One day, as the crowds pressed round Him to hear the Word of God, Jesus came to the Lake of Gennesaret and saw two boats drawn up on the shore. Now one of these belonged to a man named Simon Peter, who was at the water’s edge washing his nets. Jesus entered into this boat and asked Simon to push it off from the land a little. Then He sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when He had done speaking to them, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught of fishes.” Simon, answering Him, said, “Master, we have toiled all through the night and have taken nothing, but as you wish it I will let down the net again.” And they let down the net into the sea, but it enclosed so great a multitude of fishes that they could not draw them up, and the net brake. Then Simon beckoned to his partners, James and John, who were in the other boat, that they should come and help them. And they came and filled both boats with the fishes, so that they began to sink.
THE WONDERFUL DRAUGHT OF FISHES
When Simon Peter saw it he fell down before Jesus, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all that were with him were astonished at the marvelous draught of fishes which they had taken. And Jesus said unto Simon, “Fear not, Simon Peter; from henceforth thou shalt be a fisher of men.” Meaning that he was to go about winning souls for God, instead of being a fisherman.
And when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all they had and followed Christ.
When Jesus was twelve years of age, His parents took Him with them to Jerusalem to the feast of the Passover. Great numbers journeyed from different parts to keep this feast; and travelled in companies or caravans, the women and old men riding on asses or mules, and the rest going on foot. Thus Joseph and Mary, with Jesus, left Nazareth, and with many others journeyed to Jerusalem, where they kept the Passover.
When the feast was ended, as they returned homewards, Joseph and Mary discovered that Jesus was missing; but supposing Him to have been somewhere among the company, they continued their first day’s short journey. When, however, evening came, and the caravan halted, and Jesus was nowhere to be found, His parents sorrowfully returned to Jerusalem seeking Him. At last, on the third day, they went to the Temple, and found Jesus sitting in the midst of the aged and learned Jewish doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions. “And all that heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.”
His parents were amazed when they saw Jesus in such company. But Mary, while she rejoiced at finding Him, gently said, “Son, why hast Thou thus dealt with us? Behold Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing.” Jesus replied, “How is it that ye sought Me? Wist ye not that I must be about My Father’s business?”
“SON, WHY HAST THOU THUS DEALT WITH US?”
Jesus was the Son of God, and doing God’s work was being about His Father’s business. Years afterwards He said, “I came not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.”
One of the greatest of all the kings of the Ten Tribes was Jeroboam the second. Under him the kingdom of Israel grew rich and strong. He conquered nearly all Syria, and made Samaria the greatest city of all those lands.
But though Syria went down, another nation was now rising to power—Assyria, on the eastern side of the river Tigris. Its capital was Nineveh, a great city, so vast that it would take three days for a man to walk around its walls. The Assyrians were beginning to conquer all the lands near them, and Israel was in danger of falling under their power.
One of the kings who ruled over Israel was named Ahab. He provoked the anger of the Lord. His wife, Jezebel, who was a worshiper of Baal, persuaded him to build an altar to the false god.
Elijah, a prophet of the Lord, was sent to him and proposed a test. Two altars were built; one to Jehovah and one to Baal. The priests of Baal called upon their god to send down fire; but there was no answer. Then Elijah called upon the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and fire came down and burnt up the offering.
The people turned upon the priests of Baal and killed them all. Later the wicked queen, Jezebel, coveted a vineyard for Ahab, and she caused Naboth, the owner of the vineyard, to be placed in front of the battle. When he was slain Ahab took the vineyard.
Denounced Ahab and Jezebel
Once more Elijah came and denounced Ahab and Jezebel, telling them that they had done wickedly, and that the Lord would punish them.
Made king when he was only seven years old
In a little while the prophet’s words came true, for Ahab was slain in battle and Jezebel was put to death by order of King Jehu. Elijah was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire.
There was another prophet, a companion of Elijah, whose name was Elisha, a brave and courageous man who did not fail to deliver God’s message.
It happened that when Elisha was an old man there can to him King Joash, who had been made king when he was only seven years old. Joash was now a young man and was trying to do right in the sight of the Lord. But he felt the need of the prophet’s aid, and he came to Elisha and said:
“My father, my father, you are more to Israel than its chariots and horsemen.”
This is the arrow of victory
Elisha, though weak in body, was yet strong in soul. He told Joash to bring him a bow and arrows, and to open the window to the east, looking toward the land of Syria. Then Elisha caused the king to draw the bow; and he placed his hands on the king’s hands. And as the king shot an arrow, Elisha said:
“This is the arrow of victory; of victory over Syria; for you shall smite the Syrians in Aphek and shall destroy them.”
It happened as Elisha had foretold, and the Syrians were defeated and their cities taken.
