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Title: Half Hours in Bible Lands, Volume 2

Author: P. C. Headley

Release date: May 7, 2008 [eBook #25363]

Most recently updated: January 3, 2021

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HALF HOURS IN BIBLE LANDS, VOLUME 2 ***

[Transcriber's Note: Pictures are positioned as they are in the original text,

often far from the related passage. The text has been linked to the picture.]

HALF HOURS IN BIBLE LANDS,

OR,

STORIES AND SKETCHES FROM THE SCRIPTURES AND THE EAST.

PATRIARCHS, KINGS, AND KINGDOMS.

BY REV. P. C. HEADLEY,

AUTHOR OF "THE WOMEN OF THE BIBLE,"

"HARVEST WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT,"

"THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE,"

"MASSACHUSETTS IN THE REBELLION,"

ETC., ETC., ETC.

WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS.

PHILADELPHIA:

PUBLISHED BY JOHN E. POTTER & CO.,

No. 617 SANSOM STREET.

Entered according to Act of Congress,

in the year 1867, by  JOHN E. POTTER & CO.,

In the Clerk's Office of the

United States District Court in and for the Eastern

District of Pennsylvania.

Isaac and Esau

Job and His Three Friends.

THE BIBLE AND THE HOLY LAND.

PATRIARCHS, KINGS, AND KINGDOMS.

SCENES IN THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS.

The patriarchs might be called family kings--the divinely appointed

rulers of households. They were the earliest sovereigns under God of

which we have any account. Their authority was gradually extended by the

union of households, whose retinue of servants was often large, and

their wealth very great. The founder and leader of the patriarchal line

chosen by God from the wealthy nomades, or wandering farmers of the

fruitful valleys, was Abram. A worshipper of the Infinite One, he

married Sarai, a maiden of elevated piety and personal beauty. And

doubtless they often walked forth together beneath the nightly sky,

whose transparent air in that latitude made the stars impressively--

"The burning blazonry of God!"

Upon the hill-tops around, were the observatories and altars of Chaldean

philosophy, whose disciples worshipped the host of Heaven. In the

serenity of such an hour, with the white tents reposing in the distance,

and the "soul-like sound" of the rustling forest alone breaking the

stillness, it would not be strange, as they gazed on flaming Orion and

the Pleiades, if they had bowed with the Devotee of Light, while--

"Beneath his blue and beaming sky,

He worshipped at their lofty shrine,

And deemed he saw with gifted eye,

The Godhead in his works divine."

But a purer illumination than streamed from that radiant dome, brought

near in his majesty the Eternal, and like the holy worshippers of Eden,

they adored with subdued and reverent hearts, their infinite Father.

There is great sublimity and wonderful power in the purity and growth of

religious principle, in circumstances opposed to its manifestation. The

temptations resisted--the earnest communion with each other--the

glorious aspirations and soarings of imagination, when morning broke

upon the summits, and evening came down with its stars, and its rising

moon, flooding with glory nature in her repose. These, and a thousand

lovely and touching scenes of that pastoral life, are all unrecorded.

The great events in history, and bold points in character, are seized by

the inspired penman as sufficient to mark the grand outline of God's

providential and moral government over the world, and his care of his

people.

Just when it would best accomplish his designs, which are ever marching

to their fulfillment, Jehovah called to Abram, and bade him go to a

distant land which he would show him. With his father-in-law, and with

Lot, his flocks and herds, he journeyed toward Palestine. When he

arrived at Haran, in Mesopotamia, pleased with the country, and probably

influenced by the declining health of the aged Terah, he took up his

residence there. Here he remained till the venerable patriarch, Sarai's

father, died. The circle of relatives bore him to the grave, and kept

the days of mourning. But the dutiful daughter wept in the solitary

grief of an orphan's heart. A few years before she had lost a brother,

and now the father to whom she was the last flower that bloomed on the

desert of age, and who lavished his love upon her, was buried among

strangers.

Then the command to move forward to his promised inheritance came again

to Abram. With Sarai he journeyed on among the hills, encamping at night

beside a mountain spring, and beneath the unclouded heavens arching

their path, changeless and watchful as the love of God--exiles by the

power of their simple faith in him. Soon as they reached Palestine,

Abram consecrated its very soil by erecting a family altar, first in the

plain of Moreh, and again on the summits that catch the smile of morning

near the hamlet of Bethel.

Months stepped away, rapidly as silently, old associations wore off, and

Abram was a wealthy and happy man in the luxuriant vales of Canaan. His

flocks dotted the plains, and his cattle sent down their lowing from

encircling hills. But more than these to him was the affection of his

beautiful wife. Her eye watched his form along the winding way, when

with the ascending sun he went out on the dewy slopes, and kindled with

a serene welcome when at night-fall he returned for repose amid the

sacred joys of home.

At length there came on a fearful famine. The rain was withholden, and

the dew shed its benediction no more upon the earth. He was compelled to

seek bread at the court of Pharaoh, or perish. Knowing the power of

female beauty, and the want of principle among the Egyptian princes, he

was afraid of assassination and the captivity of Sarai which would

follow. Haunted with this fear, he told her to say that she was his

sister--which was not a direct falsehood, but only so by implication.

According to the Jewish mode of reckoning relationship, she might be

called a sister; and Abram stooped to this prevarication under that

terrible dread which, in the case of Peter, drove a true disciple of

Christ to the brink of apostacy and despair.

Results of Prevarication. Peter denying his Master.

But his deception involved him in the very difficulty he designed to

escape. The king's courtiers saw the handsome Hebrew, and extolled her

beauty before him. He summoned her to the apartments of the palace, and

captivated by her loveliness, determined to make her his bride. During

the agonizing suspense of Abram, and the concealed anguish of Sarai in

her conscious degradation, the hours wore heavily away, until the

judgment of God upon the royal household brought deliverance. Pharaoh,

though an idolater, knew by this supernatural infliction, that there was

guilt in the transaction, and called Abram to an account. He had nothing

to say in self-acquittal, and with a strange magnanimity, was sent away

quietly, with his wife and property, followed only by the reproaches of

Pharaoh, and his own wakeful conscience.

Abram returned to Palestine, became a victor in fierce battles with a

vastly outnumbering foe, and was in possession of a splendid fortune.

Whether in Egypt, or in his tent on the plains of Palestine, Abram, with

all the patriarchs, was a true gentleman. We may doubt whether any

modern school of refinement in manners could furnish any nobler examples

of dignity and civility in personal learning and manners, than were the

rich dwellers in ancient Palestine. Subjects fell prostrate before

sovereigns; equals, when they met, inclined the head toward the breast,

and placed the right hand on the left breast. Of the Great King it is

written, "Come, let us bow down; let us worship before the Lord our

Maker."

Jehovah appeared to Abram in a glorious vision, talking with him as

friend to friend. He fell on his face in the dust, as did the exile of

Patmos ages after, while a voice of affection and hope carne from the

bending sky: "I am the Almighty God; walk before me and be thou

perfect." The solemn covenant involving the greatness and splendor of

the people and commonwealth that should spring from the solitary pair,

was renewed; and as an outward seal, he was named Abraham, The father of

a great multitude--and his wife Sarah, The princess. Still he laughed at

the absurdity that Sarah would ever be a mother, and invoked a blessing

on Ishmael, but evidently said nothing to her upon a subject dismissed

as incredible from his thoughts. For when the celestial messengers were

in the tent, on their way to warn Lot, she listened to their earnest

conversation, concealed by the curtains, and hearing that repeated

promise based on the immutability of God, also laughed with bitter mirth

at her hopeless prospect in regard to the marvelous prediction. And when

one of the Angels, who was Jehovah veiled in human form, as afterward

"manifest in the flesh," charged her with this unbelief and levity, the

discovery roused her fears, and approaching him, without hesitation, she

denied the fact. He knew perfectly her sudden apprehension, and only

repeated the accusation, enforced by a glance of omniscience, like that

which pierced the heart of Peter.

The group separated, and two of those bright beings went to Sodom. The

next morning Abraham walked out upon the plain, and looked toward the

home of Lot. He saw the smoke as of a great furnace going up to the calm

azure, from the scathed and blackened plains, where life was so busy and

joyous a few hours before! With a heavy heart he returned to his tent,

arid brought Sarah forth to behold the scene. She clung with trembling

to his side, while she listened to the narration of the terrible

overthrow of those gorgeous cities, and the rescue of her brother's

household, and beheld in the distance the seething and silent grave of

millions, sending up a swaying column of ebon cloud, like incense, to

God's burning indignation against sin.

They left the vale of Mamre, and journeyed to Gera, where, with a

marvellous forgetfulness of the past, the beauty of Sarah again led them

into deception and falsehood, and with the same result as before.

Abimelech, the king, would have taken her for his wife as Abraham's

sister, had not God appeared in a dream, threatening immediate death.

Upon pleading his innocence, he was spared, and expostulating with his

guest, generously offered him a choice of residence in the land; but

rebuked Sarah with merited severity.

Prophecy and covenant now hastened to their fulfillment. Sarah gave

birth to a son, and with the name of God upon her lips, she gave

utterance to holy rapture. With all her faults, she was a pious and

noble woman. She meant to train him for the Lord, and therefore when she

saw young Ishmael mocking at the festival of his weaning, she besought

her husband to send away the irreverent son, whose influence might ruin

the consecrated Isaac. Hagar, with a generous provision for her wants,

was a fugitive; and the Most High approved the solicitude of a mother

for an only child, around whose destiny was gathered the interest of

ages, and the hopes of a world.

And now, with the solemn shadows of life's evening hours falling around

her, and a heart subdued by the discipline of Providence, in the fulness

of love which had been rising so long within the barriers of hope

deferred, she bent prayerfully over the very slumbers of that fair boy,

and taught him the precious name of God with the first prattle of his

infant lips. How proudly she watched the unfolding of this bud of

promise! When, in the pastimes of childhood, he played before the tent

door, or, with a shout of gladness, ran to meet Abraham returning from

the folds, her calm and glowing eye marked his footsteps, and her

grateful aspirations for a blessing on the lad, went up to the Heaven of

heavens. At length he stood before her in the manliness and beauty of

youth, unscarred by the rage of passions, and with a brow open and

laughing as the radiant sky of his own lovely Palestine.

Hagar in the Wilderness.

It was a morning which flooded the dewy plains with glory, and filled

the groves with music, when Abraham came in from his wonted communion

with God, and called for Isaac, and told him to prepare for a three

days' journey in the wilderness. How tenderly was Sarah regarded in this

scene of trial! Evidently no information of the awful command to

sacrifice the son of her old age was made to her. She might have read

something fearful in the lines of anxious thought and the workings of

deep emotion in the face of Abraham. But he evaded all inquiries on the

subject, "clave the wood," and accompanied by two of his young men,

turned from his dwelling with a blessing from that wondering mother, and

was soon lost from her straining vision among the distant hills. Upon

the third day he saw the top of Mount Moriah kindling in the rising sun,

and taking Isaac alone, ascended to the summit, whereon was to be reared

an altar, which awakened more intense solicitude in heaven, than any

offering before or since, except on Calvary, where God's "only be-gotten

and well-beloved Son" was slain. There is no higher moral sublimity than

the unwavering trust and cheerful obedience of this patriarch, when the

very oath of the Almighty seemed perjured, and the bow of promise

blotted from the firmament of faith!

But he believed Jehovah, and would have clung to his assurance, though

the earth had reeled in her orbit, and every star drifted from its

moorings. He prayed for strength, with his hand on the forehead of his

submissive son.

"He rose up, and laid

The wood upon the altar. All was done,

He stood a moment--and a deep, quick flush

Passed o'er his countenance; and then he nerved

His spirit with a bitter strength, and spoke--

'Isaac! my only son'--the boy looked up,

And Abraham turned his face away, and wept.

'Where is the lamb, my father?' O, the tones,

The sweet, the thrilling music of a child!

How it doth agonize at such an hour!

It was the last, deep struggle--Abraham held

His loved, his beautiful, his only son,

And lifted up his arm, and called on God

And lo! God's angel staid him--and he fell

Upon his face and wept."

The years fled, the good old Abraham died, and Isaac succeeded him to

the patriarchal honors. He had two sons, Esau and Jacob. The elder

brother was irreligious, and married a heathen wife. God had rejected

him, and promised to Jacob the birthright; in other words, he was to be

the chief patriarch, through whose descendants the Messiah should come.

He was his mother's favorite boy, while Isaac clung to Esau.

