon would be the distinctive appellation of 
 the eastern channel, by which the united waters of 
 the Euphrates and the Tigris entered the Persian 
 Gulf. It is true, no remembrance of this or the 
 preceding name is retained in the neighbourhood ; 
 but the country of which the Shat el Arab forms the 
 western boundary, is still called Khusistan, or the 
 land of Khus, agreeing with the Gush (translated 
 " Ethiopia " in our version) of the Scripture. 
 
 But another hypothesis, and perhaps the most 
 generally received, considers that the " four heads " 
 indicate the sources of four rivers ; though we see not 
 how, in that case, they could be described as one river 
 parted and becoming four heads. In confirmation 
 of this supposition, which would place the lovely spot 
 among the mountains of Armenia, it may be said 
 that the Euphrates and the Tigris have their sources 
 not far from each other, and in a region where rise 
 two other rivers of note, the Phasis and the Araxes 
 of the Greek writers. Of these, the Phasis is sup- 
 posed to represent the Pison, and Colchis is the land 
 of Havilah ; the Araxes seems to have a better claim 
 to identity with the Gihon, inasmuch as these names, 
 Araxes in the Greek, and Gihon in the Hebrew, 
 denote an arrowy rapidity, which is said to charac- 
 terise this stream. The Araxes, moreover, is still 
 called by the Persians the Jihon. The term Cush 
 might be ibund in the name of the Cosssei, who 
 inhabited the region watered by this river. To this 
 theory it may be objected that there are many more 
 than four streams which water this elevated country ^
 
 86 THE RIVER HIDDEKEL. 
 
 and that there seems no reason, except the slight 
 similarity of sound, for identifying the Phasis with 
 the Pison, when larger rivers are passed by, such as 
 the ancient Cyrus, the modern Kur. 
 
 There is scarcely any doubt, however, about the 
 identity of the Hiddekel, and none at all about that 
 of the Euphrates. The latter is simply mentioned, as 
 needing no description, being sufficiently familiar to 
 the Hebrew people ; and the name, Phrat, is the 
 same by which it has been known in all ages to the 
 present day. The Hiddekel is described as going 
 eastward to Assyria (marginal reading) ; and the 
 name, deprived of the aspirate, is essentially the same 
 as that by which it is still locally known, Digl, Dijel, 
 or Dijlah ; of which the word Tigris is merely a 
 Greek modification. It is said to signify a dart, or 
 swiftness ; and is a characteristic epithet of this rapid 
 river. Pliny indeed pretends to draw a distinction, 
 by saying that the name of Tigris is applied to the 
 river only where it flows rapidly, and that where its 
 course is slow it is named Diglito ; but Josephus 
 affirms that the whole river is called Diglath. 
 
 The whole course of the Tigris, from its most 
 remote source to the point where its waters mingle 
 with those of the Persian Gulf, extends through a 
 winding line of 1,250 miles ; as.it joins the Euphrates, 
 however, at Korna, as before intimated, its proper 
 length is about 100 miles less than this. The upper 
 parts of the river, and the various mountain streams 
 which combine to form its arrowy course, ere not yet 
 well investigated ; but the principal of them rises on 
 the southern side of the mountain range, at the foot 
 of which on the opposite side rolls the Euphrates,
 
 TOPOGKAPHT. 
 
 87 
 
 already a majestic river ; and not far from the point 
 where it pours itself through a narrow gorge in the 
 mountain chain, which there crosses its line. For 
 25 miles the Tigris flows to the north-east, maintain- 
 ing an elevation of nearly 5,000 feet above the level 
 of the Mediterranean ; then turning to the south- 
 
 The Tigris at Mo.nl. 
 
 east for about 60 miles, reaches the Turkish town of 
 Diar-bekr, situated in a fertile plain, cultivated and 
 occupied with gardens. It contains about 30,000 
 inhabitants, though its prosperity and population 
 have greatly decayed. It is believed to occupy the 
 site of the ancient town of Constantia. The river at 
 this place is about 250 yards wide during the spring 
 floods ; but is not navigable, except for rafts of 
 timber. Hence it flows on at a much lower level,
 
 88 THE RIVER HIDDEKEL. 
 
 first to the east, and then again to the south-east, 
 receiving some important tributaries, for about 200 
 miles, to the point where now stands the town of 
 Mosul, and where formerly stood the august and 
 mighty city of Nineveh. 
 
 It has been well observed that Nineveh was in 
 ruins almost before profane history commenced. Its 
 origin is carried up to a remote antiquity; for it 
 seems to have been founded by Nimrod, the " mighty 
 hunter," after he had built Babel. If we adopt the 
 marginal rendering of a passage in the Book of Genesis, 
 we find that, from some cause or other, Nimrod, 
 having laid the beginning of his kingdom at Babel 
 in the land of Shinar, and founded other cities there, 
 went forth out of that land into Assyria, and builded 
 Nineveh, and the city Rehobotb, and Calah, and 
 Resen, a great city, between Nineveh and Calah. 
 
 Thus rose simultaneously on the banks of the 
 Tigris and Euphrates, in close proximity to each 
 other, two cities, each of which was destined to attain 
 surpassing power, extent, magnificence and grandeur ; 
 to be in turn the metropolis of a mighty empire ; to 
 pass through a course of pride, idolatry, luxury, 
 cruelty and sensuality ; to become a signal oppressor 
 of God's sinning people, and to fall under the pre- 
 dicted vengeance of Jehovah into utter and awful 
 ruin. 
 
 About twenty-two centuries before Christ, a little 
 more than a hundred and twenty years after the 
 overwhelming deluge, the great Assyrian monarchy 
 was thus begun, in the plains of Mesopotamia. For 
 many hundred years we have no further knowledge 
 of its history, unless Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam,
 
 NINEVEH. 
 
 or either of his allies, who made war upon the kings 
 of Sodom and Gomorrah, and were pursued and 
 defeated by Abram, may have reigned over it ; or 
 Chushan-rishathaim, that king of Mesopotamia into 
 whose hands, in the days of the judges, Jehovah deli- 
 vered his people Israel for their disobedience, and 
 who was at length conquered by Othniel, the valiant 
 nephew of Caleb. 
 
 The empire appears to have been greatly extended, 
 and its metropolis enlarged and beautified, by Ninus, 
 and by his successor, the heroic Queen Semiramis ; 
 but the eras and the actions of these sovereigns, as 
 recorded by the Greek writers of an age long sub- 
 sequent, are involved in obscurity and fable, from 
 which nothing can extricate them but the original 
 records themselves, sculptured on Assyrian palace- 
 walls, and now in process of being recovered and 
 read, after having been buried for three thousand 
 years. 
 
 JONAH m. rv. 
 
 AFTEK the notice of its origin in the Book of 
 Genesis, Nineveh is first brought before us in the 
 Scriptures in the interesting mission of Jonah the 
 prophet, about 860 B.C. The wickedness of the 
 mighty city had gone up to God, who gave to his 
 servant the perilous commission to go thither and 
 announce its destruction. The failure of the pro- 
 phet's faith, his disobedience, his endeavour to flee 
 from the presence of the Lord, his voyage towards 
 Tarshish, the dreadful tempest that arose, his being
 
 90 THE RIVER HIDDEKEL. 
 
 cast into the sea, his entombment in the belly of the 
 great fish, his miraculous preservation there, his 
 repentance and confession, and his deliverance and 
 restoration to dry land, these are incidents replete 
 with instruction and interest, but which we may 
 dismiss with a mere enumeration. 
 
 Jehovah, who is ever gracious, and who chastens 
 only for the profit of his people, having brought his 
 erring servant back to the spirit of obedience, renews 
 his commission : " Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great 
 city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid 
 thee." He no longer refuses to take up the cross of 
 a service so unwelcome to flesh, but at once sets out 
 on his errand, not knowing but that his faithfulness 
 may bring upon him the vengeance of the wicked 
 city ; he goes without demur to " pay his vows ;" and 
 we will follow him thither, and witness the delivery 
 of the solemn message. 
 
 Clad in the rough garment of coarse camel's hair, 
 which the prophets of Israel were wont to wear, 
 pouring contempt on the pride and luxury around 
 them ; and supporting himself on his weary journey 
 by an oaken staff; with a scrip of parched corn and a 
 few dates suspended in his leathern girdle, he at 
 length arrives on the banks of the rushing Hiddekel. 
 For miles and miles before the long walls and mul- 
 titude of towers that environed the vast city had 
 appeared, stretching in a wide line along the distant 
 horizon, the confused hum of many sounds, that 
 continually grew louder and more distinct, the crowds 
 of travellers, peasants and slaves, the long lines of 
 wagons and weary beasts, oxen, camels and asses 
 bearing merchandise, the gaily-caparisoned prancing
 
 TIIE PAINTED WALLS. 91 
 
 horses, the cracking of whips, and the rattling of 
 wheels of the jumping chariots, all jostling one 
 another as they passed to and fro over the many high 
 roads that like a huge network intersect the broad 
 plain, with a hundred other signs, have given sure 
 token of approach to a great metropolis. 
 
 Now the lofty battlements rise upon the eye, 
 stretching away on either hand without interruption, 
 until they fade into the line where the distant horizon 
 melts into the hazy sky ; nor do they then cease, but 
 run on far, far beyond the range of sight. Twenty 
 miles in length the massive walls extend, and ten in 
 breadth ; thus being sixty miles in circumference, 
 " an exceeding great city of three days' journey," 
 and covering an area of 200 square miles, along the 
 east bank of the river, besides an extensive and 
 populous suburb on the opposite bank, and the long 
 ranges of human habitations that stretch away into 
 the plain from every gate. The wall is an immense 
 structure, a hundred and fifty feet in height, and fifty 
 in thickness, so broad that three chariots can be 
 driven along it abreast. It is constructed of bricks 
 dried in the sun ; but for one-third of the height, 
 these are incased with blocks of polished stone. On 
 the summit, at regular distances, are built towers, 
 to the number of 1,500, each 200 feet high ; and 
 besides these, watch-towers here and there, of a 
 pyramidal form, rise to a still loftier elevation, com- 
 manding a wide horizon. 
 
 The Israelitish seer gazes in mute astonishment at 
 the wondrous scene before him ; for the whole surface 
 of the wall, except the polished plinth of stone, is 
 covered with gigantic figures, painted in vivid colours 
 
 .*,
 
 
 92 
 
 TUB BIVER HEDDEKEL. 
 
 upon the smooth plaster. There are "men por- 
 trayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans 
 portrayed with vermilion, girded with girdles upon 
 their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, 
 all of them princes to look to."* There are the 
 exploits of the ancient Assyrian kings depicted in 
 life-like vigour ; there the ancient hunter himself 
 fights with the rampant lion, and buries the steel in 
 his savage heart. There too he leads his mailed and 
 
 Lion Hunting. 
 
 helmeted warriors against his foes, or pursues them 
 with clouds of arrows from Jiis sumptuous chariot. 
 There his armies are gathered before the battle- 
 ments of some hostile city, against which they plant 
 their scaling ladders, while they deal heavy blows 
 upon the walls, or pick out the massive stones with 
 their military engines. There scenes meet the eye, 
 where the long line of bound and insulted captives 
 led away, the torture and massacre, prisoners be- 
 headed, impaled, or flayed, heaps of heads and ampu- 
 tated hands, tell how cruel is the victory. 
 
 The admiration of the Hebrew stranger gives place 
 
 * Ezek. xxiii. 14, 15. 

 
 THE THRONG AT THE GATE. 93 
 
 to sorrow as he gazes upon the vivid pictures ; where 
 scene after scene only brings into prominence some 
 of the rampant evils of man's unregenerate heart ; 
 pride, luxury, covetousness, violence and cruelty ; 
 and all paraded as so many excellences, for the glori- 
 fication of man. But he sees other things than 
 these ; objects that no true Israelite can look upon 
 without horror and indignation : he sees the sense- 
 less idols, the likeness of beast, and bird, and creeping 
 thing, and other hideous forms, set on high, receiving 
 the homage of incense-bearing priests and royal wor- 
 shippers. He will look no more ; but with stimulated 
 zeal and freshened courage, he girds himself to his 
 arduous work. 
 
 But what shall the feeble voice of a poor unknown 
 stranger do here ? Look at yonder broad gateway, 
 where the lofty portals expand half-way up the wall, 
 and where the colossal winged lions of yellow marble 
 shine in the beams of the morning sun with a golden 
 glow. See how the living tide of men comes pouring 
 out, each intent on his own purpose, with no leisure 
 to think of his neighbour ! The begrimed artisan 
 hurries along beside the well-dressed merchant, and 
 jostles the pompous scribe, who gathers his garment 
 around him, as if polluted. The light-hearted maiden, 
 with her water-pitcher on her head, erect as an 
 obelisk, trips past the sunken-eyed widow, wasted 
 with sickness and poverty, who with a wailing babe 
 at her back creeps out to seek a pittance in the cor- 
 ners of the fields. Nobles in scarlet and gold, priests 
 in their long embroidered robes, ride out to enjoy 
 the country air. Here a hunting party gallops forth, 
 armed with bow and spear, followed by eager dogs,
 
 94 THE RIVER HIDDEKEL. 
 
 well trained to find the panther in his lair, or to 
 chase the antelope ; their loud and merry laughter 
 promises no sympathy with a sentence of woe. Here 
 a proud and steel-clad warrior dashes by in his carved 
 and inlaid chariot, the scales of his polished mail 
 flinging sparkles of light upon the surrounding 
 throng ; the gorgeous caparisons of his high-mettled 
 steeds, that prance, and arch their necks, and champ 
 their bits, attract the admiration of the crowd, whom 
 
 Assyrian Horses. 
 
 he drives to either side, as he cleaves his swift course 
 through them ; he plays carelessly with his ruby- 
 hilted dagger, but bestows not a glance on the mes- 
 senger of Jehovah. 
 
 How shall the voice of the prophet be heard amidst 
 this tumultuous din ? The rattling of the chariot
 
 THE WOE. 95 
 
 wheels over the brick-pavement, the neighing of the 
 horses, the clashing of arms, and the blowing of horns 
 and trumpets ; the noises of dogs and other domestic 
 animals ; the cries of those who with hoarse lungs 
 vaunt the excellences of their varied wares ; the 
 hum of thousands of human voices ; the many 
 sounds that come from shops and offices, the clang 
 of the armourer's forge, the noise of the smith's 
 anvil, of the carpenter's hammer and saw, unite 
 into a confused medley of noises, almost deaf- 
 ening. 
 
 To one who looked only at human probabilities, 
 nothing could be more discouraging than the attempt 
 to deliver such a message in such a place ; but Jonah 
 remembers who hath sent him thither, and that his 
 business is not with consequences, but with the will 
 of Jehovah. Strengthened, therefore, the prophet 
 enters into the guilty city, and lifts up his voice like 
 a trumpet. He commences his solemn message with 
 these startling words : " Yet forty days, and Nineveh 
 shall be overthrown !" A crowd gathers around him, 
 but none molest him, for a preternatural awe falls 
 upon them as they listen to his denunciations of their 
 speedy doom. Through their crowded and glittering 
 streets he wends his way, continually pouring forth 
 his words of terror, and denouncing the woe of the 
 bloody city. He " drops the burden " of Jehovah 
 upon their aggravated wickedness, bringing forth 
 their crimes in all their hideous nakedness into the 
 light, and pronouncing the righteous judgment of 
 God, and his wrath revealed from heaven against 
 them. The pride and haughtiness that said, " I am, 
 and there is none beside me " the carelessness that
 
 96 THE EIVER HEDDEKEL. 
 
 regarded not the solemn retribution to come the 
 multiform idolatry that has robbed Jehovah of 
 His rightful claim to homage and obedience the 
 deceitfulness and lying, the cheating and robbery 
 that have filled the city, and the tyranny and 
 oppression, the cruelty and bloodshed that have 
 ground in pieces the nations, and filled the earth 
 with mourning without pity or remorse the prophet 
 recounts in unsparing words ; while every heart 
 responds, and none dares deny that the accusations 
 are true. In vain they listen for some offers of 
 mercy ; nothing but judgment falls on their ears ; 
 for the message which the seer has received to de- 
 liver, is only a message of woe. 
 
 Word is brought to the King of Assyria, as he 
 reclines at ease in his luxurious banquet hall, that 
 the days of his proud city are numbered, and that 
 her doom is at hand. Conviction strikes through his 
 heart, for conscience, long silenced, now loudly speaks, 
 and tells him that it is a righteous doom. Traditions 
 and reports he has from time to time heard of the 
 power and truth of Jehovah, and of his irresistible 
 vengeance ; but he has heard, too, that Israel's God 
 is merciful, and though no call to repentance nor 
 offer of pardon is mingled with the prophetic burden, 
 yet the respite of forty days seems to imply that the 
 way is not closed against penitence, and that the 
 doom is not yet irreversible. Without a moment's 
 delay, therefore, he arises from his throne, puts off 
 his sumptuous garments of state, and covers himself 
 with sackcloth ; and at the same time sends his 
 servants into every part of the city to proclaim a 
 solemn fast, while he retires into the recess of his
 
 THE PROCLAMATION. 97 
 
 chamber, to humble himself in dust and ashes, and 
 to pray for mercy. 
 
 The sun at length declines ; and Jonah prepares to 
 seek the rest of night for his weary feet, which have 
 borne him all the day through the interminable 
 streets, though but a small part of the city has been 
 traversed. But before he emerges from the gate, 
 still pouring his heart-withering woe, he is met by 
 the royal heralds, who thus proclaim the decree of 
 the king and his nobles : " Let neither man nor 
 beast, herd, nor flock, taste anything ; let them not 
 feed, nor drink water ; but let man and beast be 
 covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God. 
 Yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and 
 from the violence that is in their hands. Who can 
 tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from 
 his fierce anger, that we perish not ?" 
 
 In this is manifested the faith that honours God. 
 Deep humiliation, confession of guilt, fervent prayer, 
 repentance, and turning away from all known evil, 
 are appointed ways in which those against whom the 
 denunciations of God's word lie may flee from the 
 wrath to come. But if there was present pardon, 
 and an averting of denounced judgment for guilty 
 Nineveh, on their imperfect and probably partial and 
 transient penitence, how much more may poor re- 
 pentant sinners now come and cast themselves upon 
 the mercy of God, since free forgiveness is now 
 offered, and the blood of Christ has been shed for 
 sin ? And will not the faith and conduct of the 
 Ninevites, who repented at the preaching of Jonah, 
 unsupported by any miraculous signs, rise up in the 
 judgment to condemn the apathy and unbelief of the 
 
 5
 
 98 THE KIVER HIDDEKEL. 
 
 people of this country, unto whom the gospel has 
 come who have often heard of the love of God in 
 Christ, but have never been obedient to the message 
 of his grace? 
 
 But how is the prophet affected by what he hears ? 
 Does he not hail with joy the success of his preaching, 
 and does not his gladness find vent in grateful praise 
 to Jehovah, and kindly encouragement to the mourn- 
 ing citizens ? Alas ! no ! he retires from the city 
 moody and disappointed ; and when the Holy Spirit 
 tells him that the repentance of Nineveh has come 
 up before Him, and that mercy shall rejoice against 
 judgment, the servant of God captiously murmurs at 
 the grace, and insinuates that it is a wrong to him- 
 self. He even ventures to request, in the petulance 
 of his anger, that God will take his life from him, 
 affirming that he had rather die than live any longer. 
 Pride rises up in his heart, and suggests, that now 
 his credit as a prophet will be gone, since his pre- 
 dictions are not fulfilled pharisaic vindictiveness, 
 that would rather see judgment executed against sin, 
 than mercy exerted in pardon national antipathy, 
 that had expected to be gratified in the overthrow of 
 a great Gentile empire, the mightiest in the earth. 
 Jonah, has forgotten how mercifully the Lord has 
 forgiven Mm j how He delivered him " from the 
 belly of hell," whither his rebellion and folly had 
 brought him. Ah ! would that Christians had less 
 of the peevish intolerant spirit of Jonah, and more of 
 the loving, forbearing, forgiving spirit of Jesus ! 
 
 Evening is gradually drawing her veil over the 
 broad plain of Assyria, as the still rebellious prophet 
 reclines his tired frame at the foot of a palm, a mile
 
 EVENING. 99 
 
 or two out of the city. More than one Ninevite has 
 offered him hospitality, desirous to show respect to 
 the messenger of Jehovah, and to profit by his in- 
 structions how to avert the threatened wrath : but 
 the proffered courtesy has been rejected in sullen 
 anger. He will have no fellowship with the guilty 
 race, nor will he accept their friendship. The heaven 
 shall be his canopy, and the earth his pillow. Yet 
 truly to sleep beneath such a sky, reclined upon such 
 a carpet, is no great self-denial. 
 
 The sun has gone down behind the long wall of 
 the city, which just hides the horizon from view, but 
 does not conceal the flush of ruddy light that bathes 
 the western sky, nor the fantastic piles and little 
 peaks of cloud, where the orb has disappeared, the 
 points and sides of which display an edging of light 
 that glows like molten gold. Streaks of crimson 
 light radiate from the point of sun-setting, and 
 stretching over the whole zenith in widening bands, 
 rest upon the snowy peaks of Ararat, far in the 
 north-east, flushing them with the hue of the rose. 
 The parching heat has gone down with the sun, and 
 a pleasant breeze, most delightfully cool, bears the 
 fragrance of a thousand flowers. These, of every hue," 
 enamelling the grass in gorgeous abundance, are now, 
 indeed,, beginning to fade from the view in the ad- 
 vancing shadow, but give out their perfume in more 
 copious gushes, under the stimulus of the falling 
 dew. The peasants have unyoked their cattle, and 
 are trudging to their cottages through the fields ; 
 and lowing kine and bleating flocks are slowly 
 returning from the pastures, with distended udders. 
 Women are seen around the huts, crouching beneath
 
 100 THE KIVEK HLDDEKEL. 
 
 the kine to milk them as they arrive ; others, in 
 laughing groups, are going to the wells or to the 
 river, bearing pitchers on their erect heads. Youths 
 bring home baskets of fruit from the orchards, or 
 huge bundles of grass and rushes which they have 
 cut by the river's side, their feet and legs wet with the 
 heavy dew, and loaded with the yellow pollen of the 
 blossoming grass. Parties of the citizens, not yet 
 aware of the proclamation, are enjoying the cool of 
 the day, and many a traveller hurries along towards 
 the city, anxious lest the gates should be shut before 
 he can arrive. The youths and maidens are dancing 
 together in many a happy group, to the music of their 
 own voices, or of a lyre strung by coarse, but not 
 unskilful hands. Now and then the tinkling of the 
 camel's bell betokens a party of wandering Arabs, 
 whose long spears, tipped with tufts of ostrich-plumes, 
 wave and flutter against the sky, above their heads. 
 The long howl of the jackal comes from the desert, 
 and is answered by the dogs prowling beneath the 
 city-walls for the carrion which daily accumulates 
 there. At length, all the sights are lost in the purple 
 night, save the stars that glitter and burn above ; and 
 all sounds have died away, except the rich notes of 
 the bulbul, that are poured forth in gushes of melody 
 from the orchards around. Lovely and soothing is 
 the scene! but no charms of nature can calm the 
 human spirit when a prey to evil passions. Turbulent 
 and peevish anger, discontent with God, with him- 
 self, and with all around, are raging in Jonah, almost 
 uncontrolled, until at length he sinks into a feverish 
 and unrefreshing slumber. His gracious Lord, how- 
 ever, " the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever,"
 
 THE FAST. 101 
 
 guards His failing servant with watchful love ; for 
 " He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor 
 sleep !" 
 
 Morning breaks, and reveals the bold and broken 
 ranges of Armenia's mountains, whose pointed sum- 
 mits stand out in dark relief against the vermilion 
 east, and throw long lines of shadow across the sky. 
 Up springs the glowing sun, and pours his scorching 
 rays across the plain, flushing the face of the awakened 
 prophet, as if the door of a furnace had been sud- 
 denly opened. The songs of thousands of happy birds 
 ascend up to heaven ; their tribute of praise to Him 
 who watcheth with tender care the sparrow's fall, and 
 heareth the young ravens which cry unto Him. The 
 flowers, refreshed with dew, open their delicate 
 blossoms, and the wide landscape rejoices in the 
 beams of the new-born day. 
 
 The city is still quiet, but it is not the quietness 
 of repose ; for in this sultry clime the population too 
 well appreciate the refreshing coolness of early morn- 
 ing to be in bed after day has broken ; and long before 
 the sun had peeped over the mountains, the gates at 
 any other time would have been thrown open, and 
 swarms of busy people would have been crowding to 
 and fro. But now scarcely a human form is visible, 
 and a silence, deep and solemn, reigns, where usually 
 the hum of active life is heard, except that mournful 
 lo wings of cattle, heard at intervals through the night, 
 still come from the teeming city, where they have 
 been joining their distressed cries to the prayers of 
 the penitent people, and thus have, as it were, un- 
 consciously helped to keep the fast and vigil. 
 
 Still sullen and displeased, the Hebrew prophet no
 
 102 THE KIVER HIDDEKEL. 
 
 more seeks the city, but prepares himself a rude hut 
 or booth, of such materials as he can collect on the 
 spot. A few sticks set in the ground, and others 
 placed across them, to afford a frail support for the 
 brittle stems of dried herbage, or the coarse grass 
 that he can pull up with his hands, aiford a slight 
 protection from the rays of the sun, which every 
 moment increases in torrid heat. Here he seats 
 himself, determined to wait and see notwithstanding 
 the intimation he has received, that God has accepted 
 its timely repentance what will become of the city. 
 Such moroseness is as ill-judged as it is contrary to 
 mercy and love ; for surely no more certain way 
 could be devised to prejudice the idolatrous heathen 
 against the character and worship of the God whom 
 the prophet represented. 
 
 But the same grace which forbears with the guilty 
 Nineveh, forbears also with the rebellious Jonah. 
 The Lord will reprove him, but in so gentle and 
 convincing a manner, as shall instruct and humble, 
 without crushing his spirit. For this purpose, He 
 first miraculously causes to spring up behind the 
 frail booth a luxuriant " gourd," or rather a plant 
 known to modern science as the castor-oil tree, of 
 herbaceous structure, but with the dimensions of a 
 tree. Its abundant, broad, and elegantly divided 
 leaves of a pleasant greenness, greatly refresh the 
 languid prophet, not only by affording a better 
 shadow from the burning sun than his poor booth 
 could afford him, but by the coolness which in hot 
 climates is always found beneath the foliage of trees, 
 especially those with large leaves ; produced by the 
 copious evaporation from their extended surfaces.
 
 THE SHELTERING GOURD. 
 
 103 
 
 The plant, springing up in its rich luxuriance, casts 
 its shadow over Jonah's head, to his great comfort 
 and refreshment. Thus he who is offended and 
 angry at the preservation of a populous city from 
 
 destruction, is made " exceeding glad " of the slight 
 personal relief affonded by a sheltering shrub ! 
 
 But scarcely is his excessive joy indulged, when it 
 gives place to equally disproportionate grief. He who 
 spread the grateful shade over his servant's head, 
 prepares a worm at the root, so that the tall and 
 comely plant withers as rapidly as it rose. Its thick 
 and succulent stem droops and falls, and the luxu- 
 riant foliage is all shrivelled and dry ; while at the 
 same time a vehement east wind, hot and parching, 
 increases the intense heat of the sun, that beats down 
 in unmitigated fury : the air is like that of an oven, 
 and the poor fainting prophet, having lost his friendly
 
 104: THE KIVEK HIDDEKEL. 
 
 tree, gives himself up to despair, and again wishes 
 that he may die ! 
 
 " And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be 
 angry for the gourd ? And he said, I do well to be 
 angry, even unto death. Then said the Lord, Thou 
 hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast 
 not laboured, neither madest it grow ; which came 
 up in a night, and perished in a night , and should 
 not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are 
 more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot 
 discern between their right hand and their left hand ; 
 and also much cattle ?" 
 
 An humbling example is this of the depravity yet 
 remaining in the heart of a renewed man, and ever 
 ready to break out into some open sin, if watchful- 
 ness and faith be intermitted. Are we astonished 
 that a messenger of God should repine at his own 
 success should desire the destruction rather than 
 the salvation of sinners should proudly justify his 
 former disobedience, for which he had been already 
 severely chastised, and his present anger, even before 
 God himself, and should impatiently pray for death 
 when he had been but just delivered from it in 
 answer to prayer? Let the saint look into the depths 
 of his own heart, and he will find his astonishment 
 at Jonah's inconsistency much diminished. The 
 remains of inbred corruption are sufficient in every 
 child of God to betray him into that which will 
 bring dishonour on the name of hie Lord, and dark- 
 ness and bitterness into his own soul, but for the 
 constant exercise of faith in the atoning Blood, and 
 the untiring care of his heavenly Advocate before the 
 Throne. Self, the rival of Christ in the heart, is in
 
 THE MEECY OF GOD. 105 
 
 one form or other the root of every sin. Self-seeking, 
 self-pleasing, self-love, self-indulgence, self-glory, 
 hide Christ from the soul, obscure the spiritual judg- 
 ment, deaden the conscience, and facilitate the com- 
 mission of sins, at which the man of God, when 
 walking in communion with his heavenly Father, 
 would have shuddered. Nor is any occasion so small 
 but that it may be successfully used by Satan as a 
 vehicle of temptation. Jonah selfishly valued the 
 refreshment of his " gourd " more than the lives of 
 sixscore thousand innocent babes more than the 
 pardon of half-a-million of sinners ! What need 
 have we to guard against the power of impetuous 
 passions, and to watch and pray, with humble self- 
 distrust, against the treachery of our corrupt hearts, 
 lest we mistake the dictates of a spiteful temper for a 
 zeal for the Lord's glory ! True charity " rejoiceth 
 not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth," even 
 when found in an adversary ; and so far from 
 repining at marks of Divine favor being bestowed on 
 those who perhaps differ much from ourselves, will 
 be able to recognise the sovereignty of God, and 
 give him thanks for his mercy. 
 
 It is well for us, that in our constant failure we 
 have to do with " a merciful and gracious God, slow 
 to anger, and of great kindness," who does not " deal 
 with us after our sins, nor reward us according to 
 our iniquities." The forbearance and tenderness 
 manifested in Jehovah's expostulations with his 
 fretful servant, show us his compassionate character, 
 and express a love that cannot wear out. The Lord 
 deals in various modes with his people to conform 
 them to Himself, and humble their hearts ; sometimes 
 
 5*
 
 106 THE KIVEE HIDDEKEL. 
 
 inflicting fearful chastisement, as when He caused 
 his servant to be engulphed in the yawning fish ; at 
 others, condescending to expostulate, and gently to 
 reprove. But neither the one nor the other is the 
 result of waywardness or variableness, but of infinite 
 love and infinite wisdom working under different 
 circumstances by different means, each, however, 
 being the very best adapted to promote the desired 
 end. 
 
 EZEKIEL XXXI. NAHUM I. III. 
 
 THE repentance and reformation of the people of 
 Nineveh under the preaching of Jonah, prolonged 
 the existence of the great Assyrian empire for about 
 seventy years. Near the middle of this period, Pul, 
 the first of its monarchs whose name is recorded in 
 Scripture, invaded the kingdom of Israel, and made 
 it tributary. About the year B. c. 746, in the reign 
 of the luxurious and effeminate Sardanapalus, an 
 insurrection was raised by Arbaces, the governor of 
 Media ; and the example of the Medes was followed 
 by the Babylonians, excited by a Chaldean priest, 
 named Belesys. The Persians and other allies soon 
 joined the revolters, who attacked the capital on all 
 sides. It maintained a siege for three years ; at the 
 end of which time, the monarch, collecting his 
 precious treasures into a vast funeral pyre, placed 
 himself on it, surrounded by his wives and concu- 
 bines, and set it on fire. All perished in the flames, 
 and thus ended the long dynasty of the mighty 
 monarchs of Assyria. The empire was now divided
 
 SUBSEQUENT HISTOKY. 107 
 
 into three kingdoms, Assyria, Babylon, and Media. 
 Arbaces established a new dynasty in the Assyrian 
 metropolis, though with diminished power ; he is 
 commonly supposed to be the king named in 
 Scripture Tiglath-pileser. He came against the 
 kingdoms of Syria and Israel, and carried away into 
 captivity some of the people of both nations. 
 
 About twenty-five years after this first captivity of 
 Israel, Hoshea endeavoured, by an alliance with 
 Egypt, to throw off the Assyrian yoke ; on which 
 Shalmaneser, the successor of Tiglath-pileser, brought 
 his armies, and invested Samaria, which fell into his 
 hands after having sustained the tedious horrors of a 
 siege for three years. The Assyrian monarch, ac- 
 cording to a policy which was frequently adopted in 
 ancient times, determined to remove the whole popu- 
 lation of the conquered country, and to replace it by 
 colonies from other parts of his dominions. He 
 accordingly " carried Israel away into Assyria, and 
 placed them in Halah, and in Habor by the river of 
 Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes." By this we 
 understand the principal persons, and the bulk of 
 the common people ; but from Ezra iv. 2, we learn 
 that the work was not completed until the reign of 
 Esar-haddon, the grandson of this monarch. 
 
 The campaign of Sennacherib against the kingdom 
 of Judah his haughty arrogance and blasphemies 
 against Jehovah the distress and piety of King 
 Hezekiah, and the miraculous destruction of the 
 invading army, by which a hundred and eighty-five 
 thousand men became in one night " all dead corpses," 
 have made the name of this Assyrian king prominent 
 in the Sacred Scriptures. Humiliated at his defeat,
 
 108 THE KIVEK IIIDDEKEL. 
 
 he returned to Nineveh, where he was slain by two 
 of his own sons, and another son, Esar-haddon, 
 reigned in his stead. 
 
 In the confusion which followed the loss of the 
 army and the murder of the monarch, the Medes and 
 the Babylonians succeeded in recovering their in- 
 dependence ; and the king of the latter sent a con- 
 gratulatory embassy to Hezekiah. But Esar-haddon, 
 having at length subdued his revolted provinces, 
 found himself sufficiently strong to push his con- 
 quests westward. As we have already intimated, he 
 completed the removal of the Israelitish people to 
 Assyria ; after which, apparently in the same year, 
 he sent his generals into the neighbouring territory of 
 Judah, where his father had been so wofully discom- 
 fited. But he who now reigned on the throne of 
 David was the wicked Manasseh, a degenerate son of 
 a worthy sire, who had " seduced his people to do 
 more evil than did the nations whom the Lord 
 destroyed before the children of Israel ;" who had 
 dealt with familiar spirits and wizards ; who had 
 caused his children to pass through the fire to 
 Moloch ; and who had " shed innocent blood very 
 much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to 
 another." No miraculous interposition was wrought 
 for him ; no angel of death now smote the Assyrian 
 host; Manasseh was taken " among the thorns," 
 having attempted to hide himself in a thicket, and 
 being brought in fetters to Esar-haddon, was by him 
 carried captive to Babylon, which, it seems, was the 
 seat of this monarch's residence. The captive Jewish 
 king was here brought to humble himself before God, 
 and to confess and bewail his enormous sins, and
 
 NAHUM'S PKOPHECY. 109 
 
 became one of the most signal examples of pardoning 
 grace that have ever been recorded. As in the case 
 of Saul of Tarsus, the Lord seems to have intended 
 to show forth in Manasseh an example of " all long- 
 suffering, for a pattern to them who should thereafter 
 believe on Him." 
 
 It was principally in the reign of Esar-haddon, 
 that the pious Tobit lived long and prosperously at 
 Nineveh ; an Israelite, who had been carried away 
 with his family, from the northern part of Galilee, by 
 Shalmaneser. 
 
 It seems also to have been in the early part of 
 the same reign, that the magnificent poem, entitled 
 " The Burden of Nineveh," was composed by the 
 inspired prophet Nahum. On its style and structure, 
 Bishop Lowth makes the following observations : 
 " None of the minor prophets seem to equal Nahum 
 in boldness, ardour, and sublimity. His prophecy, 
 too, forms a regular and perfect poem ; the exordium 
 is not merely magnificent, it is truly majestic ; the 
 preparation for the destruction of Nineveh, and the 
 description of its downfall and desolation, are ex- 
 pressed in the most vivid colours, and are bold and 
 luminous in the highest degree."* He is called the 
 El-Koshite, from the village of El Kosha in Galilee, 
 according to Jerome ; but there is a village named 
 Elkosh, about fifteen miles to the north of the ruins 
 of Nineveh, where a very general tradition places the 
 tomb of the prophet. It is a Christian village, but is 
 held in reverence by both Mohammedans and Jews, 
 who resort thither in great numbers, and keep the 
 
 * Lowth's Prelect, xxi.
 
 110 THE RIVER IIIDDEKEL. 
 
 tomb in repair. Mr. Layard, in his most interesting 
 work on Nineveh,* considers the tradition as not 
 without weight. If it be entitled to confidence, 
 Nahum must have delivered his burden, like Jonah, 
 his predecessor, with the proud city herself before 
 him. 
 
 The prophet, in language of terrible vividness, 
 denounces u Woe to the bloody city ;" he accuses 
 her of being " all full of lies and robbery ;" as being 
 constantly filled with prey, which, under the simiH- 
 tude of " an old lion, tearing in pieces his victims for 
 his whelps, and strangling them for his lionesses, and 
 filling his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin," 
 the tyrannical might of the Assyrian monarchy had 
 gathered from the spoiled nations. He accuses her 
 of abominable idolatry, under the similitude of " a 
 well-favoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, 
 that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and 
 families through her witchcrafts." Heavy threat- 
 enings from Jehovah are uttered, who repeatedly 
 declares that He is " against her :" again and again 
 is it announced that the fire shall devour her, that 
 hej chariots shall be burned in the smoke ; that the 
 sword shall devour her " young lions ;" that, though 
 she should make great preparations to stand a siege, 
 drawing waters, fortifying the strong-holds, and 
 making strong the brick-kilns,f yet should she be 
 devoured ; that her crowned captains should flee 
 away like grasshoppers, and their place be no more 
 known. For Jehovah will bring against her a terrible 
 
 * " Nineveh and its Remains." London, 1849. 
 t That is, for the making of bricks, in order to form new forti- 
 fications.
 
 FALL OF NINEVEH. 
 
 Ill 
 
 enemy, who for his power and violence, and un- 
 sparing mercilessness, is known as " the dasher in 
 pieces," who shall bring his mighty men in scarlet, 
 with blood-red shields, as if to denote their san- 
 guinary purposes ; whose chariots furnished with 
 flaming torches, shall rage in her streets, and justle 
 one against another in the broad ways ; who shall 
 
 Chariot of Nineveh. 
 
 take the spoil of silver, and the spoil of gold, and the 
 pleasant and glorious furniture, of which "there is no 
 end." In her streets shall be heard " the noise of 
 a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, 
 and of the prancing horses, and of the jumping 
 chariots." Then it is added, as if the tumultuous scene 
 were really being enacted before the prophet's eye ; 
 " the horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and 
 the glittering spear : and there is a multitude of slain, 
 and a great number of carcases ; and there is none end 
 of their corpses ; they stumble upon their corpses." 
 The noble river, her pride and boast, shall help her
 
 112 THE RIVER HIDDEKEL. 
 
 destruction ; for " the gates of the rivers shall be 
 opened, and the palaces shall be dissolved." Jehovah 
 will make an utter end ; affliction shall not rise up the 
 second time. No more of her name shall be sown ; the 
 Lord will cut off the graven image, and the molten 
 image ; He will make her grave, because she is vile. 
 He will even cast upon her abominable filth, and 
 make her vile, and set her as a gazing stock. 
 
 No city in the world seemed less likely to be sub- 
 ject to such a doom than the great and populous 
 Nineveh, the metropolis of the mighty Assyrian 
 empire. Yet before a hundred years had expired, all 
 was accomplished ; and not a jot nor a tittle of God's 
 word against her had failed. The Medes under 
 Cyaxares, and the Babylonians under Nabopolassar, 
 again united their forces, and after a siege, during 
 which it is said tJie sudden rise of the Tigris overthrew 
 a part of the walls, they succeeded in taking it ; when, 
 to gratify the envy of the Medes, it was utterly de- 
 stroyed. In Jeremiah's time it had utterly passed 
 away ; for that prophet, enumerating the kingdoms of 
 the earth who were doomed to drink at God's hand 
 " the cup of fury," makes no mention of Assyria, or 
 of Nineveh ; and Ezekiel, who prophesied at the 
 same time, gives a highly poetical description of 
 " the Assyrian," but holds up his awful fall as a 
 warning to other nations. 
 
 The destruction of Nineveh was absolute and 
 sudden ; " affliction" did not, as in the case of 
 Babylon, " rise up a second time" Lucian, a writer 
 in the second century of the Christian era, himself 
 a native of a city on the Euphrates, declares that 
 Nineveh had utterly perished) that there was then no
 
 RECENT DISCOVERIES 113 
 
 vestige of it remaining, and that none knew where it 
 had stood. Tradition had, however, indistinctly 
 preserved a remembrance of the site ; and immense 
 heaps of earth, scattered along the banks of the 
 Tigris, principally on the east side opposite the 
 modern city of Mosul, were considered as, with some 
 probability, indicating the place where once had 
 stood the proud seat of Assyrian greatness. 
 
 "Within the last few years, discoveries, the most 
 startling, and of the highest interest, have been 
 made ; and these mounds have been found to contain 
 remains of Assyrian art, of very high antiquity, of 
 great beauty, often in a perfect state of preservation, 
 by means 'of which our knowledge of the history of 
 this ancient empire is likely to receive important 
 accessions. While we write these pages, reports of 
 fresh discoveries, as unexpected as interesting, are 
 almost daily arriving ; the pavement of one of the 
 city gates has been uncovered, deeply indented with 
 the ruts of the chariot wheels ; and even the throne 
 of the Assyrian kings has been found, built of carved 
 ivory, with lions' feet, with the remains of a sort of 
 veil or curtain around it, which appears to have 
 screened the sacred person of the sovereign from a 
 too familiar gaze. 
 
 The principal mounds which appear to be identified 
 with ancient Nineveh, are Kouyunjik, (including the 
 so-called Tomb of Jonah,) on the east bank of the 
 Tigris, opposite Mosul; Nimroud, about eighteen 
 miles lower down the river, near the junction of the 
 Greater Zab ; Karasules, about twelve miles north of 
 Nimroud, and Khorsabad, nearly the same distance 
 north of Kouyunjik. These points form the four
 
 114 THE KIVER IIIDDEKEL. 
 
 corners of a rhomboid, the circumference of which is 
 sixty miles, the dimensions assigned to the ancient 
 city. Many mounds are scattered over this area, and 
 the whole face of the country is strewn with bricks, 
 pottery, and other fragments of antiquity. Forty 
 miles below Nimroud, on the west bank of the Tigris, 
 is another vast shapeless mass of ruins, covered with 
 grass, and called Kalah Sherghat. This is another 
 Assyrian city, possibly the Calah mentioned in Gen. 
 x. 11, as having been built by Nimrod. Other 
 mounds are also scattered about the great plain 
 through which the Tigris and its tributaries flow. 
 
 The first monuments of importance were obtained 
 at Khorsabad, in the year 1844, by M. Botta, the 
 French Consul at Mosul. Excavating in the mound 
 so called, he uncovered a chamber, surrounded by 
 slabs of alabaster, on which were sculptured in relief, 
 battles, sieges, processions, and other scenes ; with 
 numerous inscriptions in the arrow-headed character. 
 It was evident that the palace of. which this was a 
 part, had been subjected to the action of fire, for the 
 slabs were completely calcined, and could scarcely be 
 preserved sufficiently to allow the scenes and in- 
 scriptions to be copied, before they mouldered into 
 dust. 
 
 In the autumn of the following year, our enter- 
 prising countryman, Mr. Layard, commenced exca- 
 vations at Nimroud, and in a few days discovered 
 many relics, among which were a pair of gigantic 
 winged bulls, but in an imperfect condition. Many 
 bas-reliefs of scenes similar to those already de- 
 scribed, were subsequently discovered ; many of them 
 Btill bearing traces of paint, with which they had
 
 TKUTH OF PROPHECY. 115 
 
 been either entirely or partially adorned. The expo- 
 sure of the majestic countenance of a human-headed 
 lion, and its extrication from the " grave of filth," in 
 which it had lain for five-and-twenty centuries, are 
 described by the discoverer in the most graphic 
 manner ; as are also the details of many other most 
 important resuscitations, into which space forbids 
 our entering. Among the most interesting objects 
 obtained, besides the numerous sculptured scenes of 
 military, civil, and religious incidents, were helmets 
 of iron and copper, many scales which once composed 
 the iron coats-of-mail of the warriors, vases of great 
 elegance, of alabaster and clay, and one of glass, 
 crouching sphinxes, lions of basalt and of copper, 
 an obelisk of black marble elaborately sculptured, 
 ivory ornaments and implements of various sorts, 
 and, recently, vessels of copper, which, when the 
 outer coat of oxide is scraped oif, appear as bright as 
 if they had just left the shop of the workman. 
 
 In all these discoveries are brought out the unerr- 
 ing truth of the Word of God. The descriptions 
 given of Nineveh's greatness and power, of her riches 
 and luxury, her idolatry, her cruelty, are illustrated 
 in the most graphic manner by these silent but un- 
 impeachable witnesses. The long oblivion in which 
 they have lain ; the " grave " in which they have 
 been entombed, and from which they are now plucked 
 to become " a gazing stock ;" the evidences they 
 exhibit of a sudden overthrow ; the marks of fire 
 which most of them display, no less exactly agree 
 with the letter of inspired prophecy, the doom pro- 
 nounced upon the beautiful, but guilty city, by the 
 living God. " And He will stretch out his hand
 
 116 THE RIVER HTDDEKEL. 
 
 against the north, and destroy Assyria ; and will make 
 Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness. 
 And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the 
 beasts of the nations ; both the cormorant and the 
 bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it ; their 
 voice shall sing in the windows ; desolation shall be 
 in the thresholds : for He shall uncover the cedar 
 work. This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly ; 
 that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside 
 me : how is she become a desolation, a place for 
 beasts to lie down in ! Every one that passeth by 
 her shall hiss, and wag his head !"* 
 
 BELOW the confluence of the Greater Zab with 
 the Tigris, the point which may be considered the 
 southern limit of ancient Nineveh, the river runs 
 through an immense plain, bounded on the south by 
 the Hamrin Hills, through which it forces its way, 
 after having received the waters of the Lesser Zab. 
 At this point, which is about eighty miles below 
 Mosul, the Tigris has a breadth of 500 yards. Below 
 the confluence of this river, a range of hills on the 
 western bank separates the Tigris from the channel 
 of the Thathar, now dry, and extends to the termina- 
 tion of a long mound, known as the " Median wall." 
 Here the river issues from the hills into the great 
 central, or Babylonish plain, where it pursues its 
 course nearly parallel to the Euphrates, and not far 
 distant from it. The closest approximation of the 
 two rivers, before their junction, is at the point where 
 
 * Zeph. ii. 13-15.
 
 TOPOGKAPHY. 117 
 
 the city of Bagdad is situated, which is not more 
 than twelve or fourteen miles from the Euphrates. 
 The Saklawiyeh* canal, which unites the two rivers 
 near this point, is, indeed, forty-five miles long, but 
 it pursues a somewhat tortuous course, from a point 
 on the Euphrates considerably higher up than that 
 where it enters the Tigris. Twenty miles below the 
 termination of this canal, the Diyalah, a large river, 
 pours a great body of water into the Tigris, from the 
 north-east ; it is 400 yards broad, and the strong 
 current is described as rushing as from a sluice. An 
 ancient canal connects these two rivers, near Bagdad, 
 and several others may still be traced crossing the 
 plain, between the Tigris and the Euphrates ; once 
 uniting their waters, and aifording facilities for com- 
 mercial navigation, as well as a supply of water for 
 agricultural purposes, to these fertile regions. About 
 350* miles below Bagdad, the Tigris, after a very 
 winding course, unites with the Euphrates to form 
 the Shat el Arab, as already described. The plain 
 watered by these rivers contains, except in the dry 
 season, good pasturage, and is occupied by several 
 wandering tribes of Bedouins, who pitch their tents 
 where they please. The physical characteristics of 
 the Tigris, though varying considerably in the dif- 
 ferent parts of its course, agree with those which 
 mark the correspondent portions of the Euphrates. 
 
 These ancient rivers have witnessed the rise and 
 fall of several generations, (if we may be allowed the 
 expression,) of mighty cities. Babylon and Nineveh 
 pursued their rival courses together through a long 
 
 * This name may probably be a corruption of Seleucia (Xm'a), 
 of which we shall presently speak.
 
 118 THE RIVER HIDDEKEL. 
 
 series of ages ; then they were involved in ruin ; but 
 the former survived her sister city for three hundred 
 years. Then Seleucus Nicator built a magnificent 
 city on the west bank of the Tigris, about forty miles 
 to the north of Babylon, from whose ruins he took 
 the materials of which it was erected, and the 
 inhabitants with which it was peopled. It was called 
 Seleucia, after the name of its founder, but is fre- 
 quently mentioned in history by the appellation of 
 New Babylon. Its form was that of an eagle, with 
 expanded wings, and it contained in Pliny's time 
 600,000 inhabitants. It was burned by Trajan, and 
 again by Lucius Verus ; it was also taken by Seve- 
 rus, after which it was almost entirely abandoned. 
 Julian found it completely deserted. 
 
 A little below Seleucia, but on the opposite side of 
 the river, was built another city, named Ctesiphon. 
 It was the winter residence of the Parthian kings, 
 who in summer preferred a more northern situation. 
 Like ite opposite neighbour, it was sacked by the 
 emperor Severus, in A.D. 198. It also was largely 
 indebted for its materials to the ruins of Babylon. 
 Some interesting remains of it exist to this day, of 
 which the Tauk Kesra is the largest ancient arch of 
 brickwork known, being a semicircle eighty-five feet 
 wide, 106 feet high, and 150 feet long. 
 
 A new city rose out of the ashes of Ctesiphon, 
 which for awhile bore the same name, but at length 
 came to be designated by the appellation of Al 
 Modain ; the metropolis of the Persian kings. It 
 was taken by assault, with immense spoil, by the 
 Saracens, in 637 ; and, like its predecessors, sank 
 under desertion and decay.
 
