A child's Bible...

PART II.— FROM THE BIRTH OF MOSES TO THE ENTRANCE OF THE PEOPLE INTO CANAAN. ' -C^;;^, I^JS^RlT^ I anci II

EDWARD N. CALISCH,

RICHMOND, VA.:

EzEKiEL & Bass, Printers,

6\ fl*

Copyrighted, Augtist 1894, by Edward N. Calisch, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.

V

A CHILD'S BIBLE.

Chapter I I.— The Creation

Now, my young readers, I want you to think backwards as far as you can. Think back, oh, ever so long ago ; think back of the time before you were born, before the city in which you live was built, long before this country was found out by Columbus, long before Columbus lived ; think back as far as you can. Long before this time you are thinking of there was a time w^hen there was nothing at all; no countries, no trees, no streams, no fish, no birds, no animals, no sun, no moon, no stars, nothing, except God. Then God made this earth as it is ; not in one day, but in six days. At first the earth was without any shape or form, and everything was dark. Then on the first day God said : ''Let there be light ;'' and the light came. On the second day He separated the earth from the heaven, and made the earth for itself with the splendid blue sky of heaven above it ; and so came heaven and earth. On the third day He separated the water and the land. The dry land He called the earth, and the water He called the sea. Then He made all the beautiful things that are on the earth, the fine trees that give such nice shade and fruits, the pretty flowers with their sweet smell, and all the grains and vegetables that give us bread and food. On the fourth day He made the big, bright, glorious sun that shines on and gives us light by day, and the pale, silver moon, with the thousands of laughing, twinkling stars, to keep the night from being altogether black. On the fifth day He filled the air with the birds and their pleasant songs ; all kinds of birds, and also on the same day all the fish in the sea. On the sixth day came the cattle and all kinds of animals ; and last of all — man. On the seventh da^^ God stopped His work and rested, showing us that w^e, too, must rest on the seventh day, and do no work at

all. o

II. ADAM AND EVE.

The first man was called Adam, and he was made in the ^likeness of God. But when God saw that Adam was alone, all by himself. He said : ^^ It is not good for man to be alone. '^ So He put Adam into a deep sleep, and took one of his ribs and made a woman, whose name was Eve. Adam and Eve were the first people; and God put them into a beautiful garden, called The Garden of Eden, In the garden were all the good things that you

^When we say man is created in the likeness or image of God, it is not meant in body or figure, for God has no form or figure. He is a spirit of love, mercy, justice and truth. And man is made in the likeness of God, because he too is partly spirit, and can be loving, just, merciful and truthful. We must cultivate these virtues, because then we become more and more God-like.

can think of— the sweetest fruits, the nicest birds, and the finest trees and streams. And Adam and Eve could take whatever they wanted from anything, from any tree, except one, from which God told them they should not eat anything.

Now, the snake was the most sly of all the animals, and he coaxed Eve to eat. One day Eve was standing near the tree and thci snake was there, and he asked Eve to eat some of the fruit of the tree. Eve told him that God told her ^^ not to eatof the tree nor to tonch it.'^ The snake pushed her against the tree and said : ** You have touched it, you might just as well eat of it.'' Then Eve ate some and gave some to Adam to eat, so they did not obey God.

And that is just the way it is with us now. It is the first step that is wrong. If your mamma tells you not to go out on the street and play, you will say : ^* Well, I will only go as far as the gate.'' And when you get to the gate, the boy on the other side will coax you out, and you will disobey you mamma just as Adam and Eve did God.

God was angry that they had done what He told them not to do, and drove them out of the beautiful garden, and told them they must now work for their bread. The snake was also punished. o

III. CAIN AN© ABEL.

Adam and Eve had two sons, named Cain and Abel. Cain was older than Abel, but he was wilder than his brother. He became a farmer; Abel was a shepherd, and loved to take care of the sheep and the lambs.

One day Cain and Abel brought each a present to offer np to God, to show their thanks for God's goodness. Abel brought his ^^ offering/' for so the Bible calls the present, from the best among his flocks, while Cain brought his from the fruits of the ground. God liked the offering of Abel, and took it, while He did not like Cain's. It was not because Abel's was better than Cain's, for everything belongs to God, and He gives us everything we have, and what we bring makes no difference to Him. But the reason was the feeling with which it was brought. Abel brought his with all his heart, but Cain was very unwilHng, and would not have brought any if he had not seen x\bel doing it.

