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Posts tagged ‘Old Testament’

The Altar on Mount Ebal

THE ALTAR ON MOUNT EBAL

Before Moses died he called the Israelites together, and urged them to faithfully serve God; also directing that when they entered Canaan, they were to build an altar of rough stones, covered with plaster, on Mount Ebal, and to write the words of God’s law upon this altar. Then six of the tribes were to stand on Mount Gerizim, and six on Mount Ebal, and, in the hearing of all the people, the blessings for obedience and the cursings for disobedience were to be proclaimed.

Mounts Ebal and Gerizim are two rugged mountains that face each other in Samaria. When the Israelites advanced thus far, they remembered the words of Moses. Joshua built the altar as directed, on which he offered sacrifices to God, and wrote a copy of the law upon it. All Israel stood, “half of them over against Mount Gerizim, and half of them over against Mount Ebal,” and Joshua read all the words of the law, “the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law.” Then the loud voices of the Levites were heard from the mountain sides, declaring, in the hearing of all the people, the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience, as God had commanded.

THE ALTAR ON MOUNT EBAL
MOTHER STORIES From the Old Testament

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Achan’s Sin

ACHAN’S SIN

God commanded the Israelites to destroy Jericho; and all the gold, silver, and other riches found there were to be devoted to the Lord. If any disobeyed this command then a curse was to rest upon all, and they were not to prosper.

The Israelites were to conquer the Canaanites, and drive them out of the land. So Joshua prepared to attack a city named Ai. Three thousand of his men went to capture it, but the inhabitants came out and drove them back, killing some of them. Joshua was greatly grieved. He knew that unless God made the Israelites victorious, the Canaanites would be able to overcome them, and God had appeared to fail them this time. Oh! he was sorry. But he told God the trouble, and God showed him the cause of it.

One of the Israelites, named Achan, saw among the spoil of Jericho, a handsome garment, some silver, and a bar of gold, and coveted them. He stole these things and hid them away in his tent, thinking that no one saw him; but God knew it all. Achan’s sin was the cause of Israel’s defeat! God showed Joshua how the man who had done the wickedness was to be discovered. Each tribe was to be brought before God, then each family of the tribe He chose, then each household of the family taken, and lastly each man of the family chosen. Finally, Achan was pointed out by God. Joshua bade him confess what he had done, and he said that he had taken the Babylonish garment and the gold and silver.

Messengers were sent to his tent, who brought what Achan had hidden; and he, with his sons and daughters, his cattle, and all that he had, and the garment, silver, and gold, were taken to a valley near by, where the people stoned them, and burned them with fire; and then raised over all a great heap of stones, which remained as a memorial to warn others against sinning as Achan had done.

Achan Confessing His sin
MOTHER STORIES From the Old Testament

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How Jericho was Captured

HOW JERICHO WAS CAPTURED

When men in olden times attacked a city, they tried to batter down the walls with heavy beams of wood, having heads of iron, called battering rams; but God did not instruct the Israelites thus to capture Jericho. They were to remember that it was not by their own power they could conquer the Canaanites, but only as God gave them the victory over their enemies. So God commanded Joshua to lay siege to Jericho in a very strange way. He said that seven priests, each having a trumpet, were to go before the ark. In front of them the armed men of Israel were to march; and behind the ark the people were to follow. In this way they were to go round the city once each day for six days, the priests blowing their trumpets each time. The seventh day they were to go in the same manner round the city seven times; and God said that when the priests blew their trumpets the seventh time, the people were to give a great shout, and the walls of the city would fall down.

Joshua and the people did as God commanded. They marched round the city carrying the ark, the priests blowing their trumpets; and on the seventh day they marched round seven times. The last time, when the priests blew their trumpets, the people shouted with a great shout, and the walls of the city fell down flat. Then the Israelites went up and took possession of it.

Thus God delivered Jericho into the hands of His people. All the inhabitants were killed except Rahab and her relatives. These were spared because Rahab had been kind to the spies whom Joshua had sent.

The Fall of Jericho
MOTHER STORIES From the Old Testament

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The Captain of the Lord’s Host

THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD’S HOST

News of the miraculous way in which the Israelites had been brought across the Jordan spread rapidly among the Canaanites, and when they heard what God had done, they were very much afraid. We are told that “their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.”

