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- Permanent Link:
- https://original-ufdc.uflib.ufl.edu/UF00082783/00001
Material Information
- Title:
- Some sweet stories of old boys of Bible story
- Portion of title:
- Boys of the Bible story
- Creator:
- Ridgeway, C. J ( Charles John ), 1841-1927
Ryland, H. H ( Henry Hallock ), b. 1862 ( Illustrator )
Lawson, John, fl. 1865-1909 ( Illustrator )
Griffith, Farran and Co ( Publisher )
S. Cowan and Co. ( printer )
- Place of Publication:
- London
- Publisher:
- Griffith Farran and Co.
- Manufacturer:
- Cowan & Co.
- Publication Date:
- 1893
- Language:
- English
- Physical Description:
- 36 p., [7] leaves of plates : ill. (some col.) ; 26 cm.
Subjects
- Subjects / Keywords:
- Children in the Bible -- Juvenile literature ( lcsh )
Bible stories, English -- Juvenile literature ( lcsh ) Bldn -- 1893
- Spatial Coverage:
- England -- London
Scotland -- Perth
- Target Audience:
- juvenile ( marctarget )
Notes
- General Note:
- With: Some sweet stories of old. No. 1 : boys of Bible story / by the C.J. Ridgeway. London ; Sydney : Griffith Farran and Co., [1893] -- Some sweet stories of old. No. 2 : boys of Bible story / by the C.J. Ridgeway. London : Griffith Farran and Co., [1893]
- Statement of Responsibility:
- by the C.J. Ridgeway ; illustrated by Henry Ryland and John Lawson.
Record Information
- Source Institution:
- University of Florida
- Rights Management:
- This item is presumed to be in the public domain. The University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries respect the intellectual property rights of others and do not claim any copyright interest in this item. Users of this work have responsibility for determining copyright status prior to reusing, publishing or reproducing this item for purposes other than what is allowed by fair use or other copyright exemptions. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions may require permission of the copyright holder. The Smathers Libraries would like to learn more about this item and invite individuals or organizations to contact The Department of Special and Area Studies Collections (special@uflib.ufl.edu) with any additional information they can provide.
- Resource Identifier:
- 004104524 ( ALEPH )
226307851 ( OCLC )
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ean 2 5 SST SSAA APE NO I A
Boys of Bible Story. Wo. 3.
BY
LS REV Coak IDG RW Ay Wh
LAASO SRA TED BYE
HENRY RYLAND
AND
JOHN LAWSON.
LONDON
Griffith Farran & Co.
Newbery House, 39 Charing Cross. Road.
1893.
The Rights of Translation and of Reproduction are Reserved.
ABEL
JosHua
SAMSON
SOLOMON
Evijau
SPA
TImoruy
PAGE
9
aS
oF
2
PRINTED IN COLOURS.
THE TEACHING OF TIMOTHY. : rap . Frontispiece
ABEL AND HIS FLOCK . ; a eAaccnl©
JOSHUA’S VISION : aie
SAMSON'S RIDDLE : Tee ©
SOLOMON WATCHING THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE are
ELIJAH AND THE RAVENS tei
ST. PAUL AND THE CRIPPLE a SO
é And 27 Black and White Pictures printed in the Text.
Abel.
HAVE you ever seen what is called a transformation scene in a magic lantern? Per-
haps it is the picture of a ship which is thrown on the sheet. The sea is calm and peaceful,
and the ship is sailing smoothly over the waves. There is no sign of danger on board.
And then the scene changes. In a moment everything is different. The ship is on
fire. The flames are spreading quickly. The whole sea is lit up with the fiery glow.
The crew and passengers hurry to and fro, trying to put out the fire or to save their lives.
We have a sudden change something like this in the first four chapters of the
Bible, not, of course, painted in pictures, but told in words. There is first the Garden of
Eden, where Adam and Eve have been placed by God. How happy they are as we sec
them there, loving and serving Him. All is beautiful and peaceful and holy, because
they do what God commands them. But in the third and fourth chapters of Genesis,
a dreadful change comes over the scene. Adam and Eve are sad and miserable, for
they have disobeyed God. They no longer live in the garden of peace and quict, but
are wanderers, knowing sorrow and toil and weariness.
Io
But that is not the worst part of their wretchedness, A far greater, more terrible
trouble has come upon them.
See, on the plain there lies the dead body of a young man, while another man,
a little older, but still quite young, is fleeing away for his life, looking round every
now and then to see if he is being followed. The dead man has been killed, and this
is his murderer. You know who they are, do you not? They are Cain and Abel,
the sons of Adam and Eve. It is Abel lies dead there, murdered by his own brother.
How did it come about ?
Look again at a little distance from where the dead body lies, there are two altars
made of rough stones, piled up on one another. On one of them a lamb is burning as a
sacrifice, on the other there are placed fruits of the earth. They have been brought there
by Cain and Abel, and offered to God upon the altars they have built. Cain brought
some fruits and vegetables, because he was a farmer, and sowed the land-and looked after
the crops; but Abel was a shepherd, and so he brought a lamb to give to God. But when
Cain saw what his brother had brought, he was jealous of him, for he was afraid God
would like the lamb better than the fruits he had offered on his altar. And what he feared
came true. Why do you think it was that God accepted Abel’s offering? It was not be-
cause the lamb was worth more than the fruit, for God does not look at the worth of
things as we do. We ask how much a thing cost, and think that the greater its price is the
greater is its value. But God’s ways are not like our ways, nor God's thoughts like our
‘thoughts. Do you remember how Jesus, when He watched the people putting their
money for God’s service in the boxes at the door of the temple, praised the farthing of the
poor widow, not the gold of the rich men? And He tells us the reason. God looks at the
il
way in which people give, not what they give. The widow woman was unselfish and gave
all she had, but the rich men gave what cost them nothing. They would never miss the
pieces of gold they gave to God.
And for the same reason God was pleased with Abel’s offering, for it was the offering
of one who believed in Him and loved to give Him the best he had. And so Abel offered
up a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.
And Cain was jealous of his younger brother, and in his anger he turned on him and
slew him.
What a wretched man he must have been as he stood over his brother’s dead body
and saw what he had done. His conscience speaks so loudly to him that he cannot help
listening to it. “What hast thou done?†it says to him. And he is afraid. What shall
he do? He dare not look up, for God sees and knows all. His brother’s blood that he
has shed seems to call out from the ground where he lies, and tells him he is a murderer.
Where shall he go? He cannot stop there and face his father and mother when they
know everything. His neighbours, when they are told of his dreadful crime, will be angry,
and will put him to death, There is only one thing for him to do. He must run away
from his home and friends, and become a fugitive and wanderer in the earth. He must go
where no one will know what has happened. But he never can be happy again. Wherever
he goes, however long he lives, he can never forget his terrible sin; and until he dies, he
will always be in dread lest the people among whom he has come as a stranger should
find out that he had killed his brother.
We cannot help being sorry for him, and hoping that before he died he asked God to ©
forgive him his great sin.
Two things we may learn from Cain :
I2
1. Whatever we do for God we must try to do our best, because we love Him and
want to please Him. We very often forget this. We kneel down to say our prayers, but
perhaps we are thinking of other things, and are not really praying to God; or we are in a
hurry to get our prayers over, because we want to do something for ourselves. Do we
think God cares about such prayers as these? Oh, no, they make our Heavenly Father
sorry, and our prayers are like arrows without feathers which never hit the target, because
they cannot fly so far. God does not answer us, because the prayers we said were not
offered to him with our heart, like Abel’s lamb, but like Cain’s fruit, because it was our
duty.
2. We must ask God to help us not to be jealous of others because they are better or
more clever than we are, or have what we have not got. Jealousy is such a dangerous sin.
It grows bigger and bigger, and we never know what it may make us do. It was jealousy
made Cain kill] Abel. It was jealousy made his brothers sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites. It
was jealousy made the Pharisees take Jesus prisoner and ask Pilate to put Him to death.
And we cannot tell what jealousy may end in if we do not watch against it, and ask God
to help us to get the better of it. It is like a tree which I have read about, that when it is
young is only a small creeper, and with its soft shoots it lays hold of the rough trunk ofa
large tree, and clings to it like ivy. But it grows very quickly, and spreads until it covers ©
the tree all over, branches and all; and at last it becomes so much larger and stronger than
the tree, that it crushes all the life out of it, and the trunk and branches die and crumble
away; and the creeper stands there in its place, a great, strong tree bearing poisonous
fruit. This is just what jealousy of brothers and sisters, or of other people, because they
are better or better off than we are, will do if we do not take care. It will kill everything
that is good in us, and make us do things that we shall be very sorry for afterwards. We
must not be like Cain, but we must be kind one to another, tender-hearted, and walk in
love as Christ also loved us.
Soshbua.
THAT was a wonderful night on which the children of Israel escaped from the land of
Egypt. More than two hundred years had passed away since Joseph had sent for his old
father to come and live in the land of Goschen, which Pharaoh had given to him and his
sons. Fora long time all had gone well with them, and the little band of seventy people
who had come out of the land of Canaan with Israel had grown into a great and mighty
nation. At last they grew so rich and prosperous that the Egyptians began to be afraid
lest they should become too strong and conquer them, and one of the Pharaohs (for all
their kings were called by this name), who did not know what Joseph long ago had done
for Egypt, began to persecute and ill-treat them. Things grew worse and worse, until the
Israelites were made slaves, and had taskmasters set over them, who beat them if they did
14
not work hard enough. They were down-trodden and oppressed, and in their distress they
cried unto God Whom they had so long forgotten. Then God heard their prayer, and sent
Moses to be their deliverer, and free them out of the hand of their enemies. For a long
time Pharaoh would not listen to Moses, Trouble after trouble came upon the land, plague
after plague visited the Egyptians, and Pharaoh promised to let the children of Israel go, but
directly the plague was taken away he changed his mind and broke his promise.
But on the night when his firstborn son suddenly died, and the news was brought to
him that in every house of the Egyptians the eldest child lay dead, he could hold out no
longer, and gave Moses leave to lead the people away.
It was a mighty host of men and women, 600,000 in all, who escaped out of Egypt
that never-to-be-forgotten night. How happy they were as they set out on their journey,
15
singing praises to God who had brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand and
stretched-out arm. Surely they could never forget God’s mercy to them.
Alas, how quickly what is good dies out in our hearts. They had gone but a very
little way before, with the first difficulty that came in their way, they began to murmur
against God. Again and again, as the days went on, they were rebellious and disobedient.
Whenever things did not happen just as they liked, they wished they were back again in
Egypt. One day they made a golden calf, like one of the Egyptian gods, and worshipped
it. But they were punished for their ingratitude. God told Moses that none of those who
had murmured against Him should sce the promised land, but that they should all dic in
the wilderness.