When the fond father became weak and blind from age, feeling that death

was near, one day he called Esau, and told him as he might die suddenly,

to get him venison, and prepare for the solemn occasion of receiving his

parting blessing, which should secure the privileges and pre-eminence of

the first-born. The hunter went into the fields, and Rebekah recollected

that Jacob had purchased the birthright of his brother for a mess of

pottage one day when he came in from the chase faint with hunger and

exhaustion. She determined by a stroke of management to secure the

patriarchal benediction. She sent him to the flocks after two kids,

which were prepared with the savory delicacy his father loved, dressed

him up in Esau's apparel, covering his hands and neck to imitate the

hairiness of the rightful heir, and sent him to the beside of the dying

Isaac. When the patriarch inquired who he was, he replied, "I am Esau,

thy first-born." This was beyond belief, because even the skillful

hunter could scarcely, without a miracle, so soon bring in the game, and

dress it for his table. Jacob was called to his side, and he felt of his

hands; the disguise completed the delusion, although his voice had the

milder tone of the young shepherd to that father's ear. He repeated the

interrogation concerning his name, then embracing him, pronounced in a

strain of true poetry, the perpetual blessing of Jehovah's favor upon

his undertakings, and his posterity. The stratagem had succeeded, and

Jacob hastened to inform his mother of the victory, just as Esau

entered. When Isaac discovered the mistake, he trembled with excitement,

while his son cried in anguish, "Bless even me also, O my father!" That

cry pierced the breaking heart of the aged man, but it was a fruitless

lament, He was inflexible, and Esau wept aloud over his blasted hopes;

plotting at the same time, in his awakened enmity, the murder of Jacob.

This scene of deception, disappointment, and providential working, the

introductory picture brings vividly before us.

The patriarchs were generally shepherds, and when we read in the Bible

of shepherds, we have but a poor impression of their business, if we

think only of the keeping of the small flocks kept in the fenced fields

and yards of modern farmers. They made their wealth chiefly by feeding

immense flocks and herds. They had extensive open plains; and were

obliged to watch the animals to prevent their being lost, stolen by

robbers, or devoured by ferocious beasts. When it was at all safe, the

shepherds and their flocks slept in the fields, beneath the open sky, or

under the sheltering trees.

The Welcome to a Wayward Son.

If the country was infested by dangerous men or animals, the owners of

the flocks built the fold or sheep-cote. This enclosure was sometimes

merely a rude pen. The walls were of wood or stone, with a thatched

roof--if they had any at all. The shepherd follows a wayward sheep, and

brings him back to a place of safety.

Thus the Good Shepherd of souls, whose disciples, like the flocks of the

East, "know his voice," with his rod of affliction restrains the

wandering and keeps securely the trusting ones.

Occasionally a rich land owner would make an expensive fold--a kind of

town or fortress for his flocks. Keeping the sheep in the air, it was

believed improved the texture of the wool, making it softer and firmer

than when exposed to the sweating and vapors which would necessarily

result from crowding them often and long into enclosures.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were among the richest shepherds of

antiquity, and stand alone in moral grandeur of character, so far as we

have any records of the Hebrew husbandmen.

The great enemy of the sheep the world over, is the wolf--a cunning,

savage, and daring creature. A lamb of the flock seems to be a dainty

feast for him. He relishes even a child; the human delicacy is quite as

delicious as the other. A mother, with three children, was once riding

in a sledge in a desolate region, when a pack of wolves came running

after her. She drove rapidly on, but they came nearer and nearer, until

their hot breath fell on her face. In her terror, she threw one of the

children to the hungry wolves, hoping thus to pacify or check them until

she could get out of their reach. Soon, however, they came galloping on,

surrounding her sledge, and she flung another upon the snow. A brief

delay, and they were once more around her, and the last child was given

to the beasts; and then she reached her home in safety.

When she told the story to her neighbors, an exasperated peasant hewed

her down with an axe, because she fed the wolves on her own offspring,

selfishly saving by the sacrifice, her own life.

How like the destroyers of human virtue, and the great destroyer

himself! Wolves in sheep's clothing, stealing upon unguarded victims,

and glorying in the destruction of all that is "lovely and of good

report." for the transitory present and endless future!

We now turn to the annals of a patriarchal life which is entirely new,

and intensely interesting--the only record of the kind in the Bible.

The inspired history introduces him in the following words: "There was a

man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job." This region was in Eastern

Arabia, and probably near the home of Abram when he was summoned by God

to leave his idolatrous friends and neighbors in "Ur of the Chaldees."

It is thought he lived not far from the time of the great founder of the

Hebrew patriarchy. Job was probably a descendant of Nahor, Abram's

brother. He was a devout, rich, and benevolent Gentile patriarch. The

princely fortune of this "greatest of all the men of the East," is

indicated by an inventory of his flocks and herds. He had "seven

thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of

oxen, and five hundred she asses." His household was also "very great."

This mighty man was a humble servant of God; and Satan could not bear to

see his influence and prosperity; and he determined to make him the

shining mark of his enmity to God and man.

The mysterious account of his entrance upon the cruel work of attempted

ruin, is in the following words: "Now there was a day when the sons of

God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also

among them." The saints of that early age were called "Sons of God," but

the meaning seems to be that either Satan was permitted to appear in a

gathering of angels who, returning from their ministries of love, were

reporting to their king, and awaiting new instructions, or, it is

designed only to represent the real character and power of the tempter,

in contrast with the loyalty of God's servant.

The whole narrative bears the marks of a real history; and Jehovah is

not limited by our ideas of what he can consistently do. "My ways are

not your ways, nor my thoughts your thoughts, saith the Lord."

The devil charged Job with selfish motives in serving God. He could

afford to be religious with such rare and splendid prosperity. To show

to the universe Satan's lying malice, his loyal subject's holy

character, and to comfort his people in all the ages following, while

the discipline purified and beautified the sufferer, he told the

adversary to try the patriarch with a change of circumstances--the

severest trials; only his body must not be touched.

The gratified fiend hastened away to his attack upon the unsuspecting

friend of God, over whom he anticipated a great victory. The patriarch's

family was large, and evidently a united and happy one. They had their

anniversary festivals, which were hallowed by religious services; the

faithful and affectionate father offering sacrifices on such occasions.

The Lord was recognized amid the most joyful scenes of social life; and

not, as in many prosperous households of Christian name in all the ages

since, excluded from the circle of pleasure like an unwelcome, unworthy

guest.

The Cruel Husbandman.

The birthday seems to have been the favorite anniversary; and at the

very moment Satan left Jehovah, the children were assembled at the house

of the oldest brother. Job was not there. He may have gone away for

awhile, or not yet have joined the rejoicing company.

For a messenger rushed into his presence with the startling intelligence

that the lawless Sabeans living in the region, had fallen upon the

servants keeping the oxen and asses, and slaying them, had taken the

animals away. No sooner had the devil obtained permission to engage, in

the wicked enterprise, than he found ready agents among men. And before

the evil report was finished, another terrified, excited servant, came

in, saying that the lightning of heaven had consumed the seven thousand

sheep.

This intelligence was falling from the lips of the only shepherd who

escaped the devouring fire, when a third messenger entered, pale with

alarm, and announced the raid of three companies of Chaldeans upon the

keepers of the three thousand camels, killing all but the bearer of the

news, and driving off the beasts of burden. The trembling man was

interrupted by the sudden appearance of the fourth servant, wild with

terror, crowning the crushing tidings already received, by telling Job

that a gale from the wilderness had swept down upon the eldest son's

dwelling, where the whole family were, excepting the patriarch, and

thrown walls and roof into a common wreck, burying his ten children

under the fragments.

We cannot easily imagine the stunning effect of these reports, following

each other like successive claps of thunder from a cloudless sky. Satan

was watching the effect, ready to exult over the first expression of

repining and rebellion. But how sublime the resignation of the loyal

heart of the childless, homeless, and penniless sufferer! After the

eastern custom in time of affliction, he cut off his hair, rent his

robe, fell upon the ground, and worshipped. The lips, tremulous with

sorrow, uttered the often-quoted and beautiful words: "The Lord gave,

and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." No

disloyal act, or foolish complaint against Jehovah, gratified the

expectant enemy of God and man. But Satan was not satisfied with the

trial of faith. He was allowed to appear before God, and in answer to

the questioning respecting the patriarch's lofty yet meek submission,

basely and meanly declared that if he had been permitted to torture the

body, he should have succeeded in proving Job to be a hypocrite. The

Lord had purposed to silence the devil, and thoroughly try and sanctify

his own child. So he told the tempter to do what he pleased, only he

must spare life.

Suddenly poor Job was covered with burning ulcers, which defiled his

form until he scraped it with a piece of broken pitcher. While sitting

in the dust, a wretched mass of corruption, he found a new tempter in

the person of his wife: She asked him if he could still "retain his

integrity," and urged him to "curse God and die." Beautifully again his

breaking heart uttered its loyalty. Charging her with folly, he

inquired: "What! shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we

not receive evil?"

The scene of sorrow is now changed. Job had three friends living in the

country not far off, who were clearly intelligent, noble men. They heard

of his calamities, and started on a visit of condolence. When they came

in sight of him, he was so changed that at first they did not know him.

They wept aloud, rent their robes, and scattered dust on their heads, to

express their overwhelming grief. There he sat, in miserable poverty and

disease, and all around him the ruins of his just before magnificent

fortune, and the bodies or graves of his sons and daughters. They

approached him, and could say nothing, but sat down with him seven days

and nights without speaking a word--an awful, expressive silence. At

length Job could refrain no longer, but in his despondency, began to

bewail his birth, and wish he had at least died in earliest infancy.

Then was opened a long, eloquent, and wonderful discussion by the

mourning company upon the providence and grace of God.

Jehovah at length spake from the rolling cloud, borne on the "wings of

the wind," and indicated his dealings with a fallen race, pointing the

debaters for illustrations of power, wisdom, and glory, to his works of

creation, from the "crooked serpent" to "Orion and the Pleiades,"

floating in the nightly sky--the wonders of ocean, earth, and air.

Among the animals to which reference is made, there are three

conspicuous ones, about which naturalists disagree--they cannot

certainly tell us what they were. These are the unicorn, supposed by

many to be the rhinoceros of the present day; the behemoth, thought to

be the hippopotamus or river-horse; and the leviathan, which answers

very well to the whale.

The description of the war horse is the finest ever written, and given

in a few words; and yet he had not been seen amid the wildest storm of

battle, bearing his rider to the flaming mouths of ordnance, and through

the leaden hail of numberless infantry arms. "Hast thou given the horse

strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? Canst thou make him

afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible. He

paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength, he goeth on to meet

the armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither

turneth he back from the sword. The quiver rattleth against him, the

glittering spear and the shield. He swalloweth the ground with

fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the

trumpet. He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle

afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting."

He alludes to a very beautiful wonder of his forming skill--"the

treasures of the snow." Few persons imagine the marvels of the fleecy

storm that whiten the earth in winter. What a variety of perfect

crystals! and how delicate their form and finish! The ice is made of

crystals, and often gives out aeolion music at the touch of winter. Even

the frost makes fine drawings on the window panes of leaves and flowers.

But the people of Palestine and the regions around it, know little of

our northern winters. The cold season is brief, and the occasional snow

storms light, and of short duration.

After God had finished his sublime appeal, Job bowed his head low before

him, and declared that all he had known of him before, compared with

what he had learned since he was afflicted, was no more than hearing

about him; "for," he added, "now mine eye seeeth thee; wherefore I abhor

myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

Then the Lord rebuked Job's friends, because they had judged him

harshly, and "had multiplied words without knowledge," directing them to

offer a sacrifice for him.

The patriarch prospered again under Jehovah's smile, and became greater

in wealth, and family, and influence, than he was when Satan assailed

him. The deceiver and persecutor does not appear again in the annals of

the devout Arabian; disappointed and enraged, he turned his malice

against others more easily conquered and led captive by his wiles.

How awakening the thought that he still goes about "as a roaring lion,

seeking whom he may devour." But with loving trust in God, he can only

repeat his fruitless effort to destroy, preparing the way for richest

blessings.

Nathan Reproving David.

David's Charge to Solomon.

THE BIBLE AND THE HOLY LAND.

PATRIARCHS. KINGS. AND KINGDOMS.

THE FIRST KINGS.

Theocracy, we have seen, was the first form of government in the world.

The word is from Theos, which means God; for He ruled by direct command,

and would have continued to have been the only and perfect sovereign,

had not man been disloyal to him.

The patriarchal quay, which was that of the family, having at length

united households and extended authority, was still a Theocracy.