THE STORY OF MOSES, THE CHILD WHO WAS FOUND IN THE RIVER
The children of Israel stayed in the land of Egypt much longer than they had expected to stay. They were in that land about four hundred years. And the going down to Egypt proved a great blessing to them. It saved their lives during the years of famine and need. After the years of need were over, they found the soil in the land of Goshen, that part of Egypt where they were living, very rich, so that they could gather three or four crops every year.
Then, too, the sons of Israel, before they came to Egypt, had begun to marry the women in the land of Canaan who worshipped idols, and not the Lord. If they had stayed there, their children would have grown up like the people around them and soon would have lost all knowledge of God.
But in Goshen they lived alone and apart from the people of Egypt. They worshipped the Lord God, and were kept away from the idols of Egypt. And in that land, as the years went on, from being seventy people, they grew in number until they became a great multitude. Each of the twelve sons of Jacob was the father of a tribe, and Joseph was the father of two tribes, named after his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.
As long as Joseph lived, and for some time after, the people of Israel were treated kindly by the Egyptians, out of their love for Joseph, who had saved Egypt from suffering by famine. But after a long time another king began to rule over Egypt, who cared nothing for Joseph or Joseph’s people. He saw that the Israelites (as the children of Israel were called) were very many, and he feared that they would soon become greater in number and in power than the Egyptians.
He said to his people: “Let us rule these Israelites more strictly. They are growing too strong.”
Then they set harsh rules over the Israelites, and laid heavy burdens on them. They made the Israelites work hard for the Egyptians, and build cities for them, and give to the Egyptians a large part of the crops from their fields. They set them at work in making brick and in building storehouses. They were so afraid that the Israelites would grow in number that they gave orders to kill all the little boys that were born to the Israelites; though their little girls might be allowed to live.
But in the face of all this hate, and wrong, and cruelty, the people of Israel were growing in number, and becoming greater and greater.
At this time, when the wrongs of the Israelites were the greatest, and when their little children were being killed, one little boy was born.
They made the Israelites work hard
He was such a lovely child that his mother kept him hid, so that the enemies did not find him. When she could no longer hide him, she formed a plan to save his life; believing that God would help her and save her beautiful little boy.
She made a little box like a boat and covered it with something that would not let the water into it. Such a boat as this covered over was called “an ark.” She knew that at certain times the daughter of king Pharaoh—all the kings of Egypt were called Pharaoh, for Pharaoh means a king—would come down to the river for a bath. She placed her baby boy in the ark, and let it float down the river where the princess, Pharaoh’s daughter, would see it. And she sent her own daughter, a little girl named Miriam, twelve years old, to watch close at hand. How anxious the mother and the sister were as they saw the little ark floating away from them on the river!
She placed her baby in the ark
Pharaoh’s daughter, with her maids, came down to the river, and they saw the ark floating on the water, among the reeds. She sent one of her maids to bring it to her so that she might see what was in the curious box. They opened it, and there was a beautiful little baby, who began to cry to be taken up.
The princess felt kind toward the little one, and loved it at once. She said: “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” You have heard how the children of Israel came to be called Hebrews. Pharaoh’s daughter thought that it would be cruel to let such a lovely baby as this die out on the water. And just then a little girl came running up to her, as if by accident, and she looked at the baby also, and she said: “Shall I go and find some woman of the Hebrews to be a nurse to the child for you and take care of it?”
“Yes,” said the princess. “Go and find a nurse for me.”
The little girl—who was Miriam, the baby’s sister—ran as quickly as she could and brought the baby’s own mother to the princess. Miriam showed in this act that she was a wise and thoughtful little girl. The princess said to the little baby’s mother: “Take this child to your home and nurse it for me, and I will pay you wages for it.”
How glad the Hebrew mother was to take her child home! No one could harm her boy now, for he was protected by the princess of Egypt, the daughter of the king.
When the child was large enough to leave his mother Pharaoh’s daughter took him into her own house in the palace. She named him “Moses,” a word that means “drawn out,” because he was drawn out of the water.
So Moses, the Hebrew boy, lived in the palace among the nobles of the land, as the son of the princess. There he learned much more than he could have learned among his own people; for there were very wise teachers. Moses gained all the knowledge that the Egyptians had to give. There in the court of the cruel king who had made slaves of the Israelites, God’s people, was growing up our Israelite boy who should at some time set his people free!
Although Moses grew up among the Egyptians, and gained their learning, he loved his own people. They were poor and were hated, and were slaves, but he loved them, because they were the people who served the Lord God, while the Egyptians worshipped idols and animals. Strange it was that so wise a people as these should bow down and pray to an ox, or to a cat, or to a snake, as did the Egyptians.
When Moses became a man, he went among his own people, leaving the riches and ease that he might have enjoyed among the Egyptians. He felt a call from God to lift up the Israelites and set them free. But at that time he found that he could do nothing to help them. They would not let him lead them, and as the king of Egypt had now become his enemy, Moses went away from Egypt into a country in Arabia, called Midian.