 BAGDAD. 119 
 
 From the brinks which had served already to form 
 four successive capitals, a fifth was destined to arise 
 in its turn. In the year 763, Bagdad was founded 
 by the Caliph Al Mansur, on the western bank, 
 nearly on the site of the ancient Seleucia ; but a 
 suburb on the opposite bank was gradually formed, 
 and advanced to a still greater condition of magnifi- 
 cence. It remained the flourishing metropolis of the 
 Caliphs till 1259, when it was taken and sacked by 
 the Tartars. A second time, in 1401, it suffered the 
 same fate from the same foes, when a pyramid of 
 ninety thousand human heads, erected on its rums, 
 displayed the dreadful vengeance of Tamerlane. 
 Since that time it has suffered many calamities, one 
 of the most terrible of which occurred about twenty 
 years ago, when it was nearly depopulated by the 
 plague, and an inundation of the Tigris. Thus, as if 
 a sentence of ruin were attached to every fragment 
 of ancient Babylon, Bagdad is swiftly verging to 
 decay, the fate of its predecessors. 
 
 " This is the work of the Lord God of Hosts in 
 the land of the Chaldeans. Come against her from 
 the utmost border, open her store-houses : cast her 
 up as heaps, and destroy her utterly : let nothing of 
 her be left. ... A sword is upon the Chaldeans, 
 saith the Lord. ... A sword is upon their horses, and 
 upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people 
 that are in the midst of her ; and they shall become 
 as women : a sword is upon her treasures ; and they 
 shall be robbed."* 
 
 * Jer. 1. 25, 26, 35, 37.
 
 120 THE RIVER HIDDEKEL. 
 
 DAOTEL X. 
 
 IT was upon the banks of this river, (" the great 
 river, which is Hiddekel,") though in what part of 
 its course we are not informed, that the beloved 
 Daniel was favored with a vision of the Lord in his 
 glory, and had events of great importance revealed to 
 him, stretching onward from his own times to the 
 latter days, days even yet not arrived. Three years 
 had elapsed since Cyrus had proclaimed liberty for 
 the captive Jews to return from Babylon, but com- 
 paratively few had availed themselves of the permis- 
 sion ; the many had learned to regard the city of 
 their captivity as their home, indifferent to the deso- 
 lation of Jerusalem, and forgetful of the covenant of 
 Jehovah. The faithful prophet, who must now have 
 been not far from ninety years of age, had mourned 
 over the carelessness of his brethren, with solemn 
 fasting and humiliation. For three whole weeks he 
 had eaten no pleasant bread, nor had tasted flesh or 
 wine, nor allowed himself the comforts which his 
 station and his infirmities usually required. As he 
 sat on the bank of the river at the end of this time, 
 perhaps engaged in confession of his* people's sin, 
 suddenly there appeared to him the glorious form of 
 One, whom, from the description of his person, we 
 recognise to have been the Son of God. As when 
 long afterwards He manifested himself to the beloved 
 disciple, John, the Daniel of the Church, when in cap- 
 tivity, He was seen clothed in his priestly garment 
 of fine linen, to express his office as the high-priest 
 and mediator of his people, and his unspotted
 
 THE GLOEY OF THE LORD. 121 
 
 righteousness. He was girt with a girdle of gold, 
 denoting his infinite holiness, and his preciousness 
 in the sight of his Father, and also of his saints. 
 His person had the radiant, transparent beauty of a 
 precious stone, perhaps to intimate his perfect truth ; 
 his face as lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, 
 might show his piercing omniscience, his instant de- 
 tection of evil, and his terrible wrath to his enemies ; 
 while his arms and his feet of polished brass might 
 express his illustrious power engaged to defend his 
 people, and to tread, as in a winepress, his enemies. 
 And what was the effect of this glorious vision 
 upon Daniel ? He was, even by the testimony of 
 heaven itself, " a man greatly beloved ;" his character, 
 as far as it is recorded in the Word, seems peculiarly 
 upright and spotless ; he \as accustomed to commu- 
 nion with God ; and from his youth had been familiar 
 with heavenly visions. Yet no sooner does he see 
 " the King in his beauty" than " there remains no 
 strength in him ; his comeliness is turned in him to 
 corruption, and he retains no strength." And so it 
 has always been : the revelation of the Lord in his 
 glorious holiness, must always humble and break 
 down the strength of nature. Holy Job found it so. 
 He had heard of God " by the hearing of the ear ;" 
 but when his eye saw him, he cried out, " Behold, I 
 am vile ; I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes." 
 Isaiah found it so ; he saw the Lord sitting upon his 
 throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the 
 temple ; and the effect was to evoke the cry, " "Woe 
 is me ! for I am undone ; because I am a man of 
 unclean lips !" Ezekiel found it so ; for the vision 
 of the glory of God, which he saw, threw him upon 
 
 6
 
 122 THE RIVER HEDDEKjEL. 
 
 his face, as pne that had no strength. And John 
 found it so. He had walked with his Lord in sweet 
 companionship through the years of his public mi- 
 nistry, and had been admitted to peculiar familiarity, 
 even " leaning on his bosom ;" he had seen the glory 
 of Jesus when transfigured upon the Holy Mount, 
 when " His face did shine as the sun, and his raiment 
 was white as the light ;" he had looked upon his re- 
 surrection body, and had seen him when, taken up 
 from the earth, He had soared away upon the cloud 
 into the brightness of the Father's presence. If any 
 man could have beheld the unveiled glory of the risen 
 Son of Man, it would surely have been John ; yet 
 when he saw him lie fell at Ms feet as dead. 
 
 So that blessed consummation, which every believer 
 ought to be looking for with earnest hope, the speedy 
 return of Jesus to the Church, according to the 
 closing promise of his word, " Behold ! I come 
 quickly," if it were to take place in our present 
 condition of being, so far from filling us with un- 
 speakable joy, would only be a ministration of dismay 
 and terror. These vile bodies could not bear the 
 effulgence of his person, " coming in his own glory, 
 and in the glory of his Father, and in the glory of 
 his holy angels ;" and hence it is graciously ordained 
 that at the very instant of his appearing, " in a mo- 
 ment, in the twinkling of an eye," " this corruptible 
 shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on 
 immortality ;" our vile body, changed and " fashioned 
 like unto his glorious body," and made a fit helpmate 
 for the glorified spirit, shall be able to gaze upon the 
 full radiance of Jesus, and find the chief element of 
 everlasting joy to consist in that beatific vision.
 
 
 III. 
 
 THE EIYEE CHEBAK. 
 
 THE CAPTIVITY OF ISRAEL. The Khabor The Greater Zab 
 Koordistan Lakes The Flamingo Mountains The Koords 
 The Chaldeans The Yezidis Hal ah Habor Gozan Hara 
 Adiabene The Siege, of Samaria Sieges in the Assyrian Sculp- 
 tures. 
 
 THE VISION OF THE GLORY OF GOD. Ezekiel The Shechinah The 
 Kingly Glory The Cherubim The Wheels The Throne The 
 Departure of the Glory The Rejection of Israel The Return of 
 the Throne Universal Blessing. 
 
 1 CJHKON. V. 26. 2 KINGS XVII. 6. 
 
 AMONG the rugged mountains of Chaldea, about a 
 day's journey to the north of the spot where stand 
 the northernmost ruins of ancient Nineveh, are the 
 sources of the river Khabor. This stream pursues 
 for the greater part of its length a north-west course, 
 almost parallel with the line of the Tigris, but in the 
 very opposite direction, and separated from it by 
 a range of hills. At length it turns to the south- 
 west, and after a course of about seventy miles, 
 empties itself into the Tigris, a little below the town 
 of Jezireh. 
 
 Through the same mountains, but having its rise 
 considerably farther to the north, at an elevation of 
 7,000 feet above the sea, flows the Greater Zab. Its 
 principal source is nearly midway between the Lakes
 
 124: THE RIVER CHEBAR. 
 
 of Van and Urumiyah ; and after pursuing a winding 
 course of more than 200 miles, parts of which are 
 scarcely known to Europeans, and receiving several 
 affluents, it pours a deep stream, sixty feet wide, 
 into the Tigris, close to the southern boundary of 
 the ancient city, which was built in the angle of the 
 two rivers. 
 
 The mountains of Koordistan, through which flow 
 the streams just described, are very elevated ; and 
 Mount Ararat, which may be considered as their 
 northern extremity, is the loftiest peak in Western 
 Asia, its summit being 17,310 feet above the sea. 
 Ridges branch off from this renowned mountain to 
 the south and south-west, enclosing the wild and 
 picturesque Lake Van, and then spread themselves 
 on either hand, until the whole space between the 
 Plain of Urumiyah, and the valley of the Tigris, a 
 region about 180 miles in width, is occupied by 
 rugged precipitous mountains, and deep romantic 
 glens and valleys. Those ridges which surround 
 Lake Van are very lofty, many of the peaks being 
 white with perpetual snow. The mountain chain 
 that runs along the western edge of this region is 
 of scarcely less altitude ; but between their snowy 
 barrier and the Lake Urumiyah, there is a plain of 
 great fertility, comprising an area of 500 square 
 miles, covered with three hundred villages and 
 hamlets. Many streams of clear cool water from the 
 adjacent mountains run through the plain, and irri- 
 gate the numerous fields and gardens with which its 
 bosom is covered ; the former rich with waving crops 
 or luxuriant verdure, the latter with flowers and 
 fruits of many kinds. The landscape is described as
 
 LAKES. 125 
 
 one of the most lovely that can be imagined ; the 
 effect being heightened by the contrast of such exu- 
 berant fertility and beauty with the stern and 
 rugged grandeur of the mountain sides, that form 
 the background of the picture ; while in the plain, 
 the willows, poplars, and sycamores by the water- 
 courses, and the groves of fruit trees, the peach, 
 apple, pear, quince, apricot, plum and cherry, toge- 
 ther with the luxuriant vineyards, give to large 
 sections the appearance of a rich and variegated 
 forest. 
 
 Lake Urumiyah, along whose side this lovely and 
 verdant plain is spread, is about eighty miles in 
 length and thirty in width. Lake Yan is nearly of 
 the same size, but is somewhat triangular in form. 
 The waters of these mountain lakes, though upwards 
 of 5,000 feet above the sea-level, are very salt. That 
 of Yan is so impregnated" with alkali, that the people 
 surrounding it employ it for making soap, but the 
 salt from Urumiyah is sufficiently pure for culinary 
 purposes. The water of the latter is so salt, that a 
 man will sink in it no lower than his shoulders, and 
 no fishes live in it. Lake Yan, however, abounds in 
 fish. Many species of aquatic birds frequent their 
 shores, among which the beautiful flamingo is con- 
 spicuous, often occurring in flocks, which spread 
 themselves along the shore for miles in length. This 
 noble bird is marked by the great length of its legs, 
 and of its neck, and still more by its plumage, which 
 is of the richest and most brilliant scarlet all over, 
 except the quill feathers of the wings, which are deep 
 black. As these fine birds are five or six feet high, 
 when erect, and as they have the habit of ranging
 
 126 
 
 THE RIVER CHEBAR. 
 
 themselves in long lines at the water's edge, where 
 they feed, they present to a spectator at a distance, 
 
 
 The Flamingo. 
 
 
 
 the appearance of a regiment of soldiers marshalled 
 in order of battle, perfect in symmetry, uniformity, 
 and brilliancy. Such a deceptive sight is often 
 witnessed on the verdant shores of these elevated 
 lakes. 
 
 The whole of the region above described is of the 
 wildest character. Hoary peaks of many fantastic 
 forms rear their snow-capped summits toward heaven, 
 and many precipitous chasms, descending to a terrific
 
 MOUNTAINS. 127 
 
 depth, make the traveller tremble as he looks down 
 them. The only road in many places winds along 
 the face of an almost perpendicular rock, where a 
 single false step would hurl the hapless victim to 
 a dreadful death far below ; and often it diminishes to 
 a mere ledge, scarcely wide enough to allow the foot 
 to be placed on it ; or here and there disappears 
 entirely, leaving gaps which can be passed. only by 
 leaping from ledge to ledge. The less elevated sum- 
 mits are frequently crowned with fortresses almost 
 impregnable, from the difficulty of access ; and 
 sometimes these are placed on isolated rocks, with 
 sides scarcely less abrupt than a wall. 
 
 The rocky cliffs are broken by many a yawning 
 ravine, through each of which a torrent pours its 
 foaming waters, frequently dividing into a hundred 
 little streams, breaking into silvery cascades over the 
 jutting points, and falling in clouds of spray into the 
 dark glen beneath, along the bottom of which it 
 struggles and winds, till it at length issues into the 
 bosom of a wider valley, watered by a wider rivulet. 
 Many of these streams flow through the mountains, 
 half concealed by the blushing oleanders that bloom 
 in rich abundance along their narrow banks. In 
 these sheltered vales the mulberry, the fig, the olive, 
 the pomegranate and the walnut produce their plen- 
 teous fruit ; and fields of maize and sesame are 
 varied by plots of the cotton-shrub. Forests of oaks 
 grow along the mountain sides, the galls of which 
 form no inconsiderable article of commerce. Flocks 
 of sheep and goats are kept upon the hills, though 
 the former frequently suffer from the depredations 
 of the bears, which are numerous and formidable.
 
 128 THE KIVER CHEBAB. 
 
 Antelopes are sometimes seen in the valleys ; and 
 the ibex, with its huge knotted horns, congregates in 
 groups upon the ledges and points of rock, gazing 
 in conscious security on the approaching stranger ; 
 but so wary are they, that long before he can come 
 within range, they have bounded away to the inac- 
 cessible summits of the mountains, rousing the 
 eagle from his lofty nest as they pass. 
 
 Two distinct races of men dwell in these mountain 
 fastnesses. The first are the Koords, a warlike peo- 
 ple, professing, though with some laxity, the religion 
 of Islam. They are doubtless descended from the 
 primitive inhabitants of the country, and their name 
 may be identified with that of the ancient Cordians, 
 or Carducheans. Nominally their country is divided 
 between Turkey and Persia, but practically they are 
 almost independent, and some of the more powerful 
 tribes are avowedly so. Some of them reside 
 habitually in villages, but others lead a roving life, 
 pasturing their cattle where they please, and residing 
 in tents of black goat's hair. Like the Arabs, whom 
 in habits they somewhat resemble, they live largely 
 by plunder, robbing and murdering any whom. they 
 can overcome. They frequently engage in predatory 
 excursions, assembling a numerous party of horsemen, 
 well mounted and equipped, and coming down upon 
 ' a village in the dead of night. Thus they manage 
 to take a large booty before the sleeping villagers are 
 ready to defend themselves. If pursued by a stronger 
 force, they have only to strike their tents, and flee to 
 their impregnable strongholds in the mountains. 
 
 The other race is commonly known by the name 
 of Nestorians, but they themselves prefer the appel-
 
 THE NESTOKIANS THE YEZIDIS. 129 
 
 lation of Chaldeans. They speak a distinct language, 
 the ancient Syriac, and profess the Christian religion, 
 which they received at a very early period, perhaps 
 even in apostolic days. They cultivate fields and 
 vineyards, but are principally a pastoral people, pos- 
 sessing large flocks of sheep and goats, in which their 
 principal wealth consists. Dwelling in fixed habi- 
 tations commonly constructed of stone, and associ- 
 ated in extensive villages, with ancient churches, 
 they yet perform a partial annual migration. A 
 large number of the people retire to the higher 
 pastures during the summer months, where they 
 pitch their tents and tend their flocks, returning to 
 their villages on the approach of winter, which in 
 this climate is sufficiently severe. They manifest 
 much primitive simplicity of manners, are moral, 
 hospitable, industrious, and peaceable ; yet they 
 possess the fearless independence of spirit, and wil- 
 lingness to stand in defence of their lives, liberty, 
 and property, that are commonly found in moun- 
 taineers.* 
 
 There is yet another people, who perhaps may be 
 distinct from either of the above races, the Yezidis, 
 who, from their fear of and respect for the evil spirit, 
 are commonly known as Devil-worshippers. These 
 people, who are not very numerous, speak a dialect 
 of the Koordish language, but are by some supposed 
 
 * In a most interesting work, entitled "The Nestorians, or the 
 Lost Tribes," by Dr. Grant, the identity of this people with the 
 captive tribes of Israel is maintained and supported by so many and 
 so cogent evidences, as to leave scarcely a doubt on the reader's mind 
 that here still remains, professing the Christian faith, the " Stick 
 of Ephraim," which Jehovah will yet reunite to the " Stick of 
 Judah," and they shall become one in his hand. (Ezek. xxxvii.) 
 
 6*
 
 130 THE KIVER CHEBAR. 
 
 to be descended from the Manicheans, and of Hebrew 
 origin. 
 
 The region whose physical characteristics and in- 
 habitants we have been describing is now called 
 Koordistan, but it was anciently Assyria Proper. 
 This term must not be confounded with the Assyrian 
 empire, which was of far wider limits, embracing in 
 its broadest dominion many surrounding countries. 
 It is interesting as being the region into which the 
 ten tribes of Israel were carried captive by Tiglath- 
 pileser, Shalmaneser and Esarhaddon, in whose 
 reigns the Assyrian monarchy seems to have been 
 confined to this region, the kingdoms of Media and 
 of Babylonia still maintaining, though precariously, 
 against the increasing power of the former, the in- 
 dependence which they had recently achieved. 
 
 The first of these monarchs is said to have carried 
 away the Reubenites and the Gadites, and the half- 
 tribe of Manasseh, (the tribes that dwelt to the east 
 of the Jordan,) " and brought them unto Halah, and 
 Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this 
 day;" And the same localities with trifling variation 
 are assigned to the remainder of the ten tribes, who 
 were removed by Shalmaneser about nineteen years 
 afterwards. He " took Samaria and carried Israel 
 away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and 
 in Habor [by] the river of .Gozan, and in the cities 
 of, the Medes." T v. { 
 
 These names appear to have .been very satisfactorily 
 identified by Dr. Grant, the American missionary 
 to the Nestorians. The name of Halah is probably 
 the same with that of Calah of Gen. x. 11, one of 
 the cities built by ^imrod in Assyria, apparently
 
 H ABOK GOZAN H AB A . 131 
 
 near Nineveh. Early Syrian commentators say that 
 Calah was the same as the modern Hatareh, which 
 is about fourteen miles north of Mosul. It probably 
 gave name to the district of Chalah, which, according 
 to ancient geographers, extended from the Tigris to 
 the' Zab, which would thus include part of the 
 region under consideration. 
 
 Habor, there seems to be scarcely a doubt, is the 
 modern Khabor. There are two rivers of this name, 
 one falling into the Euphrates, the other into the 
 Tigris ; they are not very far from each other, but 
 the latter, from the names with which it is here 
 associated, is doubtless the one intended. 
 
 Gozan is said to signify pasture. The Nestorians 
 use the term, (slightly altered to Zozan, by a change 
 of letters not at all uncommon,) for the highlands on 
 which they pasture their numerous flocks in summer. 
 The whole region through which the Khabor and the 
 Zab flow is of this character ; but as being the larger 
 stream, Dr. Grant supposes the latter to be emphati- 
 cally " the river of Gozan " intended. The word by 
 it will be perceived is in italics in our Bibles, which 
 intimates that there is no word answering to it in 
 the original, but that it has been supplied by the 
 translators, to aid, as they supposed, the sense. 
 
 The word Hara occurs only in the passage in 
 Chronicles, but is not found in the Septuagint or 
 Syriac renderings (both very ancient versions) of 
 that text. Professor Robinson supposes it to have 
 been an explanatory note appended in the margin 
 by a transcriber, as it signifies " a mountainous 
 region," and is very appropriate ; and that it gradually 
 became incorporated with the text.
 
 132 THE KIVEK CHEBAK. 
 
 The cities, or villages (Syr. and Vulg.), or moun- 
 tains (LXX.), of the Medes are probably those on 
 the borders of Media, as that country was at this 
 time independent of Assyria. It embraced, however, 
 a part of the same mountain region. 
 
 The central portion of this elevated country was 
 known in the time of the Greeks by the name of 
 Adiabene, probably derived from that of Zab. And 
 here we find the ten tribes were living in the time 
 of Josephus ; for Agrippa in his famous speech to 
 the Jews speaks of their fellow tribes dwelling in 
 Adiabene, and in the power of the Parthians. 
 
 Hither then it was, we may safely believe, that 
 the inhabitants of Samaria, Galilee, and the region 
 beyond Jordan, the ten tribes of Israel who had 
 revolted from the house of David, were carried away 
 captive. They had revolted from Jehovah also, and 
 had greedily adopted a base idolatry, the worship of 
 the golden calves at Bethel and at Dan. Many 
 solemn warnings were sent to them; the burdens 
 uttered by Amos, Joel, Hosea and Micah, the 
 preaching and miracles of Elijah and Elisha, and 
 many premonitory judgments, all failed to arrest 
 their downward career of idolatry and iniquity: at 
 length the wrath of Jehovah arose against them, and 
 there was no remedy. 
 
 Samaria, the capital city, sustained the force of 
 the Assyrian army for three years. Whether the 
 horrors that she underwent were equal to those which 
 she had suffered on a former occasion, when besieged 
 by the Syrians under Benhadad, is not recorded. 
 Jehovah had now given her up, and written Lo-ammi 
 upon her people ; and her distresses were not worthy
 
 SIEGES IN THE ASSYKIAN SCULPTURES. 
 
 133 
 
 of being related in his word with minute particu- 
 larity. The guilty city, however, was at length 
 taken, and her king with his people " plucked up 
 out of the land." The Lord was very angry with 
 Israel, and removed them out of his sight. 
 
 An Assyrian Siege. 
 
 The monumental marbles of Nineveh, recently 
 brought to light, give us many graphic representa- 
 tions of sieges and assaults of fortified cities by the 
 Assyrian forces, and thus afford us important in- 
 formation as to how they were conducted. One of 
 these, now in the British Museum, is of particular 
 interest, as containing illustrations of most of the 
 devices of attack and defence usually employed, as 
 well as of the carrying away of captives. 
 
 A city is represented, consisting of many towers, 
 defended by pointed battlements, with a small river 
 at its base. Against it the Assyrian army is engaged, 
 led by the king in person, who is seen shooting at 
 the garrison with an arrow, while his shield-bearer 
 holds up his buckler in front, and two eunuchs behind 
 carry his arms and his parasol. Near the king some 
 warriors are seen, with crow-bars wrenching the 
 stones out of the wall to open a breach. Scaling-
 
 THE KIVER CHEBAK. 
 
 ladders are set up against the wall, up which the 
 soldiers climb, holding their shields above their 
 heads, and seeking, by dislodging the defenders with 
 their spears, to make good their footing on the bat- 
 tlements. 
 
 In another part of the wall we see the battering- 
 ram, which has broken down many of the stones. 
 It is armed by a thick, blunt mass of metal, not 
 moulded into the form of an animal's head; its 
 blows seem to have been directed diagonally upwards. 
 It is covered by a moveable house, in which are con- 
 cealed the men and machinery by which it is moved ; 
 the front part rises into a lofty tower, as high as the 
 battlements of the city; and here are placed two 
 warriors, one of whom discharges his arrows at the 
 garrison, while the other defends him by holding up 
 a large shield. The ram-house, and part of the 
 tower, are covered with hurdles or hides. The de- 
 fenders strive to destroy the ram by catching it with 
 chains, and by throwing down fire upon the house ; 
 but the effect of the latter is obviated by water 
 poured out of the tower, and that of the former by 
 men below, who, having thrown another chain over 
 the ram, hang upon it with their whole weight. The 
 bow is the principal weapon of war in use, both by 
 the besiegers and the defenders ; the .arrows of the 
 former are represented as taking fatal effect, and 
 several of the latter are seen falling headlong from 
 the walls. 
 
 In another part of the scene, the capture and de- 
 portation of the inhabitants are intimated. A warrior 
 is driving off with blows several females, who seem 
 to bewail their fate by tearing their hair, or by cast-
 
 SIEGES LN THE ASSYRIAN SCULPTURES. 135 
 
 ing dust on their heads. One of the women is 
 attended by a child about half grown, on whose head 
 she lays her hand. Horned cattle also are driven off 
 by the side of the captives. 
 
 In a scene copied by Mr. Layard, in his valuable 
 work, " Nineveh and its Remains," there is an inte- 
 resting illustration of 'Our subject. The Assyrians 
 are besieging a walled city, consisting of many lofty 
 towers, situated in a wooded and mountainous coun- 
 try, through which runs a river. The besiegers 
 have planted their scaling ladders against the walls, 
 and are mounting to the assault. They are armed 
 with coats of mail, girt with a girdle, and furnished 
 with a double belt crossing on the back and breast. 
 They wear elegant crested helmets, and their legs 
 are defended by greaves. Each carries a large cir- 
 cular shield of wicker, probably covered with hides^ 
 and a spear in his hand ; and most of them carry a 
 straight sword at the side, or a dagger in the girdle. 
 Some shoot towards the battlements with bows. The 
 walls of the city are thronged with the defenders j 
 who are differently accoutred from their assailants. 
 They wear a close skull-cap, and carry a shield of an 
 oblong-square form. Some of them pour their arrows 
 on the besiegers, others defend the battlements with 
 long spears, and many have no other weapons than 
 large stones, which they fling down with the hand on 
 their enemies' heads. Their shields and the crevices 
 of the battlements. bristle with the arrows which 
 have -been shot at them; and some o the garrison, 
 with arrows sticking in them, are falling wounded 
 from the walls. In another part of this picture, 
 separated by a line from the scene of conflict, is
 
 136 THE EIVEE CHEBAE. 
 
 represented (as in the preceding case) the result : 
 the carrying away of the prisoners into captivity. 
 The men are made to march two and two, their 
 hands bound together by manacles round the wrists, 
 some before, and others behind the back ; while the 
 women walk before, carrying household utensils in 
 their hands, and bags upon their backs. A mailed 
 warrior follows each group of captives, holding the 
 hindmost with the rope with which his hands are 
 bound, or by the hair of his head ; while he gratifies 
 his cruelty, or else urges their speed, by blows with 
 a stout staff, or with the butt end of the spear that 
 he carries in his hand. 
 
 In other sculptures, " eunuchs and scribes are 
 appointed to take an inventory of the spoil. They 
 appear to have stood near the gates, and to have 
 written down with a pen, probably upon rolls of 
 leather, the number of prisoners, sheep, and oxen, 
 and the amount of the booty which issued from the 
 city. The women were sometimes taken away in 
 bullock-carts, and are usually seen in the bas-reliefs 
 bearing a part of their property with them ; either 
 a vase or a sack, perhaps filled with household stuff. 
 They were sometimes accompanied by their children, 
 and are generally represented as tearing their hair, 
 throwing dust upon their heads, and bewailing their 
 lot."* 
 
 EZEKEEL I. XI. 
 
 IT was to this captive people that Ezekiel the 
 priest delivered his prophecies, about eighty years 
 
 * Layard's Nineveh, vol. ii. p. 375.
 
 
 THE VISION OF THE GLORY OF GOD. 137 
 
 after the last remnant had been removed from Sa- 
 maria by EsarhWraon. Nineveh was now no more ; 
 the devouring fire had raged in her lofty palaces, and 
 had consumed her pleasant furniture : she was now a 
 heap of ruins, already partially buried in that "grave" 
 with which Jehovah had threatened her, and which 
 was soon entirely to close over her, blotting out her 
 glory, and almost the place of her existence, from the 
 memory of man. 
 
 And it was by the river of Chebar that the prophet 
 stood, when he saw the awful but beautiful visions of 
 the Glory of God, and of the ministering cherubim ; 
 when the desolating judgments about to come upon 
 rebellious Jerusalem were revealed to him ; and when 
 he received the bitter roll of the book, written within 
 and without with " lamentations, and mourning, and 
 woe." 
 
 It had been the peculiar glory of Israel, that from 
 their very first existence as a nation, and their sepa- 
 ration from the idolatrous Gentiles round about, 
 Jehovah had dwelt among them in visible manifes- 
 tation. In the pillar of the cloud by day, and of fire 
 by night, He had defended, sheltered, directed, and 
 illuminated them, and terrified and afflicted their 
 enemies. On the summit of Sinai, in terrible ma- 
 jesty, the " fiery law" had been given, from a cloud 
 and thick darkness, while " the smoke ascended as the 
 smoke of a furnace," and the whole mount quaked 
 greatly. And when the beauteous tabernacle was 
 made, for a dwelling-place for Jehovah of Hosts, 
 " then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, 
 and the Glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle." 
 Thenceforward through their journeyings in the wil-
 
 138 THE RIVER CHEBAR. 
 
 demess, the cloud by day and the fore by night rested 
 over the tent in the sight of al^?srael, while the 
 Shechinah itself, or the luminous presence of God, 
 was shrouded under the beautiful veil, in the solitude 
 of the Holy of Holies, where it dwelt above the mercy 
 seat, between the cherubim. 
 
 After the entrance of Israel into the Promised 
 Land, the Glory of God, that so long had sojourned 
 in a shifting tent, became stationary, and dwelt 
 among them ; and though for a little while, in con- 
 sequence of abounding iniquity, " He forsook the 
 tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which He placed among 
 men, and delivered his strength into captivity, and 
 his glory into the enemy's hands," it was that He 
 might pour contempt upon the helpless idols, and get 
 honour to Himself among the heathen. Ungrateful 
 Israel, it is true, little esteemed the high privilege of 
 a present God, and were content with a human king, 
 " like the nations ;" thus the ark lay long in neglect, 
 while the chosen people rejected the government of 
 Jehovah, and hoped for the prosperity th^y sought 
 in the rule of one from among themselves. But even 
 this rejection the Lord overruled to fulfil his own 
 purpose of setting up a royal throne on the holy Hill 
 of Zion, where, by-and-by, his own King shall rule in 
 righteousness, " as the light of the morning when 
 the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds." w- : 
 
 A while longer the 'glory of Jehovah " abode in 
 curtains," until the conquering David had thoroughly 
 subdued the kingdom to himself; and then began 
 the magnificent and peaceful reign of Solomon " on 
 the throne of the Lord," not only typifying the 
 peace and righteousness^ and prosperity of the
 
 THE KINGLY GLOKY. 139 
 
 coming kingdom, but also, in the erection of the 
 magnificent temple, foreshadowing the true " Man 
 of rest," of whom it is said, " Even He shall build 
 the temple of the Lord, and He shall bear the glory, 
 and shall sit and rule upon his throne." No sooner 
 was the glorious temple completed, than " the cloud 
 filled the house of the Lord ; so that the priests 
 could not stand to minister because of the cloud ; 
 for the Glory of the Lord had filled the house of the 
 Lord." 
 
 The departure of this Glory, through the incorri- 
 gible apostasy of Israel, was what was revealed in 
 vision to Ezekiel. Ten tribes had openly revolted 
 from the house of David, God's king, and from the 
 worship of Jehovah ; and they had at length, as we 
 have already seen, been uprooted from their land, 
 and carried into captivity. Judah s till remained, but 
 was fast treading in the steps of Israel ; the : cup of 
 Jerusalem's iniquity was almost full, and the grieved 
 and insulted Glory was preparing to leave the sanc- 
 tuary, lingering, indeed, retiring with slow steps, 
 as loth to leave his city, and give up " the beloved 
 of his soul into the hands of her enemies." 
 
 The vision which Ezekiel saw was that of the 
 Evngly Glory of Jehovah. Israel's throne was the 
 place where He had been exercising direct and osten- 
 sible dominion upon earth, the nations having been 
 left, as far as regards apparent interposition, to 
 follow their own courses uncontrolled. The many- 
 formed living creatures we consider as representing 
 the executive administration of his will and purposes 
 in heaven, while the lofty and involved wheels denote 
 the same thing upon earth.
 
 140 THE KIVER CHEBAK. 
 
 The prophet was among the captives on the banks 
 of the Chebar, when he perceived a whirlwind coming 
 out of the north with a great cloud. This denoted 
 the terrible desolation that was about to fall on Jeru- 
 salem from Babylon. He saw also a fire infolding 
 itself, and diffusing a brightness around out of the 
 midst of which proceeded four living creatures. Their 
 characteristic form was that of man ; but each had 
 four faces ; each also had hands and feet, and four 
 wings. As man had been made in the image and 
 after the likeness of God, so the human form of 
 these symbolic creatures represented the essential 
 attributes of God as revealed in the Son ; while the 
 wings, feet, and different faces marked the Divine 
 perfections in action or manifestation. 
 
 The faces were, first, that of a man, expressive of 
 intelligence and reason ; secondly, that of a lion, 
 denoting majesty and power ; thirdly, that of an ox, 
 indicating strength exercised in patient long-suffer- 
 ing ; and fourthly, that of an eagle, marking piercing 
 discernment and rapidity of action. 
 
 The feet were the cleft feet of the ox, which are 
 used to tread out the corn, separating the chaff from 
 the wheat. They thus express judgment on the 
 earth, dividing the righteous from the wicked, and 
 treading down the latter in fury ; while their perfect 
 holiness in trampling on that which is so defiling, is 
 signified by their u sparkling like the colour of bur- 
 nished brass." The hands denote the skilfulness and 
 precision with which the purposes of the Divine intel- 
 ligence are carried out, connecting themselves with 
 the human face, as the feet with that of the ox, and 
 the wings with that of the eagle. The latter organs
 
 THE WHEELS THE THRONE. 141 
 
 represent the rapidity of action in heaven, consequent 
 on the will of God. " The living creatures ran and 
 returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning." 
 
 The terrible beauty of these symbolic beings is 
 thus described : " Their appearance was like burn- 
 ing coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps : 
 it went up and down among the living creatures ; 
 and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth 
 lightning." These burning lamps of fire doubtless 
 signify the Spirit of God (Rev. iv. 5), illuminating, 
 convincing, consuming as He will. 
 
 Now, the prophet discerned a new feature in the 
 mystic scene ; which, from having been in heaven, 
 seems now to }0 brought down to earth. A wheel 
 so vast in its circumference, and so lofty, as to be 
 dreadful to look upon, was seen beside each of the 
 cherubim ; they were full of eyes round about, and 
 there was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a 
 wheel. These wheels were animated by the spirit of 
 the living creatures, and seem to represent rapid 
 action on ea/rih, as the wings do, in Tiea/ven. The 
 expression of the will of Jehovah is instantly obeyed 
 in heaven or in earth : " He doeth according to his 
 will in the army of heaven, and among the in- 
 habitants of the earth." 
 
 The action of the vision was upon the earth, for 
 " the firmament was over their heads ;" but " above 
 the firmament was the likeness of a throne, as the 
 appearance of a sapphire-stone : and upon the like- 
 ness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance 
 of a man above upon it." Surely this glorious 
 person was none other than the Eternal "Word, after- 
 wards to be made flesh ; thus manifesting before-
 
 142 THE RIVER CHEBAR. 
 
 hand his beauteous form, into which every saint is 
 destined finally to be transformed. 
 
 Many subsequent visions of the Glory of God and 
 of the ministering cherubs were seen by Ezekiel, 
 either at different parts of the 1 river Chebar, or in 
 the contiguous plain ; and there were revealed to 
 him in vivid distinctness, the horrible abominations 
 committed in Jerusalem, and the miseries and over- 
 whelming destruction which He that sat on the 
 throne was about to bring upon it. 
 
 In one of these glorious manifestations, the prophet 
 had been caught by the locks of his head, and carried 
 by the Spirit of God through the air to Jerusalem, 
 either in reality, (as afterwards hapjSned to Philip,) 
 or in vision ; and there he saw the dreadful apostasy 
 of the chosen people of God. In a secret chamber 
 in the courts of the temple, were seventy ancients of 
 the house of Israel, burning incense before a host of 
 idols, "creeping things and abominable beasts," 
 whose forms, as in the temples of the heathen, were 
 portrayed upon the wall round . ; about. Then he 
 was brought to the door of the Lord's house, where 
 sat women weeping for Tammuz, probably a deified 
 man, the commemoration of whose death was 
 attended with the most infamous practices. And, 
 finally, between the very porch and the altar, were 
 five-and-twenty men worshipping the rising sun, with 
 their backs towards the sanctuary of Jehovah. 
 
 When this had been shown to the wondering 
 prophet, the visible Glory left the place where it had 
 hitherto dwelt between the cherubim, and stood at 
 the threshold of the house, where the commission to 
 destroy the guilty city was given to the ministers of
 
 THE DEPARTURE OF THE GLOKY. 143 
 
 the Divine vengeance. After this, coals of fire were 
 scattered over the city, to express the conflagra- 
 tion to which it would be soon subjected ; and then 
 the Glory makes another remove, and stands over 
 the threshold, as ready to depart. Another lingering 
 pause, and the Glory of the Lord departed from 
 the threshold, to some little distance, and stood over 
 the cherubim; and they, expanding their ample 
 wings, all lustrous with many eyes, mounted up 
 from earth, with the wheels beside them, and made 
 another pause over the portals of the eastern gate of 
 the temple. But before the visible manifestation of 
 Jehovah's gracious presence departs from Jerusalem, 
 He sends a message of love and comfort to his 
 people, whom in fatherly chastisement He had for a 
 while rejected, promising to be to them " a little 
 sanctuary" in the countries Adhere they should 
 come ; and, finally, to restore them in reconciliation 
 and forgiveness to the land of Israel, in which they 
 shall dwell in peace, and righteousness, and newness 
 of spirit; they his people, and He their God. 
 " Then did the cherubim lift up their wings, and the 
 wheels beside them, and the Glory of the God of 
 Israel was over them above. And the Glory of the 
 Lord, went up from the midst of the city, and stood 
 upon the mountain, which is on the east side of the 
 city," even the Mount of Olives ; and this was its last 
 resting-place, for presently the whole glorious vision 
 went up from the sight of the prophet into heaven. 
 
 Henceforward we find no manifestation of the 
 kingly Glory of Jehovah on earth. He can no longer 
 own his apostate people, but gives them up to be 
 scattered among the nations ; while supreme earthly
 
 144 THE RIVER CHEBAR. 
 
 dominion is taken away from Jerusalem, where 
 hitherto it had been exercised, and given to the 
 Gentiles. Four monarchies in succession, Babylon, 
 Persia, Greece, and Rome, henceforth wield the 
 sceptre of earthly power, until the dominion shall be 
 restored to the throne of David, and He shall exer- 
 cise it, " whose right it is." 
 
 For a few centuries, an interval of rest and of 
 partial restoration was granted to Judah, a mitiga- 
 tion of their bondage ; but the throne of David 
 remained unoccupied ; and when the rightful heir, 
 Son of David and Son of God, presented Himself as 
 their King, his claims were denied, his person re- 
 jected ; and the crucifixion of God's chosen King 
 sealed up at once the iniquity and the tribulation of 
 Israel. 
 
 The rejected " King of the Jews " once more 
 ascended from the Mount of Olives, and has found 
 his place at the right hand of the Majesty in the 
 heavens. He is seated on his Father's throne, until 
 the time shall come for Him to assume his own, 
 (Rev. iii. 21,) which will not be until Israel are ready 
 to say, " Blessed is He that cometh in the name of 
 the Lord !" But that time will come ! 
 
 One more vision of the Glory of God was vouch- 
 safed to Ezekiel. After a long course of prophecy, in 
 which woe after woe is pronounced on Judah and the 
 nations, bright days of blessing are predicted : Gog, 
 that last terrible enemy, is slain upon the mountains 
 of Israel ; the city and the temple are rebuilt in 
 unprecedented grandeur, and every thing is prepared 
 for the reception of the " King of righteousness and 
 King of peace." And then He returns after the
 
 UNIVEKSAL BLESSING. 145 
 
 long and dreary absence ; and the enraptured seer 
 once more beholds the winged cherubim, and the 
 radiant wheels, and the sapphire throne, even as he 
 had seen at first. " And behold, the Glory of the 
 God of Israel came fronT the way of the east ; and 
 his voice was like a noise of many waters ; and the 
 earth shined with his glory. . . . And the Glory of 
 the Lord came into the house by the way of the 
 gate whose prospect is towards the east. So the 
 Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner 
 court ; and behold, the Glory of the Lord filled the 
 house. And I heard him speaking unto me out of 
 the house ; and the man stood by me. And He said 
 unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and 
 the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell 
 in the midst of the children of Israel for ev&r" So 
 the name of the city, from that day, shall be Jehovah- 
 Shammah, or, The Lord there. 
 
 O blessed day of righteousness, and peace, and 
 joy ! O happy " times of restitution !" when Satan 
 having been bound and shut up, and all enemies put 
 under his feet, Jesus shall reign over a ransomed 
 world ! The groaning and travailing creation, earth 
 oppressed with misery and sin, shall be delivered 
 from the bondage of corruption into the glorious 
 liberty of the children of God. All things that 
 offend, and they which do iniquity, shall be purged 
 out of his kingdom, and the righteous shall shine 
 forth as the sun. All who have known and loved 
 him during the time of his rejection, shall now be 
 gathered to him : his dead shall be raised, and his 
 living ones shall be changed, and both shall put on 
 their incorruptible bodies of light and glory. The 
 
 7
 
 146 THE BIVEB CHEBAR. 
 
 whole Bride of the Lamb will be then perfected ; 
 and being arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, 
 the resplendent righteousness of Him who died to 
 redeem her, the marriage of the Lamb shall come. 
 It will be " the day of his espousals, and the day of 
 the gladness of his heart." Heaven shall rejoice, 
 and ring with reiterated Hallelujahs, " for the Lord 
 God omnipotent reigneth !" Earth shall echo back 
 the chorus of joy, " The Lord reigneth, let the earth 
 rejoice : let the multitude of isles be glad thereof. 
 Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, 
 and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap 
 their hands ; let the hills be joyful together before 
 the Lord, for He cometh to judge the earth : with 
 righteousness shall He judge the world, and the 
 people with equity." * 
 
 " Come then, and, added to thy many crowns, 
 Receive yet one, the crown of all the earth, 
 Thou who alone art worthy ! It was thine 
 By ancient covenant, ere Nature's birth ; 
 And thou hast made it thine by purchase since, 
 And overpaid its value with thy blood. 
 Thy saints proclaim thee King ; and in their hearts 
 Thy title is engraven with a pen 
 Dipp'd in the fountain of eternal love. 
 Thy saints proclaim thee King ; and thy delay 
 Gives courage to thy foes, who, could they see 
 The dawn of thy last, advent, long desired, 
 Would creep into the bowels of the hills, 
 And flee for safety to the falling rocks. 
 
 Come then, and, added to thy many crowns 
 Receive yet one, as radiant as the rest, 
 Due to thy last and most effectual work, 
 Thy word fulfill'd, the conquest of a world !" t 
 
 * For many of the thoughts on this Vision the author has been 
 indebted to a valuable paper on the subject in the Christian Witness, 
 (Plymouth, 1337,) vol. i. p. 217. 
 
 t Cowper's Task, book vi.
 
 IV. 
 
 THE EIYER ULAI. 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY. Uncertainty of Identification The Abzal Dizful 
 Khuzistan Climate Vegetable Productions Animals Ruins 
 of Susa Ancient Relics Tomb of Daniel Lions the Royal 
 River. 
 
 DANIEL'S VISION. The Two-horned Ram The One-horned Goat 
 Symbolic Animals The Little Horn Fulfilment of the Prophecy 
 Ultimate result. 
 
 HAMAN AND ESTHER. Ahasuerus' Banquet Haman's Plot His 
 Defeat Prosperity of the Jews. 
 
 CONSIDERABLE uncertainty has prevailed among 
 learned men, as to what modern river represents the 
 ancient Ulai of Daniel, the Eulseus of the Greek 
 geographers. Three or four streams have contended 
 for the identity : the Kerah, or Kerkhah, which falls 
 into the Shat el Arab ; the Abzal, or Dizful, and the 
 Karun, which unite into one river, and fall into cme 
 of the mouths by which the Shat el Arab enters the 
 Persian Gulf; and finally, the Abi-shapur, which 
 rises near the Kerkhah, and falls into the Karun. 
 Of these, however, the first seems to be excluded by 
 the fact that Nearchus, the admiral of Alexander 
 the Great, sailed from the Persian Gulf to Susa, 
 
 147
 
 148 THE RIVER ULAI. 
 
 without ascending the Shat el Arab. And the claims 
 of the Karun rest on the supposition that the ruins 
 of an ancient city on its banks are those of Shushan 
 the Palace ; though it seems sufficiently proved, that 
 they are only those of a city built by Shapur, (Sapor,) 
 the Persian king, in the third century. 
 
 Mr. Kinneir considers the Abzal to be the Ulai. 
 This river rises in the mountains of Irak, and flows 
 nearly south, through a space of about four and a 
 half degrees of latitude, till, as has been already said, 
 it enters the Gulf, having been joined at some dis- 
 tance above by the Karun. The only place of any 
 note on this river, is the town of Dizlul, which is 
 situate on its east bank, in a beautiful and spacious 
 plain. It contains a population of about 20,000 
 souls, and is noted for its elegant bridge of twenty- 
 two arches, the work of Sapor ; the river is here 
 about 300 yards wide. About twenty miles below 
 the town, the Abzal is joined by the Karun, and 
 these rivers united form the ancient Pasitigris. 
 
 The country through which all these rivers flow is 
 the modern province of Khuzistan, a part of the 
 kingdom of Persia, and formed in ancient days the 
 kingdom of Susiana, which was governed by Abra- 
 dates, the friend and ally of Cyrus. On his death 
 it Jbecame incorporated with the dominions of the 
 Persian monarch. 
 
 The northern part of this region is hilly ; the 
 central portion is an extensive plain, in many places 
 very fertile ; but towards the south and east this de- 
 generates into a barren sandy desert, occasionally 
 intersected by extensive morasses. The banks of the
 
 CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS. 
 
 149 
 
 rivers are the only situations in this part that are 
 capable of Cultivation, where rice and a little wheat 
 and barley are raised. There are also a few planta- 
 tions of date-trees. The higher portions of the pro- 
 vince include several extensive valleys, distinguished 
 for their fertility and picturesque beauty. 
 
 Sugnr Canes and Poppi* 
 
 The climate is so healthy that the region -is the 
 resort of a great number of invalids from the sur-
 
 150 THE RIVEK ULAI. 
 
 rounding provinces. In summer the heat is great, 
 and the inhabitants reside in subterranean cellars 
 for the sake of the coolness which they possess, 
 sleeping by night in the open air on the house-tops. 
 The winters are mild, and the springs peculiarly de- 
 lightful. Near the rivers already named, the soil is 
 rich and the crops abundant. The sugar-cane is ex- 
 tensively cultivated, and grows in great luxuriance ; 
 the quantity and excellence of the sugar manufac- 
 tured here is considered as giving name to the pro- 
 vince, for Khuzistan is said to signify sugar country. 
 Indigo is cultivated around Dizful, and in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Shuster a great quantity of opium is 
 produced from the large and beautiful oriental 
 poppy. 
 
 Among the animals of this,, region maybe men- 
 tioned the wild ass, " used to the wilderness, that 
 snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure." This is a 
 beautiful and active animal, and so swift that it can 
 be hunted down only by relays of horses and dogs ; 
 it is of a light mouse brown, with the same black 
 cross on its shoulders that marks the breed with 
 which we are familiar. The wild boar inhabits the 
 thickets, and makes destructive incursions upon the 
 cultivated grounds ; it is a bold and ferocious crea- 
 ture. Jackals and hyenas are very abundant, and 
 their nocturnal howls as they prowl for their prey 
 are truly terrifying. These sounds are occasionally 
 exchanged for the scream of the beautiful but san- 
 guinary leopard, or the roar of the still more formi- 
 dable lion. Numerous herds of gazelles and other 
 elegant species of antelopes, afford food to these 
 beasts of prey. Many of the animals, and in parti-
 
 THE RUINS OF SUSA. 151 
 
 cular the birds, are the very same as those of 
 southern Europe, and even the familiar songsters of 
 our own native hedges are abundantly found there. 
 Venomous reptiles are numerous, and many sorts of 
 lizards, including the singular chameleon ; and various 
 species of insects are annoying and destructive. The 
 ravages of the locusts often produce lamentable con- 
 sequences. 
 
 About seven miles west of Dizful commence the 
 ruins of Shus, the ancient Shushan, or Susa, the 
 royal palace of the Persian kings, and the capital of 
 the kingdom of Susiana. The word Shus in the 
 Pehlivi language signifies " delightful ;" and is in- 
 dicative of that pleasantness of situation and of cli- 
 mate which made this city the favourite residence of 
 Cyrus and his successors, in preference to the ancient 
 and magnificent Babylon. The mouldering heaps 
 that alone remain of its costly palaces extend over a 
 space of twelve miles, reaching nearly to the banks 
 of the Kerkhah, the ancient Choaspes. Over this 
 immense tract are strewn mounds like those of Ba- 
 bylon ; huge hillocks of earth and rubbish, covered 
 with broken bricks and fragments of coloured tiles. 
 The largest and most remarkable of the mounds are 
 about two miles from the Kerkhah. The first, 
 according to Kinneir, is a mile in circumference, and 
 100 feet high ; the second is rather less in elevation, 
 but of twice the extent. They are called by the 
 inhabitants the Palace and the Castle, and resemble 
 the pyramids of Babylon ; but are not wholly com- 
 posed of brick, but of clay and pieces of tile, with 
 irregular layers of brick and mortar, five or six feet 
 thick, to serve as a prop to the mass. Large blocks of 

 
 152 THE RIVER ULAI. 
 
 marble, covered with sculptures, are often discovered 
 by the wandering Arabs, when searching for treasure, 
 which they believe to be hidden in the ruins. 
 
 Major Rawlinson thus speaks of these remains : 
 " The great mound of Susa forms the north-western 
 extremity of a large irregular platform of mounds, 
 which appear to have constituted the fort of the city, 
 while the great tumulus represents the site of the 
 inner citadel. By a rough calculation with the sex- 
 tant, I found the height of the lower platform to be 
 between eighty and ninety feet, and that of the great 
 mound to be 165 feet ; the platform, which is square, 
 I estimated to measure two miles and a half. The 
 mound, which I paced, measured 1,100 yards round 
 the base, and 850 round the summit. The slope is 
 very steep ; so steep, indeed, as only to admit of 
 ascent by two pathways." Major Kawlinson saw on 
 the mound a slab, with an inscription of thirty-three 
 lines in the. arrow-headed character, and three Baby- 
 lonian sepulchral urns, imbedded in the soil ; and in 
 another place there was exposed to view, a few feet 
 below the surface, a flooring of brickwork : while the 
 summit of the mound was thickly strewn with broken 
 pottery, glazed tiles, and kiln-burnt bricks. 
 