When God made his people a separate nation, each of the twelve tribes,

which sprang from the sons of Jacob, had its own ruler. If any important

matter concerning them all demanded public attention, they called an

assembly of their leaders.

When the bondage in Egypt was broken, Moses was the deliverer and

lawgiver of Israel, and Joshua the great general or military chieftain.

The high priest was the visible servant of God--his representative of

the Redeemer of his people.

Then came the judges, who were a kind of governors, having power to

declare war and make peace for the nation, but wearing no badges of

distinction. Jehovah revealed through them his will, and was still the

glorious king of Israel.

With the increase in numbers and general prosperity, there was a

decrease of the religious element and of harmony among the people. They

also ceased to appreciate the simple and sublime principles of a

Theocracy, while all around them was the central power and the pomp of

pagan monarchies; and they became tired of God's holy sovereignty,

having no visible display of authority. There were dissensions and civil

strife in Israel, in consequence of these departures from the Lord, and

strange melancholy blindness to their preeminence over other nations.

It was with them as it will be in the great American Republic, if

Puritan faith and works decline, until practical atheism prevails in our

"goodly land." The people will throw off wholesome restraints, become

divided North and South, and corrupt in morals, until a monarchy will be

the natural resort of the people, as a protection against their own

selfish passions and conflicts.

Samuel, the wonderful child of Elkanah and Hannah, given to them, like

Jephthah and Samson, as a special mark of divine favor, and who early

entered the temple-service under Eli, was the last of the judges,

excepting the authority which he delegated to his sons. He was a noble,

dutiful and devout boy, and a faithful priest and magistrate in Israel.

Eli, whose sons were dissipated, and slain by God's revealed purpose on

account of their enemies, preceded him, so that Samuel saw the last of

the Theocracy, and inaugurated by the Lord's command a monarchy in

Palestine.

The Hebrews came to him begging for a king, and urging, as one reason

for the change, the unfitness of his sons to succeed him. They were

mercenary and open to bribery, and it is not strange that they were

disliked by the people. It is one of many instances of departure by

children from the counsels and prayers of the kindest parents, and

choosing the "wages of sin."

Samuel took the petition of the people to God for direction in answering

it. The Lord's message was the following:

"Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to thee: for

they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should

not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done,

since the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, even to this

day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they

also to thee. Now, therefore, hearken to their voice: nevertheless

testify solemnly to them, and show them the practice of the king that

shall reign over them."

He then enumerated the burdens of the state which they must bear. The

inventory of these royal exactions is so true to the experience of all

countries under kingly rule, you will read it with interest. It was the

first divine statement of the nature of a monarchy, and has needed no

important change in the progress of the ages. Jehovah told Samuel to

repeat the following description of the desired blessing, a king:

"He will take your sons and appoint them for himself, for his chariots,

and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he

will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and

will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make

his instruments of war and instruments of chariots. And he will take

your daughters to be confectioners, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.

And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive-yards,

even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take

the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give them to his

officers, and to his servants; and he will take your men-servants, and

your maid-servants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and

put them to his works. And he will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye

shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day, beware of your

king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in

that day."

Saul and the Witch of Endor.

God had selected the first monarch of earth outside of heathenism. In

the comparatively small tribe of Benjamin, was a man of honorable

ancestry named Kish. His son, Saul, was a splendid young man, and would

have attracted admiring attention anywhere, and in any land under the

sun, then or since his day. He was taller from his shoulders than all

the rest of Israel's men, and possessed of the highest style of manly

beauty. Repeated mention is made of his noble figure and bearing. The

providential circumstances which attended his promotion were remarkable.

He had wandered about for three days seeking the strayed asses of his

father. Fatigued with the unsuccessful search, he was inclined to

abandon it and return home, when, finding himself near Ramah, where

Samuel lived, he resolved to consult one who was renowned in all Israel

as a man from whom nothing was hid. Instructed in the divine designs

regarding Saul, the prophet received him with honor. He assured him that

the asses which he had sought were already found, and invited him to

stay with him until the next morning. Saul was in fact the man on whom

the divine appointment to be the first king of Israel had fallen. A hint

of this high destiny produced from the astonished stranger a modest

declaration of his insufficiency. But the prophet gave him the place of

honor before all the persons whom--foreknowing the time of his arrival--

he had invited to his table. As is still usual in summer, Saul slept on

the flat roof of the house; and was called early in the morning by

Samuel, who walked forth some way with him on his return home. When they

had got beyond the town they stopped, and Samuel then anointed Saul as

the person whom God had chosen to be "captain over his inheritance;" and

gave him the first kiss of civil homage. In token of the reality of

these things, and to assure the mind of the bewildered young man, the

prophet foretold the incidents of his homeward journey, and, in parting,

desired his attendance on the seventh day following at Gilgal.

On the day and at the place appointed, Samuel assembled a general

convocation of the tribes for the election of a king. As usual, under

the Theocracy, the choice of God was manifested by the sacred lot. The

tribe of Benjamin was chosen; and of the families of Benjamin, that of

Matri was taken; and, finally, the lot fell upon the person of Saul, the

son of Kish. Anticipating this result, he had modestly concealed himself

to avoid an honor which he so little desired. But he was found and

brought before the people, who beheld with enthusiasm his finely

developed form and preeminence in appearance, and hailed him as their

king.

Many prominent persons of the great tribes were jealous and indignant,

because the smallest tribe, and a young man whose chief claim to the

honor was his fine figure, had been chosen. They refused to join the

masses in their homage, and Saul displayed his shrewdness in "holding

his peace."

And the wisdom of God was apparent in the result; for he gradually

united the discordant elements around him, and became established in

power. Soon after came the trial of his ability as a general.

The Ammonites, a mighty and warlike people under king Nahash, besieged

the important town of Jabesh-Gilead. The beleaguered place was at length

compelled to ask terms of capitulation. The proud and cruel reply was,

that every man should have his right eye put out.

The Jabesh-Gileadites agreed to the hard conditions, unless help reached

them within seven days. Messengers hastened to Saul, in Gibeah, and

found him returning from his herds in the field. The story of the

invasion and peril roused all the energies and martial spirit of a king

worthy of his crown.  It was the Lord's inspiration for his high office,

and immediate command of the army.

The inhabitants were timid; and to awaken their courage he slew oxen,

had them quartered, and sent the pieces over the kingdom, assuring those

who were able to fight, that unless they hastened to the rescue all

their cattle should have a similar slaughter. The volunteers came

pouring in, and Saul marched to Jabesh-Gilead. A battle followed, and

the Ammonites were routed with terrible slaughter. It was a grand

victory, and won for Saul the glory of military genius. This settled the

question of his right to reign, and his sceptre was held over an

undivided people.

Retaining three thousand men, he followed up the conquest by an attack

upon the Philistines, who had conquered on the south, and deprived

Israel of weapons of war, and implements of husbandry. Only Saul and

Jonathan had either sword or spear. The latter, a gifted and noble young

man, distinguished himself, under God's special benediction, in a

successful assault upon a garrison of the Philistines. The enemy rallied

in full strength, and Saul prepared to meet them with additional forces.

Samuel had appointed sacrifices to be made before the campaign was

opened, and because he did not appear in Gilgal when Saul expected him,

the king turned priest, and presented the offerings. This rashness

revealed his undevout character and haughty self-will, which proved his

ruin.

Saul Rejected.

Meanwhile the most of his troops had scattered, through fear of the

powerful foe. But Jonathan determined to make a bold onset, and, with

his armor-bearer, climbed a high cliff, and fell upon the Philistines.

They supposed the Hebrews were rushing from ambush upon them, and began

to fly. Saul entered the field and aided in the overthrow of the

defeated warriors, slaying and treading each other down in the wild

confusion of the retreat.

During the last years of Saul's reign, conscious that God had forsaken

him, in one of his campaigns against the Philistines he sought the

counsel of a witch. When he beheld the vast force which the Philistine

states had, by a mighty effort, brought into the field, dire misgivings

as to the result arose in his mind; and now, at last, in this extremity,

he sought counsel of God. But the Lord answered him not by any of the

usual means--by dreams, by Urim, or by prophets. Finding himself thus

forsaken, he had recourse to a witch at Endor, not far from Gilboa, to

whom he repaired by night in disguise, and conjured her to evoke the

spirit of Samuel, that he might ask counsel of him in this fearful

emergency. Accordingly, an aged and mantled figure arose, which Saul

took to be the ghost of Samuel, though whether it were really so or not

has been much questioned. The king bowed himself reverently, and told

the reason for which he had called him from the dead. The figure, in

reply, told him that God had taken the crown from his house, and given

it to a worthier man; that, on the next day, the Philistines would

triumph over Israel; and that he and his sons should be slain in the

battle. The king swooned at these heavy tidings, but soon recovered,

and, having taken some refreshment, returned the same night to the camp.

The engraver's art has produced a picture of this strange scene, one

which cannot be clearly and satisfactorily explained.

Saul received orders, through Samuel, to execute the Lord's "fierce

wrath" upon the Amelekites, who had formerly been doomed to utter

extermination, for opposing the Israelites when they came out of Egypt.

The result of the war put it fully in the king's power to fulfil his

commission; but he retained the best of the cattle as booty, and brought

back the Amalekite king Agag as a prisoner. Here Saul again ventured to

use his own discretion where his commission left him none. For this the

divine decree, excluding his descendants from the throne, was again and

irrevocably pronounced by Samuel, who met him at Gilgal on his return.

The stern prophet then directed the Amalekite king to be brought forth

and slain by the sword, after which he departed to his own home, and

went no more to see Saul to the day of his death, though he ceased not

to bemoan his misconduct, and the forfeiture it had incurred.

The next engraving is a very good view of this crisis in Saul's

destiny--his rejection by God and his prophet. When Samuel turned to

leave the king, the terrified ruler seized his mantle, and in the

struggle it was torn. The prophet improved the incident by telling him

that thus should his kingdom be rent from him, and given to a neighbor.

We cannot follow Saul through all the achievements and crimes of his

eventful reign; the abandonment of him by the grieved and indignant

Samuel; his deceptive prosperity; and his conscious desertion by God,

until his fits of depression bordered on madness. He had genius and

heroism, but a bad heart, and the hour of his overthrow drew near.

The venerable and gifted prophet who anointed the king was commanded by

Jehovah to consecrate the successor to the throne. He was directed to go

to Bethlehem, and there anoint one of the sons of Jesse. He knew that

should Saul be informed of the errand, his days were numbered. The doom

of a traitor would follow the solemn act.

To protect his servant the Lord told Samuel to offer a sacrifice, and

tell the king he was going to Bethlehem for the purpose.

When Samuel reached Bethlehem, he laid the offerings upon the altar, and

invited a worthy citizen and his family to the sacrifice. The good man's

name was Jesse, and he had eight sons. Eliab, the eldest, like Saul, was

fine-looking--tall, athletic, and commanding in his personal appearance.

Samuel thought he must be the future king of Israel; but God revealed to

him his mistake. Six brothers followed him in their presentation to the

prophet, and the Lord gave the same intimation of his will he had

respecting Eliab.

The man of God was perplexed. What could he do, if these were the only

sons of Jesse, as it seemed, for no more came? It occurred to him,

however, that possibly there might be another boy, and he inquired of

Jesse if it were not so.

The excellent father had sent the youngest son, about fifteen years old,

to keep the sheep, and it did not even enter his mind that this mere

child could have any thing to do with the affairs of the kingdom. He

stated the facts to Samuel, who immediately desired to see the lad. He

was sent for, and soon stood before the prophet. The patriarchal servant

of the Infinite One looked upon the noble boy, with his "ruddy and

beautiful countenance," and saw in him the next monarch of Israel.

Christ Blessing Little Children.

David stood among his brethren, a modest, bewildered shepherd boy,

uninjured by unholy gratification of passion and appetite--a

pure-minded, manly, and devout youth.

God told Samuel to anoint him, and he poured the consecrating oil upon

the fair brow of the astonished David. Then the Spirit of the Lord came

upon him, and departed from Saul altogether. The juvenile shepherd and

hero, who had slain a lion and a bear, in defence of his sheep, returned

to his flocks, a king in destiny.

Remorse, the predictions of Samuel against him, and baleful passions,

made Saul so wretchedly melancholy, that some of his attendants

suggested to the monarch that he should try the soothing effect of

music. The proposition was favorably received, and upon the

recommendation of another friend, David, the son of Jesse, of whom Saul

knew nothing before, was sent for to play upon the harp. The young

minstrel won the respect and affection of the royal household, and his

harpings were the principal solace of the infatuated and gloomy king,

who at length made David his armor-bearer.