Cain was now angry because God took Abel's offering, and not his, and he was full of envy against Abel. And he went away and sat down to think over it, and the more he thought the more angry he v^as with his brother, instead of putting the blame where it really was, with himself. While he was in such a humor Abel happened to come w^here he Avas, and Cain, full of envy, rose up and killed his bi^other.

When Cain saw his brother dead, and then thought what a terrible thing he had done, he ran away and tried to hide. But God called him and said: ^' Cain, where is thy brother Abel?" And Cain tried to deceive God and he said : ^^ Am I mv brother's keeper?'' meaning to say: ^'How do I know where my brother is ? "

Poor Cain, how tmwise he was, trying to hide from God, who sees and knows everything. And some of ns to-day try to do the same thing when we do wrong, though we do not do such a terrible thing as to kill anybody. Yet when you do wrong jou try to hide it from your papa or mamma; but you cannot hide it from God, who will find you out even in the darkest coal-box in the cellar, or in the oldest trunk in the garret. He knows your sin just as he knew Cain's sin. He punished Cain, drove him from home, from his father and mother, and made him ^wander a long, long time, troubled by dreams of his murdered brother, till at last he stopped in a place called Nod.

God then gave another son to Eve, and she called him Seth. o

IV. NOAH.

A long time after Cain had sinned and had been punished, about 1,600 years after God had made the world, there were very many people on the earth. But they were all wicked and bad, and did everything that was v^rong, except one man, named Noah. Noah was a good and righteous man, and walked in the path that was pleasing to God. On account of the wickedness of the people, God said He would punish them and destroy them all by drowning, for He was going to bring a great flood over all the earth. But Noah and his three sons, Ham, Shem and Japhet, He saved, because Noah was a righteons man, and loved and obeyed God. But God, being, as He is, so good and kind, told Noah to bnild a ship, called an ark, and tell the people for what the ark was being built, and that if they would be sorry for their sins and would do better, God would not destroy them. But the people only laughed at Noah, and kept on sinning, and Noah kept on building the ark.

When the ark was finished God told Noah and his three sons. Ham, Shem and Japhet, and their wives and children, to go into the ark and close up everything. Noah also took in the ark with him all kinds of animals and birds, two of every kind that lived.

After Noah and his family, and all the animals and birds were in the ark, God ** opened the windows of heaven,^' and caused it to rain, and the rain poured down for forty days and forty nights. And the w^ater began to rise in the rivers over their banks, and the people went on the hills ; the water came upon the hills, and the people went on the mountains ; the water came slowly but yet surely to the mountains, and the people climbed up the trees on the mountain-tops; the water came up in the trees also, and the people could go no other place, and the water covered everything, and the people were all drowned.

But Noah, the God-fearing man, and his family, were in the ark, which rested safely on. the surface of the water. For one hundred and fiftv davs was this so, and for one hundred and fifty days there was nothing to be seen bnt sky and water, and the ark on the water. At the end of that time the water began to go down. First Noah sent forth a raven from the ark ; then he sent out a dove; but the dove flew to and fro and could not find a resting-place, so it came back. After seven days he sent the dove out again, and the dove came back with an oHve leaf in its bill, and Noah knew that the earth was again beginning to be seen. He waited seven more days, and then went out of the ark with his family. The ark had rested on the top of a mountain, called Ararat. As soon as Noah came out of the ark he built an altar to God and thanked Him for having saved his life. And God was pleased that Noah was thankful, and He promised him He would not destroy the people by water again. Just then the beautiful rainbow came out and God said : ^^Let this be a sign of my promise. As long as you see this rainbow you will know that I will not bring a flood on the land again.''

Now, when it rains, and you, my little readers, see the sun shine after the rain, and the rainbow with its many beautiful colors is seen, you will know that God has kept His promise, and you may be sure He always will.

But a long time after Noah, when the people were many again in the land, they forgot God and His promise, and tried to build a tower that would reach to heaven, and on which they could go if another flood came. And God, in order to pnnish them, mixed up all their languages. So they could not understand each other, and had to stop building, and all separate and go to different countries. The tower was called Babel, which means '^ confusion,'^ because God confused all their languages.

