All through the reign of Saul, there was constant war with the Philistines, who lived upon the lowlands west of Israel. At one time, when David was still with his sheep, a few years after he had been anointed by Samuel, the camps of the Philistines and the Israelites were set against each other on opposite sides of the valley of Elah. In the army of Israel were the three oldest brothers of David.
Every day a giant came out of the camp of the Philistines, and dared some one to come from the Israelites’ camp and fight with him. The giant’s name was Goliath. He was nine feet high; and he wore armor from head to foot, and carried a spear twice as long and as heavy as any other man could hold; and his shield bearer walked before him. He came every day and called out across the little valley:
“I am a Philistine, and you are servants of Saul. Now choose one of your men, and let him come out and fight with me. If I kill him; then you shall submit to us; and if he kills me, then we will give up to you. Come, now, send out your man!”
But no man in the army, not even King Saul, dared to go out and fight with the giant. Forty days the camps stood against each other, and the Philistine giant continued his call.
One day, old Jesse, the father of David, sent David from Bethlehem to visit his three brothers in the army. David came, and spoke to his brothers; and while he was talking with them, Goliath the giant came out as before in front of the camp calling for some one to fight with him.
They said one to another:
“If any man will go out and kill this Philistine, the king will give him a great reward and a high rank; and the king’s daughter shall be his wife.”
And David said:
“Who is this man that speaks in this proud manner against the armies of the living God? Why does not some one go out and kill him?”
David’s brother Eliab said to him:
“What are you doing here, leaving your sheep in the field? I know that you have come down just to see the battle.”
But David did not care for his brother’s words. He thought he saw a way to kill this boasting giant; and he said:
“If no one else will go, I will go out and fight with this enemy of the Lord’s people.”
They brought David before King Saul. Some years had passed since Saul had met David, and he had grown from a boy to a man, so that Saul did not know him as the shepherd who had played on the harp before him in other days.
Saul said to David:
“You cannot fight with this great giant. You are very young; and he is a man of war, trained from his youth.”
And David answered King Saul:
“I am only a shepherd, but I have fought with lions and bears, when they have tried to steal my sheep. And I am not afraid to fight with this Philistine.”
Then Saul put his own armor on David—a helmet on his head, and a coat of mail on his body, and a sword at his waist. But Saul was almost a giant, and his armor was far too large for David. David said:
“I am not used to fighting with such weapons as these. Let me fight in my own way.”
So David took off Saul’s armor. While everybody in the army had been looking on the giant with fear, David had been thinking out the best way for fighting him; and God had given to David a plan. It was to throw the giant off his guard, by appearing weak and helpless; and while so far away that the giant could not reach him with sword or spear, to strike him down with a weapon which the giant would not expect and would not be prepared for.
David took his shepherd’s staff in his hand, as though that were to be his weapon. But out of sight, in a bag under his mantle, he had five smooth stones carefully chosen, and a sling,—the weapon that he knew how to use. Then he came out to meet the Philistine.
The giant looked down on the youth and despised him, and laughed.
The giant looked down on the youth and despised him
“Am I a dog?” he said, “that this boy comes to me with a staff? I will give his body to the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field.”
And the Philistine cursed David by the gods of his people. And David answered him:
“You come against me with a sword, and a spear, and a dart; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel. This day will the Lord give you into my hand. I will strike you down, and take off your head, and the host of the Philistines shall be dead bodies, to be eaten by the birds and the beasts; so that all may know that there is a God in Israel, and that He can save in other ways besides with sword and spear.”
David drew out the giant’s own sword
And David ran toward the Philistine, as if to fight him with his shepherd’s staff. But when he was just near enough for a good aim, he took out his sling, and hurled a stone aimed at the giant’s forehead. David’s aim was good; the stone struck the Philistine in his forehead. It stunned him, and he fell to the ground.
While the two armies stood wondering, and scarcely knowing what had caused the giant to fall so suddenly, David ran forward, drew out the giant’s own sword, and cut off his head. Then the Philistines knew that their great warrior in whom they trusted was dead. They turned to flee to their own land; and the Israelites followed after them, and killed them by the hundred and the thousand, even to the gates of their own city of Gath.
So, in that day David won a great victory and stood before all the land as the one who had saved his people from their enemies.
Living at Ramah, in the mountains of Ephraim, there was a man whose name was Elkanah. He had two wives, as did many men in that time. One of these wives had children, but the other wife, whose name was Hannah, had no child.
Every year Elkanah and his family went up to worship at the house of the Lord in Shiloh, which was about fifteen miles from his home. And at one of these visits Hannah prayed to the Lord, saying:
“O Lord, if thou wilt look upon me, and give me a son, he shall be given to the Lord as long as he lives.”
The Lord heard Hannah’s prayer, and gave her a little boy, and she called his name Samuel, which means “Asked of God”; because he had been given in answer to her prayer.
Samuel grew up to be a good man and a wise Judge, and he made his sons Judges in Israel, to help him in the care of the people. But Samuel’s sons did not walk in his ways. They did not try always to do justly.
The elders of all the tribes of Israel came to Samuel at his home in Ramah; and they said to him: “You are growing old, and your sons do not rule as well as you ruled. All the lands around us have kings. Let us have a king also; and do you choose the king for us.”
This was not pleasing to Samuel. He tried to make the people change their minds, and showed them what trouble a king would bring them.
But they would not follow his advice. They said: “No; we will have a king to reign over us.”
So Samuel chose as their king a tall young man named Saul, who was a farmer’s son of the tribe of Benjamin. When Saul was brought before the people he stood head and shoulders above them all. And Samuel said:
“Look at the man whom the Lord has chosen! There is not another like him among all the people!”
And all the people shouted, “God save the king! Long live the king!”
Then Samuel told the people what should be the laws for the king and for the people to obey. He wrote them down in a book, and placed the book before the Lord. Then Samuel sent the people home; and Saul went back to his own house at a place called Gibeah; and with Saul went a company of men to whose hearts God had given a love for the king.