 Sir Robert Ker Porter has given figures of some 
 curious relics of antiquity found in the palace of 
 Susa. One of these, is interesting as containing, 
 among other objects, specimens of compound ani- 
 mals, reminding us of those symbolic forms seen in 
 vision when this place was in its glory. The cross, 
 too, appears on it as a sacred emblem, as we know 
 it was with the ancient Egyptians, a thousand years 
 before the Christian era.
 
 THE TOMB OF DANIEL. 153 
 
 At the foot of the highest pyramid is a small 
 building, comparatively modern, inclosing an ancient 
 tomb, believed to contain the dust of the prophet 
 Daniel. There is nothing improbable in the tradi- 
 tion, for here we know from inspired authority he 
 was at the latter part of his life. And Josephus 
 speaks of an edifice built by this venerable man at 
 Susa, which was remaining in freshness and undi- 
 minished beauty at the time he wrote. It was used 
 as a burying-place for the Persian and Parthian 
 monarchs ; and he adds, that in respect to the me- 
 mory of the founder, the conservation of the edifice 
 was always committed to a Jew. "The copies of 
 Josephus that are now extant do indeed place this 
 building in Ecbatana, in Media ; but St. Jerome, 
 who gives us the same account of it word for word 
 out of Josephus, and professeth so to do, placeth it 
 in Susa, in Persia, which makes it plain that the 
 copy of Josephus which he made use of had it so. 
 And it is most likely to have been the true reading."* 
 From the expression used by the Prophet, that he 
 " did the king's business" at Shushan the palace, 
 conjoined with what we know of his holding high 
 and honourable office in the Babylonish state, it is 
 not improbable that he was governor or viceroy over 
 the province of Susiana. 
 
 The deserted site of the once " delightful" city is 
 now a gloomy wilderness, infested by lions, hyenas, 
 and other ravenous beasts, that roam unchecked 
 over its silent and crumbled walls. The prowling 
 savage of the jungle has his residence in the halls 
 that once were radiant with light and beauty, and his 
 
 * Prideaux's Connexion.
 
 154 THE RIVER ULAI. 
 
 hoarse roar echoes on the spot where ouce the laugh 
 and song were heard. The traveller to whom we are 
 indebted for our information concerning this ancient 
 site was compelled by the dread of these animals to 
 seek shelter for the night within the walls that en- 
 compass the Tomb of Daniel. 
 
 About ten miles to the north of the ruins of Susa 
 rises a stream called the Abi-shapur ; it flows in a 
 narrow but deep channel past the Tomb of the Pro- 
 phet, and past the western foot of the great mound. 
 This river is navigable from the ruins to its junction 
 with the Pasitigris, at a considerable distance below 
 the union of the Abzal and the Karun. The water 
 is said to be heavy and unwholesome, but that of the 
 Abzal and of the Kerkhah is in high estimation. 
 This circumstance militates against the opinion of 
 Major Rawlinson, that the Abi-shapur is the Ulai, or 
 Eulseus ; for the water of this latter, as well as that 
 of the Choaspes (Kerkhah), was so delicious that the 
 Persian kings would drink of none other. Milton 
 alludes to this when he speaks of 
 
 " Susa, by Choaspes' amber stream, 
 
 The drink of none but kings."* 
 
 This, however, is a poetic licence ; for it does not 
 appear that the water was limited to the royal use, 
 but that the monarch confined himself to it. Hero- 
 dotus tells us that wherever the king of Persia went, 
 he was attended by a number of wagons, drawn by 
 mules, to carry the water of these streams, which, 
 having been first boiled, was deposited in silver 
 vessels. ^Elian informs us, that Xerxes, during his 
 invasion of Greece, came to a desert place, and was 
 
 * Farad. Reg. ii.
 
 THE. TWO-HORNED KAM. 155 
 
 exceedingly thirsty ; but his baggage being at a con- 
 siderable distance, proclamation was made that who- 
 ever had any of the water of the Eulaeus should pro- 
 duce it for the use of the king. One man was found 
 who possessed a small quantity, but it had been kept 
 so long that i was quite offensive to the senses. 
 Xerxes, however, drank it, and expressed his grati- 
 tude to the donor, calling him his friend and pre- 
 server. 
 
 DANIEL VIII. 
 
 THE Chaldean monarchy, the lion empire of Nebu 
 chadnezzar, was drawing near its end in the person 
 of the degenerate Belshazzar ; when the " beloved" 
 Daniel, who had already seen in vision the overthrow 
 of that power by the growing Medes and Persians, 
 and the ultimate displacement of the latter by the 
 leopard dominion of Greece, was favoured with an- 
 other revelation of the destinies and fortunes of these 
 two monarchies. The prophet was at the city of 
 Shushan, which must therefore at this time have been 
 in the possession of the Babylonian power ; and he 
 stood by the river Ulai. Suddenly he saw a vision 
 on the bank of the river, a ram with two horns, both 
 of them high, but one loftier than the other, though 
 it had risen last. The ram was seen pushing west- 
 ward, and northward, and southward, so vigorously 
 that no beasts could stand before him ; but he did 
 according to his own will, and became great. While 
 the prophet considered this, a he-goat came rushing 
 
 from the west so swiftly that he seemed not to touch 
 
 7 *
 
 156 THE EIVER ULAI. 
 
 the ground, and this animal had but a single notable 
 horn on his forehead. In the fury of his power the 
 goat rushed upon the ram, broke his two horns, 
 overthrew him, cast him down to the ground, and 
 stamped upon him, nor could any deliver him. The 
 he-goat on this waxed very great, but in the height 
 of his strength his notable horn was broken, arid was 
 succeeded by four horns that rose up in its place. 
 "And out of one of them came forth a little horn, 
 which waxed exceedingly great toward the south, 
 and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. 
 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven ; and 
 it cast down some of the host and of the stars to 
 the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he mag- 
 nified himself even to the prince of the host, and by 
 him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place 
 of his sanctuary w T as cast down. And an host was 
 given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of 
 transgression, and it cast down the truth to the 
 ground, and it practised and prospered." 
 
 To an inquiry propounded by one attendant holy 
 one of another, as to the duration of this iniquitous 
 power, the answer was given in the following enigma. 
 " Unto two thousand three hundred days ; then shall 
 the sanctuary be cleansed ;" or, more literally, 
 " Unto evening-morning 2,300 : then shall the sanc- 
 tuary be justified." 
 
 Such then was the vision which passed before the 
 wondering senses of Daniel ; but as yet it conveyed 
 no definite meaning to him. Presently, however, 
 there stood before him a human form ; and a voice 
 was heard arising from between the banks of the 
 Ulai, saying, " Gabriel, make this man to under-
 
 SYMBOLIC ANIMALS. 
 
 157 
 
 stand the vision." The obedient angel then explained 
 the meaning of the symbols. 
 
 The two-horned ram signified the Medo-Persian 
 kingdom, which had in a former vision been ex- 
 pressed by a ravenous bear. In the present instance 
 the symbols chosen are those which were accepted as 
 national emblems of the respective kingdoms. That 
 Persia was of old represented by a ram, there is 
 abundant evidence. Ammianus Marcellinus states 
 that the king of Persia wore a ram's head of gold, 
 set with precious stones, instead of a diadem. The 
 type of a ram is seen on ancient Persian coins, as in 
 the accompanying example. And travellers have 
 
 Coin of Pen**. 
 
 observed that rams' heads, with horns of unequal 
 height, are still to be seen sculptured on the pillars 
 of Persepolis. 
 
 The Persians, attaining to greater eminence than 
 the Medes, who yet were the more ancient people, 
 gave name to the empire, which speedily extended 
 its dominion westward as far as Greece, northward as 
 far as the Euxine and Caspian, and to the south as 
 far as Egypt. 
 
 As the ram was the acknowledged emblem of 
 Persia, so was the goat of Macedon. For the first 
 colony of that country being directed by the oracle 
 to take a goat for a guide, followed a flock of these
 
 158 
 
 THE BTVEK ULAI. 
 
 animals, and built a city where they stopped, which 
 was called jEgem, from ^Egus, a goat, and the people 
 themselves took the title of ^Egeadw. Figures of a 
 goat with a single horn are found on ancient Mace- 
 donian monuments ; and at Persepolis the subjection 
 of the Macedonians to the Persians, in the reign of 
 Amyntas, B.C. 547, is represented by a man in Per- 
 sian dress holding by the single horn an animal 
 of this kind. A gem engraved in the Florentine 
 
 collection, and here copied, represents the Persian 
 symbol and the Macedonian united. This was pro- 
 bably engraved after the conquest of Persia by 
 Alexander. 
 
 The notable horn between the eyes of the goat is 
 explained to denote the first (or chief) king just 
 named ; who with unexampled rapidity broke the 
 power of Persia, bearing down all opposition, till it 
 was utterly destroyed as an independent monarchy. 
 But in the prime of life, and in the midst of his con- 
 quests, Alexander was cut off, and his family in a few 
 years became extinct ; and at length his great empire 
 was divided among four of his principal captains, 
 Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus. 
 
 Respecting the remainder of this remarkable vision,
 
 FULFILMENT OF THE PROPHECY. 
 
 159 
 
 the tyrannical " little horn " that arose out of one of 
 the four, some diversity of judgment exists among the 
 students of prophecy. Some apply it to Antiochus 
 Epiphanes, others to Mohammedanism, others to the 
 Papacy, (indubitably the " little horn " of the previous 
 vision,) and yet others of a personal Antichrist still 
 to arise. There is, doubtless, a family likeness in all 
 the great blasphemers of God, and persecutors of his 
 people, which renders many of the expressions in 
 which one is described, more or less applicable to the 
 others. This is not the place for discussing contro- 
 verted interpretations of prophecy ; but we may 
 modestly state our own judgment ; that Rome, first 
 Pagan, and then Papal, is primarily intended. It 
 was first introduced on the stage of prophecy, and 
 came into contact with God's people, by the conquest 
 of Macedon, and the agreement of its subsequent 
 course with the prophecy will be seen by the follow- 
 ing parallel scheme. 
 
 And out of one of them came 
 forth a little horn which waxed 
 exceeding great toward the south, 
 and toward the east, and toward 
 the pleasant land. 
 
 And it waxed great even to the 
 host of heaven ; and 
 
 it cast down some of the host 
 and of the stars to the ground, 
 and stamped upon them. 
 
 Yea, he magnified himself even 
 to the Prince of the Host, and 
 by him the daily sacrifice was 
 taken away, and the place of his 
 sanctuary was cast down. 
 
 From gaining footing in Ma- 
 cedon came the Roman power, 
 whose force,, little at first, soon 
 greatly increased, conquering 
 Egypt, Asia, and Judea. 
 
 It subjugated the Jewish priest- 
 hood and government, 
 
 persecuted the people of God, 
 putting to death the apostles and 
 ministers of the gospel ; 
 
 crucified the Lord Jesus, 
 
 and finally destroyed the city 
 and temple.
 
 160 THE RIVEK ULAI. 
 
 And an host was given him 
 against the daily sacrifice, by 
 reason of transgression, 
 
 and it cast down the truth to the 
 ground, 
 
 and it practised and prospered. 
 
 But he shall be broken without 
 hand. 
 
 The reason of the Jews being 
 given up by God was their unpa- 
 ralleled wickedness. 
 
 After this Rome Pagan and 
 Papal became the bitter opposer 
 of God's truth, through many 
 centuries, without any check to 
 its wickedness. 
 
 Yet the Lord shall consume him 
 with the spirit of His mouth, and 
 
 destroy him with the brightness 
 of his coming. 
 
 The duration of the vision was not thoroughly 
 explained to the prophet at the time ; but the revela- 
 tion of the " seventy weeks " of Daniel ix. seems 
 evidently (see verses 21-23) intended to supply this 
 explanation. By the application of this key, there- 
 fore, we gather that 70 weeks or 490 years of the 
 2,300, would expire at or near the death of the Lord 
 Jesus, and therefore we have reason to hope that the 
 cleansing (or "justifying ") of the sanctuary will not 
 be long delayed, and that every blasphemous and 
 tyrannical opponent of the Lord Jesus will soon be 
 destroyed. 
 
 Meanwhile Tet us be thankful that the great Head 
 of the Church has not treated us as servants, " for 
 the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth," but 
 as friends ; for He has made us partakers of his 
 counsels, and revealed to us the grand events, and 
 many of the details, of his mysterious purposes. Very 
 many things are plain in the prophecies ; others are 
 fulfilling before our eyes, and will soon be cleared np 
 by their accomplishment ; and if some few things 
 yet remain impenetrably dark and inexplicable, it is 
 not that we may slothmlly turn away from the " sure
 
 ULTIMATE RESULT. 161 
 
 word of prophecy" as if it were a sealed book (for on 
 the study of it a peculiar blessing is pronounced) ; 
 but that we may learn humility, modesty, faith, and 
 dependence upon the Holy Ghost who has indited the 
 Word. The great result of the contest between the 
 powers of light and darkness, between Christ and 
 Satan, is revealed clearly and unambiguously : for 
 a time evil seems to triumph ; but yet a little while 
 " and all iniquity shall stop her mouth." The Lord 
 Jesus will take to himself his great power, and reign ; 
 and his oppressed and often persecuted saints, always 
 dear to him, shall be avenged, and shall be exalted 
 to share his throne ; every form of Antichristian error 
 and wickedness shall be consumed out of the earth; 
 Satan himself shall be bound and shut up ; Israel 
 shall be restored to earthly supremacy ; Jerusalem 
 shall be the throne of the Lord ; the Gentiles shall 
 be converted to him ; wars shall cease to the ends of 
 the earth ; and peace and joy shall be universal. This 
 glorious consummation we confidently expect on the 
 authority of God himself; and for this may we wait 
 with earnest hope, continually praying, " Thy king- 
 dom come !" 
 
 ESTHER i. x. 
 
 THE beautiful city of Shushan was the scene of 
 a series of most interesting and instructive events, 
 which form the subject of the inspired Book of 
 Esther. They show how truly Jehovah was a sanc- 
 tuary to his people in the countries where they were 
 scattered; how his providence watches, overrules,
 
 162 THE KIVER ULAI. 
 
 and directs human affairs ; and how easily he can 
 thwart the best-laid schemes of wicked men. The 
 whole history is a comment upon the words of the 
 wise king, " Pride goeth before destruction, and 
 a haughty spirit before a fall." 
 
 The Persian empire seems to have now attained 
 the height of its glory, and the widest extent of its 
 dominion ; for Ahasuerus, who is considered to be 
 the same as Artaxerxes Longimanus, " reigned from 
 Ethiopia even unto India, over an hundred and seven 
 and twenty provinces." His firm establishment on 
 the throne of this mighty empire, he celebrated by 
 a festivity of extraordinary splendour, showing to all 
 his princes, nobles, and servants, " the riches of his 
 glorious kingdom, and the honour of his excellent 
 majesty." These rejoicings lasted for a hundred and 
 eighty days, or exactly half a year, and were wound 
 up by a week of feasting for all the citizens of 
 Shushan, great and small, " in the court of the garden 
 of the king's palace." The company seems to have 
 been entertained in a sort of pavilion or tent, com- 
 posed of white, green, and blue hangings, fastened 
 with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and 
 pillars of marble ; the couches on which the guests 
 reclined were of gold and silver ; and the pavement 
 beneath was formed of red and blue, and white and 
 black marble, arranged doubtless in those gorgeous 
 Arabesque patterns which have been lately discovered 
 in the pavements of Egypt and Assyria. The tables 
 were furnished with vessels of gold, all of them 
 diverse in their forms and ornaments, out of which 
 the guests drank the choicest wines in an abundance 
 proportioned to the royal state of the king.
 
 HAMATST AND ESTHER. 163 
 
 The splendour of this magnificent palace agrees 
 with what the Greeks have narrated concerning it ; 
 for they tell us that it was built with white marble, 
 and that its pillars were covered with gold and 
 precious stones. The treasures of the kings of Persia 
 were generally kept there, and Alexander the Great 
 found in it 50,000 talents of gold, equal to about 274 
 millions of pounds sterling, besides jewels of inesti- 
 mable value, and an immense number of gold and 
 silver vessels. 
 
 It was at this royal feast that the incident occurred 
 which resulted in the marriage of the king with 
 Esther, a Jewish maiden of great beauty and virtue ; 
 through whose advancement her people, who were 
 still in great numbers in the Persian dominions, were 
 preserved from entire extirpation. The insolence of 
 Haman, a worthless favourite of the king his rage at 
 the refusal of Mordecai the Jew to pay court to him 
 his diabolical plot to destroy the whole Jewish race 
 his ridiculous vanity, and his sudden fall, are recorded 
 with inimitable simplicity in the sacred narrative ; 
 but the story is too- long for us to do more than refer 
 to it. The vile Amalekite proved the truth of the 
 Psalmist's words ; " He made a pit and digged it, 
 and is fallen into the ditch which he made ; his 
 mischief shall return upon his own head ; and his 
 violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate." 
 
 The plot which had been laid for the captive Jews 
 was used by God to advance their comfort and consi- 
 deration. The pious Mordecai was exalted to fill the 
 place which Haman had dishonoured ; the edict 
 commanding the massacre of the Jews was counter- 
 vailed by another, permitting them to defend them-
 
 164. THE KIVER ULAI. 
 
 selves; (for, by the absurd custom of the Medes and Per- 
 sians, no law once issued could be absolutely revoked ;) 
 and as the favour of the king was plainly seen in the 
 latter document, and the power of Mordecai was now 
 great, the Hebrews were almost everywhere counte- 
 nanced by the authorities, and those who did rise 
 against them were overcome and slain. 
 
 Meanwhile, neither the queen nor the king's chief 
 minister forgot in prosperity that they were the cove- 
 nant people of God ; they neither abused the royal 
 favour, nor became ashamed of their religion, nor 
 forgot their connexion with their captive brethren ; 
 but used their greatness for the welfare and peace of 
 their people, and doubtless for the spread of true 
 religion. It is not without reason supposed that the 
 missions of Ezra and Nehemiah to the land of their 
 fathers, the favourable edicts granted to them by this 
 monarch for the rebuilding of desolated Jerusalem, 
 and his kindly permission and encouragement to the 
 Jews yet remaining in his dominions to return from 
 their captivity, were mainly owing under God, first 
 to the favour which Esther obtained in the king's 
 eyes, and afterwards to the good offices of Mordecai.
 
 V. 
 
 THE KIYEE JOKDAK 
 
 THE JORDAN. Mountain Ranges The Ghor Sources Paneas 
 Phiala Tel-el-Kady Hasbeyah Waters of Merom Lotus Lily 
 Lake of Gennesaret Lower Jordan Rapids Windings Sce- 
 nery Trees and Flowers Double Valley Dead Sea Its Ancient 
 Condition Depression Pillar of Salt Scene of Desolation 
 Apples of Sodom Geological Character. 
 
 THE DIVIDING OF THE WATERS. The Wilderness Sojourn The 
 Plains of Moab The Spies The Passage The Twelve Stones 
 Death of the Believer. 
 
 THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD. Bethabara Hope deferred The Bap- 
 tist Jesus baptized The Descent of the Holy Ghost The Voice 
 of the Father The Scene of the Baptism The Pilgrims. 
 
 THE FORDS OF JORDAN. The Judges Ehud and Eglon Gideon 
 The Three Hundred Faithfulness of Jehovah Jephthah Shib- 
 boleth. 
 
 THE TRANSLATION OF ELIJAH. Testimony Apostasy Elisha's Re- 
 quest The Chariot The Rapture The Mantle The Change of 
 the Quick. 
 
 NAAMAN THE SYRIAN. Happiness not dependent on Circumstances 
 The Leper The little Maid The Cleansing The Fountain for 
 Sin. 
 
 THE SWIMMING IRON. The Sons of the Prophets The Tamarisk 
 Tree The Axe-head The Tenderness of God. 
 
 C.ESAREA PHILIPPI. Peter's Confession Interesting Monument. 
 
 DAN. Early Idolatry The Golden Calf Fountain of Tel-el-Kady 
 Tortoise Buffalo. 
 
 THE rivers which we have hitherto noticed would, 
 for the most part, connect themselves in the mind of
 
 166 THE RIVER JORDAN. 
 
 an Israelite with ideas of hostile military power, 
 blasphemous enmity against Jehovah, and the cap- 
 tivity of his people. We come now to wander by the 
 banks of those streams that watered the sacred soil 
 of Israel, diffusing fertility and gladness through- 
 out that favoured country, which was described as 
 " a good lan^a land of brooks of water, of fountains 
 and depths that spring out of valleys and hills." * 
 The most eminent of these, not less for its size than 
 for the interesting events with which its history is 
 connected,- is the Jordan. 
 
 The mountain ridges of Palestine run in lines 
 nearly parallel with its Mediterranean shore. The 
 lofty range of Lebanon, overlooking from its snowy 
 summit the Great Sea on the one hand and the 
 Syrian desert on the other, gradually merges into 
 the mountains of Galilee and of Samaria, and the 
 hill country of Judea. Over against this chain to 
 the eastward there rises another, parallel with it, and 
 nearly agreeing with it in the varied elevation of its 
 different portions. Antilibanus (" Lebanon toward 
 the sun-rising,") is continued in Mount Hermon, 
 with its lofty peak, of ancient renown, whence the 
 mountains of Bashan gradually sink till they are lost 
 in the plains that border the lake of Gennesaret. 
 Thence beyond the river Jarmuk they again begin 
 to rise in rugged peaks ; and the hills of Gilead and 
 of the land of Moab stretch from north to south, until 
 the rocky belt of Mount Seir rears its frowning 
 masses of stone in a thousand strange forms, divided 
 by horrid yawning chasms, in the most dreary deso- 
 
 Deut. viii. 7.
 
 THE GHOK PANEAS. 167 
 
 lation, and forms a fit gateway to the desert of 
 burning sand that lies beyond. 
 
 Between these mountain ranges lies the Ghor, or 
 Valley of the Jordan, which, from the sources of that 
 river to the southern extremity of the Dead Sea, 
 extends through a length of about one hundred and 
 seventy miles. Its breadth is irregular : at its head 
 it is not more than a few miles from the summit of 
 one ridge to that of the opposite ; and the average 
 width, to a distance considerably below the Lake of 
 Gennesaret, may be considered as not above ten 
 miles ; but as the hills stretch to the southward, they 
 still diverge from each other, until they again 
 approach, to inclose, as with walls of precipitous 
 rock, the Dead Sea. 
 
 " The Jordan is entitled to take its place as the 
 chief of Syrian rivers, and perhaps this is distinction 
 enough for it ; but besides this, it may be said, that 
 for a line of nearly three thousand miles along the 
 coast of Africa and of Syria, no one stream except 
 the Nile contributes so large a volume of water to 
 the Mediterranean as the Jordan contributes to the 
 Dead Sea ; and that all Arabia has not one river 
 comparable to it. ... But the dignity of the Jordan 
 arises from other circumstances than the volftme of 
 its waters or the extent of its course." * 
 
 The principal source of this river has been from very 
 ancient times considered to be at Paneas, or Caesarea 
 Philippi, where it rises in a very romantic manner. 
 Josephus thus describes it : "At Panium . . . there 
 is a mountain that is elevated to a vast height : and 
 in its side at the bottom a dark cavern opens ; within 
 
 * Dr. Kitto's Palestine, vol. ii. p. 153.
 
 168 
 
 THE KIVER JOKDAN. 
 
 which there is a horrible gulf, descending abruptly 
 to a great depth. It contains a mighty quantity of 
 water, which is quite still and unmoved ; and when 
 any one attempts to sound its depth, no length of 
 cord is found sufficient to reach the bottom. Now 
 the fountains of Jordan rise at the roots of this 
 cavity, and, as some think, this is the utmost origin 
 of Jordan."* 
 
 This cave has been described by modern travellers, 
 and in particular by Burckhardt. Over its mouth 
 the perpendicular face of the rock has been cut into 
 niches with pillars for the reception of statues, the 
 
 * Bell. Jud. I. xxi. 3.
 
 SOURCES OF THE JORDAN. 169 
 
 basal part of one being still to be seen. Inscriptions, 
 now nearly illegible, were cut in the rock near these 
 recesses. The modern village of Baneas contains 
 only about a hundred and fifty houses ; but heaps of 
 stones and fragments of pillars lie around, covering 
 an extensive space, on which stood the royal city 
 which bore the name of the Tetrarch of Trachonitis. 
 
 In another passage Josephus connects the water 
 which flows from this cave with that of a perfectly 
 circular lake, about fifteen miles distant, called, from 
 its bowl-like form, Phiala : for, as he asserts, some 
 chaff having been thrown into the lake by Philip, 
 emerged from beneath the cave at Paneas ; whence 
 it was concluded that a subterranean passage existed 
 between the two. 
 
 Captains Irby and Mangles seem to have disco- 
 vered this interesting place. Having entered a rich 
 little plain at the southern foot of Mount Hermon, 
 they found a rivulet which, flowing through the 
 plain, rushes picturesquely through a deep chasm, 
 and joins the Jordan at Baneas. Ascending a little 
 higher, they saw a very singular lake, about a mile in 
 circumference, apparently perfectly circular, and 
 surrounded on all sides by sloping hills richly wooded. 
 A remarkable circumstance was, that they could per- 
 ceive no supply or discharge of its waters, which 
 appeared perfectly still, though clear and limpid : a 
 great many wild fowl were swimming on it.* 
 
 Another source of the Jordan is found about three 
 miles to the west of Baneas, at a place called Tel-el- 
 Kady, which is believed to be the site of the ancient 
 Dan or Laish, the northern boundary of the land. It 
 
 * Irby and Mang. Trav. pp. 286289. 
 8
 
 170 THE RIVER JORDAN. 
 
 unites with the other stream five or six miles below 
 the emergence of the latter from the cave. 
 
 Yet a fourth stream, the Hasbeyah, presents a 
 claim to be considered as the source of this river, and 
 one which, but for a prescriptive right of the former, 
 must be acknowledged as the best of all. It rises 
 more than twenty miles farther to the north-east, 
 on the northern side of Hermon, around whose base 
 it pours a considerable stream, being, at the point 
 where it runs by Paneas, as broad, as deep, and as 
 rapid as the Jordan itself at Jericho. Whether it 
 unites its waters with those of the former streams, or 
 falls into the lake Houle by its own distinct channel, 
 are points not yet quite ascertained. 
 
 The plain through which these rivers flow is most 
 fertile. Numerous plantations of mulberry-trees 
 adorn the banks, and the surrounding hills are 
 covered with groves of oak. The richest pasture 
 covers the whole plain, except where it is cultivated ; 
 and cattle are driven by the Arab tribes from consi- 
 derable distances to feed on its luxuriance. The 
 labour of the plough, though employed but to a 
 limited extent, is rewarded by crops of wheat and 
 other corn of excellent quality and in rich abun- 
 dance. Thistles, those sure tokens of a vigorous soil, 
 grow to so gigantic a size, as to reach up to the 
 height of a horse's back, to the annoyance of his 
 rider ; and that curious plant, the mandrake, with 
 its purple blossoms and fragrant apple-like fruit, is 
 abundant in this region. 
 
 Nearly in the midst of this beautiful plain, the 
 waters of the several streams we have noticed dilate 
 Into a lake of considerable extent. It is known in
 
 THE WATERS OF MEROM. 
 
 m 
 
 early Hebrew history as the waters of Merom ; at the 
 time of Roman dominion it had received the name 
 of Samochonites ; but in modern times, at least since 
 the Crusades, it has borne the Arab appellation of 
 Bahr-el-Houle. 
 
 The Mandrake. 
 
 After the winter rains this lake forms a beautiful 
 sheet of water, eleven or twelve miles long by about 
 four broad ; but in summer the northern half becomes 
 a mere morass, covered with rushes, through which
 
 172 
 
 THE EIVER JORDAN. 
 
 several streams wind their silver courses. Among 
 these grow also abundantly the reeds which are used 
 in the East for pens, as well as others of stouter make, 
 which serve for lances and arrows. On the surface 
 float the broad leaves and beautiful white flowers of 
 the Lotus-lily, the seeds of which, as well as the large 
 
 TLo Lotus Lily. 
 
 tuberous roots, are frequently roasted in hot ashes 
 and eaten. The elegant blossoms rise out of the 
 water at sunrise, and expand themselves to the beam, 
 but on the approach of night close their corollas, and 
 retire beneath the surface. They are no less fragrant 
 than beautiful. Among these flowers multitudes of 
 aquatic fowl of various species repose unmolested, 
 and the reedy shores and shallows conceal thousands 
 of wading-birds.
 
 THE LAKE OF GENNESARET. 173 
 
 The Jordan, issuing from the Waters of Merom, 
 flows down through a narrow rocky channel with 
 considerable rapidity, as a noisy torrent. Its course 
 is almost concealed by the groves of plane-trees and 
 nebeks that line its banks, and especially by the 
 luxuriant oleanders that cluster thickly in every part, 
 flushing the scene through the spring and early 
 summer with the hue of their gorgeous flowers, like 
 a vast bed of roses. After having brawled through 
 its stony channel for about ten miles, it enters that 
 wide and beautiful lake, the name of which will 
 always be associated with pleasant and holy reminis- 
 cences to the Christian, the Lake of Gennesaret, the 
 Sea of Tiberias. 
 
 This expanse of water is about twelve or fifteen 
 miles in length, and about half as broad. Its surface 
 is 328 feet below the level of the Mediterranean, and 
 its depth is about 350 fathoms. Its picturesque 
 appearance is well described by many travellers ; but 
 by none more agreeably than by Dr. Clarke, who 
 viewed it from the most favourable point, the hill 
 known as the Mount of Beatitudes. " From this 
 point," he observes, " a view was presented, which, 
 for its grandeur, independently of the interest excited 
 by the different objects contained in it, has nothing 
 equal to it in the Holy Land. 
 
 " From this situation we perceived that the plain 
 over which we had been so long riding [from the 
 west] was itself very elevated. Far beneath appeared 
 other plains, one lower .than the other, in a regular 
 gradation, reaching eastward, as far as the surface of 
 the Sea of Tiberias. This immense lake, almost 
 equal, in the grandeur of its appearance, to that of
 
 174 THE KIVER JORDAN. 
 
 Geneva, spreads its waters over all the lower territory. 
 Its eastern shores exhibit a sublime scene of moun- 
 tains towards the north and south, and they seem 
 to close in at either extremity, both towards Cho- 
 razin, where the Jordan enters, and the Aulon or 
 Campus Magnus, through which this river flows into 
 the Dead Sea. The cultivated plains reaching to its 
 borders, which we beheld at an amazing depth below 
 our view, resembled, by the different hues their 
 various produce presented, the motley pattern of 
 a vast carpet. To the north appeared many snowy 
 summits, towering beyond a series of intervening 
 mountains. We considered them as the summits of 
 Libanus ; but the Arabs belonging to our caravan 
 called the principal eminence Jebel-el-Sieh. The 
 summit was so lofty that the snow entirely covered 
 the upper part of it, investing all the higher part 
 with that perfect white and smooth velvet-like appear- 
 ance, which snow only exhibits when it is very 
 deep." * 
 
 Dr. Kitto thus speaks of the minuter features of 
 this interesting scene : 
 
 "The feathered tribes seem to make the lake a 
 favourite resort. Multitudes of song-birds harbour 
 in the northernmost groves, and their innumerable 
 happy voices mingle with the rush of waters, where 
 the river hastens to the lake. The margin and sur- 
 face of the lake itself presents large flocks of storks, 
 wild-ducks, and diving-birds ; pelicans are not want- 
 ing ; while here and there vultures are assiduously 
 engaged with their carrion-prey ; or eagles, heavily 
 flapping their broad wings, rise to their aeries in the 
 
 * Clarke's Travels, part ii.
 
 THE LAKE OF GENNE8AKET. 175 
 
 mountains. But when the heat of the summer sun 
 intensely concentrated on the borders of this deep 
 basin has absorbed all the moisture which the earth 
 contained, and utterly dried up the green herbage 
 which gave a cheerful aspect to the scene, the eifect 
 of the whole, in the entire absence of trees, is very 
 different, more dull, heavy, sad, but not less, per- 
 haps, in unison with the general tone of feeling with 
 which the Christian pilgrim is prepared to regard 
 this memorable lake. Its surface is usually in a 
 state of dead calm ; and, in the universal stillness, 
 the gentle plash of its water upon the pebbles of the 
 shore is distinctly heard, and is, indeed, almost the 
 only sound that strikes the ear. Not a single boat 
 of any kind is seen upon the lake ; and, now that 
 the Arab has removed his tents to the higher country, 
 the eye may wander around its borders in vain, seek- 
 ing for any other signs of habitation than the mean 
 town of Tabaria, and one or two miserable villages. 
 The saddened traveller may gaze for hours over the 
 scene without observing a single human being, or 
 indeed any living creature, save the large water-fowl, 
 whose sole presence tends rather to increase than 
 to diminish the desolation of the view." * 
 
 The current of the Jordan through the midst of 
 the lake is distinct, and easily observed by the smooth 
 flowing of its waters, while the rest of the surface is 
 rippled with the breeze. At the southern extremity, 
 it emerges in a single stream, which in spring is 
 about forty feet across ; and thence it flows through 
 the Ghor, or valley to which it gives its own name, 
 
 * Phys. Hist, of Palestine, vol. ii. p. 165. 

 
 176 THE EIVER JORDAN. 
 
 until its course is finally lost in the leaden waters of 
 the Dead Sea. 
 
 Until the late American expedition, our acquaint- 
 ance with this sacred river was almost confined to a 
 few points at which it is fordable. That expedition 
 descended the river in two metallic boats, and, though 
 with much labour and often in imminent peril, suc- 
 ceeded in reaching the Dead Sea. The stream is full 
 of rapids and appalling descents, particularly in the 
 upper part of its course ; no fewer than twenty-seven 
 of these occurring, of threatening depth and force, 
 besides a great number of less magnitude. Near the 
 debouchure of the Jarmuk there is a cascade of 
 eleven feet in height, below which are two fierce 
 rapids, each 150 yards in length, bristling with black 
 rocks, whose points rise above the foaming surface. 
 Sunken and half-submerged rocks are very numerous 
 throughout great part of the course ; and in some 
 parts there are a number of small islets. The course 
 of the river is exceedingly tortuous, forming an un- 
 ending series of serpentine curves ; hence, though 
 the Dead Sea is only about sixty miles distant from 
 the Lake of Gennesaret, the Jordan traverses, in that 
 distance, a course of at least two hundred miles. 
 Near the mouth of the Jabbok, there is a sudden 
 break-down in the bed of the Jordan, which appears 
 to be connected with the depression of the bottom of 
 the Dead Sea. 
 
 In many parts the scenery on the river is very pic- 
 turesque : sometimes the turbid torrent madly rushes 
 between perpendicular cliffs, at others it shoots 
 round the base of a mountain, and then again flows 
 between low banks, covered witli shrubs, and trees,
 
 TREES AND FLOWEES. 177 
 
 
 
 and fragrant flowers. Here and there a brawling 
 rivulet pours its tiny addition of crystal water into 
 the discoloured current of Jordan, and one or two 
 rivers of more pretension add their tribute, drained 
 from the sides of the receding Wadys. 
 
 The trees that throw their branches over the Jor- 
 dan's margin are not usually of large size ; they are 
 principally the willow, the fern-like elegant tamarisk, 
 and the gharrab, or honey-tree, a plant resembling 
 the olive, which is said to distil from its poplar-like 
 leaves a sweet fluid, of the taste and consistence of 
 honey, which may have been the honey in the wood 
 that " dropped," of which Jonathan ate after the 
 slaughter of the Philistines. The oleander is abun- 
 dant, as it is upon all the streams of Palestine ; its 
 pale crimson flowers contrast finely with the white 
 fringed blossoms of the asphodel. 
 
 In some places where the banks slope gradually 
 up to the higher terraced level, the ground is covered 
 with a sort of wild oats, thin and worthless, yet pre- 
 senting somewhat of beauty in its silvery waves, as 
 the breeze plays over it ; and revealing, as the gusts, 
 sweeping down the hills, bend it low, a flush of san- 
 guine crimson from the anemones that cover the 
 surface beneath in thick and matted profusion. 
 Patches of yellow daisy-like flowers, or of wild mus- 
 tard, look " like little golden islands in an incar- 
 nadined ocean ;" and several species of thistle, of 
 gigantic size, spread a purple glow over the sides of 
 the otherwise naked hills. 
 
 The Ghor itself is about six miles wide ; but in the 
 lower part, the retiring of the mountains on each 
 side gives it a breadth of ten or twelve, enclosing on 
 
 8*
 
 ,* 
 
 178 THE EIVER JORDAN. 
 
 the one side the Plains of Moab, and on the other 
 the Plains of Jericho. The greater part of this level 
 is little better than a parched and barren desert, 
 though the courses of the numerous rivulets which 
 furrow it on both sides relieve the general sterility 
 with many patches of verdure. But there is a lower 
 valley, about three quarters of a mile wide, through 
 the midst of which the river flows. The level of this 
 vale is about forty feet lower than that of the general 
 plain, and is covered with luxuriant vegetation, reeds 
 and canes forming in many places an impenetrable 
 brake, intermingled with tamarisks and willows, and 
 other trees. 
 
 The close and matted vegetation of this lower 
 valley affords a shelter for wild beasts and other ani- 
 mals, which lodge here in security from the assaults 
 of man. But the winter rains, and the melting of 
 the mountain snows in spring, fill the bed of Jordan ; 
 and his swollen waters, overflowing the ordinary 
 banks, inundate this verdant tract, and drive the 
 lurking tenants into the open plains above. The 
 rage and ferocity of the more powerful beasts of prey, 
 that formerly were found here, when thus dislodged 
 from their retreat, are more than once alluded to by 
 the prophet Jeremiah. " Behold, he shall come up 
 like a lion from the swelling of Jordan !" * 
 
 The bed of the river itself varies both in depth and 
 width, in different places ; sometimes being not more 
 than twenty yards in breadth, at others upwards of 
 a hundred ; in some places forming a deep and rapid 
 current, and in others easily fordable. The season, 
 as already intimated, greatly affects the volume of 
 its waters. 
 
 * Jcr. xlix. 19 ; 1. 44.
 
 WADY ARABAH. 
 
 179 
 
 For the last few miles, the Jordan runs between 
 banks of sand, and pours a considerable quantity of 
 water into the Dead Sea. At the embouchure, it is 
 about a hundred yards wide, and is deep and rapid. 
 Yet, so dense are the saline waters of that awful lake, 
 that the current of the river seems unable to enter 
 among them, but ceases to be perceived at once at 
 the very point of contact. 
 
 We shall, then, consider the Jordan as terminating 
 here ; for out of this mysterious sea no stream 
 emerges. Yet there can be scarcely a doubt that in 
 ancient times, before the terrible destruction of 
 Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone out 
 of heaven, the area now occupied by these baleful 
 waters was a lovely and fertile plain, through the 
 length of which the Jordan flowed, well watering it 
 everywhere. The river must then have had an out- 
 let ; and probably flowed through the valley called 
 the Wady Arabah, which extends from the southern 
 extremity of the Dead Sea to the Elanitic Gulf, or 
 eastern arm of the Red Sea. That no egress of 
 waters can now take place in that direction is mani- 
 fest, not only from the great depression of the surface 
 of the lake, which is 1,300 feet below that of 
 the Mediterranean, but also because a wall of rock 
 now extends quite across the valley, about seven 
 miles from its commencement. Both the depression 
 of the plain, however, and the elevation of this ridge, 
 may have been simultaneous results of the awful 
 convulsion of nature in which the guilty cities were 
 overwhelmed. 
 
 That the whole tract which is now covered by the 
 Dead Sea has been depressed, the late researches of
 
 THE RIVER JORDAN. 
 
 the American Exploring Expedition have abundantly 
 proved. Keferring to the words of the sacred nar- 
 rative, that when Abraham looked toward all the 
 land of the plain, the smoke of the country went up 
 as the smoke of a furnace, Lieutenant Lynch infers 
 that the entire chasm was a plain sunk and over- 
 whelmed by the wrath of God ; and this inference he 
 considers as warranted by the extraordinary character 
 of the soundings obtained. The bottom of the Dead 
 Sea consists of two submerged plains, an elevated 
 and a depressed one. The former is the roundish 
 bay which forms the southern extremity, separated 
 from the rest of the sea by a promontory, which runs 
 nearly all across ; the bottom in this part is pretty 
 evenly about twelve or fifteen feet below the surface. 
 To this small bay Professor Robinson would limit 
 the calamity which befel the guilty plain. The 
 other area, the great body of the sea, has a nearly 
 uniform depth of a thousand feet, while through its 
 centre, in a line corresponding with the course of the 
 Jordan, there runs a ravine, cleaving the bottom to 
 the depth of two hundred feet more. 
 
 The inference, then, is obvious, that once this level 
 area formed the beauteous and fertile plain of Sodom, 
 well watered everywhere by the Jordan, (and pro- 
 bably many affluent streams,) whose flood was poured 
 along the ravine or deep bed running through it ; 
 and that the whole plain, after having had its bitu- 
 minous crust devoured by " fire and brimstone out 
 of heaven," was made to sink down suddenly a thou- 
 sand feet, not in fragments, but in a mass, with the 
 river-bed still cutting it, as an indelible memorial of 
 the truth of the Word of God. The great and deep
 
 THE PILLAR OF SALT. 
 
 gulf thus formed then constituted a reservoir, into 
 which the Jordan's waters were gradually poured, 
 until they attained the level which they now possess. 
 
 On the western side of the southern bay or shallow 
 lake, the American party discovered an object which 
 at any place would have been considered a curiosity, 
 but which in that locality, and considering the -story 
 of Lot's wife, cannot but be regarded with intense 
 interest. On the side of the very remarkable isolated 
 mountain which still bears the name of Usdum 
 (Sodom), stands a pillar of salt ! But we will give 
 the description of this in the words of the discoverer : 
 
 " To our astonishment, we saw on the eastern side 
 of Usdum, one third the distance from its north 
 extreme, a lofty round pillar, standing apparently 
 detached from the general mass, at the head of a 
 deep, narrow, and abrupt chasm. We immediately 
 pulled in for the shore, and Dr. Anderson and I went 
 up and examined it. The beach was a soft, slimy 
 mud encrusted with salt, and, a short distance from 
 the water, covered with saline fragments and flakes of 
 bitumen. We found the pillar to be of solid salt, 
 capped with carbonate of lime, cylindrical in front, 
 and pyramidal behind. The upper or rounded part 
 is about forty feet high, resting on a kind of oval 
 pedestal, from forty to sixty feet above the level of 
 the sea. It slightly decreases in size upwards, 
 crumbles at the top, and is one entire mass of 
 crystallization. A prop or cross buttress connects it 
 with the mountain behind, and the whole is covered 
 with debris of a light stone-colour. Its peculiar 
 shape is doubtless attributable to the action of the 
 winter rains. The Arabs had told us in vague terms
 
 182 * THE RIVEK JOKDAN. 
 
 that there was to be found a pillar somewhere upon 
 the shores of the sea ; but their statements in all 
 other respects had proved so unsatisfactory that we 
 could place no reliance upon them."* 
 
 The same writer describes, in a graphic manner, 
 the awfully interesting vicinity of this pillar of salt : 
 
 " It was indeed a scene of unmitigated desolation. 
 On one side, rugged and worn, was the salt mountain 
 of Usdum, with its conspicuous pillar, which reminded 
 us at least of the catastrophe of the plain ; on the 
 other were the lofty and barren cliffs of Moab, in 
 one of the caves of which the fugitive Lot found 
 shelter. To the south was an extensive flat intersected 
 by sluggish drains, with the high hills of Edom semi- 
 girdling the salt plain where the Israelites repeatedly 
 overthrew their enemies ; and to the north was the 
 calm and motionless sea, curtained with a purple 
 mist, while many fathoms deep in the slimy mud 
 beneath it lay embedded the ruins of the ill-fated 
 cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The glare of light 
 was blinding to the eye, and the atmosphere difficult 
 of respiration. No bird fanned with its wing the 
 attenuated air, through which the sun poured his 
 scorching rays upon the mysterious element on which 
 we floated, and which alone, of all the works of its 
 Maker, contains no living thing within it."f 
 
 Among the most interesting plants of this region, 
 are those which are considered to have furnished the 
 description given by Josephus and other ancient 
 writers of the "Apples of Sodom." The Jewish 
 historian, after having mentioned the destruction of 
 the cities of the plain, and the traces of the burning 
 
 * Jordan and the Dead Sea, p. 307. t Ibid. p. 3H.
 
 APPLE OF SODOM. 
 
 183 
 
 vengeance that remained in his day, goes on to speak 
 of their ashes being perpetuated in fruits, which 
 have an appearance as if fit to be eaten, but which, 
 on being plucked, dissolve in the hand into smoke 
 and ashes.* 
 
 Several plants indeed have been at different 
 times supposed to be identical with those thus de- 
 scribed ; but the best claims are presented by the 
 Mad apple (Solanum melongena) and the Osher 
 (Asdepias procera). The former is a shrub from three 
 
 
 
 Apple of Sodom. 
 
 to five feet in height, bearing round yellowish berries 
 about an inch and a half in diameter. They are 
 called LeimunLiit by the Arabs, who have a tradition 
 that " the plant formerly bore excellent limes, but 
 
 Bell. Jud. IV. viii. 4.
 
 184 THE RIVER JORDAN. 
 
 for the wickedness of the people of the plain, it was 
 cursed by Lot, and doomed to bear the bitter fruit 
 which it now yields." It is true they are not always 
 filled with dust, but only when the fruit is attacked 
 by an insect, (a species of saw fly, Tenthredo^) which 
 turns the whole interior into dust, leaving the skin 
 only entire, and of a beautiful colour. 
 
 The osher, however, seems better to coincide with 
 the description of Josephus. Professor Robinson 
 thus speaks of it : " One of the first objects which 
 attracted our notice on arriving at 'Ain Jidy (Engedi) 
 was a tree with singular fruit . . . the Cosher of the 
 Arabs . . . which is found in abundance in Upper 
 Egypt and Nubia, and also in Arabia Felix ; but it 
 seems to be confined in Palestine to the borders of 
 the Dead Sea. "We saw here [at 'Ain Jidy] several 
 trees of the kind, the trunks of which were six or 
 eight inches in diameter, and the whole height from 
 ten to fifteen feet. It has a greyish cork-like bark, 
 with long oval leaves, . . . and when its leaves and 
 flowers are broken off, it discharges copiously a milky 
 fluid. The fruit greatly resembles externally a large 
 smooth apple or orange, hanging in clusters of three 
 or four together, and when ripe is of a yellow colour. 
 It was now fair and delicious to the eye, and soft to 
 the touch, but on being pressed or struck it explodes 
 with a puff, like a bladder or puff-ball, leaving in the 
 hand only the shreds of the thin rind, and a few 
 fibres. It is, indeed, chiefly filled with air, like a 
 bladder, which gives it the round form, while in the 
 centre a small slender pod runs through it from the 
 stem, and is connected by thin filaments with the 
 rind. The pod contains a small quantity of fine silk
 
 GEOLOGICAL CHARACTER. 185 
 
 with seeds, precisely like the pod of the silk-weed, 
 (Asclepias Syriaca^) though very much smaller. The 
 Arabs collect the silk, and twist it into matches 
 for their guns, preferring it to the common match, 
 because it requires no sulphur to render it com- 
 bustible." 
 
 In the account of Josephus, the Professor goes on 
 to observe, " there is nothing, after a due allowance 
 for the marvellous in all popular reports, which does 
 not apply almost literally to the fruit of the Cosher 
 as we saw it. It must be plucked and handled with 
 great care, in order to preserve it from bursting. We 
 attempted to carry some of the boughs and fruit 
 with us to Jerusalem, but without success."* 
 
 The geological character of this whole region is 
 somewhat singular. Dr. Wilson considers the great 
 crevasse which forms the valley of the Jordan, the 
 Dead Sea, and the Wady Arabah, to have been pro- 
 duced by the upheaving of basalt, which appears in 
 many places around the Lake of Tiberias, and which 
 is seen here and there along the line nearly to the 
 source of the Jordan at Hasbeya. In connexion 
 with this remarkable formation he notices the ex- 
 istence of thermal springs, particularly at the bitu- 
 minous wells near Hasbeya, along the shores of the 
 Lake of Tiberias, on the banks of the Jarmuk, and 
 in the Wady Zerka Main ; and also of layers, cakes, 
 and masses of bitumen and salt, especially along the 
 shores of the Dead Sea. 
 
 Snch then are the physical characters of this 
 ancient river ; and we now proceed to glance at some 
 of those incidents with which it has been associated, 
 
 * Bibl. Res. vol. ii. p. 235.
 
 186 THE KIVEK JORDAN. 
 
 and which have conferred upon it an interest superior 
 to that which attaches to any other stream (with one 
 exception) on the face of the globe. 
 
 JOSHUA ni. iv. 
 
 THE children of Israel had wandered in the Arabian 
 desert, " that great and terrible wilderness," through 
 the dreary period of forty years ; and now at length 
 the time was come when they were to go in to 
 possess the good land which Jehovah had sworn to 
 give them. Moses their devoted leader was dead ; 
 Aaron the high-priest was dead also ; and of all the 
 six hundred thousand fighting men that had come 
 out of Egypt, there now remained not one except 
 Caleb and Joshua, the faithful spies who thirty-eight 
 years before had given a good report of the land 
 which they had then searched out. The mission of 
 Moses, the mediator and lawgiver in the wilderness- 
 wandering, was accomplished, and he had passed 
 from the scene ; and the command of the host now 
 devolved upon Joshua, who, as the typical captain of 
 their salvation, was appointed to lead them into pos- 
 session of the promised inheritance, to conquest and 
 to rest. 
 