Chapter II

V. ABRAM.

If you have carefully read the last chapter you will remember that we learned about Noah and the flood, and the ark on Mount Ararat, and of the tower of Babel. Long after that time, about 400 years after Noah, there lived a man named Terah. Terah had three sons, Abram, Nahor and Haran. Haran died and left a son called Lot, and Abram took Lot into his own house and cared for him. In those times people did not worship God as they should, but had ugly figures of stone and blocks of wood to which they bowed down, and which they served. Terah, the father of Abram, also worshipped these idols, these images of wood and stone, but Abram did not. Terah even went so far as to make and sell these idols, and had a shop full of all kinds of figures. But Abram feared and loved the one trtie God in heaven, and so tried to teach the people around him. But he and his father could not agree, because Terah was an idolator, that ivS, he worshipped these stone and wooden idols. One day Abram heard the voice of God telHng him to leave his father's house and go to the land of Canaan. So Abram took Lot, his nephew, and Sarai, his wife, and went to Canaan. Abram and Lot were both rich, had many cattle and sheep ; for cattle and sheep were all the riches they had then, thc}^ had no gold and silver money and paper monc}^ like we have. Abram and Lot had so many cattle and sheep that they had no I'oom for pasture, and one day there was a quarrel between the herdsmen of Abram and the herdsmen of Lot. Abram loved peace, and not wishing the quarrel to go on, he went to Lot and said: ^'We must separate; you ma^' have your choice. If you wish to go to the right, I will go to the left, or if you choose to go to the left I will go to the right/' Lot looked around, and saw that the plain of the Jordan was good land, and he went there and settled in the city of Sodom; and Abram stayed in Canaan. It was very good of Abram thus to separate without a quarrel, and we would get along a great deal better if we would act as Abram did. Some time after this. Lot was taken captive by some kings who were making war, and carried away, he, and all his property. When Abram heard this he took three hundred and eighteen of .his men, and went and brought Lot back again. On his way back, the King of Sodom went to meet him and thanked him for bringing back his men. He also offered to reward Abram for his goodness, but Abram said: ^^ No, not as much as a shoelace wnll I take ; only what belongs to me and my men/'

VI. THE DESTRlJCTION OF SODOM.

Abram at this time had one son, whose name was Ishmael, and whose mother was Hagar. Sarai, Abram's wife, had no son, and God appeared nnto Abram, and promised him that he would become the father of a great race, and that by him the earth would be blessed. God also changed his name, saying: ''Thy name shall no longer be Abram, but Abraham, and thy wife's name shall no longer be Sarai, but Sarah.

Not long after this Abraham was sitting at the door of his tent, and he saw three men coming. Being a very kind man, he rose and ran to meet them, and asked them to come into his house and take some food and drink. They did so, and Abraham went to prepare the food. When he came back, one of them spoke to him and said that when he came back again, God would give Sarah a son whose name should be Isaac. They then rose and went away, and two of the messengers, for they were really messengers of God, went on to Sodom to warn Lot, that the city was going to be destroyed because the people in it were so very wicked. When Abraham heard that Sodom was to be destroyed, he prayed to God that if there were fifty good, righteous people in the city, God should not destroy it. But there f were not fifty good people. Then Abraham prayed for forty, thirty, ten, righteous people, and God promised to save the city for the sake of the ten righteous people that should be found in it. But alas! there were not even ten good persons, and God was going to destro^^ the city, and another wicked city near it called Gomorrah. But Lot was a good man, so God, who never punishes unjustly, sent his messengers to save Lot. They came to the cit3^, and Lot, who met them, asked them to come into his house, and they went in. But the wicked and bad people of the city came to Lot's house to ask who the strangers were. They came around the house and began calling out, and Lot went to the door and asked them not to act so wickedly. And then the men of the city pressed up around Lot even near unto the door; and the messengers took Lot in the house. The men of the city then rushed to the door, and God struck all of them with blindness for their wickedness. Then the messengers told Lot to pack up his goods and flee from the city, for God was going to destroy the city with fire and brimstone, and they told him not to look back at the city to see it being burnt. Then early in the morning Lot fled to the mountains with his people, but his wife did not obey God's message and looked back, and was turned into a pillar of salt.