He was sitting by a well, in that land, tired from his long journey, when he saw some young women come to draw water for their flocks of sheep. But some rough men came, and drove the women away, and took the water for their own flocks. Moses saw it, and helped the women and drew the water for them.
These young women were sisters, the daughters of a man named Jethro, who was a priest in the land of Midian. He asked Moses to live with him, and to help him in the care of his flocks. Moses stayed with Jethro and married one of his daughters. So from being a prince in the king’s palace in Egypt, Moses became a shepherd in the wilderness of Midian.
Moses became a shepherd in the wilderness of Midian
But Moses did not remain a shepherd. While he was tending his sheep God appeared to him in a burning bush and told him that he should return to Egypt and become the leader of his people. The Lord told him that the wicked Egyptians would be punished for the ill-treatment they were giving the Israelites. In your Bible you will find in the book of Exodus how God wonderfully fulfilled his promise. The Egyptians were punished by many plagues, and finally allowed the Israelites to go. They crossed the Red Sea in a wonderful way, and traveled for a long time through a wilderness, where God fed them day by day with manna from heaven. God also gave them rules as a guide for their daily living; these rules we call the Ten Commandments; yet they forgot the Lord so far as to make images and worship them.
The food which Jacob’s sons had brought from Egypt did not last long, for Jacob’s family was large. Most of his sons were married and had children of their own; so that the children and grandchildren were sixty-six, besides the servants who waited on them, and the men who cared for Jacob’s flocks. So around the tent of Jacob was quite a camp of other tents and an army of people.
When the food that had come from Egypt was nearly eaten up, Jacob said to his sons:
“Go down to Egypt again, and buy some food for us.”
And Judah, Jacob’s son, the man who years before had urged his brothers to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites, said to his father: “It is of no use for us to go to Egypt, unless we take Benjamin with us. The man who rules in that land said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your youngest brother be with you’.”
And Israel said, “Why did you tell the man that you had a brother? You did me great harm when you told him.”
“Why,” said Jacob’s sons, “we could not help telling him. The man asked us all about our family, ‘Is your father yet living? Have you any more brothers?’ And we had to tell him, his questions were so close. How should we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here, for me to see him’?”
And Judah said, “Send Benjamin with me, and I will take care of him. I promise you that I will bring him safely home. If he does not come back, let me bear the blame forever. He must go, or we shall die for want of food; and we might have gone down to Egypt and come home again, if we had not been kept back.”
And Jacob said, “If he must go, then he must. But take a present to the man, some of the choicest fruits of the land, some spices, and perfumes, and nuts, and almonds. And take twice as much money, besides the money that was in your sacks. Perhaps that was a mistake, when the money was given back to you. And take your brother Benjamin, and may the Lord God make the man kind to you, so that he will set Simeon free, and let you bring Benjamin back. But if it is God’s will that I lose my children, I cannot help it.”
So ten brothers of Joseph went down a second time to Egypt, Benjamin going in place of Simeon. They came to Joseph’s office, the place where he sold grain to the people; and they stood before their brother, and bowed as before. Joseph saw that Benjamin was with them, and he said to his steward, the man who was over his house:
“Make ready a dinner, for all these men shall dine with me today.”
When Joseph’s brothers found that they were taken into Joseph’s house, they were filled with fear. They said to each other:
“We have been taken here on account of the money in our sacks. They will say that we have stolen it, and then they will sell us all for slaves.”
But Joseph’s steward, the man who was over his house, treated the men kindly; and when they spoke of the money in their sacks, he would not take it again, saying:
“Never fear; your God must have sent you this as a gift. I had your money.”
The stewards received the men into Joseph’s house, and washed their feet, according to the custom of the land. And at noon, Joseph came in to meet them. They brought him the present from their father, and again they bowed before him, with their faces on the ground.
And Joseph asked them if they were well, and said: “Is your father still living, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he well?”
And they said, “Our father is well and he is living.” And again they bowed to Joseph.
And Joseph looked at his younger brother Benjamin, the child of his own mother Rachel, and said:
“Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious unto you, my son.”
And Joseph’s heart was so full that he could not keep back the tears. He went in haste to his own room, and wept there. Then he washed his face, and came out again, and ordered the table to be set for dinner. They set Joseph’s table for himself, as the ruler, and another table for his Egyptian officers, and another for the eleven men from Canaan; for Joseph had brought Simeon out of the prison, and had given him a place with his brothers.
Joseph himself arranged the order of the seats for his brothers, the oldest at the head, and all in order of age down to the youngest. The men wondered at this, and could not see how the ruler of Egypt could know the order of their ages. And Joseph sent dishes from his table to his brothers, and he gave to Benjamin five times as much as to the others. Perhaps he wished to see whether they were as jealous of Benjamin as in other days they had been toward him.