 The thousands of Israel were encamped in the 
 Plains of Moab. In their front rolled the Jordan, 
 like a sea ; for the whiter rains had fallen, and his 
 full tide had overflowed his banks, and filled the 
 whole breadth of the lower valley. Beyond the 
 foaming tide was spread the fertile plain of Jericho, 
 covered with its waving fields of corn, now fully
 
 PLAINS OF MOAB. 187 
 
 ripe, and inviting the sickle ; and in the midst of it, 
 full in the sight of the host, embosomed in its 
 gardens and groves of balsam-trees, and date-palms, 
 and many other valued plants, rose the lofty walls 
 of the fair " city of palm-trees," the stately Jericho. 
 The level tract on which the Hebrew camp was 
 pitched had not at this time its wonted barrenness ; 
 for the genial spring had covered its sands with 
 verdure, and adorned it with a thousand flowers. 
 Behind, girding in the plains of Shittim as with a 
 rampart, stretched along the horizon the mountains 
 of Abarim, casting their morning shadows even to 
 the camp ; and, conspicuous among them, the lofty 
 Pisgah reared its rugged peak, whence, only a little 
 while before, the beautiful sight of " Israel abiding in 
 their tents" had evoked blessings instead of curses 
 from the unwilling mouth of the Mesopotamian 
 prophet ; and where, still more recently, the venera- 
 ble lawgiver had been privileged with a prospect of 
 the goodly land, and had then died in the arms of 
 God* 
 
 Joshua had sent out two spies to take a survey of 
 the frontier city, and to report its condition to him. 
 They had now returned, and had informed him of 
 their adventures ; of the terror which had struck 
 deep into the failing hearts of the Canaanites on the 
 approach of Israel ; of the renown which the late 
 interpositions of Divine power had procured for the 
 name of Jehovah ; of the faith of Kahab, the harlot 
 
 * " So Moses, the Servant of the Lord, died there in the land of 
 Moab, according to the Word of the Lord." Deut. xxxiv. 5. In the 
 Hebrew, it is " at the mouth of the Lord ;" which the Rabbins render, 
 " by the kiss of the Lord."
 
 188 THE RIVER JORDAN. 
 
 who had afforded them concealment from the wrath 
 of the king ; of their solemn covenant to spare her 
 life in the coming desolation ; and of the scarlet line 
 to be hung out of the window, the significant seal 
 and token of that covenant of salvation. These and 
 other things the spies had reported to their com- 
 mander, to the confirmation of his faith, and the 
 increase of his hope in God. 
 
 And now the glorious day was come when, by a 
 stupendous miracle, Jehovah had determined to 
 show how able He was to remove every obstacle in 
 the way of his people, and to subdue every enemy 
 before their face. By his appointment the host, 
 amounting probably to two millions and a-half of 
 persons, (about the same number as had crossed the 
 Red Sea on foot,) had removed to the banks of the 
 river three days before, and now in marching array 
 awaited the signal to cross the stream. At any time 
 the passage of the river by such a multitude, with 
 their women and children, their flocks and herds, 
 and all their baggage, would have presented for- 
 midable difficulties ; but now the channel was filled 
 with a deep and impetuous torrent, which overflowed 
 its banks and spread widely on each side, probably 
 extending nearly a mile in width ; while in the very 
 sight of the scene were the Canaanitish hosts, who 
 might be expected to pour out from their gates, and 
 exterminate the invading multitude before they 
 could reach the shore. Yet these difficulties were 
 nothing to Almighty power, and only served to 
 heighten the effect of the stupendous miracle about 
 to be wrought. 
 
 By the command of Jehovah, the priests, bearing
 
 PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN. 189 
 
 the Ark of the Covenant, the sacred symbol of the 
 Divine presence, marched more than half a mile in 
 the front of the people, who were forbidden to come 
 any nearer to it. Thus it was manifest that Jehovah 
 needed not protection from Israel, but was their 
 guard and guide, since the unarmed priests feared 
 not to separate themselves from the host, and to 
 venture with the Ark into the river in the face of their 
 enemies. And thus the army, standing aloof, had a 
 better opportunity of seeing the wondrous results, 
 and of admiring the mighty power of God exerted 
 on their behalf ; for no sooner had the feet of the 
 priests touched the brim of the overflowing river, 
 than the swelling waters receded from them ; and 
 not only the broad lower valley, but even the deep bed 
 of the stream was presently emptied of water, and 
 its pebbly bottom became dry. The waters which 
 had been in the channel speedily ran off, and were 
 lost in the Dead Sea ; while those which would 
 naturally have replaced them from above, were 
 miraculously suspended, and accumulated in a glassy 
 heap far above the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan. 
 These places are supposed to have been at least 
 forty miles above the Dead Sea, and may possibly 
 have been much more. So that nearly the whole 
 channel of the Lower Jordan, from a little below the 
 Lake of Tiberias to the Dead Sea, was dry.* 
 
 * Bethshean is described in 1 Kings iv. 12, as " by Zartanah 
 beneath Jezreel ;" and in chap. vii. 47, of the same book, we read 
 that Solomon cast the brazen sea and the vessels of the temple, " in 
 the plain of Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and 
 Zarthan." If Zaretan was, as can scarcely be doubted, the same as 
 the Zartanah and Zarthan of these passages, we may infer its position 
 with considerable accuracy ; for the situation of Jezreel, (ZerMn,)
 
 190 THE KIVER JORDAN. 
 
 The priests now removed from the brink to the 
 middle of the river's bed, where they stood on dry 
 ground during the whole time that the immense 
 host marched over. In this position, so trying both 
 to their faith and patience, they remained all day, 
 the Ark being with them, the symbol of Jehovah's 
 presence and the token of his favour, thus standing 
 between the impending mass of waters and the 
 people. Thus in calmness and dignity, without 
 hurry or dismay, but in perfect subjection and order, 
 the multitude passed over Jordan, and took posses- 
 sion of the Land of Canaan. As soon as the passage 
 of the host was accomplished, Joshua, under the 
 direction of God, took measures for the perpetuation 
 of the memory of this grand event. Twelve selected 
 men, one of each tribe of Israel, were commanded to 
 return into the midst of the channel, where the Ark 
 yet stood, and to take thence twelve stones, probably 
 as large as each man could carry. These, when 
 brought up on the bank, were set up as a monument 
 of the miracle in the place where the host lodged ; 
 while twelve similar stones were taken from the 
 ground, and built up for a similar purpose in the 
 midst of the river, where the Ark had stood. Then, 
 and not till then, when all had been accomplished 
 that the Lord had commanded, without haste, the 
 priests likewise ascended out of the channel, and 
 carried the Ark of the Covenant into that country 
 
 of Bethshean, (Beisan,) and of Succoth, (Sukhot.) are ascertained, the 
 former two with certainty, and the latter with high probability ; 
 and are placed in Prof. Robinson's map at the following distances 
 from the head of the Dead Sea : Jezreel, 58 ; Bethshean, 53 ; and 
 Succoth 50 statute miles, measured in a straight line.
 
 DEATH OF THE BELIEVER. 191 
 
 which was henceforth to be no longer the land of 
 promise, but the land of inheritance. Instantly, as 
 the soles of their feet left the channel, the waters 
 began to flow as usual, and soon not only again 
 filled the bed of the river, but also flowed over all 
 the banks as they did before. 
 
 What a glorious termination of the long pilgrimage 
 of Israel was this ! and how worthy of the power, 
 wisdom, and goodness of their Divine Protector ! 
 " The passage of this deep and rapid river," remarks 
 Dr. Hales, " at the most unfavourable season, was 
 more manifestly miraculous, if possible, than that of 
 the Red Sea ; because here was no natural agency 
 whatever employed ; no mighty wind to sweep a 
 passage, as in the former case ; no reflux of the tide, 
 on which minute philosophers might fasten to de- 
 preciate the miracle. It seems, therefore, to have 
 been providentially designed to silence cavils re- 
 specting the former ; and it was done at noon-day, 
 in the face of the sun, and in the presence, we may 
 be sure, of the neighbouring inhabitants, and struck 
 terror into the kings of the Canaanites and Amorites 
 westward of the river." 
 
 The wandering of the children of Israel through 
 the dreary desert has always been considered to be 
 typical of the believer's pilgrimage through " the 
 wilderness of this world." And the crossing of 
 Jordan may well represent the closing scene, when 
 God " bringeth him to the king of terrors." But the 
 terrors of the grisly king himself are disarmed by One 
 who has gone before through the dark valley, even 
 Jesus, who has been with his follower throughout his 
 long wandering, has cared for him, supplied his need,
 
 192 THE RIVER JORDAN. 
 
 given him bread from heaven and water out of the 
 rock, has borne with his waywardness, and pardoned 
 his multiplied transgressions, and who now will not 
 forget his gracious promises, " When thou passest 
 through the waters, I will be with thee ; and through 
 the rivers, they shall not overflow thee." " I will 
 never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Death may 
 indeed appear terrible in the prospect, and Satan 
 may rage and threaten, and the Christian often 
 fears that he shall be overwhelmed and lost in the 
 dark and turbulent flood ; yet the issue is secured 
 by covenant love, and not one of the true Israel 
 shall ever make shipwreck there. The triumph is 
 certain to the feeblest and youngest, not less than to 
 the strongest and most experienced ; since it depends 
 not on their wisdom or strength, but on the presence 
 of their Almighty Lord. " For though they have 
 none of them passed this way heretofore, yet Jesus, 
 their Brother and Friend, hath gone before, and 
 crossed the river, when its floods were swelled to a 
 tremendous height ; and by passing through He hath 
 divided the floods before them ; and He safely reached 
 the heavenly shore, when He rose from the dead as 
 the first fruits of his people, and ascended into 
 heaven as their forerunner ; and He began to be 
 magnified in the sight of all Israel, when, thus risen 
 and ascended, He sent down his Holy Spirit, to give 
 assistance to his Apostles and success to his preached 
 Gospel. Now, therefore, they may march through 
 this dreaded river, without danger or terror, if they 
 are but able to keep the eye of faith fixed upon his 
 person, his complete salvation, his word of promise, 
 and the inheritance which He hath provided for them
 
 BETHABARA. 193 
 
 on the other side. The Lord will provide for our 
 passage of this Jordan when the time comes ; and 
 we shall soon join the innumerable multitude, that 
 in the Canaan above are singing the praises of their 
 great Deliverer, who hath both redeemed them from 
 Egyptian bondage, and brought them safe to the 
 promised land, through his precious blood, and by 
 his all-conquering arm.' * 
 
 MATTHEW in. 
 
 IT seems to have been at the very scene which we 
 have been describing, that the entrance of the Lord 
 Jesus upon his public ministry, and his baptism at 
 the hands of his great forerunner, took place, as well 
 as that anointing with the Holy Ghost whereby He 
 was manifested as the Messiah, and openly set apart 
 for the great work which He had come to do. The 
 name of Bethabara, " where John was baptizing," sig- 
 nifies, " the house of the passage," and is considered 
 to have been distinctive of the place where Israel 
 passed over Jordan, the situation of which would no 
 less certainly be preserved by tradition, than by the 
 monument of stones which had been erected at Gil- 
 gal in commemoration of the wonderful event. 
 
 Thirty years had passed since the hearts of " all 
 them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem" had 
 been thrilled with the announcement that " a Saviour 
 had been born to them, which was Christ the Lord," 
 and by the narration of the series of wondrous inci- 
 dents that had marked his birth, as well as that of 
 
 * Scott, in loc. 
 
 9
 
 194 THE KIVEE JORDAN. 
 
 the son of Zacharias. How must those faithful ones 
 have longed to see the Son of David manifested in 
 power ! And how, as years rolled on, and they heard 
 no more either of Jesus or of John, must they have 
 grown " weary with forbearing ;" still believing, 
 still hoping, yet with that " hope deferred" which 
 " maketh the heart sick !" What a comfort to such 
 at this time must have been the grand prophecy of 
 Daniel, which had limited the public appearance of 
 Messiah the Prince to seventy weeks ; for though 
 they might not be able to pierce all the obscurities 
 of the prediction, they would surely gather sufficient 
 encouragement from it to number back the years, 
 and to observe with joy that seventy weeks of years, 
 computed according to the usages of symbolic pro- 
 phecy, had well nigh elapsed since the restoration of 
 Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Temple. 
 
 Just at this time, there suddenly appeared a man 
 who, uniting the character and costume of the old 
 prophets with their austerity of manners, began to 
 preach in the wilderness of Judea in the style and 
 power which had been wont to distinguish them. He 
 stood on the banks of Jordan, and exhorted all 
 classes of men to repent of their apostasy from God, 
 and to bring forth fruits meet for repentance. At 
 the same time he administered to all who submitted 
 to his teaching the rite of baptism, as a public con- 
 fession of sin, and of the absolute need of cleansing 
 from it by the energy of the Holy Ghost, of whom 
 water was the well-known emblem. His word was 
 with Divine power, so that, great multitudes daily 
 thronged to him from all parts of the surrounding 
 country, as well as Jerusalem, and were baptized of
 
 JESUS BAPTIZED. 195 
 
 him in Jordan. So great was his sanctity, and 
 such was the power that attended his preaching, 
 that, in the general expectation which betokened 
 that " the time was fulfilled," the populace began to 
 think that this might be the promised and long-de- 
 sired Messiah. And at length a solemn embassy of 
 priests and Levites was sent from the Sanhedrim at 
 Jerusalem to ascertain his pretensions. John, how- 
 ever, sought not his own glory, but pointed their 
 attention away from himself to One actually standing 
 among them, though as yet unmanifested and un- 
 known, whose shoes he was not worthy to loose, but 
 who should presently baptize with the Holy Ghost 
 and with fire. 
 
 In the midst of these speculations and inquiries, 
 but probably a little before this formal embassy, the 
 meek and lowly Jesus, long hidden in the retire- 
 ment of humble life, presented himself to John at 
 the margin of the Jordan, demanding baptism. But 
 the servant hesitated, knowing the divine dignity of 
 his Lord, and pleading that it was he who had need 
 to be baptized of Jesus, as being tainted with sin, from 
 which the Holy One of God was exempt. But the 
 Son was now in the " form of a servant," rendering 
 unto God that full obedience in man's nature which 
 man himself had failed to render. Thus, though He 
 had no sins of his own to confess, He would honour 
 God's ordinance, and fulfil all righteousness. And 
 He was, moreover, the Surety and federal Head of 
 all believers ; and thus, though in his own blessed 
 Person " without sin," and " separate from sinners," 
 He took our guilt upon himself, and made it Ms own, 
 in order that He might purge it away.
 
 196 THE EIVER JORDAN. 
 
 The scruples of the humble forerunner are set at 
 rest, and he performs the sacred rite. And now the 
 Blessed One, having come up out of the water, is 
 engaged in prayer to his Father, communion with 
 whom was ever his greatest solace as He trod with 
 weary feet the wilderness of this evil world. At this 
 moment the heavens are rent above their heads, and 
 out of the midst of the dazzling glory thus unveiled, 
 there is seen swiftly descending a speck, a bird, 
 a spotless dove.* It is the Holy Spirit of God, who 
 has assumed that bodily shape, indicative of purity, 
 peace, gentleness, and love, and lights upon the 
 head of Jesus. Thus anointed by the Holy Ghost, 
 given unto Him without measure, the lowly Son of 
 Man is manifested as the Christ of God ; while at 
 the same instant the awful voice of the Father is 
 heard from the radiant heavens, announcing his in- 
 effable love to, and perfect satisfaction in Him : 
 "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
 pleased." Here then was a sensible manifestation 
 of the Three Persons of the Godhead, co-operating 
 in this great and illustrious transaction ; the Father 
 accrediting the Son, the Son obeying the Father and 
 entering on his ministry, the Spirit resting on Him 
 in fulness, and sealing Him for his mediatorial work. 
 With what entire confidence should we put our cause 
 into the hands of our Surety and Advocate, and 
 trust Him for a finished salvation, since the ever- 
 blessed Trinity are combined to testify to his perfect 
 
 * The words of the Evangelist are explicit, " au/jiariKw cilet wael 
 Ktpiortpav ;" yet some have sought to explain them of merely " a 
 hovering motion," like that of a dove ; but the flight of this bird is 
 not at all of a hovering character.
 
 SCENE OF THE BAPTISM. 
 
 197 
 
 fitness for the work which He undertook to perform. 
 " Lo ! I come to do thy will, O God !" 
 
 The identical spot on the Jordan's brink from 
 which the Lord Jesus descended into the stream, and 
 where He stood when the Spirit lighted on Him as a 
 dove, has in all subsequent ages been a matter of 
 much interest to ascertain. Two places are pointed 
 out with equal confidence, and equal assumption of 
 certainty ; the one about four miles from the shore 
 of the Dead Sea, the other, about three miles higher 
 
 Fords of Jordan ( Place of Baptism). 
 
 up the stream. Both spots are scenes had in great 
 reverence by the respective parties who advocate the 
 genuineness of each ; and annual pilgrimages are 
 made to both. The higher site is advocated by the 
 Latins, the lower by the Greeks and Armenians. 
 Both are described as presenting the most beautiful
 
 198 THE RIVEK JORDAN. 
 
 scenery that this river affords, the banks being 
 fringed with tamarisks, willows, the beautiful olean- 
 ders in abundance, and many other shrubs in rich 
 luxuriance. 
 
 Each party considers its own spot as identical also 
 with the scene of Israel's crossing the Jordan to take 
 possession of the land ; and we have inferred already 
 from the mention of Bethabara, that there was a 
 village or monument whose name commemorated 
 that passage at the place where he was baptizing. 
 But we can hardly suppose the scene of the one in- 
 cident to be as limited as that of the other. Two 
 millions and a half of people in crossing the dry bed 
 of the river would doubtless spread themselves over 
 a space of considerable extent ; especially as they 
 .had the whole length of the river, at least for forty 
 miles, turned into dry land for them : so that it may 
 not be extravagant to suppose that while the priests 
 with the Ark may have stood at the upper or Latin 
 site of the Baptism, the extended front of the host 
 (none of whom were to approach within three-quarters 
 of a mile of the Ark), may have reached three miles 
 lower down, to the locality preferred by the Greeks. 
 
 The annual pilgrimage to the latter spot has 
 been described by Mr. Elliot, who was present in 
 1837. About 5,000 persons from all parts of the 
 East were assembled, of whom 3,000 were pilgrims. 
 Dressed in every variety of costume, some mounted 
 on various beasts of burden, some on foot, horse and 
 foot soldiers in gay uniforms, men, women, and chil- 
 dren the assemblage presents a motley appearance, 
 as curious as it is picturesque. 
 
 The approach of the cavalcade to the river, after
 
 THE PILGKIMS. 199 
 
 having spent the last night in the neighbourhood of 
 Jericho, by the stream which is supposed to be the 
 fountain healed by Elisha, is thus graphically de- 
 scribed : 
 
 " A little after midnight the pilgrims put them- 
 selves in motion, in order to reach by sun-rise the 
 banks of the sacred river ; but it is no easy matter 
 to start a caravan of 5,000 persons, and it was three 
 o'clock, A.M. before the cavalcade was in progress. 
 A number of torch-bearers preceded, carrying flam- 
 beaux, which threw a wild blaze of light over the 
 plain and the moving host. The Arab cavalry 
 marched next, their spirited horses curvetting, while 
 they plunged into the high grass and jungle, to drive 
 out any lurking Bedouins. The governor, with the 
 Greek archbishop, followed ; and, lastly, the whole 
 host of pilgrims, hurrying along with anxious ex- 
 pectation to wash in a stream which they vainly sup- 
 pose to be endowed with a cleansing moral efficacy. 
 In such a multitude, moving without order, subject 
 to no discipline, and wrought up to an unnatural 
 pitch of excitement by superstitious zeal, it is not 
 surprising that many accidents occur. Some of the 
 party are generally left dead, many are wounded, and 
 all are kept in a feverish state of alarm for their 
 personal safety. One thing struck us forcibly, the 
 entire absence of sympathy among these professors 
 of piety. If an aged man, a feeble woman, or help- 
 less child fell from his seat, no friendly hand was 
 stretched out to aid, and no fellow pilgrim halted to 
 ascertain the extent of injury received. The groans 
 and cries of the sufferer were responded to by a 
 laugh, and the cavalcade moved on regardless of their
 
 200 THE KIVEK JORDAN. 
 
 brother, who, if he met with sympathy and aid, 
 found it at the hand of some good Samaritan united 
 to him by no ties of country or of faith. 
 
 " The sun arose above the mountains of Moab just 
 as we reached the Jordan, after a ride of more than 
 two hours over a tract utterly sterile, deserted even 
 by the samphire and low shrubs which appear on 
 other parts of the plain. Instantly a rush was made, 
 and the pilgrims, young and old, rich and poor, sick 
 and sound, men, women, and children, plunged into 
 the stream. Some of the females and children, how- 
 ever, evinced a degree of nervousness ; and here and 
 there the father of a family might be seen gently 
 chiding his spouse, or more roughly handling his 
 young sons ; now religiously forcing the head of a 
 little girl under the water, and now struggling with 
 a well-grown urchin whose fears had got the better 
 of his love of pilgrimage. Of the men, some jumped 
 boldly in, communicating a rotatory motion to the 
 body as it passed through the air ; a few conside- 
 rately occupied themselves in aiding the weaker sex, 
 rendering to a tottering mother or timid sister the 
 support of filial or fraternal strength. Others re- 
 signed themselves composedly to the priests, who, 
 standing ...... in the river, poured the sacred 
 
 water three times on the head of the devotee. All 
 were clad in winding-sheets, or, to speak more cor- 
 rectly, all carried with them, either attached in some 
 way to the body, or held loosely in the hand, the 
 piece of cloth with which they wish to be enveloped 
 after death, which ..... is supposed to .protect 
 
 from the power ef the devil both the corpse so 
 shrouded and the spirit that shall re-animate it. 

 
 THE FORDS. 201 
 
 Some of these promiscuous bathings are occasions of 
 great indecorum, but, in the present instance, we 
 saw no more than the gh&t of every populous town 
 on the Ganges exhibits daily. When, however, the 
 scene is contemplated as a religious ceremony, and 
 when the Turkish governor is observed, with his 
 Moslem satellites, ridiculing with proud disdain these 
 vain ablutions, and this violation of female modesty, 
 the Protestant cannot but lament the errors of those 
 who like himself profess the faith of Christ, and the 
 consequent degradation of that sacred name in the 
 eyes of infidels." * 
 
 JUDGES m. VH. xn. 
 
 WE find several allusions in Scripture to the Fords 
 of Jordan. We must not imagine that the exist- 
 ence of such crossing-places precluded the necessity 
 of the stupendous miracle which enabled the whole 
 host of Israel to " go through the flood on foot," 
 for, at the most favourable time, the shallow parts of 
 the stream are but limited in extent ; and, though 
 practicable for mounted persons, or adults on foot, 
 would have presented insuperable obstacles to little 
 children, to the young and sickly of the flocks, in 
 which a large part of the Hebrew substance con- 
 sisted, and to the cumbrous baggage of a migrating 
 people. Besides, as we have .already intimated, it 
 was about the time of the vernal equinox, when 
 - '*** -' ^ *i 
 
 * Three Empires, vol. i. p. 76. 
 
 9* -f> 
 
 r
 
 202 
 
 THE RIVER JORDAN. 
 
 through the swelling floods the river could probably 
 at no point have been forded. 
 
 Several of the fords have been described by modern 
 travellers, who have crossed the river at the re- 
 spective points which they notice. Some of these 
 occur in the higher part of the stream, soon after its 
 emergence from the Lake of Gennesaret. In the 
 beginning of February, Mr. Buckingham found it 
 barely fordable about three miles below the lake ; 
 and there is another ford a mile lower which is 
 shallower. In this, however, the water near each 
 bank is deep enough for a horse to swim, but the 
 
 Monnt Tabor. 
 
 middle is quite shoal; These have on one side the 
 ancient' Galilee, just at the foot of Mount Tabor, and 
 on the 'other the country of the Gadarenes, or of 

 
 THE FOED8. 203 
 
 the Gergesenes, both of them familiar scenes in the 
 history of our Blessed Lord. 
 
 Twenty miles below the lake there are several 
 fords, not far from each other, and the Jordan is 
 much crossed in this neighbourhood, as it was of 
 old. The most noted places in the vicinity were 
 Beth-shan, on the west side, to the wall of which 
 the Philistines fastened the bodies of Saul and his 
 sons, after the fatal battle of Gilboa; and on the 
 east side, Jabesh-Gilead, the valiant inhabitants of 
 which rescued the mutilated corpses from their de- 
 grading exposure, and buried them in their own 
 city. A little below Bei-san (Bethshan), Captain 
 Mangles found the water in March to reach the 
 belly of a horse ; and, lower still, Burckhardt found it 
 to have nearly the same depth in the midst of summer. 
 
 About twenty miles above the Dead Sea, Captains 
 Irby and Mangles again forded the river near the 
 end of March, but it was with great difficulty, for 
 the waters were much swollen. They thus describe 
 the stream at this point : " The plain, from the foot 
 of the mountains, is about half way pretty level, but 
 barren ; thence it becomes rugged, consisting of a 
 quantity of hills, vales, and deep chasms, in a dry 
 soil of very white appearance, and of a saltish nature : 
 this continues to within a quarter of ^^ile of the 
 river's bank, whence the rest is a ricWlat plain to 
 the margin of the river, which is in the bottom of a 
 deep ravine, beautifully wooded, and so overgrown, 
 that the stream is not seen till you*are close to it." 
 
 At a point four miles lower s^ill, Mr. Buckingham 
 found the Jordan easily forded by horses ; but this 
 was in January, when the water was low. The 
 

 
 204 THE RIVER JORDAN. 
 
 difference between the upper and lower levels of the 
 valley was very conspicuous. The latter was a mile 
 wide in some parts, and in others not more than a 
 furlong, and was bounded by chalky cliffs two hun- 
 dred feet in height. The actual banks of the stream 
 were fourteen or fifteen feet high ; and as there were 
 indications that these were sometimes overflowed, we 
 may gain a notion of the great increase of the stream 
 produced by the spring floods. The water was found 
 by this traveller to be well-tasted, and, though rapid, 
 tolerably clear, because flowing over a pebbly bottom. 
 
 A vengeance, severe and terrible, was often taken 
 by Israel at these places upon the surrounding 
 nations, whom the Lord from time to time raised up 
 against them, on account of their apostasy, and who 
 cruelly tyrannized over them. The Rabbins say that 
 the best generation of Israel that ever lived was that 
 which entered into Canaan, and was contemporaneous 
 with the remaining years of Joshua's life. But very 
 soon after the death of that able and pious com- 
 mander, the Hebrew people began to forget Jehovah 
 and the wonders which He had wrought for them, 
 and to serve the gods of the nations who had been 
 ;st out before them. Then He sold them into the 
 hands of their enemies, to bring them to repentance ; 
 but when the^pried unto Him, He heard, and raised 
 up from timP'to time some mighty man of valor to 
 be a deliverer and a judge in Israel. 
 
 One of the earliest of these captivities, of which 
 there were many, but some 1( of which were perhaps 
 contemporaneous with others, each being only partial 
 in its extent, was that under Eglon, the king of 
 Moab. That prince had formed an alliance with 
 
 m . * *X: 
 
 I 
 

 
 EHUD AND EGLON. 205 
 
 Ammon and Amalek, and had taken " the city of 
 palm-trees," where, with no greater a force than ten 
 thousand Moabites, he had established himself, and 
 held Israel in subjection for eighteen years. At 
 length Ehud, a left-handed Benjamite, executed 
 Jehovah's vengeance upon the tyrant ; and before 
 the deed was known, the blast of his trumpet in 
 Mount Ephraim aroused the men of Israel, who gladly 
 responded to his call. The first object was to secure 
 the fords of the Jordan ; for thus not only were the 
 ten thousand Moabites shut up to their vengeance, 
 and prevented from escape, but the possibility of any 
 help being afforded them by their countrymen was 
 precluded. The fords were taken ; not a man was 
 suffered to pass over ; Israel " slew of Moab at that 
 time ten thousand men ; all lusty, and all men of 
 
 valour ; there escaped not a man And the 
 
 land had rest forty years." 
 
 The region which was possessed by the Moabites 
 lay chiefly near the head of the Dead Sea, and 
 extended only a short distance up the right bank of 
 the Jordan. The fords therefore which were taken 
 by Ehud must have been those which connected the 
 plains of Shittim with the plains of Jericho ; and the 
 very locality, recalling, as it surely would, glorious 
 memories of the past, while it would nerve the arm 
 of Israel to exterminate the foe, would doubtless 
 excite feelings of humble self-abasement for their 
 apostasy, and kindle fresh love and confidence to- 
 wards Jehovah. 
 
 It was at the very same part of the river that the 
 consummation of that glorious victory was effected, 
 which was ages afterwards spoken of as " the day of 
 
 * - *
 
 206 THE EIVEK JORDAN. 
 
 Midian." For Beth-barah, " the house of the pas- 
 sage," is named as one of the points (probably the 
 southernmost) at which the waters were taken ; but 
 the vigilance of the Ephrai mites doubtless extended 
 up the stream, guarding all the fords at least as high 
 as those which we have just described after Irby 
 and Mangles, and Buckingham. The Midianites 
 were pitched in the valley of Jezreel ; and after the 
 panic, some of them fled northward to Beth-shittah, 
 which lay at the foot of Mount Tabor. 
 
 The repeated apostasies of Israel, untaught by 
 repeated punishments and deliverances, had provoked 
 Jehovah to let loose upon their land the pastoral 
 nomadic tribes that roved beyond Jordan, the Midi- 
 anites and Amalekites, and " the children of the 
 East." They came swarming like locusts, spreading 
 over the. entire country, devouring the whole pro- 
 duce of the fields and pastures, till " no sustenance 
 was left for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass ;" 
 and the unhappy owners of the land were compelled 
 to hide themselves in mountains, and caves, and 
 strongholds. 
 
 At length, in answer to the cry of his people, the 
 Lord commissioned Gideon, a man of Manasseh, to 
 deliver them. A small army was gathered of four 
 and twenty thousand men ; but the Lord had de- 
 termined to prove that the strength of Israel lay not 
 in sword or spear ; " not by might, nor by power, 
 but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." The timid were 
 permitted to go home ; and the depressed state of the 
 people at this time is strongly shown by the fact, 
 that of the little army of 24,000 men, 22,000 were 
 glad to avail themselves of the permission to retire
 
 GIDEON. 207 
 
 when they came in sight of the enemy. The Midi- 
 anitish host might indeed well appal them, for they 
 " lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multi- 
 tude, and their camels were without number, as the 
 sand by the sea-side for multitude." 
 
 But the 2,000 that remained with Gideon are far 
 too large a number still : there must be no room for 
 boasting ; Jehovah will have the exclusive honour 
 of the victory. By a "singular test the number is 
 reduced to 300 men, and by this little band the 
 innumerable host shall be discomfited. Jehovah 
 himself appoints the manner of proceeding. In the 
 middle of the night, the 300 Israelites, divided into 
 three companies, take up their positions on three 
 sides of the enemy : each man carries a trumpet, an 
 earthen pitcher, and a lamp within it. At a given 
 signal, each sounds a long blast with the trumpet ; 
 the Midianites start up from sleep affrighted, and 
 gaze around ; in the same instant, every man breaks 
 his pitcher, and out gleams the blaze of three hun- 
 dred lamps, while on every hand rises the appalling 
 shout, " The sword of Jehovah and of Gideon !" 
 The trumpet-blast, the crash of the pitchers, the 
 sudden flash of light, and the shouting, all at once 
 acting on the senses of men half awakened, and 
 heightened by the previous silence and gloom, pro- 
 duced a panic : all the host ran, and cried and fled. 
 
 The news of the discomfiture soon spread ; and 
 the men of Israel were sufficiently ready to pursue 
 the flying foe : the Ephraimites took the fords, but 
 not until two of the kings, with a portion of the 
 army, had got over. There, however, Gideon and 
 his three hundred followed ; " faint, yet pursuing ;"
 
 208 THE RIVER JORDAN. 
 
 and notwithstanding the churlish lack of patriotism 
 in Penuel and Succoth, found the Midianitish kings 
 with the remnant of their mighty host. Though 
 still utterly disproportioned in numbers, faint with 
 hunger and weary with pursuit, the three hundred, 
 trusting in the God of Israel, fell on the fifteen 
 thousand and discomfited them, taking prisoners the 
 two chieftains. Thus, in this wonderful deliverance, 
 there fell of the enemies of Israel, " 120,000 men 
 that drew sword." 
 
 The experience which Israel had of the irresistible 
 power of Jehovah, and the proofs which He was con- 
 tinually giving them of his willingness to exert his 
 omnipotence on their behalf, ought to have kept 
 them faithful to Himself. But it did not ; " for their 
 heart was not right with Him, neither were they 
 stedfast in his covenant : but He being full of com- 
 passion forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them 
 not : yea, many a time turned He his anger away, 
 and did not stir up all his wrath." And in this how 
 like are we to Israel ! How often do we grieve the 
 Blessed Spirit, and turn away from Him who has 
 wrought so great a salvation for us ! We provoke 
 the Lord to chastise us sorely, and give, by our sins, 
 a great advantage to our enemies. Yet, He does not 
 give us up " as a prey to their teeth ;" and though 
 we are feeble, and our spiritual adversaries are 
 numerous and mighty, they shall be surely over- 
 come ; and the weakest believer may take up the 
 song of faith, " Thanks be to God which giveth us 
 the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ !" 
 
 A third example of this military practice we may 
 allude to in the conflict that resulted upon the
 
 JEPHTHAH SHIBBOLETH. 209 
 
 triumph of Jephthah the Gileadite. But here the 
 Ephraimites were the sufferers, not the gainers by 
 the expedient. The Gileadite chief had returned 
 from the rout and slaughter of the Ammonites, and 
 had reaped the bitter fruit of his rash and foolish 
 vow. The fiery Ephraimites, as they had already 
 done in the case of Gideon, haughtily remonstrated 
 with Jephthah, because the triumph had been 
 achieved without them, though their aid had been 
 vainly sought before. Their insulting language 
 brought on a conflict, in which, notwithstanding 
 their power and prowess, the men of Ephraim were 
 worsted. The battle was fought on the east side of 
 the Jordan, and when the fugitives endeavoured to 
 escape over the river to their own land, they found 
 themselves forestalled at the fords, which were 
 already in the possession of the victorious Gileadites. 
 The test by which the Ephraimite was detected was 
 very curious. One would have thought that there 
 could be no sensible difference between the men of 
 one tribe and those of another ; and that if an 
 Ephraimite had chosen to say that he was a Manas- 
 site, or even a Gileadite, there would have been no 
 means of convicting him of falsehood. But a slight, 
 yet perfectly appreciable difference in the pronuncia- 
 tion of a letter was found to be a certain criterion. 
 The Ephraimites, it seems, could not produce the 
 sound of E (sh), but substituted for it that of o (s) ; 
 the demand " Say now Shibboleth," (that is a stream) 
 at once determined the question : if his organs could 
 only say " Sibboleth," it was enough ; he was con- 
 victed out of his own mouth, and slain. Thus forty- 
 two thousand Ephraimites fell on that occasion, the
 
 THE KIVEK JORDAN. 
 
 great majority of whom may be said to have fallen 
 victims to their vicious pronunciation. Yet it would 
 be more true to say that they owed their death to 
 their overweening pride, envy, ambition, their quar- 
 relsome tempers, and their unbridled tongues. How 
 many of the strifes among brethren, as well as of 
 the wars among nations, might be traced to similar 
 causes ! May the Lord lead us less to insist on the 
 Shibboleths of party, and more to seek after " the 
 things that make for peace, and things whereby one 
 may edify another !" 
 
 2 KINGS n. 
 
 GLOKIOUS had been the manifestation of divine 
 power, vhen the affrighted waters of Jordan were 
 driven back before the host of Israel ; but far more 
 glorious M r as that display of it, which terminated the 
 earthly career of the prophet Elijah. He had been 
 the faithful witness for God in times of deep dege- 
 neracy in Israel, when the open worship of Baal had 
 supplanted, almost entirely, the acknowledgment of 
 Jehovah ; and the godly of the seed of Jacob, an 
 exceedingly small remnant, had been persecuted and 
 compelled to hide in glens and caves by the weak 
 and wicked Ahab, stirred up by his still more infamous 
 wife, Jezebel. As an illustration of the daring impiety 
 of the times, we are told that, in the days of Ahab, 
 Hiel the Bethelite ventured, in spite of the solemn 
 curse denounced by Joshua,* to rebuild the city 
 
 , * " And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the 
 man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho : he 
 shall lay the foundation thereof in his first-born, and in his youngest 
 son shall he set up the gates of it." Josh. vi. 26.
 
 
 ELIJAH'S RAPTURE: 211 
 
 Jericho ; and though according to the prophecy his 
 firstborn was cut off when he laid the foundation, he 
 scorned to swerve from his bold purpose, until the 
 death of his youngest son, as he set up the gates, 
 fulfilled the terms of the prediction, and left him an 
 accursed and a childless man. 
 
 Immediately after the record of this solemn inci- 
 dent, the Holy Spirit abruptly introduces Elijah the 
 Tishbite, denouncing the judgment of Jehovah 
 against his apostate inheritance. Like One of whom 
 he was an illustrious type, he was the faithful testi- 
 fier against evil, and the solitary witness for God ; 
 like that blessed One, he proved that godly testimony 
 evokes the rancour of the world, which rejected him 
 and cast him out. And, like his antitype, he was 
 cheered and comforted by communion with his 
 Father in heaven, tended by the willing service of 
 ministering angels, and, when his suffering course 
 was done, and his mission accomplished, received up 
 into the celestial glory. 
 
 It is this last wondrous scene that we will now 
 contemplate, the glorious rapture of the prophet 
 from the banks of Jordan to heaven. His Lord has 
 given him an intimation of the manner of his de- 
 parture, so far beyond his desires or expectations. 
 Formerly, in a moment of despondency, he prayed, 
 " O Lord, take away my life !" but death is to have 
 no power against him, not even against his cor- 
 ruptible body. And now he knows that the moment 
 draws near, and he proceeds, in company with his 
 disciple and successor, Elisha, from Gilgal to Bethel 
 from Bethel to Jericho from Jericho to Jordan. 
 These were all scenes that had been associated, in
 
 212 THE RIVER JORDAN. 
 
 Israel's early days, with glorious interpositions of 
 God. Bethel, " the house of God, and the gate of 
 heaven," had been the place where the lonely 
 and benighted Jacob had seen the mystic ladder, 
 reaching from earth to heaven, with the angels as- 
 cending and descending on it. Jordan had cleft his 
 foaming tide, and " stood upon an heap," to allow 
 the host to pass over. At Gilgal, the reproach of 
 Egypt had been rolled away, and Israel first ate the 
 fruits of the land of Canaan. And Jericho, the 
 strong and fortified city, had yielded to the conquer- 
 ing host their first victory in the land, her mighty 
 walls falling prostrate before the trumpet-blasts of 
 Jehovah's white-robed priests. But all these hallowed 
 memories had been wellnigh eifaced, and the scenes 
 themselves polluted by the debasing idolatry that 
 had spread far and wide. A farewell word of exhor- 
 tation, counsel, and comfort to the few faithful ones 
 that yet remain, Elijah journeys around to give ; and 
 then, as one who has done with earth's associations, 
 whether painful or pleasing, he leaves them, in turn, 
 all behind him, and keeps his eye on his heavenly rest. 
 It is not from the land of Israel that Elijah must 
 ascend to heaven, but from the wilderness. " Israel 
 had journeyed from Jordan to Jericho ; but Elijah 
 journeyed from Jericho to Jordan. In other words, 
 as Jordan was that which separated the wilderness 
 from the land, the prophet crossed it, thus leaving 
 Canaan behind him. His chariot met him, not in 
 tJw land, but in the wilderness. The land was pol- 
 luted, and was speedily to be cleansed of those who 
 had introduced the pollution ; the glory was soon to 
 take its departure even from the most favoured spot ;
 
 ELISHA'S BEQUEST. 213 
 
 Ichabod might be written upon it all : wherefore the 
 prophet leaves it, and passes into the wilderness, thus 
 pointing out to the spiritual mind, that nothing re- 
 mainec^for heavenly men but the wilderness and the 
 rest above. Earth was no longer to be the resting- 
 place or portion of the man of God : it was polluted. 
 The Jordan had been divided to allow Israel to pass 
 from the wilderness to Canaan ; it was now to be 
 divided to allow a heavenly man to pass from Canaan 
 to the wilderness, where his chariot awaited him, 
 ready to convey him from earth to heaven." * 
 
 As the rod of Moses, stretched out over the Red 
 Sea, had been the instrument of its division, so now 
 the mantle of Elijah, wrapped together, is endowed 
 with the same wonder-working energy. It smites the 
 waters of the Jordan, and instantly they are divided 
 hither and thither, and the sainted associates pass 
 over on dry ground. 
 
 Nothing now intervenes ; the last barrier of earth 
 is left behind, and the chariot may every moment be 
 expected. Elisha is encouraged to prefer his last 
 request, before his honoured master be taken from 
 him ; and he asks " a double portion of Elijah's 
 spirit." This was a large request, but it was the 
 desire of faith, inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. 
 Long ago, he had been called to the prophetic office 
 by Elijah's casting his mantle on him as he passed 
 by ; but then there had been, perhaps, a struggle 
 with earthly aifection in his heart, " Let me kiss 
 my father and my mother !" Now, however, the 
 prophetic mantle is uppermost in his mind; he 
 " covets earnestly the best gifts." Nor shall his 
 
 * Life and Times of Elijah, (Bryant, Bath,) p. 108.
 
 214 THE RIVER JORDAN. 
 
 holy aspiration be frustrated : a great thing, and 
 difficult, indeed, it is, " a double portion of the 
 spirit " of Elijah ! nevertheless, provided he is able 
 to witness the glorious rapture, it shall be dojie. 
 
 And now their converse ends ; for a chariot of fire 
 and horses of fire are seen rushing down from the 
 sky with winged speed, attended by hosts of minis- 
 tering angels. In a moment, the " one is taken and 
 the other left," and Elijah is carried up by a whirl- 
 wind into heaven. Elisha gazes after his beloved 
 master, as he swiftly travels up the empyrean vault ; 
 and though he had hitherto calmly contemplated his 
 own and Israel's bereavement, the sudden conscious- 
 ness of the loss breaks forth in strong grief, and he 
 exclaims, " My father, my father, the chariot of 
 Israel, and the horsemen thereof!" for he was now 
 taken away, whose prayers, and faith, and inter- 
 cession were a better defence for Israel than hosts of 
 armed warriors. 
 
 The mantle is dropped, for it belongs to earth, not 
 to heaven. It had been, and still is, the symbol of 
 power ; but it is power in earthly service. Hence- 
 forth, it belongs to Elisha, the sign and seal of that 
 double portion of the Spirit which he had so earnestly 
 coveted. 
 
 Thus passed gloriously away into the regions of 
 light and joy one who, with all his power, had been 
 " a man subject to like passions as we are." And 
 thus he became an earnest of those saints who shall 
 be found alive at the coming of the Lord. We are 
 told that some shall thus remain, that " we shall 
 not all sleep ;" and though it is common to speak of 
 death as the universal lot, as the only certain event,
 
 THE CHANGE OF THE QUICK. 215 
 
 this is not according to truth ; for, whether the 
 second advent of the Lord Jesus be at the very doors, 
 or whether it be deferred for awhile longer, the word 
 is clear and explicit, that some shall be, like Elijah, 
 triumphantly rapt away without dying, to meet the 
 Lord in the air. Not that with mortal corruptible 
 bodies we can enter into the heavenly glory ; though 
 we shall not all sleep, we shall all be changed ; in a 
 moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the great change 
 will take place : this corruptible shall put on incor- 
 ruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality. 
 Jesus, himself, shall change our vile body, that it be 
 fashioned like unto his own glorious body ; and so 
 we shall be entirely like, as well as for ever with, the 
 Lord. Doubtless it was so with Elijah ; without a 
 pang, without a struggle, all that was earthly, cor- 
 ruptible, and mortal, passed away from his body in 
 the moment of his transition, just as his well-worn 
 mantle dropped lightly to the earth. 
 
 O what a triumph of grace and power will then be 
 manifested ! The goodly company of living ones of 
 whom the monster Death will be robbed, shall not 
 ascend alone. Millions upon millions of those upon 
 whom his insatiable jaws have closed, will at the 
 same blessed moment be snatched out of his grasp, 
 and endowed with new resurrection bodies incapable 
 of dying any more ; and all together, a multitude 
 that no man can number, arrayed in unearthly light 
 and dazzling glory, shall ascend up to the mansions 
 of bliss above, to dwell for ever with Jesus. O reader ! 
 see to it that you have a well-grounded, scriptural 
 hope of being one in that happy ascending throng ! 
 for it will include all who, whether alive or dead, are
 
 216 THE KIVER JORDAN. 
 
 in Christ ; and those who are left behind upon the 
 earth, whether in the grave, or in the busy scenes of 
 life, will be reserved for judgment and tribulation. 
 " The sting of death is sin ; and the strength of 
 sin is the law ; but thanks be to God, which giveth 
 us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ !" 
 
 2 KINGS v. 
 
 How little does man's happiness or wretchedness 
 depend on the possession or deprivation of those 
 gifts wealth, honour, fame, professional success, 
 high rank, or what not, which mankind in general 
 so much covet ! How often there is a cankerworm 
 at the root of the fairest plant of worldly prosperity, 
 blighting all its beauty, and turning its fruit to 
 bitterness and ashes ! 
 
 In the service of Benhadad, the king of Syria, 
 there is one whom all look on with envy as a pros- 
 perous and fortunate man. He is the chief-captain 
 of the Syrian armies, wielding the highest military 
 power in the kingdom ; he is eminent for valour, and 
 his name is the theme of the national songs and 
 praises ; he is the darling of the people, and in the 
 highest favour at the court of the king, for he has 
 recently returned from a threatening war which he 
 has brought to a conclusion most favourable for Syria, 
 and he has carried his conquering arms into the 
 territories of the surrounding nations. He is loved 
 as well as honoured ; he is surrounded by a family 
 circle who regard him with personal affection as 
 sincere as it is agreeable. His very servants feel his
 
 THE LEPER THE LITTLE MATT). 217 
 
 welfare and interests to be theirs ; but Tie is a leper ! 
 All his greatness and honour and power is embittered 
 by the constant presence of a loathsome, painful, in- 
 curable disease incurable by any hand less than 
 God's. 
 
 In his household there is a little maid, a slave. She 
 had been made captive in one of the late Syrian raids 
 upon the land of Israel, and dragged away from her 
 peaceful and happy home to bondage in a foreign 
 land. Hard seems her lot, yet she is happy, and has 
 pity to spare for her leprous lord. 
 
 The secret of the little maid's happiness is, that 
 she knows the God of Israel ; and in the largeness of 
 her heart she utters the ardent wish, that her master 
 were with Jehovah's servant, the prophet Elisha, 
 " for he would recover him of his leprosy." Probably, 
 she had .never heard of a leper's actually having been 
 cured by Elisha, but it is the language of faith, 
 setting no limits to Jehovah's power, or to Jehovah's 
 mercy. What a sweet testimony in that idolatrous 
 land! 
 
 The remarkable words of the Hebrew maid are 
 soon reported to Naaman, and with the concurrence 
 of the king, his master, he undertakes the journey 
 into Samaria. He comes in the pride of his wealth 
 and power, with large presents in his hand, ten talents 
 of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten 
 changes of raiment, and presents himself in lordly 
 state at the door of Elisha. Full of his own greatness, 
 he expects that the prophet will come out and per- 
 sonally perform a cure, which he thinks himself so 
 well able to pay for. How then is he mortified when 
 a servant is sent out to him with a simple verbal 
 
 10
 
 218 THE RIVEB JORDAN. 
 
 message to go and wash in Jordan ! And what is 
 Jordan ? " Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of 
 Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel ? May 
 I not wash in them and be clean ?" Thus in his 
 pride and wrath, the haughty leper turns away, 
 refusing to accept a blessing that costs so little, and 
 that puts so little honour on the receiver ! 
 
 It was well for Naamaii that he had faithful and 
 prudent servants, who, without in the least degree 
 trenching upon the respect due from them to him, 
 were yet able and willing affectionately to remon- 
 strate with him, and to show him the unreasonable- 
 ness of his conduct. If some severe penance, some 
 arduous labour, some long course of self-denial, some 
 heavy price had been prescribed, would he not gladly 
 have performed the conditions for the sake of the 
 result ? How much more, then, when the command 
 was, simply, " Wash, and be clean ?" 
 
 Convinced of his folly by this prudent appeal, the 
 Syrian captain turns his horses' heads towards the 
 Jordan, and soon he perceives its stream in the 
 distance gliding through the plain like a thread of 
 silver, here and there hidden by the overhanging 
 bushes, and again emerging in its beauty, reflecting 
 the light of heaven. He alights on the rushy brink, 
 and according to the word of the prophet, dips him- 
 self in its waters. Six times he has immersed his 
 body, but no change is perceptible ; one plunge more 
 completes the prescribed number : will it be success- 
 ful, or only a mockery ? His heart throbs with 
 anxiety, as once more his white and scaly flesh is 
 buried in Jordan's tide ; but oh ! how quickly does 
 he leap out ! for he feels the tide of health thrill
 
 THE FOUNTAIN FOR SIN. 
 
 through his veins in all its delicious novelty ; and he 
 needs not the cry of joy that escapes from his de- 
 lighted attendants to assure him of what he has 
 already felt, that his flesh has acquired the firmness 
 and plumpness, and ruddy healthful hue, of the flesh 
 of a little child. He humbly, and meekly, and grate- 
 fully returns to the house of Elisha, and as he stands 
 before his benefactor, he witnesses a good confession. 
 " Behold ! now I know that there is no God in all the 
 earth but in Israel. . . . Thy servant will henceforth 
 offer neither burnt offering, nor sacrifice unto other 
 gods, but unto Jehovah." 
 