Abraham was still living in Canaan with his wife, Sarah, and with Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael was a very wild boy and was always outside and seldom at home. Sarah was afraid that if the two boys kept together, Isaac would also become wild by being so much with Ishmael. So she told Abraham to send Ishmael and his mother, Hagar, away from the house. Abraham did not want to do so at first, but not wishing to have a quarrel in the house, and God also having told him to do as Sarah said, he called Hagar and Ishmael to him. He gave them some food and drink and told them to go away. And Hagar took the food and the skin bottles of water (for they had no glass then) and went into the desert. She wandered in the desert and her stock of water gave out, and Ishmael became sick, even unto dying. Hagar could not see her boy die, her mother's heart could not stand it, and she put the child under the shadow of a bush, and turned aside to pray to God. Think of that scene, my dear readers ; the hot sands of the desert, the burning eastern sun, the dying child under the bush, and the sorrowing mother on her knees before her God. And Hagar j)rayed to God with all her soul; and, it seemed in direct answer to her prayer, she heard a sound as of falling water, and she turned and looked, and lo ! she saw a tiny stream of water trickling from a rock. Joyfully she sprang to it, filled her bottle with its clear water and saved her child. Ishmael got better, grew up to be a

man, a mighty hunter, and the father of a great

race.

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VIII. THE BINDING OF ISAAC.

Isaac meanwhile grew up to be a fine and splendid boy, and Abraham loved him with all his father^s heart. One day, when Isaac was about thirteen years old, God appeared to Abraham and spoke to him as follows : ^* Take thy son whom thou lovest, thy son Isaac, and offer him up as a burnt-offering. '^ When Abraham heard this command of God he was very, very sad. Isaac was his only child, and he loved him so dearly, and thus to lose him was too much. But his love for God was even greater, so with a heavy heart he went to obey God's bidding. He took the wood and bound it upon a beast of burden, took two servants and went to the mountain. When he came near the mountain, he told his servants to wait for him, and he and Isaac would go alone. As they two were going along, Isaac said, *' Father, I seethe knife for the offering and the wood for the offering, but where is the lamb you are going to offer?'' Ah, little did Isaac know he was to be the lamb, or how his simple words must have cut the heart of his father. But Abraham only answered, *^ God will provide a lamb for Himself," and they went on. They went up the mountain and Abraham built the altar, arranged the wood upon it, and bound Isaac and placed him upon the wood. Then he raised the knife to strike it into the heart of his boy, when he heard a voice calHng, ^'Abraham, Abraham/' And he answered, ''Here I am.'' And the voice said, *' Lay not thy hand upon the boy, nor harm him." And Abraham looked around and he saw a ram caught in the bushes by its horns, and he took the ram and offered it up instead of his son. Then God said, ''Now I know thou lovest and fearest Me, because thou didst not keep back from Me thy son, thine only son. And I will bless thee and thy possessions, and I will make thy descendants like the stars in heaven and sand upon the seashore for number." And Abraham and Isaac went back in joy and peace to their home.

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IX. DEATH OF SARAH— MARRIAGE OF

ISAAC.

Sarah was now getting old, and she died at the age of 127 years. Abraham went to the land of Hittites, and as a burial-ground bought the Cave of Machpelah. Ephron, the man who owned that piece of land, wanted to give it to him, but Abraham would not take it as a present, but paid the price for it, as he wanted to be entirely independent. He buried Sarah in the Cave of Machpelah.

Abraham, too, was now getting old, and he wanted to see Isaac married and settled down. As he was afraid Isaac might marry one of the daughters of the worshippers of idols, of the people around him, he took his servant EHezer and made him promise he would get a maiden of his own people for his son Isaac. Eliezer promised, and he took some camels and he ^went to the city of Nahor. When he came near the city he saw^ the young girls drawing water from the well. And he asked God to help him choose a good wife for his master Isaac, and he took a sign that when he wotild go up and ask for a drink of water for himself, and the girl would of her own accord offer to give his camels water, he would know she was the right one. For he knew that if a girl had the kind heart to take care of the poor dumb animals, she would be a good wife. When he came near the well, he asked one of the maidens for drink, and she gave him a drink and asked, ^^Shall I give your camels water also ?" And Eliezer was glad, for he knew she was the one to be Isaac's wife. He asked her name, and she said she was Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor, the brother of Abraham. And Eliezer went with her to her father's house, and the next morning she went back with him and became the wife of Isaac. Some years after this Abraham died, when he was 175 years old, and he was buried in the Cave of Machpelah, beside Sarah, his wife.