So after three hundred years under the fifteen Judges, Israel now had a king. But among the people there were some who were not pleased with the new king, because he was an unknown man from the farm. They said:
“Can such a man as this save us?”
They showed no respect to the king, and in their hearts looked down upon him. But Saul said nothing, and showed his wisdom by appearing not to notice them. But in another thing he was not so wise. He forgot to heed the old prophet’s advice and instructions about ruling wisely and doing as the Lord said. It was not long before Samuel told him that he had disobeyed God and would lose his kingdom.
When Samuel told Saul that the Lord would take away the kingdom from him, he did not mean that Saul should lose the kingdom at once. He was no longer God’s king; and as soon as the right man in God’s sight should be found, and should be trained for his duty as king, then God would take away Saul’s power, and would give it to the man whom God had chosen. But it was years before this came to pass.
The Lord said to Samuel: “Do not weep and mourn any longer over Saul, for I have refused him as king. Fill the horn with oil, and go to Bethlehem in Judah. There find a man named Jesse, for I have chosen a king among his sons.”
But Samuel knew that Saul would be very angry, if he should learn that Samuel had named any other man as king. He said to the Lord:
“How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.”
The Lord said to Samuel: “Take a young cow with you; and tell the people that you have come to make an offering to the Lord. And call Jesse and his sons to the sacrifice. I will tell you what to do, and you shall anoint the one whom I name to you.”
Samuel went over the mountains southward from Ramah to Bethlehem, about ten miles, leading a cow. The rulers of the town were alarmed at his coming, for they feared that he had come to judge the people for some evil-doing. But Samuel said:
“I have come in peace to make an offering and to hold a feast to the Lord. Prepare yourselves and come to the sacrifice.”
And he invited Jesse and his sons to the service. When they came, he looked at the sons of Jesse very closely. The oldest was named Eliab, and he was so tall and noble-looking that Samuel thought:
“Surely this young man must be the one whom God has chosen.”
But the Lord said to Samuel:
“Do not look on his face, nor on the height of his body, for I have not chosen him. Man judges by the outward looks, but God looks at the heart.”
Then Jesse’s second son, named Abinadab, passed by. And the Lord said: “I have not chosen this one.” Seven young men came and Samuel said:
“None of these is the man whom God has chosen. Are these all your children?”
“There is one more,” said Jesse. “The youngest of all. He is a boy, in the field caring for the sheep.”
And Samuel said:
“Send for him; for we will not sit down until he comes.” So after a time the youngest son was brought in. His name was David, a word that means “darling,” and he was a beautiful boy, perhaps fifteen years old, with fresh cheeks and bright eyes.
As soon as the young David came, the Lord said to Samuel:
“Arise, anoint him, for this is the one whom I have chosen.”
Then Samuel poured oil on David’s head, in the presence of all his brothers. But no one knew at that time the anointing to mean that David was to be the king. Perhaps they thought that David was chosen to be a prophet like Samuel.
From that time the Spirit of God came upon David, and he began to show signs of coming greatness. He went back to his sheep on the hillsides around Bethlehem, but God was with him.
David grew up strong and brave, not afraid of the wild beasts which prowled around and tried to carry away his sheep. More than once he fought with lions, and bears, and killed them, when they seized the lambs of his flock. And David, alone all day, practiced throwing stones in a sling, until he could strike exactly the place for which he aimed. When he swung his sling, he knew that the stone would go to the very spot at which he was throwing it.
Then Samuel poured oil on David’s head
And young as he was, David thought of God, and talked with God, and God talked with David, and showed to David His will.
After Saul had disobeyed the voice of the Lord, the Spirit of the Lord left Saul, and no longer spoke to him. And Saul became very sad of heart. At times a madness would come upon him, and at all times he was very unhappy. The servants of Saul noticed that when some one played on the harp and sang, Saul’s spirit was made more cheerful; and the sadness of soul left him. At one time Saul said: “Find some one who can play well, and bring him to me. Let me listen to music; for it drives away my sadness.”
One of the young men said: “I have seen a young man, a son of Jesse in Bethlehem, who can play well. He is handsome in his looks, and agreeable in talking. I have also heard that he is a brave young man, who can fight as well as he can play, and the Lord is with him.”
Then Saul sent a message to Jesse, David’s father. He said: “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep. Let him come and play before me.”
Then David came to Saul, bringing with him a present for the king from Jesse. When Saul saw him, he loved him, as did everybody who saw the young David. And David played on the harp, and sang before Saul. And David’s music cheered Saul’s heart, and drove away his sad feelings.
Saul liked David so well that he made him his armorbearer; and David carried the shield and spear, and sword for Saul, when the king was before his army. But Saul did not know that David had been anointed by Samuel.
After a time, Saul seemed well; and David returned to Bethlehem and was once more among his sheep in the field. Perhaps it was at this time that David sang his shepherd song, or it may have been long afterward, when David looked back in thought to those days when he was leading his sheep. This is the song, which you have heard often:
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside the still waters,
He restoreth my soul;
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; for thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
After Jacob came back to the land of Canaan with his eleven sons, another son was born to him, the second child of his wife Rachel, whom Jacob loved so well. But soon after the baby came, his mother Rachel died, and Jacob was filled with sorrow. Even to this day you can see the place where Rachel was buried, on the road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Jacob named the child whom Rachel left, Benjamin; and now Jacob had twelve sons. Most of them were grown-up men; but Joseph was a boy seventeen years old, and his brother Benjamin was almost a baby.
Back to the Land of Canaan
Of all his children, Jacob loved Joseph the best, because he was Rachel’s child; because he was so much younger than most of his brothers; and because he was good, and faithful, and thoughtful. Jacob gave to Joseph a robe or coat of bright colors, made somewhat like a long cloak with wide sleeves. This was a special mark of Jacob’s favor to Joseph, and it made his older brothers envious of him.