After dinner, Joseph said to his steward: “Fill the men’s sacks with grain, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in his sack. And put my silver cup in the sack of the youngest, with his money.”
The steward did as Joseph had said; and early in the morning the brothers started to go home. A little while afterward, Joseph said to his steward:
“Hasten, follow after the men from Canaan, and say, ‘Why have you wronged me, after I had treated you kindly? You have stolen my master’s silver cup, out of which he drinks’.”
The steward followed the men, and overtook them, and charged them with stealing. And they said to him:
“Why should you talk to us in this manner? We have stolen nothing. Why, we brought back to you the money that we found in our sacks; and is it likely that we would steal from your lord his silver or gold? You may search us, and if you find your master’s cup on any of us, let him die, and the rest of us may be sold as slaves.”
Then they took down the sacks from the asses, and opened them; and in each man’s sack was his money, for the second time. And when they came to Benjamin’s sack, there was the ruler’s silver cup! Then, in the greatest sorrow, they tied up their bags again, and laid them on the asses, and came back to Joseph’s palace.
And Joseph said to them:
“What wicked thing is this that you have done? Did you not know that I would surely find out your deeds?”
Then Judah said, “O, my lord, what can we say? God has punished us for our sins; and now we must all be slaves, both we that are older, and the younger in whose sack the cup was found.”
“What wicked thing is this that you have done?”
“No,” said Joseph. “Only one of you is guilty; the one who has taken away my cup. I will hold him as a slave, and the rest of you can go home to your father.
Joseph wished to see whether his brothers were still selfish, and were willing to let Benjamin suffer, if they could escape.
Then Judah, the very man who had urged his brothers to sell Joseph as a slave, came forward, and fell at Joseph’s feet, and pleaded with him to let Benjamin go. He told again the whole story, how Benjamin was the one whom his father loved the most of all his children, now that his brother was lost. He said:
“I promised to bear the blame, if this boy was not brought home in safety. If he does not go back it will kill my poor old father, who has seen much trouble. Now let my youngest brother go home to his father, and I will stay here as a slave in his place!”
Joseph knew now, what he had longed to know, that his brothers were no longer cruel nor selfish, but one of them was willing to suffer, so that his brother might be spared. And Joseph could not any longer keep his secret, for his heart longed after his brothers; and he was ready to weep again, with tears of love and joy. He sent all of his Egyptian servants out of the room, so that he might be alone with his brothers, and then he said:
“Come near to me; I wish to speak with you.” And they came near, wondering. Then Joseph said:
“I am Joseph; is my father really alive?”
How frightened his brothers were, as they heard these words spoken in their own language by the ruler of Egypt and for the first time knew that this stern man, who had their lives in his hand, was their own brother whom they had wronged! Then Joseph said again:
“I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But do not feel troubled because of what you did. For God sent me before you to save your lives. There have been already two years of need and famine, and there are to be five years more, when there shall neither be plowing of the fields nor harvest. It was not you who sent me here, but God; and he sent me to save your lives. God has made me like a father to Pharaoh and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Now I wish you to go home, and to bring down to me my father and all his family.”
Then Joseph placed his arms around Benjamin’s neck, and kissed him, and wept upon him. And Benjamin wept on his neck. And Joseph kissed all his brothers, to show them that he had fully forgiven them; and after that his brothers began to lose their fear of Joseph and talked with him more freely.
Afterward Joseph sent his brothers home with good news, and rich gifts, and abundant food. He sent also wagons in which Jacob and his sons’ wives and the little ones of their families might ride from Canaan down to Egypt. And Joseph’s brothers went home happier than they had been for many years.
During the later years of David’s reign, he laid up great treasure of gold and silver, and brass, and iron, for the building of a house to the Lord on Mount Moriah. This house was to be called “The Temple”; and it was to be made very beautiful, the most beautiful building, and the richest in all the land. David had greatly desired to build this house while he was king of Israel, but God said to him:
“You have been a man of war, and have fought many battles, and shed much blood. My house shall be built by a man of peace. When you die, your son Solomon shall reign, and he shall have peace, and shall build my house.”
So David made ready great store of precious things for the temple; also stone and cedar to be used in the building. And David said to Solomon, his son: “God has promised that there shall be rest and peace to the land while you are king; and the Lord will be with you, and you shall build a house, where God shall live among His people.”
But David had other sons who were older than Solomon; and one of these sons, whose name was Adonijah, formed a plan to make himself king. David was now very old; and he was no longer able to go out of his palace, and to be seen among the people.