Chapter III

X. ESAlJ AN© JACOB-

You remember, my children, how Eliezer got a wife for Isaac, how he found her out by her kind heart, by her caring for the poor, tired camels, then how Rebekah (often spelled Rebecca), went home with Eliezer and became the wife of Isaac. Esau and Jacob were the names of the two boys w^ho were children of Isaac and Rebekah. Esau was a little older than Jacob, but there was just the same difference in their habits as there was in the characters of Cain and Abel, but Esau did not do such a terrible thing as Cain did. You remember Cain, how wild he was, always outside, always hunting, always in the woods, never at home; just so was Esau, and he went out in the w^oods so much that he became almost like a wild man, and had hair on his body just like the wild beasts that he hunted. But just as Abel staid at home and cared for the flocks and sheep, so did Jacob. But Isaac loved Esau the better, and Esau was his favorite, while Jacob was the favorite of Rebekah. Esau, being the elder, had the birthright, you know what that is, don't you? Well, it means that, being the eldest born, he had the right to his father's property when his father died. You know that it is so nowadays, for instance, when a king dies, his eldest son goes to the throne after him; that is his birthright. And Esau had this birthright, but he did not keep it the way he ought to. The birthright does not only mean the right to the property; it has other meanings, the oldest son, getting the largest share of the property, must also get the largest share of troubles. He mast be the helper and guide of his younger brothers and sisters ; he should look after them and care for them, be kind to them, love and protect them in all cases; he should so act toward them that they look to him as a second father, for, indeed, if it has pleased God to call the father away, to whom does the sorrowing wife and mother look for aid? up to whom do the fatherless children look, but to the oldest son, the one who has the birthright? All this is meant by the birthright, and all you who may be the possessors of the birthright and may read my words, are you sure you keep your trust the way it should be kept? Esau did not, and he therefore did not deserve to have it, and he lost it. One day Esau came home from hunting and was very tired and hungry. Jacob was near the house eating some pottage. Esau said, ^^Give me some pottage, for I am hungry. '^ Jacob answered, ^*Sell me your birthright and I will give it to you.'^ And Esau said, ''Of what use is my birthright to me?" and he sold it for the pottage. So Esau despised the birthright, and therefore lost it.

XI. THE BLESSING.

Isaac, being a good man and worshipping God, led a peaceful and happy life, and God blessed him with plenty and with much riches. But he was growing old, and indeed, was almost blind, being so old. So, wishing to give his son his last blessing, before he died, (for a father's dying blessing is a sacred, precious thing), he called his favorite and eldest-born Esau to him. He told him to prepare for him a nice dish of venison (deer meat) and then he would bless him, and Esau went out to get it. Rebekah overheard this, and she wanted Jacob to get the blessing. She called him to her and told him to kill a sheep and she would prepare it for him, and he should take it unto his father and get the blessing.

Jacob did as Rebekah told him, and then put a skin over his shoulders, A^ath the hairy side out, and went into Isaac. * When he came in Isaac was somewhat surprised that he had come so quickly, and he said: ''Who art thou?'' and Jacob answered: ''I am Esau, thy first-born." Isaac felt him then, and said: ''The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands'of Esau." Then he took the meat and blessed his son, saying that God would give to him of the dews of heaven, and that nations would serve him, and he closed with the words : *' Cursed be any one that curseth thee, and blessed be those that bless thee." Jacob then went out. After a little while Esau came in to get his father's last blessing, and Isaac then knew how Jacob had deceived him, and Esau was very angry and said in his heart he would slay his brother.

Rebekah knew that Esau, when he found out what Jacob had done, would want to hurt him and told Jacob to leave his father's house and go away for fear of his brother. Oh, what fearful results of deceiving! Here was the poor, old, blind father filled with grief because of the action of his son, the mother, compelled to send her best-beloved away from home, anxious because of his danger in wandering alone in the wilderness, the one brother full of anger and vowing to slay his brother, and the other brother fleeing away, away from father, mother, home, from all, out, out in the wilderness, fearing and fleeing for his life, and all this caused by deception.