So for forty years they journeyed about, marching from place to place, until of that
huge multitude only two were left alive to cross the Jordan and enter into Canaan.
Even Moses was only allowed to see the land of promise from the top of Mount
Pisgah just before he died. For he, too, had sinned against God. Though he was very
meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth, he lost his temper, and in
anger smote the rock, out of which the water gushed out, and God said that he should not
enter the land of Canaan.
One of the two men who were left alive out of all the people escaped out of
Egypt that night forty years ago was Joshua. His name is a very beautiful one. It is
made up of the two words Jah and Oshea, and means “ Help of Jehovah.†In latter times
it was shortened into Jesus, and there are two places in the New Testament where Joshua
is called Jesus. You will find them in Acts vii. 45, and Hebrews iv. 8.
It was a good name for him to be called, for when Moses died Joshua was chosen to
take his place and lead the Israelites across the river Jordan into the promised land.
It was a very difficult work. There were seven nations dwelling in Canaan whom
they must fight with and conquer before they could settle down in the land.
But Joshua was well-trained and fitted for the post for which he had been chosen by
God. Fora long time he had been Moses’ minister or attendant. He had always gone
about with him, and had heard his words of wisdom, and knew him better than did anyone
else. When Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the two Tables of the Law, Joshua
went with him part of the way, and was the first to meet him when he came down. He
was a brave soldier, and a long time before, when Amalek fought with the Israelites in the
wilderness, Moses chose him to command the Israelite army. He was sent as one of the
twelve chiefs to spy out the land and bring back word what the country and people were
like. It was a very dangerous mission, and if they had been caught they would have been
put to death. Instead of joining with the ten in advising the people not to go any further,
because the inhabitants were well armed and fierce, and some of them were giants, and
lived in cities with high and strong walls, Joshua and one other told them not to be afraid,
for God would take care of them, and give them the victory if they would only obey
Him.
No wonder Moses saw in him just the sort of man to take his place when he was dead,
and just before his death solemnly and publicly set Joshua apart to be leader of the host of
Israel.
But he was not only well-trained and brave, he was also a God-fearing man. He
never forgot he was the servant of God, and that his duty was to obey God’s commands and
do as He told him.
We findhimon the evening of the day on which the people crossed the Jordan going apart
by himself in order that he might be alone with God and pray to Him, for he knew he must
do his work in God’s way or he would not succeed. And God sent him a beautiful vision.
Suddenly he lifted up his eyes and looked, and he seemed to sce a prince over against him
with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua said unto him, “ Art thou for us or for our
adversaries ?†and he said, “ Nay; but ascaptain of the host of the Lordam I come.†And
16
Joshua fell on his face to the ground and worshipped Him, and went back to the army en-
couraged by the thought that God was on his side and would help him.
Joshua fought a great many battles, and took a great many cities, the strongest of
which was Jericho. In six years he conquered six nations with thirty-one kings, and before
he died he was able to divide the land of Canaan among the tribes as God commanded him,
and he set up the tabernacle in Shiloh, and it was there when Samuel was Eli’s little
servant, and helped to take care of it.
At last, just before he died, when he was a very old man, more than a hundred years
old, he called together all the Israelites and reminded them of all the mercies God had sent
them, and told them that they would not continue great and prosperous unless they served -
17
God, and he told them they must make up their minds whether they would do so.
“Choose you this day whom ye will serve,†he said, and then he added, “ As for me and my
house we will serve the Lord.†And all the people answered, “The Lord our God will we
serve, and His voice will we obey.†So Moses wrote these words in the roll of the Law of
God, and took a great stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the tabernacle,
as a witness of the promise they had made. Very soon after this he died leaving behind.
him a good name without a stain on it, a brave soldier, and a godly man.
Samson.
WE have all read stories of men remarkable for their great strength. Perhaps we have
seen a strong man doing his wonderful feats, lifting up very heavy weights, or breaking
thick chains.
But, I suppose, there never was anyone so strong as Samson. He did many wonder-
ful things, not merely to show off his strength, but to help his countrymen. For when he
was born the children of Israel were in a bad state. They were surrounded by enemies who
hated them because they had come to live in the land of Canaan, and first one nation and
then another attacked and sometimes conquered and ruled over them. But God raised up
great men to be their leaders, and to deliver them out of the hand of their enemies.
At the time of Samson’s birth, the Philistines were their masters, and oppressed them,
and they were so powerful that they ruled over them forty years.
And it was then God raised up Samson to be their saviour or deliverer. His father
and mother belonged to the tribe of Dan, and lived in the part of Canaan which was
nearest to the land of the Philistines. They had no child, and often prayed to God to give
them one, but for a long time their prayer had not been answered. At last, to their joy,
their wish came true, and a baby boy was born to them. They called him Samson, which
means “sunny †or “sunlike,†for he was like a sunbeam lighting up their hearts and home,
and in their thankfulness they dedicated him to God, and brought him up as a Nazarite.
Do you know what a Nazarite was? The name means “separated,†and meant a person
who was set apart to God’s service. Hewas a marked man. Everyone who saw him knew
19
‘what he was, for the hair of a Nazarite, instead of being cut short, was left to grow quite
long, and-all his life he never drank any wine or strong drink. We are told in the Bible of
other great men who were set apart in this way from their birth. Samuel in the Old Testa-
ment and John the Baptist in the New were both Nazarites.
As Samson grew up, he became very strong, and was soon well known for his wonder-
ful bodily strength. We are told that one day when he was quite young, only about twenty
years old, he was going along a lonely mountain path, and a young lion sprang out upon
him with a loud roar; but Samson, who was unarmed, instead of being frightened, laid hold
of the lion, and rent it as if it had been only a young kid.
But though he was so strong he was not always talking and boasting about it, so he
went home and did not tell his father and mother what he had done. Some time after, as
he was going along the same path, he thought he would look and see what had become of
the lion he had killed, and, to his astonishment, he found that a swarm of bees had settled
in the cdrcase and made their honey there. So he took some o1 the honeycomb back to
his father and mother, but he did not tell them where he had found it. And he made up a
riddle about it, which he asked his companions, and promised to give them a prize if they
found out the answer. This was the riddle: “Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of
the strong came forth sweetness.†However, none of them could guess it, until at last
Samson’s wife, who was a Philistine, persuaded him to tell her the answer, and she told his
companions: “ What is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion.â€
That was the first of many astonishing things which have made his name famous. Let
me remind you of one or two of them.
One time he was taken prisoner by the Philistines, who took his weapons away from
him and bound him with two new ropes. How pleased they were at having caught him
at last; now he is in their power, and they can take their revenge on him. Ah, they
were congratulating themselves too soon. They forgot how strong he was. In a moment
he broke off the ropes like flax burnt with the fire, and when his hands were free he took
20
up the jawbone of an ass which was lying on the ground, and with it slew a thousand
Philistines. :
Another time he was in the city of Gaza, which belonged to the Philistines, and it was
- told the Gazites, “Samson is come hither,†and they compassed him in, and lay wait for
him all night in the gate of the city, saying, “When the morning is light we will kill him.â€
How delighted they must have been. They had got him safe this time. He could not
possibly escape, for the city was surrounded by high walls and had only one gate, which
was locked all night, and the sentinels were forbidden to open it. But “Samson arose at
midnight and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and plucked
21
them up, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the
mountain that is before Hebron,’ and when his enemies got up early in the morning and
went to the gate of the city, they found their prisoner had escaped, and taken the doors
_ with him.
But if Samson was wonderful in his life, he was still more wonderful in his death.
Once again he was taken prisoner from his own fault, and his enemies cut off his hair and
put out his eyes, so that he might not escape from them as he had at other times. To
make quite sure, they bound him with fetters of brass, and shut him up in the prison at
Gaza, and made him grind corn like a slave, and they appointed a day when they should
offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon, their god, for they said, “Our god hath delivered Samson
our enemy into our hands.†And when they were making merry in the temple of Dagon,
they said, “Call for Samson that he may make us sport.†And they called for Samson out of
the prison-house, and they set him between the pillars. And Samson said unto the lad
that held him by the hand, for he was blind, “ Suffer me that I may feel the pillars where-
upon the house resteth, that I may lean upon them.†Now the house was full of men and
women, and there were upon the roof about 3000 men and women that beheld while
Samson made sport. And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars on which the house
rested, and leaned upon them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left, and
Samson said, “ Let me die with the Philistines.†And he bowed himself with all his might,
and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead
which he slew at his death were more than all they which he slew in his life.
Samson was a brave man ; he destroyed and conquered his enemies ; but he could not
rule himself. He burst the fetters of his foes, but he could not break the cords of his own
sins. He was strong in body, but he was weak in spirit. He was not afraid to fight with
the Philistines, but he was a coward when he was tempted to do what was wrong. He
could kill the young lion, but he could not resist Satan, who gocth about like a roaring lion
seeking whom he may devour. One great sin, the love. of pleasing himself without think-
ing whether what he wanted was right or wrong, spoiled his whole life, and took away his
strength. At first it was only a little sin, like a tiny seed, but it grew until it became like
a great tree. And the sunny child died a blind prisoner in the hands of the Philistines. It
is just what the wise man says in his Proverbs, “ Better is he that ruleth his spirit than he
that taketh a city.†:
How much Samson teaches us. Weare not all strong in body. Weare none of us
likely to be giants in strength as he was. But there is another strength better than
Samson’s which God gives to those who ask Him. He makes us, by the help of His Holy
Spirit, strong to fight against what is wrong, to speak the truth, to do what is right, to con-
quer sin, to obey His Holy Will and Commandments, and walk in the same all the days
of our life.
Solomon.
SOLOMON was the youngest of all the sons of King David. He was his father’s
favourite child, because he was born just after David had sinned the great sin of his life,
and the little baby seemed to be a messenger bringing a message from God, and telling
him God had forgiven him his sin. So he called his name Solomon, which means “The
Peaceful One,†but Nathan the prophet gave him the name of Tedidiah or Zedidjah, the
meaning of which is “ Lord of God.†What a good name Solomon was. David had been
a man of war, and fought many battles with many enemies, but Solomon was all his life a
man of peace. He spent his days in peaceful work, and made the Israelites a great and
strong nation. David loved him so much that he promised his mother that he should be
king after him.
From his earliest days Nathan was his tutor, and he was brought up in the fear of
God. He was taught the Book of the Law of the Lord and the Proverbs of the Ancients,
a book his father David knew and quoted from to Saul when that king was trying to kill
him.
But he had not to wait till his father’s death to be made king, David had grown very
old and feeble and could not rule the people well, so some of his subjects rebelled against
him, and proclaimed one of his eldest sons to be king in his place. When the news of what
was going on reached the palace, Solomon’s mother came with Nathan the prophet to David.