Then, too, Joseph did what was right, while his older brothers often did very wrong acts, of which Joseph sometimes told their father; and this made them very angry at Joseph. But they hated him still more because of two strange dreams he had, and of which he told them. He said one day: “Listen to this dream that I have dreamed. I dreamed that we were out in the field binding sheaves, when suddenly my sheaf stood up, and all your sheaves came around it and bowed down to my sheaf!”
And they said scornfully, “Do you suppose that the dream means that you will some time rule over us, and that we shall bow down to you?”
Then, a few days after, Joseph said, “I have dreamed again. This time, I saw in my dream the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars, all come and bow to me!”
And his father said to him, “I do not like you to dream such dreams. Shall I, and your mother, and your brothers, come and bow down before you as if you were a king?”
His brothers hated Joseph, and would not speak kindly to him; but his father thought much of what Joseph had said.
At one time, Joseph’s ten brothers were taking care of the flock in the fields near Shechem, which was nearly fifty miles from Hebron, where Jacob’s tents were spread. And Jacob wished to send a message to his sons, and he called Joseph, and said to him:
“Your brothers are near Shechem with the flock. I wish that you would go to them, and take a message, and find if they are well, and if the flocks are doing well; and bring me word from them.”
That was quite an errand, for a boy to go alone over the country, and find his way, for fifty miles, and then walk home again. But Joseph was a boy who could take care of himself, and could be trusted; so he went forth on his journey, walking northward over the mountains, past Bethlehem, and Jerusalem, and Bethel—though we are not sure those cities were then built, except Jerusalem, which was already a strong city.
When Joseph reached Shechem, he could not find his brothers, for they had taken their flocks to another place. A man met Joseph wandering in the field, and asked him, “Whom are you seeking?”
Joseph said, “I am looking for my brothers; the sons of Jacob. Can you tell me where I will find them?”
And the man said, “They are at Dothan; for I heard them say that they were going there.”
Then Joseph walked over the hills to Dothan, which was fifteen miles further. And his brothers saw him afar off coming toward them. They knew him by his bright garment; and one said to another: “Look, that dreamer is coming! Come, let us kill him, and throw his body into a pit, and tell his father that some wild beast has eaten him; and then we will see what becomes of his dreams.”
Walking northward over the mountains
One of his brothers, whose name was Reuben, felt more kindly toward Joseph than the others. He said:
“Let us not kill him, but let us throw him into this pit, in the wilderness, and leave him there to die.”
But Reuben intended, after they had gone away, to lift Joseph out of the pit, and take him home to his father. The brothers did as Reuben told them; they threw Joseph into the pit, which was empty. He cried, and begged them to save him; but they would not. They calmly sat down to eat their dinner on the grass, while their brother was calling to them from the pit.
After the dinner, Reuben chanced to go to another part of the field; so that he was not at hand when a company of men passed by with their camels, going from Gilead, on the east of the river Jordan, to Egypt, to sell spices and fragrant gum from trees to the Egyptians.
Then Judah, another of Joseph’s brothers, said, “What good will it do us to kill our brother? Would it not be better for us to sell him to these men, and let them carry him away? After all, he is our brother, and we would better not kill him.”
His brothers agreed with him; so they stopped the men who were passing, and drew up Joseph from the pit, and for twenty pieces of silver they sold Joseph to these men; and they took him away with them down to Egypt.
After a while, Reuben came to the pit, where they had left Joseph, and looked into it; but Joseph was not there. Then Reuben was in great trouble; and he came back to his brothers, saying: “The boy is not there! What shall I do!”
Then his brothers told Reuben what they had done; and they all agreed together to deceive their father. They killed one of the goats, and dipped Joseph’s coat in its blood; and they brought it to their father, and they said to him: “We found this coat out in the wilderness. Look at it, father, and tell us if you think it was the coat of your son.”
For twenty pieces of silver they sold Joseph
And Jacob knew it at once. He said: “It is my son’s coat. Some wild beast has eaten him. There is no doubt that Joseph has been torn in pieces!”
And Jacob’s heart was broken over the loss of Joseph, all the more because he had sent Joseph alone on the journey through the wilderness. They tried to comfort him, but he would not be comforted. He said: “I will go down to the grave mourning for my poor lost son.”
So the old man sorrowed for his son Joseph; and all the time his wicked brothers knew that Joseph was not dead; but they would not tell their father the dreadful deed they had done to their brother, in selling him as a slave.
In the time of the Judges in Israel, a man named Elimelech was living in the town of Bethlehem, in the tribe of Judah, about six miles south of Jerusalem. His wife’s name was Naomi, and his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. For some years the crops were poor, and food was scarce in Judah; and Elimelech with his family went to live in the land of Moab, which was on the east of the Dead Sea, as Judah was on the west.
There they stayed ten years, and in that time Elimelech died. His two sons married women of the country of Moab, one named Orpah, the other named Ruth. But the two young men also died in the land of Moab; so that Naomi and her two daughters-in-law were all left widows.
Naomi heard that God had again given good harvests and bread to the land of Judah, and she rose up to go from Moab back to her own land and her own town of Bethlehem. The two daughters-in-law loved her, and both would have gone with her, though the land of Judah was a strange land to them, for they were of the Moabite people.
Naomi said to them: “Go back, my daughters, to your own mothers’ homes. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have been kind to your husbands and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you may yet find another husband and a happy home.”
Then Naomi kissed them in farewell, and the three women all wept together. The two young widows said to her:
“You have been a good mother to us, and we will go with you, and live among your people.”
“No, no,” said Naomi. “You are young, and I am old. Go back and be happy among your own people.”
Then Orpah kissed Naomi, and went back to her people; but Ruth would not leave her. She said:
“Do not ask me to leave you, for I never will. Where you go, I will go; where you live, I will live; your people shall be my people; and your God shall be my God. Where you die, I will die, and be buried. Nothing but death itself shall part you and me.”