Adonijah gathered his friends; and among them were Joab, the general of the army, and Abiathar, one of the two high-priests. They met at a place outside the wall, and had a great feast, and were about to crown Adonijah as king, when word came to David in the palace. David, though old and feeble, was still wise. He said:
“Let us make Solomon king at once, and thus put an end to the plans of these men.”
So at David’s command they brought out the mule on which no one but the king was allowed to ride; and they placed Solomon upon it; and with the king’s guards, and the nobles, and the great men, they brought the young Solomon down to the valley of Gihon, south of the city.
And Zadok, the priest, took from the Tabernacle the horn filled with holy oil, that was used for anointing or pouring oil on the head of the priests when they were set apart for their work. He poured oil from this horn on the head of Solomon, and then the priests blew the trumpets, and all the people cried aloud, “God save King Solomon.”
All this time Adonijah and Joab, and their friends were not far away, almost in the same valley, feasting and making merry, intending to make Adonijah king. They heard the sound of the trumpets, and the shouting of the people. Joab said: “What is the cause of all this noise and uproar?”
A moment later, Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, came running in. Jonathan said to the men who were feasting:
“Our lord King David has made Solomon king, and he has just been anointed in Gihon; and all the princes, and the heads of the army, are with him, and the people are shouting, ‘God save King Solomon!’ And David has sent from his bed a message to Solomon, saying, ‘May the Lord make your name greater than mine has been! Blessed be the Lord, who has given me a son to sit this day on my throne!'”
When Adonijah and his friends heard this they were filled with fear. Every man went at once to his house, except Adonijah. He hastened to the altar of the Lord, and knelt before it, and took hold of the horns that were on its corners in front. This was a holy place, and he hoped that there Solomon might have mercy on him. And Solomon said:
“If Adonijah will do right, and be faithful to me as the king of Israel, no harm shall come to him; but if he does wrong, he shall die.”
Then Adonijah came and bowed down before King Solomon, and promised to obey him, and Solomon said, “Go to your own house.”
Solomon on his throne
Not long after this David sent for Solomon, and from his bed he gave his last advice to Solomon. And soon after that David died, an old man, having reigned in all forty years, seven years over the tribe of Judah, at Hebron, and thirty-three years over all Israel, in Jerusalem. He was buried in great honor on Mount Zion, and his tomb remained standing for many years.
The great work of Solomon’s reign was the building of the House of God. It was generally called the Temple. It was built on Mount Moriah, one of the hills of Jerusalem. King David had prepared for it by gathering great stores of silver, stone and cedar-wood. The walls were made of stone and the roof of cedar. Solomon had great ships which visited other lands and brought precious stones and fine woods for the building. Seven years were spent in building the Temple, and it was set apart to the worship of God with beautiful ceremonies in which Solomon, in his robes of state, took part.
Supposed form of Solomon’s temple
Solomon was indeed a great king, and it was said that he was also the wisest man in all the world. He wrote many of the wise sayings in the Book of Proverbs, and many more that have been lost.
When Joseph was made ruler over the land of Egypt, he did just as he had always done. It was not Joseph’s way to sit down, to rest and enjoy himself, and make others wait on him. He found his work at once, and began to do it faithfully and thoroughly. He went out over all the land of Egypt, and saw how rich and abundant were the fields of grain, giving much more than the people could use for their own needs. He told the people not to waste it, but to save it for the coming time of need.
And he called upon the people to give him for the king one bushel of grain out of every five, to be stored up. The people brought their grain, after taking for themselves as much as they needed, and Joseph stored it up in great storehouses in the cities; so much at last that no one could keep account of it.
The king of Egypt gave a wife to Joseph from the noble young women of his kingdom. Her name was Asenath; and to Joseph and his wife God gave two sons. The oldest son he named Manasseh, a word which means “Making to Forget.”
“For,” said Joseph, “God has made me to forget all my troubles and my toil as a slave.”
The second son he named Ephraim, a word that means “Fruitful.” “Because,” said Joseph, “God has not only made the land fruitful; but he has made me fruitful in the land of my troubles.”
The seven years of plenty soon passed by, and then came the years of need. In all the lands around people were hungry, and there was no food for them to eat; but in the land of Egypt everybody had enough. Most of the people soon used up the grain that they had saved; many had saved none at all, and they all cried to the king to help them.
“Go to Joseph!” said king Pharaoh, “and do whatever he tells you to do.”
Then the people came to Joseph, and Joseph opened the storehouses, and sold to the people all the grain that they wished to buy. And not only the people of Egypt came to buy grain, but people of all the lands around as well, for there was great need and famine everywhere. And the need was as great in the land of Canaan, where Jacob lived, as in other lands. Jacob was rich in flocks and cattle, and gold and silver, but his fields gave no grain, and there was danger that his family and his people would starve. And Jacob—who was now called Israel also—heard that there was food in Egypt and he said to his sons: “Why do you look at each other, asking what to do to find food? I have been told that there is grain in Egypt. Go down to that land, and take money with you, and bring grain, so that we may have bread, and may live.”