23
and told him what had been done, and reminded him of the promise he had made long be-
fore that Solomon should be king after him.
What was to be done? By their advice David resigned the throne and ordered that
Solomon should be crowned king in his stead.
Soon after this Solomon went to the Tabernacle to offer sacrifices to God, and one
night as he was sleeping near the Tabernacle he dreamed a dream. He was a young man,
and his mind was very full of all he had to do as a king, and he fell asleep wondering how
24
he would be able to rule the people given into his care well and wisely. In his dream it
seemed as if God appeared to him in all His glory, as he did to Jacob when he lay asleep
on the earth with the stones for a pillow, and said to him, “ Ask what I shall give thee.â€
And he thought that he asked not for riches or long life, but for wisdom and knowledge,
and woke up feeling that God would certainly give him the wisdom he wanted in order that
he might judge so great a people. Yes, his dream came true. He was soon known to be a
wise ruler and a just judge.
But although in his dream he had not asked for money he was rich as well as wise.
He built a splendid palace for himself, where he sat in his court of judgment, seated on
a throne of ivory and gold. He had beautiful gardens in which he walked. All the
drinking vessels in his palace were of pure gold. He rode in a chariot of cedar, orna-
mented with silver and gold and purple, while sixty of the tallest and handsomest of. the
Israelites were his bodyguard, and marched beside him.
Indeed, he became so famous that the Queen of Sheba in Arabia heard of his great-
ness, and journeyed hundreds of miles across the desert to Jerusalem with a very great com-
25
pany, and camels that bare spices and very much gold and precious stones. She wished to
judge for herself whether what she had been told was really true. And when she had seen
everything she said to the king, “It was a true report that I heard in my own land of thine
acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes
had seen it; and behold the half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me.â€
But the greatest work of Solomon’s reign was the building of the Temple. Long be-
fore David had wished to do this, but God forbade him because he had all through his life
been a man of war, and his hands were stained with the blood of his enemies. But be-
fore he died, when he was a very old man, he called together all the princes and officers and
great men, and told them that he left this work to Solomon to carry out, and then turning
to him he said, “ Take heed now, for the Lord hath chosen thee to build an house for the
sanctuary ; be strong and do it.â€
And when David was dead, Solomon did not forget his aged father’s command, but at
once set about the work with a willing mind.
He laid the foundations deep and strong on Mount Moriah. For seven long years the
people were busy building. And all that long time Solomon the King was watching the
workmen, and drawing the plans and telling them what to do, so that the Temple might be
just as his father desired.
How magnificent it must have been with its high pinnacles and gilded roof and lofty
pillars, and grand porch and splendid gates.
At last when the building was finished a day was fixed for it to be consecrated and
dedicated or given to God. The Ark which had been in the Tabernacle for so many
years was brought from Mount Zion where David had placed it. There was a great pro-
cession of priests in their beautiful robes, and singers in white linen like our surpliced choirs
in church, and a large number of musicians. And as the procession moved up to the top
of Mount Moriah where the Temple stood,. they all lifted up their voices with the trumpets
and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, “ For He is good ;
for His mercy endureth for ever.â€
What a great day that must have been to Solomon when he saw the work finished
which his father David had commanded him to do for God’s glory.
But bad days came to Solomon. In his old age he was tempted, and fell into great
sin. He forsook the one true God and worshipped the gods of the heathen, and built
temples in their honour. And then great troubles darkened his life like the black clouds
which gather over our heads, and the thunder rolls and the lightning flashes, and there is a
great storm. The people began to be discontented and rebelled against him. The son
who was to be king after him had many of his father’s faults, but none of his wisdom. And
' Solomon died very sad at heart because of his sin, and just before his death he wrote this
advice to all, young and old, who should read the book he had written, “Fear God and
keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.â€
Elijah.
How much there isin the Bible about prophets. As we read the history of the Children
of Israel we find these prophets appearing from time to time. They were very different
from one another in character and appearance, as well as in the words they spoke.
Sometimes they appeared suddenly and no one knew where they came from, sometimes they
had been born and brought up among the people to whom they preached. Some of them
were men, some were women. Some of them were humble and unlearned, some were well
to do and well educated. Some of them wrote the books which we have bound up in the
Bible, some of them only spoke to those to whom they came. But whether they were rich
or poor they were all sent by God, and they all spoke in God’s name. For a prophet was.
a man sent by God with a message which he was to deliver to the people. ;
Among these prophets of olden days Elijah was one of, if not, the greatest. We know
nothing about his birth or parents except that we are told he was a Tishbite of Gilead.
But even this, little as it is, helps us to understand what sort of a man he was.
Gilead was a country on the east or desert side of the Jordan. The people there
lived in tents and were hunters and soldiers. They were surrounded by the Arabs of these
parts, and became very like them, wild and fierce and rough-looking men.
This was why Elijah was so different from the Israelites among whom he came and
preached. He wore a girdle of skin round his waist and a cloak or mantle of sheepskin on
his shoulders, while his hair was long and thick and hung down his back.
When he was sent by God to the Israelites, the people were in danger of forgetting the
one true God, and worshipped idols. For Ahab, their king, married Jezebel, the daughter of
a heathen king. She was a bad woman, and had persuaded him to build a temple for Baal,
the chief god of her country, and she fed at her table in the palace 450 prophets of Baal.
How surprised King Ahab must have been when Elijah suddenly appeared before
him, and told him in the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, that for his sin there should
be no dew nor rain in the Jand for three years, and then immediately fled away out of his,
presence. We are told that he found his way to a brook called Cherith, where he was
fed by ravens, who brought him food night and morning. By and by the water of the
brook was dried up, so he went to a heathen village where a poor widow woman shared the
little food she had left with him. And he paid her for her kindness by asking God not to let
the oil in the bottle or the meal in the barrel come to an end as long as the famine lasted.
But he did a more wonderful thing for her than that. Her only child was sick and lay as
if he were dead, and in her trouble she came and told Elijah and spoke as if it was his fault
that this had happened. But Elijah took the child into the little room in the roof
where he lived and laid him on the bed, and then after he had prayed to God to help him,
“he stretched himself on the child, and the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of
the child came back into him again and he revived.†No wonder the poor mother, when
the prophet gave her back her son, called him “a Man of God.â€
How brave he was too. He was not afraid of Ahab, but went to meet him when
he was searching for water through the land and told him plainly what his sin was,
“Thou hast forsaken the Lord and hast followed Baal.†And then he bid the king
gather together all the Israelites and all the heathen prophets to Mount Carmel and ~
he would meet them there. What a wonderful story it is, as we read it in the Second
Book of the Kings. On one side the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of
other idols, surrounded by thousands of the children of Israel, standing round an altar
they had built to Baal; on the other side the prophet of God with his wild shagey
27
hair and sheepskin cloak standing alone by the altar of God which he had found
fallen into ruins and had built up with twelve stones. How noble he looks as stepping
forth he tells them they must make up their minds whether they will worship Jehovah or
baat. Listen, he tells them how they will know which is the true God. A bullock has
been killed and laid on wood on eachaltar. Well, he will call on his God and they shall call on
Baal, and whichever God answers by sending down fire from heaven and burning up the
28
sacrifice shall be the true God. So the people did as he told them, and called on Baal to
help them, and cried aloud and cut themselves with knives, but it was no use. “ There was
neither voice nor any to answer nor any that regarded.†And then came Elijah’s turn.
First he poured water all over the sacrifice and round the altar, so that they might know he
was not deceiving them, and when the evening had come he prayed to the Lord God
of Abraham, Jacob, and of Israel to make it- known that He was the true God, and that
Elijah was really his servant. And lo, while he was praying the fire fell on the altar and
consumed the sacrifice and licked up the water. “And when all the people saw it they fell
on their faces; and they said, ‘The Lord He is the God ; the Lord He is the God.â€
Immediately after this he told the king that the rain was coming ; but he would not be-
lieve him, because the sky was so blue and bright. But while the king was eating and
drinking the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain,
fa a eto
There were many other times when Elijah showed how brave he was. . There was a
vineyard belonging to a man called Naboth next to the royal palace,and Ahab coveted and
wanted to have it for hisown. But Naboth would not sell it, because it had belonged to his
family for a long time. And Ahab was very unhappy because he could not get what he
wanted. But Jezebel told him she would get it for him. So she paid two wicked men to
say that Naboth had spoken evil words of God and the king, and he was put to death by
stoning. Then Ahab took the vineyard and made it his own. But the very first time he
went down to possess it Elijah met him in the vineyard and told him that because he had
sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord he and his sons should die, and dogs should
eat Jezebel his wife. fle was a true prophet, for what he said came to pass. Ahab was
killed in battle ; his son was killed by falling through a window; and Jezebel, his. wife, was
thrown out of the palace window, and the horses trod her under foot, while the dogs licked .
up her blood.
How wonderful the end of Elijah’s life was. He knew he was going to die, and he
wanted to be alone. But Elisha, whom he had chosen long before to be his companion and
be a prophet in his place when he was dead, would not leave him, but would go with him.
At last they came near Jericho and stood beside the river Jordan, and Elijah rolled up his
mantle like a staff and smote the waters, and they parted and made a path, by which the two
men passed over on dry ground. And it came to pass as they went on and were talking
together, behold a chariot of fire and horses of fire came and parted them, and Elijah went
up into the skies. Well might Elisha cry, “My Father, my Father,†for he was left alone.
But he was brave like his master, and he took Elijah’s mantle, which had fallen to the earth,
and did his best to carry out the work of God which his master had done so well.
St. Paul,
THERE is an old proverb which says, “ The boy is father of the man.â€
And so we like to find out all we can about the lives of great men. We want to know
where they were born, how they were brought up, what sort of boys they were, and a great
many other things about them.
There are some of the great
men in the Bible about whom
we are told very little We do
not know the name of their
birthplace, who their parents
were, nor how or where they
lived when they were young.
We are only told of the wonder-
ful things they did or the won-
derful words they spoke when
they were grown-up men, and
we wish we knew more about
them in their early days.
But there are others about
whom, if we take some trouble,
we can find out a great deal that
is very interesting. St. Paul is
one of these. He was a great
man, perhaps the greatest of all
the first Christians who lived
and worked and died for Jesus
Christ; and the greater part of
the book of the Acts of the
Apostles is taken up with his
history, beginning with his life
before he became a Christian,
telling of his wonderful conver-
sion, describing his travels as he
went all over the then known
world preaching the Gospel, up
to the time when he was taken
as a prisoner to Rome, and kept
there in chains for two years.
