Mother Stories from the Old Testament Part 2

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

The Israelites journeyed onward and encamped before Mount Sinai. There G.o.d talked with Moses, and instructed him to remind the people of the great things He had done for them; and to say that if they obeyed Him, and kept His covenant, they should be a peculiar treasure to Him above all people, and a holy nation.

When the people heard G.o.d's message, they answered, "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do." How happy would they have been if they had always kept this promise! But, alas! they did not do so; and great punishments came upon them in consequence.

G.o.d also said that on the third day He would descend upon Mount Sinai; and commanded the people to prepare themselves for that great and solemn event. None were to approach the mount, for if they did so they would die. On the third day, according to the command, the people gathered before Mount Sinai. A thick cloud covered the mountain, which smoked and quaked, and there were thunders and lightnings; a trumpet also sounded exceeding loud, so that all the people trembled. Then G.o.d spake from the midst of the fire, and gave the people the Ten Commandments. These you will find in the twentieth chapter of Exodus; and little folks with sharp eyes can read them in our picture.

We are told that "all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking;"

and when they saw it they were so much afraid that they stood afar off. How holy is G.o.d's law, and how careful should we be to obey it!

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.]

BEZALEEL AND AHOLIAB.

After G.o.d had given the Ten Commandments, He called Moses up into the mountain; where he remained forty days and forty nights. During that time, G.o.d told him to speak to the Israelites, asking them to give gold, silver, bra.s.s, blue, purple, fine linen, oil, precious stones, and other things, to make a tabernacle or sanctuary, where G.o.d would dwell among them. G.o.d showed Moses the pattern of this tabernacle, with its coverings, its holy place and most holy place, its ark of the covenant with the cherubims and mercy-seat, its table for the shewbread, golden candlestick, and altar of incense, and the garments for Aaron and his sons, etc.; everything was accurately described by G.o.d. Then G.o.d instructed Moses as to who could do the work He had commanded to be done, and named two to whom He had given special wisdom and skill: these two were Bezaleel and Aholiab.

When Moses came down from the mountain he called Aaron and all the people of Israel, and told them what G.o.d had commanded. The people willingly brought gifts, till more than enough was provided. Then Bezaleel and Aholiab, and other wise-hearted men, worked diligently until the tabernacle and all things belonging to it were made exactly as G.o.d had instructed. Some worked in gold and silver, others in bra.s.s and wood; wise women spun cloth of blue, purple and scarlet, and fine linen; precious stones were set for the high priest's ephod and breastplate; and, at last, all was finished. Then we are told "Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the Lord had commanded." Then Moses blessed them.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BEZALEEL AND AHOLIAB.]

THE BRAZEN SERPENT.

Jesus Christ says that "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up." What did Jesus mean?

Nearly forty years had pa.s.sed since G.o.d gave His law from Mount Sinai; and frequently the people had sinned during that time. Through their disobedience they were compelled to wander in the wilderness for many long years, instead of going straight to Canaan. While thus wandering they pa.s.sed round the land of Edom, and became grieved and impatient because of the dreariness and difficulty of the way. They murmured against G.o.d and against Moses, and said, "Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread."

They meant the manna which G.o.d gave them daily.

G.o.d allowed fiery serpents to come among the people because of their sin, which bit them, and many died. Then they came to Moses, saying, "We have sinned ... pray unto the Lord that He take away the serpents from us." Moses did so; and G.o.d told him to make a serpent of bra.s.s and to put it on a pole; and said that all who looked to the serpent should live. The serpent of bra.s.s could not heal them, but G.o.d healed them as they obeyed his command to look to the serpent. It was _look_ and _live_.

Now I think we see what Jesus means. G.o.d has said that all must die because of sin; but those who look to Jesus and trust in Him will have their sins pardoned, and will live with Him in glory forever.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BRAZEN SERPENT.]

THE Pa.s.sAGE OF THE JORDAN.

Having wandered for forty years in the wilderness, the Israelites drew near to the river Jordan, at a place opposite Jericho. Moses was dead, and Joshua was now the leader of the host. G.o.d told him that the time had come when the people of Israel were to enter Canaan; to which land they had all this long time been travelling, but which previously they had not been permitted to enter on account of their sin. A description of this sin is given in the Bible, in the fourteenth chapter of Numbers.

