The Story of the Chosen People (Yesterday's Classics) (8 page)

Moses was very angry when he saw that the people had already disobeyed God's first command. He burned the idol, ground its charred remains to powder, cast this into the water, and made the people drink of it. Then, bidding those who were on the Lord's side come over to him, he made them take their swords and kill three thousand of the Israelites who had worshiped the idol.

After bidding the people purify themselves afresh, Moses again went up the mountain, where, by his entreaties, he obtained God's forgiveness for the erring Israelites. In punishment for their disobedience, God now refused to go before them in person, as he had promised to do if they kept his commands; but he said that he would send his angel instead.

When Moses again came down the mountain, he removed the sacred tent, or tabernacle, to a place outside of the camp. There all the people saw a pillar of cloud descend to its very doors, and heard the Lord speak "unto Moses, face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend."

After a new journey up the mountain, Moses brought down two new tables of stone, upon which the finger of God had traced the ten commandments. He had been close to God, and the heavenly glory made his face shine so brightly that the people dared not look at him until he drew a veil over his head.

The commandments were again recited in presence of the people, who now brought gifts for the tabernacle; and Aaron and his sons were made priests of God. Then Moses offered up a sacrifice, and God showed his acceptance of it by sending down fire from heaven to consume it.

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the Israelites were stopping at the foot of Mount Sinai, several miracles took place. For instance, two of Aaron's sons dared to put common fire into their censers, in spite of God's command; and they were burned alive by a "fire from the Lord" which fell upon them.

As they had died in punishment for their sin, Moses forbade the people to mourn for them; and because their disobedience had been caused by a moment of drunkenness, he forbade the priests ever to touch any strong drink. Soon after this, a man who took the Lord's name in vain was stoned to death as the new law commanded.

By God's order Moses now counted the grown men, who numbered six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty. This host was divided into four camps, and each tribe had its own captain and place.

Before they had gone very far, the Israelites began to murmur; and in punishment for this they were burned by a raging fire which swept all through the camp, and never ceased its ravages until Moses won God's pardon for his disobedient people.

Some time later the followers of Moses became weary of manna, and again longed for flesh. So God sent them quails; but instead of eating moderately, they feasted upon them so greedily that they became very sick, and many even died.

During this halt Moses chose seventy elders to help him govern the people; and this council is considered the beginning of the Jewish tribunal called the Sanhedrim, of which you will hear further mention in the New Testament.

In their next stopping place, Miriam and Aaron tried to oppose their brother Moses; for, as they were older, they claimed that their authority was greater than his. Moses was so meek that he did not resist; indeed, his gentleness was so great that it has passed into a proverb, and you will often hear the expression, "as meek as Moses."

Instead of insisting on his right to rule the people, he remained quite still, and God himself took up his defense. Aaron and Miriam were called into the tabernacle, where God rebuked them for their bad behavior, and, to punish Miriam, made her a leper.

This horrible disease was contagious, and Miriam was forced to leave the camp. She was not allowed to return until she was cured by the prayers which Moses made for her recovery.

The long procession of Israelites now wended its way northward, until they came to Kadesh, not very far from the Dead Sea. There twelve men, one from each tribe, were chosen to go ahead and spy out the land which they were approaching, and which God had promised to give them.

These twelve men set out eagerly. They went far up the Jordan River, then came south again, and passed through a rich valley, where grew luxuriant vines. They brought back samples of the produce of the country, and, among other fruits, a bunch of grapes so large that it had to be carried upon a stick between two men.

The spies came back to Kadesh at the end of forty days, and were much pleased by the beauty and fertility of the land, which, as God had said, was "flowing with milk and honey." But although they praised the soil so highly, they alarmed the people by their description of the great walls which were built all around the cities, and by their stories about the size and strength of some of the inhabitants, beside whom they felt like grasshoppers.

The Israelites were frightened by what the spies said, for only one of them, Caleb, refrained from talking about the strength of the inhabitants. Indeed, the people were so discouraged that they began to express their discontent at having traveled so far in vain. Then they broke out into open rebellion against Moses and God, and even proposed to return to Egypt.

Moses and Aaron, in despair, tried to persuade the people that they would triumph if they only believed in God's strength; but it was all in vain. The Israelites murmured until "the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle," and his voice was heard saying that he would disinherit his ungrateful and disobedient children.

At this threat the terrified people were sorry for what they had done, and Moses interceded for them till God relented. He again promised that the Israelites should have the land, but he said that instead of entering it immediately, they would be forced to wander in the wilderness for forty years. He added that none of the rebels should ever be allowed to enter into the land, but that it would be given only to their children.

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people of Israel were very angry when they heard that their wanderings were to last so long,—so angry that they began to fight the Amalekites and Canaanites, so as to force their way into the promised land. But they soon had cause to repent of this rash behavior, for they were defeated with great slaughter, and driven back into the desert.

Here they wandered about for forty years, fed by the heavenly manna; and, by a merciful miracle, their garments, which they could not replace, did not wear out in all that time.

Very few events are recorded as having happened during those long, weary years; but we find that a man was stoned because he failed to keep the law, and picked up sticks on the Sabbath Day. Another time three men rebelled against Moses and Aaron, and wished to offer up sacrifices on the altar, although God had said that only the sons of Aaron should be his priests.

In punishment for their disobedience, these three men were swallowed up alive by the earth, which opened wide beneath their feet. Then, too, their followers were all burned to death by a fire which came out of the tabernacle.