Then the ten older brothers of Joseph went down to the land of Egypt. They rode upon asses, for horses were not much used in those times, and they brought money with them. But Jacob would not let Benjamin, Joseph’s younger brother, go with them, for he was all the more dear to his father, now that Joseph was no longer with him; and Jacob feared that harm might come to him.
Then Joseph’s brothers came to Joseph to buy food. They did not know him, grown up to be a man, dressed as a prince, and seated on a throne. Joseph was now nearly forty years old, and it had been almost twenty-three years since they had sold him. But Joseph knew them all, as soon as he saw them. He wished to be sharp and stern with them, not because he hated them; but because he wished to see what their spirit was, and whether they were as selfish, and cruel, and wicked as they had been in other days.
They came before him, and bowed, with their faces to the ground. Then, no doubt, Joseph thought of the dream that had come to him while he was a boy, of his brothers’ sheaves bending down around his sheaf. He spoke to them as a stranger, as if he did not understand their language, and he had their words explained to him in the language of Egypt.
“Who are you? And from what place do you come?” said Joseph, in a harsh, stern manner.
They answered him very meekly: “We have come from the land of Canaan to buy food.”
“No,” said Joseph, “I know what you have come for. You have come as spies, to see how helpless the land is, so that you can bring an army against us, and make war on us.”
“No, no,” said Joseph’s ten brothers. “We are no spies. We are the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan; and we have come for food, because we have none at home.”
“You say that you are the sons of one man, who is your father? Is he living? Have you any more brothers? Tell me all about yourselves.”
And they said: “Our father is an old man in Canaan. We did have a younger brother, but he was lost; and we have one brother still, who is the youngest of all, but his father could not spare him to come with us.”
“No,” said Joseph. “You are not good, honest men. You are spies. I shall put you all in prison, except one of you; and he shall go and bring that youngest brother of yours; and when I see him, then I will believe that you tell the truth.”
So Joseph put all the ten men in prison, and kept them under guard for three days; then he sent for them again. They did not know that he could understand their language, and they said to each other, while Joseph heard, but pretended not to hear: “This has come upon us because of the wrong that we did to our brother Joseph, more than twenty years ago. We heard him cry, and plead with us, when we threw him into the pit, and we would not have mercy on him. God is giving us only what we have deserved.”
And Reuben, who had tried to save Joseph, said: “Did I not tell you not to harm the boy? and you would not listen to me. God is bringing our brother’s blood upon us all.”
When Joseph heard this, his heart was touched, for he saw that his brothers were really sorry for the wrong that they had done to him. He turned away from them, so that they could not see his face, and he wept. Then he turned again to them and spoke roughly as before, and said:
“This I will do, for I serve God. I will let you all go home, except one man. One of you I will shut up in prison; but the rest of you can go home and take food for your people. And you must come back and bring your youngest brother with you, and I shall know then that you have spoken the truth.”
Then Joseph gave orders, and his servants seized one of his brothers, whose name was Simeon, and bound him in their sight and took him away to prison. And he ordered his servants to fill the men’s sacks with grain, and to put every man’s money back into the sack before it was tied up, so that they would find the money as soon as they opened the sack. Then the men loaded their asses with the sacks of grain, and started to go home, leaving their brother Simeon a prisoner.
When they stopped on the way to feed their asses, one of the brothers opened his sack, and there he found his money lying on the top of the grain. He called out to his brothers: “See, here is my money given again to me!” And they were frightened, but they did not dare to go back to Egypt and meet the stern ruler of the land. They went home and told their old father all that had happened to them, and how their brother Simeon was in prison, and must stay there until they should return, bringing Benjamin with them.
When they opened their sacks of grain, there in the mouth of each sack was the money that they had given; and they were filled with fear. Then they spoke of going again to Egypt and taking Benjamin, but Jacob said to them:
“You are taking my sons away from me. Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone, and now you would take Benjamin away. All these things are against me!” Reuben said: “Here are my own two boys. You may kill them, if you wish, in case I do not bring Benjamin back to you.” But Jacob said: “My youngest son shall not go with you. His brother is dead, and he alone is left to me. If harm should come to him, it would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.”
Now Saul had a son, Jonathan, near David’s own age. He and David became fast friends and loved one another as brothers. Saul the king became very jealous of David because the people praised him after his fight with Goliath. He even threatened to take David’s life. He tried to catch him in his own house, but David’s wife let him down from a window by a rope and he escaped. He met his friend Jonathan, who told him that he should flee. They renewed their promises of friendship, which they kept ever afterward.
From his meeting with Jonathan, David went forth to be a wanderer, having no home as long as Saul lived. He found a great cave, called the cave of Adullam, and hid in it. Soon people heard where he was, and from all parts of the land, especially from his own tribe of Judah, men who were not satisfied with the rule of King Saul gathered around David.