But the people were now to cross the Jordan and enter Canaan. They were a very great mult.i.tude, and the river lay before them. How were they to cross? G.o.d told them! He commanded Joshua that the priests were to take the ark of the covenant and to go before the people; who were to follow a short distance behind. Could the priests and the people walk across the deep water? No. But as soon as the priests reached the river, and their feet were dipped in the water, G.o.d divided the Jordan into two, leaving dry ground for the Israelites to cross upon.

The priests carried the ark into the middle of the bed of the river and then stood still, and all the people pa.s.sed on before them. When all were over, the priests carrying the ark moved forward also, and the waters returned to their proper place again. But before they did so, Joshua commanded twelve men, one from each tribe, each to take a stone from the river's bed; and these stones were set up as a memorial of the marvellous manner in which G.o.d had brought the Israelites across the Jordan into Canaan.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CROSSING THE JORDAN.]

THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOST.

News of the miraculous way in which the Israelites had been brought across the Jordan spread rapidly among the Canaanites, and when they heard what G.o.d had done, they were very much afraid. We are told that "their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel."

G.o.d had said to Joshua that the land of Canaan was to be taken possession of by the Israelites; and had commanded him to "Be strong and of a good courage," and had strengthened him by saying, "Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy G.o.d is with thee whithersoever thou goest." Joshua and the people were now in Canaan, and before them lay a stronghold of the Canaanites, named Jericho, having high walls and strong gates. This city the Israelites had to capture; but the inhabitants closed the gates, and prepared to fight fiercely to prevent Joshua and his warriors from getting in.

As Joshua was alone at this time, near Jericho, he looked up, and saw a man standing with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and asked, "Art thou for us or for our adversaries?" The man answered, "Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I come." Do you know who it was? Was it an angel? I think it was more than an angel. It was the Lord! Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped, saying, "What saith my Lord unto His servant?" Then the Lord told Joshua, as before he had told Moses, to take his shoes from his feet, for the place on which he stood was holy; and instructed him how Jericho was to be captured.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOST.]

HOW JERICHO WAS CAPTURED.

When men in olden times attacked a city, they tried to batter down the walls with heavy beams of wood, having heads of iron, called battering rams; but G.o.d did not instruct the Israelites thus to capture Jericho.

They were to remember that it was not by their own power they could conquer the Canaanites, but only as G.o.d gave them the victory over their enemies. So G.o.d commanded Joshua to lay siege to Jericho in a very strange way. He said that seven priests, each having a trumpet, were to go before the ark. In front of them the armed men of Israel were to march; and behind the ark the people were to follow. In this way they were to go round the city once each day for six days, the priests blowing their trumpets each time. The seventh day they were to go in the same manner round the city seven times; and G.o.d said that when the priests blew their trumpets the seventh time, the people were to give a great shout, and the walls of the city would fall down.

Joshua and the people did as G.o.d commanded. They marched round the city carrying the ark, the priests blowing their trumpets; and on the seventh day they marched round seven times. The last time, when the priests blew their trumpets, the people shouted with a great shout, and the walls of the city fell down flat. Then the Israelites went up and took possession of it.

Thus G.o.d delivered Jericho into the hands of His people. All the inhabitants were killed except Rahab and her relatives. These were spared because Rahab had been kind to the spies whom Joshua had sent.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE FALL OF JERICHO.]

ACHAN'S SIN.

G.o.d commanded the Israelites to destroy Jericho; and all the gold, silver, and other riches found there were to be devoted to the Lord.

If any disobeyed this command then a curse was to rest upon all, and they were not to prosper.

The Israelites were to conquer the Canaanites, and drive them out of the land. So Joshua prepared to attack a city named Ai. Three thousand of his men went to capture it, but the inhabitants came out and drove them back, killing some of them. Joshua was greatly grieved. He knew that unless G.o.d made the Israelites victorious, the Canaanites would be able to overcome them, and G.o.d had appeared to fail them this time.

Oh! he was sorry. But he told G.o.d the trouble, and G.o.d showed him the cause of it.

One of the Israelites, named Achan, saw among the spoil of Jericho, a handsome garment, some silver, and a bar of gold, and coveted them. He stole these things and hid them away in his tent, thinking that no one saw him; but G.o.d knew it all. Achan's sin was the cause of Israel's defeat! G.o.d showed Joshua how the man who had done the wickedness was to be discovered. Each tribe was to be brought before G.o.d, then each family of the tribe He chose, then each household of the family taken, and lastly each man of the family chosen. Finally, Achan was pointed out by G.o.d. Joshua bade him confess what he had done, and he said that he had taken the Babylonish garment and the gold and silver.