When Naomi saw that Ruth was firm in her purpose, she ceased trying to persuade her; so the two women went on together. They walked around the Dead Sea, and crossed the river Jordan, and climbed the mountains of Judah, and came to Bethlehem.
Naomi had been absent from Bethlehem for ten years, but her friends were all glad to see her again. They said:
“Is this Naomi, whom we knew years ago?”
Now the name Naomi means “pleasant.” And Naomi said:
“Call me not Naomi; call me Mara, for the Lord has made my life bitter. I went out full, with my husband and two sons; now I come home empty, without them. Do not call me ‘Pleasant,’ call me ‘Bitter.'”
The name “Mara,” by which Naomi wished to be called means “bitter.” But Naomi learned later that “Pleasant” was the right name after all.
There was living in Bethlehem at that time a very rich man named Boaz. He owned large fields that were abundant in their harvests; and he was related to the family of Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, who had died.
It was the custom in Israel when they reaped the grain not to gather all the stalks, but to leave some for the poor people, who followed after the reapers with their sickles, and gathered what was left. When Naomi and Ruth came to Bethlehem, it was the time of the barley harvest; and Ruth went out into the fields to glean the grain which the reapers had left. It so happened that she was gleaning in the field that belonged to Boaz, this rich man.
Boaz came out from the town to see his men reaping, and he said to them, “The Lord be with you”; and they answered him, “The Lord bless you.”
And Boaz said to his master of the reapers: “Who is this young woman that I see gleaning in the field?”
The man answered: “It is the young woman from the land of Moab, who came with Naomi. She asked leave to glean after the reapers, and has been here gathering grain since yesterday.”
Then Boaz said to Ruth: “Listen to me, my daughter. Do not go to any other field, but stay here with my young women. No one shall harm you; and when you are thirsty, go and drink at our vessels of water.”
Ruth went out into the fields to glean the grain
Then Ruth bowed to Boaz, and thanked him for his kindness, all the more kind because she was a stranger in Israel. Boaz said: “I have heard how true you have been to your mother-in-law Naomi, in leaving your own land and coming with her to this land. May the Lord, under whose wings you have come, give you a reward!”
And at noon, when they sat down to rest and to eat, Boaz gave her some of the food. And he said to the reapers:
“When you are reaping, leave some of the sheaves for her; and drop out some sheaves from the bundles, where she may gather them.”
That evening, Ruth showed Naomi how much she had gleaned, and told her of the rich man Boaz, who had been so kind to her. And Naomi said:
“This man is a near relation of ours. Stay in his fields, as long as the harvest lasts.” And so Ruth gleaned in the fields of Boaz until the harvest had been gathered.
At the end of the harvest, Boaz held a feast on the threshing-floor. And after the feast, by the advice of Naomi, Ruth went to him, and said to him:
“You are a near relation of my husband and of his father, Elimelech. Now will you not do good to us for his sake?”
And when Boaz saw Ruth, he loved her; and soon after this he took her as his wife. And Naomi and Ruth went to live in his home; so that Naomi’s life was no more bitter, but pleasant. And Boaz and Ruth had a son, whom they named Obed; and later Obed had a son named Jesse; and Jesse was the father of David, the shepherd boy who became king. So Ruth, the young woman of Moab, who chose the people and the God of Israel, became the mother of kings.
After Esau found that he had lost his birthright and his blessing, he was very angry against his brother Jacob; and he said to himself, and told others:
“My father Isaac is very old and cannot live long. As soon as he is dead, then I shall kill Jacob for having robbed me of my right.”
When Rebekah heard this, she said to Jacob, “Before it is too late, do you go away from home and get out of Esau’s sight. Perhaps when Esau sees you no longer, he will forget his anger, and then you can come home again. Go and visit my brother Laban, your uncle, in Haran, and stay with him for a little while.”
We must remember that Rebekah came from the family of Nahor, Abraham’s younger brother, who lived in Haran, a long distance to the northeast of Canaan, and that Laban was Rebekah’s brother.
So Jacob went out of Beersheba, on the border of the desert, and walked alone, carrying his staff in his hand. One evening, just about sunset, he came to a place among the mountains, more than sixty miles distant from his home. And as he had no bed to lie down upon, he took a stone and rested his head upon it for a pillow, and lay down to sleep.
Angels were upon the stairs
And on that night Jacob had a wonderful dream. In his dream he saw stairs leading from the earth where he lay up to heaven; and angels were going up and coming down upon the stairs. And above the stairs, he saw the Lord God standing. And God said to Jacob:
“I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac your father; and I will be your God, too. The land where you are lying all alone, shall belong to you and to your children after you; and your children shall spread abroad over the lands, east and west, and north and south, like the dust of the earth; and in your family all the world shall receive a blessing. And I am with you in your journey, and I will keep you where you are going, and will bring you back to this land. I will never leave you, and I will surely keep my promise to you.”
And in the morning Jacob awakened from his sleep, and he said:
“Surely, the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it! I thought that I was all alone, but God has been with me. This place is the house of God; it is the gate of heaven!”
And Jacob took the stone on which his head had rested, and he set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on it as an offering to God. And Jacob named that place Bethel, which in the language that Jacob spoke means “The House of God.”
And Jacob made a promise to God at that time, and said:
“If God really will go with me and will keep me in the way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and will bring me to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God: and this stone shall be the house of God, and of all that God gives me I will give back to God one-tenth as an offering.”
Then Jacob went onward in his long journey. He walked across the river Jordan in a shallow place, feeling his way with his staff; he climbed mountains and journeyed beside the great desert on the east, and at last came to the city of Haran. Beside the city was the well, where Abraham’s servant had met Jacob’s mother, Rebekah; and there, after Jacob had waited for a time, he saw a young woman coming with her sheep to give them water.
Then Jacob took off the flat stone that was over the mouth of the well, and drew water and gave it to the sheep. And when he found that this young woman was his own cousin Rachel, the daughter of Laban, he was so glad that he wept for joy. And at that moment he began to love Rachel, and longed to have her for his wife.