 A beautiful illustration is thus presented to us of 
 the simplicity and the freeness of gospel grace. Man 
 in his pride and self-sufficiency would often be 
 willing to " do some great thing " for the cure of his 
 soul's leprosy ; to have recourse to other ways of 
 salvation, than that of simply washing in the 
 " Fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness." And 
 many cannot consent to be saved for nothing, as 
 mere beggars, who would be willing to carry a price 
 in their hand. But salvation is of grace ; it is not 
 to be Bought ; not with penitence, nor with tears, nor 
 with prayers, nor with penances, nor with promises 
 of reformation, nor with alms, nor with good works 
 of any kind. It is offered without money, and with- 
 out price. 
 
 To some the apparent inadequacy of the remedy is 
 an insuperable objection. They cannot imagine how 
 the believing on the Lord Jesus Christ can avail to 
 save their souls ; and they are ready to turn away to 
 some Abana or Pharpar of their own. But in this 
 God is honoured, that the channel of salvation cuts
 
 220 THE RIVEK JORDAN. 
 
 off all boasting from man. It is enough that God, 
 the Judge, has ordained the remedy, and that He 
 perceives its perfect suitability to the end required. 
 
 But he, who, like Naaman, has been brought to 
 try the Divine remedy, has proved its perfect efficacy. 
 He has found that the cleansing fountain of Jesus' 
 blood has done more than merely purged away his 
 sins. Naaman was not merely cleansed, nor put into 
 the condition of another man, but made " as a little 
 child," a new-born life, so to speak, was given him. 
 And so with the poor sinner brought to the blood 
 of Christ. He gets more than cleansing, he receives 
 a new life imparted to him, and that is life in 
 resurrection, for he is made a partaker of the life of 
 his risen Lord. A believer is not an old creature 
 amended, but a new creature in Christ Jesus. 
 
 2 KINGS vi. 
 
 THE story which we are about to relate is one of 
 those little incidents which touchingly show forth the 
 tenderness of the Spirit of God. Nothing with 
 Omnipotence is great ; nothing with Love is little. 
 The falling of a sparrow does not take place without 
 God's ordaining, and the very hairs on the head of 
 one of his saints are all numbered. The sympathies 
 of God are ever exercised towards his people, and 
 there is no occasion of sorrow to them, however 
 trivial, or even contemptible it may seem in the eyes 
 of the world, for which He does not care. 
 
 Elisha is again brought before us as the exerciser 
 of Almighty power. Not as Elijah, in stern testi-
 
 THE SONS OF THE PROPHETS. 
 
 mony against evil, the witness and intercessor against 
 apostate Israel, but the agent of Omnipotence in 
 gracious service to man, alleviating the sorrows and 
 supplying the need of the evil and the good. Tims 
 he, too, was a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus, but 
 in a very diiferent aspect from Elijah. 
 
 Through the godly preaching and care of both of 
 these devoted men, the Lord had already raised up a 
 number of young persons, who were happy, though 
 in times when true religion was in very bad savour, 
 to give up all their prospects and worldly conside- 
 ration for the service of Jehovah. They lived together 
 in harmony and love, constituting what have been 
 called " schools " or colleges " of the sons of the 
 prophets, several of which seem to have been 
 established in the towns of Israel. Their poverty in 
 the things of the present life is touchingly presented 
 to us by the circumstances of the following in- 
 cident : 
 
 Finding the dwelling where they resided too small 
 for their increasing numbers, the young men propose 
 to seek one of larger dimensions, but they have no 
 means of attaining their desires, except by the labour 
 of their own hands. They therefore say to Elisha, 
 their spiritual guide and father, " Let us go, we pray 
 thee, to Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, 
 and let us make us a place there, where we may 
 dwell." In our early days we often wondered why 
 they should go so far as to the banks of Jordan for 
 this purpose ; but the researches of modern travellers 
 have shown a sufficient reason, in the great scarcity 
 of timber trees in Palestine, except on the summits 
 and sides of th3 higher mountains, and the banks of
 
 222 THE RIVER JORDAN. 
 
 the permanent rivers. The margins of the Jordan, 
 in particular, are fringed with acacia and tamarisk- 
 trees, growing up abundantly from amidst the 
 thickets of shrubs that conceal the river's brim. 
 Both of these trees afford timber fit for building 
 purposes, but the latter was in all probability chiefly 
 used from its greater abundance, as well as the 
 superior excellence of its wood. 
 
 The Oriental Tamarisk (Tamarix Orientalis^ is an 
 elegant and beautiful tree, which grows to the height 
 of twenty or thirty feet. Its branches shoot upward 
 at an acute angle with the direction of the trunk, 
 and hence this tree has somewhat of the graceful 
 slenderness of the Lombardy poplar. Its leaves are 
 smooth and glossy, and resemble scales set on straight 
 rod-like branches ; the wood is hard, and besides its 
 value as timber, makes excellent charcoal. It pro- 
 duces galls, which are scarcely less valuable in the 
 arts than those of the oak. 
 
 The kind and gracious Elisha is well content to 
 accompany the humble band at their request, to 
 solace their toil by his godly conversation, or to give 
 them the benefit of his experience in prudent counsel. 
 They come to the wooded bank of Jordan, and are 
 quickly engaged in felling the straightest and tallest 
 trees for the beams of their new dwelling. Probably 
 their strength and industry were greater than their 
 skill in the use of their tools, for presently, as one of 
 them was felling a tree that grew over the very 
 water's brink, the head of the axe came off, and fell 
 into the river. It seems a little circumstance, but it 
 distressed the young man's mind, for he knew not 
 how to replace it ; and it was borrowed. Elisha's
 
 THE SWIMMING IRON. 223 
 
 sympathies are at once excited : he does not coldly 
 say, " It is a trifle, never mind it." The tenderness 
 of conscience that grieved over the loss of another's 
 property was pleasing to the Spirit of God, and He 
 immediately impels the prophet to work a miracle for 
 its recovery. Elisha cut down a stick, and cast it 
 into the stream at the place where the iron axe-head 
 had sunk, and immediately it rose to the surface and 
 swam. And the young man put out his hand, and 
 took it. 
 
 It is not usually that we find the omnipotence of 
 God exerted miraculously about such things as these. 
 But perhaps this was permitted, as we have hinted 
 above, to represent to those immediately concerned, 
 and to us, in future ages, the condescending grace 
 wherewith he can meet every need. Of course, the 
 display of power is as truly seen in the floating of 
 the iron as in the walking of Peter on the waves of 
 the sea. " Both are equally contrary to nature. 
 Neither is there any natural alliance between the 
 cause and the effect between the casting in of a 
 stick, and the swimming of the iron, as there was 
 none afterwards between the putting clay on the eyes, 
 and the restoring of sight ; for it is neither the skill 
 of the workman, nor the fitness of the instrument, 
 that is to be considered, but the excellency of the 
 power of God." * 
 
 MATT. XVI. 
 
 THE sources of the Jordan require a brief notice, 
 as two of them, at least, are connected with the histo- 
 
 * Meditations on Elisha (Lond. 1848), p 49.
 
 224 THE RIVER JORDAN. 
 
 rical records of holy Scripture. The issuing of the 
 large fountain from the mouth of the dark cavern at 
 Paneas we have already described. Here Herod the 
 Great built a temple of white marble, in honour of 
 Augustus ; and his son, Philip, the tetrarch of Iturea 
 and Trachonitis, built a city around it, in the appel- 
 lation of which, hje united the name of his imperial 
 patron with his own, calling it Csesarea Philippi. 
 
 It was to the neighbourhood of this city that our 
 blessed Lord resorted with his disciples, after he had 
 miraculously fed the multitude the second time. He 
 probably sought retirement and privacy among the 
 wild scenery with which this elevated region abounds. 
 It was here that his inquiries, as to the notions which 
 his disciples had formed of his person and character, 
 elicited from Simon Peter that noble confession, re- 
 vealed to him, not by flesh and blood, but by his 
 Father in heaven, " Thou art the Christ, the Son 
 of the living God." A glorious declaration was this ! 
 and blessed was he that uttered it ! Ignorant of 
 much important truth he yet was ; many carnal ex- 
 pectations, and worldly, selfish desires were in his 
 heart; little sympathy had he, as yet, with the 
 purpose for which his Master had come into the 
 world ; he had yet to be greatly humbled, and to 
 learn the treachery and depravity, as yet unsuspected, 
 of his own heart ; nay, his earthliness was about to 
 evoke, almost the next instant, a stern rebuke, as the 
 very mouth-piece of Satan, from Jesus. And yet 
 Peter was a blessed man ; for he had been divinely 
 taught to recognize Him whom the Father had sanc- 
 tified and sent into the world ; and " no man can say 
 that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."
 
 INTERESTING MONUMENT. 225 
 
 An interesting tradition is preserved by Eusebitis, 
 connecting this city with the woman of faith, who 
 was cured of her inveterate disease by touching the 
 border of Jesus' garment. The words of the early 
 historian are these : " But, as we have mentioned 
 this city, I do not think it right to pass by a narra- 
 tive that deserves to be recorded for posterity. They 
 say, that the woman who had an issue of blood, men- 
 tioned by the evangelists, and who obtained deliver 1 
 ance from her affliction by our Saviour, was a native 
 of this place, and that her house is shown in the 
 city, and the wonderful monuments of our Saviour's 
 benefit to her are still remaining. At the gates of 
 her house, on an elevated stone, stands a brazen 
 image of a woman on her bended knee, with her 
 hands stretched out before her, like one entreating. 
 Opposite to this, there is another image of a man 
 erect, of the same materials, decently clad in a 
 mantle, and stretching out his hand to the woman. 
 Before her feet, and on the same pedestal, there is a 
 certain strange plant growing, which, rising as high 
 as the hem of the brazen garment, is a kind of anti- 
 dote to all kinds of diseases. This figure, they say, is a 
 statue of Jesus Christ, and it has remained even until 
 our times, so that we ourselves saw it whilst tarrying 
 in that city." * Other ancient writers have repeated 
 this story, and some add that the woman was named 
 Berenice. The monument was destroyed either by 
 Julian, or, according to others, by Maximin. 
 
 * Eccles. Hist. vii. 18. 
 
 10*
 
 226 THE RIVER JORDAN. 
 
 JUDGES XVIH. 1 KINGS XH. 
 
 AT the fountains of the Jordan, which rise at Tel 
 el Kady, stood one of the ancient seats of Israelitish 
 idolatry. The city of Laish, or Lasha, was of great 
 antiquity ; for it is mentioned as one of the border 
 cities of Canaan long before the time of Abraham. 
 It belonged to Sidon, but was too far removed from 
 that powerful maritime city to enjoy the benefit of 
 protection from it ; hence, when the lawless Danites 
 sent out a colony to smite it with the edge of the 
 sword, and to take possession of it for themselves, 
 they found it an easy prey. The successful invaders 
 then changed the name of the city from Laish to 
 Dan, " after the name of Dan, their father." Thus 
 this tribe was widely divided in Israel ; for the ori- 
 ginal allotment of its portion was in the south-west 
 part of Palestine, whereas the new colony was in the 
 far north ; so that it became proverbial as one of the 
 extremities of the land, " from Dan even unto Beei- 
 sheba." 
 
 The city thus obtained became immediately the 
 seat of an established idolatry ; for the Danites set 
 up a graven image as an object of worship, which re- 
 mained " all the time that the house of God was in 
 Shiloh." Thus the tribe of Dan, long before spoken 
 of by the spirit of prophecy as " a serpent by the 
 way, an adder in the path," had the dreadful pre- 
 eminence of first establishing that apostasy from the 
 true God which at length poisoned and destroyed 
 the whole people. 
 
 This very city was one of the two which, in times
 
 FOUNTAIN OF TEL-EL-KADY. 
 
 227 
 
 long afterwards, Jeroboam selected as the seats of 
 his state idolatry ; for " the king took counsel and 
 made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is 
 too much for you to go up to Jerusalem ; behold thy 
 gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the 
 land of Egypt. And he set the one in Beth-el, and 
 the other put he in Dan." 
 
 No remains of the ancient city are now visible ; 
 but the fountain still bubbles forth as of old, and 
 contributes its crystal affluent to the renowned 
 Jordan. The site is a small elevation with a level 
 summit, in the midst of which is the spring. Dr. 
 Wilson thus describes it : " We suddenly came 
 
 freshwater Tortoise. 
 
 upon a circular basin, about a hundred yards wide, 
 in the bottom of which great quantities of water 
 were rising and boiling up, and a considerable
 
 228 THE RIVER JORDAN. 
 
 number of fresh-water tortoises* were disporting 
 themselves. It formed by far the most copious spring 
 which we had yet seen in the country. Two large 
 streams of the purest water emerge from it, which, 
 after forming a little island, immediately unite into 
 a rapid river, ten yards wide, and two feet deep, 
 having a very quick descent through a luxuriant 
 grove of oleanders, briers, and wild figs, and poplar, 
 pistacia, and mulberry-trees. The branch of this 
 river was highest on the eastern side." f 
 
 The inhabitants of the region in which these in- 
 teresting localities are situated use the Indian Buf- 
 falo, in association with the common ox, for the 
 purposes of husbandry. It is an uncouth and unpre- 
 possessing animal, with shaggy hair, laterally-spread- 
 ing horns, and a savage expression of countenance. 
 The hot and pestilent morass is its favourite resort, 
 where it delights to wallow in the mud and stagnant 
 water, or to remain for hours, in the heat of the day, 
 almost entirely submerged, with its black, broad 
 muzzle alone elevated above the green surface. Its 
 power to bear moisture and heat makes it valuable in 
 the neighbourhood of water ; and thus, around Lake 
 Houle and the Sea of Tiberias it is much cultivated. 
 Its prodigious strength, also, renders it a serviceable 
 acquisition, though its treacherous and savage temper 
 is always dangerous. Dr. Robinson considers this 
 to be the Eeem (E^) of the Hebrew Scriptures, 
 
 * The Doctor calls them Testudo Graica ; but he has, no doubt, 
 mistaken the genus ; for the land tortoises do not affect the water. 
 The fresh-water tortoises constitute a very different family, that of 
 the Emydidce, to which, doubtless, belong those mentioned in his note. 
 
 t Lands of the Bible, (Edinburgh, 1847,) p. 170.
 
 BUFFALO. 
 
 229 
 
 (translated " unicorn " in our version) ; but there 
 seems more probability that some species of rhino- 
 ceros was intended. In the monuments both of 
 ancient Egypt and of Nineveh, there is a species of 
 
 wild-bull or buffalo frequently represented, under 
 circumstances which seem to imply that the hunting 
 of this savage animal, was an exploit worthy of the 
 prowess of a king, and fit to be put into competition 
 with the hunting of the lion himself.
 
 VI. 
 
 THE KIYEE JARMUK. 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY. Ashtaroth Karnaim Beautiful Lake Mountains of 
 Bashan and Gilead Magnificence of the Scenery Trees of Bashan 
 The Kingdom of Og The Eastern Tribes The Boundary of the 
 Land. 
 
 THE COUNTRY OF THE GADARENES. Demoniacal Possession The 
 Man among the Tombs Demons and Swine A Sinner's Deliver- 
 ance Gadara Its Ancient Sepulchres. 
 
 NUMBERS XXXII. 
 
 IN considering the remaining rivers of Palestine, it 
 will be convenient to take them in the following 
 order ; those which fall into the Jordan and Dead 
 Sea on the east, those which have the same termina- 
 tion on the west side, and those which empty them- 
 selves into the Mediterranean. 
 
 On the left bank of the Jordan, the first stream of 
 any importance which the traveller meets with is the 
 Jarmuk, or, as it was called by the Greeks, the 
 Hieromax. Its name does not occur in the Scripture, 
 though the region through which it flows is often 
 mentioned both in the Old and in the New Testa- 
 ment. One of its sources is at a place called Mezareib, 
 supposed to be the ancient Ashtaroth Karnaim, or,
 
 BEAUTIFUL LAKE. 231 
 
 " the two-horned, ; - a town of Bashan, which was 
 assigned to the Levites. The name of this city 
 indicates its dedication to the Syrian Venus, 
 
 " Astarte, queen of heaven, with crescent-horns," 
 
 whose debasing worship was such a snare to Israel, 
 and even captivated their greatest and wisest 
 monarch, King Solomon. 
 
 The Jarmuk near this place issues from a lake 
 about a mile in circumference. According to Mr. 
 Buckingham, there is a small grass-covered islet in 
 the centre, and great number of fish swim in its 
 crystal waters, equal in size and not inferior in 
 beauty to the elegant gold and silver fishes which we 
 keep in glass vases. The water is sweet and trans- 
 parent, and is never dried up in the most arid 
 seasons. A copious stream issues from this beautiful 
 lake, which pursues a westerly direction, with com- 
 paratively few windings, until after a course of about 
 forty miles (in a straight line) it empties itself into 
 the Jordan, not far from the southern extremity of 
 the Lake of Gennesaret. At its mouth it is Lrty 
 yards wide, being nearly as broad and as deep as the 
 Jordan itself. Mr. Buckingham in February found 
 difficulty in fording it, a little above its debouchure. 
 
 The lake just mentioned is considered as the 
 source of the Jarmuk, not because it is the most 
 remote, but because it is the most permanent. Many 
 streams appear to combine to form this river, drain- 
 ing a wide extent of country to the eastward ; one of 
 these was described to the traveller just named as 
 having its origin three days' journey from the 
 Jordan, at a place called Shillal. This word is used
 
 232 THE RIVER JARMUK. 
 
 by the Arabs of the Nile, to signify a rapid or a 
 cataract, but whether it indicated such a feature 
 here, he could not clearly understand. 
 
 The elevated country, through which the Jarmuk 
 flows, is the ancient mountain region of Bashan and 
 Gilead. It was renowned for its fertility, its exten- 
 sive pastures, its high-fed and fierce cattle, and its 
 towering forests, the " oaks of Bashan," being 
 scarcely less proverbial than the " cedars of Lebanon." 
 Bashan may be considered as lying to the north, 
 Gilead to the south, of the Jarmuk. The former is 
 the great pasture region, the soil being remarkably 
 fertile, and the vegetation most rich and luxuriant. 
 The latter is more elevated, and more broken into 
 hill and dale. The northern part is somewhat tame, 
 the central picturesque, the southern sublime. 
 
 As the traveller recedes from the Lake of Tiberias 
 and from the valley of the Jordan into the heart of 
 this region, the scenery becomes very magnificent. 
 Trees, which had before been scarce, begin to occur, 
 first singly, then in clumps and groves, and at length 
 in forests. The roads wind in the most picftrresque 
 manner along the sides of the mountains, or round 
 the fantastic hills, through secluded valleys, and 
 narrow rocky gorges overhung with precipices, out of 
 the sides and clefts of which springs at every turn 
 the Valonidi Oak, the characteristic tree of this part 
 of the country. Many other fine trees, the prickly- 
 oak, the olive, and the pine, and another species of 
 Valonidi with broader leaves, are scattered over the 
 less lofty heights ; and at greater elevations, the 
 arbutus and the fir are seen. The enormous crags 
 that jut out from the summits of the mountains are
 
 MAGNIFICENT SCENEBY. 
 
 233 
 
 almost concealed by the noble fir trees that thickly 
 shoot up their dark green heads around them. In 
 the valley, the oleanders, which everywhere border 
 the beds of the winter torrents, grow to a great size, 
 
 Oaks of Basban. 
 
 and are uncommonly superb, especially when covered 
 with their masses of magnificent blossom. 
 
 Lord Lindsay thus describes a lovely valley of 
 Gilead, a little to the south of the Jarmuk : " A
 
 234 THE RIVER JARMUK. 
 
 beautiful narrow glen ushered us into a broad valley, 
 richly wooded to the summits of the hills with noble 
 prickly oaks, a few pine trees towering above them. 
 I never should have thought that the shrub which I 
 had seen covering the hills at Hebron, could have 
 attained such size and beauty ; yet the leaf of the 
 largest tree is not larger than that of the shrubs. I 
 saw an occasional degub tree, or arbutus, but the 
 prevailing trees were oaks, prickly and broad-leafed. 
 It was forest scenery of the nobles 1; character ; next 
 to that of old England, with which none I ever saw 
 can stand comparison." 
 
 A similar testimony is borne by other travellers to 
 the grandeur and beauty of this region. Mr. 
 Buckingham gives the following account of the 
 country between Soof, in Gilead, and Om Keiss on 
 the south bank of the Jarmuk, supposed to be the 
 ancient Gadara. " On leaving Soof, we descended 
 into a fine valley, again rising on a gentle ascent, the 
 whole being profusely and beautifully wooded with 
 evergreen oaks below, and pines upon the ridge of 
 the hills above, as .well as a variety of the lesser 
 trees. This forest, for it fully deserved the name, 
 continued for about four or five miles, when we 
 opened on a more park-like scenery, the ground 
 showing here and there a rich green turf, and the 
 woods becoming less crowded than before. The soil 
 of the road on which we travelled was clayey, with 
 a fine yellow gravel on the surface ; and the track 
 was broad and beaten. As we descended to a lower 
 level, the pines disappeared, and on the side of one 
 of the hills, close to the road on our right, we 
 observed a grotto, carefully hewn down in frontj
 
 MAGNIFICENT SCENERY. 235 
 
 with an arched door of entrance, and a small court 
 and cistern before it. On alighting to examine it, 
 we found it to be an excavated tomb, now containing 
 three stone sarcophagi of the usual form and size. 
 Were it not for the actual presence of these, we 
 should have thought it to have been a cell of resi- 
 dence for some solitary living being, rather than a 
 place of sepulture for the dead, as we knew of no 
 ancient site in the immediate vicinity of the place, 
 nor could we find any traces of other tombs near. 
 Although this solitude had been chosen, and wild 
 bushes had so overgrown its front as almost to con- 
 ceal it from the view, this sepulchre had been violated 
 as well as all the rest, and its cistern was choked, its 
 court partly filled up, and its sarcophagi uncovered 
 and empty. . . . We reached, at length, a beautiful 
 dell, wooded round on all sides, where we found a 
 small encampment of Bedouins striking their tent, 
 and removing from the more open part of the vale 
 to seek shelter beneath the trees, (on account of the 
 
 rain) A large fire was kindled, cakes were 
 
 baked for us, coffee burnt, pounded and prepared, 
 our pipes lighted, and, in short, every office per- 
 formed for our comfort and refreshment, by those 
 hospitable wanderers, without a thought of compen- 
 sation. After a stay of half-an-hour, we departed 
 from hence, continuing, still, through the most 
 beautifully-wooded scenery on all sides. Mr. Bankes, 
 who had seen the whole of England, the greater 
 part of Italy and France, and almost every province 
 of Spain and Portugal, frequently remarked, that, in 
 all his travels, he had met with nothing equal to it, 
 excepting only in some parts of the latter country . . .
 
 236 THE RIVER JARMUK. 
 
 It is certain that we were perpetually exclaiming at 
 every turn, how rich ! how picturesque ! how mag- 
 nificent ! how beautiful ! and that we both conceived 
 the scenery alone to be quite worth all the hazard 
 and privation of a journey to the eastward of 
 Jordan."* 
 
 The beautiful and fertile country thus described 
 was ruled, at the time of Israel's conquest of Canaan, 
 by the redoubtable Og, King of Bashan, a remnant 
 of an ancient gigantic race. His stature is indicated 
 by his bedstead of iron ; " nine cubits (about sixteen 
 feet) was the length thereof, and four cubits (or seven 
 feet) the breadth of it." He marched at the head of 
 his warlike people to repel Israel from the border of 
 his land ; but notwithstanding his giant strength and 
 prowess, he was discomfited and slain. Thus his 
 country fell into the hands of the children of Israel ; 
 a region which, though not more than about ninety 
 miles in -length by thirty in breadth, contained 
 
 " three-score cities all fenced with high walls, 
 
 gates, and bars, beside unwalled towns a great many." 
 The enumeration of these cities enables us to form a 
 somewhat definite idea of the power of the Canaanitish 
 nations who were dispossessed before Israel, a power 
 which, we believe, has been greatly underrated. We 
 do not certainly know what the population of these 
 walled cities was, but we have some data for con- 
 cluding that they were not less numerously inhabited 
 than the average of modern cities. The city of Ai, 
 which seems to have belonged to the Jebusites, was 
 viewed, after the destruction of Jericho, for the 
 purpose of estimating the force needful to capture it. 
 
 * Palestine ii. 240.
 
 THE KINGDOM OF OG. 237 
 
 The spies returned to Joshua, and said unto him, 
 " Let not all the people go up, but let about 2,000 or 
 3,000 men go up and smite Ai, and make not all the 
 people to labour thither,/"^ they are but few" The 
 slighting way in which this place was mentioned, 
 clearly shows that its strength was much below the 
 average, yet its population is expressly declared to 
 have been 12,000. But if we assume this to have 
 been the average of the fortified towns of Bashan, 
 and that of the " great many" unwalled towns to 
 have been half as numerous, we have the population 
 of this district alone amounting to upwards of a 
 million. 
 
 The land of Bashan became the possession of Gad 
 and the half-tribe of Manasseh, who, with the tribe 
 of Reuben, had petitioned for the excellent pasture- 
 lands on the east of Jordan, " because they had 
 cattle." Moses at first thought that their request 
 proceeded from a selfish desire to evade the toils and 
 dangers of the coming war of conquest, and ad- 
 ministered a stern reproof. But they disclaimed 
 any such intention, and expressed their readiness to 
 go over armed before the children of Israel, leaving 
 their families and cattle behind-them, pledging them- 
 selves not to return until the whole inheritance of 
 the land was divided. Their petition was granted on 
 these conditions, which they faithfully performed. 
 
 It has been remarked that the strong desire of 
 Moses, " I pray thee, let me go over, and seethe good 
 land that is beyond Jordan," contrasted with the 
 unwillingness of the two and a-half tribes, " Bring 
 us not over Jordan," and that they did not see in 
 Canaan a type of the heavenly rest which he, by
 
 238 THE BIVEB JABMUK. 
 
 faith, could see and appreciate. " In their too great 
 haste for a settlement, they petitioned for, and 
 obtained it ; but it was a situation very distant 
 from the sanctuary, and it much interrupted their 
 intercourse with their brethren ; it was very much 
 exposed to their enemies, and uneasy to themselves ; 
 and they seem to have been dispossessed sooner 
 than the other Israelites."* For it was here that 
 the Lord " began to cut Israel short ;" and they 
 were exposed to the tyrannical cruelty of Hazael, the 
 usurper, King of Syria, during all the days of 
 Jehoahaz ; and at length they were carried captive 
 into Assyria by Pul and Tiglath-Pileser, perhaps 
 forty years before the same fate befel their brethren 
 on the other side of Jordan. 
 
 The Promised Land, properly so called, as Michaelis 
 has observed, was bounded eastward by the Jordan ; 
 and Moses laid no claim to the land east of that 
 river, although in the end, the aggressions of Sihon, 
 King of the Amorites, and Og, King of Bashan, 
 occasioned some of this territory to be acquired by 
 right of conquest, when it was given to Reuben, Gad, 
 and the half-tribe of Manasseh, as being well-suited 
 to their peculiarly pastoral mode of life. Yet, al- 
 though the Jordan was the proper boundary of the 
 Promised Land, we elsewhere find it promised, that 
 the eastward boundary should be the Euphrates. In 
 this, however, the're is no real contradiction. The 
 boundary of the Holy Land, which the Hebrews were 
 to divide after expelling the inhabitants, and which 
 constituted, in a manner, the citadel of the state, 
 was one thing ; the boundary beyond which they were 
 * SCOTT.
 
 DEMONIACAL POSSESSION. 239 
 
 not to extend their conquests eastward, or, in other 
 words, that of its outworks, was (mother. The Jordan 
 made the former, the Euphrates the latter. The in- 
 tervening space between these rivers was not neces- 
 sarily to be occupied exclusively by Israelites, but to 
 serve as pasturage for their cattle, the greater part 
 of it being fit for no other purpose. 
 
 MARK V. 
 
 EMBOSOMED in the steep and craggy mountains 
 that rise above the deep-flowing Jarmuk, not more 
 than half-a-dozen miles from its junction with the 
 Jordan, and still nearer the south-east shore of 
 the Sea of Tiberias, lay the city of Gadara, the 
 capital of the " country of the Gadarenes." Here, 
 in the early part of his gracious ministry, the ]!ord 
 Jesus gave a signal proof of his power to bind and to 
 destroy Satan, and exhibited Himself as the Seed of 
 the woman, bruising the serpent's head. Almost 
 immediately after He had uttered his memorable 
 discourse on the Mount, He sailed with his disciples 
 across the Lake of Gennesaret. During the passage 
 He majestically rebuked the raging winds and waves, 
 and calmed them with his mighty word. He landed 
 in the country of the Gergesenes, as they are called 
 by Matthew (probably the same as the Girgashites 
 of the Old Testament), or of the Gadarenes, as mark 
 and Luke designate them. As He walked up into 
 the country, there met him one of those miserable 
 beings whom the evil spirit was permitted to torment 
 and to inhabit. Demoniacal possession was terribly 

 
 THE RIVER JARMUK. 
 
 common at this time among degenerate Israel, and 
 perhaps nothing, except the actual rejection of the 
 Son of God, shows how deeply the nation had fallen 
 from its high estate, than this fact. In the early 
 days of Israel, Jehovah Himself had personally dwelt 
 among them in manifested power and sensible glory ; 
 in their last days Satan dwelt among them in 
 manifested power and malignity, and with a personal 
 presence. 
 
 Some have indeed maintained, with Sadducean 
 scepticism, that these possessions were only instances 
 of mental aberration or madness, and that the Blessed 
 Lord, who is " the Truth," and his apostles, writing 
 under the plenary inspiration of Him who is " the 
 Spirit of Truth," merely pandered to popular super- 
 stition in stating these cases to be what they were 
 not. Yarious attributes of distinct personality, as 
 speech, fear, deprecation, intreaty, individuality, 
 number, and change of place, are ascribed to the 
 indwelling demons : they recognised Him as the 
 Holy One of God, who was driving them out, but . 
 whom man knew only by divine revelation, they 
 rendered Him an involuntary homage, and in 
 shuddering horror alluded to the torment which at 
 an appointed time they knew they should receive 
 from Him. The Lord himself calls them evil and 
 unclean spirits, Beelzebub, and Satan. 
 
 The miserable Gadarene who now met the Lord 
 was a notable example of Satanic energy. He 
 habitually had his dwelling among the tombs, where 
 his supernatural power and ferocity rendered him a 
 terror to the neighbourhood. He wore no clothes, 
 but lived in brute-like exposure to the elements. No
 
 DEMONS AND SWINE. 241 
 
 fetters could bind him ; for chains and bands were 
 broken asunder by his superhuman strength ; and ho 
 man could tame him. " And always, night and day, 
 he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying 
 and cutting himself with stones." 
 
 But the period of his emancipation was arrived ; 
 for the Lord of angels as well as men appeared, to 
 deliver him from his terrible enemies. The number 
 of malignant spirits that occupied as a tabernacle the 
 body of this wretched man was great indeed, since, 
 to express it, they compare themselves to a legion, a 
 division of the Roman army, which at that time con- 
 sisted of more than 6,000 men ! What an idea does 
 this give us of the immense number of the " princi- 
 palities, and powers, and spiritual wickednesses in 
 the heavenlies," that are marshalled and arrayed 
 under the power of Satan ! Against these the 
 believer is called to wrestle ; but he need not fear 
 them, for Jesus is the Captain of his salvation, and 
 in Him the saint shall surely conquer. 
 
 Being commanded by a word which they could 
 not resist nor evade, to come out of the man, the 
 spirits mysteriously requested permission to enter 
 the bodies of swine, which, in a numerous herd, were 
 feeding at a considerable distance on the steep hills 
 that overlooked the Lake. The Lord for wise pur- 
 poses gave them leave; and presently the whole 
 two thousand swine rushed madly down the decli- 
 vity, and perished in the waters. 
 
 Thus, the God of Israel coming down to view his 
 own goodly land, found it occupied by demons and 
 swine ; unclean spirits, and unclean beasts ! And his 
 people were so alienated in their minds from Him, 
 
 11
 
 242 THE EIVEK JARMUK. 
 
 as to prefer the presence of their demons and their 
 swine to Him who would have delivered them from 
 both. " The whole city came out to meet Jesus ; 
 and when they saw him, they besought him that 
 he would depart out of their coasts !" 
 
 But one, at least, has formed a different estimate. 
 It is the poor creature who had been so long the 
 object and instrument of Satan's malice and power. 
 He is now calmly sitting at the feet of his heavenly 
 Deliverer, clothed and in his right mind ; and finding 
 it a sweet privilege to hear the words of grace 
 and truth that fall from his lips, he prays that 
 he may be permitted to continue with Him. And 
 though this request is denied, it is only because 
 the Lord calls him to a still higher place than that 
 of personal enjoyment, however holy ; he is sent 
 forth to his neighbours to be a witness to them of 
 the power and goodness and grace of his Lord. 
 
 Most, if not all of the miracles of mercy wrought 
 by the Lord Jesus, are considered as typical of the 
 still more important deliverance which he came to 
 achieve from spiritual maladies. He went about, 
 healing all that were oppressed of the devil ; but 
 none of the maladies wherewith Satan is permitted 
 to afflict the bodies of men are comparable to that 
 dominion which he has over every soul by nature, 
 through sin. Like the demoniac, who had his dwell- 
 ing among the tombs, the sinner dwells in the 
 doleful regions of corruption and death ; like him, 
 he is unclothed, destitute of righteousness, and there- 
 fore exposed to the wrath of God ; the prey of fierce 
 lusts and passions, he breaks through the restraints 
 of the divine law, whose fetters cannot effectually
 
 A SINNER'S DELIVERANCE. 243 
 
 bind him, because it is " weak through the flesh." 
 Like the wretch who was always " crying and cutting 
 himself," the sinner is his own enemy ; he con- 
 tinually craves after happiness, but all his efforts 
 only add sore to sore ; "he heaps up. wrath against 
 the day of wrath," and drags out an existence ever 
 more and more miserable. 
 
 Such an one is found by Jesus ; the strong one 
 armed is driven out by a stronger than he. The 
 happy man is a new creature ; he has forsaken the 
 place of death for a part with him who is essential 
 Life ; he is clothed with a righteousness, perfect and 
 without spot before God ; he is now made gentle, 
 and subject, not by the fetters of law, but by the 
 sweet bands of grace ; he sits at the feet of Jesus, 
 finding his highest joy in communion with Him ; and 
 he is content to go forth at the heavenly bidding, 
 furnished out of the heavenly treasury, to testify in 
 the very territories of Satan, to the power and grace 
 and love, the ability and willingness to save, that 
 characterise his Lord, of which he is himself a living 
 witness. 
 
 The ancient city of Gadara survives in the modern 
 Arab village Om-Keiss. The hill on which it stands 
 is covered with the remains of columns and edifices ; 
 and, what is still more interesting, the sides of the 
 mountains are perforated with caves anciently used 
 as sepulchres. These tombs are now occupied as 
 dwellings, not only by individuals, but by whole 
 families. One of these, when Mr. Buckingham visited 
 the place, was used as a carpenter's shop, in which 
 its occupant was engaged in constructing a rude 
 plough ; while an ancient sarcophagus, that remained
 
 244 THE RIVER JARMUK. 
 
 within the tomb in perfect preservation, was used 
 by the family as a provision chest. 
 
 Captains Irby and Mangles have more particu- 
 larly described the same interesting features of the 
 place. " Before sunset we arrived at Om-Keiss. "We 
 were very kindly received by the Sheikh of the 
 natives who inhabit the ancient sepulchres ; the 
 tomb we lodged in was capable of containing between 
 twenty and thirty people ; it was of an oblong form, 
 and the cattle, &c., occupied one end, while the 
 proprietor and his family lodged in the other ; it was 
 near this spot that the people lived in the tombs 
 during the time of our Saviour. The walls of the 
 ancient Gadara are still easily discernible: within 
 them you find the pavement of the city very perfect ; 
 the traces of the chariot wheels are still marked in 
 the stones. We found the remains of a row of 
 columns which lined the main street on either side ; 
 two theatres in tolerable preservation are within the 
 walls, and without them to the northward is the 
 Necropolis; the sepulchres, which are all under 
 ground, are hewn out of the live rock, and the 
 doors, which are very massy, are cut out of immense 
 blocks of stone ; some of these are now standing 
 and actually working on their hinges, and used by 
 the natives ; of course the hinge is nothing but a 
 part of the stone left projecting at each end, and let 
 into a socket cut in the rock ; the faces of the doors 
 were cut in the shape of panels."* 
 
 * Travels, p. 297.
 
 VII. 
 THE RIVER JABBOK. 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY. Gilead Bozrah Picturesque Ravine Aspect of the 
 River The Wild Boar Forests of Gilead Jacob at the Ford 
 The Prayer The Wrestling The Blessing. 
 
 RABBAH AMMON. Bedstead of Og Joab Philadelphia Present 
 Desolation. 
 
 GENESIS XXXn. 
 
 As the Jarnrak drains the waters of Bashan, so the 
 Jabbok may be considered as carrying to the Jordan 
 those which pour down from the mountains of 
 Gilead. For though these regions are not accurately 
 defined in Scripture, we know that each of the 
 terms designates a considerable territory, which was 
 bounded (somewhat vaguely) by the land of Moab on 
 the south ; and that Bashan was the more northern. 
 There is also a sufficiently marked difference in the 
 physical character of the two regions, Gilead being 
 the more mountainous. Though it pursues a course 
 of sixty miles in length, the Jabbok is but an incon- 
 siderable stream in comparison with the Jarmuk. 
 It is believed to have its rise in the Hauran, not fart 
 from the source of the Jarmuk ; whence it flows west- 
 ward to Bozrah, the renowned capital of ancient 
 
 245
 
 THE RIVER JABBOK. 
 
 Edom, the subject of such awful denunciations in 
 prophecy. " Bozrah is now, for the most part, a 
 heap of ruins, a most dreary spectacle ; here and 
 there the direction of a street or alley is discernible, 
 but that is all. The modern inhabitants, a mere 
 handful, are almost lost in the maze of ruins." 
 According to the oath of Jehovah, Bozrah has 
 become " a desolation and reproach, a waste and 
 a curse /" 
 
 From this ancient city, the Jabbok, or Zerka, as it 
 is now called, bends to the south for about fifteen 
 miles, after which, it again turns to the westward, 
 and passes the Kal-at-Zerka, or Castle of Zerka, one 
 of the stations of the Syrian pilgrims' caravan. 
 Up to this point its course has been across a wide 
 arid plain, sometimes dipping underground, and 
 rising again to the surface ; and its waters are fre- 
 quently dried up by the summer's sun. But here it 
 enters a wilder scene, for its picturesque course is 
 cleft through the mountains of Gilead, which rise 
 in lofty precipices on either side. About midway 
 between this point and its junction with the Jordan, 
 it is described by Mr. Buckingham, who crossed it 
 here, as running between tall and abrupt cliffs, five 
 hundred feet high, which look as if cleft by some 
 convulsion of nature to give it passage. It is, in fact, 
 a deep ravine in a plain, the breadth from cliif to 
 cliff being not more than a hundred yards, and the 
 dark sides of the hollow chasm are, in general, desti- 
 tute of verdure. The traveller descended into this 
 ravine by winding paths, since it was everywhere too 
 steep to go directly down ; and found at the bottom 
 of it a small river which flowed from the eastward,
 
 PICTUKESQUE KAVINK. 247 
 
 appearing here to have just made a sharp bend from 
 the northward, and from this point to go nearly west, 
 to discharge itself into the Jordan. The banks of 
 this stream were so thickly wooded with oleander 
 and plane-trees, wild olives and wild almonds in 
 blossom, pink and white cyclamen flowers and others, 
 the names of which were unknown to him, with tall 
 and waving reeds at least fifteen feet in height, that 
 he could not perceive the waters through them from 
 above ; though the presence of these luxuriant borders 
 marked the winding of its course, and the murmur 
 of its flow was echoed through its deep channel, so 
 as to be heard distinctly from afar. The river here 
 was not more than ten yards wide, but it was deeper 
 than the Jordan, and nearly as rapid, so that it was 
 forded with difficulty. Its waters were clear, and 
 agreeable to the taste.* 
 
 At a point lower down, where it approaches the 
 Jordan, Burckhardt found it " a small river," in the 
 beginning of July ; it is, however, a permanent 
 stream from its entrance among the hills, owing to 
 the numerous torrents that run down their precipitous 
 sides into it. Here .its banks are covered with the 
 prickly Solwiumfivriosum, which attains a consider- 
 able size. 
 
 Captain Lynch, of the late American Expedition, 
 has described the appearance of the Jabbok, as it 
 issues from its rocky gorge. As they passed down 
 the Jordan in their boats, the travellers noticed the 
 lofty hills on the left, " immense masses of siliceous 
 conglomerate, with occasional limestone," extending 
 as far as the eye could reach. High up in the faces 
 
 * Buckingham's Palestine, vol. ii. p. 109.
 
 248 THE RIVEE JABBOK. 
 
 of these hills were seen immense caverns and excava- 
 tions, but whether natural or artificial could not be 
 determined. The mouths of the caves appeared 
 blackened as if by smoke ; which suggested the 
 thought that they might be the haunts of robbers. 
 The Jabbok was found to be a small stream, trickling 
 down a deep and wide torrent bed. The water was 
 sweet, but the stones upon the bare exposed bank, 
 and the leaves of the ghurrah trees that were there 
 in abundance, were coated with salt ; a deposition of 
 the atmosphere, doubtless brought by the wind from 
 the Dead Sea, which is about twenty miles distant. 
 A second bed, at that time (April IT) dry, indicated 
 that, in the floods, the stream enters the Jordan by 
 two mouths.* 
 
 Just below the Jabbok, the party saw a wild boar 
 crossing the river. This fierce and voracious animal 
 is very common in the Grhor and the valleys that 
 open into it. They issue from the woods at night 
 and commit great havoc in the fields and vineyards, 
 trampling and tearing down even more than they 
 devour : " the boar out of the wood doth waste it." 
 Burckhardt was informed that the Arabs of the Ghor 
 are unable to cultivate the common barley, on account 
 of the eagerness with which the wild swine feed on 
 it ; they are therefore obliged to grow a less esteemed 
 sort, which the hogs are too dainty to touch. Irby 
 and Mangles once saw a valley grubbed up in all 
 directions in furrows by the wild boars ; so that the 
 soil had all the appearance of having been literally 
 ploughed up. The boars grow to a very large size, 
 are of a dingy yellowish grey, or blackish hue, and of 
 * The Jordan and Dead Sea, p. 253.
 
 FORESTS OF GILEAD. 
 
 249 
 
 a most unprepossessing appearance. They are bold 
 and desperate, and their tusks make them formidable 
 adversaries. 
 
 Boor in a Vineyard. 
 
 The character of the land of Gilead, through whose 
 ravines and chasms the Jabbok darkling flows, is 
 similar to that already described as marking the hills 
 of Bashan. The traveller who climbs the heights 
 from the sultry vale of the Jordan, or from the arid 
 plains of the Hauran, hails with pleasure the refresh- 
 ing coolness of the mountain breeze ; he reclines 
 under the grateful shade of the oak and wild pistachio, 
 which form thick groves and forests impervious to 
 the sun ; while the sylvan scenery everywhere re- 
 minds him of that of Europe. The charm of this 
 pleasant region is increased by the ceaseless songs 
 and other voices of birds, sounds which are little 
 11*
 
 250 THE RIVER JABBOK. 
 
 heard in the parched and treeless plains. Travellers 
 speak with delight of " the cooing of the wood- 
 pigeons, the calling of partridges, 'magnificent birds 
 as large as pheasants, the incessant hum of insects, 
 and the hiss of grasshoppers, [probably tree-hoppers, 
 Cicadce, are meant,] singing in the trees as happy as 
 kings." The prospect from the elevated peaks is of 
 the most sublime extent, reaching from the snowy 
 summits of Lebanon and Hermon on the north, to 
 the hills of Judah and the mountains of Edom on the 
 south ; looking over the Lake of Tiberias and the Dead 
 Sea, and the whole breadth of Palestine in front, 
 the vast horizon bounded by the Mediterranean, like 
 a band of polished steel girding half the landscape. 
 
 On the bank of this river, and, as well as can be 
 judged, near the middle of that portion of its course 
 which lies through the mountains of Gilead, occurred 
 a memorable incident in the history of the patriarch 
 Jacob. Many years before, the indignation of his 
 brother Esau at his having procured, by a successful 
 falsehood, his father's blessing, had compelled Jacob 
 to flee into Padan-aram, where still dwelt the de- 
 scendants of Nahor. There he had resided for twenty 
 years ; and now with his two wives and a large family 
 of children and servants, and much wealth in cattle, 
 he is on his way back to the land of Canaan. But as 
 he approaches the country of Seir, the territory of 
 Esau, fear of his brother's resentment overwhelms 
 him ; and in much anxiety of mind he takes the 
 most prudent precautions to mollify him. He first 
 of all sends a respectful message, announcing his 
 return, in which he delicately mentions the wealth 
 that he had acquired ; that Esau may not suppose
 
 THE WKESTLING. 251 
 
 that he is still a needy adventurer ready to put in 
 his claim for the possession of that birthright which 
 he had so unworthily obtained. By the expressions 
 carefully selected, " my lord, my lord Esau, thy 
 servant Jacob, that I may find grace in thy sight," 
 he would also express his readiness to waive for the 
 present and in his own person, the dominion over his 
 brother, which had been part of the stolen blessing. 
 Probably, also, he had learned that the value of that 
 blessing and of that birthright was rather spiritual 
 than temporal ; and its range rather national than 
 personal. 
 
 The news which Jacob's messenger brought back, 
 that Esau was coming to meet him with four hundred 
 men, was well calculated to appal him ; for we 
 cannot doubt that the first intention of the bold 
 hunter was to avenge the wrong which the mention 
 of his brother's name had vividly recalled to his 
 memory. Jacob's resource is in prayer. He does 
 not neglect prudential means, it is true, but setting 
 apart a princely present of two hundred she-goats 
 and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty 
 rams, thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine 
 and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten foals, he 
 divides them into three droves, separating them 
 rather widely to produce a greater effect, and sends 
 them by the hands of prudent servants, with, a most 
 submissive and respectful message, to appease his 
 angry brother. But his last and best resource is in 
 prayer ; having brought his whole company over the 
 Jabbok, he returns across the ford to pass the night 
 in fervent pleading with God. 
 
 Solemn indeed is the scene ! Midnight has thrown
 
 252 THE KIVER JABBOK. 
 
 her sable wing over the lone valley, into which the 
 stars can shed but few and feeble rays, almost entirely 
 shut out as they are by the tall cliffs that tower up 
 on each side. Silence is all around, broken only by 
 the earnest supplications and intercessions, the groans, 
 and cries, and stifled sobs, that burst from the anxious 
 Jacob. His pleadings are most instructive, for he 
 takes hold of God's own covenant and promises, pre- 
 senting nothing of his own but unworthiness ; but 
 again and again reminding Jehovah of his gracious 
 assurances of blessing, and making use of past 
 mercies as a plea for future ones. " And Jacob said, 
 O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father 
 Isaac, the LOKD which saidst unto me, Return unto 
 thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well 
 with thee : I am not worthy of the least of all the 
 mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed 
 unto thy servant : for with my staff I passed over this 
 Jordan, and now I am become two bands. Deliver 
 me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from 
 the hand of Esau : for I fear him, lest he will come 
 and smite me, and the mother with the children. 
 And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make 
 thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be 
 numbered for multitude." 
 
 The night is far spent, and Jacob has as yet received 
 no sensible token that he is accepted ; but his Father 
 hath seen in secret. At length there appears one in 
 human form, and engages in wrestling with him, but 
 prevails not against him; a symbolic action, to 
 express the need and success of importunate prayer. 
 There is no sort of contention that so brings out 
 strength, activity, watchfulness, patience and per-
 
 THE BLESSING. 253 
 
 severance as wrestling ; and therefore it has always 
 been felt to be peculiarly suitable to represent strong 
 faith in fervent prayer. "We know, and doubtless 
 Jacob knew who the Mighty Stranger was, who thus 
 put to the test his persevering importunity, but 
 suffered himself to be overcome. He is called a 
 Man ; but He is also called God, and that by Jacob 
 himself ; and the inspired Hosea calls him at once 
 God, the Angel, and Jehovah of hosts. Doubtless it 
 was God the ever-blessed Son, who on many occa- 
 sions had thus early assumed the human form, which 
 afterwards He was to take into permanent union 
 with Himself. 
 
 Yes, Jacob well knew his Almighty Opponent ; for 
 he exclaimed, " I will not let thee go, except thou bless 
 me." And though the sinews of his fleshly strength 
 were withered in the conflict, that was his real gain ; 
 for the breaking down of all the vigour of the flesh 
 is that which always brings in the resources of Christ ; 
 and the believer really athirst for the highest good 
 can say, " Most gladly will I glory in my infirmities, 
 that the power of Christ may rest upon me. When 
 I am weak, then am I strong." 
 
 "And he blessed him there." And He gave him 
 a new name, for as a Prince he had had power with 
 God and with men, and had prevailed. Henceforth 
 Jacob goes on his way rejoicing : the sorrows of the 
 .night are gone with its shadows ; and though as he 
 once more crosses the ford, he halts upon his thigh 
 in a deeper sense of weakness than before, the glad 
 rays of the sun that burst upon him over the 
 eastern mountain, irradiating the whole vale of 
 Penuel, are a fit emblem of the heavenly light and
 
 254 THE RIVEE JABBOK. 
 
 comfort that are filling his heart. He can sing as 
 he goes 
 
 " Contented, now, upon my thigh 
 
 I halt till life's short journey end : 
 All helplessness, all weakness, I 
 
 On Thee alone for strength depend. 
 Nor have I power from Thee to move ; 
 Thy nature and thy name is Love." 
 
 2 SAMUEL XII. EZEKffiL XXV. 
 
 ONE of the tributaries of the Jabbok is the Moiet 
 Amman, a little stream coming from the south, and 
 pursuing its course partly underground. Near its 
 head once stood the renowned metropolis of the 
 Ammonites, Rabbah-Ammon. Here the iron bed- 
 stead which bespoke the strength and size of the 
 gigantic king of Bashan was preserved as a memorial, 
 after his death. The city appears to have consisted of 
 two parts, one of which containing the royal residence, 
 was built in the bed of the stream, which thus en- 
 compassed it. "When David's general, Joab, besieged 
 it, he succeeded, after a tedious blockade, in taking 
 this " city of waters," on which he sent for the king, 
 that he might have the honour, in his own person, 
 of taking that part which was properly the city. Thus 
 this noble metropolis, with the country of which it 
 was the capital, fell into David's hands, together 
 with immense spoil, among which the royal crown 
 of the kings of Ammon is mentioned, the weight 
 (or value ?) of which with its precious stones, was a
 
 PEESENT DESOLATION. 255 
 
 talent of gold, 5,500 of our money, according to 
 tlie present value of the precious metals. 
 