Saul soon heard that David, with a band of men, was hiding among the mountains of Judah, and that among those who aided him were certain priests.
This enraged King Saul, and he ordered his guards to kill all the priests. The guards would not obey him, for they felt that it was a wicked thing to lay hands upon the priests of the Lord.
But he found one man whose name was Doeg, an Edomite, who was willing to obey the king. And Doeg, the Edomite, killed eighty-five men who wore the priestly garments.
All through the land went the news of Saul’s dreadful deed, and everywhere the people began to turn from Saul, and to look toward David as the only hope of the nation.
When Saul died he was followed by David, the shepherd boy, now grown to manhood and greatly loved by the people. He had many battles to fight with the Philistines and was nearly always victorious. He was a warrior king; but he was more than a warrior. He played on his harp and composed many beautiful hymns and songs, which are collected in the book of Psalms. He was a good king and tried to obey God’s command. He had a long reign and his people were happy and prosperous. He had many sons and daughters and beautiful palaces for them to live in.
The men who bought Joseph from his brothers were called Ishmaelites, because they belonged to the family of Ishmael, who, you remember, was the son of Hagar, the servant of Sarah. These men carried Joseph southward over the plain which lies beside the great sea on the west of Canaan; and after many days they brought Joseph to Egypt. How strange it must have seemed to the boy who had lived in tents to see the great river Nile, and the cities thronged with people, and the temples, and the mighty pyramids!
The Ishmaelites sold Joseph as a slave to a man named Potiphar, who was an officer in the army of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Joseph was a beautiful boy, and cheerful and willing in his spirit, and able in all that he undertook; so that his master Potiphar became very friendly to him, and after a time, he placed Joseph in charge of his house, and everything in it. For some years Joseph continued in the house of Potiphar, a slave in name, but in reality the master of all his affairs, and ruler over his fellow-servants.
But Potiphar’s wife, who at first was very friendly to Joseph, afterward became his enemy, because Joseph would not do wrong to please her. She told her husband falsely, that Joseph had done a wicked deed. Her husband believed her, and was very angry at Joseph, and put him in the prison with those who had been sent to that place for breaking the laws of the land. How hard it was for Joseph to be charged with a crime, when he had done no wrong, and to be thrust into a dark prison among wicked people!
But Joseph had faith in God, that at some time all would come out right; and in the prison he was cheerful, and kind, and helpful, as he had always been. The keeper of the prison saw that Joseph was not like the other men around him, and he was kind to Joseph. In a very little while, Joseph was placed in charge of all his fellow-prisoners, and took care of them, just as he had taken care of everything in Potiphar’s house. The keeper of the prison scarcely looked into the prison at all; for he had confidence in Joseph, that he would be faithful and wise in doing the work given to him. Joseph did right, and served God, and God blessed Joseph in everything.
While Joseph was in the prison, two men were sent there by the king of Egypt, because he was displeased with them. One was the king’s chief butler, who served the king with wine; the other was the chief baker, who served him with bread. These two men were under Joseph’s care; and Joseph waited on them, for they were men of rank.
One morning, when Joseph came into the room where the butler and the baker were kept, he found them looking quite sad. Joseph said to them:
“Why do you look so sad today?” Joseph was cheerful and happy in his spirit; and he wished others to be happy also, even in prison.
And one of them said, “Each one of us dreamed last night a very strange dream, and there is no one to tell us what our dreams mean.”
For in those times, before God gave the Bible to men, he often spoke to men in dreams; and there were wise men who could sometimes tell what the dreams meant.
“Tell me,” said Joseph, “what your dreams are. Perhaps my God will help me to understand them.”
Then the chief butler told his dream. He said, “In my dream I saw a grape-vine with three branches; and as I looked, the branches shot out buds; and the buds became blossoms; and the blossoms turned into clusters of ripe grapes. And I picked the grapes, and squeezed their juice into king Pharaoh’s cup, and it became wine; and I gave it to king Pharaoh to drink, just as I used to do when I was beside his table.”
Then Joseph said, “This is what your dream means. The three branches mean three days. In three days, king Pharaoh shall call you out of prison and shall put you back in your place; and you shall stand at his table, and shall give him his wine, as you have given it before. But when you go out of prison, please to remember me, and try to find some way to get me, too, out of this prison. For I was stolen out of the land of Canaan, and sold as a slave; and I have done nothing wrong to deserve being put in this prison. Do speak to the king for me, that I may be set free.”
Of course, the chief butler felt very happy to hear that his dream had so pleasant a meaning. And the chief baker spoke, hoping to have an answer as good:
“In my dream,” said the baker, “there were three baskets of white bread on my head, one above another, and on the topmost basket were all kinds of roasted meat and food for Pharaoh; and the birds came, and ate the food from the baskets on my head.”