Jacob went onward in his long journey
Rachel’s father, Laban, who was Jacob’s uncle, gave a welcome to Jacob, and took him into his home.
And Jacob asked Laban if he would give his daughter, Rachel, to him as his wife; and Jacob said, “If you give me Rachel, I will work for you seven years.”
And Laban said, “It is better that you should have her, than that a stranger should marry her.”
So Jacob lived seven years in Laban’s house, caring for his sheep and oxen and camels; but his love for Rachel made the time seem short.
At last the day came for the marriage; and they brought in the bride, who, after the manner of that land, was covered with a thick veil, so that her face could not be seen. And she was married to Jacob, and when Jacob lifted up her veil he found that he had married, not Rachel, but her older sister, Leah, who was not beautiful, and whom Jacob did not love at all.
Jacob was very angry that he had been deceived,—though that was just the way in which Jacob himself had deceived his father and cheated his brother Esau. But his uncle Laban said:
“In our land we never allow the younger daughter to be married before the older daughter. Keep Leah for your wife, and work for me seven years longer, and you shall have Rachel also.”
For in those times, as we have seen, men often had two wives, or even more than two. So Jacob stayed seven years more, fourteen years in all, before he received Rachel as his wife.
While Jacob was living at Haran, eleven sons were born to him. But only one of these was the child of Rachel, whom Jacob loved. This son was Joseph, who was dearer to Jacob than any other of his children, partly because he was the youngest, and because he was the child of his beloved Rachel.
Now we are to learn of three judges who ruled Israel in turn. Their names were Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon. None of these were men of war, and in their days the land was quiet.
But the people of Israel again began to worship idols; and as a punishment God allowed them once more to pass under the power of their enemies. The seventh oppression, which now fell upon Israel, was by far the hardest, the longest and the most widely spread of any, for it was over all the tribes. It came from the Philistines, a strong and warlike people who lived on the west of Israel upon the plain beside the Great Sea. They worshipped an idol called Dagon, which was made in the form of a fish’s head on a man’s body.
These people, the Philistines, sent their armies up from the plain beside the sea to the mountains of Israel and overran all the land. They took away from the Israelites all their swords and spears, so that they could not fight; and they robbed their land of all the crops, so that the people suffered for want of food. And as before, the Israelites in their trouble, cried out to the Lord, and the Lord heard their prayer.
In the tribe-land of Dan, which was next to the country of the Philistines, there was living a man named Manoah. One day an angel came to his wife and said:
“You shall have a son, and when he grows up he will begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines. But your son must never drink any wine or strong drink as long as he lives. And his hair must be allowed to grow long and must never be cut, for he shall be a Nazarite under a vow to the Lord.”
When a child was given especially to God, or when a man gave himself to some work for God, he was forbidden to drink wine, and as a sign, his hair was left to grow long while the vow or promise to God was upon him. Such a person as this was called a Nazarite, a word which means “one who has a vow”; and Manoah’s child was to be a Nazarite, and under a vow, as long as he lived.
The child was born and was named Samson. He grew up to become the strongest man of whom the Bible tells. Samson was no general, like Gideon or Jephthah, to call out his people and lead them in war. He did much to set his people free; but all that he did was by his own strength.
When Samson became a young man he went down to Timnath, in the land of the Philistines. There he saw a young Philistine woman whom he loved, and wished to have as his wife. His father and mother were not pleased that he should marry among the enemies of his own people. They did not know that God would make this marriage the means of bringing harm upon the Philistines and of helping the Israelites.
As Samson was going down to Timnath to see this young woman, a hungry lion came out of the mountain, roaring against him. Samson seized the lion, and tore him in pieces as easily as another man would have killed a little kid of the goats, and then went on his way. He made his visit and came home, but said nothing to any one about the lion.
After a time Samson went again to Timnath for his marriage with the Philistine woman. On his way he stopped to look at the dead lion; and in its body he found a swarm of bees, and honey which they had made. He took some of the honey and ate it as he walked, but told no one of it.
At the wedding-feast, which lasted a whole week, there were many Philistine young men, and they amused each other with questions and riddles.
“I will give you a riddle,” said Samson. “If you answer it during the feast, I will give you thirty suits of clothing; and if you cannot answer it then you must give me the thirty suits of clothing.” “Let us hear your riddle,” they said. And this was Samson’s riddle:
“Out of the eater came forth meat, And out of the strong came forth sweetness.”
They could not find the answer, though they tried to find it all that day and the two days that followed. And at last they came to Samson’s wife and said to her:
“Coax your husband to tell you the answer. If you do not find it out, we will set your house on fire, and burn you and all your people.”
And Samson’s wife urged him to tell her the answer. She cried and pleaded with him and said:
“If you really loved me, you would not keep this a secret from me.”
At last Samson yielded, and told his wife how he had killed the lion and afterward found the honey in its body. She told her people, and just before the end of the feast they came to Samson with the answer. They said:
“What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?” And Samson said to them:
“If you had not plowed with my heifer, You had not found out my riddle.”
By his “heifer,”—which is a young cow,—of course Samson meant his wife. Then Samson was required to give them thirty suits of clothing. He went out among the Philistines, killed the first thirty men whom he found, took off their clothes, and gave them to the guests at the feast. But all this made Samson very angry. He left his wife and went home to his father’s house. Then the parents of his wife gave her to another man.
But after a time Samson’s anger passed away, and he went again to Timnath to see his wife. But her father said to him:
“You went away angry, and I supposed that you cared nothing for her. I gave her to another man, and now she is his wife. But here is her younger sister; you can have her for your wife, instead.”
But Samson would not take his wife’s sister. He went out very angry; determined to do harm to the Philistines, because they had cheated him. He caught all the wild foxes that he could find, until he had three hundred of them. Then he tied them together in pairs, by their tails; and between each pair of foxes he tied to their tails a piece of dry wood which he set on fire. These foxes with firebrands on their tails he turned loose among the fields of the Philistines when the grain was ripe. They ran wildly over the fields, set the grain on fire, and burned it; and with the grain the olive trees in the fields.
