Heroes of Israel Part 1

Heroes of Israel.

by Theodore Gerald Soares.

PREFACE

It is the purpose to present these Hero Studies in two books, one being the present volume which is intended as a textbook for the students, the other being the teacher's manual with fuller explanations and suggestions. The necessary prefatory statements will be found in the respective books under the t.i.tles "Foreword to the Student" and "Foreword to the Teacher".

This volume contains the text of the stories, with explanatory notes and questions intended to stimulate study. Each lesson consists of a complete story arranged in such a way as to impress the main features of the narrative clearly upon the student's mind. The explanatory material is reduced to the minimum, since the main desire is to let the stories speak for themselves and not to burden the student with wearisome details. The three reviews divide the course into the three natural parts, the first extending to Christmas, the second to the end of March, the third, which is shorter, to the middle of June, when it is usually wise for the regular courses to end.

The text of the British Revisers is used in the reprint of the stories with the consent and approval of the Oxford and Cambridge University presses. As the plan of simplifying the narratives involved certain verbal changes, it has seemed wise to go a step farther and to use the spellings which would be more familiar to American students.

For constant suggestions as to form and method I am greatly indebted to my wife, who has taught the lessons from advance sheets to a cla.s.s of boys. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the valuable counsel of Professor E. D. Burton, the editor of the series, and especially that of Professor J. M. P. Smith, who at Professor Burton's request, and to my own great satisfaction, a.s.sumed the editorial responsibility of reading the ma.n.u.script, and gave me the benefit of his ripe scholarship and judgment.

T. G. S.

July 29, 1908

FOREWORD TO THE STUDENT

1. We are to study the heroes of Israel. What is a hero? We use this word of the chief character in a book or of one who does a very n.o.ble deed. It is also applied to the great men of the past, who have done deeds that have made their names famous in story and who have been the makers of nations. Call to mind some American heroes.

2. Why should we study the heroes of Israel? For three reasons: (1) The stories are very interesting and full of adventure. (2) Israel played a most important part in the world's history. The Jews, who now represent Israel, are no longer a nation, and unhappily they are often very badly treated, but they have many n.o.ble qualities. We owe some of the best things in our modern civilization to the men of old Israel. We shall find a great value in reading their story. (3) The questions of duty and religion that often puzzle us are very old questions. They came to these men thousands of years ago. We shall find them clearer to us as we read how the old heroes struggled with their difficulties.

3. How shall we study? The stories of the heroes are in the Old Testament, but in order to bring them together, and to separate them from other matter which is less profitable for young people to study they have been reprinted in this book. Most of the more difficult names have been omitted, together with everything that would take from the interest in the story. Each chapter is divided into three parts: The Story, The Meaning of the Story, and the Written Review. In preparing the lesson, the story should be read through first. It would be a very good plan to read it aloud to someone. Then take up the suggestions in the second part of the lesson, one at a time, and look up the sections of the story to find answers to the questions. When special Scripture references are given look them up, and use the maps whenever directions are given to that effect. When you have finished the study read the whole story through again and be sure that you understand it.

The Written Review is very important. Have a notebook in which you will write the review stories every week. The best time to write the review story is soon after the meeting of the cla.s.s, while the lesson is still fresh in memory. Always read the story of the hero again before you write the review. Keep the notebook neat. It is a good plan to write the exercise in pencil first and then copy it into the book in ink. At the end of the year you will have a good-sized book full of your own hero stories.

A careful study of these lessons will make you acquainted with a score of the mighty men of the past. Many of them you will wish to keep as life-long friends.

ABRAHAM

I. ABRAHAM, THE FATHER OF THE FAITHFUL

II. ABRAHAM, THE MAGNANIMOUS

III. ABRAHAM AND ISAAC

ABRAHAM, THE FATHER OF THE FAITHFUL

THE STORY

=--1. The Old Home of Abraham= (Gen. 11:31)

Terah took Abraham his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarah his daughter-in-law, his son Abraham's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there, and Terah died in Haran.

=--2. The Journey Westward= (Gen. 12:1-5)

Now the Lord said unto Abraham, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed."

So Abraham went, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abraham was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abraham took Sarah his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan: and into the land of Canaan they came.

=--3. Abraham's Altars= (Gen. 12:6-9)

And Abraham pa.s.sed through the land unto the place of Shechem, unto the oak of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

And the Lord appeared unto Abraham and said, "Unto thy seed will I give this land." And there built he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.

And he removed from thence unto the mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Ai on the east: and there he built an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord. And Abraham journeyed, going on still toward the South.

=--4. A Test of Courage= (Gen. 12:10-20)

And there was a famine in the land: and Abraham went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was sore in the land. And it came to pa.s.s, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarah his wife, "Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: and it shall come to pa.s.s, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, 'This is his wife': and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake, and that my soul may live because of thee."

And it came to pa.s.s, that, when Abraham was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. And the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. And he treated Abraham well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he-a.s.ses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she-a.s.ses, and camels. And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarah Abraham's wife.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A CARAVAN IN PALESTINE]

And Pharaoh called Abraham, and said, "What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so that I took her to be my wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way."

And Pharaoh gave men charge concerning him: and they brought him on the way, and his wife, and all that he had.

THE MEANING OF THE STORY

1 (--1). We begin with the man to whom Israel looked back as their first great hero. What was his name? What was his father's name?

2 (--1). Where did he come from? Look at the map of the Semitic world.

You will see two great rivers which join and then flow into the Persian Gulf. It is not always possible to know where ancient cities were located, but it is supposed that Ur may have been on the Euphrates near the point where the rivers join. It is called Ur of the Chaldees, because people of that name lived there. Terah therefore came from the very old country of Babylonia, which was rich and fertile because it was in the valley of the two rivers. What American river has a rich country in all its wide valley?