 The city was rebuilt by Ptolemy Philadelphus with 
 much magnificence, and received from him the name 
 of Philadelphia. But Jehovah had predicted its 
 ruin ; by the prophet Ezekiel He had pronounced 
 that Rabbah of the Ammonites should be a desolate 
 heap ; that He would make her a stable for camels, 
 and a couching-place for flocks. Travellers tell us 
 how literally this is fulfilled. Burckhardt actually 
 found a party of Arabs stabling their camels in the 
 ruins of Rabbah. Mr. Buckingham, speaking of a 
 building among the ruins, and constructed out of the 
 remains of yet older buildings, says, " On entering it 
 we came to an open square court, with arched recesses 
 on each side These were originally open pas- 
 sages, and had arched door-ways facing each other ; 
 but the first of these was found wholly closed up, 
 and the last was partially filled up, leaving only a 
 narrow passage, just sufficient for the entrance of 
 one man, and of the goats, which the Arab keepers 
 drive in here occasionally for shelter during the 
 night." This traveller lay down among flocks of 
 sheep and goats, close beside the ruins of Ammon ; 
 and particularly remarks that, during the night, he 
 was almost entirely prevented from sleeping by the 
 bleating of flocks.* At every step in this once 
 populous region there are the vestiges of ancient 
 cities, the ruins of magnificent temples, public edi- 
 fices and Greek churches ; but all are desolate. 
 
 * Buckingham's Arab Tribes, p. 72.
 
 VIII. 
 THE RIYER ARNON. 
 
 THE WADY MOJEB. Picturesque Ravine Wild Beast Gazelle. 
 THE BORDER OF MOAB. Defeat of Sihon Aroer The City in the 
 
 River Interesting Egyptian Record. 
 THE DOOM OF MOAB. The Prophecy The present Fulfilment 
 
 Wanders in Misery. 
 
 THIS is one of the streams whose waters help to fill 
 the deep and dreadful gulf that forms the Dead Sea. 
 It rises in the mountains to the east of that lake, 
 and is formed by the confluence of three minor 
 streams. It was pre-eminently the river of Moab, and 
 at length constituted the frontier of that country, 
 dividing it from the territory of the tribe of Reuben ; 
 it is now known to the Arabs by the name of the 
 Mojeb, a word which bears no small resemblance to 
 Moab. 
 
 We have fewer modern notices of this river than 
 of most others, as it has been rarely visited by tra- 
 vellers. In many respects, however, it appears to 
 resemble the Jabbok, especially in flowing through a 
 narrow precipitous gorge of wild sublimity. Burck- 
 hardt crossed it in July, about twenty miles from its 
 mouth, and thus describes its appearance : " The view 
 which the Modjeb presents is very striking. From the 
 
 236
 
 THE WADY MOJEB. 
 
 bottom where the river runs through a narrow strip of 
 verdant level, about forty yards across, the steep and 
 barren banks rise to a great height covered with 
 immense blocks of stone, which have rolled down 
 from the upper strata ; so that when viewed from 
 above, the valley looks like a deep chasm, formed by 
 some tremendous convulsion of the earth, into which 
 there seems no possibility of descending to the bot- 
 tom. The distance from the edge of one precipice 
 to that of the opposite one is about two miles in a 
 straight line. We descended the northern bank of 
 the Wady by a foot-path which winds among the 
 broken masses of rock, dismounting on account of 
 the steepness of the road. There are three fords 
 across the Modjeb, of which we took that the most 
 frequented. I had never felt such suifocating heat 
 as I experienced in this valley, from the concentrated 
 rays of the sun, and their reflection from the rocks. 
 We were thirty-five minutes in reaching the bottom. 
 The river, which flows in a rocky bed, was almost 
 dried up ; but its bed bears evident marks of its im- 
 petuosity during the rainy season; the shattered 
 fragments of large pieces of rock which had been 
 broken from the banks nearest the river, and carried 
 along by the torrent, being deposited at a consider- 
 able height above the present channel of the stream. 
 A few defle and willow-trees grow on its banks."* 
 
 The steep and narrow valley here described be- 
 comes more steep and narrow as it approaches the 
 Dead Sea ; and, in the latter part of its course, forms 
 a gorge about a hundred feet wide, the sides of which 
 have almost the regularity of perpendicular walls. 
 
 * Burckhardt'a Travels, p. 372.
 
 258 
 
 THE RIVER ARNON. 
 
 The American expedition, viewing its mouth from 
 the sea, went on shore to examine it, and spent a 
 night in the dark and lonely recess. The river has 
 formed a delta of soil around the entrance, through 
 which it flows to the sea. Within the chasm it is about 
 eighty-four feet broad, so that it occupies almost 
 
 the whole width, leaving only a narrow bank ; it is, 
 however, fordable, being only four feet deep at the 
 utmost, in the beginning of May. The walls of the 
 ravine are formed of red, brown, and yellow sand-
 
 WILD BEASTS. GAZELLE. 259 
 
 stone; those on the south side being mingled red 
 and yellow, but those on the north a soft rich red ; 
 they are worn by the winter rains into the most fan- 
 tastic forms, not unlike Egyptian architecture, as 
 will be seen by the engraving, which, by the courtesy 
 of its liberal publisher, we are permitted to copy 
 from the narrative of the expedition, entitled, " The 
 Jordan and the Dead Sea." Captain Lynch found 
 it difficult to believe that some were not the 
 work of art. He walked and waded some distance 
 up the gorge, and found it uniform in width, gradu- 
 ally bending to the south-east, so as to limit the view 
 at any time to 150 or 200 yards. Though the sides 
 appear perpendicular there must be some passage or 
 track down the cliffs, for the travellers observed the 
 footsteps of camels, and marks of an Arab encamp- 
 ment. A gun which they fired reverberated finely 
 against the sides, like repeated and long-continued 
 peals of loud thunder, startling the birds from their 
 nestling places. They observed the tracks of many 
 wild beasts, and among them those of a large feline 
 animal, which Captain Lynch calls the Tiger, but 
 which was probably the leopard, as the tiger is not 
 found in "Western Asia. They saw also the footsteps 
 of many gazelles, and the body of a dead one.* 
 
 This beautiful animal (Antilope Ardbica) is highly 
 characteristic of Palestine, where it is found in 
 almost all parts of the country, but chiefly in wild, 
 barren and rocky wastes. Its colour is a yellowish 
 brown, its form is graceful, its motions elegant and 
 sprightly, and its large languishing dark eye, so soft 
 and swimming, is the very symbol of beauty. It is 
 
 * Jordan and Dead Sea, p. 368.
 
 260 
 
 THE BIVEK AKNON. 
 
 the " Roe" of the Scriptures, which so often affords 
 images of activity and grace. Excessively wild and 
 
 timid, the gazelles associate in large herds, in which 
 one acts the part of a sentinel to warn his fellows of
 
 BORDER OF MOAB. 261 
 
 approaching danger ; when they dart away, bounding 
 over the rocks, and leaping from crag to crag with 
 the fleetness of the wind. When taken young, they 
 readily become familiar, and their beauty and play- 
 fulness render them favourites with the Oriental 
 ladies. Thus Moore, with his usual truth to nature, 
 makes Lalla Kookh say : 
 
 " I never nursed a dear gazelle 
 
 To glad me with its soft black eye, 
 But when it came to know me well, 
 And love me, it was sure to die." 
 
 NUMBERS XXI. 
 
 IT was at the Amon that Israel began to possess 
 their land. For though the country east of the 
 Jordan had not been originally promised to them, 
 yet as the kings of this region chose to assault the 
 (to them unoffending) strangers, the conquest of 
 their lands was the result. The people were forbid- 
 den to make war upon Moab, but as the Amorites 
 had some time before dispossessed the Moabites of 
 that portion of their territory which lay north of 
 the Arnon, this region was not now included in the 
 prohibition. The Amorites met Israel at Jahaz, 
 a few miles north of the Arnon. It was the first 
 time that the latter had seen war, those who had 
 formerly engaged Amalek being now all passed 
 away ; yet, strong in the strength of Jehovah, they 
 discomfited their adversaries, and slew Sihon the 
 Amoritish king, and possessed his country extending 
 from the Arnon to the Jabbok.
 
 262 THE RIVER ARNON. 
 
 Hence this first conquest became a sort of type of 
 the whole, and was commemorated in a poetical com- 
 position, called " The Book of the Wars of Jehovah," 
 the subject of which was " What He did in the Red 
 Sea, and in the brooks of Arnon." 
 
 It was to a city in the north of Arnon that Balak 
 came to meet Balaam, when he had induced the 
 Syrian prophet to visit him for the purpose of cursing 
 Israel. But their gracious Lord turned the curse 
 into a blessing. 
 
 Possibly, this city was Aroer, which was situated 
 on the north side of the river. Burckhardt found its 
 ruins on the edge of the precipice th#t overlooks 
 the Arnon, and the ancient name is still preserved, 
 with scarcely any modification, Araayr. But, like 
 Kabbah, this city consisted of two parts, one on 
 the bank, the other in the bed, of the stream ; for 
 we find repeated mention of " the city that is in the 
 midst of the river," in conjunction with " Aroer 
 that is on the bank of the river Arnon."* It is an 
 extremely interesting fact, that in the great paintings 
 of the Egyptian wars, which have been recently 
 brought to light, there is an event recorded which 
 seems to apply to this city. It is the representation 
 of the war which took place in the fifth year of 
 Rameses Nei-amoun, between the Egyptians and the 
 Shetha, a people whom Mr. Osburn has in a very 
 convincing manner identified with the Moabites, 
 called "children of Sheth" by Balaam in Numb, 
 xxiv. 17. The period of the scene seems to have 
 been the year 1473 B.C. of our common Biblical 
 
 * Josh. xiii. 9, 16. (See also 2 Sam. xxiv. 5.)
 
 INTERESTING EGYPTIAN RECOKD. 263 
 
 chronology, or about eighteen years after Israel had 
 crossed the Red Sea. 
 
 The Shetha, in this great picture, are represented 
 as laying siege to a fortress garrisoned by a people 
 in alliance with the Egyptians, to whom the latter 
 had applied for succour. The besieging army is seen 
 investing the city, which is strongly fortified. A 
 body of infantry drawn up in three close phalanxes 
 of 8,000 men each, before the walls of the besieged 
 city, turn to receive the attack of the Egyptian 
 king, who has marched to raise the siege. This he 
 effects, and takes the camp of the besiegers. 
 
 In this action, which, from the elaborate manner 
 in which it is depicted, and from its repetition, was 
 evidently considered as of importance, the city is 
 represented as standing on cm island in the midst of 
 a river, and connected with the shore by bridges. 
 "We need not say, how exactly this agrees with the 
 position of the Moabitish city Aroer;,and the event 
 recorded may have been an attempt made by Moab 
 to recover this their own city, which, as we learn 
 from Scripture, the Amorites had about this period 
 taken from them. Their failure also well agrees with 
 the fact, that at the time of the arrival of the children 
 of Israel, the city Aroer still continued in the pos- 
 session of the Amorites. 
 
 JEREMIAH XLVin. ISAIAH XVI. XVn. 
 
 THE pride and arrogance of Moab in later times 
 provoked the anger of Jehovah, who by his prophets 
 denounced its desolation : " Moab shall be destroyed
 
 264 THE RIVEK ARNON. 
 
 from being a people, because he hath magnified 
 himself against the Lord. The cities of Aroer are 
 forsaken; they shall be for flocks, which shall lie 
 down, and none shall make them afraid. Moab shall 
 be a perpetual desolation." " The days come, that 
 I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him 
 to wander, and shall empty his vessels." " O ye 
 that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the 
 rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest 
 in the sides of the hole's mouth." "As a wandering 
 bird cast out of the nest, so- the daughters of Moab 
 shall be at the fords of Arnon." 
 
 How minutely this has been fulfilled Oriental 
 travellers have abundantly shown. The wandering 
 Bedouins roam over the waste that was once thickly 
 covered with cities, and, plundering the fruits of 
 industry, whenever they are produced, compel the 
 miserable inhabitants to wander elsewhere in search 
 of a subsistence which the fruitful soil would yield 
 them in abundance. Volney remarks that the 
 wretched peasants live in perpetual dread of losing 
 their harvests, which they have no sooner gathered 
 in than they hasten to secure them in private places, 
 and retire among the rocks which border on the 
 Dead Sea.* And at the other extremity of the land 
 of Moab, Seetzen found many families living in 
 caverns, whom he designates, in Scriptural language, 
 " the inhabitants of the rocks."f Near the ruined 
 Heshbon, there are many artificial caves in a long 
 range of perpendicular cliffs, in some of which are 
 chambers and small sleeping-rooms. Burckhardt 
 thus describes the miserable descendants of Moab, 
 
 * Volney'a Trav. vol. ii. p. 344. t Seetzen's Trav. p. 26.
 
 WANDERERS IN MISERY. 265 
 
 whom he found in the Wady Wale, one of the 
 tributaries of the Arnon. " They wander about in 
 misery, have very few horses, and are not able to feed 
 any flocks of sheep or goats. . . . Their tents are very 
 wretched ; both men and women go almost naked, 
 the former being only covered round the waist, and 
 the women [the daughters of Moah at the fords of 
 Arnon] wearing nothing but a loose shirt hanging 
 in rags about them !" * 
 
 * Burckhardt, p. 370. 
 
 12
 
 IX. 
 
 THE BROOK ZERED. 
 
 THE BOUNDARY OF THE DESERT. Doubtful Identity Es Saideh 
 Beni Hamed Wady Ahsa Mount Seir The Faithless Spies 
 The Forty Years' Wandering. 
 
 DEUTERONOMY II. 13, 14. 
 
 THE identity of this stream has not been fully esta- 
 blished. Some have supposed it to be the modern 
 Es Saideh, a tributary of the Arnon, on the south 
 side. Others have found it in the Beni Hamed, an 
 inconsiderable torrent, not more than six or seven 
 miles long, which rising near the ruins of the ancient 
 Rabbah Moab, falls into the Dead Sea, near the 
 bottom of its eastern bay. But it has been lately, 
 with more probability, assigned to the Wady Ahsa, 
 the largest stream that flows into the shallow 
 area at the southern extremity of the Sea. The 
 course of this river is about thirty-five miles, from its 
 rise near Kulat el Ahsy to its mouth just opposite 
 the dreary salt-mountain of Usdum. An extensive 
 plain, very slightly rising inland, covered with ver- 
 dure, all unwonted in this vicinity, but terminating 
 seaward in a broad bank of soft mud, is intersected
 
 THE FAITHLESS SPIES. 267 
 
 by the stream at the termination of its course, which 
 for the most part lies through the dark frowning 
 rocks of Edom, the ancient Mount Seir. Bugged 
 as these mountains are, however, they have not the 
 terrible barrenness of those to the west of the Ara- 
 bah ; though they are more lofty. Their sides are 
 studded with clumps of trees ; and the valleys are 
 full of shrubs and flowers, with a good deal of land 
 under cultivation. 
 
 The Brook Zered is mentioned only in connexion 
 with the termination of the Desert journey of the 
 children of Israel. It appears to have formed the 
 boundary between the fertile and populous land of 
 Moab, and the Desert of Arabia. 
 
 After the people who had been brought out of 
 Egypt had sojourned in the wilderness about two 
 years, and had received the law of God, with all its 
 elaborate ordinances and ceremonial, they came to 
 the southern border of the land, whence spies were 
 sent to search the country. The evil report, which 
 the faithless timidity of most of them gave, acting 
 on the unbelief of the host, caused a mutiny, (osten- 
 sibly against Moses, but really against Jehovah,) 
 that shut the whole of that generation out from ever 
 entering into the Land of Promise. Jehovah sware 
 in his wrath, that they should not enter into his 
 rest, commanding the host to turn again into the 
 wilderness, and announcing his irrevocable decree, 
 that not one of that whole number, from twenty 
 years old and upward, should see the good land 
 which they had thus despised, except Joshua and 
 Caleb, the faithful spies. Forty days had been occu- 
 pied in searching the land ; and, therefore, forty
 
 268 THE BROOK ZERED. 
 
 years, each day answering to a year, shall the people 
 wander in the dreary desert, until the whole of that 
 unbelieving generation be taken away by death. 
 
 At length the period passed away ; and by the 
 faithfulness of Jehovah, Israel were brought to the 
 Brook Zered, just thirty-eight years after the time 
 when the spies returned to the camp at Kadesh- 
 barnea ; and it was found that all the generation 
 of the men of war were wasted out from among the 
 host, as the Lord sware unto them. 
 
 The Lord is true to his threatenings as well as to 
 his promises ; unbelief as eflfectually shuts us up to 
 the former as it shuts us out from the latter. Blessed 
 tidings of a prepared rest have been proclaimed 
 to us also, but those alone who believe " do enter 
 into rest." " Let us labour, therefore, to enter into 
 that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of 
 unbelief." For " this is the work of God, that we 
 believe on Him whom He hath sent."
 
 X. 
 
 THE BKOOK CHERITH. 
 
 ELIJAH'S RETIREMENT. Brook near Bethshan Wady Kelt Jericho 
 Caverns The Brook Drought The Judgment of Apostasy 
 Obedience The Ravens A Trial of Faith An Encouragement 
 of Faith Solitude with God. 
 
 I KINGS XVII. 
 
 MODERN researches in Biblical Geography have suc- 
 ceeded in identifying many localities of high interest, 
 that until lately were doubtful, or altogether un- 
 known. Yet, much still remains to be done ; and, 
 perhaps, not a few places of note in history may be 
 lost, beyond the possibility'of recovery. The inter- 
 esting scene of Elijah's retirement from the fury 
 of Ahab, the wicked king of Samaria, is one of 
 those which we cannot at present determinately 
 appropriate. Local traditions had placed it at a 
 brook on the east side of Jordan, flowing into that 
 river at a point a few miles below the ford at 
 Bethshan. Dr. Kitto, in his notes in the Pictorial 
 Bible, observes that if Elijah had been apprehensive 
 of Ahab's persecution, he would probably not have 
 been satisfied without interposing the Jordan between
 
 270 THE BROOK CHERITH. 
 
 himself and his pursuers. The phrase " before 
 Jordan," which is used to designate the locality of 
 the Brook Cherith, he considers as favouring this 
 belief ; the term " before," usually signifying " east- 
 ward of." " The district is finely broken into hill 
 and vale ; and being well wooded, and caverns being 
 formed in the sides of some of the hills, it furnished 
 as secure a retreat to the fugitive prophet as could 
 be well selected, unless he had retired to the moun- 
 tains or deserts on the outskirts of the kingdom." * 
 
 But in a later publication this learned com- 
 mentator favours the identification of the Brook 
 Cherith with the Wady Kelt, in the vicinity of 
 Jericho, suggested by Professor Robinson ; and the 
 evidence, we think, preponderates for this appropria- 
 tion. Josephus expressly says that the prophet 
 retired to the southern parts of the country ; and 
 local tradition has generally (though not uniformly) 
 placed the scene to the west of the Jordan. Nor 
 would the situation be less secured from Ahab's 
 fury, than the country beyond the river ; for this 
 locality was situate in the kingdom of Judah, and 
 consequently out of the jurisdiction of the Samaritan 
 monarch. The word rendered " before," sometimes 
 signifies " towards," which would agree as well with 
 this supposition as the former ; and, finally, the 
 resemblance of the modern to the ancient name is 
 no slight point in the evidence, f 
 
 * Pict. Bib. in loco. 
 
 T " The Arabic form Kelt, and the Hebrew Cherith are, indeed, not 
 exactly the same ; though the change from Resh to Lam, and that 
 of Kaph into Koph are sometimes found. See Gesenius's Heb. Lex." 
 (Note to Dr. Robinson's Bibl. Res. vol. ii. p. 289.)
 
 JERICHO. 271 
 
 The stream called the Kelt receives contributions 
 from a great number of winter torrents that wind 
 among the hills to the west of the plain of Jericho. 
 It is itself but a torrent, dry in summer; but in 
 winter it pours a large body of water out of a deep 
 and gloomy gorge in the mountains, and winds 
 brawling along its rocky bed through the plain, till 
 it enters the Jordan. About two miles below its 
 emergence from the mountains, it passes a castle and 
 modern village, which bear the name of Riha or 
 Eriha, a degenerate representative, both in name 
 and character, of the ancient Jericho. " One single 
 solitary palm now timidly rears its head, where once 
 stood the renowned city of palm-trees." North of 
 the stream, a lofty mountain lifts its bold preci- 
 pitous front, naked and rugged, with a chapel on the 
 very summit. Tradition reports that this was the 
 "exceeding high mountain," which witnessed the 
 temptation of our blessed Lord; that from hence 
 the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world 
 and the glory of them, in a moment of time. 
 
 The mountains from which this Brook issues are 
 mostly precipitous in their character. They are 
 chiefly composed of indurated chalk, often presenting 
 large beds and slopes in a loose form, and absolutely 
 barren. The strata frequently protrude in various 
 broken and fantastic masses ; while the faces of the 
 ravines are everywhere pierced with natural and 
 artificial caves. The whole region, so wild and almost 
 inaccessible, is well calculated to afford a secure 
 retirement to one desirous of avoiding a persecuting 
 enemy. Perhaps here were concealed the Lord's 
 prophets, hidden by the faithful Obadiah from Jeze-
 
 272 THE BROOK CHERITH. 
 
 bel's fury, and fed with bread and water ; and here, 
 perhaps, the sighs and tears of many others of the 
 Lord's hidden ones may have ascended to heaven ; 
 men of whom the world was not worthy ; who yet 
 were driven out as vagabonds to wander in deserts, 
 and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.* 
 
 Far up in the heart of this ravine, shut in by the 
 grey and mossy cliffs that almost meet overhead, sits 
 a venerable man clothed in the coarsest attire, a 
 garment of black camel's hair, bound with a leathern 
 girdle. At his feet the brook runs in its stony bed, 
 making perpetual music as it frets and foams among 
 the rocky masses that lie in its channel. Stern and 
 frowning as are the huge precipices, rent with many 
 a fissure and yawning cave, the bottom of the gorge 
 is not unpleasant ; for a narrow belt of verdure runs 
 up on each side of the crystal brook, and now and 
 then expands into little grassy slopes, shadowed with 
 bushes. At the back of one of these miniature 
 lawns, is the mouth of a cavern, so well concealed 
 from view by a projection of the rock, and by the 
 luxuriant creeping plants that hang in verdant fes- 
 toons over it, as to afford a secure retreat. Here, 
 seated on a block of smooth stone, is the witness for 
 Jehovah against Israel, the prophet Elijah. 
 
 The refreshing coolness and verdure of this spot 
 afford a remarkable contrast to the condition of the 
 country around. For many months there has been 
 neither rain nor dew in the land of Israel ; the 
 heavens above have been as brass, and the earth 
 as iron. The sun day after day pours down his 
 burning rays without the shadow of a cloud to miti- 
 
 * Heb. xi. 38.
 
 THE JUDGMENT OF APOSTASY. 273 
 
 gate the heat ; the winter rains that used fc> fill the 
 brooks have entirely failed ; and the vivifying element, 
 at a time when every valley and dell used to be 
 overflowing with water, is found only in a few per- 
 manent rivers, which are themselves so diminished 
 as to arouse the fear that they soon will fail and dry 
 up also. 
 
 The land that used to be covered with green 
 pastures and fields of corn is almost like the barren 
 desert; the fig-trees and the olives have cast their 
 half-formed abortive fruits ; the vines are withered 
 on the terraces ; many of the cattle have already 
 died, and the few that remain fill the torrid air with 
 their mournful bleatings and lowings for that which 
 they cannot obtain. Famine is already stalking 
 through the land, and the inhabitants are almost 
 dependent for water on the wells, whence they have 
 to fetch it from long distances, at great expense and 
 labour. 
 
 Why is it that God's chosen people in this their 
 own goodly land are suffering hunger and thirst? 
 Because they have turned aside from Jehovah. They 
 have forsaken his covenant, thrown down his altars, 
 and slain his prophets with the sword ; true worship 
 is almost ceased out of the land ; they have followed 
 Baalim, and are mad upon their idols. Elijah saw 
 all this, and his spirit was stirred within him ; he 
 looked round in vain for righteousness and truth ; 
 the faithful were minished from among the children 
 of men ; he saw the fearful alienation, the terrible 
 apostasy, and wept over it : he did more, " he prayed 
 earnestly." He saw that nothing but strong measures 
 would avail, and, therefore, from his home in the 
 12*
 
 274 THE BROOK CHEEITH. 
 
 
 
 mountains of Gilead he prayed earnestly for severe 
 chastisement upon Israel, that Jehovah's rod might 
 bring them back to Himself. And then he girded 
 himself for testimony; and in guilty Samaria, in 
 the presence of the apostate Ahab, the faithful 
 Tishbite denounced the solemn, yet merciful judg- 
 ment that his prayers had drawn down upon the 
 sinful nation, the people laden with iniquity. " As 
 the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, 
 there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but 
 according to my word." 
 
 But did Elijah take any pleasure in witnessing the 
 sufferings of his people? Surely no. But- as a 
 skilful physician administers many a sharp pain in 
 order to overcome a deep-seated disease, so the 
 servant of God knew that no temporal calamities 
 were worthy to be named, in comparison with the 
 forfeiture of God's favour. It was "to turn the 
 hearts of the children to the fathers," to bring Israel 
 back to God in weeping, and mourning, and godly 
 repentance, that he asked for judgment, lest Jehovah 
 " should come and smite the earth with a curse." 
 
 Having delivered his message, the prophet was 
 commanded to hide himself from the malice of the 
 unrepenting king, and by withdrawing himself from 
 the people augment the calamities about to befal 
 them. The Brook Oherith is the place which Jehovah 
 has appointed for his servant, and thither in the 
 spirit of obedience he is gone. Perhaps it is needful 
 for Elijah himself, that he should withdraw into 
 private communion with God, after having taken 
 such a position before Israel, lest he should exalt 
 himself, and forget his own nothingness.
 
 A TRIAL OF FAITH. 275 
 
 But how is the prophet to subsist in^ch a place, 
 far from the haunts of men, especially when famine 
 is every where around ? For this his Lord provides. 
 He assures his servant that his wants shall be sup- 
 plied, though in a way strange to man's expectation. 
 " / ha/ve commanded the ravens to feed thee there !" 
 Elijah hears ; and with this precious promise of 
 God, he at once betakes himself to the lonely valley, 
 the sombre glens of which are from this time forth 
 to be his solitary but not cheerless abode. 
 
 And here we have seen him ; content alike to 
 stand forth as the single champion for God in the 
 face of an apostate nation, and to be laid aside in 
 silence and solitude. Elijah knows that the path of 
 obedience is to the creature the only path of happi- 
 ness. " This is true in the case of all, but specially 
 so as regards those who stand in the capacity of 
 ministers of the Lord. Such must walk in obedience 
 if they would be used in ministry. . . . The word of 
 the Lord, and the attentive ear of a servant, are all 
 we need to carry us safely and happily onward." 
 
 Yet, it is a trial of faith : nothing but strong faith 
 can support the prophet under such circumstances. 
 The flesh, of course, would rebel ; would murmur 
 at the apparent uselessness of spending life there ; 
 at the waste of time ; at the solitude ; at the lack of 
 earthly resources ; at the probabilities of famine. 
 The brook Cherith still flows, it is true, but how 
 soon may this be dried up ! The ravens daily sup- 
 ply the bread and flesh ; but what if the ravens 
 should fail ? To this the man of God has but one 
 shield to present ; it is faith in the promise. " I 
 have commanded," saith the Lord ; and therefore
 
 276 THE BROOK CHERITH. 
 
 Elijah's e^^is not upon the ravens, nor upon the 
 brook, but upon his faithful Lord. 
 
 But the lonely residence in the remote ravine 
 of Cherith, if it was a trial, was also a great 
 encouragement of Elijah's faith. To see day after 
 day, and month after month, the crystal waters of 
 the mountain stream freshly flowing, when he knew 
 that other streams had long ago been dried up, to 
 look on the green turf of that verdant valley, and 
 inhale the fragrance of its sweet flowers, when, 
 through the whole land besides, the dusty ground 
 was gaping for l&ck of moisture, and fruit and 
 flowers were not, to see morning by morning 
 the ravens come flapping their sable wings down 
 the narrow valley, and then, having deposited their 
 burden of bread and flesh, depart to return again 
 in the evening, surely all this must have called 
 forth continual praises, and greatly strengthened his 
 trust in God. 
 
 What lessons of the power, love and faithfulness 
 of Jehovah must Elijah have learned in his peaceful 
 retirement ! For more than a year he sojourned at 
 the brook Cherith, sustained thus every day, by what 
 we may, almost without a figure, call bread from 
 heaven ! " And who would be without those sweet 
 and holy lessons learned in secret ? "Who would lack 
 the training of a Father's hand ? Who would not 
 long to be led away from beneath the eye of man, 
 and above the influence of things earthly and natural, 
 into the pure light of the Divine presence, where 
 self and all around are viewed and estimated accord- 
 ing to the judgment of the sanctuary ? In a word, 
 who would not desire to be alone with God alone,
 
 SOLITUDE WITH GOD. 277 
 
 not as a merely sentimental expression, but really, 
 practically, and experimentally alone : alone, like 
 Moses at the mount of God ; alone, like Aaron in 
 the holiest of all; alone, like our prophet at the 
 Brook Cherith ; alone, like John in the island of 
 Patmos ; alone, like Jesus on the mount ? It is to 
 have self and the world set aside to have the spirit 
 impressed with thoughts of -God and his perfections 
 and excellences to allow all his goodness to pass 
 before us to see him as the great Actor for us, and 
 in us to get above flesh and its reasonings, earth 
 and its ways, Satan and his accusations and, above 
 all, to feel that we have been introduced into this 
 holy solitude, simply and exclusively through the 
 precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. These are 
 some of the results of being alone with God." * 
 
 * Life and Times of Elijah, p. 27. (Bath, 1850.)
 
 xr. 
 
 THE BKOOK KIDRON. 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY. The Valley of Jehoshaphat Jewish Tombs Gloomy 
 
 Ravine Convent of Mar Saba Flowers The Cony. 
 THE CHASTISEMENT OF DAVID. His Grievous Fall The Rebellion of 
 
 Absalom Ahithophel The Weeping King Sin in Believers. 
 THE BURNING OF IDOLS. Israel's Apostasy Godly Kings of Judah 
 
 Asa Josiah's Reformation. 
 GETHSEMANE. The Agony and Bloody Sweat The Suretyship of 
 
 Jesus Resurrection Present State of the Garden. 
 
 come now to speak of that stream which few 
 persons will scruple to designate as the most inter- 
 esting in the world. The Jordan is a far more 
 imposing river, and its history, like that of many 
 other of the Sacred Streams of which these pages 
 treat, is a history of miracle, while no direct mi- 
 raculous interposition marks the Kidron. Yet, asso- 
 ciated as it is with Jerusalem and Gethsemane, with 
 the sorrows of David, and with the agony of Jesus, 
 a halo of radiance encircles the Kidron, that belongs 
 to none other, even of the rivers of Palestine. 
 
 Jerusalem is half enclosed by this stream, which, 
 rising about half a mile from its north-west corner^ 
 winds round the north and east sides of the city, 
 receiving the brook Gihon at the south-east corner,
 
 GLOOMY KAVINE. 279 
 
 after which it passes off by a precipitous ravine to 
 the Dead Sea. In general it is but the dry bed 
 of a winter torrent, which is not always filled even 
 during the rainy .season. Dr. Robinson's remarks 
 would imply that the presence of water in the ravine 
 is rare, and considers, that even in ancient times, 
 it was no more abundant than at present. Mr. Rae 
 Wilson, however, found it in a different condition. 
 "When he visited it there appeared to be a regular 
 stream of water in the channel, the ground having 
 been saturated by the autumnal rains, and he states 
 that it often rushes with great impetuosity. Indeed, 
 the very existence of a bridge over it, appears to be 
 a sufficient indication, that at particular seasons this 
 brook is with difficulty, if at all, fordable. 
 
 The ravine, through the bottom of which the Ki- 
 dron flows, is at its commencement merely a slight 
 depression between the hill Scopus and the city, 
 which gradually deepens, until it becomes a gloomy 
 valley ; on one side of which rises the Mount of 
 Olives, and on the other the steep cliffs of Moriah, 
 with its summit crowned by the wall of Jerusalem. 
 This ravine is now commonly known as the Valley 
 of Jehoshaphat ; but the application of this name to 
 it seems to be comparatively modern. 
 
 The sides of this glen are crowded with innu- 
 merable tombs ; for this has been from time imme- 
 morial the Jewish burying-place. To lay his bones 
 with those of his fathers in the Valley of Jehosha- 
 phat is the dearest ambition of the exiled son of 
 Abraham ; for which he is often content to travel 
 from the ends of the earth, and to spend the re- 
 mainder of his sorrowful days at Jerusalem in poverty
 
 280 
 
 THE BROOK KTORON. 
 
 and contempt. For in this valley he believes that 
 Jehovah will by and by sit in judgment upon the 
 nations ; in that great controversy, the issue of which 
 will be, that " Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jeru- 
 salem from generation to generation." 
 
 The lower course of the Kidron lies throTigh a 
 gloomy gorge of singularly wild character, which has 
 not been often traced by travellers. Dr. Wilson 
 says, it is deep, romantic, and desolate throughout. 
 About midway it divides into two branches, leaving 
 a sort of chalky island between them ; but these 
 a^ain meet at about a mile distant.
 
 THE VALLEY OF FIRE. 281 
 
 On the very brink of this " fearful and wonderful 
 ravine," not very far from midway between Jerusalem 
 and the Dead Sea, stands the Convent of Mar Saba ; 
 said to have been built about the beginning of the 
 fifth century. It consists of " a congeries of erections 
 on different levels, of various forms, and of unequal 
 altitude, the highest being a watch-tower, and a 
 tower of defence against the Arabs." It contains an 
 establishment of Greek monks, who afford hospitality 
 both to travellers and to the native inhabitants who 
 seek it. The sides of the rugged precipices which 
 form the chasm, running down to an immense depth, 
 are perforated with innumerable caverns, where once 
 thousands of ascetics resided ; a sort of troglodyte city. 
 A tradition is preserved in the convent, that 80,000 
 of these hermits were massacred by the Saracens ! 
 
 The remainder of this " horrible ravine" seems to 
 be of the same character. Captain Lynch lately 
 entered it from the shores of the Dead Sea, and 
 traversed it upwards to Jerusalem. It is called in its 
 lower course the Yalley of Fire ; it is shut in, on each 
 side, by high barren cliffs of chalky limestone, which, 
 while they exclude the air, throw their reverberated 
 heat upon the traveller. The torrent-bed is inter- 
 rupted by boulders, and covered with fragments- of 
 stone. " The sight, from the bottom of the ravine, is 
 one well calculated to inspire awe. The chasm is here 
 [in the vicinity of the convent] about 600 feet wide 
 and 400 deep, a broad deep gorge, or fissure, between 
 lofty mountains, the steep and barren sides of which 
 are furrowed by the winter rains. The numerous 
 excavations present a most singular appearance."* 
 
 * The Dead Sea and the Jordan, p. 387.
 
 282 
 
 THE BROOK KIDRON. 
 
 Even in this yawning gulf some traces of loveli- 
 ness are seen. A few fig-trees fringe the bed of the 
 torrent, and gardens, with pomegranate-trees, and a 
 single palm, surround the convent. The lower parts 
 of the ravine presented a few flowers to the last- 
 mentioned travellers ; the scarlet anemone and the 
 
 The Pomegranate. 
 
 purple-blossomed thistle being the principal ones. 
 They mention fflso the white henbane, the dyer's 
 weed, the dwarf mallow, commonly called " cresses," 
 and the caper plant, believed to be the " hyssop that 
 springeth out of the wall," the unexpanded flower-
 
 THE CONY. 
 
 283 
 
 bnds of which, preserved in vinegar, are used as a 
 condiment with meat. 
 
 The locality is remarkable for an interesting ani- 
 mal, the Cony of Scripture, that " feeble folk," that 
 " make their houses in the rocks." It is the Wdbar 
 of the Arabs, the Hyrcux Syriacus of naturalists, which 
 has been only recently discovered in Palestine ; but 
 has now been seen by Dr. Wilson and by Captain 
 Lynch, and by both in this vicinity. The former 
 
 The Cony. 
 
 thus describes his discovery: "When we were ex- 
 ploring the rocks in the neighbourhood of the con- 
 vent, I was delighted to point attention to a family 
 or two of the Wabar, engaged in their gambols on 
 the heights above us. Mr. Smith and I watched
 
 284r THE BROOK KJDKON. 
 
 them narrowly, and were much amused with the 
 liveliness of their motions, and the quickness, of their 
 retreat within the clefts of the rock when they ap- 
 prehended danger. "We were, we believe, the first 
 European travellers who actually noticed this animal 
 (now universally admitted to be the Sha/phan, or 
 cony, of Scripture), within the proper bounds of the 
 Holy Land ; and we were not a little gratified by its 
 
 discovery "We climbed up to see its nest, which 
 
 was a hole in the rock comfortably lined with moss 
 and feathers, answering to the description given of the 
 cony. The specimen thus obtained, when stuffed, I 
 have had an opportunity of examining in England. 
 The preparer of the skin mistook it for a rabbit, 
 though it is of a stronger build and of a duskier 
 colour, being of a dark brown. It is entirely desti- 
 tute of a tail, and has some bristles at its mouth, 
 over its head, and down its back, along the course of 
 which there are traces of light and dark shade. In 
 its short ears, small, black and naked feet, and 
 pointed snout, it resembles the hedgehog."* 
 
 This little animal is one of great interest to the 
 scientific naturalist ; since, notwithstanding its exter- 
 nal resemblance to the Rodentia, it belongs struc- 
 turally to a very different order, the jPachydermata, 
 most of the members of which are beasts of gigantic 
 size ; as the elephant, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus. 
 Its dental system almost exactly agrees with that of 
 these vast animals ; and its skeleton might easily be 
 mistaken for that of a rhinoceros in miniature. It 
 is named Sha/phmi in Hebrew ; and seems now to be 
 known by other names besides that of Wabar. The 
 
 * Lands of the Bible, p. 28. (Edinb. 1847).
 
 THE FALL OF DAVID. 285 
 
 term Da/nwm has been used to distinguish it, and 
 Captain Lynch applies to it the uncouth appellation 
 of Bteddm. 
 
 2 SAMUEL XV. 
 
 SCARCELY any of the ancient saints of God have 
 rendered so valuable services to his church, as David 
 " the sweet psalmist of Israel." His numerous com- 
 positions, inspired by the Holy Ghost, full of fervent 
 devotion, have in all ages been dear to the children 
 of God ; have stimulated and guided their spiritual 
 affections, and afforded a vehicle for the expression 
 of their prayers and praises. Yet, on the other hand, 
 none have ever inflicted a sorer or more lasting wound 
 on the cause of God than David did in the matter of 
 Uriah the Hittite. The horrible sins into which he 
 fell must have greatly shocked the minds of the 
 godly, have been a serious stumbling-block to the 
 well-disposed and inquiring among the unconverted, 
 and have, even to this day, " given great occasion to 
 the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme," as if He 
 were not careful about holiness in his elect. Yet 
 none but the enemies of the Lord can ever make such 
 a use of this good man's fall ; for his deep and bitter 
 penitence, and tke train of heavy chastisements that 
 fell upon him thenceforward, stroke after stroke, 
 sufficiently prove that Jehovah, though He " multi- 
 plies to pardon," is yet a jealous God, who, cannot 
 look upon iniquity. The death of Bathsheba's child, 
 the defilement of Tamar, the assassination of Amnon, 
 were severe strokes, wounding him in the tenderest
 
 286 THE BKOOK KIDEON. 
 
 part, his paternal affection ; but, at length, the un- 
 natural revolt of Absalom, and the sad end of that 
 beloved but unworthy son, were more terrible than all. 
 
 The standard of rebellion unfurled at Hebron, was 
 fast gathering around Absalom the thousands of 
 Israel; so fickle and ungrateful were those over 
 whom God's king had ruled in righteousness ; at 
 length Ahithopel, the counsellor and bosom friend 
 of David, with whom " he had taken sweet counsel, 
 and walked to the house of God in company," joined 
 the insurrection. Then David felt it was time for 
 him to leave Jerusalem ; for so general was the 
 defection of the people, that he saw no safety except 
 in flight ; despairing of being able to maintain his 
 crown, and unwilling to expose the sacred city to the 
 horrors of a siege or a civil war. Doubtless, also, the 
 sense of sin was heavy upon 'his heart ; and though 
 he knew that the Lord had graciously pardoned the 
 guilt of it, as regarded eternal consequences, yet, 
 probably, the thought that all this and much more 
 evil was deserved, made him willing to take the low 
 place, and humbly yield to the chastisement, rather 
 than strive for his right. 
 
 With a few faithful ones the king leaves the gate 
 of the city where he had reigned for so many years, 
 a disconsolate fugitive ; slowly he winds round by the 
 wall, and descends into the valley' of Jehoshaphat, 
 the mournful place of tombs. He comes to the 
 Kidron, and how touching is the scene, described 
 with inimitable simplicity and truth by the divine 
 pen ! " And all the country wept with a loud voice, 
 and all the people passed over : the king also himself 
 passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people
 
 THE REBELLION OF ABSALOM. 287 
 
 passed over, toward the way of the wilderness. . . . 
 And David went up by the ascent of Mount Olivet, 
 and wept as he went wp, 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, weeping as they went u/p" 
 
 O how grievous a thing is sin in a believer ! and 
 how much sorrow does it generally entail upon him ; 
 even though, for Christ's sake, it is not imputed to 
 him for eternal condemnation. God frequently per- 
 mits the ungodly to go on in their course of evil till 
 their cup is full, and he removes them to await the 
 righteous judgment of the great day ; but if his own 
 children will walk after the flesh, He must chastise 
 them and make them smart for forsaking Him ; even 
 for their own sake, that they may learn how evil a 
 thing and bitter it is to walk contrary to Him. David 
 doubtless learned in the bitter scene at Kidron, to look 
 with more abhorrence on his own vileness ; and the 
 people would read in his sad chastisement a solemn 
 lesson, when they saw the anointed of the Lord thus 
 brought low. Let us never so abuse the grace of God 
 as to think that we can sin with impunity, or turn the 
 freeness of salvation into a cloak for licentiousness ! 
 
 1 KINGS XV. 2 KINGS XXm. 
 
 THE course of the Hebrew nation, after it had 
 passed its meridian of prosperity and glory under the 
 reign of Solomon, rapidly declined from allegiance 
 to Jehovah. The latter days of that great king were 
 not marked with the brilliancy of his early reign ;
 
 288 THE BROOK KIDKON. 
 
 the lustre that had shone around his character be- 
 came grievously clouded by apostasy to idols. The 
 two rival kingdoms into which the nation was soon 
 divided, fast sank from bad to worse ; until the 
 grossest forms of idolatry were rampant, and abomi- 
 nations were committed greater even than those 
 which defiled the nations round about. But while 
 Israel, which had willingly severed itself from even a 
 nominal adherence to the true religion, was permitted 
 to take its evil course, unredeemed by a single godly 
 king, the Lord mercifully vouchsafed to Judah many 
 pious monarchs ; who, with different degrees of zeal 
 and success, laboured to bring the people back to the 
 paths of obedience to the Law of Moses, and to the 
 worship of the living God. 
 
 Among the most eminent of these were Asa, 
 Hezekiah, and Josiah, in each of whose length- 
 ened reigns idolatry was vigorously put down. It 
 was a work of no small time and labour to search 
 out, collect, and destroy the abominable idols, 
 which, through the reign of an apostate prince, 
 had accumulated throughout the land ; especially 
 as the populace, whose hearts were " mad upon 
 their idols," not generally sharing in the convictions 
 of the pious king, would doubtless throw every 
 obstacle that they dared to raise in the way of the 
 search. On these occasions of national expurgation, 
 it appears to have been the custom to bring the 
 idolatrous symbols, when collected, to the brook 
 Kidron, and to burn them there. Thus, when 
 Asa's grandmother, Maachah, perhaps presuming 
 on her rank and age, persisted in keeping an idol 
 in a grove for herself, Asa degraded her from her
 
 GODLY KINGS OF JUDAH. 289 
 
 queenly rank, and burned her senseless god by the 
 banks of Kidron. And in Josiah's noble attempt to 
 avert the judgments threatened in the law, by a 
 thorough reformation and a national return to God, 
 he seems to have gone much farther than any of his 
 predecessors. He found not only the country gene- 
 rally, but Jerusalem, and even the Temple of the 
 Lord itself, filled with images, groves, high-places, 
 hangings, altars, vessels, and various other instru- 
 ments and symbols of demon-worship ; all of which 
 he searched out with the utmost perseverance, and 
 destroyed. The vessels made for Baal that were in 
 the Temple were burned " in the fields of Kidron," 
 and their ashes carried to Beth-el, one of the seats 
 of the calf-worship, that they might be mingled with 
 the dust of the altar and high-place there, and 
 defiled with the burned bones of men. Some of the 
 detestable objects seem to have been formed of stone 
 or marble : these were calcined at the Kidron, and 
 then, having been reduced to powder, were cast on 
 the graves of those who had worshipped them, which 
 lay numerous in the valley around. The altars were 
 beaten down, and the dust and fragments were cast 
 into the brook ; and probably the idolatrous symbols 
 made of metal were reduced to powder by a similar 
 process to that by which Moses had destroyed 
 Aaron's golden calf, and the powder strewn on the 
 brook, to be rolled down by the turbid torrent into 
 the Dead Sea fit receptacle for the defiled and 
 defiling objects. 
 
 But Josiah's efforts, laudable as they were, and 
 acceptable in the sight of God, being made in a 
 sincere zeal for his glory, availed not to turn away 
 
 13
 
 290 THE BROOK KIDBON. 
 
 the wrath that was denounced upon the nation. 
 The reformation, as regarded the bulk of the people, 
 was compulsory and hypocritical ; they still wor- 
 shipped Baal, and Moloch, and Ashtaroth, in their 
 hearts, and waited only the death of their pious and 
 energetic king to relapse again into open apostasy, 
 which immediately brought down upon them the 
 haughty Babylonian monarch, who carried them 
 away into captivity. 
 
 MATTHEW XXVI. JOHN XVIII. 
 
 Bur Kidron had yet to witness a scene of deeper 
 interest and vaster moment ; an incident to which 
 neither heaven nor earth, neither time nor eternity, 
 had ever seen a parallel. Across its torrent-bed the 
 weary feet of Jesus passed, pressed by such sorrow 
 as David never knew ; and on its shaded banks lay 
 the Brightness of the Father's glory, prostrate on 
 the earth, as " a worm and no man," while the un- 
 utterable agony of his soul wrung from his body 
 " great drops of blood falling to the ground." 
 
 All was peace and loveliness around ; Gethsemane's 
 turf was redolent with the fragrance of spring ; the 
 paschal moon, in full-orbed brightness, shone sweetly 
 through the glistering leaves of the hoary olive- 
 trees ; the night-breeze broke not the slumbers of 
 the three disciples, who slept all unconscious of their 
 blessed Master's agony : but He was battling with 
 the invisible powers of darkness, and winning, in 
 strife, and groans, and blood, the victory for his 
 redeemed Church. But there was more than bodily
 
 SURETYSHIP OF JESUS. 291 
 
 anguish, more than mental sorrow, more than the 
 power of Satan in that cup of bitterness which the 
 Holy One of God was now called to drink. It was 
 the fearful burden of imputed sin, and the dreadful 
 wrath of God which was its righteous desert. For 
 the ever-blessed Jesus, Jehovah manifested in flesh, 
 sustained the character of our Surety ; in man's 
 nature He was now bearing man's sin ; our iniquity 
 was laid upon Him; it was exacted, and He was 
 made answerable.* Thus He, who was the Holy, 
 Harmless, Undefiled, Separate from sinners, in 
 whom the Father had declared that He was well 
 pleased, was treated as a sinner. He stood of his 
 own voluntary will in the sinner's stead ; and thus 
 it pleased the Lord to bruise Him, and to put Him 
 to grief, that we, the guilty, might go free. Jehovah's 
 sword awoke and smote Jehovah's Fellow, that out 
 of his wounds and death we might get life ; even his 
 own life in resurrection. God had determined to 
 spare poor hell-deserving sinners, and therefore He 
 spared not his own Son. 
 
 Our all-perfect, spotless Surety declined not the 
 work which He had undertaken ; bitter as was the 
 cup of woe, He drank it to the very dregs. It is our 
 joy to know that the mighty work was completed ; 
 that what He began in Gethsemane He finished on 
 Calvary, to the entire satisfaction of eternal justice. 
 He hath put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, a 
 full assurance of which blessed fact God hath given 
 in that He hath raised Him from the dead. The 
 presence of Jesus, in resurrection life, at the right 
 hand of God, gives peace to the guilty conscience, 
 
 * Isa. liii. 7, Bishop Lowth's Translation.
 
 292 THE BROOK KIDKON. 
 
 because it tells that the guilt which was laid upon 
 the Surety is upon Him no more; He has left it 
 behind Him buried for ever in his grave. 
 
 Dear reader ! have you ever by faith seen your 
 part in this astonishing transaction ? Can you look 
 on Jesus as bearing yowr load of guilt in the garden 
 and on the cross ? And can you look up with joy to 
 the heavenly glory, and behold Him there as your 
 risen living Head ? If not, may it be your privilege to 
 find Him, even the Crucified, in these simple pages ! 
 