He was not only a great missionary, but he was also a great writer; and in the New
Testament we have thirteen epistles or letters which he wrote. Some of them were written
by him to the Church in a city or country, like the Epistles to the Romans or Corinthians
or Galatians ; some of them were written to a single person like Timothy or Titus. And
we are able, by putting together what we are told by St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles,
and what St. Paul tells us about himself in his letters, to find out a great deal.
He was a Jew, “a Hebrew of the Hebrews,†as he calls himself, because his father and
mother were both Jews, but we do not know their names. We only know that his father
was a Pharisee. He was of the tribe of Benjamin, to which King Saul belonged, and, no
doubt this is why his name, before he became a Christian, was Saul. Although he was a
Jew by birth, he was born a long way from Jerusalem. Luke tells us his birthplace was
Tarsus, a city of Cylicia, in Asia Minor. Tarsus was a very busy place, for it was in a very
fertile plain, from which great Roman roads ran in different directions. It was built on the
banks of a river, and had a large harbour, to which ships brought merchants from all parts
y
g
an
eae
She
of the world. It was also a great place for earning, and there were in it very good schools
and colleges.
Here St. Paul was brought up. He was circumcised and brought into covenant with
God when he was eight days old, and when he was old enough, he was sent to one of the
schools of Tarsus. But he was also taught the trade of tent-making, for every Jewish boy,
whether he was rich or poor, was obliged
to learn some trade; and in Tarsus a
great many people were employed in
weaving the long hair of the goats,
which were found in large numbers on
the mountains near Tarsus, into ropes
and tent covers and coats.
‘But he did not stop in Tarsus all his
life. As soon as he was about thirteen
years old, he was sent to Jerusalem, and
became a pupil of a great master or
rabbi called Gamaliel. He had a mar-
ried sister living there, and very likely
he stayed in her house, and went to
school every day.
At the feet of this famous teacher he
sat, as he tells us, learning all he could
about the Jewish religion; and as he
reminds the Jews in one of his speeches,
he was “taught according to the strict
manner of the law of our fathers.â€
When he was grown up, he was so
well known that he was made a mem-
ber of the Jewish Council. called the
Sanhedrim, which consisted of 70 per-
' sons and the high priest, who was the
president. It had the power of trying
people, and, at one time, used to be
able to put them to death by stoning.
The first time we read about St.
Paul in the Acts of the Apostles, he
was present at thestoning of St.Stephen,
the first martyr. He had sat in the
Council and been one of his judges,
and voted against him; and when the
people dragged Stephen away through
the gate, out of the city, he went with
them and stood by and watched him : ae ite os
dying. Cer TS
We are told that wild beasts are ae : See
maddened at the sight of blood, and “wn a
St. Paul, like a tiger that has tasted
blood, grew worse and worse. He hated the followers of the crucified Jesus, and did all he
could to destroy them. Like a wolf worrying and tearing a flock of sheep to pieces, he
laid waste the Church and threw men and women into prison.
Who would think it possible that this man would ever become a Christian, and love
and labour for this Jesus Whose disciples he was persecuting? Yet so it came to pass.. He
32
was on his way to Damascus, where he heard some of the Christians, who had been driven
from Jerusalem, had fled for their lives, and he set out to bring them back with him
to Jerusalem, bound, and put them in prison. There was no time to lose; he was too
impatient to wait till the sun began to set and it was cooler; but he rode as fast as he could
across the desert. 4
Suddenly a great bright light, more dazzling even than the hot, fierce Eastern sun,
shone round about him and his companions, so that they all fell to the ground in terror, A
sound was heard by them all, but only one of them knew what that sound meant. To St.
Paul it was the voice of Jesus speaking to him, and saying, “ Saul, Saul; why persecutest
thou me?†No wonder he is frightened and says, “ Who art thou, Lord?†“Iam Jesus
whom thou persecutest †is the awful answer which comes to him. Hecan resist no longer.
His heart is changed by the startling vision he has seen. Blinded by the dazzling light, his
companions lead him into Damascus. From that day he isa different man. He is no
longer a proud Pharisee hating Jesus and persecuting the Christians, but he becomes a
humble follower of the crucified Saviour. Madea Christian in baptism and called by the
new name of Paul instead ,of Saul, he goes forth to preach the faith he once
destroyed.
What a wonderful life it was. He was the first great missionary, going about from
place to place preaching to the heathen. It was not easy to travel in these days; it was
dangerous as well as hard work, but he was brave and in earnest. He went over the greater
part of Asia Minor, crossed the sea to Europe, journeyed through Macedonia to Corinth and
Athens, and the last we hear of him in the Bible is in prison at Rome. Everywhere he
found enemies trying to hinder him and ready to ill-treat him, and in one of his epistles
he tells us what he had gone through. “Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save
one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night
and day I have been in the deep, in.journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers,
in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils-in the city, in perils in
the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and pain-
fulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.â€
What a long catalogue of sufferings he had endured for the sake of Jesus whom he loved to
serve. ;
One of the greatest of these dangers was the one he speaks of when he says, “Once
was I stoned.†In his first missionary travels he had come to a place called Lystra. The
people were wild and ignorant, speaking a strange language and worshipping idols. And
one day when he was preaching to them near one of their temples outside the gate of the
city, he noticed among the people listening to him a poor cripple who had been lame all his
life and had never walked. Something in the man’s earnest face attracted him, and fixing
his eyes on him, he said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on thy feet,†and immediately
the man sprang up and began to walk. No wonder the people were astonished and thought
St. Paul and his companion were gods come to them in the likeness of men. Barnabas, the
tall one, must be Jupiter, and St. Paul, the smaller of the two, who spoke with such power,
must be Mercury, the god of eloquence, and they began to worship them. The high priest
of Jupiter’s temple brought out oxen and garlands of flowers, and was going to offer sacrifices
to them. But when the two apostles heard what the people were going to do they rent
their clothes in horror, and springing out of the house into which they had gone, they told
them that they were only men like themselves, and that they had come to tell them of the
one true God whom men ought to worship, and with difficulty they stopped the people
offering the sacrifice.
But very soon all was changed. Some Jews came from the last place where the
apostles preached and stirred up the people against them. And in a short time those
who wanted to offer sacrifices turned on St. Paul when he was preaching in the streets and
stoned him ; and when they thought he was dead dragged him outside the gates. But he
39
was not dead. As his friends stood round him, mourning, he came to himself, and rose up
and went back into the city.
At last his life of brave work for Jesus came to an end. After thirty years of travelling
from place to place preaching. the religion of Jesus Christ, he was brought a second time
as a prisoner to Rome; and from his prison, where he was chained, he wrote his last epistle.
He tells Timothy, to whom he wrote it, that he was ready to die. “I have fought the
good fight,†writes this brave old soldier just before he was led out through one of the
gates of the city and beheaded. ;
And the great’cross of gold on the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London points us
upward to the place where he who was a brave soldier of the Cross is now a crowned con-
queror. .
yr
Timothy.
Do you remember how St. Paul was stoned at Lystra on his first missionary journey
just after he had healed the lame man, and was nearly killed? How pleased his Jewish
enemies must have been as they thought they had got rid of him, and he would never speak
to them about the crucified Jesus again. How sad his friends must have been as they
stood round him lying bleeding on the ground and thought he was dead.
We know who some of his
friends were. There was Bar-
-nabas, his companion in his
travels ; there was no doubt
the man who had been lame;
there was, too, Eunice, a Jew-
ish woman who lived with Lois,
her mother, and Timothy,
her young son, in the city of
Lystra. They had heard Paul
preach,and had been baptized,
and been made Christians.
Perhaps it was into her house
St. Paul went when he was
brought into the city faint and
bruised and bleeding after he
had been stoned. How ten-
derly the two women must
have washed his wounds and
nursed him. How sorry the
boy must have been to see
how he had been ill-treated.
And when he went away the.
next day, how afraid they
must have felt lest he should
fall again into the hands of
his cruel enemies ; how thank-
ful when the news came that
he had escaped and was safe
out of the reach of
those who hated
and tried to kill
him.
8 I daresay they
thought they would
never see him again.
But they never for-
got him or all he
had taught them, and
they lived as good
Christians, loving
and working for their
Master.
Seven years passed away, and at last the glad news reached them that he was coming
back again to Lystra to see how the Christians were getting on. We can fancy how they
must have longed for his visit, and with what.a hearty welcome they met him when he
arrived. Very likely it was in the house of Timothy’s mother he stayed as long as he was
there. But St. Paul could not remain there very long. There were Christians in other
places he had not seen for seven long years. He must go with Silas, who travelled with
him on this journey, and see how they were getting on.
ay
35
But when he set out he had a new companion; Timothy went with him. Eunice his
mother could not say no when her son, now a young man, told her he was going away with
St. Paul. She knew they would mect
with many dangers and difficulties,
but she was glad to think that her son
was going forth to fight as a soldier of
Jesus Christ with the brave old soldier
of the Cross. She was sorry to part
with him, but she rejoiced that he was
chosen for such a great work.
And in choosing him St. Paul shows
his wisdom. There were many things
_that helped to make him a good
worker. He was by birth partly Gen-
tile and partly Jewish, for his father
was a Greek and his mother was a
Jewess. And this would be a great
help as he went about with St. Paul.
Sometimes they talked and preached
to the Gentiles, who would listen to
Timothy when they knew his
father was a Greek. Some-
times they went among the
Jews, who would be more
ready to hear what he had
to say when they heard his
mother was a Jewess.
He had, too,
been taught the
Old Testament
Scriptures by
his mother and
grandmother. In
one of his letters
â„¢ to Timothy, St.
Paul says that from a child he had learned
the Holy Scriptures, and so he would be
able to show how the Old Testament taught
that Jesus would come into the world to
save men from sin.
He had become a Christian by the teach-
ing of St. Paul, and they loved one another
as a father and son.
But better than all, he was holy and up-
right, and brave and true, doing faithfully
the work which he had been given to do,
so that his fellow-Christians at Lystra all
spoke well of him.
Before they started from Lystra, Timothy
was ordained and made a clergyman. St.
Paul and the clergy laid their hands on_his
head, and prayed God to pour His Holy
Spirit upon him, to make him strong, just as
clergymen are ordained now.
All turned out well. Timothy was a faithful companion and a brave helper to St. Paul
He journeyed to Philippi, where St. Paul and Silas were cast into the dungeon of the prison
ce
30
and where their jailer treated them with such kindness, taking them into his own house,
washing their fect, and giving them food, and became a Christian and was baptized. He
went with them to Athens, and heard the sermon St. Paul preached from the top of the
Arcopagus or Mars Hill, where the judges used to sit and try the prisoners. He was with
St. Paul in Corinth during the apostle’s long visit there, where he not only preached, but
worked at the trade of tent-making. He was with St. Paul in Rome in his first long im-
prisonment.