When the Philistines saw their harvests destroyed, they said, “Who has done this?”
And the people said, “Samson did this, because his wife was given by her father to another man.”
The Philistines looked on Samson’s father-in-law as the cause of their loss; and they came and set his home on fire, and burned the man and his daughter whom Samson had married. Then Samson came down again, and alone fought a company of Philistines, and killed them all, as a punishment for burning his wife.
After this Samson went to live in a hollow place in a split rock, called the rock of Etam. The Philistines came up in a great army, and overran the fields in the tribe-land of Judah.
“Why do you come against us?” asked the men of Judah, “what do you want from us?”
“We have come,” they said, “to bind Samson, and to deal with him as he has dealt with us.”
The men of Judah said to Samson:
“Do you not know that the Philistines are ruling over us? Why do you make them angry by killing their people? You see that we suffer through your pranks. Now we must bind you and give you to the Philistines, or they will ruin us all.”
And Samson said, “I will let you bind me, if you will promise not to kill me yourselves; but only to give me safely into the hands of the Philistines.”
They made the promise; and Samson gave himself up to them, and allowed them to tie him up fast with new ropes. The Philistines shouted for joy as they saw their enemy brought to them, led in bonds by his own people. But as soon as Samson came among them, he burst the bonds as though they had been light strings; and picked up from the ground the jawbone of an ass, and struck right and left with it as with a sword. He killed almost a thousand of the Philistines with this strange weapon. Afterward he sang a song about it, thus:
“With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, With the jawbone of an ass, have I slain a thousand men.”
After this Samson went down to the chief city of the Philistines, which was named Gaza. It was a large city; and like all large cities, was surrounded with a high wall. When the men of Gaza found Samson in their city, they shut the gates, thinking that they could now hold him as a prisoner. But in the night Samson rose up, went to the gates, pulled their posts out of the ground, and put the gates with their posts upon his shoulder. He carried off the gates of the city and left them on the top of a hill not far from the city of Hebron.
After this Samson saw another woman among the Philistines, and he loved her. The name of this woman was Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines came to Delilah and said to her:
“Find out, if you can, what it is that makes Samson so strong, and tell us. If you help us to get control of him, so that we can have him in our power, we will give you a great sum of money.”
He carried off the gates of the city
And Delilah coaxed and pleaded with Samson to tell her what it was that made him so strong. Samson said to her:
“If they will tie me with seven green twigs from a tree, then I shall not be strong any more.”
They brought her seven green twigs, like those of a willow tree; and she bound Samson with them while he was asleep. Then she called out to him:
“Wake up, Samson, the Philistines are coming against you!”
And Samson rose up and broke the twigs as easily as if they had been charred in the fire, and went away with ease.
And Delilah tried again to find his secret. She said:
“You are only making fun of me. Now tell me truly how you can be bound.” And Samson said:
“Let them bind me with new ropes that have never been used before; and then I cannot get away.”
While Samson was asleep again, Delilah bound him with new ropes. Then she called out as before:
“Get up, Samson, for the Philistines are coming!” And when Samson rose up, the ropes broke as if they were thread. And Delilah again urged him to tell her; and he said:
“You notice that my long hair is in seven locks. Weave it together in the loom, just as if it were the threads in a piece of cloth.”
Then, while he was asleep, she wove his hair in the loom, and fastened it with a large pin to the weaving-frame. But when he awoke, he rose up, and carried away the pin and the beam of the weaving-frame; for he was as strong as before.
And Delilah, who was anxious to serve her people, said:
“Why do you tell me that you love me, as long as you deceive me and keep from me your secret?” And she pleaded with him day after day, until at last he yielded to her and told her the real secret of his strength. He said:
“I am a Nazarite, under a vow to the Lord, not to drink wine, and not to allow my hair to be cut. If I should let my hair be cut short, then the Lord would forsake me, and my strength would go from me, and I would be like other men.”
Then Delilah knew that she had found the truth at last. She sent for the rulers of the Philistines, saying:
“Come up this once, and you shall have your enemy; for he has told me all that is in his heart.”
Then while the Philistines were watching outside, Delilah let Samson go to sleep, with his head upon her knees. While he was sound asleep, they took a razor and shaved off all his hair. Then she called out as at other times.
“Rise up, Samson, the Philistines are upon you.”
He awoke, and rose up, expecting to find himself strong as before; for he did not at first know that his long hair had been cut off. But the vow to the Lord was broken, and the Lord had left him. He was now as weak as other men, and helpless in the hands of his enemies. The Philistines easily made him their prisoner; and that he might never do them more harm, they put out his eyes. Then they chained him with fetters, and sent him to prison at Gaza. And in the prison they made Samson turn a heavy millstone to grind grain, just as though he were a beast of burden.
But while Samson was in prison, his hair grew long again; and with his hair his strength came back to him; for Samson renewed his vow to the Lord.
One day, a great feast was held by the Philistines in the temple of their fish-god, Dagon. For they said:
“Our god has given Samson, our enemy, into our hand. Let us be glad together and praise Dagon.”
And the temple was thronged with people, and the roof over it was also crowded with more than three thousand men and women. They sent for Samson, to rejoice over him; and Samson was led into the court of the temple, before all the people, to amuse them. After a time, Samson said to the boy who was leading him:
He bowed forward with all his might and pulled the pillars with him
“Take me up to the front of the temple, so that I may stand by one of the pillars, and lean against it.”
And while Samson stood between the two pillars, he prayed:
“O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and give me strength, only this once, O God: and help me, that I may obtain vengeance upon the Philistines for my two eyes!”
Then he placed one arm around the pillar on one side, and the other arm around the pillar on the other side; and he said: “Let me die with the Philistines.”