You know the warriors of ancient time wore armor made of metal to

protect the body from the spear and sword, the common weapons of the

battle-field; and men were appointed by monarchs to have the care of it.

Since their last great discomfiture, the Philistines had recruited their

strength, and in the thirtieth year of Saul's reign, and the twentieth

of David's life, they again took the field against the Israelites. It

curiously illustrates the nature of warfare in those times, to find that

the presence, in the army of the Philistines, of one enormous giant,

about nine or ten feet high, filled them with confidence, and struck the

Israelites with dread. Attended by his armor-bearer, and clad in

complete mail, with weapons to match his huge bulk, the giant, whose

name was Goliah, presented himself daily between the two armies, and,

with insulting language, defied the Israelites to produce a champion

who, by single combat, might decide the quarrel between the nations.

This was repeated many days; but no Israelite was found bold enough to

accept the challenge. At length David, who had come to the battle-field

with food for his brethren, no longer able to endure the taunts and

blasphemies of Goliah, offered himself for the combat. The king,

contrasting the size and known prowess of the giant with the youth and

inexperience of Jesse's son, dissuaded him from the enterprise. But as

David expressed his strong confidence that the God of Israel, who had

delivered him from the lion and the bear, when he tended his father's

flock, would also deliver him from the proud Philistine, Saul at length

allowed him to go forth against Goliah. Refusing all armor of proof, and

weapons of common warfare, David advanced to the combat, armed only with

his shepherd's sling, and a few smooth pebbles picked up from the brook

which flowed through the valley. The astonished giant felt insulted at

such an opponent, and poured forth such horrid threats as might have

appalled anyone less strong in faith than the son of Jesse. But as he

strode forward to meet David, the latter slung one of his smooth stones

with so sure an aim and so strong an arm, that it smote his opponent in

the middle of the forehead, and brought him to the ground.

The praises of the people lavished on David excited Saul's jealousy, and

he sought in various ways to kill David, who seemed to have a charmed

life; for God was with him, and no blow aimed at his life was

successful.

The king's son, Jonathan, loved David devotedly, and more than once

saved him from the wrath of Saul.

After hunting the son of Jesse, consulting witches in his desperation,

and fighting the Philistines in bloody conflicts, near Mount Gilboa,

defeated and wounded, he committed suicide by falling on his sword. Thus

ended the career of the first king of the Hebrew nation.

David, under divine guidance, went to Hebron, and was there publicly

anointed king by the tribe of Judah. But Abner, a splendid general, and

a great friend of Saul, induced the rest of the tribes to acknowledge

Ishbosheth, the only son of Saul then living, as their sovereign. Soon,

however, a quarrel with his protege, led him to join David, who was at

length proclaimed king by all the people.

After years of prosperity in war and peace, he had a sanguinary battle

with the Ammonites. This occurred in the eighteenth year of his reign.

The conduct of this war David intrusted to Joab, and remained himself at

Jerusalem. There, while sauntering upon the roof of his palace, after

the noonday sleep, which is usual in the East, he perceived a woman

whose great beauty attracted his regard. She proved to be Bathsheba, the

wife of Uriah, an officer of Canaanitish origin, then absent with the

army besieging Rabbah, the capital of Ammon. David was so fascinated

with her that he determined to add her to his royal household. He sent

for Uriah to Jerusalem. Having heard from him the particulars of the

war, which he pretended to require, the king dismissed him to his own

home. But Uriah, feeling that it ill became a soldier to seek his bed

while his companions lay on the hard ground, under the canopy of heaven,

exposed to the attacks of the enemy, remained all night in the hall of

the palace with the guards, and returned to the war without having seen

Bathsheba. David made him the bearer of an order to Joab to expose him

to certain death, in some perilous enterprize against the enemy. He was

obeyed by that unscrupulous general; and when David heard that Uriah was

dead, he sent for Bathsheba, and made her his wife. He had already

several wives, as was customary in those times; and among them was

Michal, whom he had long ago reclaimed from the man to whom she had been

given by the unprincipled Saul.

The Woman of Canaan.

David, whose undisputed authority, and admiration of the beautiful

Bathsheba, deceived him, blinding his moral vision, thought all was

safe. Death and royalty seemed to cover forever his sin.

But never was a man more mistaken. God sent Nathan, a fearless, faithful

prophet, to rebuke him. So the seer went to him, inquiring what should

be done with a man who had robbed a poor neighbor of his only and pet

lamb. The king, who was really loyal to God, and just in his aims,

indignantly said that the robber should die, and the lamb be restored.

Then Nathan fixed his eye on the king, and, pointing to him, exclaimed

courageously, "Thou art the man!"

David bowed his head and wept under the pointed reproof, and began to

cry, "Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, oh, God, thou God of my

salvation."

What a fine example of faithful preaching, and of an honest hearer! This

illustration of true penitence, which is given in the picture at the

beginning of this history of the kings, suggests a good story of modern

date. Jacob, an intelligent negro, was bribed and intoxicated to make

him commit murder. He was convicted of the crime, and sent to the State

prison for life. He could not read, but a bible was in his cell, and he

learned so rapidly that soon he could pick out the words and get the

meaning. He would run his finger over each letter of the fifty-first

Psalm, especially the fourteenth verse, until he enamelled it with his

touch. The bible is still kept by an excellent man, as a relic of

prison-life. For Jacob was pardoned, went to the lovely town of C-,

N.Y.,  and became an eminent Christian. His monument is one of the

highest in the cemetery.

The Scriptures describe David as "a man after God's own heart." By this

we are not to understand that David always acted rightly, or that God

approved of all he did. Its meaning is, that, in his public capacity, as

king of Israel, he acted in accordance with the true theory of the

theocratical government; was always alive to his dependence on the

Supreme King; took his own true place in the system, and aspired to no

other; and conducted all his undertakings with reference to the Supreme

Will. He constantly calls himself "the servant (or vassal) of Jehovah,"

and that, and no other, was the true place for the human king of Israel

to fill. In thus limiting the description of David as "a man after God's

own heart," it is not necessary for us to vindicate all his acts, or to

uphold him as an immaculate character. But the same ardent temperament

which sometimes betrayed his judgment in his public acts, led him into

great errors and crimes. It also made him the first to discover his

lapse, and the last to forgive himself.

Domestic afflictions humbled David, and persecution by enemies

embittered his life. The kingly crown had its thorns. An only child died

in infancy. Afterwards, his handsome and popular son, Absalom, was

ambitious to get the throne of his father, and became the leader of a

great revolt, in whose conflicts he was slain.

Solomon, another son, was the heir chosen by the Lord, to the crown of

David. And when the monarch of Israel drew near the close of his stormy,

yet splendid reign, he called the intellectual, comely, and dutiful boy

to his bedside, to give him his last words of counsel and blessing.

This scene is depicted in the colored engraving. Among the paternal

exhortations to the young prince was the following impressive address:

"And thou, Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy fathers, and serve

him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind; for the Lord

searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the

thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee but if thou forsake

him, he will cast thee off forever."

Solomon, the second king of Israel, desired and sought, before riches

and honors, wisdom from God, to govern well the people, and it was

freely given.

Under his father's sceptre, Palestine was great in martial achievements,

national wealth, and the fine arts; for the king was a poet and a

musician. Solomon was a man of peace, and during his reign the kingdom

reached its highest glory in oriental splendor and luxury. The temple he

built was a monument of munificence, skill, and royal zeal for God's

honor.

What a wonderful display of wisdom was that decision in the case of the

two women, one of whom, in her sleep, lying upon her babe, had smothered

it, and claimed the living child of the other, who lodged with her. He

knew when he sent for the executioner, and told him to cut in two parts

the live babe, giving to each a half, that the mother would be seen in

the effect of the command to slay. And so it was. The faithless woman

said let it be so; the loving, yearning mother exclaimed no, rather let

the other have the child. Solomon wisely decided the matter, directing

the attendants to give the unconscious object of controversy to her to

whom it belonged.

But this rich and popular monarch was led into sin by his unbounded

prosperity, and indulging in forbidden pleasures. Afterwards he bitterly

mourned over his folly and shameful weakness, in departing from the

living God. This varied and, much of it, wasted life, led the king, in

his sober years of declining age, to write the Book of Proverbs and

Ecclesiastes, so full of the profoundest knowledge of mankind and wisest

counsel. It is said that the Scotch are preeminently discerning and

intelligent, because they are so familiar with the Scriptures,

especially the proverbs of Solomon.

There were no more such monarchs in Israel, after David and Solomon, and

the kingdom became divided and weakened, until the Jews were conquered

and enslaved by their enemies. The expensive magnificence and luxury of

Solomon's reign, and his departures from God into idolatrous worship,

awakened the divine indignation.

A prophet was commissioned to tell the wise, yet foolish monarch that

the kingdom should be rent in twain, and the grandeur of his empire

depart before the revolt of the ten tribes from Judah, which had

absorbed the small tribe of Benjamin. Solomon was about sixty years old

when he died. He had ruled forty years, and was buried nine hundred and

seventy-five years before the advent of Christ. Rehoboam, the son of

Solomon, was made king over Judah, and Jereboam, an Ephraimite, became

sovereign of the ten tribes, who were called Israel.

How interesting and instructive the history of the Hebrews, at this

period!

They got tired of the sovereignty of God, visible only in written rules

of conduct, family government, and the prophet-judges, and desired to

imitate their pagan neighbors in the pomp and power of royalty. Under

their second monarch they quarrelled among themselves, engaged in civil

strife, and became divided, rival kingdoms. During the five hundred

years which followed, the successive kings of the two realms had, the

most of them, brief sovereignty. Some of them were excellent kings, but

the greater part were wicked and oppressive.

Pre-eminent in crime was Ahab, whose wife, Jezebel, was a fit companion.

Their names live in the world's history with a bad preeminence, like

those of Herod, Nero, and similar rulers of ancient and modern times.

The corpse of a ruler, or of the humblest subject, was ordinarily wound

in grave-clothes, and laid in a sepulchre. This, in the early ages, was

a room hewn out of a rock, a cave, or a grave which had no mound, nor

any other mark, excepting monumental stones, with no inscriptions.

The Arabian patriarch, Job, talked of kings and counsellors, who built

for themselves "desolate places," which probably has reference to

sepulchral monuments, cut out of the rock.

The expression "a sepulchre on high," is an allusion to the custom

anciently of placing the dead in tombs made in cliffs, sometimes

hundreds of feet in height--a lofty, inaccessible resting-place for the

body of a distinguished person.

Some nations of the heathen world have always burned their dead. In

Japan, recently, an American traveller witnessed this singular disposal

of the lifeless remains. A priest was placed in a sitting posture in his

coffin, and a fire built behind it, consuming to ashes the body. These

relics were carefully gathered up, and put in a safe and sacred place

for all coming time.

It is a remarkable thing that the Bible does not record any solemn

parade or imposing ceremonies over the burial of the Hebrew kings.

Of David it is written, he "slept with his fathers, and was buried in

the city of David." The same simple and impressive mention is made of

Solomon's death. Monarchs were only men--sinners to be saved by grace,

if rescued at all from the power and ruin of sin. It is hoped and

believed by Christian people that Solomon, in his declining years,

reviewed prayerfully and penitently his career, and found peace with a

pardoning God.

The sepulchre of royalty in Jerusalem, is well worthy of a visit by

travellers in the Holy Land. Some of the stone coffins lean against the

solid walls, others lie in massive richness of sculpture on the floor.

The Jews called their burial places the house of the living, because of

the expected resurrection--a beautiful sentiment, which rebukes the

dismal thoughts and mourning of many Christian persons over the newly

made graves of their departed friends.

The beautiful tomb in the "valley of Jehosaphat," is one of

comparatively modern construction, but it shows the admiration felt by

the Hebrews for Absalom, with all his waywardness.

Joseph Elevated to Power by Pharaoh.

The Israelites Carried into Captivity.

THE BIBLE AND THE HOLY LAND.

PATRIARCHS, KINGS AND KINGDOMS.

PALESTINE UNDER PAGAN KINGS.

The picture which introduces these pages was drawn from a scene under

the sceptre of the first monarch mentioned in the Bible.

A comparatively unimportant prince, the "King of Sodom," whose small and

wicked realm Jehovah destroyed by fire and brimstone, is mentioned.

But the empire of the Pharaohs of Egypt, was large, rich, and

magnificent. And it is a singular thing, that of this nation, and all

others of antiquity, excepting what the Scriptures contain, the early

history is little known. A great German historian, Dr. Von Rotteck,

truly writes: "The principal trait that distinguishes the first period

of the ancient world is its obscurity."