Among the epistles of St. Paul there are two written to Timothy, and in four others
his name is mentioned, showing he was with the apostle when he wrote the letters. He
was made, while he was still a young man, Bishop of Ephesus, a great and important city,
where they had a splendid temple in honour of the heathen goddess Diana. And just be-
fore St. Paul was put to death in Rome, he wrote an epistle to Timothy, telling him how
he longed to sce him before he died, and asked him to come to Rome before the winter, and
to bring the cloak with him, for he would want it in his prison in the cold weather.
We are told in history that after having been the Bishop of Ephesus for many years,
Timothy died a martyr’s death there. It was the great feast of Diana,and Timothy was so
grieved by the dreadful things he saw that he boldly told the people how wrong and sinful
it was. But they turned on him in a rage, and put him to death with clubs.
It was a happy thing for Timothy that he had had a holy mother, and had been taught
when he was young to know what God teaches us in the Bible. He had only the Old
Testament to learn out of, but we have the New Testament as well, in which we can read
the story of Jesus and His Apostles. I wonder if, when we are young, we ever ask God to
help us to grow up like Timothy, good and brave and true soldiers of Jesus Christ ?
/rinted by Cowan & Co., Limited, Perth,
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ean 2 5 SST SSAA APE NO I A
Boys of Bible Story. Wo. 3.
BY
LS REV Coak IDG RW Ay Wh
LAASO SRA TED BYE
HENRY RYLAND
AND
JOHN LAWSON.
LONDON
Griffith Farran & Co.
Newbery House, 39 Charing Cross. Road.
1893.
The Rights of Translation and of Reproduction are Reserved.
ABEL
JosHua
SAMSON
SOLOMON
Evijau
SPA
TImoruy
PAGE
9
aS
oF
2
PRINTED IN COLOURS.
THE TEACHING OF TIMOTHY. : rap . Frontispiece
ABEL AND HIS FLOCK . ; a eAaccnl©
JOSHUA’S VISION : aie
SAMSON'S RIDDLE : Tee ©
SOLOMON WATCHING THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE are
ELIJAH AND THE RAVENS tei
ST. PAUL AND THE CRIPPLE a SO
é And 27 Black and White Pictures printed in the Text.
Abel.
HAVE you ever seen what is called a transformation scene in a magic lantern? Per-
haps it is the picture of a ship which is thrown on the sheet. The sea is calm and peaceful,
and the ship is sailing smoothly over the waves. There is no sign of danger on board.
And then the scene changes. In a moment everything is different. The ship is on
fire. The flames are spreading quickly. The whole sea is lit up with the fiery glow.
The crew and passengers hurry to and fro, trying to put out the fire or to save their lives.
We have a sudden change something like this in the first four chapters of the
Bible, not, of course, painted in pictures, but told in words. There is first the Garden of
Eden, where Adam and Eve have been placed by God. How happy they are as we sec
them there, loving and serving Him. All is beautiful and peaceful and holy, because
they do what God commands them. But in the third and fourth chapters of Genesis,
a dreadful change comes over the scene. Adam and Eve are sad and miserable, for
they have disobeyed God. They no longer live in the garden of peace and quict, but
are wanderers, knowing sorrow and toil and weariness.
Io
But that is not the worst part of their wretchedness, A far greater, more terrible
trouble has come upon them.
See, on the plain there lies the dead body of a young man, while another man,
a little older, but still quite young, is fleeing away for his life, looking round every
now and then to see if he is being followed. The dead man has been killed, and this
is his murderer. You know who they are, do you not? They are Cain and Abel,
the sons of Adam and Eve. It is Abel lies dead there, murdered by his own brother.
How did it come about ?
Look again at a little distance from where the dead body lies, there are two altars
made of rough stones, piled up on one another. On one of them a lamb is burning as a
sacrifice, on the other there are placed fruits of the earth. They have been brought there
by Cain and Abel, and offered to God upon the altars they have built. Cain brought
some fruits and vegetables, because he was a farmer, and sowed the land-and looked after
the crops; but Abel was a shepherd, and so he brought a lamb to give to God. But when
Cain saw what his brother had brought, he was jealous of him, for he was afraid God
would like the lamb better than the fruits he had offered on his altar. And what he feared
came true. Why do you think it was that God accepted Abel’s offering? It was not be-
cause the lamb was worth more than the fruit, for God does not look at the worth of
things as we do. We ask how much a thing cost, and think that the greater its price is the
greater is its value. But God’s ways are not like our ways, nor God's thoughts like our
‘thoughts. Do you remember how Jesus, when He watched the people putting their
money for God’s service in the boxes at the door of the temple, praised the farthing of the
poor widow, not the gold of the rich men? And He tells us the reason. God looks at the
il
way in which people give, not what they give. The widow woman was unselfish and gave
all she had, but the rich men gave what cost them nothing. They would never miss the
pieces of gold they gave to God.
And for the same reason God was pleased with Abel’s offering, for it was the offering
of one who believed in Him and loved to give Him the best he had. And so Abel offered
up a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.
And Cain was jealous of his younger brother, and in his anger he turned on him and
slew him.
What a wretched man he must have been as he stood over his brother’s dead body
and saw what he had done. His conscience speaks so loudly to him that he cannot help
listening to it. “What hast thou done?†it says to him. And he is afraid. What shall
he do? He dare not look up, for God sees and knows all. His brother’s blood that he
has shed seems to call out from the ground where he lies, and tells him he is a murderer.
Where shall he go? He cannot stop there and face his father and mother when they
know everything. His neighbours, when they are told of his dreadful crime, will be angry,
and will put him to death, There is only one thing for him to do. He must run away
from his home and friends, and become a fugitive and wanderer in the earth. He must go
where no one will know what has happened. But he never can be happy again. Wherever
he goes, however long he lives, he can never forget his terrible sin; and until he dies, he
will always be in dread lest the people among whom he has come as a stranger should
find out that he had killed his brother.
We cannot help being sorry for him, and hoping that before he died he asked God to ©
forgive him his great sin.
Two things we may learn from Cain :
I2
1. Whatever we do for God we must try to do our best, because we love Him and
want to please Him. We very often forget this. We kneel down to say our prayers, but
perhaps we are thinking of other things, and are not really praying to God; or we are in a
hurry to get our prayers over, because we want to do something for ourselves. Do we
think God cares about such prayers as these? Oh, no, they make our Heavenly Father
sorry, and our prayers are like arrows without feathers which never hit the target, because
they cannot fly so far. God does not answer us, because the prayers we said were not
offered to him with our heart, like Abel’s lamb, but like Cain’s fruit, because it was our
duty.
2. We must ask God to help us not to be jealous of others because they are better or
more clever than we are, or have what we have not got. Jealousy is such a dangerous sin.
It grows bigger and bigger, and we never know what it may make us do. It was jealousy
made Cain kill] Abel. It was jealousy made his brothers sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites. It
was jealousy made the Pharisees take Jesus prisoner and ask Pilate to put Him to death.
And we cannot tell what jealousy may end in if we do not watch against it, and ask God
to help us to get the better of it. It is like a tree which I have read about, that when it is
young is only a small creeper, and with its soft shoots it lays hold of the rough trunk ofa
large tree, and clings to it like ivy. But it grows very quickly, and spreads until it covers ©
the tree all over, branches and all; and at last it becomes so much larger and stronger than
the tree, that it crushes all the life out of it, and the trunk and branches die and crumble
away; and the creeper stands there in its place, a great, strong tree bearing poisonous
fruit. This is just what jealousy of brothers and sisters, or of other people, because they
are better or better off than we are, will do if we do not take care. It will kill everything
that is good in us, and make us do things that we shall be very sorry for afterwards. We
must not be like Cain, but we must be kind one to another, tender-hearted, and walk in
love as Christ also loved us.
Soshbua.
THAT was a wonderful night on which the children of Israel escaped from the land of
Egypt. More than two hundred years had passed away since Joseph had sent for his old
father to come and live in the land of Goschen, which Pharaoh had given to him and his
sons. Fora long time all had gone well with them, and the little band of seventy people
who had come out of the land of Canaan with Israel had grown into a great and mighty
nation. At last they grew so rich and prosperous that the Egyptians began to be afraid
lest they should become too strong and conquer them, and one of the Pharaohs (for all
their kings were called by this name), who did not know what Joseph long ago had done
for Egypt, began to persecute and ill-treat them. Things grew worse and worse, until the
Israelites were made slaves, and had taskmasters set over them, who beat them if they did
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not work hard enough. They were down-trodden and oppressed, and in their distress they
cried unto God Whom they had so long forgotten. Then God heard their prayer, and sent
Moses to be their deliverer, and free them out of the hand of their enemies. For a long
time Pharaoh would not listen to Moses, Trouble after trouble came upon the land, plague
after plague visited the Egyptians, and Pharaoh promised to let the children of Israel go, but
directly the plague was taken away he changed his mind and broke his promise.
But on the night when his firstborn son suddenly died, and the news was brought to
him that in every house of the Egyptians the eldest child lay dead, he could hold out no
longer, and gave Moses leave to lead the people away.
It was a mighty host of men and women, 600,000 in all, who escaped out of Egypt
that never-to-be-forgotten night. How happy they were as they set out on their journey,
15
singing praises to God who had brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand and
stretched-out arm. Surely they could never forget God’s mercy to them.
Alas, how quickly what is good dies out in our hearts. They had gone but a very
little way before, with the first difficulty that came in their way, they began to murmur
against God. Again and again, as the days went on, they were rebellious and disobedient.
Whenever things did not happen just as they liked, they wished they were back again in
Egypt. One day they made a golden calf, like one of the Egyptian gods, and worshipped
it. But they were punished for their ingratitude. God told Moses that none of those who
had murmured against Him should sce the promised land, but that they should all dic in
the wilderness.
So for forty years they journeyed about, marching from place to place, until of that
huge multitude only two were left alive to cross the Jordan and enter into Canaan.
Even Moses was only allowed to see the land of promise from the top of Mount
Pisgah just before he died. For he, too, had sinned against God. Though he was very
meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth, he lost his temper, and in
anger smote the rock, out of which the water gushed out, and God said that he should not
enter the land of Canaan.
One of the two men who were left alive out of all the people escaped out of
Egypt that night forty years ago was Joshua. His name is a very beautiful one. It is
made up of the two words Jah and Oshea, and means “ Help of Jehovah.†In latter times
it was shortened into Jesus, and there are two places in the New Testament where Joshua
is called Jesus. You will find them in Acts vii. 45, and Hebrews iv. 8.
It was a good name for him to be called, for when Moses died Joshua was chosen to
take his place and lead the Israelites across the river Jordan into the promised land.
It was a very difficult work. There were seven nations dwelling in Canaan whom
they must fight with and conquer before they could settle down in the land.