As the Israelites murmured because these men had been punished for their disobedience, they, too, were called upon to suffer. A frightful plague killed more than fourteen thousand of them, and ceased only when Moses begged God to spare his mistaken people.

To show the Israelites once for all that the house of Aaron was to serve as priests, God now bade the head of each tribe bring his rod, or staff, and lay it upon the altar in the tabernacle. On the next day when Moses entered the holy tent, he found Aaron's rod all covered with buds and blossoms, while the others were only dry sticks as before.

In memory of this miracle, Aaron's rod was placed in the Ark of the Covenant, or sacred chest, which also contained the pot of manna and the stone tables of the law; and this ark, as you will see, was carefully treasured up for many years by the priests who served the Lord.

Terrified into submission by all these signs and wonders, the Israelites gave no more trouble for some time. They walked on and on, and in the fortieth year from the time of the Exodus, or "coming out" of Egypt, they again reached the wilderness near Kadesh.

Thus they had been wandering around the desert in a circle, and now they came back to their former resting place. Here Miriam, the aged sister of Moses, sickened, died, and was duly buried. Here, too, the people who were suffering from thirst murmured again, so God bade Moses speak to the rock and thus procure water.

Instead of doing exactly as he had been told, Moses lifted his rod and struck the rock. The waters gushed forth, but God punished Moses for his impatience by telling him that he would never be allowed to enter the land which had been promised to the Chosen People.

Still advised by God, Moses now led the Israelites to Mount Hor, where Aaron died and was buried. Eleazar, his son, became high priest in his turn, and it was he who now offered up sacrifices for the people.

After mourning thirty days, the Israelites started on again, but they had not gone far when new murmurs were heard. They were punished for this lack of faith by a host of serpents, which bit and poisoned them all. The people died in great numbers, until God, in pity, bade Moses make a brazen serpent, and set it up in the midst of the camp. God then told Moses that he would cure the bites of all those who gazed upon the serpent, thus showing that they wished to be healed.

This brazen serpent was long preserved as a relic by the Israelites. When they forgot the worship of God, they set it up as an idol, and bowed down before it until it was thrown down and broken by order of one of their kings.

We are told that the fragments of the serpent were preserved, and in time passed into the treasury of the Turks. An ambassador from Italy saw them there, four hundred and seventy-one years after the time of Christ, and it is said that he carried them off to the church of St. Ambrose at Milan, where the brazen serpent is still gazed at by travelers from every clime.

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Israelites, delivered from the poisonous serpents, next went through the country east of the Dead Sea, and fought against the people who refused to let them pass. They won a brilliant victory this time, and gained possession of part of the land which was to belong to them. This battle was soon followed by another, in which they defeated the giant king Og, and killed his children and people. The Israelites also won much spoil from him, among other things an iron bedstead thirteen and a half feet long, which they kept as a proof of his great size.

Then the Chosen People encamped in the desert plain of Moab, to the great dismay of Balak, the king of that country. He did not dare attack such powerful enemies openly, so he sent for Balaam, a prophet of the true God, and promised him a large sum of money if he would only curse the people of Israel.

Balaam, tempted by the offered reward, consented, but God spoke to him and said: "Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people; for they are blessed." But in spite of this warning, Balaam was so anxious to get the money promised him that he set out with Balak, intending to curse the Israelites, although God warned him to do only as he was told. On the way to the heights upon which he was to stand while speaking this curse, the ass which Balaam rode shied twice, and each time saved him from the sword of an angel. But Balaam did not see why the ass stopped in a gateway, and he beat the poor animal until it turned and spoke to him. At the same moment God opened Balaam's eyes, so that he saw the angel with the sharp sword.

Balaam was so frightened then that he would gladly have gone home, but the messenger of God told him to go on, warning him, however, to speak no words except those which the Lord would put into his mouth.

Balak and Balaam went up three hills, one after another, and three times Balaam opened his mouth to speak the desired curse. But each time God changed the words of this curse into a blessing, because he was watching over the people of Israel, whom he still loved in spite of all their sins.

Then, still speaking as God wished, Balaam foretold the coming of the promised Messiah, or king, and the victories and conquests of the Israelites. Although he had thus been forced, against his will, to foretell the greatness of the Israelites, and although he knew that God was with his people, Balaam soon made a second attempt to harm them, by tempting the men to disobey God's orders, and to take wives from among the Moabites.

To punish the people for this disobedience, God sent another terrible plague, which carried off twenty-four thousand Israelites. Indeed, it did not stop raging until Moses made a law whereby all those who disobeyed were punished by immediate death.

By God's order, Moses now took a second census of the men of Israel. In spite of all the sufferings they had endured in the wilderness, he found that they numbered only eighteen hundred and twenty less than when they left the land of Egypt forty years before.

Joshua was now chosen and publicly named as the successor of Moses; and the tribes of Reuben and Gad received the land which had just been conquered. Before it was given to them, however, they had to promise that their best warriors should march at the head of the Israelite army until all the land was won.

The work of Moses was finished. He therefore bade the people come together to receive his last blessing and made them a solemn farewell speech. In it he reminded them of all that God had done for them in the wilderness. He repeated the prophecies about their future, and the law, and then broke out into a grand song of thanksgiving.

Moses next blessed the awed and waiting people, and then, having received his last summons, he went up Mount Nebo, from whose top God pointed out to him the land promised to his people.