The general belief is, that the founders of Egypt went from Ethiopia,

and the Ethiopians from East India or South Arabia.

"Where did the Indiamen have their origin?" you may ask; but no man can

certainly answer. That all races sprang from Adam we have no doubt, but

the lines of descent and emigration the wisest student of the past

cannot follow.

The living oracles, in brief statements, give us nearly all the reliable

accounts we have of the early history of the "Land of the Nile," as

Egypt was called. In them we learn that while the "chosen people of

God," the only nation whose annals of growth in the number of its

population and its civilization, has been handed down to us, was no more

than a tribe of wandering shepherds under Abraham, Egypt was the home of

art, and a garden of agricultural products.

And yet the very nomades, who roamed over the uncultivated plains, like

the Aborigines of this new world, have preserved the best records of the

early condition of that ancient and wonderful empire, whose origin is

lost in the distance and darkness of Pagan antiquities.

It seems, from the tenth chapter of Genesis, that Egypt was settled by

the descendants of Noah, through Ham, his second son.

The next reference made to this remarkable country is in the twelfth

chapter, where we are told of Abraham's visit there. Again, in the

twenty-first chapter, is recorded the marriage of Ishmael to an Egyptian

woman. In chapter twenty-ninth is related the story of Joseph's

captivity and career in the capital of the Pagan monarchy. He was the

twelfth son of Jacob, and one of Rachel's two boys--lovely in his

youthful character, and the idol of his father. During a period of

repose in sleep he had a singular dream. The first was, that while the

brothers were all in the harvest-field at work his sheaf suddenly rose

upright, and the sheaves of the eleven brethren stood up and bowed to

his own. The intimation that he was to rule over them made them angry,

and they hated him.

Soon after Joseph's sleep he was disturbed by another dream. The sun,

moon, and eleven stars, rendered homage to him. The interpretation of

this was the same as that of the other, with the addition of his father

and mother, who also bowed before him.

It may seem strange that Joseph should relate any thing so complimentary

to himself. But he evidently did it in no boasting mood. He simply

narrated the extraordinary dreams, without the least idea of what was

before him.

But God saw what he did hot know, that their jealousy and enmity would

be overruled for the temporal salvation of the family and nation.

The venerable, thoughtful father, silently pondered over the singular

experience of Joseph.

The elder sons were shepherds, and fed their flocks in Shechem. How

beautiful the ingenious, dutiful character of Joseph now appears! His

father called him to go and find his brethren, to see how they were

getting along. "Here am I," was his response. That is to say: "Although

my brethren hate me, I am ready to serve you, and do any thing for

them." He went to Shechem, but they had left; and the boy wandered about

in the field looking for them. A citizen happened to see him, and was

evidently interested in the beautiful stranger, bewildered and alone,

and asked what he wanted. Joseph told him the truth of the case, when

the man said that his brothers had taken their flocks to Dotham, a few

miles distant.

He started for that place, and while a "great way off," they saw and

knew him. The conspiracy was instantly formed to dispose of the

"dreamer."

The first proposition was to kill him, but Reuben would not agree to the

cruel suggestion. His plan was to cast the lad into a deep pit, till he

could manage to get him back to his father. This less bloody way of

disposing of Joseph was accepted, and when he came near they took off

the "coat of many colors" the doting father had given him, and putting

him in a pit without water which happened to be at hand, dipping it in

blood to make his father think a beast killed him, they took it home.

Scarcely was the interesting boy weeping in his prison before a caravan

of Ishmaelites, and then of Midianites, came in sight.

Moses Found in the Bulrushes.

A new idea now flashed upon their minds. They could avoid the unpleasant

consciousness of probable murder, and make something out of his sale as

a slave to the wandering traders. A bargain was soon made, and young

Joseph, casting backward a farewell look of sad reproach, was carried

away, and sold by the Midianites to the Ishmaelites, of whom Potiphar,

the captain of Pharaoh's guard, bought him for a servant. God blessed

the youth, and he was soon made overseer of the officer's household. But

Potiphar's wife was a vile woman, and because Joseph was nobly true to

God and virtue, made a false report of him, and had him put in prison.

Egypt's monarch had wonderful dreams about a famine his astrologers

could not explain; and a released prisoner, who had forgotten Joseph's

kindness in explaining a dream of deliverance, advised the king to send

for the Hebrew. The young man was taken to the palace, and gave a true

interpretation of the dreams. Pharaoh was delighted; and from his

dungeon Joseph went to the secret place of authority second to the king.

Pharaoh said: "Only in the throne will I be greater than thou." He then

put a ring on his finger, a gold chain on his neck, and arrayed him in

fine apparel. The beautiful illustration sets this sudden and splendid

promotion before us--the honor God put upon his youthful servant.

Soon the predicted famine came, for which the gifted and prudent Joseph

had made complete provision by storing up the abundant harvests. Among

the sufferers from failing crops and pasturage, was the large family of

Jacob--his sons and their households.

In their extremity they turned to Egypt. Joseph's influence was such

that the patriarch's delegation found favor with the king. The

prime-minister of Egypt knew his brethren, but they had forgotten him.

So he managed to find out all about his father's house, and made his

brothers bring dear Benjamin, when he wept aloud, and made himself known

to them all. Pharaoh sent for the whole race, and soon the Hebrew

caravan reached the fruitful land of Goshen, which was exactly suited to

the life of shepherds. Here the strangers grew in numbers and wealth,

until Joseph died, and the friendly monarch also. His successor cared

neither for Joseph nor his countrymen. He was a tyrant, and enslaved the

dwellers in Goshen. Centuries of captivity wore away, and God determined

to deliver his people, and send them back again to Palestine.

The scene displayed in this picture you will recognize at a glance.

Moses, the Hebrew babe, afloat on the Nile, in a small boat made of

bulrushes by his mother, because Pharaoh was slaying the children of her

nation, to get rid of them.

Neither the haughty and cruel monarch, nor the mother, nor the little

voyager, thought of Moses as the future deliverer of his countrymen from

bondage--the great leader and lawgiver of Israel.

We have already had glimpses of the Hebrews in the wilderness, their

progress and rulers in Palestine, after the moving multitude reached the

"promised land."

The ages of changing sovereigns, and fortunes of crimes and discipline

brought them at last to another mournful captivity.

About six hundred years before Christ, while that wicked Manassah was

king in Palestine, the monarch of Assyria--a grand and powerful

empire--invaded it, and took Jerusalem. Manassah was carried in chains

to Babylon, the splendid Assyrian capital. His son, Amon, became the

sovereign under the Assyrian conqueror, but was soon assassinated, and

Josiah took the throne.

During his reign, the King of Egypt marched into Palestine and conquered

it, killing Josiah, the king.

A few years later, Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian monarch, besieged and

took Jerusalem, the "City of David."

The massive walls of the cities of old was their chief protection. Those

of Babylon, according to the old Roman historians, were marvelously

great. Think of them rising three hundred and fifty feet, eighty-seven

feet in thickness, and extending sixty miles around the city! One writer

says, that two four-horse chariots could pass each other on the top.

They were built of brick, cemented together with bitumen.

They had twenty gates made of solid brass, and were surmounted with two

hundred and fifty towers.

The city had six hundred and seventy-six squares, each over two miles in

circumference. The river Euphrates flowed through the entire extent,

from north to south.

The hanging gardens, suspended from the walls, were gorgeous, and the

public buildings rich and elegant.

Such was the home of the Hebrew exiles for seventy years or more.

Quintus Curtius, a Roman, has described the entrance of the great and

victorious Alexander into Babylon, at a later period, who soon after

died there of dissipation, while yet a young man. The pleasant sketch

gives a vivid impression of the glory and pomp of this ancient capital

of Babylon:

Christ Declaring Who is Greatest.

"A great part of the inhabitants of Babylon stood on the walls, eager to

catch a sight of their new monarch; many went forth to meet him. Among

these Bagophanes, keeper of the citadel and of the royal treasure,

strewed the entire way before the king with flowers and crowns; silver

altars were also placed on both sides of the road, which were loaded not

merely with frankincense, but all kinds of odoriferous herbs. He brought

with him for Alexander gifts of various kinds, flocks of sheep and

horses; lions, also, and panthers were carried before him in their dens.

The magi came next, singing in their usual manner their ancient hymns.

After them came the Chaldeans with their musical instruments, who are

not only the prophets of the Babylonians, but their artists. The first

are wont to sing the praises of the kings; the Chaldeans teach the

motion of the stars, and the changes of the seasons. Then followed, last

of all, the Babylonian knights, whose equipments, as well as that of

their horses, showed the passion of the people for luxury. The king,

Alexander, attended by armed men, having ordered the crowd of the

townspeople to proceed in the rear of his infantry, entered the city in

a chariot and repaired to the palace. The next day he carefully surveyed

the household treasures of Darius, and all his money. For the rest, the

beauty of the city and its age turned the eyes not only of the king, but

of everyone in itself, and that with good reason."

The kings and conquerors of old had no canals for boats, no railways,

and not many good roads. Consequently, their invasions and various

public enterprises were carried forward in a slow and toilsome manner.

Heavy wagons and chariots, the latter sometimes armed with scythes or

long blades for battle, were the best vehicles in use.

There were no monitors, nor fire-arms. Large swords, daggers, slings,

the catapulta and battering-ram, were the principal weapons.

The last named instrument was a massive machine with a movable beam,

crowned with a very hard end, often shaped like a ram's head, which

could be thrown against a wall with tremendous force, beating it down.

The catapulta, which was placed upon city walls, was a great cross-bow

for hurling arrows upon an enemy. In it was combined the bow and arrow,

and the sling. The mammoth arrow was put in the groove, the twisted

ropes were connected with levers, and the powerful recoil would send the

strong and sharp arrow a great distance.

Some of the machines were large enough to discharge beams loaded with

iron; and one kind, called the balista, would send great stones,

crushing through the houses on which they fell.

Among the spoil, taken by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon, were the costly

vessels of the temple; and he graced his train with members of the royal

family and the principal nobles.

He placed Zedekiah on the throne of his Hebrew province, who soon after

rebelled against him.

In consequence of this revolt, the Babylonian king invaded Judea with a

great army, and, after taking most of the principal towns, sat down

before Jerusalem. Early in the next year the Egyptians marched an army

to the relief of their ally, but being intimidated by the alacrity with

which the Babylonians raised the siege and advanced to give them battle,

they returned home without risking an engagement. The return of the

Chaldeans to the siege, destroyed all the hopes which the approach of

the Egyptian succors had excited. The siege was now prosecuted with

redoubled vigor; and at length Jerusalem was taken by storm at midnight,

in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, and in the eighteenth month from the

commencement of the siege. Dreadful was the carnage. The people, young

and old, were slaughtered wherever they appeared; and even the temple

was no refuge for them; the sacred courts streamed with blood. Zedekiah

himself, with his family and some friends, contrived to escape from the

city; but he was overtaken and captured in the plains of Jericho. He was

sent in chains to Nebuchadnezzar, who had left the conclusion of the war

to his generals, and was then at Riblah in Syria. After sternly

reproving him for his ungrateful conduct, the conqueror ordered all the

sons of Zedekiah to be slain before his eyes, and then his own eyes to

be put out, thus making the slaughter of his children the last sight on

which his tortured memory could dwell. He was afterward sent in fetters

of brass to Babylon, where he remained until his death.

Nebuchadnezzar evidently felt that his purposes had not been fully

executed by the army, or else he was urged by the Edomites and others to

exceed his first intentions. He therefore sent Nebuzaradan, the captain

of the guard, with a sufficient force to complete the desolation of

Judah and Jerusalem. He burned the city and the temple to the ground; he

collected and sent to Babylon all the gold and silver which former

spoilers had left; and he transported all the people who had been left

behind in Jehoiachin's captivity, save only the poor of the land, who

were left to be vine-dressers and husbandmen. Four years after,

Nebuzaradan again entered Judea, and gleaned a few more of the miserable

inhabitants, whom he sent off to Babylon.

The Handwriting on the Wall.

Thus was the land left desolate; and thus ended the kingdom of Judah and

the reign of David's house, after it had endured four hundred and four

years under twenty kings. It is remarkable that the King of Babylon made

no attempt to colonize the country he had depopulated, as was done by

the Assyrians in Israel; and thus, in the providence of God, the land

was left vacant, to be re-occupied by the Jews after seventy years of

captivity and punishment.

The grand and melancholy march into captivity is seen in the

illustration of the artist.

What a vast and sad procession! The conquerors ride proudly on the high

ground with the captive host in full view. The tower of Babel and the

walls of their magnificent city are visible in the distance.