And Joseph said to the baker:
“This is the meaning of your dream, and I am sorry to tell it to you. The three baskets are three days. In three days, by order of the king you shall be lifted up, and hanged upon a tree; and the birds shall eat your flesh from your bones as you are hanging in the air.”
And it came to pass just as Joseph had said. Three days after that, king Pharaoh sent his officers to the prison. They came and took out both the chief butler and the chief baker. The baker they hung up by his neck to die, and left his body for the birds to pick in pieces. The chief butler they brought back to his old place, where he waited at the king’s table, and handed him his wine to drink.
You would have supposed that the butler would remember Joseph, who had given him the promise of freedom, and had shown such wisdom. But in his gladness, he forgot all about Joseph. And two full years passed by, while Joseph was still in prison, until he was a man thirty years old.
But one night, king Pharaoh himself dreamed a dream—in fact, two dreams in one. And in the morning he sent for all the wise men of Egypt, and told to them his dreams; but there was not a man who could give the meaning of them. And the king was troubled, for he felt that the dreams had some meaning which it was important for him to know.
Then suddenly the chief butler who was by the king’s table remembered his own dream in the prison two years before, and remembered, too, the young man who had told its meaning so exactly. And he said:
“I do remember my faults this day. Two years ago king Pharaoh was angry with his servants, with me and the chief baker; and he sent us to the prison. While we were in the prison, one night each of us dreamed a dream; and the next day a young man in the prison, a Hebrew from the land of Canaan, told us what our dreams meant; and in three days they came true, just as the young Hebrew had said. I think that if this young man is in the prison still, he could tell the king the meaning of his dreams.”
You notice that the butler spoke of Joseph as “a Hebrew.” The people of Israel, to whom Joseph belonged, were called Hebrews as well as Israelites. The word Hebrew means, “One who crossed over,” and it was given to the Israelites because Abraham, their father, had come from a land on the other side of the great river Euphrates, and had crossed over the river on his way to Canaan.
Then king Pharaoh sent in haste to the prison for Joseph; and Joseph was taken out, and he was dressed in new garments, and was led in to Pharaoh in the palace. And Pharaoh said:
“I have dreamed a dream; and there is no one who can tell what it means. And I have been told that you have power to understand dreams and what they mean.”
And Joseph answered Pharaoh:
“The power is not in me; but God will give Pharaoh a good answer. What is the dream that the king has dreamed?”
“In my first dream,” said Pharaoh, “I was standing by the river: and I saw seven fat and handsome cows come up from the river to feed in the grass. And while they were feeding, seven other cows followed them up from the river, very thin, and poor, and lean—such miserable creatures as I had never seen before. And the seven lean cows ate up the seven fat cows; and after they had eaten them up, they were as lean and miserable as before. Then I awoke.
“And I fell asleep again, and dreamed again. In my second dream, I saw seven heads of grain growing up on one stalk, large, and strong, and good. And then seven heads came up after them, that were thin, and poor, and withered. And the seven thin heads swallowed up the seven good heads; and afterward were as poor and withered as before.
“And I told these two dreams to all the wise men, and there is no one who can explain them. Can you tell me what these dreams mean?”
And Joseph said to the king:
“The two dreams have the same meaning. God has been showing to king Pharaoh what he will do in this land. The seven good cows mean seven years, and the seven good heads of grain mean the same seven years. The seven lean cows and the seven thin heads of grain also mean seven years. The good cows and the good grain mean seven years of plenty, and the seven thin cows and thin heads of grain mean seven poor years. There are coming upon the land of Egypt seven years of such plenty as have never been seen; when the fields shall bring greater crops than ever before; and after those years shall come seven years when the fields shall bring no crops at all. And then for seven years there shall be such need, that the years of plenty will be forgotten, for the people will have nothing to eat.
The two dreams have the same meaning
“Now, let king Pharaoh find some man who is able and wise, and let him set this man to rule over the land. And during the seven years of plenty, let a part of the crops be put away for the years of need. If this shall be done, then when the years of need come, there will be plenty of food for all the people, and no one will suffer, for all will have enough.”
And king Pharaoh said to Joseph: “Since God has shown you all this, there is no other man as wise as you. I will appoint you to do this work, and to rule over the land of Egypt. All the people shall be under you; only on the throne of Egypt I will be above you.”
And Pharaoh took from his own hand the ring which held his seal, and put on Joseph’s hand, so that he could sign for the king, and seal in the king’s place. And he dressed Joseph in robes of fine linen, and put around his neck a gold chain. And he made Joseph ride in a chariot which was next in rank to his own. And they cried out before Joseph, “Bow the knee.” And thus Joseph was ruler over all the land of Egypt.
articlesforchristians 