 It may be interesting to trace the present state of 
 the garden where the Lord Jesus sustained his 
 agony. Every traveller to Jerusalem visits it, of 
 course, and every writer describes it. We abridge 
 the note of Dr. Robinson, on the hallowed spot. 
 " Passing down the steep hill from the gate of St. 
 Stephen into the valley of the Kidron, and crossing 
 the bridge over the dry water-course, . . . near 
 the bridge, on the right, is the place fixed on by 
 early tradition as the site of the Garden of Geth- 
 semane. It is a plot of ground nearly square, en- 
 closed by an ordinary stone wall. . . . Within 
 this enclosure are eight very old olive-trees,* with 
 stones thrown together around their trunks. There 
 
 * Chateaubriand's argument respecting the age of the olive-trees 
 in Gethsemane is ingenious. He infers that they must be at least 
 as old as the fall of the Eastern Empire, because the Turks, at the 
 conquest, laid a tax of one medine on every olive-tree then growing, 
 while every olive-tree raised since that time is taxed at half its produce. 
 Now, he states that the eight olive-trees of Gethsemane are charged 
 only the one medine each.
 
 PRESENT STATE OF THE GARDEN. 293 
 
 is nothing peculiar in this plot to mark it as Geth- 
 semane : for adjacent to it are other similar enclo- 
 sures, and many olive-trees equally old 
 
 Giving myself up to the impressions of the moment, 
 I sat down here for a time alone, beneath one of the 
 aged trees. All was silent and solitary around ; only 
 a herd of goats were feeding not far off, and a few 
 flocks of sheep grazing on the side of the mountain. 
 High above towered the dead walls of the city, 
 through which there penetrated no sound of human 
 life. It was almost like the stillness and loneliness 
 of the desert."* 
 
 * Bibl. Res. vol. i. p. 345.
 
 XII. 
 
 V. rssr.ffk*; Sr<V r~< ! ~ -> *'.'/ : V 
 
 THE POOL OF SILOAM. 
 
 THE BLIND RESTORED TO SIGHT. A Pool and a Brook the Sub- 
 terranean Channel The Exploring Travellers. 
 
 JOHN IX. 
 
 THOUGH at first sight the reader might suppose 
 that this " Pool" could not with propriety be num- 
 bered among " Sacred Streams," the objection would 
 vanish when he learned that the waters so designated 
 run off in a little brook from the Pool to the Kidron, 
 and that, before they accumulate in the reservoir, 
 they have already run a course of one-third of 
 a mile. Thus it is not without reason that our 
 great poet sings of 
 
 " Siloa's brook that flow'd 
 Fast by the oracle of God." 
 
 In the Old Testament we find it alluded to in its 
 twofold character ; for Nehemiah mentions " the 
 Pool of Siloah, by the king's garden," and Isaiah 
 speaks of " the waters of Shiloah that go softly." 
 
 It was to this Pool that the Lord Jesus sent the 
 man born blind, in order that by washing in its 
 waters he might receive his sight; a miracle that 
 evoked the malice of the Pharisees, and elicited from
 
 THE POOL OF SFLQAM. 
 
 295 
 
 the poor uneducated man so bold and unanswerable 
 a testimony to the divine mission of his Benefactor. 
 But his testimony only brought down upon himself 
 the ban of those false shepherds, who cast him out, 
 and thus threw him into fuller fellowship with his 
 already rejected Lord, the true Shepherd of the 
 sheep. He had gone before, leading his own sheep 
 out : and this was one of the poor blind ones, who 
 had received light and healing from the good Shep- 
 herd, and found his truest joy in following Him. 
 
 The Pool of Siloam is a deep reservoir, situated at 
 the mouth of the Tyropoeon Yalley, into which the 
 water flows from a basin a few feet above it. The 
 superfluous water runs oiF along the base of Ophel, 
 through a narrow rocky channel, to the terraced 
 gardens in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, where it is 
 expended by being led into a multitude of artificial
 
 296 THE POOL OF SILOAM. 
 
 channels, for the purpose of irrigation ; else its 
 natural course would lead it into the bed of the 
 Kidron. About 1,100 feet above the Pool is a 
 fountain, called the Fountain of the Virgin, which 
 tradition has long represented as the source of 
 Siloam. Professor Robinson and Mr. Smith had the 
 satisfaction of proving the correctness of this belief, 
 for they actually groped their way through the sub- 
 terranean passage which connects these reservoirs, 
 entering at one and emerging at the other, a distance 
 of 1,750 feet, owing to the tortuous direction of the 
 course. In some parts they could proceed only by 
 crawling on their hands and knees, or by lying at 
 full length and dragging themselves along on their 
 elbows. One cannot sufficiently admire the courage 
 which enabled them to perform such a feat. The 
 passage has been artificially hewn through the solid 
 rock ; and it was probably made in order to convey 
 the water into the city, at a time when one of the 
 extremities was included within the wall. 
 
 The water in the fountain has an unaccountable 
 irregularity in the flow, sometimes rising a foot or 
 more in five minutes, and then soon returning to its 
 former level. The water is sweetish, and has a 
 peculiar taste, which, however, does not impair its 
 agreeableness or wholesomeness.
 
 
 xin. 
 
 THE EIYER KISHON 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY. The Plain of Esdraelon Its Fertility Mount Tabor- 
 View from its Summit Endor and Nain The Transfiguration 
 The Excellency of Carmel Scriptural Allusions The Kishon 
 The Bay of Acre Tyrian Purple. 
 
 DEBORAH AND BARAK. The Canaanites Cruel Bondage Prophetic 
 Ministry Zebulun and Naphtali Sisera and his Host The Rout 
 The swollen River The Death of Sisera Jael's Justification 
 Faithfulness to God. 
 
 THE PROPHETS OF BAAL. Elijah's Emergence The Assembly at 
 Carmel The Challenge Baal's Inanity The Altar of God The 
 Evening Sacrifice The Fire from Heaven The Execution of the 
 Seducers Rain An Appeal. 
 
 THE mountains of Galilee are separated from the 
 hills of Samaria by a great plain, celebrated in all 
 ages for its size, its fertility, and its historical asso- 
 ciations. In ancient times it was called the Plain of 
 Megiddo, and sometimes the Yalley of Jezreel, 
 though this term appears to have been strictly appli- 
 cable only to its eastern outlet. The Greeks called 
 it the " great" or " mighty plain ;" and in later 
 times it has been designated the Plain of Esdraelon, 
 which is only another form of Jezreel. It is about 
 thirty miles long, from east to west, and eighteen 
 wide from north to south. It is girded round by 
 mountains : on the north are the mountains of Gali-
 
 298 THE RIVEK KISHON. 
 
 lee ; on the north-east and east are Tabor, the Little 
 Hermon, and the mountains of Gilboa ; on the south 
 are the rising slopes and hills of Samaria ; while on 
 the west stretching far away towards the north, lies 
 the long elevated ridge of Carmel, terminating at 
 length in a bold promontory whose foot is bathed in 
 the Mediterranean. 
 
 The exuberant fertility of this great plain has been 
 renowned in all ages. The soil is very deep and 
 rich, its basis being a dark basalt impregnated with 
 iron, forming a black earth very similar to that of the 
 cotton districts of India ; this runs to the depth of 
 three feet, and rests on a sub-stratum of gravel and 
 limestone. It is not perfectly level, but forms a 
 series of gentle undulations. If it were well culti- 
 vated, it is supposed that it could supply the whole 
 of Galilee with corn, if that province were as populous 
 as it was of old. As it is, it affords corn, wine and 
 oil, and abundance of pasture. Some travellers speak 
 of it as an immense surface of corn, the waves of 
 which, under the breeze, resemble the agitation of 
 the sea. Others call it a vast meadow covered with 
 the richest pastures. Doubtless both arable and 
 pasture land is found, and travellers speak of the 
 parts which they have themselves passed through. 
 
 Two of the mountains that overlook this noble 
 plain require particular notice. They are Tabor and 
 Carmel. The former is a very marked and prominent 
 object standing up singly from the plain ; but its ap- 
 pearance varies in different aspects. From the north 
 it has the form of a segment of a sphere, appearing 
 beautifully wooded on the summit ; from the west it 
 is a cone with the top cut off; and looks much loftier
 
 VIEW FKOM MOUNT TABOR. 299 
 
 and steeper, with the south side destitute of trees. 
 The approach to it from the north is through a wide 
 and shallow wady, regularly wooded with fine oaks, 
 more like the entrance to a nobleman's domain 
 than a wilderness. The sides and summit of the 
 mountain are also wooded with various trees, among 
 which the oak and the wild pistachio are most nume- 
 rous. Its height is about 1,000 feet ; the top, which 
 forms a little plain, encircled by an ancient wall, has 
 been cultivated, but now it is become a table of rich 
 grass and wild flowers, which send forth a most 
 delightful fragrance. During the fore-part of the 
 day, thick clouds commonly rest upon it, concealing 
 the verdant crown from the plain. 
 
 Mr. Bonar, who with his honoured companions 
 climbed the mountain, thus describes the interesting 
 scene that presented itself from the summit : 
 
 " The sun had just disappeared ; but we had still 
 light enough to see the chief points of the magnifi- 
 cent landscape. We climbed up upon the ruins of 
 the old fortifications on the south-east corner, which 
 appeared to be the highest point of the summit, and 
 looked around. To the north and north-east we saw 
 the plain over which we had travelled, the height of 
 Huttin, and the deep basin of the mountains enclos- 
 ing the Sea of Galilee. Other travellers have seen a 
 part of the lake ; this we did not observe, but the 
 hills of Bashan, steep and frowning, appeared quite 
 at hand. To the west and south-west lay the largest 
 part of the great plain of Esdraelon, bounded by the 
 long ridge of Carmel, and watered by the full-flowing 
 Kishon, making its way through it toward the 
 Mediterranean. To the south and immediately in
 
 300 THE RIVER KISHON. 
 
 front of us, was the graceful range of Little Hermon, 
 and behind it the summit of Mount Gilboa. Between 
 us and Hermon lay stretched that arm of the plain 
 of Esdraelon which encircles Tabor, beautifully varie- 
 gated with immense fields of thistles and wild flowers, 
 giving the whole plain the appearance of a carpeted 
 floor. How great must have been its beauty, when 
 its wide open surface was adorned with thriving 
 villages planted amidst fields of waving grain and 
 gardens of blossoming fruit-trees, and closed in by 
 the fertile hills that gird its horizon ! At the foot of 
 Hermon, Mr. Caiman pointed out to us Endor, where 
 Saul went to consult the woman who had a familiar 
 spirit, on the last night of his unhappy career ; and 
 a lime way to the west of it the village of Ncvin, still 
 marking the spot where Jesus raised the widow's 
 son to life. 
 
 " It was easy now to understand why Tabor had 
 been so often made a place of rendezvous from the 
 days of Barak, and downward ; the hill being so com- 
 modious a place of defence, with a copious supply of 
 water on the very summit, even when the enemy 
 spread themselves on the plain below. From our 
 tent-door we saw across the plain the villages of Endor 
 and Nain, at the foot of Little Hermon. Endor lies 
 under the brow of the hill, and Saul would have an 
 easy road from it to the. fountain of Jezreel at the 
 foot of Gilboa where his army were encamped. Naiii 
 is further west, and appears to lie still closer under 
 Hermon. We observed cultivated fields and verdure 
 around it ; and it was here that Mr. Calhoun, our 
 American friend, whom we met at Alexandria, found 
 many tombs cut out of the rock, one of which may
 
 MOUNT CAKMEL. 301 
 
 have been the intended sepulchre of the young man 
 whom Jesus met as they carried him out dead, and 
 restored to the weeping widow. Jesus must have 
 known this spot well, for he would often pass it on 
 his way to the Lake of Galilee. No place in all this 
 land furnishes more remarkable illustrations of the 
 sovereignty of God than do these two villages. At 
 Endor you see a king, in the anguish of despair con- 
 sulting with a diviner, and warned by the dead that 
 the Lord had departed from him and become his 
 enemy. But on the same plain, a few miles from 
 Endor, a thousand years after, you see at ISTain, 
 ' God over all,' coming in our nature, and wiping 
 away the tears of a poor widow." * 
 
 At the opposite extremity of the plain, Carmel rears 
 his lofty head, looking over the blue expanse of the 
 Mediterranean towards the setting sun. It is the 
 bold termination of a straight mountainous ridge, 
 about eight or ten miles long, and in its loftiest part 
 nearly 1,500 feet high. " Carmel is no place," ob- 
 serves Mr. Came, " for crags or precipices, or rocks 
 of the wild goats, it is the most beautiful moun- 
 tain in Palestine, in many parts coyered with 
 trees and flowers." Though neglected, the sides 
 are very fertile, and capable of producing the fruits 
 of the earth, in great profusion. The fruits, though 
 gathered from wild stocks, are sufficiently excellent 
 to show what they would be if well cultured. On 
 the summit a vast number of kine, sheep, goats, 
 antelopes, hares, rabbits, partridges, and other kinds 
 of animals feed, all excellent in their kind, because 
 they tind abundant nourishment. The air is 
 
 * Narrative of a Mission to the Jews, pp. 300,302. (Edinb. 1843.)
 
 THE RIVEIi KISHON. 
 
 always cool and refreshing, however sultry the plains 
 may be. 
 
 Through the magnificent Plain of Esdraelon flows 
 the Kishon, the most important river of Palestine 
 to the west of the Jordan. It has its remotest 
 source on the south-west side of Mount Tabor, 
 whence it flows in a winding course, with a general 
 westerly direction, to about the middle of the plain. 
 It here receives a considerable branch, coming from 
 the south and east, and then pursues a north-west 
 course, till it discharges itself into the Mediterranean, 
 at the very foot of Carmel. Some eight or ten miles 
 before its discharge, it is joined by a large stream 
 from the north and east ; and from the sides of 
 Carmel a number of torrents pour down into it, in 
 
 the rainy season, a great volume of water. Hence, 
 at such times, it overflows its banks, and acquires a 
 great impetuosity, carrying everything before it. 
 The higher parts of the river appear to be dried up 
 in summer : but in its lower course the Kishon is a
 
 THE CANAA2UTES. 303 
 
 permanent stream, even in the driest seasons pouring 
 into the sea a body of water about thirty yards wide, 
 and of too great a depth to be forded. It is at present 
 called the Mukutta. 
 
 JUDGES IV. 
 
 DURING the fourscore years of rest that the 
 southern tribes of Israel enjoyed after their deliver- 
 ance from Eglon, the king of Moab, the northern 
 portions of the land were grievously oppressed by 
 the remnant of the Canaanites. Through unbelief 
 and sloth Israel had neglected to complete the ex- 
 termination of the wicked nations whom Jehovah 
 had solemnly devoted to utter destruction ; and had 
 allowed them to remain, supposing that they could 
 never recover any power to molest them, though God 
 had expressly warned them that these idolatrous 
 tribes would prove " snares and traps unto them, 
 scourges in their sides, and thorns in their eyes." 
 And they quickly proved, by miserable experience, 
 the folly of their negligence. Under the adminis- 
 tration of a vigorous king, the northern Canaanites 
 had gradually but rapidly concentrated their power, 
 until they were able to reduce into bondage the 
 whole of Galilee, and to hold in awe the middle 
 portion of the land, and the region beyond Jordan. 
 The name of the Canaanitish monarch was Jabin, 
 and the metropolis of his kingdom was Hazor, near 
 the lake of Merom, where, a hundred years before, 
 Joshua had gained a glorious victory over another 
 king Jabin, probably the ancestor of him who now
 
 304 THE RIVER KISHON. 
 
 reigned. A mighty army was the engine of his 
 oppressive power, commanded by Sisera, an able and 
 renowned warrior, whose force is significantly inti- 
 mated by the fact that he had nine hundred of those 
 " chariots of iron" which had struck such terror into 
 the Israelites. Twenty years he mightily oppressed 
 the children of Israel, who were subjected not only to 
 the exactions of the government, but to the tyrannies 
 and wanton cruelties of extortionate subordinates 
 and the brutal soldiery. This we learn from Deborah's 
 triumphal song, in which she feelingly alludes to the 
 terror that had prevailed. The highways were unoc- 
 cupied because of the robberies and violence that were 
 practised there with impunity. The villages and un- 
 fortified towns were deserted, neither life nor property 
 being secure. Those who were necessitated to j ourney 
 from one city to another were in the utmost jeopardy, 
 and were fain to steal along the lanes and by-ways. 
 To venture outside the gates was perilous ; even the 
 maidens who resorted to the wells for the daily supply 
 of water were made a mark for the arrows of the 
 cruel archers. To these insults no effectual resistance 
 could be offered, for the people had all been com- 
 pelled to deliver up their arms, and scarcely a single 
 shield or spear could be found among forty thousand, 
 where a little while before every able-bodied man had 
 been a warrior. 
 
 Meanwhile Israel stupidly sought to idols who 
 could not save, and " chose new gods" equally 
 powerless, forgetful of God that made them, and 
 lightly esteeming the Rock of their salvation. " How 
 should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thou- 
 sand to night, except their Rock had sold them, and
 
 DEBORAH AND BARAK. 305 
 
 the LORD bad shut them up ?" At length, however, 
 they cried unto Jehovah, always ready to forgive, 
 and He raised up for them a deliverer, such an one 
 as they little expected, in the person of a woman. 
 
 Under a palm-tree in the south of Mount Ephraim, 
 dwelt in a lowly habitation Deborah, the Prophetess. 
 She "judged Israel;" for the law of God at the 
 priests' mouth had long ceased to have any weight, 
 and the priests themselves seem to have become as 
 degenerate as the people. An irregular ministry 
 was then raised up of judges and prophets, and 
 Jehovah was pleased to put honour upon instruments 
 which the law had not at all recognised. At the 
 divine command she sent for Barak, a man of Naph- 
 tali, and commissioned him to gather ten thousand 
 men out of his own tribe, and of his brethren of 
 Zebulun, and to march to the banks of the Kishon ; 
 engaging in the name of Jehovah, that Sisera and 
 the mighty Canaanitish host should be delivered 
 into his hand. 
 
 Accompanied by the prophetess herself, without 
 whom he refused to undertake the perilous enter- 
 prise, Barak returned to his city, Kedesh, and blew 
 his trumpet. Ten thousand men quickly responded 
 to the call, though inadequately armed, and unused 
 to resistance. " Zebulun and Naphtali were a people 
 that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high 
 places of the field," and thus became the instru- 
 ments of national deliverance, and were honoured by 
 approving mention in the inspired words of the Holy 
 Spirit of God. "With the eye of an able general, 
 Barak discerned the strong position which Mount 
 Tabor afforded his little band, and quickly entrenched
 
 306 THE KIVEE KISHON. 
 
 himself in its fastnesses, where the iron chariots of 
 Canaan would be unavailing. But the battle that 
 day was to be the Lord's ; and He saveth not with 
 sword and spear, nof by skilful generalship, nor by 
 the strength of military position, nor by the multi- 
 tude of an host. The victory was to be obtained in 
 the plain, where the immense host would have full 
 room for their evolutions, and where the terrible 
 iron chariots would have their utmost advantage, 
 that thus the honour might redound wholly to 
 Jehovah. So in spiritual things, " we have the 
 treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of 
 the power may be of God, and not of us." 
 
 The redoubtable Sisera hears with mingled anger 
 and contempt of the revolt, and draws his mighty 
 army to the plain of Jezreel, not doubting that the 
 feeble band will be surrounded and cut to pieces 
 without the least difficulty, and that a fresh occasion 
 will be given for enriching the oppressors with the 
 spoil of the vanquished. The myriads of the Canaan- 
 itish hosts almost cover the plain ; the measured 
 tramp of the prancing cavalry resounds like distant 
 thunder ; and the wheels of the mailed chariots cut 
 the enamelled turf in a thousand lines. 
 
 Deborah looks upon the swarming hosts, glittering 
 in all the pomp and pride of martial array, and, as 
 she gazes on the idolatrous ensigns waving in the 
 breeze, she pronounces their doom in the name of 
 the Lord God of Hosts. " Up !" she exclaims to 
 Barak, " for this is the day in which Jehovah hath 
 delivered Sisera into thine hand : Is not Jehovah 
 gone forth before thee ?" At once, without waiting 
 for the assault, the faithful band pours down from
 
 SISERA AND HIS HOST. 307 
 
 the wooded heights of Tabor, and rushes upon the 
 Canaanitish array. Panic-struck, the innumerable 
 host wavers, yields, and flees in dismay ; " the stars 
 in their courses fight against Sisera," for a violent 
 tempest of rain and hail, beating full upon his army, 
 increases the confusion. The soldiers, wild with 
 terror, bury their swords in each other's hearts ; 
 riderless horses are plunging madly over the plain, 
 and the iron chariots are dashed the one against the 
 other. The rout is complete. Thousands on thou- 
 sands who have escaped the sword of Barak are 
 fleeing across the plain, pushing with terrified energy 
 to cross the Kishon. But, alas for them ! the tempest 
 of rain and hail that smote the army has swollen the 
 river, and its banks are full to the brim with a hoarse 
 and turbid torrent, swiftly rushing to the sea. They 
 have no time to deliberate ; behind them is pressing 
 Barak's ten thousand, flushed with victory. No 
 quarter is given ; the avenging steel falls without 
 mercy, and fast mows down the terror-stricken 
 throng. They plunge by thousands into the stream ; 
 but the boiling waters sweep them away in many a 
 furious eddy, and few of that mighty host succeed in 
 reaching the opposite shore. 
 
 The renowned Sisera himself relinquished the 
 dangerous conspicuousness of his ornamented cha- 
 riot, and fled away on foot. But he escaped the 
 sword of Barak only to fall ignominiously by a 
 woman's hand. The encampment of Heber, the 
 Kenite, a descendant of the father-in-law of .Moses, 
 who had cast in his lot with the people of God, lay 
 in his course ; and here the fainting general hoped 
 to obtain refreshment and security. Heber seems
 
 308 THE RIVER KISHON. 
 
 not to have been at home ; but his wife, Jael, ap- 
 parently in perfect sincerity, proffered him the sanc- 
 tuary of her own private tent. He gladly availed 
 himself of the welcome hospitality, and, overcome 
 with fatigue and chagrin, was soon fast asleep. 
 Then, actuated by a divine impulse, obedience to 
 which overcame all feminine fear and reluctance, 
 and all the claims of hospitality, the pious Jael 
 smote the enemy of God and of his people with one 
 of the sharp iron tent-pins, and thus slew him. 
 
 To attempt to justify the action of Jael by " the 
 usages of ancient warfare, of rude times, and of fe- 
 rocious manners," is most futile. There can be no 
 doubt that in that age and country the act, if judged 
 by common rules, would have been as abhorred as 
 such an act would be now. But Jael's defence, nay, 
 her glory, rests on very different principles. She 
 was doubtless actuated by the Spirit of God, resist- 
 ance to whom would have been grievous sin. It is 
 unjust to impute to her an interested desire to win 
 the favour of the victors ; and surely it is dishonour- 
 ing to the Holy Ghost to call that, as some have done, 
 a " treacherous and cruel murder," for which He has 
 handed down her name, enshrined in his Sacred 
 "Word, as " Blessed above women." 
 
 So, in the dreadful apostasy of the golden calf in 
 the wilderness, when faithfulness to God required 
 the execution of a severe justice, " every man upon 
 his son, and every man upon his brother," the sons 
 of Levi at once sacrificed all private affection, and 
 inflicted the punishment. Thus that tribe " said 
 unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen 
 him ; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor
 
 ELIJAH'S EMEKGENCE. 309 
 
 knew his own children," and obtained an eminent 
 approval and blessing from the Spirit of God. And 
 the Christian is often called to choose between obe- 
 dience to God, and the gratification of natural affec- 
 tion or the conventional usages of the world ; and if 
 he prefer walking with God to " knowing any man 
 after the flesh," he will often be condemned and 
 vilified here. But it is a small thing to be judged of 
 man's judgment : the approbation of Him who 
 knows the secrets of the heart will more than make 
 amends. Yet it is a matter of thankfulness that our 
 testimony against evil, and our witness for God, are 
 not, in the present dispensation, of the same bloody 
 nature as they often were in former times. Our 
 zeal should be manifested against the sins, and not 
 against the persons of sinners, " Vengeance is mine ; 
 I will repay, saith the Lord." 
 
 1 KINGS xvm. 
 
 V * S. 
 
 THE banks of the rolling Kishon witnessed, ages 
 afterwards, another example of holy but bloody 
 service to God. It was the slaughter of Baal's 
 prophets by Elijah. 
 
 Three years and a half the servant of God had 
 now lived in retirement, while the horrors of drought 
 and famine were fulfilling the divine purposes of 
 chastisement upon Israel. The brook Cherith, that 
 for a long time had refreshed the lonely ravine, had 
 at length dried up ; but God's care for his faithful 
 servant had not failed. He had provided sustenance
 
 310 THE RIVER KISHON. 
 
 in the house of a poor widow of Zidon, whose scanty 
 pittance was miraculously increased to support her- 
 self and her honoured guest. " A handful of meal 
 in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse," were all that 
 she possessed; but for more than two years these 
 continued to afford food to that household, until the 
 Lord sent rain upon the earth. 
 
 But, at length, Jehovah intimated to his servant 
 that he was about to remove the terrible infliction 
 which he had so long imposed on his sinning people. 
 Neither Ahab nor his subjects seemed to have been 
 at all softened by the chastisement ; they smarted 
 and groaned under its severity, but cried not unto 
 the Lord. Baal's prophets were still as numerous 
 as ever ; and though all their sacrifices and incanta- 
 tions could not avail to procure one drop of rain, the 
 besotted people did not withdraw their allegiance 
 from the mute and helpless idol. But, for the honour 
 of his holy name, Jehovah determined to make a 
 public trial of strength between himself and Baal, 
 that by a palpable manifestation of his power, in 
 signal contrast with the inanity of theidol, they 
 might be persuaded to see the folly of their apostasy. 
 
 Elijah leaves his retirement to show himself to 
 AJiab, as cheerfully obedient to the command of 
 God, as when, at the same word, he secluded himself 
 from public notice. In the calm and holy elevation 
 of communion with God, he confronts the wicked 
 king, and boldly charges upon him the guilt of the 
 nation's sins. The monarch trembles under the 
 prophet's frown, and dares not refuse the challenge 
 which Jehovah throws down to the herd of Baal's 
 prophets. All Israel must be gathered to Oarmel, to
 
 ELIJAH'S CHALLENGE. 311 
 
 witness the great drama to be enacted on its sloping 
 side ; for thither too must be dragged the unwilling 
 servants of Baal, well knowing how hopeless is their 
 cause, yet unable to evade or decline so fair a proposal. 
 
 The assembly is gathered : the thousands of Israel 
 are thronging the plain, gazing with eager upturned 
 faces toward the green sides of Carmel, that rise 
 before them like an immense amphitheatre. There, 
 on the slope, stand with anxious countenances four 
 hundred and fifty men in priestly robes, the prophets 
 of Baal ; and at a little distance, alone, but serene 
 and confident, stands Elijah in his hairy mantle. 
 The Lord knows seven thousand secret faithful ones 
 in Israel, who have not bowed the knee to Baal ; 
 but not one had boldness to stand out as his witness ; 
 and not one is found willing to take his place by 
 Elijah's side in this day of decision. 
 
 He comes forward and addresses the multitude ; 
 and every sound is hushed as his solemn words fall 
 upon their ears. He demands that they should make 
 their election : " If Jehovah be God, follow him ; but if 
 Baal, then follow him !" and then he thus enunciates 
 the terms of the challenge. " I, even I only, remain 
 a prophet of Jehovah ; but Baal's prophets are four 
 hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give 
 us two bullocks ; and let them choose one for them- 
 selves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and 
 put no fire under : and I will dress the other bullock, 
 and lay it on wood, and put no fire under. And 
 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." The justice of the pro- 
 position is instantly acknowledged, and the shout
 
 312 THE RIVEK KISHON. 
 
 that at once ascends from the throng below, " It is 
 well spoken," convinces the reluctant devotees of 
 Baal that they have no alternative, but to accept the 
 challenge, or at once to confess the impotency and 
 worthlessness of their idol. 
 
 All day long the false prophets have been calling 
 on their god with incessant vociferation. Maddened 
 by the irony of Elijah, they have been leaping 
 around and upon their altar, crying with frantic 
 vehemence, " O Baal ! hear us !" Their bodies are 
 covered with their own blood, from self-inflicted 
 wounds, in the vain hope to propitiate their demon 
 with suffering. But all in vain : there is no voice, 
 nor any to answer, nor any that regards their cries. 
 And now the sun approaches his bed in the western 
 sea, which lies stretched out like a mirror of bur- 
 nished brass to receive him ; when Elijah thinks it 
 time to act his part. He calls the people to approach, 
 that they may more distinctly witness what he is 
 about to do. Then he takes twelve stones, and with 
 them builds an altar to Jehovah ; thus recognising 
 the unity of God's chosen people, the twelve tribes of 
 Israel, notwithstanding the divisions and schisms 
 that apostasy had made. Elijah has communion 
 with the mind of God, and can still, in faith, regard 
 all Israel as but one, overlooking the sinful breaches 
 of unity, and having regard to the eternal purposes 
 of grace, which have decreed that, by and by, " one 
 king shall be king to them all ; and they shall be no 
 more two nations, neither shall they be divided into 
 two kingdoms any more at all."* So now, the 
 scribe instructed into the things of the kingdom of 
 
 * Ezek. xxxvii. 2y.
 
 THE EVENING SACRIFICE. 313 
 
 heaven, cannot but regard the schisms and divisions 
 of the Church of Christ as " carnal," remembering 
 the dying prayer of Him who gave his life for her, 
 " that they all 'may ~be ONE." 
 
 The people look on with wonder while the prophet 
 digs a deep trench round about the altar which he 
 has made ; but they quickly discern the reason for 
 it. For when the bullock is slain, and laid on the 
 wood, he commands the whole to be deluged with 
 water, that no suspicion of concealed fire may be 
 entertained. Vessels are quickly carried down to 
 the Kishon's brink, filled, and emptied on the 
 sacrifice, until not only the whole is saturated, but 
 the trench itself is filled to the brim. 
 
 The sun is setting : it is the moment when, in the 
 magnificent temple at Jerusalem, the priests are 
 offering the evening sacrifice ; and Elijah, whose act 
 of worship is in full communion with theirs, draws 
 near, and offers a solemn appeal to the God of Israel. 
 In a moment the fire descends from heaven, con- 
 sumes the sacrifice, the wood, even the very dust 
 and the stones, and licks up the water that filled the 
 trench. The whole of the mighty multitude fall 
 prostrate on their faces, and, with self-abasement for 
 their besotted infidelity, renounce their apostasy. 
 " Jehovah, He is the God ! Jehovah, He is the God !" 
 
 Evil must now be judged and put away, that the 
 national reformation may be effectual. The wicked 
 prophets of Baal, the teachers of apostasy, the 
 seducers to idolatry, may not be permitted to escape ; 
 the law had pronounced their doom to be death, 
 and Elijah shrinks not from executing the sentence. 
 The now penitent people are ready, in obedience to 
 
 14
 
 314 THE EIVER KISHON. 
 
 his command to take them; neither Ahab nor 
 Jezebel dares to move a finger in their behalf : they 
 are dragged from their untouched sacrifice to the 
 brink of Kishon, and put to death ; and their bodies 
 are hurled down on its rushing tide, to find a living 
 grave in the maws of sea-monsters. 
 
 There now remains no hindrance to the outpouring 
 of the divine blessing. Idolatry has been publicly 
 renounced, Baal put to an open shame, and the 
 ringleaders in iniquity have received condign punish- 
 ment. The curse of drought is now taken away, 
 and before Ahab can reach Jezreel, the heavens are 
 black with clouds and wind, and heavy rain refreshes 
 once more the parched and barren earth. 
 
 With how much truth and force might the appeal 
 of .Elijah be presented to thousands in this land! 
 " How long halt ye between two opinions ? If the 
 Lord be God, follow Him ; but if Baal, then follow 
 him !" How many there are who acknowledge the 
 claims of God upon their souls' attention, whose 
 hearts are yet set upon the world ! But, " if the 
 Lord be God, follow Him !" He will not be content 
 with a divided homage ; " My son ! give me thine 
 heart !" is his language. If Jesus be the only 
 Saviour, come to Him, cleave to Him, accept Him 
 for time and for eternity, and abjure all dependence 
 upon any other. " Ye cannot serve God and mam- 
 mon."
 
 XIV. 
 THE BEOOK OF ELAH. 
 
 DAVID AND GOLIATH. Wady es Sumt The Acacia The Terebinth 
 The Philistines The Gigantic Champion Faith The Sling and 
 Stone The Death of the Giant The Spiritual Conflict. 
 
 1 SAMUEL XVII. 
 
 THE valleys, or wadys, of the hilly parts of Palestine 
 frequently receive in their course other tributary 
 wadys ; each of which is perhaps formed by the con- 
 fluence of several smaller ones. And as each is the 
 bed of a torrent during the rainy season, the rivu- 
 lets, uniting, continually augment the size and volume 
 of the stream, in proportion to the number of tribu- 
 tary wadys that have united. One of the vales thus 
 opening into the Wady Surar, the ancient Valley 
 of Sorek, is the Wady es Sumt, or the valley of the 
 Acacia-tree, which is itself formed by the junction of 
 three others, viz. Wady el Musurr, from the east, 
 Wady es Sur, a large valley from the south, and a 
 small one, unnamed, from the north. The name 
 of the valley, so formed, is derived from the pre- 
 valence of the -thorny tree that produces the gum- 
 arabic, (Acacia Arabic^ a great number of which 
 grow in the western part. This is a moderately
 
 . 
 
 THE BROOK OF ELAH. 
 
 sized tree, with peculiarly elegant leaves, composed 
 of many pairs of shining leaflets. The bases of the 
 branches are armed with strong sharp thorns that 
 grow in pairs. The flowers are like little golden 
 balls, hanging gracefully among the leaves in threes, 
 and giving forth a fragrant perfume. Like other 
 trees that produce tasteless gums, the bark is highly 
 austere and astringent to the taste. The gum- 
 arabic is procured by wounding the bark, or by 
 natural exudation ; the sap flows out and hardens in 
 transparent lumps, very similar to that of our cherry- 
 tree. It is eaten throughout the east, especially by 
 those who traverse the deserts, as it contains much 
 nutriment in very small bulk. The timber of this 
 tree is supposed to have been the " Shittim-wood," 
 which was so largely used in the construction of the 
 tabernacle and its furniture. 
 
 The bottom of the valley is a fine fertile plain, 
 with moderate hills on each side ; it is covered with 
 fields of grain, except where the acacia-groves are 
 found ; and the hill-sides are clothed with thriving 
 olive plantations, in which the trees are planted in 
 regular rows like an orchard. This valuable tree is 
 extensively cultivated in this part of the country, to 
 which the numerous groves impart quite a wooded 
 appearance. 
 
 The road from Askelon to Jerusalem anciently 
 passed through the head of this wady ; but it is now 
 scarcely ever trodden by European feet. Professor 
 Robinson visited it, and mentions the primitive sim- 
 plicity and hospitality that remain among the inhabi- 
 tants, not yet spoiled by intercourse with foreigners. 
 
 This eminent biblical geographer considers the
 
 VALLEY OF ELAH. 317 
 
 Wady es Burnt to be the ancient valley of Elah, 
 in which David slew the giant Goliath. The 
 word Elah signifies the terebinth-tree, the butm 
 of the modern Arabs ; and this appellation was 
 probably given to it from some remarkable tree of 
 this species, as its present name expresses the abun- 
 dance of trees of another kind. It is interesting 
 to remark, that the largest terebinth seen by Pro- 
 fessor Robinson, in all Palestine, was an immense tree, 
 still standing in the Wady es Sur, a little above the 
 point where it opens into the Wady es Sumt. Through 
 the bottom runs, in winter, " the brook," out of 
 which the shepherd youth chose the five smooth 
 stones for his weapons ; just such pebbles as might 
 now be picked up from its bed, rolled by the action 
 of the torrent. About the middle of May the Ame- 
 rican travellers found it dry. 
 
 In the early history of Israel as a nation, their 
 most indomitable, persevering and successful enemies 
 were the Philistines. The reign of Saul was almost 
 a continual conflict with these foes, in which they 
 appear generally to have maintained the upper hand. 
 At his accession, the southern portion of the land 
 was commanded by their garrisons, and after a reign 
 of forty years, he met his death on the field of 
 battle in the moment of their victory. 
 
 But Israel too had some brilliant successes, won 
 not so much by valour or numbers, as by the living 
 faith, which laid hold on Jehovah as the rightful 
 King of the nation, and brought in his Almighty 
 power to the conflict. Whenever this can be done 
 victory is sure, no matter how many, how subtle, or 
 how strong the adversaries who oppose us.
 
 318 THE BROOK OF ELAH. 
 
 On one occasion the hostile armies were encamped 
 on the two opposite hills that overlooked the little 
 Valley of Elah. Frequent skirmishes had occurred, 
 but neither party seemed inclined to venture on a 
 decisive engagement. According to a custom not 
 uncommon in ancient warfare, when victory often 
 depended on the personal strength and prowess of 
 the combatants, a champion had presented himself 
 from the Philistine army, offering to decide the 
 battle by single combat with any opponent that the 
 Israelitish army might afford. This challenger was 
 of the ancient race of the Rephaim, and was of 
 gigantic size and strength, being, according to the 
 most moderate computation, upwards of ten feet 
 high, while the weight of his coat of mail, (5,000 
 shekels of brass, or about 156 Ibs.) proved his 
 strength to be proportionate to his bulk. Besides 
 this, he wore a helmet of brass, probably of that 
 curious and not inelegant form with which we see 
 Philistine warriors depicted in the ancient Egyptian 
 paintings, representing a circlet of feathers with the 
 points slightly curved outwards. He wore also a 
 gorget of brass between his shoulders, and greaves 
 of the same metal upon his legs. His spear-staff 
 was " like a weaver's beam," and the iron head of 
 his spear weighed nearly twenty pounds. With such 
 endowments of nature and art, it is no wonder that 
 the uncircumcised idolater should consider himself 
 invincible, and defy the armies of Israel, who were, 
 however, in truth, " the armies of the living God," 
 though he saw in them only " servants to Saul." 
 
 Faith, and that courage which arises from a recog- 
 nition of God's protecting power, were at a low ebb
 
 DAVID AND GOLIATH. 319 
 
 in Israel, and hence, for forty days, the challenge of 
 this haughty blasphemer filled the whole host with 
 dismay, none venturing to meet him in the field. 
 But at length, the son of Jesse, though but a strip- 
 ling of smooth and ruddy countenance, being on a 
 casual visit to the army, felt his spirit stirred, and 
 his sense of Israel's shame aroused, as he listened to 
 the reproaches of the proud Philistine. " Who," he 
 asked, "is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he 
 should defy the armies of the living God ?" 
 
 Strong in that his might, the faithful youth put 
 his life in his hand, and boldly ventured forth to 
 meet the arrogant challenger. Saul would have 
 arrayed him in his own armour, but David's trust 
 was not in this, and he rejected it. He would show 
 the whole assembled hosts that " Jehovah saveth not 
 with sword and spear, for the battle is Jehovah's ;" 
 and therefore he goes down into the vale unarmed, 
 except with a shepherd's staff and a sling. Five 
 smooth stones he chooses out of the gurgling brook 
 that trickles through the bottom, which he puts into 
 a little bag ; and this is all the armour, offensive or 
 defensive, that he takes. 
 
 The giant stalks on in all the pride of strength, 
 and looks about for his foe. He cannot believe that 
 the fair boy he sees before him can seriously intend 
 to engage in the combat ; and with a laugh of con 
 tempt at an opponent armed with a staff, he curses 
 David by his gods. The answer of the youthful hero 
 is replete with humility, faith, zeal for God's glory, 
 and the honour of Israel. He declares his undoubt- 
 ing assurance that he shall be successful, glories in 
 his own mean appearance, that the honour may be
 
 320 THE BKOOK OF ELAH. 
 
 entirely the Lord's, and predicts that the result of 
 the combat will be the spread of Jehovah's fame in 
 the earth. 
 
 The combatants approach ; the haughty giant 
 seizes his weapons from his attendant, and strides 
 forward. David runs to meet him, and when he has 
 come near, he takes one of his smooth stones from 
 his bag, and slings it with so true an aim, and with 
 such force, that the missile, striking the Gittite's 
 broad forehead, penetrates bone and brain ; and his 
 huge form falls prostrate on the earth. 
 
 Thus the feeblest believer in Jesus may fearlessly 
 meet in conflict the principalities, and powers, and 
 spiritual wickednesses that are opposed to him, and 
 that gigantic one who is Prince of them all. Proudly 
 indeed he wages the war, threatening is his de- 
 meanour, bold his assaults, and terrible his weapons ; 
 but a babe in Christ needs not fear him, trusting not 
 in carnal weapons, but in the strength of the Lord 
 of Hosts, against whom the blasphemous assaults of 
 the adversary are truly pointed. Jesus has conquered 
 him on his own ground ; He went down into the 
 domains of death, that He might destroy him that 
 had the power of death ; He beheld Satan as light- 
 ning fall from heaven, and He has given to all his 
 redeemed people to trample under foot " all the 
 power of the enemy." May we then ever meet him, 
 assured that with such apparently inadequate arms 
 as a word out of the book of God, a mere stone from 
 a shepherd's scrip, we shall be able in the power of 
 the Holy Spirit to overcome him, and lay him low.
 
 XV. 
 THE BEOOK ESHCOL. 
 
 THE ISRAELITISH SPIES. Uncertain Locality Valley near Hebron 
 Sorek The Search Jericho Lake of Gennesaret Lebanon 
 Galilee Samaria Fruitfulness of Judah Vines Magnitude of 
 Grapes and Clusters The Specimen Modern Testimony Culture 
 
 of the Vine. 
 
 "> . 
 
 NUMBERS XVH. 
 
 CONSIDERABLE uncertainty rests upon the situation 
 of the fertile valley, from which the spies took their 
 enormous cluster of grapes. Very general tradition, 
 both Jewish and early Christian, has placed it in the 
 vicinity of Hebron. The name of one of Abram's 
 Amoritish friends was Eshcol, who lived at the 
 Terebinth of Mamre, at Hebron ; and it has been 
 concluded that the beautiful vale received its name 
 from him. But the Word of God expressly states 
 that the place was called the Brook Eshcol (which 
 signifies a cluster of grapes), because of the cluster 
 which the children of Israel cut down from thence. 
 
 The valley to which we alln.de stretches away 
 towards the northwest from Hebron, and the high- 
 road from that city to Jerusalem passes through it. 
 The pathway is paved with large uneven stones, like 
 the roads in the Swiss mountains ; it is bounded by 
 vineyards of the greatest luxuriance, and in a high 
 
 14*
 
 322 THE BKOOK ESHCOL. 
 
 state of cultivation, well guarded by good stone 
 fences : the soil is rich and abundant. These vine- 
 yards produce the best grapes in the whole country. 
 Nor is the fruitfulness of this valley confined to the 
 "choice" and "noble" vine ; pomegranates and figs as 
 well as apricots and quinces grow there in abundance ; 
 and the terraced slopes on either side are crowned 
 with groves of the graceful and glistening olive. 
 
 Others have supposed the Brook Eshcol to have 
 been a tributary of the Sorek ; or else that Sorek 
 was the distinguishing name of the valley, and 
 Eshcol that of the brook that flowed through it. 
 This opinion derives considerable weight from the 
 circumstance that the word Sorek signifies the 
 choicest kind of vine ; and that this region enjoyed 
 a celebrity for the excellence of its wine ; for the 
 " wine of Sorek " of the Scriptures, was probably 
 the same as that of which the classic writers make 
 honourable mention by the name of " the wine of 
 Askelon." 
 
 The interesting story connected with the valley, is 
 the following. After nearly twelve months' residence 
 in the vicinity of Sinai, where they received the 
 Law, the Children of Israel spent about five months 
 in journeying from Mount Horeb to Kadesh Barnea, 
 the southern border of Palestine. Here twelve men 
 were selected to spy out the land, that they might 
 bring a report of its character and condition. The 
 office of a spy was, in ancient times, not considered 
 dishonourable, and, being one attended with danger, 
 and requiring courage, skill, watchfulness, prudence 
 and self-denial, was often undertaken by officers of 
 rank. The Hebrew spies were all of them princes, one
 
 FBUITFULNESS OF JUDAH. >rl'4 
 
 from each tribe ; who, having received from Moses 
 instructions on the points to which their attention 
 should mainly be directed, entered on their search. 
 
 The season was the latter part of summer, for the 
 " time of the first ripe grapes," at which the spies 
 set out on their journey, answers to the month of 
 August. They traversed the whole length of the 
 land, probably first stretching away to the Jordan, 
 and proceeding northward near the course of that 
 river. Here they would see the rich and fertile 
 plain of Jericho, with its groves of beauteous palm- 
 trees, and its fragrant balsams. They would see the 
 charming expanse of the Lake of Gennesaret, sleeping 
 in mirror-like brightness among the mountains. 
 They would climb the rugged sides of Hermon and 
 Lebanon ; would gaze with curiosity, not unmixed 
 with awe, on the snow that capped their lofty summits ; 
 and would admire the forests of mighty cedars that 
 fringed their sides, and filled their valleys a sight 
 whose grandeur the scarcity of timber in Egypt and 
 the Desert, and even in the south of Palestine, would 
 enable them to appreciate. 
 
 Returning, they would enjoy the striking and ever- 
 changing scenery of the mountainous Galilee, with 
 its mulberry groves and forests of oaks ; and would 
 cross the mighty plain of Jezreel, a sea of waving 
 corn. The wheat and the barley, indeed, would have 
 been mostly gathered in, but the tall maize, and 
 the dourra, and the bearded millet still awaited the 
 sickle ; and in the neighbourhood of the lakes and 
 low-lying rivers, plantations of rice were beginning 
 to cover large tracts with a refreshing verdure. Tabor, 
 like a huge cone of vegetation, would rise before
 
 324 THE BKOOK ESHCOL. 
 
 "W v 
 
 them, and the glorious Carmel with its crown of 
 flowers. The grassy undulations of what, long after- 
 wards, was the country of Samaria, the pastures of 
 Sharon, and the plains of the coast, with the num- 
 berless little rills that everywhere then watered that 
 "land of brooks," would be carefully noticed by 
 men, whose " occupation was that of shepherds." 
 But when they came again to the hill-country of the 
 south, they would surely linger awhile there to ex- 
 plore its fruitful riches. The fruits which attained 
 unrivalled excellence in Palestine were now just 
 come to maturity, and this was the region where they 
 grew in the most rich luxuriance. Orchards of 
 apples and pears were laden with their russet fruit, 
 the juicy hardness of which would be an agreeable 
 novelty to men acquainted with none but tropical 
 productions. DiiFerent kinds of plums, peaches, 
 nectarines, and apricots, hung clustering in glowing 
 beauty and fragrance. The scarlet blossoms of the 
 pomegranates had given place to the ruddy-brown 
 fruit ; and wide-spreading sycamores were hung with 
 bunches of the luscious figs. The groves of olives 
 sheeting the slopes of the hills, were filled by the 
 laughing peasants, beating the trees and collecting 
 the valuable produce ; and the spies would doubtless 
 admire the changing play of light from the slender 
 leaves, as the agitation continually brought to view 
 the varied surfaces, the dark green of their upper 
 sides contrasting with the silvery grey of the lower. 
 But the extraordinary abundance of the vines, the 
 number and magnitude of the ponderous clusters, 
 the size and flavour of the grapes, excited their 
 admiring wonder above all ; and they determined to
 
 GRAPES OF PALESTINE. 325 
 
 carry back to their brethren a specimen cluster, that 
 they might see with their own eyes the goodness of 
 the land. By the Brook of Eshcol they cut down a 
 single cluster of 'great size ; and in order that the 
 transportation might be effected without injury to 
 the mellow fruit, as well as on account of its great 
 weight, they bore it suspended from a staff, between 
 two men ; and brought it in safety, together with 
 other fruits, to their expecting brethren. 
 
 Into the other circumstances that attended their 
 return, the unbelieving fear, which, in the hearts of 
 most of their number, had so magnified the power of 
 the Canaanites as to counteract the effect of the ex- 
 cellence of the land, and its sad results in murmuring 
 and rebellion, we have not space to enter. But we 
 will adduce a few testimonies to show that the exu- 
 berant fruitfulness that then marked " the glory of 
 all lands," has not yet wholly departed, though the 
 clime and the soil are withering under the righteous 
 frown of Jehovah. 
 
 Dandini, an Italian traveller, observes that the 
 grapes of Lebanon are as large as prunes ; and Doub- 
 dan writes, that in travelling near Bethlehem, he 
 found a most delightful valley, full of aromatic herbs 
 and roses, and planted with vines of the choicest 
 kind. It was not the time of the vintage, but the 
 inhabitants assured him that they occasionally found 
 clusters weighing ten or twelve pounds. This valley 
 must have been near, if not identical with that 
 commonly considered to be the ancient Eshcol. 
 Reland was assured by a merchant who had resided 
 many years in the same neighbourhood that he had 
 seen bunches weighing ten pounds. Nau afiirms that 
 he had seen near Hebron grapes as large as a man's
 
 326 THE BROOK ESHCOL. 
 
 thumb ; and, as to the clusters, some he had seen in 
 Syria weighed ten or twelve pounds ; and he had 
 heard in the Archipelago of some weighing thirty or 
 forty pounds. Neitzchutz declare's that he could 
 with truth say, that in the mountains of Israel he 
 had seen and partaken of bunches that were half an 
 ell long, the grapes of which were two joints of a 
 finger in length. The accompanying engraving from 
 Laborde, gives the exact size of some seen by him. 
 
 Grape* of Palestine. 
 
 Sir Moses Montefiore obtained near Hebron a 
 bunch of grapes about a yard in length. 
 
 Even in England we have had evidence of the 
 same kind. A bunch of Syrian grapes was grown at 
 Welbeck which weighed nineteen pounds. It was 
 sent as a present from the Duke of Portland to the 
 Marquis of Buckingham ; and was carried to its 
 destination, a distance of twenty miles, on a staff, by 
 four labourers, two bearing it in rotation. This 
 cluster was nineteen inches and a half in diameter ;
 
 CULTURE OF THE VINE. 327 
 
 four feet six inches in circumference ; and nearly 
 twenty-three inches in length. 
 