But Joshua was well-trained and fitted for the post for which he had been chosen by
God. Fora long time he had been Moses’ minister or attendant. He had always gone
about with him, and had heard his words of wisdom, and knew him better than did anyone
else. When Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the two Tables of the Law, Joshua
went with him part of the way, and was the first to meet him when he came down. He
was a brave soldier, and a long time before, when Amalek fought with the Israelites in the
wilderness, Moses chose him to command the Israelite army. He was sent as one of the
twelve chiefs to spy out the land and bring back word what the country and people were
like. It was a very dangerous mission, and if they had been caught they would have been
put to death. Instead of joining with the ten in advising the people not to go any further,
because the inhabitants were well armed and fierce, and some of them were giants, and
lived in cities with high and strong walls, Joshua and one other told them not to be afraid,
for God would take care of them, and give them the victory if they would only obey
Him.
No wonder Moses saw in him just the sort of man to take his place when he was dead,
and just before his death solemnly and publicly set Joshua apart to be leader of the host of
Israel.
But he was not only well-trained and brave, he was also a God-fearing man. He
never forgot he was the servant of God, and that his duty was to obey God’s commands and
do as He told him.
We findhimon the evening of the day on which the people crossed the Jordan going apart
by himself in order that he might be alone with God and pray to Him, for he knew he must
do his work in God’s way or he would not succeed. And God sent him a beautiful vision.
Suddenly he lifted up his eyes and looked, and he seemed to sce a prince over against him
with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua said unto him, “ Art thou for us or for our
adversaries ?†and he said, “ Nay; but ascaptain of the host of the Lordam I come.†And
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Joshua fell on his face to the ground and worshipped Him, and went back to the army en-
couraged by the thought that God was on his side and would help him.
Joshua fought a great many battles, and took a great many cities, the strongest of
which was Jericho. In six years he conquered six nations with thirty-one kings, and before
he died he was able to divide the land of Canaan among the tribes as God commanded him,
and he set up the tabernacle in Shiloh, and it was there when Samuel was Eli’s little
servant, and helped to take care of it.
At last, just before he died, when he was a very old man, more than a hundred years
old, he called together all the Israelites and reminded them of all the mercies God had sent
them, and told them that they would not continue great and prosperous unless they served -
17
God, and he told them they must make up their minds whether they would do so.
“Choose you this day whom ye will serve,†he said, and then he added, “ As for me and my
house we will serve the Lord.†And all the people answered, “The Lord our God will we
serve, and His voice will we obey.†So Moses wrote these words in the roll of the Law of
God, and took a great stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the tabernacle,
as a witness of the promise they had made. Very soon after this he died leaving behind.
him a good name without a stain on it, a brave soldier, and a godly man.
Samson.
WE have all read stories of men remarkable for their great strength. Perhaps we have
seen a strong man doing his wonderful feats, lifting up very heavy weights, or breaking
thick chains.
But, I suppose, there never was anyone so strong as Samson. He did many wonder-
ful things, not merely to show off his strength, but to help his countrymen. For when he
was born the children of Israel were in a bad state. They were surrounded by enemies who
hated them because they had come to live in the land of Canaan, and first one nation and
then another attacked and sometimes conquered and ruled over them. But God raised up
great men to be their leaders, and to deliver them out of the hand of their enemies.
At the time of Samson’s birth, the Philistines were their masters, and oppressed them,
and they were so powerful that they ruled over them forty years.
And it was then God raised up Samson to be their saviour or deliverer. His father
and mother belonged to the tribe of Dan, and lived in the part of Canaan which was
nearest to the land of the Philistines. They had no child, and often prayed to God to give
them one, but for a long time their prayer had not been answered. At last, to their joy,
their wish came true, and a baby boy was born to them. They called him Samson, which
means “sunny †or “sunlike,†for he was like a sunbeam lighting up their hearts and home,
and in their thankfulness they dedicated him to God, and brought him up as a Nazarite.
Do you know what a Nazarite was? The name means “separated,†and meant a person
who was set apart to God’s service. Hewas a marked man. Everyone who saw him knew
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‘what he was, for the hair of a Nazarite, instead of being cut short, was left to grow quite
long, and-all his life he never drank any wine or strong drink. We are told in the Bible of
other great men who were set apart in this way from their birth. Samuel in the Old Testa-
ment and John the Baptist in the New were both Nazarites.
As Samson grew up, he became very strong, and was soon well known for his wonder-
ful bodily strength. We are told that one day when he was quite young, only about twenty
years old, he was going along a lonely mountain path, and a young lion sprang out upon
him with a loud roar; but Samson, who was unarmed, instead of being frightened, laid hold
of the lion, and rent it as if it had been only a young kid.
But though he was so strong he was not always talking and boasting about it, so he
went home and did not tell his father and mother what he had done. Some time after, as
he was going along the same path, he thought he would look and see what had become of
the lion he had killed, and, to his astonishment, he found that a swarm of bees had settled
in the cdrcase and made their honey there. So he took some o1 the honeycomb back to
his father and mother, but he did not tell them where he had found it. And he made up a
riddle about it, which he asked his companions, and promised to give them a prize if they
found out the answer. This was the riddle: “Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of
the strong came forth sweetness.†However, none of them could guess it, until at last
Samson’s wife, who was a Philistine, persuaded him to tell her the answer, and she told his
companions: “ What is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion.â€
That was the first of many astonishing things which have made his name famous. Let
me remind you of one or two of them.
One time he was taken prisoner by the Philistines, who took his weapons away from
him and bound him with two new ropes. How pleased they were at having caught him
at last; now he is in their power, and they can take their revenge on him. Ah, they
were congratulating themselves too soon. They forgot how strong he was. In a moment
he broke off the ropes like flax burnt with the fire, and when his hands were free he took
20
up the jawbone of an ass which was lying on the ground, and with it slew a thousand
Philistines. :
Another time he was in the city of Gaza, which belonged to the Philistines, and it was
- told the Gazites, “Samson is come hither,†and they compassed him in, and lay wait for
him all night in the gate of the city, saying, “When the morning is light we will kill him.â€
How delighted they must have been. They had got him safe this time. He could not
possibly escape, for the city was surrounded by high walls and had only one gate, which
was locked all night, and the sentinels were forbidden to open it. But “Samson arose at
midnight and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and plucked
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them up, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the
mountain that is before Hebron,’ and when his enemies got up early in the morning and
went to the gate of the city, they found their prisoner had escaped, and taken the doors
_ with him.
But if Samson was wonderful in his life, he was still more wonderful in his death.
Once again he was taken prisoner from his own fault, and his enemies cut off his hair and
put out his eyes, so that he might not escape from them as he had at other times. To
make quite sure, they bound him with fetters of brass, and shut him up in the prison at
Gaza, and made him grind corn like a slave, and they appointed a day when they should
offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon, their god, for they said, “Our god hath delivered Samson
our enemy into our hands.†And when they were making merry in the temple of Dagon,
they said, “Call for Samson that he may make us sport.†And they called for Samson out of
the prison-house, and they set him between the pillars. And Samson said unto the lad
that held him by the hand, for he was blind, “ Suffer me that I may feel the pillars where-
upon the house resteth, that I may lean upon them.†Now the house was full of men and
women, and there were upon the roof about 3000 men and women that beheld while
Samson made sport. And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars on which the house
rested, and leaned upon them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left, and
Samson said, “ Let me die with the Philistines.†And he bowed himself with all his might,
and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead
which he slew at his death were more than all they which he slew in his life.
Samson was a brave man ; he destroyed and conquered his enemies ; but he could not
rule himself. He burst the fetters of his foes, but he could not break the cords of his own
sins. He was strong in body, but he was weak in spirit. He was not afraid to fight with
the Philistines, but he was a coward when he was tempted to do what was wrong. He
could kill the young lion, but he could not resist Satan, who gocth about like a roaring lion
seeking whom he may devour. One great sin, the love. of pleasing himself without think-
ing whether what he wanted was right or wrong, spoiled his whole life, and took away his
strength. At first it was only a little sin, like a tiny seed, but it grew until it became like
a great tree. And the sunny child died a blind prisoner in the hands of the Philistines. It
is just what the wise man says in his Proverbs, “ Better is he that ruleth his spirit than he
that taketh a city.†:
How much Samson teaches us. Weare not all strong in body. Weare none of us
likely to be giants in strength as he was. But there is another strength better than
Samson’s which God gives to those who ask Him. He makes us, by the help of His Holy
Spirit, strong to fight against what is wrong, to speak the truth, to do what is right, to con-
quer sin, to obey His Holy Will and Commandments, and walk in the same all the days
of our life.
Solomon.
SOLOMON was the youngest of all the sons of King David. He was his father’s
favourite child, because he was born just after David had sinned the great sin of his life,
and the little baby seemed to be a messenger bringing a message from God, and telling
him God had forgiven him his sin. So he called his name Solomon, which means “The
Peaceful One,†but Nathan the prophet gave him the name of Tedidiah or Zedidjah, the
meaning of which is “ Lord of God.†What a good name Solomon was. David had been
a man of war, and fought many battles with many enemies, but Solomon was all his life a
man of peace. He spent his days in peaceful work, and made the Israelites a great and
strong nation. David loved him so much that he promised his mother that he should be
king after him.
From his earliest days Nathan was his tutor, and he was brought up in the fear of
God. He was taught the Book of the Law of the Lord and the Proverbs of the Ancients,
a book his father David knew and quoted from to Saul when that king was trying to kill
him.
But he had not to wait till his father’s death to be made king, David had grown very
old and feeble and could not rule the people well, so some of his subjects rebelled against
him, and proclaimed one of his eldest sons to be king in his place. When the news of what
was going on reached the palace, Solomon’s mother came with Nathan the prophet to David.
23
and told him what had been done, and reminded him of the promise he had made long be-
fore that Solomon should be king after him.
What was to be done? By their advice David resigned the throne and ordered that
Solomon should be crowned king in his stead.
Soon after this Solomon went to the Tabernacle to offer sacrifices to God, and one
night as he was sleeping near the Tabernacle he dreamed a dream. He was a young man,
and his mind was very full of all he had to do as a king, and he fell asleep wondering how
24
he would be able to rule the people given into his care well and wisely. In his dream it
seemed as if God appeared to him in all His glory, as he did to Jacob when he lay asleep
on the earth with the stones for a pillow, and said to him, “ Ask what I shall give thee.â€
And he thought that he asked not for riches or long life, but for wisdom and knowledge,
and woke up feeling that God would certainly give him the wisdom he wanted in order that
he might judge so great a people. Yes, his dream came true. He was soon known to be a
wise ruler and a just judge.
But although in his dream he had not asked for money he was rich as well as wise.