The exiles found in Babylon many of their countrymen, who had been

carried there in previous conquests, and were useful, respectable

citizens. Among these, there was a young man of splendid abilities and

noble heart, named Daniel.

He was one of the youthful sons of high family, who were carried away as

hostages for the fidelity of King Jehoiachin. He and some others were

put under the chief eunuch, to be properly trained in the language and

learning of the Chaldeans, to fit them for employments at the court.

This training lasted three years, when they were examined in the

presence of the king; and Daniel and three of his friends were found to

have made far greater progress than any of those who had been educated

with them. They were therefore enrolled among the magians or learned

men.

A few years after, Nebuchadnezzar was greatly troubled with a dream,

which made a profound impression upon his mind; but the particulars of

which quite passed from his memory when he awoke. Great importance was

attached to dreams in those days, and men skilled in the sciences were

supposed to be able to discover their meaning. Therefore, the king sent

for his court magians, and required them not only to interpret the

dream, but to discover the dream itself, which he had forgotten. This

they declared to be impossible; on which the exasperated tyrant ordered

all the magians to be massacred. Daniel and his friends, although not

present, were included in such a sentence. On learning this, he begged a

respite for the whole body, undertaking to find, through his God, the

solution of the difficulty. The respite was granted; and at the earnest

prayer of Daniel, God made the secret known to him. A colossal image

which the king saw, with a head of gold, arms and breast of silver,

belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, and toes partly iron and partly

clay, was struck down by a stone, which itself grew and filled the whole

earth. This, in the interpretation of Daniel, figured forth "the things

to come;" describing by characteristic symbols the succession of empires

to the end of time; and it is wonderful to observe how precisely the

greater part of what was then future has since been accomplished. The

king was not only satisfied but astonished; he was almost ready to pay

divine honors to Daniel; and raised him at once to the eminent station

of Archimagus, or chief of the magians, and governor of the metropolitan

province of Babylon. His three friends, also, were at his request,

promoted to places of trust and honor.

Not long after, Nebuchadnezzar set up a colossal image in the plains of

Dura, and commanded that, when music sounded, everyone should worship

it, on pain of death. He soon learned that this command was utterly

neglected by Daniel's three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego;

and his rage grew so high, at the example of disobedience given by

persons in their high station that he ordered them to be at once cast

into "the burning furnace." The heat of the furnace was so great as to

destroy the men who cast them in; but they themselves remained unhurt,

and not even a hair of their heads was singed. They came forth when the

king called them; and he was so much astonished and convinced by this

prodigy, that he publicly acknowledged the greatness of the God whom

they served.

There appear to have been good and generous qualities in the character

of Nebuchadnezzar; but the pride with which he contemplated the grandeur

of his empire, and the magnificence of his undertakings, was most

inordinate, and he required to be taught that "the Most High ruleth over

all the kingdoms of the earth, and giveth them to whomsoever he will."

He was warned of this in a dream, which was interpreted to him by

Daniel; but, neglecting the warning, "his heart was changed from man's,

and a beast's heart was given to him." He was afflicted with a madness

which made him think himself a beast, and, acting as such, he remained

constantly abroad in the fields, living upon wild herbs. In this debased

and forlorn condition the mighty conqueror remained seven years, when he

was restored to his reason and his throne, and one of his first acts was

to issue a proclamation, humbly acknowledging the signs and wonders

which the Most High God had wrought toward him, and declaring his

conviction, that "those who walk in pride he is able to abase." He died

soon after.

The next illustration is drawn from the interpretation of the dream in

the royal palace. Conscious of Jehovah's favor and guidance, how

courageously and grandly he stands before the monarch, and declares the

whole counsel of God!

He thus became a prophet of the Most High, whose wonderful career

afterwards, we shall again follow, when we come to the narratives of the

seers.

The Vision of the Dragon Chained.

The spirit alienation from God, and of depraved desires, which ruled the

ancient pagan realms is set before us under various titles. Among them

is that of the dragon, in the engraving; which the "king of kings" shall

yet bind forever and imprison.

The fate of the proud kingdoms which ruled Palestine, teaches the world

how little importance God attaches to human glory in his punishment of

the wicked.

Egypt has scarcely more than its location and name left. Its pyramids,

one of which it is estimated employed three hundred thousand men twenty

years in building, stand in the desert places, solitary and pillaged

sepulchres.

The temple of Karnak, on the east bank of the Nile, whose massive stone

roof was supported by one hundred and thirty-four majestic columns,

forty-three feet high, and ranged in sixteen rows; the whole structure

twelve hundred feet in length, and covered with figures of gods and

heroes; is one of the grandest works of time.

Should you visit the gorges of the Theban Mountains, your feet would

stumble over the bones of departed generations. Princes, priests, and

warriors, after reposing thousands of years in their deep seclusion, are

dragged forth by poor peasants, and scattered around the doors of those

cavern-like excavations in the everlasting hills.

Lighting a torch or candle, you may wander along the rock-walled

galleries several hundred feet into the heart of the summits, on each

side of which are the apartments of death.

Inscriptions, three thousand years old, can be distinctly traced.

How little thought the Hebrews, while toiling under the shadow of

palaces, or flying at night from the mighty realm of Egypt, of what we

find to-day along the banks of the Nile!

The doom of Babylon, with that of the great invaders and conquerors of

Palestine, is equally wonderful and instructive.

Probably no nation of antiquity was more distinguished for luxury and

corrupt pleasures than this unrivalled city.

Its last king, Nabonnidus, reigned about one hundred years before Christ

appeared; and in less than that time afterward, the city walls enclosed

a hunting ground or park for the recreation of Persian monarchs. We

cannot well imagine a more complete destruction than has overtaken the

once rich and gay metropolis. The ruins are a number of mounds, formed

of crumbled buildings, and strewn all over with pieces of brick,

bitumen, and potter's vessels.

The Assyrian kings of western Asia, also invaded the Holy Land. They

ruled a vast and powerful realm, whose principal city was Nineveh, to

which Jonah was sent with a message from God.

Sennacherib, the monarch who reigned seven hundred years before Christ,

marched his armies against the cities of Judah and took them. Not

satisfied with the terms of surrender he threatened further invasion.

At this crisis, in answer to prayer, Jehovah sent his angel to destroy

the troops; and in one night the unseen messenger of destruction slew

one hundred and eighty-five thousand men.

Of this miraculous defeat a gifted but irreligious and unhappy poet has

sung:

And there lay the steed with his nostrils all wide,

But through them there rolled not the breath of his pride;

And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,

And cold as the spray of the rock-beaten surf.

And there lay the rider, distorted and pale,

With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail;

And the tents were all silent, and the banners alone,

And the lances unlifted, the trumpets unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,

And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;

And the might of the Gentiles, unsmote by the sword,

Hath melted like snow at the glance of the Lord.

Now the greater part of the country which once formed Assyria, is under

the sway of the Turks.

Mosul, a missionary station of the American Board of Foreign Missions,

is believed to mark the site of ancient Nineveh.

The original inhabitants of Assyria, in modern history, are the Kurds; a

barbarous and warlike race. Some of these live in villages, and others

roam over the country. They are said to resemble, in personal

appearance, the Highlanders of Scotland.

But the most remarkable fact in regard to the population, is the ancient

church of the Nestorians, among the mountains. This Christian people

have for ages maintained their independence, defying the storms of

revolution that have swept over all the country around their mountain

home.

Dr. Grant, a missionary, thinks they are descendants of the "lost tribes

of Israel." We recollect to have seen in the hands of the venerable

missionary, Rev. Dr. Perkins, a copy of the Scriptures preserved for

many hundred years by them: sometimes hidden away, to prevent its

destruction by its enemies.

Not long ago, one of the Nestorian bishops, Mar Yohanah, visited this

country, and attracted much attention. A Jew-like, noble man personally,

and a devout Christian.

But if you look on the map of Asia, you will see that Mosul and the

Nestorian country is in Persia, and may wonder what it has to do with

Assyria. In the conquests which weakened and divided the Assyrian

empire, new kingdoms were formed; and while none can now accurately

trace the boundaries of that great monarchy, we have the later outline

of Persia. More will be said of this remarkable kingdom when we come to

the story of Mordecai and Esther.

The thrones of these ancient monarchies were, at first, no more than an

ornamented arm-chair, higher than ordinary seats, with a footstool for

the royal feet. Then it was made in more massive form and richly carved,

with steps ascending to it.

Some of the thrones were of ivory, adorned with gold; and it is

recorded, that Archelaus addressed the multitude from a throne of solid

gold--a magnificent fortune in itself. Thus gradually the throne became

the highest symbol of power, and is often applied to Jehovah's

sovereignty. He is represented as sitting upon a throne of light, and

around him continually, attending angels, veiling their faces with their

wings, and waiting to hear and obey his mandates; crying with their

voices of celestial music, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which

was and is, and is to come!" A "crystal sea" is before this "White

Throne" of a pure and just authority, and on it worships a resplendent

host. Every sound and sight of glory and honor, that language can

express, or the finest imagination picture, is ascribed to that eternal

royalty.

Next to the throne, the crown became a sign of authority, although it

was applied, at first, to other ornaments for the head, properly called

coronets, garlands, tiaras, bands, mitres, etc.

The idea of a kingly crown was suggested by the diadem, which was a

fillet--a mere band like that used to bind the long hair worn by the

people--but richer and of a different color. It was natural and easy,

with the increase of power and wealth, to make the crown a more costly

and showy symbol of kingly sway.

David wore a crown of gold set with jewels, he took from the king of the

Ammonites.

The more modern crowns of Asia, where all the kings reigned, of whom we

have read in these pages, are of different shapes, and some of them very

rich and expensive, ornamented with precious stones and plumes of the

rarest kind.

Crowns are also often mentioned in the Bible as an emblem of power; and

the Christian conqueror of his sins and the world, it is written, shall

have "a crown of life."

The sceptre was the third token of sovereignty. The word originally

signified a staff of wood of the length of a man's height. Later, it was

smaller in form, and often plated with gold, and enriched with various

decorations. Inclining, or holding out the sceptre was a mark of royal

favor; and kissing it by another, a sign of submission.

Jehovah's rule is mentioned frequently in the inspired record, under

this figure. "His sceptre is a right sceptre," in one of the

declarations, which even the wicked and most wretched on account of

transgression, dare not deny.

Under its wide dominion are Heaven, Earth, and Hell, not only, but a

universe whose boundaries neither man nor angel can ever reach.

"He is God over all, and blessed forever!"

How amazing the truth of such a king and kingdom! Under the unsleeping

eye of the Sovereign, the planet wheels on its axis with startling

velocity, and the insect creeps on the grain of sand. A Russian poet

beautifully sung:

Oh, thou Eternal One! whose presence bright,

All space doth occupy, all motion guide!

Unchanged through time's all devastating flight,

Thou only God, there is no God beside!

Being above all beings! mighty one,

Whom none can comprehend, and none explore!

Who filled existence with thyself alone;

Embracing all, supporting, ruling o'er!

Being, whom we call God, and know no more!

Thou art! directing, guiding all. Thou art!

Direct my understanding then to thee;

Control my spirit, guide my wandering heart,

Though but an atom 'mid immensity.

Still I am something fashioned by thy hand!

I hold a middle rank 'twixt heaven and earth,

On the last verge of mortal being stand,

Close to the realms where angels have their birth,

Just on the boundaries of the spirit land.

Oh, thoughts ineffable! Oh, visions blest!

Though worthless our conceptions all of thee;

Yet shall thy shadowed image fill our breasts,

And waft its homage to thy Deity.

God! thus alone my lowly thoughts can soar;

Thus seek thy presence--Being wise and good!

'Midst thy best works admire, obey, adore!

And when the tongue is eloquent no more,

The soul shall speak in tears of gratitude.

Ascent of Elijah.

Elisha on His Death Bed.

THE BIBLE AND THE HOLY LAND

PATRIARCHS, KINGS, AND KINGDOMS.

HEBREW CAPTIVES; OR, MORDECAI AND ESTHER.

The next pictured scene is in the Court of Persia. It will not be

forgotten that Daniel was a captive in Babylon under the last kings, and

probably died there after the city was taken by Cyrus. Of this great

man's history as a captive we shall learn more when we go with the

prophets of God in their peculiar mission.

Nabonadrius, the son of Darius, usurped the throne after his father's

death; and after reigning several years, Cyrus, a nephew of Darius, a

Persian general who was occupied in foreign wars, turned his attention

to the reigning monarch.