 The mode of cultivating the vine varies much in 
 different countries. With us it is " suffered to expand 
 itself to any size, and nailed in regular lines to the 
 wall, or to the frame of a green-house ; thus a single 
 tree will produce several hundred-weight of grapes. 
 On the banks of the Rhine the growth is limited to 
 three feet in height, and each tree is supported in an 
 upright position. In France it is formed into arches 
 and ornamental alcoves. In Sardinia it assumes 
 the aspect of a parasitical plant, luxuriating among 
 the branches of the largest forest-trees, and clasping 
 with its tendrils the extreme twigs. In Asia Minor 
 its wild festoons hang their green and purple pendants 
 from rural bowers of trellis-work. On the heights of 
 Lebanon it lies in a state of humiliation, covering the 
 ground like the cucumber, and subsequently we saw 
 it, in the valley of Eshcol, in a position different from 
 all that have been named. There three vines ' are 
 planted close together, and cut off at the height of 
 five feet in the apex of a cone formed by their stems ; 
 where, being tied, each is supported by two others, 
 and thus enabled to sustain the prodigious clusters 
 for which that region has always been famous; 
 clusters so large, that, to carry one, the spies of 
 Moses were compelled to place it on a stick borne by 
 two men. Each mode is doubtless the best that 
 could be adopted in the quarter where it prevails, 
 considering the nature of the soil and climate, the 
 value of the land, and the object of the cultivation."* 
 
 * Eliot's Travels.
 
 XVI. 
 
 THE BEOOK BESOK. 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY. The River of Egypt The Desert The Wild Ass 
 Cultivation Paths Trees Gaza Wady Sheriah. 
 
 DAVID'S CHASTISEMENT God's Anointed King The Outcast The 
 Trial of Faith and Patience Grace Temptation Failure Guile 
 and Falsehood A Dilemma Philistine Jealousy The Sack of 
 Ziklag Refuge in God Return to Ordinances Urim and Thum- 
 mim The Ephod Our High Priest The Oracle The Pursuit 
 The Dying Egyptian The Rioting Banditti The Recovery of all 
 Abundant Spoil Grace abounding Participation of Blessing. 
 
 GERAR The Philistines Their Origin and Character High Civili- 
 zation Affinity with the Egyptians Freedom from Idolatry 
 Abraham's Unbelief and Prevarication Veils Jehovah's Faithful- 
 ness Isaac's Failure The Valley of Gerar Wells conferring 
 property in Land Names of Wells Selfishness and Concession 
 Conclusion. 
 
 1 SAMUEL XXX. 
 
 As the traveller pursues his weary way from Egypt 
 to Palestine, he crosses the broad channel of a river, 
 bounded still by its well-marked banks, but destitute 
 of water. When the rivers of Judah flowed with 
 water, this was the southern boundary of the coun- 
 try, dividing it from the land of Ham, and hence it 
 is often alluded to as the River of Egypt. On one
 
 THE KIVER OF EGYPT. 
 
 side is a parched desert of sand, spotted here and 
 there with little verdant patches, where a few bushes 
 and palm-trees grow, and flowers show their smiling 
 faces to the scorching rays of the sun that pour down 
 as if from a glowing furnace ; but, in general, dreary, 
 waste and bare, with nothing to relieve the eye, 
 almost blinded by the glare of the white sand, but 
 occasional heaps of stones, that tell of ruin and 
 desolation. Here and there the flat sands are 
 covered with an incrustation of fine salt, the very 
 symbol of barrenness. The wild ass, whose " house " 
 God has " made the wilderness, and the barren land 
 (Heb. the salt places) his dwellings," here ranges, 
 far from the haunts of men, ." searching after every 
 green thing." 
 
 On the eastern side of this ancient channel, once 
 a considerable river, since it is not less than six hun- 
 dred feet in breadth, the country changes. Low 
 sand hills, running in ranges parallel to the shore of 
 the Mediterranean, which is close at hand, for a 
 while struggle for supremacy with the increasing 
 verdure of grassy slopes and eminences, and with 
 advancing cultivation. Fields of wheat and barley 
 bow in yellow waves .to the pleasant breeze, and 
 these are interspersed with green patches of lentiles, 
 or of the tall and vigorous tobacco-plant, with its 
 large leaves, and delicate pink blossoms ; a favourite 
 crop with the present Mohammedan occupants. 
 Flocks of sheep and goats are seen scattered over the 
 undulating hills, feeding on the long grass, which 
 nearly conceals them, and browsing on the aromatic 
 shrubs ; with now and then a herd of asses, and, more 
 rarely, of horned cattle. In some places the soil is
 
 330 THE BROOK BESOR. 
 
 being turned up by the rude and light plough, drawn 
 by oxen, and the fields, not divided by hedges or 
 walls, have their boundaries marked only by bunches 
 of broom hung up on stakes at intervals. Over the 
 undulating plains the high road is formed of many 
 paths running side by side, but continually merging 
 the one into the other ; for it is made by the feet of 
 the animals that travel it, which follow each other ; 
 and not, as with us, by a general levelling of the whole 
 width of the road. In the spring, the turf inter- 
 sected by these many paths is gaily enamelled with 
 flowers, " among which our garden-pink assumes the 
 place of daisies." Many ancient sycamores, with 
 twisted roots, and gnarled and knotty trunks, spread 
 out their broad flat heads of foliage towards the 
 rising sun, like huge umbrellas, inviting the weary 
 traveller to pitch his tent beneath their refreshing 
 shadow, or at least, to snatch a few minutes' relief 
 from the fierce unclouded glare of the sun. The 
 ever-green, And almost ever-living, terebinth is now 
 and then seen, with its empurpled foliage, flowers, 
 and fruit ; but trees are now scarce, for the curse of 
 barrenness is fallen upon the land of Israel. The 
 wide expanse of the Mediterranean, "the Great 
 Sea," lies sleeping along the horizon on the left, 
 beneath the descending sun ; and to the right, far 
 inland, the prospect is bounded by mountains rising 
 into uneven peaks, the hill-country of Judah. 
 
 Fifty miles of journeying through such a country 
 as this brings the traveller to Gaza, an ancient city 
 of the Philistines, situated on a little hill, and sur- 
 rounded by gardens fenced with impenetrable hedges 
 of prickly-pear, and embosomed in orchards and
 
 GOD'S ANOINTED KING. 331 
 
 groves of apricots, mulberries, figs, and sycamores. 
 But a few miles before lie reaches this remnant of an- 
 tiquity, he has had to cross the dry beds of two or 
 three other torrents, the principal of which is called 
 by the Arabs Wady Sheriah. It is about thirty yards 
 wide, enclosed between high steep banks, through 
 which, in winter, the accumulated rains pour a muddy 
 torrent to the sea ; but these, early in spring, dwindle 
 to insulated stagnant pools, and soon dry away. Yet 
 its deeply ploughed course remains indelible, and 
 can be distinctly traced from the neighbouring 
 eminences, winding far away inland towards its 
 source in the distant hills of Judah. This is sup- 
 posed to be the Brook Besor, the scene of incidents 
 fraught with interest and instruction in the memor- 
 able history of " the sweet Psalmist of Israel." 
 
 David had been anointed, by divine command, 
 king over Israel ; he was God's chosen king ; but 
 another king was actually on the throne, man's 
 chosen, tiie son of Kish. It was not God's purpose 
 at once to confer upon the man of his choice the 
 actual administration of the kingdom ; He had secured 
 it to him by promise, and now left him for many 
 years to live by faith in the unchangeableness of 
 Jehovah, while the rebellious king was suffered to 
 take his own downward course to sin and ruin. Like 
 the true Anointed and Beloved One, the Christ of 
 God, of whom David was a type, he remained, in the 
 mysterious purposes of God, long excluded from the 
 throne, which was his by right, by him who was a 
 type and representation of the "Prince of this 
 world ;" while one after another, whose hearts God 
 had touched, went down to him, owning him in his
 
 332 THE BROOK BESOR. 
 
 humiliation and rejection, and joining their fortunes 
 with his, in faith upon the security of the divine 
 promises, and in hope of sharing the honour and 
 joy of the kingdom at the appointed time of exal- 
 tation. 
 
 Long time the Son of Jesse maintained his confi- 
 dence unshaken in Jehovah ; hunted to and fro 
 " like a partridge in the mountains," watched and 
 waylaid, driven from one fastness and stronghold to 
 another, pursued by his cruel and implacable perse- 
 cutor with a most persevering thirst for his life, he 
 yet strengthened himself upon the Lord his God, 
 and still looked forward to brighter days to come. It 
 was a time of sore trial, a severe discipline in which 
 he was learning in God's school how to rule His 
 people Israel ; but it was a time of profit to his soul ; 
 many of the sweetest psalms were penned during 
 these " Sittings " and hair-breadth escapes, and they 
 breathe the deepest communion with God, such as 
 the saints in all ages have panted to enjo^. Yet, 
 while there is thus revealed to us the habitual sense 
 of God's love and care which David enjoyed, they 
 continually show also the bitterness of the trial 
 which he was enduring ; cut off from the ordinances 
 of the sanctuary, and shut out from the congregation 
 subject to calumnies and reproaches, and liable to 
 hear even the faithfulness of Jehovah impugned, he 
 often mourns in pathetic terms his sorrowful lot, and 
 comforts himself only with the remembrance of the 
 unfailing love and sympathy of his God. "Thou 
 tellest my wanderings ; thou puttest my tears into 
 thy bottle ; are* they not in thy book ?" 
 
 A beautiful example of meekness, and of that
 
 
 - THE OUTCAST. 
 
 grace which returns good for evil, and blessing for 
 cursing, is afforded by David while thus hunted for 
 life. Twice was Saul completely in his power, and 
 he might, without the least danger to himself, have 
 ended in a moment his perils and his sufferings, 
 by cutting off his bitter foe, who alone stood between 
 him and his rightful throne. But it was no part of 
 David's duty to avenge his own cause, or to compass 
 the death of even a wicked king ; he was content to 
 wait until God's time was come, though he knew not 
 how many more years of painful trial might thus be 
 allotted him. Thus the Lord Jesus, " when he was 
 reviled, reviled not again ; when he suffered, he 
 threatened not, but committed himself to Him that 
 judgeth righteously ;" and thus too he is well con- 
 tent to wait for the assumption of his kingdom, till 
 the Father's time is come, " expecting, till his 
 enemies be made his footstool." 
 
 But we in vain look to the type for the perfection 
 of the Antitype. The faith, and patience, and suffer- 
 ing grace of Jesus never failed, but those of the son 
 of Jesse gave way under the trial. In an hour of 
 temptation he forgot the promises of the Living God, 
 and gave utterance to the desponding thought, " I 
 shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul !" 
 Instead of rebutting the suggestion as from the 
 father of lies, and staying himself upon the tried 
 faithfulness of Jehovah, he parleyed with the tempter, 
 and the " thought of foolishness " soon brought forth 
 its fruits of actual sin. He had an infallible coun- 
 sellor with him, who would have given him wise and 
 unerring advice if he had asked it ; for the High 
 Priest, Abiathar, was there, with whom was deposited
 
 334 THE BKOOK BESOR. 
 
 the Oracle of Jehovah, the mysterious Urim and 
 Thummim. But David forgot to inquire of God, 
 and taking counsel only of his unbelieving fears, and 
 worldly prudence, he resolved to seek protection 
 among the enemies of his country and his God, and 
 to cast himself upon the king of the Philistines. 
 
 The Gittite monarch received him kindly, and 
 assigned to his distinguished guest the little city of 
 Ziklag, situate not far from the brook Besor, a town 
 which had formerly belonged to the tribe of Simeon, 
 but had been captured by the Philistines in some of 
 the frequent wars, and now came into the possession 
 of Judah, by this royal gift to David. Here it would 
 seem at first as if a great change for the better had 
 occurred in the circumstances of the Hebrew band, 
 for they were now delivered from the pressing danger, 
 and provided with a fortified town, in which they 
 might dwell in security. But sin always leads to 
 sorrow, and though the child of God is delivered 
 through grace from the punishment due to sin here- 
 after, yet God is a jealous God, and will not suffer 
 his saints to abuse his grace, nor to continue to 
 walk contrary to Him, without exercising towards 
 them his fatherly discipline. Thus David found it. 
 
 One sin naturally leads to another. The son of 
 Jesse must now ingratiate himself with Achish, whose 
 interests are diametrically opposed to those of Israel ; 
 hence a course of deceitfulness, if not of lying, is 
 begun, in which the " man after God's own heart " 
 becomes an object of our sorrow and pity. He makes 
 an inroad upon the nations that lie to the south of 
 the land the Amalekites and allied tribes and 
 puts to the sword without distinction all who fall
 
 UNBELIEF. 335 
 
 into his hands. In this we will not say he was 
 wrong, for Israel had been solemnly and expressly 
 commanded to " blot out the remembrance of Amalek 
 from under heaven," and Saul's failure to execute 
 this commission which had been entrusted- to him, 
 had been the occasion of the Lord's rejecting his 
 kingship, and choosing the son of Jesse. But surely 
 the guile which represented the expedition as having 
 been against his own people, was not only dis- 
 honoring to God, to whom lying lips are an abomi- 
 nation, but dishonoring to himself also, as putting 
 him in the position of a renegade, a traitor, and an 
 enemy to the chosen people of Jehovah. 
 
 Well, the ready falsehood extricated this Israelite, 
 in whom there ought to have been no guile, from 
 that difficulty ; but soon a more formidable one 
 presents itself ; for Achish is summoning his armies 
 to a grand assault upon Israel, and counts with con- 
 fidence upon the assistance of David and his band, 
 who have so vaunted their exploits against what 
 might be reasonably considered the common enemy. 
 Here is a dilemma ! If he promise the expected aid, 
 and then fail of performance, or go over to the ranks 
 of Israel, what treachery and ingratitude will mark 
 his conduct ! If he be found in the ranks of the 
 Philistines, making common cause with them against 
 his brethren, helping to bring the people of Jehovah 
 under the yoke of the idolaters what a position is 
 this for God's anointed king ! Oh ! what difficulties 
 and dangers do they plunge themselves into, who 
 endeavour to get rid of trial by turning aside into 
 the apparently smooth and flowery paths of sin ! In 
 such circumstances, afar from God, the erring saint
 
 336 THE BEOOK BESOE. 
 
 would only become more and more deeply involved 
 in difficulty and sin, if the Lord's own gracious 
 hand, ever stretched forth in watchful love, did not 
 often cut the knot, and lead him back again into 
 uprightness by a way he had not anticipated. 
 
 The natural jealousy of the Philistine lords be- 
 comes the channel of help to the distressed David ; 
 and the distrusted stranger is sent back to his own 
 town. But his heart is not yet humbled ; the 
 plausible falsehood is still maintained ; and though 
 glad in his inmost soul of the relief, he affects great 
 indignation at not being permitted to "go to fight 
 against the enemies of his lord {he king." Ah ! his 
 safety was dearly bought, at the price of his sincerity; 
 and far more happy, as well as more worthy of our 
 admiration, was the noble-minded fugitive in the 
 caves and rocks of the wild goats, than the insincere 
 sycophant in the court of Gath. 
 
 Jehovah had extricated his erring servant from the 
 distressing dilemma in which he had placed himself, 
 not suffering a public disgrace to come upon him, 
 either before Israel or the Philistines. But he must 
 be rebuked and humbled, that he may recover him- 
 self out of the snare into which he is fallen ; and 
 for this, as continuance in sin has hardened his heart 
 and blunted his conscience, a severe stroke is neces- 
 sary. He comes with his six hundred men to Ziklag, 
 expecting to enjoy the comforts and amenities of 
 home ; each man is anticipating the welcome words 
 and affectionate caresses of his wife and children, 
 and perhaps hoping to spend a little season in rest, 
 and relaxation from the fatigues of martial enterprise. 
 They approach the familiar spot, after a three days'
 
 THE SACK OF ZIKLAG. 337 
 
 tedious march beneath the torrid sun ; but an unusual 
 and unnatural silence and solitude prevail. "Where 
 are the flocks and herds that ought to be grazing on 
 these hill sides ? "Where are the shepherds whose 
 viols were wont to be heard beneath the shade of 
 these sycamores ? Why do the ploughs lie idly in 
 these half-ploughed fields, forsaken of man and 
 beast? ~No barking of household dogs is heard, 
 no busy hum of many voices, no merry laugh of 
 childhood comes over the hill from the town ; all is 
 still as death. They press on with palpitating hearts ; 
 the foremost are on the summit of yonder intervening 
 eminence, when suddenly they stop, recoil with terror, 
 and send up to heaven a cry a wail of anguish. The 
 town is beneath them, but it is a heap of ruins : the 
 red embers are yet lying in the half-fallen houses, 
 and thin columns of smoke ascend from many a 
 smouldering roof. Not a sign of life is there ; nor 
 can their search discover any living soul to tell the 
 dismal tale. Some comfort, however, is found in 
 the fact that no traces of blood are seen, no ghastly 
 corpses, no half-consumed bodies, not even a blackened 
 bone can be found ; but all wives, sons, daughters, 
 servants, flocks, herds all are gone into captivity. 
 
 This was a stunning stroke indeed ! For a time 
 the voice of bitter lamentation ascended! " David 
 and the people that were with him lifted up their 
 voice and wept, until they had no more power to 
 weep." Then sorrow began to yield to thoughts of 
 revenge; and as the unknown enemy was beyond 
 their reach, they angrily began to vent their rage on 
 their commander, to whose imprudence they not 
 unreasonably attributed their irreparable loss ; and 
 15
 
 338 THE BROOK BESOE. 
 
 dark hints were already muttered of stoning him. 
 But the lesson had been learned : David recognised 
 the hand of his offended God, and bowed with sub- 
 mission to the stroke. He " encouraged himself in 
 the Lord his God !" 
 
 It is the precious privilege of the child of God that 
 he can find in his Father's bosom a refuge from 
 trouble, not only when the trouble comes upon him 
 in the path of duty, but when it is the result of his 
 own failure. It is comparatively easy to a saint to 
 " encourage himself in the Lord his ' God," when 
 tribulation, persecution, the loss of comforts, of 
 goods, of liberty, and even of life, are brought on by 
 his faithfulness to his Lord. He naturally then 
 looks up for Divine consolation : but it is equally his 
 privilege, though much more difficult to be exercised, 
 to flee away from the consequences of his own trans- 
 gression, and take refuge in God's love. Yes ! to 
 take refuge even from the chastisements of his 
 Father's hand, in the sympathy of his Father's 
 heart ! But only he can do this, who, like David, 
 notwithstanding the darkening cloud, knows well, by 
 sweet experience, that " God is love." 
 
 The immediate fruit of this severe, but wholesome, 
 discipline was manifested in David, by his return to 
 the ordinances of God which he had sinfully neg- 
 lected. If he had inquired of the Lord, when he 
 proposed to go down to Achish, he would certainly 
 have been preserved from the entangling and defiling 
 paths into which he had been lately led, and he would 
 have been spared the painful bereavement which had 
 just befallen him. Now, however, he will no more trust 
 his own wisdom, but seek his divine Counsellor.
 
 URIM AND THTJMMIM. 339 
 
 From that dreadful slaughter of the priests at Nob, 
 when Saul " slew in one day fourscore and five persons 
 that did wear a linen ephod," Abiathar, the son of 
 the high-priest, had escaped, and he now exercised 
 the functions of that sacred office. One of those 
 functions was to deliver a solemn oracle from Jeho- 
 vah to any inquiring worshipper. It was called " the 
 judgment of Urim and Thummim," terms considered, 
 as implying illumination and perfection, and could 
 only be delivered by the High Priest, when arrayed 
 in his holy garments of glory and beauty. That 
 portion of the priestly dress which was more im- 
 mediately connected with the oracular judgment, was 
 the Ephod of gold. It seems to have been a short 
 coat or apron, without sleeves, formed of the most 
 costly materials ; a sort of rich brocade, made of 
 linen and golden thread interwoven, and gorgeously 
 embroidered with blue, and purple, and scarlet. On 
 the straps, or shoulder-pieces, by which it was sus- 
 pended, were fixed two large onyx-stones, on each of 
 which were graven the names of six of the tribes of 
 Israel. A magnificent breast-plate was worn in 
 front, called, from its use, the breastplate of judg- 
 ment. It was a doubled piece of the same rich 
 cloth as the ephod, about nine inches square, fastened 
 with rings and chains of gold to that garment. In 
 it were set tw r elve precious stones, in four rows, all of 
 them different, and each graven with the name of 
 one of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. 
 Thus the high-priest, whenever he went into the 
 holiest of all, where Jehovah dwelt in visible glory, 
 bore on his shoulder and on his heart the names of 
 the people whose advocate and intercessor he was ;
 
 8-tO THE BKOOK BESOK. 
 
 and thus he beautifully typified Jesus, our Great 
 High Priest, who ever presents his saints before God 
 in radiant glory, like stones most precious, bearing 
 them upon his shoulder, the place of sustaining 
 power, and upon his heart, the place of tender love. 
 
 Whether the Urim and the Thummim were any- 
 thing superadded to the breastplate, or were the 
 precious stones themselves, is not certainly known. 
 The probability is that they were identical. Nor is 
 it determined how the oracular response was de- 
 livered ; whether, as the rabbinical tradition asserts, 
 by a supernatural light streaming forth from some 
 of the component letters of the engraven names, 
 which were then read as the answer ; or, what is 
 more likely, by an audible voice from God himself. 
 
 David then called for Abiathar, who invested 
 himself with the ephod, and presented himself before 
 the Lord. He asked if he should pursue the troop ; 
 and received the consolatory and explicit assurance, 
 that he should surely overtake them, and without 
 fail recover all. The response encouraged his faith 
 and hope, and invigorated his wearied and depressed 
 followers, who immediately set out in pursuit. The 
 marauders might easily be guessed to be none other 
 than the Amalekites, who had thus revenged the 
 late slaughter of their people ; and the track of the 
 retreating expedition might be inferred, with some- 
 what of certainty, to have been in a southward 
 direction, across the Brook Besor. 
 
 ~No time was to be lost ; and, in hot haste, though 
 already fatigued with a three days' march, the six 
 hundred men press onward to the Brook. The waters 
 were, at that time, probably, high ; and, from the
 
 
 THE DYING EGYPTIAN. 341 
 
 impetuosity of the current, difficult and dangerous 
 to ford, especially to men whose tired limbs were 
 scarcely able to support them on solid ground. Two 
 hundred men sank down on the grassy bank, de- 
 claring with despondency that they were too faint 
 to proceed, and utterly incompetent to the task of 
 fording the swollen torrent. To be deprived of one- 
 third of his small force was, doubtless, a fresh trial 
 of David's faith ; but promptitude in pursuit was of 
 more consequence than numbers ; and the diminished 
 band resolved to go on, trusting in the assurance of 
 Jehovah, and leave their disabled companions to 
 abide their return at the Besor. 
 
 Scarcely had they crossed the Brook, when they 
 fell in with a wretched man, lying on the ground, at 
 the point of death. He had dragged himself to a 
 low bush, whose scanty shadow scarcely defended 
 him from the burning sun. His countenance and 
 dress told him to be an Egyptian, whom, the day 
 before, the Hebrew troop might, perhaps, have left 
 to perish ; but affliction had now softened their 
 hearts, and they ministered to this suffering stranger 
 the relief of which he evidently stood in need. The 
 restorative power of food and drink was soon apparent ; 
 his spirit and strength revived ; and he was able to 
 inform them that he had been the slave of an Ama- 
 lekite, and had actually been engaged in the sack of 
 Ziklag. Happening to fall sick on the retreat, his 
 cruel master had left him on the road to die ; and 
 during the three days that had since elapsed, he had 
 neither eaten food nor drunk water. The mercy 
 shown to this perishing stranger was not without 
 reward ; for it was the means ordained by God for
 
 342 THE BROOK BESOK. 
 
 the recovery of that which had been taken away. He 
 agreed, on the promise of protection, to bring down 
 the Hebrews to the Anialekite band, with whose 
 place of intended repose he was well acquainted. 
 
 How far the marauders had retreated we are not 
 informed ; probably, counting on the whole available 
 force of Israel being now engaged in the great conflict 
 with the Philistines, at a distance, they were in no 
 hurry to get home, but were taking their ease on 
 these grassy plains. They were soon discovered, 
 spread abroad upon the ground, eating and drinking, 
 and making merry rioting on the abundant spoil 
 which they had taken, not only from Ziklag, but 
 from other parts of the country of the Philistines, 
 and from the south of Judah, and other contiguous 
 parts. The expedition seems to have not been ex- 
 clusively one of revenge upon David, but to have 
 been intended for general plunder, taking advantage 
 of the absence of the men able to bear arms, now 
 gathered to the scene of war. God, in his gracious 
 providence, had so ordered that none of the captives 
 were injured ; David's two wives and the families of 
 his followers were preserved, for cupidity had pre- 
 vailed over revenge. In this we see the tenderness 
 of God's fatherly chastisement ; He never inflicts one 
 stroke upon his erring children more than sufficient 
 to effect the purpose which He designs for them. 
 The captivity of those dear to David had rebuked and 
 humbled him, which was the object designed by 
 Jehovah ; their violent death or irreparable dishonour 
 might have crushed him. 
 
 The unarmed and riotous band of Amalekites were 
 incapable of resistance : the swords of the avenging
 
 THE RECOVERY. 343 
 
 Israelites fell unsparingly ; the darkness of the night 
 (for it was in the fading twilight that the angry band 
 burst in upon their revelry) helped to increase the 
 panic, as well as to conceal the numbers of the 
 assailants ; many were slain upon the spot, and only 
 the swiftness of their dromedaries saved four hundred 
 young men from the fierce pursuit, which lasted 
 through the whole of that night, and until the even- 
 ing of the next day. 
 
 Great was the joy, and many and cordial were the 
 congratulations, and fervent, surely, the thanks- 
 givings of the victorious band, w T hen the battle and 
 the pursuit were done, as each man found his beloved 
 wife, his sons, and his daughters, unhurt by the 
 spoilers ; and when, according to the oracle of Jeho- 
 vah, nothing of all their property was lacking. But 
 they gained far more than had been taken away ; for 
 all the booty that the marauders had plundered from 
 the neighbouring countries fell into their hands. 
 
 Th-us does the Christian often prove the freeness 
 of the grace of God. We may not sin that grace 
 may abound : God forbid ! but a believer who has 
 unwarily fallen into the snares of the adversary, often 
 proves, after having been truly humbled, and re- 
 stored to communion with the Lord, that he has 
 gained by the transaction what he might never have 
 otherwise attained. In one aspect, it is true, he can 
 never regain his former position he can never be 
 exactly the same man that he was before ; the dis- 
 honour done to the name of Christ^ and the injury 
 inflicted on the Church, remains, and can never be 
 effaced. But, in another aspect, it is made a true 
 and real blessing to him ; he has learned much, and
 
 344 THE BKOOK BESOK. 
 
 that in the way it is most effectually learned by 
 experience. He has seen more of the craft and 
 subtlety, the power and the malice of Satan, and 
 more of the weakness, and treachery, and innate cor- 
 ruption of his own heart. And this, though an 
 humbling, is a profitable lesson ; for the more self is 
 abased, and the more Christ is honoured, the better 
 for time and for eternity. He feels, more deeply 
 than before, the evil and bitterness of sin, and more 
 than ever values the precious Blood of sprinkling, 
 which cleanses from all its defilement as well as from 
 all its guilt. His intercourse with God in Christ 
 will be henceforth more humble, more grateful, more 
 holy ; he will walk more circumspectly and more 
 prayerfully. Nor will the advantage be limited to 
 his own soul ; he is qualified, by the exercises through 
 which he has passed, to minister more effectually to 
 his brethren. He will now know how to warn the 
 careless, how to sympathise with the tempted, how 
 to yearn over poor backsliders, and how to comfort 
 the trembling penitents, and cheer them to the race 
 again. Peter would be better able to strengthen 
 his brethren, and to feed the sheep and lambs of 
 Jesus' fold, after his painful fall and happy restora- 
 tion, than before ; and who can tell how much of the 
 peculiar fatherly tenderness that marks his epistles, 
 his richness of consolation in the fiery trial through 
 which the Church was passing, his earnest admo- 
 nitions to vigilance against the wiles of the arch 
 adversary, may have been, under grace, owing to 
 his having been in the furnace himself, and having 
 proved the prowess of the foe ? 
 
 Laden with spoil, David and his troop return to
 
 GRACE ABOUNDING. 34:5 
 
 the Brook Besor, where they are joyfully saluted by 
 their now recruited comrades. To the unkind and 
 selfish suggestion of some in the band, whose hard 
 hearts neither adversity nor prosperity had availed 
 to soften, that those who had been unable to go to 
 the battle should not partake of the spoil, David 
 administers a temperate but decisive rebuke. He 
 ascribes the success wholly to the Lord, and esta- 
 blishes it as an ordinance in Israel, that all who 
 bear part in any expedition shall share equally in the 
 spoil, whether they actually engage in the conflict, 
 or abide with the baggage. Sad would it be for us 
 if only He who fought the fight and won the victory 
 enjoyed the spoil ; but He joyfully makes his people, 
 even the meanest and weakest, full partakers of all 
 the gain and glory that result from his conflict. Let 
 us imitate his example, and gladly share with our 
 brethren whatever fruits of grace have been commu- 
 nicated to us. 
 
 GENESIS XX. XXVI. 
 
 THIS Brook is memorable, also, for scenes and inci- 
 dents far earlier than the time of David ; for the 
 region through which its waters flowed was the 
 ancient Gerar, where, in turn, both Abraham and 
 Isaac sojourned ; and the city of the same name, 
 over which Abimelech reigned, was, in all probability, 
 on its banks. The higher parts of the stream drained 
 the waters of the hills, the sloping sides of whicli 
 formed the Valley of Gerar, whither Isaac for peace' 
 sake resorted, when the jealousy of the Philistines con- 
 strained him to leave their more immediate vicinity. 
 
 15*
 
 34:6 THE BROOK BESOll. 
 
 From several casual allusions in the holy Scrip- 
 tures, we gather, that tHe Philistines who, for so long 
 a period, maintained possession of the south-west 
 portion of Canaan, and gave the name of Palestine to 
 the whole of that country, were an Egyptian colony. 
 At the time of their migration, which was, probably, 
 not long before the period of Abraham's sojourn in 
 Gerar, they seem to have included two tribes the 
 Palishtim, and the Caphtorim, each of which names at 
 length came to be used indiscriminately to designate 
 this people ; though the former was, by far, the more 
 common. From the manner in which the triumphal 
 ode of the children of Israel alludes to them, after 
 the crossing of the Red Sea, as well as from the reason 
 assigned by God why he would not lead them by the 
 shortest and most obvious route to Canaan, we infer 
 that the Philistines had early acquired a renown for 
 that martial prowess which they afterwards so well 
 maintained, in the long contests for supremacy with 
 the people of Israel. The latter made no attempts 
 at maritime commerce or power until the reign of 
 the magnificent Solomon ; at which time the power 
 of the Philistine nation had been effectually broken 
 by the successful career of David. Hence, the Is- 
 raelites would never come into contact with them 
 as a naval power ; and we should not have known 
 that the Philistines were eminent on the sea, how- 
 ever we might have judged it probable from their 
 occupying the sea-board, and from the Mediterranean 
 being called by their name (" the Sea of the Philis- 
 tines," Exod. xxiii. 31), if the ancient Egyptian 
 sculptures and paintings had not revealed the fact. 
 Those interesting monuments, recently brought to
 
 THE miLISTESTES. 347 
 
 light, represent naval as well as military battles, in 
 which the conflicting parties are found, from the 
 hieroglyphic inscriptions, to be the Egyptians and 
 the Palishta ; while more commonly these two 
 kindred nations are seen in close alliance, fighting 
 against a common enemy. 
 
 That portion of the land which we are now dis- 
 cussing had been previously occupied by the Avim, 
 a people whom some are inclined to regard as a tribe 
 of the Hivites ; but these had been overcome and 
 destroyed by the superior energy, force, or skill of 
 the immigrating Caphtorim. The latter seem to 
 have been in a more polished condition than the 
 Canaanitish tribes, which they doubtless owed to 
 their Egyptian origin. Thus not only is the kingly 
 government recognised, but hereditary succession 
 seems to be established ; for Abimelech is the name 
 of the king who reigned in Gerar in Isaac's days, as 
 it had been that of him with whom Abraham 
 sojourned nearly a hundred years before. Each of 
 these monarchs is attended by a " captain of the 
 host," an officer whose function implies a high state 
 of military organization. It is remarkable that the 
 name of this officer was hereditary, no less than that 
 of his master. Some suppose that both of the 
 names, Abimelech and Phichol, were official, and not 
 personal titles, (especially as the former signifies 
 " My father, the king,") as Pharaoh was the constant 
 title of the reigning Egyptian monarch. If this was 
 so, it would no less indicate a cultivated state of 
 society, and would afford another interesting affinity 
 with Egyptian usages. 
 
 The Philistines never appear to have contracted
 
 348 THE BROOK BESOR. 
 
 friendships or alliances with, the nations of Canaan, 
 "not even on those occasions when all the inhabi- 
 tants of the land might be expected to unite as one 
 man, in resistance to the invading Israelites, and when, 
 in fact, powerful confederacies were formed for that 
 purpose by the native princes. The Philistines were 
 the most inveterate enemies which the Hebrews in 
 Canaan ever had ; and yet in their wars we find them 
 proceeding as a distinct people, with separate interests 
 of their own, acting by themselves, and for them- 
 selves, assisted by none, and never assisting others."* 
 
 An interesting trait in the character of this people 
 is their apparent freedom from the idolatry and vice 
 which had debased the surrounding nations. The 
 first Abimelech was evidently acquainted with the 
 name and attributes of Jehovah, to whom he 
 appealed, in the confidence of a worshipper, for the 
 integrity of his own heart, and the general righteous- 
 ness of his people ; and to this appeal God himself 
 responded. His abhorrence of the sin of adultery, 
 and his sense of the injury done him in laying 
 temptation in his way, as also his kindness to 
 Abraham, indicate that true religion yet lingered 
 here ; while the appeal, " Lord, wilt thou slay also a 
 righteous nation 3" alluding, no doubt, to the late 
 dreadful overthrow of Sodom, implies a great differ- 
 ence between his own people and the guilty Canaan- 
 ites, and proves that he knew the Lord to be one who 
 could not but do right. 
 
 The intercourse of Isaac with the second Abimelech 
 shows that this purity of faith and morals had not 
 yet been corrupted. How long it remained, we are 
 
 Kitto's Hist, of Palestine, 85. '
 
 ABRAHAM'S FAILURE. 349 
 
 not told ; but when, a few centuries afterwards, we 
 again find this people on the stage of history, it is as 
 the besotted worshippers of Dagon, the god with a 
 fish's form, and as the cruel oppressors of Israel. 
 
 It is remarkable that all the narratives connected 
 with this river present us with signal failures of 
 eminent saints, and humiliating rebukes of their 
 unbelief, exceedingly similar to each other. We have 
 already seen how the holy David was betrayed into 
 distrust of Jehovah's kind and watchful care, and 
 thence into prevarication and lying ; and we have 
 seen "the end of the Lord" in reproving and 
 recovering him. We have now to tell as sad a story 
 of the " father of the faithful," the " friend of God." 
 
 Abraham had had repeated promises from God of 
 a numerous offspring, and latterly these assurances 
 had been confirmed in solemn covenant, and the 
 promised seed had been distinctly announced by 
 name, and described as to be born of Sarah his 
 wife. Yet when he came to sojourn in Gerar, he fell 
 under the power of a sore temptation, and dishonoured, 
 by distrusting, Jehovah. Ignorant that there was 
 any fear of God, or sense of morality among the 
 Philistines, he dreaded the effect which the extraor- 
 dinary beauty of Sarah might produce upon lawless 
 men ; and supposed that, if it were known that he 
 was her husband, they would not scruple to slay him 
 in order to seize her. He therefore besought her to 
 represent herself as his sister, a relationship which 
 did exist by the father's side, but not by the mother's. 
 Thus he showed no concern for the chastity of his wife, 
 which he the more exposed by his disingenuous arti- 
 fice, but a slavish dread of death, which he was willing
 
 350 THE BROOK BESOR. 
 
 to avoid at the expense of his wife's honour ; though 
 one thought of the glorious promises which had 
 been made to him would have effectually silenced 
 his fears. It was probably the custom then, as now, 
 among the pastoral tent-dwelling tribes, for the 
 unmarried women to have great part of their faces 
 exposed, while the married women were enveloped 
 in a veil, which left none of the features visible. The 
 consequence was that the king of the country sent 
 and took the fair Hebrew for his harem. 
 
 But Jehovah, who permitted this to happen foi 
 the rebuke of his unbelieving servant, did not forget 
 his own faithfulness. Most precious is that truth : " If 
 we believe not, yet He abideth faithful ; He cannot 
 deny Himself." He effectually interposed his power 
 in such a way as prevented the dishonor of Sarah, 
 intimating in a night vision to the king the true 
 relation that subsisted between her and the patriarch, 
 and the danger which he had unwittingly incurred 
 by seizing another's wife. Abimelech obeyed, and 
 having cautioned his servants, called for Abraham ; 
 and he who was called "the friend of God," who 
 had been honoured to partake the counsels of 
 Jehovah, and who was the heir of the promises, stood 
 in the humbling position of hearing his sin reproved 
 by one, whom he had supposed destitute of the fear 
 of God. Thus sometimes, still, the natural conscience 
 of unrenewed men is found more sensitive to sin than 
 the sleeping conscience of careless Christians ; but it 
 is greatly to the shame of the latter. Nor does the 
 excuse wherewith Abraham attemts to palliate his 
 evil, much mend the matter ; his whole conduct in 
 this transaction is greatly to his disadvantage. It
 
 JEHOVAH'S FAITHFULNESS. 351 
 
 is recorded, however, for our benefit ; inasmuch as it 
 shows that even Abraham had not " whereof to 
 glory " in his own works ; that he was not and could 
 not be justified by these ; but only by faith upon 
 the righteousness of God in Christ, whose " day " he 
 saw afar off, and rejoiced to see it. 
 
 To Sarah also, who had allowed herself to be 
 enticed into a share of the guilt, the justly offended 
 monarch administered a reproof, not the less severe 
 because of the delicate manner in which it was con- 
 veyed. " Behold, I have given to thy ' brother ' a 
 thousand pieces of silver to purchase such a veil as 
 shall indicate thy relation." 
 
 Yet, though the Lord sometimes allows his people 
 to stand reproved before the world, He will never- 
 theless have it manifested that they sustain a cove- 
 nant relation with Himself, and that He puts a 
 special honour upon them, notwithstanding their 
 failures. They are his, not because of their right- 
 eousness, but because of his own grace ; and hence 
 their failures in faith or obedience cannot alienate 
 his love, though they bring down his chastisements. 
 God would have Abimelech seek Abraham's prayers, 
 and it was in immediate answer to his servant's 
 intercessions, doubtless very humbling and profitable 
 to his own soul, that the Lord removed those inflic- 
 tions which the temporary possession of Sarah had 
 brought upon the house of the Philistine king. 
 
 The narrative of Isaac's failure is so similar in its 
 details, that if it had not been recorded by Him who 
 cannot err, we might have supposed it another version 
 of the same transaction ; we, therefore, need not 
 further allude to it, but shall follow this patriarch
 
 352 THE BROOK BESOR. 
 
 from the actual dominions of Abimelech to the valley 
 of Gerar, whither he was driven by the jealousy of 
 the Philistines, envious of his increasing prosperity. 
 Though the land of Israel, when under the pecu- 
 liar blessing of God, was a land of brooks of water, 
 a land that drank of the rain of heaven, and must 
 not be estimated by its present condition, when 
 languishing under the threatened curse of drought 
 and barrenness ; yet, even then, the rains were 
 seasonal ; and we have pretty clear indication in the 
 records of Abraham's and Isaac's biography, that, at 
 least in the southern part of the country, there were 
 no perennial streams. During, and for some time 
 after, the rains of winter, the Yalley of the Gerar was 
 doubtless the bed of a copious stream, which, as 
 already intimated, became known in the lower part 
 of its course through the undulating plains as the 
 Brook Besor; and if this had continued to flow 
 through the summer and autumn, abundant water 
 for pastoral and agricultural purposes would have 
 been supplied, and the labour of digging wells have 
 been superseded. But this was not the case; in 
 both Abraham's and Isaac's sojourns in this region, 
 the digging of wells forms marked events ; and the 
 contentions of which they were the occasions show 
 the importance of the water so obtained. Isaac had 
 recently turned his attention to agriculture ; he had 
 " sowed in that land, and received in the same year 
 an hundred-fold " an enormous rate of increase, but 
 " the Lord blessed him." It was therefore, in all 
 probability, no less for the purposes of irrigation that 
 he dug wells in the valley, than for the supply of 
 his flocks and herds ; and, as he who bestows the
 
 THE VALLKY OK GERAR. 353 
 
 needful labour and expense upon the formation of a 
 well in an arid district, to a certain extent creates its 
 fruitfulriess, it is considered still in some parts (as in 
 Persia, for instance) to confer a proprietorship in the 
 land so fertilized. It was, doubtless, on this account 
 that the Philistines took pains to fill up the exca- 
 vated wells both of Abraham and of Isaac, or dis- 
 puted the possession of them ; as fearing that the 
 wealthy strangers might establish a claim upon the 
 lands which they occupied, that might afterwards 
 prove inconvenient.* 
 
 In the dominions of Abimelech, there might be 
 some justice in the rigid exclusiveness of the Philis- 
 tines ; and Isaac readily departed at the suggestion 
 of the king, and pitched his tent in the valley, which 
 seems to have remained as yet unappropriated. 
 Having re-opened the old wells which Abraham had 
 digged, he gave to them the names which had been 
 originally conferred on them by that patriarch. 
 The custom of naming wells, no doubt, arose from 
 the desire of establishing a right to the water ; and 
 tradition would preserve the circumstances which 
 induced the selection of the name, (for this was 
 always significant,) much longer than if no distinctive 
 appellation had been given. We are not told that 
 the Philistines interfered with Isaac in these opera- 
 tions ; perhaps they felt that the evidence of property 
 which the revival of the old names gave was too 
 strong to be openly resisted ; though they had not 
 scrupled to fill up the wells secretly. But on his 
 digging new ones, matters came to an open ruptur". 
 The servants of Isaac, digging in the valley, earn-
 
 354 THE BKOOK BKSOR. 
 
 upon a fine spring, which roused the envy of the 
 Philistine herdmen who were pasturing their flocks 
 in the neighbourhood, and they disputed the pos- 
 session of the water by force of arms. Another well 
 was the subject of similar contention ; and Isaac 
 meekly relinquished both, having first bestowed upon 
 them the odious names of Esek and Sitnah, signify- 
 ing strife and hatred. The Philistines in these trans- 
 actions appear peculiarly unamiable, selfishly seeking 
 to derive exclusive advantage from the labours of 
 another labours which they had not energy or skill 
 to perform for themselves. But Isaac exemplifies 
 the lovely principle of grace, giving up his right for 
 the sake of peace ; content, although confessedly the 
 stronger, " much mightier than they," to be imposed 
 on, rather than resist evil, where only his convenience 
 or interest was concerned : like his promised Seed, 
 to whom he looked in anticipative faith, and of whom 
 he was an illustrious type, he " restored that which 
 he took not away."
 
 XVJl. 
 THE KIYER NILE. 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY. Ancient Renown The White and Blue Rivers 
 Valley of Egypt Periodical Overflow Consequent Fertility 
 Ancient Monuments Early Civilization Abram's Visit Moses 
 The Plagues of Egypt Subsequent History. 
 
 now again leave the goodly land of Canaan, to 
 consider a river, mighty and renowned, indeed, but 
 one whose name would be chiefly associated in the 
 mind of Israel with memories and traditions of bitter 
 captivity, the " iron furnace " of Egyptian bondage. 
 The Nile is the great river of northern and eastern 
 Africa, pursuing a course of more than 1,800 miles, 
 in a direction nearly due north, from the centre of that 
 great continent to the Mediterranean. The various 
 sources of this river are yet involved in obscurity ; 
 but they are believed to rise in lofty mountains to 
 the north of the equator. The principal branches 
 are called the "WTiite and the Blue rivers, which, after 
 passing through Abyssinia, unite in the region of 
 Sennaar. From this point it receives but one tribu-
 
 356 
 
 THE RIVER NILE. 
 
 tary of any importance, until it falls into the Medi- 
 terranean, by several diverging mouths, forming the 
 Delta of Egypt. The greater part of its course lies 
 through a narrow valley, rarely exceeding a few miles 
 in width, hemmed in on both sides by low ranges of 
 mountains. Some portions of even this narrow strip 
 
 are little better than the sandy desert around ; but 
 other parts, especially the lower course of the river, 
 forming the land of Egypt, possess an astonishing 
 fertility, owing to the annual deposition of a rich
 
 VALLEY OF EGYPT. 357 
 
 alluvial mud, by the overflow of the river in 
 summer. 
 
 After the waters have retired within their banks, 
 which takes place in November, the agricultural pre- 
 parations begin ; and the valley soon assumes the 
 appearance of a delightful garden, covered with 
 verdant crops, enamelled with flowers, and inter- 
 spersed with groves of fruit-trees and luxuriant palms. 
 The harvest is gathered in March and April, after 
 which the heat becomes intense. -and the suffocating 
 Ichamseen, or south wind, sweeping along clouds of 
 fine sand, and parching up all vegetation, makes the 
 inhabitants look forward with eagerness to the rise 
 of the Nile, the hope of the succeeding year. 
 
 All through the valley, on both sides of the river, 
 lie scattered, in astonishing profusion, the monuments 
 of ancient Egypt ; grand and imposing palaces, 
 temples, sepulchres, and colossal statues, the remnant 
 of the power and science of those early days, when 
 Abram visited the land of Ham, and Joseph pre- 
 served her from destruction. 
 
 The name of the Nile does not occur in Scripture, 
 (unless it be the " Sihor " of Jer. ii. 18 ;) but it is 
 spoken of as " the river " more than twenty times, 
 and much of the early history of God's chosen people 
 is linked with it. To describe all the scenes associ- 
 ated with it would be to transcribe nearly one-third 
 of the books of Genesis and Exodus ; but the limits 
 assigned to this little volume will not permit us to 
 do more than enumerate some of the most prominent 
 of the incidents with which it is connected. 
 
 The researches of modern times, and the light 
 reflected from the ancient monuments, prove that
 
 358 THE RIVER NILE. 
 
 Egypt was a highly polished kingdom, renowned 
 in arts and arms, when first visited by Abram. He 
 stood upon the banks of the blue Nile, as it rolled 
 through the majestic city of the Pharaohs ; and his 
 descendant, Joseph, witnessed beside its waters the 
 depth of adversity and the height of prosperity. In 
 the flags and rushes that waved along its margin, the 
 fair infant Moses was exposed in his reedy cradle, 
 when the daughter of the monarch, approaching to 
 bathe in its refreshing waters, felt tender compassion 
 for the babe, and rescued him from the obscene 
 crocodiles. On its brink stood the prophet, when, 
 having come to years, and preferred the afflictions of 
 the people of God to the honours of the Egyptian 
 court, his wonder-working rod brought plagues upon 
 the land of Ham. The frogs came swarming from 
 the river's depths ; and, worse than all, the river 
 itself whose waters were esteemed preferable to all 
 others, the source of fertility and wealth became 
 blood / and that which had been honoured as a god, 
 became abominable and loathsome to its admirers ! 
 The great contest between Jehovah and the gods 
 of Egypt took place Ujfon the banks of Nile, which 
 ended in the shameful discomfiture of the latter, and 
 the triumphant avenging and delivering of the 
 enslaved house of Israel. 
 
 Varied were the scenes which, in after ages, were 
 enacted beside the mighty " father of waters." The 
 ravages of the desolator, Cambyses, the silken-sailed 
 progresses of the voluptuous Cleopatra, the confla- 
 gration of the glorious library of the Ptolemies, 
 the disastrous expedition of Napoleon, the bloody 
 massacre of the Mamlooks, the rolling Nile has
 
 CONCLUSION. 359 
 
 successively witnessed ; and through all has seen the 
 gradual, but sure, degradation of its possessors, from 
 the very summit of civilization, opulence, and power, 
 until Egypt has become what divine prophecy long 
 ages ago declared it should be "the basest of 
 kingdoms." 
 
 THUS we have briefly sketched the history of those 
 Rivers and Streams, whose names are embalmed in 
 the narratives of Holy Writ. Many events of high 
 moment, many scenes of interest, many examples of 
 human failure and of divine grace, we have seen 
 connected with them, and we have surely learned 
 from their history some lessons of heavenly wisdom, 
 such as the "Word of God alone can teach. There is 
 one other " Sacred Stream ;" one which the inquisi- 
 tive traveller has never looked upon, but whose 
 crystal waters, seen in vision, once gladdened the 
 anointed eye of the beloved disciple in Patmos ; and 
 myriads of happy saints shall, by and by, " walk in 
 white " upon its pleasant banks. It is the " River, 
 the streams whereof shall make glad the city of 
 God ;" it is the " pure River of water of life, clear 
 as crystal, proceeding out of the Throne of God and 
 of the Lamb." Not on earth does it flow ; sin-ridden 
 and polluted as they are, the sunniest, fairest lands 
 of earth would be wholly ungenial to its purity. It 
 flows through the golden streets of the " City that 
 hath foundations," the New Jerusalem, yet hidden 
 with God, but shortly to be revealed. The tree of 
 life, that once grew in the midst of Eden, soon had
 
 360 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 to be withdrawn from earth ; but it was to be trans- 
 planted by this heavenly Kiver, where it flourishes 
 abundantly " on either side ;" and those who shall be 
 hereafter privileged to walk there, shall pluck the 
 fruit of the tree of life, and drink of that river of 
 pleasures, and live for ever. Nothing but joy be- 
 longs to that blissful scene, and eternity is stamped 
 upon all. 
 
 May it be the favoured lot of every reader of these 
 pages, as well as of their author, to find an everlasting 
 home by those "living fountains of waters," "in 
 the midst of the Paradise of God !"
 
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