And he bowed forward with all his might, and pulled the pillars over with him, bringing down the roof and all upon it upon those that were under it. Samson himself was among the dead; but in his death he killed more of the Philistines than he had killed during his life.
Then in the terror which came upon the Philistines the men of Samson’s tribe came down and found his dead body, and buried it in their own land. After that it was years before the Philistines tried again to rule over the Israelites.
Samson did much to set his people free; but he might have done much more, if he had led his people, instead of trusting alone to his own strength; and if he had lived more earnestly, and not done his deeds as though he was playing pranks. There were deep faults in Samson, but at the end he sought God’s help, and found it, and God used Samson to set his people free.
Now Esau, when he grew up, did not care for his birthright or the blessing which God had promised. But Jacob, who was a wise man, wished greatly to have the birthright which would come to Esau when his father died. Once, when Esau came home, hungry and tired from hunting in the fields, he saw that Jacob had a bowl of something that he had just cooked for dinner. And Esau said:
“Give me some of that red stuff in the dish. Will you not give me some? I am hungry.”
“Sell me your birthright”
And Jacob answered, “I will give it to you, if you will first of all sell to me your birthright.”
And Esau said, “What is the use of the birthright to me now, when I am almost starving to death? You can have my birthright if you will give me something to eat.”
Then Esau made Jacob a solemn promise to give to Jacob his birthright, all for a bowl of food. It was not right for Jacob to deal so selfishly with his brother; but it was very wrong in Esau to care so little for his birthright and God’s blessing.
Some time after this, when Esau was forty years old, he married two wives. Though this would be very wicked in our times, it was not supposed to be wrong then; for even good men then had more than one wife. But Esau’s two wives were women from the people of Canaan, who worshipped idols, and not the true God. And they taught their children also to pray to idols; so that those who came from Esau, the people who were his descendants, lost all knowledge of God, and became very wicked. But this was long after that time.
Isaac and Rebekah were very sorry to have their son Esau marry women who prayed to idols and not to God; but still Isaac loved his active son Esau more than his quiet son Jacob. But Rebekah loved Jacob more than Esau.
Isaac became at last very old and feeble, and so blind that he could see scarcely anything. One day he said to Esau:
“My son, I am very old, and do not know how soon I must die. But before I die, I wish to give to you, as my older son, God’s blessing upon you, and your children, and your descendants. Go out into the fields, and with your bow and arrows shoot some animal that is good for food, and make for me a dish of cooked meat such as you know I love; and after I have eaten it I will give you the blessing.”
Now Esau ought to have told his father that the blessing did not belong to him, for he had sold it to his brother Jacob. But he did not tell his father. He went out into the fields hunting, to find the kind of meat which his father liked the most.
Now Rebekah was listening, and heard all that Isaac had said to Esau. She knew that it would be better for Jacob to have the blessing than for Esau; and she loved Jacob more than Esau. So she called to Jacob and told him what Isaac had said to Esau, and she said:
“Now, my son, do what I tell you, and you will get the blessing instead of your brother. Go to the flocks and bring to me two little kids from the goats, and I will cook them just like the meat which Esau cooks for your father. And you will bring it to your father, and he will think that you are Esau, and will give you the blessing; and it really belongs to you.”
“Now, my son, do what I tell you”
But Jacob said, “You know that Esau and I are not alike. His neck and arms are covered with hairs, while mine are smooth. My father will feel of me, and he will find that I am not Esau; and then, instead of giving me a blessing, I am afraid that he will curse me.”
But Rebekah answered her son, “Never mind; you do as I have told you, and I will take care of you. If any harm comes it will come to me; so do not be afraid, but go and bring the meat.”
Then Jacob went and brought a pair of little kids from the flocks, and from them his mother made a dish of food, so that it would be to the taste just as Isaac liked it. Then Rebekah found some of Esau’s clothes, and dressed Jacob in them; and she placed on his neck and hands some of the skins of the kids, so that his neck and his hands would feel rough and hairy to the touch.
Then Jacob came into his father’s tent, bringing the dinner, and speaking as much like Esau as he could, he said:
“Here I am, my father.”
And Isaac said, “Who are you, my son?”
And Jacob answered, “I am Esau, your oldest son; I have done as you bade me; now sit up and eat the dinner that I have made, and then give me your blessing as you promised me.”
And Isaac said, “How is it that you found it so quickly?”
Jacob answered, “Because the Lord your God showed me where to go and gave me good success.”
Isaac did not feel certain that it was his son Esau, and he said, “Come near and let me feel you, so that I may know that you are really my son Esau.”
And Jacob went up close to Isaac’s bed, and Isaac felt of his face, and his neck, and his hands, and he said:
“May nations bow down to you.”
“The voice sounds like Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau. Are you really my son Esau?”
And Jacob told a lie to his father, and said, “I am.”
Then the old man ate the food that Jacob had brought to him; and he kissed Jacob, believing him to be Esau; and he gave him the blessing, saying to him:
“May God give you the dew of heaven, and the richness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. May nations bow down to you and peoples become your servants. May you be the master over your brother, and may your family and descendants that shall come from you rule over his family and his descendants. Blessed be those that bless you, and cursed be those that curse you.”
Just as soon as Jacob had received the blessing he rose up and hastened away. He had scarcely gone out, when Esau came in from hunting, with the dish of food that he had cooked. And he said:
“Let my father sit up and eat the food that I have brought, and give me the blessing.”
And Isaac said, “Why, who are you?”
Esau answered, “I am your son; your oldest son, Esau.”
And Isaac trembled, and said, “Who then is the one that came in and brought to me food? and I have eaten his food and have blessed him; yes, and he shall be blessed.”
When Esau heard this, he knew that he had been cheated; and he cried aloud, with a bitter cry, “O, my father, my brother has taken away my blessing, just as he took away my birthright! But cannot you give me another blessing, too? Have you given everything to my brother?”
And Isaac told him all that he had said to Jacob, making him the ruler over his brother.
