The Story of the Chosen People (Yesterday's Classics) (4 page)

It was so unlikely that even ten righteous men should be found there that Abraham sadly returned to his tent, while his visitors passed on to the city of Sodom, to find out whether the people were really all wicked, and whether they deserved death.

W
HILE
Abraham had been pleading with one of the strangers to spare the wicked cities, the two others had gone ahead, and had entered the city of Sodom. Lot, the only good man in the whole place, invited them into his house to spend the night.

But the people of Sodom, hearing that there were strangers at his house, rushed there, and asked that these should be delivered up, so that they might be put to the torture. Lot refused to give up his guests, and began to defend them with all his might.

The Sodomites, however, were so great in number that Lot would not have been able to resist them had not the strangers struck them with sudden blindness. The rude men now groped their way helplessly through the streets, little suspecting that this attempt to injure strangers had settled their own fate.

As Lot was a very good man, and had not sinned, the strangers now bade him leave the city, with his wife and daughters and all that he had. In hopes of saving some of the people from the threatened ruin, Lot lingered there, until the angels led him out with his wife and daughters, bidding them all not to look behind them, but to escape to the mountains lest they should be burned.

Lot and his daughters obeyed, and did not turn their heads when the fire from heaven rained down upon the cities, and destroyed them and their inhabitants. But Lot's wife, prompted by curiosity, disobeyed. In punishment, she was changed into a pillar of salt.

The place once occupied by these flourishing cities is now covered by the waters of the Dead Sea, and the land all around there is very barren, and shows signs of having once been a prey to a raging fire. Near there are great mountains of rock salt, and the waters of the Dead Sea are so briny and bitter that no fish can live in them.

Although Lot had been saved from destruction, he too sinned greatly soon after this, and like Noah gave way to the vice of drunkenness. In punishment for this sin, God made him the ancestor of two wild races, the Ammonites and the Moabites, who took these names from Ammon and Moab, the sons of Lot's two daughters. These two tribes, as you will see later, were destined to cause many sufferings to the Jews.

After staying a long while at his home, where the three strangers had visited him, Abraham again moved toward the southern boundary of the Holy Land, and came to a place called Beersheba. Here lived the Philistines, who were then ruled by a king named Abimelech. Abraham, fearing him, again declared that Sarah was his sister; so the king thought that he would marry her.

Warned by God in a dream that Sarah was Abraham's wife, Abimelech gave her back to the patriarch, and added many gifts of great value. When Abraham saw how generous the heathen were, he regretted that he had deceived them, and prayed God to bless them. This prayer was soon granted, and the Philistines began to enjoy great prosperity.

It was during Abraham's sojourn at Beersheba that his faith in God's promises was rewarded; for Sarah bore him a son named Isaac. When this child was old enough to be weaned, Sarah saw Ishmael, the son of Hagar, mocking him. In her anger she begged Abraham to send mother and son both away. He was at first unwilling to do so, but God comforted him with the promise that Ishmael would be the ancestor of a mighty nation.

Provided with a scanty supply of food and a skin bottle full of water, Hagar and Ishmael were sent away from Abraham's tent, and wandered out into the desert. Here their provisions soon gave out, and Hagar, seeing no hope of saving the life of her son, left him lying under one of the desert shrubs, and went off a little distance because she could not bear to see him die.

HAGAR AND ISHMAEL

But God had not forgotten his promise. While Hagar was weeping in despair, an angel bade her fear nothing, repeated the promise that her son Ishmael should be the ancestor of a mighty people, and then pointed out a well whence she might draw water to refresh him. Thus saved from death, Ishmael grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and finally took a wife from the land of Egypt.

A
BRAHAM
had already undergone many trials, and his faith had been tested in many ways; but the greatest test was made when Isaac, his son, was about twenty years of age. God now asked him to offer up this son, upon whom rested all his hopes.

In those days a man had the right of life and death over his wife and children, and human sacrifices were not uncommon. Abraham's conscience, therefore, did not trouble him about killing Isaac in this way; but what almost broke his heart was that he was called upon to give up the dearest thing he had on earth, the son for whom he had waited so long.

In spite of his grief, he nevertheless prepared to obey the command which he had received; and he "took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac, his son." The young man strode ahead without any fear, while his aged father slowly followed him up the mountain, carrying the fire, and also the knife which was to be used for the sacrifice.

Isaac, who had often gone with his father in such journeys, soon noticed something unusual, and said: "Behold the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"

His father's heart must have been wrung with anguish at this innocent question; but his faith in God made him strong, and prompted the answer which he now gave to Isaac: "God will provide."

When they came up on the mountain, and the wood had been properly laid upon the altar, Isaac allowed himself to be bound and placed upon it. The last moment had come, and Abraham "took the knife to slay his son."