He marched against the gorgeous metropolis, and besieged it for two

years in vain. He at last thought of a stratagem which displayed his

genius and boldness of action. He determined to turn the channel of the

Euphrates, which went through the whole length of the city, from the

walls where it entered, and get into the capital through the dry

channel, under the massive pile which no battering rams could crumble.

He succeeded in making a new bed for the stream, and his troops went

into Babylon over a path washed for ages by the waters of the Euphrates.

Media, a word some suppose to be derived from Madai, the son of Japheth,

was the name of a region adjacent to ancient Assyria, inhabited by

warlike hordes for centuries. The little that is said of these people in

the Bible, is in connection with the Persians. Both seemed to have

become one nation; first the Medes gaining the ascendancy, and then the

Persians. But the darkness which rests upon the origin of the Asiatic

lands bewilders the most careful historian.

The conspicuous appearance of the Medes and Persians begins with Cyrus

the Great, the conqueror of Babylon, a remarkable monarch in power,

glory, and character.

The picture of the magi who journeyed from the east to find the infant

Messiah, presents a peculiar view of the Persians and Arabians. Among

these gentile nations were men of great attainments in whatever of

philosophy and astrology there was in the world. The Ethiopian race is

represented, and it may have been that dark faces were over the

wonderful child. Color was evidently then no honor or disgrace; the man

was the object of regard or scorn. More will be said of these wonderful

travellers in the more appropriate place in the annals of Palestine.

Cyrus the first, and noble Persian monarch, was kindly disposed toward

the captive Jews, and Daniel had great influence over him. In the very

year of his conquest he issued a decree, in which, after acknowledging

the supremacy of the Lord, and that to him he owed all kingdoms, he gave

full permission to the Jews in any part of his dominions, to return to

their own land and to rebuild the city and temple of Jerusalem. No

sooner were the favorable dispositions of the king thus made known, than

the members of the latter captivity--those of the tribes of Judah,

Benjamin, and Levi--repaired in large numbers to Babylon from their

different places of residence; some to make preparations for their

journey; and others, who had no intention to return themselves, to

assist those who had. Most of the existing race had been born in

Babylonia, and in the course of years families had established

themselves in the country, and formed connections, and gathered around

them comforts which were not easily abandoned. Only a minority availed

themselves of the decree in their favor; the most of the people choosing

to remain in the land of their exile; and it has always been the opinion

of the Jews that the more illustrious portion of their nation remained

in Babylonia.

The first return caravan was organized and directed by Zerubbabel, the

grandson of king Jehoiachim, and by Jeshua, a grandson of the last

high-priest Jozadak. The number of persons who joined them was about

fifty thousand, including above seven thousand male and female servants.

Before they departed, Cyrus restored to them the more valuable of the

sacred utensils, which had been removed by Nebuchadnezzar, and preserved

by his successors, and which were now to be again employed in the

service of the sanctuary. Zerubbabel was also entrusted with large

contributions toward the expense of rebuilding the temple, from the Jews

who chose to remain behind. The beasts of burden in this caravan

exceeded eight thousand. In the book of Ezra, the names of the families

which returned to this first colony, and in those which followed, are

carefully given.

The incidents of the journey are not related. On reaching Palestine the

caravan repaired at once to Jerusalem, which they found utterly ruined

and desolate. Before they separated to seek habitations for themselves,

they raised a large sum by voluntary contributions toward the rebuilding

of the temple. Then they employed themselves in securing dwellings and

necessaries for their families; and at the ensuing Feast of Tabernacles

again repaired to Jerusalem, where sacrifices were offered on an altar

erected upon the ruins of the temple. After this the people applied

themselves zealously to the necessary preparation for the restoration of

that edifice. In a year from the departure from Babylon, the

preparations were sufficiently advanced to allow the work to be

commenced; and, accordingly, the foundations of the second temple were

then laid with great rejoicings and songs of thanksgiving. While the

work proceeded, the Samaritans manifested a desire to assist in the

work, and to claim a community of worship in the new temple. This was

declined by the Jews on the ground that the decree of the Persian king

extended only to the race of Israel.

The Magi offering Presents.

Being thus frustrated in their design, the Samaritans employed every

means they could devise to thwart the undertaking. Their origin appears

to have given them considerable influence at the Persian court; and

although they could not act openly against the plain decree of Cyrus, an

unscrupulous use of their money and influence among the officers of the

government enabled them to raise such obstructions, that the people were

much discouraged, and the work proceeded but languidly, and at length

was suspended altogether. From this lethargy they were roused by the

exhortations and reproaches of the prophet Haggai; and the building was

resumed with fresh zeal.

The new temple was dedicated with great solemnity and joy. The Jews were

allowed the free exercise of their religion and laws, and the government

was directed by a governor of their own nation, or by the high-priest,

when there was no other governor. There was, in fact, a distinct

commonwealth, with its own peculiar institutions; and, although

responsible to the Persian king, and to his deputy the governor-general

of Syria, it was more secure under the protection of the monarch than it

would have been in complete independence. The dreadful lesson taught by

the desolation of the land, the destruction of the temple, and the

captivity of the people, had effectually cured the Jews of that tendency

to idolatry which had been their ruin. But, as time went on, the

distortion of character which had been restrained in one direction broke

forth in another; and although they no longer went formally astray from

a religion which did not suit their depravity, they, by many vain and

mischievous fancies, fabricated a religion suited to their dispositions

out of the ritual to which they adhered.

Early in the reign of Artaxerxes, son of the mighty Xerxes, the Hebrews

went to work on the beloved city with a regular plan of its rebuilding,

including an encircling wall.

This king had learned by reading and traditions, the veneration which

his most distinguished predecessors had shown for the God of Israel; and

about seven years after he ascended the throne, he commissioned Ezra,

the priest and scribe, to take charge of the religious service at

Jerusalem. And he was, in reality, the governor or viceroy under the

monarch.

Those of the Hebrews who desired to do so, were invited to return with

him, and others who remained, were to pay contributions for the use of

the temple.

To this fund the king himself and his council contributed large sums of

money; and the ministers of the royal realms west of the Euphrates, were

enjoined to furnish Ezra with silver, wheat, wine, oil, and salt, that

the sacrifices and offerings of the temple should be constantly kept up;

all of which is said to have been done in order to avert from the king

and his sons, the wrath of the God of the Hebrews, who was held in much

honor at the Persian court.

An exemption from all taxes was also promised to persons engaged in the

service of the temple; but this boon did not induce any of the Levitical

tribe to join the caravan which assembled on the banks of the river

Ahava, in Babylonia: and it was with some difficulty that Ezra at last

induced some of the priestly families to go with him. The whole caravan

was composed of one thousand seven hundred and fifty-four adult

males--making, with wives and children, about six thousand persons. As a

party thus composed had little military strength, and as the journey

across the desert was then, as it always has been, dangerous from the

Arab tribes by which it is infested, they felt considerable anxiety on

this account. But Ezra, from having said much to the king of the power

of God to protect and deliver those that trusted in him, felt

disinclined to apply for a guard of soldiers; and thought it better that

the party should, in a solemn act of fasting and prayer, cast themselves

upon the care of their God. Their confidence was rewarded by the perfect

safety with which their journey was accomplished. In four months they

arrived at Jerusalem.

While Ezra, with his sealed commission from Artaxerxes, was urging on

the noble work at Jerusalem, an unexpected danger to his people in

Babylon and its provinces arose--a sudden and fearful crisis in destiny.

Among the captives there was Esther, a Hebrew maiden. The Persian king,

to commemorate his victorious and prosperous reign, extending from Judea

to Ethiopia, and embracing a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, made a

magnificent feast, which continued six months. This was to display his

power and wealth, before the nobility of his realm, and representatives

from the conquered provinces of his spreading empire. At the expiration

of this brilliant entertainment, he gave the common people, without

distinction, a feast of seven days in the court of his palace. The rich

canopy and gorgeous curtains, with their fastenings--the tall columns,

the golden couches, and tesselated floors--are described as "white,

green, and blue hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple

to silver rings, and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and

silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and black, and white marble."

Our Saviour Teaching in the Temple.

Of this grandeur, in the ashes strewn by wasting ages, are imposing

remains. Modern travellers pause before "the vast, solitary, mutilated

columns of the magnificent colonnades," where youth and beauty graced

the harems of Persian monarchs.

Upon this occasion, the queen had a private pavilion for her female

guests. But during the successive days of dissipation, the mirth waxed

loud in the apartments of the king. The flashing goblet circulated

freely, and his brain became wild with "wine and wassail." As the

crowning display of his glory, Vashti, in her jeweled robes and diadem,

must grace the banquet. The command was issued, and the messenger sent.

This mandate, requiring what at any time was contrary to custom, the

appearance of a woman, unveiled, in an assemblage of men, now when

revelry and riot betrayed the royal intoxication, overwhelmed the queen

with surprise. A thousand wondering and beaming eyes were upon her

during the brief pause before answering the summons. Her proud refusal

to appear, roused the fury of Ahashuerus, already mad with excitement.

It would not answer to pass by the indignity, for a hundred and

twenty-seven provinces were represented at his court, and the news of

his sullied honor would reach every dwelling in his realm, and curl the

lip of the serf with scorn. The nobles fanned the flame of his

indignation. Unless a withering rebuke were administered, their

authority as husbands would be gone, and the caprice of woman make every

family a scene of daily revolution.

Vashti was divorced--and to provide for the emergency, his courtiers

suggested that he should collect in his harem all the beautiful virgins

of the land, and choose him a wife. Among these was Hadassah, the

adopted daughter of Mordecai. He urged her to enter her name among the

rivals for kingly favor. It was not ambition merely that moved Mordecai.

He had been meditating upon the unfolding providence of God toward his

scattered nation, and felt that there was deeper meaning in passing

events than the pleasures and anger of his sovereign. Arrayed richly as

circumstances would permit, the beautiful Jewess, concealing her

lineage, joined the youthful procession that entered the audience

chamber of Ahashuerus, where he sat in state, to look along the rank of

female beauty, floating like a vision before him.

The character of Esther is here exhibited at the outset; for when she

went into the presence of the king, for his inspection, instead of

asking for gifts as allowed by him, and as the others did, she took only

what the chamberlain gave her. Of exquisite form and faultless features,

her rare beauty at once captivated the king, and he made her his wife.

Mordecai was a man of a noble heart, grand intellect, and unwavering

integrity; there was nevertheless an air of severity about him--a

haughty, unbending spirit; which with his high sense of honor and scorn

of meanness would prompt him to lead an isolated life. We have sometimes

thought that even he had not been able to resist the fascinations of his

young and beautiful cousin, and that the effort to conceal his feelings

had given a greater severity to his manner than he naturally possessed.

Too noble, however, to sacrifice such a beautiful being by uniting her

fate with his own, when a throne was offered her; or perceiving that the

lovely and gentle being he had seen ripen into faultless womanhood could

never return his love--indeed, could cherish no feeling but that of a

fond daughter, he crushed by his strong will his fruitless passion. In

no other way can I account for the life he led, lingering forever around

the palace gates, where now and then he might get a glimpse of her who

had been the light of his soul, the one bright bird which had cheered

his exile's home. That home he wished no longer to see, and day after

day he took his old station at the gates of Shushan, and looked upon the

magnificent walls that divided him from all that had made life

desirable. It seems also as if some latent fear that Haman, the favorite

of the king--younger than his master, and of vast ambition, might

attempt to exert too great an influence over his cousin, must have

prompted him to treat the latter with disrespect, and refuse him that

homage which was his due. No reason is given for the hostility he

manifested, and which he must have known would end in his own

destruction.

Whenever Haman, with his retinue, came from the palace, all paid him the

reverence due to the king's favorite but Mordecai, who sat like a

statue, not even turning his head to notice him. He acted like one tired

of life, and at length succeeded in arousing the deadly hostility of the

haughty minister. The latter, however, scorning to be revenged on one

man, and he a person of low birth, persuaded the king to decree the

slaughter of all the Jews in his realm. The news fell like a thunderbolt

on Mordecai. Sullen, proud, and indifferent to his own fate, he had

defied his enemy to do his worst; but such a savage vengeance had never

entered his mind, It was too late, however, to regret his behavior.

Right or wrong, he had been the cause of the bloody sentence, and he

roused himself to avert the awful catastrophe. With rent garments, and

sackcloth on his head, he travelled the city with a loud and bitter cry,

and his voice rang even over the walls of the palace, in tones that

startled its slumbering inmates.

Humility Exemplified--Giving Alms in Secret.