But Esau begged for another blessing; and Isaac said:
“My son, your dwelling shall be of the riches of the earth and of the dew of heaven. You shall live by your sword and your descendants shall serve his descendants. But in time to come they shall break loose and shall shake off the yoke of your brother’s rule and shall be free.”
All this came to pass many years afterward. The people who came from Esau lived in a land called Edom, on the south of the land of Israel, where Jacob’s descendants lived. And after a time the Israelites became rulers over the Edomites; and later still, the Edomites made themselves free from the Israelites. But all this took place hundreds of years afterward.
It was better that Jacob’s descendants, those who came after him, should have the blessing, than that Esau’s people should have it; for Jacob’s people worshipped God, and Esau’s people walked in the way of the idols and became wicked.
After Abraham died, his son Isaac lived in the land of Canaan. Like his father, Isaac had his home in a tent; around him were the tents of his people, and many flocks of sheep and herds of cattle feeding wherever they could find grass to eat and water to drink.
Isaac and his wife Rebekah had two children. The older was named Esau and the younger Jacob.
Esau was a man of the woods and very fond of hunting; and he was rough and covered with hair.
Jacob was quiet and thoughtful, staying at home, dwelling in a tent, and caring for the flocks of his father.
Isaac loved Esau more than Jacob, because Esau brought to his father that which he had killed in his hunting; but Rebekah liked Jacob, because she saw that he was wise and careful in his work.
Among the people in those lands, when a man dies, his older son receives twice as much as the younger of what the father has owned. This was called his “birthright,” for it was his right as the oldest born. So Esau, as the older, had a “birthright” to more of Isaac’s possessions than Jacob. And besides this, there was the privilege of the promise of God that the family of Isaac should receive great blessings.
“The Wonder Book of Bible Stories” by Logan Marshall is a collection of biblical stories written in the early 20th century. This work aims to present key narratives from the Bible in a simplified and engaging manner tailored for children, allowing them to grasp important moral lessons and the essence of these timeless tales.
You remember that in those times of which we are telling, when men worshipped God, they built an altar of earth or of stone, and laid an offering upon it as a gift to God. The offering was generally a sheep, or a goat, or a young ox—some animal that was used for food. Such an offering was called “a sacrifice.”
But the people who worshipped idols often did what seems to us strange and very terrible. They thought that it would please their gods if they would offer as a sacrifice the most precious living things that were their own; and they would take their own little children and kill them upon their altars as offerings to the gods of wood and stone, that were no real gods, but only images.
God wished to show Abraham and all his descendants, those who should come after him, that he was not pleased with such offerings as those of living people, killed on the altars. And God took a way to teach Abraham, so that he and his children after him would never forget it. Then at the same time he wished to see how faithful and obedient Abraham would be to his commands; how fully Abraham would trust in God, or, as we would say, how great was Abraham’s faith in God.
So God gave to Abraham a command which he did not mean to have obeyed, though this he did not tell to Abraham. He said:
“Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love so greatly, and go to the land of Moriah, and there on a mountain that I will show you, offer him for a burnt-offering to me.”
Though this command filled Abraham’s heart with pain, yet he would not be as surprised to receive it as a father would in our day; for such offerings were very common among all those people in the land where Abraham lived. Abraham never for one moment doubted or disobeyed God’s word. He knew that Isaac was the child whom God had promised, and that God had promised, too, that Isaac should have children, and that those coming from Isaac should be a great nation. He did not see how God could keep his promise with regard to Isaac, if Isaac should be killed as an offering; unless indeed God should raise him up from the dead afterward.
But Abraham undertook at once to obey. God’s command. He took two young men with him and an ass laden with wood for the fire; and he went toward the mountain in the north, Isaac, his son, walking by his side. For two days they walked, sleeping under the trees at night in the open country. And on the third day Abraham saw the mountain far away. And as they drew near to the mountain Abraham said to the young men:
For two days they walked
“Stay here with the ass, while I go up yonder mountain with Isaac to worship; and when we have worshipped, we will come back to you.” For Abraham believed that in some way God would bring back Isaac to life. He took the wood from the ass and placed it on Isaac, and they two walked up the mountain together. As they were walking, Isaac said:
“Father, here is the wood, but where is the lamb for the offering?”
And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide himself a Lamb for a burnt offering.”
And they came to the place on the top of the mountain. There Abraham built an altar of stones and earth heaped up; and on it he placed the wood. Then he tied the hands and the feet of Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on the wood. And Abraham lifted up his hand, holding a knife to kill his son. Another moment longer and Isaac would be slain by his own father’s hand.
“God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering”
But just at that moment the angel of the Lord out of heaven called to Abraham, and said:
“Abraham! Abraham!”
And Abraham answered, “Here I am, Lord.” Then the angel of the Lord said:
“Do not lay your hand upon your son. Do no harm to him. Now I know that you love God more than you love your only son, and that you are obedient to God, since you are ready to give up your son, your only son, to God.”
What a relief and a joy these words from heaven brought to the heart of Abraham! How glad he was to know that it was not God’s will for him to kill his son! Then Abraham looked around, and there in the thicket was a ram caught by his horns. And Abraham took the ram and offered him up for a burnt-offering in place of his son. So Abraham’s words came true when he said that God would provide for himself a lamb.
The place where this altar was built Abraham named Jehovah-jireh, words in the language that Abraham spoke meaning, “The Lord will provide.”
This offering, which seems so strange, did much good. It showed to Abraham, and to Isaac also, that Isaac belonged to God, for to God he had been offered; and in Isaac all those who should come from him, his descendants, had been given to God. Then it showed to Abraham and to all the people after him, that God did not wish children or men killed as offerings for worship; and while all the people around offered such sacrifices, the Israelites, who came from Abraham and from Isaac, never offered them, but offered oxen and sheep and goats instead.
These gifts, which cost so much toil, they felt must be pleasing to God, because they expressed their thankfulness to him. But they were glad to be taught that God does not desire men’s lives to be taken but loves our living gifts of love and kindness.
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