He built a splendid palace for himself, where he sat in his court of judgment, seated on
a throne of ivory and gold. He had beautiful gardens in which he walked. All the
drinking vessels in his palace were of pure gold. He rode in a chariot of cedar, orna-
mented with silver and gold and purple, while sixty of the tallest and handsomest of. the
Israelites were his bodyguard, and marched beside him.
Indeed, he became so famous that the Queen of Sheba in Arabia heard of his great-
ness, and journeyed hundreds of miles across the desert to Jerusalem with a very great com-
25
pany, and camels that bare spices and very much gold and precious stones. She wished to
judge for herself whether what she had been told was really true. And when she had seen
everything she said to the king, “It was a true report that I heard in my own land of thine
acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes
had seen it; and behold the half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me.â€
But the greatest work of Solomon’s reign was the building of the Temple. Long be-
fore David had wished to do this, but God forbade him because he had all through his life
been a man of war, and his hands were stained with the blood of his enemies. But be-
fore he died, when he was a very old man, he called together all the princes and officers and
great men, and told them that he left this work to Solomon to carry out, and then turning
to him he said, “ Take heed now, for the Lord hath chosen thee to build an house for the
sanctuary ; be strong and do it.â€
And when David was dead, Solomon did not forget his aged father’s command, but at
once set about the work with a willing mind.
He laid the foundations deep and strong on Mount Moriah. For seven long years the
people were busy building. And all that long time Solomon the King was watching the
workmen, and drawing the plans and telling them what to do, so that the Temple might be
just as his father desired.
How magnificent it must have been with its high pinnacles and gilded roof and lofty
pillars, and grand porch and splendid gates.
At last when the building was finished a day was fixed for it to be consecrated and
dedicated or given to God. The Ark which had been in the Tabernacle for so many
years was brought from Mount Zion where David had placed it. There was a great pro-
cession of priests in their beautiful robes, and singers in white linen like our surpliced choirs
in church, and a large number of musicians. And as the procession moved up to the top
of Mount Moriah where the Temple stood,. they all lifted up their voices with the trumpets
and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, “ For He is good ;
for His mercy endureth for ever.â€
What a great day that must have been to Solomon when he saw the work finished
which his father David had commanded him to do for God’s glory.
But bad days came to Solomon. In his old age he was tempted, and fell into great
sin. He forsook the one true God and worshipped the gods of the heathen, and built
temples in their honour. And then great troubles darkened his life like the black clouds
which gather over our heads, and the thunder rolls and the lightning flashes, and there is a
great storm. The people began to be discontented and rebelled against him. The son
who was to be king after him had many of his father’s faults, but none of his wisdom. And
' Solomon died very sad at heart because of his sin, and just before his death he wrote this
advice to all, young and old, who should read the book he had written, “Fear God and
keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.â€
Elijah.
How much there isin the Bible about prophets. As we read the history of the Children
of Israel we find these prophets appearing from time to time. They were very different
from one another in character and appearance, as well as in the words they spoke.
Sometimes they appeared suddenly and no one knew where they came from, sometimes they
had been born and brought up among the people to whom they preached. Some of them
were men, some were women. Some of them were humble and unlearned, some were well
to do and well educated. Some of them wrote the books which we have bound up in the
Bible, some of them only spoke to those to whom they came. But whether they were rich
or poor they were all sent by God, and they all spoke in God’s name. For a prophet was.
a man sent by God with a message which he was to deliver to the people. ;
Among these prophets of olden days Elijah was one of, if not, the greatest. We know
nothing about his birth or parents except that we are told he was a Tishbite of Gilead.
But even this, little as it is, helps us to understand what sort of a man he was.
Gilead was a country on the east or desert side of the Jordan. The people there
lived in tents and were hunters and soldiers. They were surrounded by the Arabs of these
parts, and became very like them, wild and fierce and rough-looking men.
This was why Elijah was so different from the Israelites among whom he came and
preached. He wore a girdle of skin round his waist and a cloak or mantle of sheepskin on
his shoulders, while his hair was long and thick and hung down his back.
When he was sent by God to the Israelites, the people were in danger of forgetting the
one true God, and worshipped idols. For Ahab, their king, married Jezebel, the daughter of
a heathen king. She was a bad woman, and had persuaded him to build a temple for Baal,
the chief god of her country, and she fed at her table in the palace 450 prophets of Baal.
How surprised King Ahab must have been when Elijah suddenly appeared before
him, and told him in the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, that for his sin there should
be no dew nor rain in the Jand for three years, and then immediately fled away out of his,
presence. We are told that he found his way to a brook called Cherith, where he was
fed by ravens, who brought him food night and morning. By and by the water of the
brook was dried up, so he went to a heathen village where a poor widow woman shared the
little food she had left with him. And he paid her for her kindness by asking God not to let
the oil in the bottle or the meal in the barrel come to an end as long as the famine lasted.
But he did a more wonderful thing for her than that. Her only child was sick and lay as
if he were dead, and in her trouble she came and told Elijah and spoke as if it was his fault
that this had happened. But Elijah took the child into the little room in the roof
where he lived and laid him on the bed, and then after he had prayed to God to help him,
“he stretched himself on the child, and the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of
the child came back into him again and he revived.†No wonder the poor mother, when
the prophet gave her back her son, called him “a Man of God.â€
How brave he was too. He was not afraid of Ahab, but went to meet him when
he was searching for water through the land and told him plainly what his sin was,
“Thou hast forsaken the Lord and hast followed Baal.†And then he bid the king
gather together all the Israelites and all the heathen prophets to Mount Carmel and ~
he would meet them there. What a wonderful story it is, as we read it in the Second
Book of the Kings. On one side the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of
other idols, surrounded by thousands of the children of Israel, standing round an altar
they had built to Baal; on the other side the prophet of God with his wild shagey
27
hair and sheepskin cloak standing alone by the altar of God which he had found
fallen into ruins and had built up with twelve stones. How noble he looks as stepping
forth he tells them they must make up their minds whether they will worship Jehovah or
baat. Listen, he tells them how they will know which is the true God. A bullock has
been killed and laid on wood on eachaltar. Well, he will call on his God and they shall call on
Baal, and whichever God answers by sending down fire from heaven and burning up the
28
sacrifice shall be the true God. So the people did as he told them, and called on Baal to
help them, and cried aloud and cut themselves with knives, but it was no use. “ There was
neither voice nor any to answer nor any that regarded.†And then came Elijah’s turn.
First he poured water all over the sacrifice and round the altar, so that they might know he
was not deceiving them, and when the evening had come he prayed to the Lord God
of Abraham, Jacob, and of Israel to make it- known that He was the true God, and that
Elijah was really his servant. And lo, while he was praying the fire fell on the altar and
consumed the sacrifice and licked up the water. “And when all the people saw it they fell
on their faces; and they said, ‘The Lord He is the God ; the Lord He is the God.â€
Immediately after this he told the king that the rain was coming ; but he would not be-
lieve him, because the sky was so blue and bright. But while the king was eating and
drinking the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain,
fa a eto
There were many other times when Elijah showed how brave he was. . There was a
vineyard belonging to a man called Naboth next to the royal palace,and Ahab coveted and
wanted to have it for hisown. But Naboth would not sell it, because it had belonged to his
family for a long time. And Ahab was very unhappy because he could not get what he
wanted. But Jezebel told him she would get it for him. So she paid two wicked men to
say that Naboth had spoken evil words of God and the king, and he was put to death by
stoning. Then Ahab took the vineyard and made it his own. But the very first time he
went down to possess it Elijah met him in the vineyard and told him that because he had
sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord he and his sons should die, and dogs should
eat Jezebel his wife. fle was a true prophet, for what he said came to pass. Ahab was
killed in battle ; his son was killed by falling through a window; and Jezebel, his. wife, was
thrown out of the palace window, and the horses trod her under foot, while the dogs licked .
up her blood.
How wonderful the end of Elijah’s life was. He knew he was going to die, and he
wanted to be alone. But Elisha, whom he had chosen long before to be his companion and
be a prophet in his place when he was dead, would not leave him, but would go with him.
At last they came near Jericho and stood beside the river Jordan, and Elijah rolled up his
mantle like a staff and smote the waters, and they parted and made a path, by which the two
men passed over on dry ground. And it came to pass as they went on and were talking
together, behold a chariot of fire and horses of fire came and parted them, and Elijah went
up into the skies. Well might Elisha cry, “My Father, my Father,†for he was left alone.
But he was brave like his master, and he took Elijah’s mantle, which had fallen to the earth,
and did his best to carry out the work of God which his master had done so well.
St. Paul,
THERE is an old proverb which says, “ The boy is father of the man.â€
And so we like to find out all we can about the lives of great men. We want to know
where they were born, how they were brought up, what sort of boys they were, and a great
many other things about them.
There are some of the great
men in the Bible about whom
we are told very little We do
not know the name of their
birthplace, who their parents
were, nor how or where they
lived when they were young.
We are only told of the wonder-
ful things they did or the won-
derful words they spoke when
they were grown-up men, and
we wish we knew more about
them in their early days.
But there are others about
whom, if we take some trouble,
we can find out a great deal that
is very interesting. St. Paul is
one of these. He was a great
man, perhaps the greatest of all
the first Christians who lived
and worked and died for Jesus
Christ; and the greater part of
the book of the Acts of the
Apostles is taken up with his
history, beginning with his life
before he became a Christian,
telling of his wonderful conver-
sion, describing his travels as he
went all over the then known
world preaching the Gospel, up
to the time when he was taken
as a prisoner to Rome, and kept
there in chains for two years.
He was not only a great missionary, but he was also a great writer; and in the New
Testament we have thirteen epistles or letters which he wrote. Some of them were written
by him to the Church in a city or country, like the Epistles to the Romans or Corinthians
or Galatians ; some of them were written to a single person like Timothy or Titus. And
we are able, by putting together what we are told by St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles,
and what St. Paul tells us about himself in his letters, to find out a great deal.
He was a Jew, “a Hebrew of the Hebrews,†as he calls himself, because his father and
mother were both Jews, but we do not know their names. We only know that his father
was a Pharisee. He was of the tribe of Benjamin, to which King Saul belonged, and, no
doubt this is why his name, before he became a Christian, was Saul. Although he was a
Jew by birth, he was born a long way from Jerusalem. Luke tells us his birthplace was
Tarsus, a city of Cylicia, in Asia Minor. Tarsus was a very busy place, for it was in a very
fertile plain, from which great Roman roads ran in different directions. It was built on the
banks of a river, and had a large harbour, to which ships brought merchants from all parts
y
g
an
eae
She
of the world. It was also a great place for earning, and there were in it very good schools
and colleges.