It was told Esther, and she ordered garments to be given him, but he

refused to receive them, and sent back a copy of the king's decree,

respecting the massacre of the Jews, and bade her go in and supplicate

him to remit the sentence. She replied that it was certain death to

enter the king's presence unbidden, unless he chose to hold out his

sceptre; and that for a whole month he had not requested to see her. Her

stern cousin, however, unmoved by the danger to herself, and thinking

only of his people, replied haughtily that she might do as she chose; if

she preferred to save herself, delivery would come to the Jews from some

other quarter, but she should die.

From this moment the character of Esther unfolds itself. It was only a

passing weakness that prompted her to put in a word for her own life,

and she at once rose to the dignity of a martyr. The blood of the proud

and heroic Mordecai flowed in her veins, and she said: "Go, tell my

cousin to assemble all the Jews in Shushan, and fast three days and

three nights, neither eating nor drinking; I and my maidens will do the

same, and on the third day I will go before the king, and if I perish, I

perish!" Noble and brave heart! death--a violent death--is terrible; but

thou art equal.

There, in that magnificent apartment, filled with perfume, and where the

softened light, stealing through the gorgeous windows by day, and shed

from golden lamps by night on marble columns and golden-colored

couches, makes a scene of enchantment, behold Esther, with her royal

apparel thrown aside, kneeling on the tesselated floor. There she has

been two days and nights, neither eating nor drinking, while hunger, and

thirst, and mental agony have made fearful inroads on her beauty. Her

cheeks are sunken and haggard--her large and lustrous eyes dim with

weeping, and her lips parched and dry, yet ever moving in inward prayer.

Mental and physical suffering have crushed her young heart within her,

and now the hour of her destiny is approaching. Ah! who can tell the

desperate effort it required to prepare for that terrible interview.

Never before did it become her to look so fascinating as then; and

removing with tremulous anxiety the traces of her suffering, she decked

herself in the most becoming apparel she could select. Her long black

tresses were never before so carefully braided over her polished

forehead, and never before did she put forth such an effort to enhance

every charm, and make her beauty irresistible to the king.

At length, fully arrayed and looking more like a goddess dropped from

the clouds, than a being of clay, she stole tremblingly toward the

king's chamber. Stopping a moment at the threshold to swallow down the

choking sensation that almost suffocated her, and to gather her failing

strength, she passed slowly into the room, while her maidens stood

breathless without, listening, and waiting with the intensest anxiety

the issue. Hearing a slight rustling, the king, with a sudden frown,

looked up to see who was so sick of life as to dare to come unbidden in

his presence, and lo! Esther stood speechless before him. Her long

fastings and watchings had taken the color from her cheeks, but had

given a greater transparency in its place, and as she stood, half

shrinking, with the shadow of profound melancholy on her pallid, but

indescribably beautiful countenance, her pencilled brow slightly

contracted in the intensity of her excitement, her long lashes dripping

in tears, and lips trembling with agitation; she was, though silent, in

herself an appeal that a heart of stone could not resist. The monarch

gazed long and silently on her, as she stood waiting her doom. Shall she

die? No; the golden sceptre slowly rises and points to her. The

beautiful intruder is welcome, and sinks like a snow wreath at his feet.

Never before did the monarch gaze on such transcendent loveliness; and

spell-bound and conquered by it, he said, in a gentle voice: "What wilt

thou, Queen Esther? What is thy request? It shall be granted thee, even

to the half of my kingdom!"

Woman-like, she did not wish to risk the influence she had suddenly

gained, by asking the destruction of his favorite, and the reversion of

his unalterable decree, and so she prayed only that he and Haman might

banquet with her the next day. She had thrown her fetters over him, and

was determined to fascinate him still more deeply before she ventured on

so bold a movement. At the banquet he again asked her what she desired,

for he well knew that it was no ordinary matter that had induced her to

peril her life by entering unbidden his presence. She invited him to a

second feast, and at that to a third. But the night previous to the

last, the king could not sleep, and after tossing awhile on his troubled

couch, he called for the record of the court, and there found that

Mordecai had a short time before informed him through the queen, of an

attempt to assassinate him, and no reward been bestowed. The next day,

therefore, he made Haman perform the humiliating office of leading his

enemy in triumph through the streets, proclaiming before him: "This is

the man whom the king delighteth to honor." As he passed by the gallows

he had the day before erected for that very man, a shudder crept through

his frame, and the first omen of coming evil cast its shadow on his

spirit.

Herod's Cruel Massacre.

The way was now clear to Esther, and so the next day, at the banquet, as

the king repeated his former offer, she, reclining on the couch, her

chiseled form and ravishing beauty inflaming the ardent monarch with

love and desire, said in pleading accents: "I ask, O king, for my life,

and that of my people. If we had all been sold as bondmen and bondwomen,

I had held my tongue, great as the evil would have been to thee." The

king started, as if stung by an adder, and with a brow dark as wrath,

and a voice that sent Haman to his feet, exclaimed: "Thy life! my queen?

Who is he? where is he that dare even harbor such a thought in his

heart? He who strikes at thy life, radiant creature, plants his

presumptuous blow on his monarch's bosom." "That man," said the lovely

pleader, "is the wicked Haman." Darting one look of vengeance on the

petrified favorite, he strode forth into the garden to control his

boiling passions. Haman saw at once that his only hope now was in moving

the sympathies of the queen in his behalf; and approaching her, he began

to plead most piteously for his life. In his agony he fell on the couch

where she lay, and while in this position the king returned. "What!" he

exclaimed, "will he violate the queen here in my own palace!" Nothing

more was said; no order was given. The look and voice of terrible wrath

in which this was said, were sufficient. The attendants simply spread a

cloth over Haman's face, and not a word was spoken. Those who came in,

when they saw the covered countenance, knew the import. It was the

sentence of death. The vaulting favorite himself dare not remove it--he

must die, and the quicker the agony is over, the better. In a few hours

he was swinging on the gallows he had erected for Mordecai.

After this, the queen's power was supreme--every thing she asked was

granted. To please her he let his palace flow in the blood of five

hundred of his subjects, whom the Jews slew in self-defence. For her he

hung Haman's ten sons on the gallows where the father had suffered

before them. For her he made Mordecai prime minister, and lavished

boundless favors on the hitherto oppressed Hebrews. And right worthy was

she of all he did for her. Lovely in character as she was in person, her

sudden elevation did not make her vain, nor her power haughty. The same

gentle, pure, and noble creature when queen, as when living in the lowly

habitation of her cousin, generous, disinterested, and ready to die for

others, she is one of the loveliest characters furnished in the annals

of history.

It is a little singular that the words, God or Providence, are not

mentioned in the whole book of Esther. The writer seems studiously to

have avoided any reference to them, as if he did not wish to recognize

the interposition of Heaven in any of the events that transpired; while

his narrative is evidently designed to teach nothing else. The hand of

Providence is everywhere seen managing the whole scheme.

But the greatest acts of Providence awaken the least attention among

blind, mortal men. We are startled when some great occurrence meets us,

but overlook the vast effects which follow causes that attracted no eye

but God's. We see the flying timbers and flaming ruins of a

conflagration, and forget that a concealed spark did it all.

A noble mind and body are wrecked, and many weep; yet how few think that

the blast of moral ruin which stranded the life-bark, was once the quiet

breath of a mother's unholy influence leading the boy astray.

So the splendid career of a hero and patriot, like Mordecai, Moses, or

Washington, is less glorious than the simple decision made amid the

conflicting emotions of youthful aspiration to honor God and serve a

struggling country.

Jehovah illustrates this principle in all his administration. What to

Elijah on the solemn mount was the sweep of the hurricane, rending the

cliffs and tossing rocks like withered leaves in air--the thunder of the

earthquake's march--the blinding glow of the mantling flame--compared to

the "still small voice" that thrilled on his ear, so full of God! It is

not strange that there is to be a reckoning for "idle words" even, for

they have shaken the world, and their echo will never die away.

Their mutual love and devout character, remind us of the affectionate

fidelity to each other and to God, of Ruth the Moabitess, and her Hebrew

mother-in-law Naomi, who lived in the time of the Judges.

Naomi's family were self-exiled on account of famine in Palestine. Ruth

had married a man of Moab; but he and her father-in-law died. A sister

whose husband was brother to her own, was also a widow; and when Naomi

determined to return to her native land, at her request, Orphah sought

her people and friends.

Ruth would not leave the pilgrim to the Holy Land. Embracing Naomi, she

said: "Entreat me not to leave thee, for where thou goest I will go, and

where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be mine, and thy God

my God: where thou diest I will die, and there will I be buried: naught

but death shall part us."

Beautiful and brave heart! home, and friends, and wealth, nay, the gods

she had been taught to worship, were all forgotten in the warmth of her

affection. Tearful yet firm, "Entreat me not to leave thee," she said.

"I care not for the future; I can bear the worst; and when thou art

taken from me, I will linger around thy grave till I die, and then the

stranger shall lay me by thy side!" What could Naomi do but fold the

beautiful being to her bosom and be silent, except as tears gave

utterance to her emotions. Such a heart outweighs the treasures of the

world, and such absorbing love, truth, and virtue, make all the

accomplishments of life appear worthless in comparison.

God blessed their devotion to him and each other, giving his special

tokens of favor to the young heroine from Moab. Upon reaching Bethlehem,

she went into the fields of a kinsman of her mother-in-law, Boaz, a

wealthy citizen, to glean after the reapers. He inquired after her,

became interested in her, and, remembering his obligations on account of

their relationship, married her. An honorable portion and plenty crowned

the homeless wanderings of Ruth and Naomi, as they did the captivity of

Mordecai and Esther.

About two hundred years after the death of the latter, the Hebrew

Scriptures were translated into Greek by the order of Ptolemy

Philadelphus, the Egyptian sovereign of Palestine, making the famous

Septuagint--the name probably referring to seventy-two persons engaged

on the work.

A little over two centuries passed, and the Roman armies began their

conquests in Asia. Less than a score of years later Herod the Great

governed Judea, under the Roman emperor. This Herod, whose reign closed

the ancient annals of Palestine, was an Edomite--a cruel and ambitious

man.

Less than thirty years passed, and one of the darkest, bloodiest acts of

any sovereign since time began, disgraced the reign of Herod.

Jerusalem was astonished by the arrival of three sages from the distant

east, inquiring for a new-born king, saying that they had seen "his

star," and had come to offer him their gifts and homage. They found him

in the manger at Bethlehem: and then repaired to their own country

without returning to Jerusalem, as Herod had desired. The jealousy of

that tyrant had been awakened by their inquiry for the "King of the

Jews;" and as their neglect to return prevented him from distinguishing

the object of their homage, he had the inconceivable barbarity to order

that all the children in Bethlehem under two years of age should be put

to death, trusting that the intended victim would fall in the general

slaughter; but Joseph had previously been warned in a dream to take his

wife and the infant to the land of Egypt, whence they did not return

till after the death of Herod.

That event was not long delayed. In the sixty-ninth year of his age.

Herod fell ill of the disease which occasioned his death. That disease

was in his bowels, and not only put him to the most cruel tortures, but

rendered him altogether loathsome to himself and others. The natural

ferocity of his temper could not be tamed by such experience. Knowing

that the nation would little regret his death, he ordered the persons of

chief note to be confined in a tower, and all of them to be slain when

his own death took place, that there might be cause for weeping in

Jerusalem. This savage order was not executed. After a reign of

thirty-seven years, Herod died In the seventieth year of his age.

Sir Walter Scott's beautiful "Hebrew Hymn" will fittingly close these

sketches of Palestine:

When Israel, of the Lord beloved,

Out from the land of bondage came,

Her father's God before her moved,

An awful guide, in smoke and flame.

By day along the astonished lands,

The cloudy pillar glided slow;

By night Arabia's crimsoned sands

Returned the fiery columns' glow.

There rose the choral hymn of praise,

And trump and timbrel answered keen;

And Zion's daughters poured their lays,

With priests' and warriors' voice between.

No portents now our foes amaze,

Forsaken Israel wanders lone;

Our fathers would not know Thy ways,

And Thou has left them to their own.

But present still, though now unseen,

When brightly shines the prosperous day,

Be thoughts of Thee, a cloudy screen,

To temper the deceitful ray.

And oh! when stoops on Judah's path,

In shade and storm, the frequent night,

Be Thou long-suffering, slow to wrath,

A burning and a shining light.

Our harps we left by Babel's streams,

The tyrant's jest, the Gentile's scorn,

No censer round our altar beams,

And mute our timbrel, trump, and horn,

But thou hast said, "The blood of goat,

The flesh of rams I will not prize,

A contrite heart, an humble thought,

Are more accepted sacrifice."

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