But an angel of the Lord stopped him, crying: "Abraham, Abraham, lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me."

Looking up at these welcome words, Abraham saw a ram in the thicket near him, and, as God commanded, he now took it and offered it up in sacrifice instead of his son. The Lord had provided a victim, and the patriarch's heart overflowed with joy as he gave thanks with Isaac beside him.

Then the angel of the Lord spoke again, repeating the promise which had already been made to Abraham about his seed, or descendants: "Because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son . . . in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is upon the seashore; . . . and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice."

The spot where Isaac was thus nearly sacrificed in obedience to God's command, was later the site of the Temple of Jerusalem, of which you will hear much. Abraham now said that it should have for its name the Hebrew words meaning "the Lord will provide." Then he joyfully wended his way down the mountain, with the son who had been given back to him from the dead, and returned to his home at Beersheba.

While he was still living there, Abraham heard of the death of his brother Nahor, who left twelve sons. A few years later Sarah died, when she was one hundred and twenty-seven years old. To bury her, Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah, and thus his first real possession in the promised land was a family tomb.

After Sarah had died, Abraham's chief care seems to have been to find a good wife for Isaac, his son. As he did not wish the young man to marry any of the heathen women around there, he finally bade Eliezer, his faithful steward, journey to Mesopotamia, where his kinsmen still lived, and bring back a wife from there.

When Eliezer reached the country where the sons of Nahor dwelt, he sat down by a well. He was perplexed and did not know how to make a good choice. In his trouble he began to pray with great fervor, and said:

"O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold, I stand here by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water; and let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I shall say, 'Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink;' and she shall say, 'Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also,'—let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shown kindness unto my master."

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answer to this fervent prayer, Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, soon saw the girls come out of the city with their great water jars; and when he asked them for a drink, Rebecca, the granddaughter of Nahor, gave him water and slaked the thirst of his camels also.

ELIEZER AND REBECCA

Eliezer felt sure that this was the maiden whom God intended for Isaac; so he now made known his errand, and offered her the trinkets which he had brought with him. Rebecca accepted them, and led him to her brother Laban, who gave his consent to the marriage, and on the next day Eliezer bore her away.

Isaac was out in the fields at eventide, when he saw the returning caravan. He went eagerly forward to welcome his unknown bride, and then led her unto Sarah's tent; and for the first time he felt comforted for his mother's loss. Isaac was about forty years of age when he married Rebecca, but Abraham was then still hale and hearty, and shortly after this he married a new wife called Keturah.

Abraham and Keturah had many children, but the father sent them all eastward, after giving them large flocks. He did not wish them to stay near his home, lest they should some day lay claim to the inheritance which was intended for Isaac only.

Ten years after Isaac's marriage, Shem, the son of Noah, died, and ten years after that Rebecca bore twin sons, Esau (the hairy) and Jacob (the supplanter). These two boys quarreled even during infancy, and this was the first sign of the enmity that was to exist between the two nations which sprang from them,—the Israelites and the Edomites.

The twin brothers were as different in looks as in character. Esau was rough, hairy, and violent-tempered, and loved the excitement of the chase; but Jacob was handsome, smooth-faced, and gentle, and quietly watched his flocks of sheep.

The brothers were so unlike that it is no wonder they did not love each other; but their natural dislike was increased by their parents, who, instead of treating them alike, had each a favorite. Isaac loved Esau most, because he ate of this son's venison, but Rebecca preferred the gentle Jacob.

The brothers' quarrels, however, were not very serious at first, and Isaac paid no heed to them. His attention was all taken up by his father, Abraham, who fell sick at about this time. Soon after, the old patriarch died at the age of one hundred and seventy-five, and was laid to rest in the cave of Machpelah by his two sons Isaac and Ishmael.

After Abraham's death, Isaac was the head of the Chosen Race, and we read in the Bible that God blessed him.

Isaac's twin sons were about thirty-two years old, when Esau one day came back from the hunt almost famished, and found Jacob with a smoking dish of lentil pottage.

In those days it was not easy to get food at a moment's notice, and Esau was so hungry that he eagerly offered Jacob his birthright, or place as eldest son, in exchange for the pottage. Jacob accepted, and thus, although he was the younger son, he became his father's heir, and could claim as his share the promised blessing that "in his seed all families of the earth should be blessed."

Ever since then, when any one sells anything very precious for a mere trifle, people are apt to say, "He has sold his birthright for a mess of pottage." This is because they remember how Esau gave up the hope of being the ancestor of the promised Redeemer, simply that he might satisfy the cravings of his hunger.

At first Isaac knew nothing of this exchange, but Rebecca was well aware of it. Shortly after the bargain had been made, a famine came, and Isaac was forced to leave home, and to wander southward, into the territory of the Philistines.