Here St. Paul was brought up. He was circumcised and brought into covenant with
God when he was eight days old, and when he was old enough, he was sent to one of the
schools of Tarsus. But he was also taught the trade of tent-making, for every Jewish boy,
whether he was rich or poor, was obliged
to learn some trade; and in Tarsus a
great many people were employed in
weaving the long hair of the goats,
which were found in large numbers on
the mountains near Tarsus, into ropes
and tent covers and coats.
‘But he did not stop in Tarsus all his
life. As soon as he was about thirteen
years old, he was sent to Jerusalem, and
became a pupil of a great master or
rabbi called Gamaliel. He had a mar-
ried sister living there, and very likely
he stayed in her house, and went to
school every day.
At the feet of this famous teacher he
sat, as he tells us, learning all he could
about the Jewish religion; and as he
reminds the Jews in one of his speeches,
he was “taught according to the strict
manner of the law of our fathers.â€
When he was grown up, he was so
well known that he was made a mem-
ber of the Jewish Council. called the
Sanhedrim, which consisted of 70 per-
' sons and the high priest, who was the
president. It had the power of trying
people, and, at one time, used to be
able to put them to death by stoning.
The first time we read about St.
Paul in the Acts of the Apostles, he
was present at thestoning of St.Stephen,
the first martyr. He had sat in the
Council and been one of his judges,
and voted against him; and when the
people dragged Stephen away through
the gate, out of the city, he went with
them and stood by and watched him : ae ite os
dying. Cer TS
We are told that wild beasts are ae : See
maddened at the sight of blood, and “wn a
St. Paul, like a tiger that has tasted
blood, grew worse and worse. He hated the followers of the crucified Jesus, and did all he
could to destroy them. Like a wolf worrying and tearing a flock of sheep to pieces, he
laid waste the Church and threw men and women into prison.
Who would think it possible that this man would ever become a Christian, and love
and labour for this Jesus Whose disciples he was persecuting? Yet so it came to pass.. He
32
was on his way to Damascus, where he heard some of the Christians, who had been driven
from Jerusalem, had fled for their lives, and he set out to bring them back with him
to Jerusalem, bound, and put them in prison. There was no time to lose; he was too
impatient to wait till the sun began to set and it was cooler; but he rode as fast as he could
across the desert. 4
Suddenly a great bright light, more dazzling even than the hot, fierce Eastern sun,
shone round about him and his companions, so that they all fell to the ground in terror, A
sound was heard by them all, but only one of them knew what that sound meant. To St.
Paul it was the voice of Jesus speaking to him, and saying, “ Saul, Saul; why persecutest
thou me?†No wonder he is frightened and says, “ Who art thou, Lord?†“Iam Jesus
whom thou persecutest †is the awful answer which comes to him. Hecan resist no longer.
His heart is changed by the startling vision he has seen. Blinded by the dazzling light, his
companions lead him into Damascus. From that day he isa different man. He is no
longer a proud Pharisee hating Jesus and persecuting the Christians, but he becomes a
humble follower of the crucified Saviour. Madea Christian in baptism and called by the
new name of Paul instead ,of Saul, he goes forth to preach the faith he once
destroyed.
What a wonderful life it was. He was the first great missionary, going about from
place to place preaching to the heathen. It was not easy to travel in these days; it was
dangerous as well as hard work, but he was brave and in earnest. He went over the greater
part of Asia Minor, crossed the sea to Europe, journeyed through Macedonia to Corinth and
Athens, and the last we hear of him in the Bible is in prison at Rome. Everywhere he
found enemies trying to hinder him and ready to ill-treat him, and in one of his epistles
he tells us what he had gone through. “Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save
one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night
and day I have been in the deep, in.journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers,
in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils-in the city, in perils in
the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and pain-
fulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.â€
What a long catalogue of sufferings he had endured for the sake of Jesus whom he loved to
serve. ;
One of the greatest of these dangers was the one he speaks of when he says, “Once
was I stoned.†In his first missionary travels he had come to a place called Lystra. The
people were wild and ignorant, speaking a strange language and worshipping idols. And
one day when he was preaching to them near one of their temples outside the gate of the
city, he noticed among the people listening to him a poor cripple who had been lame all his
life and had never walked. Something in the man’s earnest face attracted him, and fixing
his eyes on him, he said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on thy feet,†and immediately
the man sprang up and began to walk. No wonder the people were astonished and thought
St. Paul and his companion were gods come to them in the likeness of men. Barnabas, the
tall one, must be Jupiter, and St. Paul, the smaller of the two, who spoke with such power,
must be Mercury, the god of eloquence, and they began to worship them. The high priest
of Jupiter’s temple brought out oxen and garlands of flowers, and was going to offer sacrifices
to them. But when the two apostles heard what the people were going to do they rent
their clothes in horror, and springing out of the house into which they had gone, they told
them that they were only men like themselves, and that they had come to tell them of the
one true God whom men ought to worship, and with difficulty they stopped the people
offering the sacrifice.
But very soon all was changed. Some Jews came from the last place where the
apostles preached and stirred up the people against them. And in a short time those
who wanted to offer sacrifices turned on St. Paul when he was preaching in the streets and
stoned him ; and when they thought he was dead dragged him outside the gates. But he
39
was not dead. As his friends stood round him, mourning, he came to himself, and rose up
and went back into the city.
At last his life of brave work for Jesus came to an end. After thirty years of travelling
from place to place preaching. the religion of Jesus Christ, he was brought a second time
as a prisoner to Rome; and from his prison, where he was chained, he wrote his last epistle.
He tells Timothy, to whom he wrote it, that he was ready to die. “I have fought the
good fight,†writes this brave old soldier just before he was led out through one of the
gates of the city and beheaded. ;
And the great’cross of gold on the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London points us
upward to the place where he who was a brave soldier of the Cross is now a crowned con-
queror. .
yr
Timothy.
Do you remember how St. Paul was stoned at Lystra on his first missionary journey
just after he had healed the lame man, and was nearly killed? How pleased his Jewish
enemies must have been as they thought they had got rid of him, and he would never speak
to them about the crucified Jesus again. How sad his friends must have been as they
stood round him lying bleeding on the ground and thought he was dead.
We know who some of his
friends were. There was Bar-
-nabas, his companion in his
travels ; there was no doubt
the man who had been lame;
there was, too, Eunice, a Jew-
ish woman who lived with Lois,
her mother, and Timothy,
her young son, in the city of
Lystra. They had heard Paul
preach,and had been baptized,
and been made Christians.
Perhaps it was into her house
St. Paul went when he was
brought into the city faint and
bruised and bleeding after he
had been stoned. How ten-
derly the two women must
have washed his wounds and
nursed him. How sorry the
boy must have been to see
how he had been ill-treated.
And when he went away the.
next day, how afraid they
must have felt lest he should
fall again into the hands of
his cruel enemies ; how thank-
ful when the news came that
he had escaped and was safe
out of the reach of
those who hated
and tried to kill
him.
8 I daresay they
thought they would
never see him again.
But they never for-
got him or all he
had taught them, and
they lived as good
Christians, loving
and working for their
Master.
Seven years passed away, and at last the glad news reached them that he was coming
back again to Lystra to see how the Christians were getting on. We can fancy how they
must have longed for his visit, and with what.a hearty welcome they met him when he
arrived. Very likely it was in the house of Timothy’s mother he stayed as long as he was
there. But St. Paul could not remain there very long. There were Christians in other
places he had not seen for seven long years. He must go with Silas, who travelled with
him on this journey, and see how they were getting on.
ay
35
But when he set out he had a new companion; Timothy went with him. Eunice his
mother could not say no when her son, now a young man, told her he was going away with
St. Paul. She knew they would mect
with many dangers and difficulties,
but she was glad to think that her son
was going forth to fight as a soldier of
Jesus Christ with the brave old soldier
of the Cross. She was sorry to part
with him, but she rejoiced that he was
chosen for such a great work.
And in choosing him St. Paul shows
his wisdom. There were many things
_that helped to make him a good
worker. He was by birth partly Gen-
tile and partly Jewish, for his father
was a Greek and his mother was a
Jewess. And this would be a great
help as he went about with St. Paul.
Sometimes they talked and preached
to the Gentiles, who would listen to
Timothy when they knew his
father was a Greek. Some-
times they went among the
Jews, who would be more
ready to hear what he had
to say when they heard his
mother was a Jewess.
He had, too,
been taught the
Old Testament
Scriptures by
his mother and
grandmother. In
one of his letters
â„¢ to Timothy, St.
Paul says that from a child he had learned
the Holy Scriptures, and so he would be
able to show how the Old Testament taught
that Jesus would come into the world to
save men from sin.
He had become a Christian by the teach-
ing of St. Paul, and they loved one another
as a father and son.
But better than all, he was holy and up-
right, and brave and true, doing faithfully
the work which he had been given to do,
so that his fellow-Christians at Lystra all
spoke well of him.
Before they started from Lystra, Timothy
was ordained and made a clergyman. St.
Paul and the clergy laid their hands on_his
head, and prayed God to pour His Holy
Spirit upon him, to make him strong, just as
clergymen are ordained now.
All turned out well. Timothy was a faithful companion and a brave helper to St. Paul
He journeyed to Philippi, where St. Paul and Silas were cast into the dungeon of the prison
ce
30
and where their jailer treated them with such kindness, taking them into his own house,
washing their fect, and giving them food, and became a Christian and was baptized. He
went with them to Athens, and heard the sermon St. Paul preached from the top of the
Arcopagus or Mars Hill, where the judges used to sit and try the prisoners. He was with
St. Paul in Corinth during the apostle’s long visit there, where he not only preached, but
worked at the trade of tent-making. He was with St. Paul in Rome in his first long im-
prisonment.
Among the epistles of St. Paul there are two written to Timothy, and in four others
his name is mentioned, showing he was with the apostle when he wrote the letters. He
was made, while he was still a young man, Bishop of Ephesus, a great and important city,
where they had a splendid temple in honour of the heathen goddess Diana. And just be-
fore St. Paul was put to death in Rome, he wrote an epistle to Timothy, telling him how
he longed to sce him before he died, and asked him to come to Rome before the winter, and
to bring the cloak with him, for he would want it in his prison in the cold weather.
We are told in history that after having been the Bishop of Ephesus for many years,
Timothy died a martyr’s death there. It was the great feast of Diana,and Timothy was so
grieved by the dreadful things he saw that he boldly told the people how wrong and sinful
it was. But they turned on him in a rage, and put him to death with clubs.
It was a happy thing for Timothy that he had had a holy mother, and had been taught
when he was young to know what God teaches us in the Bible. He had only the Old
Testament to learn out of, but we have the New Testament as well, in which we can read
the story of Jesus and His Apostles. I wonder if, when we are young, we ever ask God to
help us to grow up like Timothy, good and brave and true soldiers of Jesus Christ ?
/rinted by Cowan & Co., Limited, Perth,
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