God had said to Joshua that the land of Canaan was to be taken possession of by the Israelites; and had commanded him to “Be strong and of a good courage,” and had strengthened him by saying, “Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” Joshua and the people were now in Canaan, and before them lay a stronghold of the Canaanites, named Jericho, having high walls and strong gates. This city the Israelites had to capture; but the inhabitants closed the gates, and prepared to fight fiercely to prevent Joshua and his warriors from getting in.

As Joshua was alone at this time, near Jericho, he looked up, and saw a man standing with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and asked, “Art thou for us or for our adversaries?” The man answered, “Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I come.” Do you know who it was? Was it an angel? I think it was more than an angel. It was the Lord! Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped, saying, “What saith my Lord unto His servant?” Then the Lord told Joshua, as before he had told Moses, to take his shoes from his feet, for the place on which he stood was holy; and instructed him how Jericho was to be captured.

The Captain of the Lord’s Host
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The Passage of the Jordan

THE PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN

Having wandered for forty years in the wilderness, the Israelites drew near to the river Jordan, at a place opposite Jericho. Moses was dead, and Joshua was now the leader of the host. God told him that the time had come when the people of Israel were to enter Canaan; to which land they had all this long time been travelling, but which previously they had not been permitted to enter on account of their sin. A description of this sin is given in the Bible, in the fourteenth chapter of Numbers.

But the people were now to cross the Jordan and enter Canaan. They were a very great multitude, and the river lay before them. How were they to cross? God told them! He commanded Joshua that the priests were to take the ark of the covenant and to go before the people; who were to follow a short distance behind. Could the priests and the people walk across the deep water? No. But as soon as the priests reached the river, and their feet were dipped in the water, God divided the Jordan into two, leaving dry ground for the Israelites to cross upon.

The priests carried the ark into the middle of the bed of the river and then stood still, and all the people passed on before them. When all were over, the priests carrying the ark moved forward also, and the waters returned to their proper place again. But before they did so, Joshua commanded twelve men, one from each tribe, each to take a stone from the river’s bed; and these stones were set up as a memorial of the marvellous manner in which God had brought the Israelites across the Jordan into Canaan.

The Crossing of the Jordan River
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The Brazen Serpent

THE BRAZEN SERPENT

Jesus Christ says that “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” What did Jesus mean?

Nearly forty years had passed since God gave His law from Mount Sinai; and frequently the people had sinned during that time. Through their disobedience they were compelled to wander in the wilderness for many long years, instead of going straight to Canaan. While thus wandering they passed round the land of Edom, and became grieved and impatient because of the dreariness and difficulty of the way. They murmured against God and against Moses, and said, “Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.” They meant the manna which God gave them daily.

God allowed fiery serpents to come among the people because of their sin, which bit them, and many died. Then they came to Moses, saying, “We have sinned … pray unto the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” Moses did so; and God told him to make a serpent of brass and to put it on a pole; and said that all who looked to the serpent should live. The serpent of brass could not heal them, but God healed them as they obeyed his command to look to the serpent. It was look and live.

Now I think we see what Jesus means. God has said that all must die because of sin; but those who look to Jesus and trust in Him will have their sins pardoned, and will live with Him in glory forever.

The Brazen Serpent
MOTHER STORIES From the Old Testament

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Bezaleel and Aholiab

BEZALEEL AND AHOLIAB

After God had given the Ten Commandments, He called Moses up into the mountain; where he remained forty days and forty nights. During that time, God told him to speak to the Israelites, asking them to give gold, silver, brass, blue, purple, fine linen, oil, precious stones, and other things, to make a tabernacle or sanctuary, where God would dwell among them. God showed Moses the pattern of this tabernacle, with its coverings, its holy place and most holy place, its ark of the covenant with the cherubims and mercy-seat, its table for the shewbread, golden candlestick, and altar of incense, and the garments for Aaron and his sons, etc.; everything was accurately described by God. Then God instructed Moses as to who could do the work He had commanded to be done, and named two to whom He had given special wisdom and skill: these two were Bezaleel and Aholiab.

When Moses came down from the mountain he called Aaron and all the people of Israel, and told them what God had commanded. The people willingly brought gifts, till more than enough was provided. Then Bezaleel and Aholiab, and other wise-hearted men, worked diligently until the tabernacle and all things belonging to it were made exactly as God had instructed. Some worked in gold and silver, others in brass and wood; wise women spun cloth of blue, purple and scarlet, and fine linen; precious stones were set for the high priest’s ephod and breastplate; and, at last, all was finished. Then we are told “Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the Lord had commanded.” Then Moses blessed them.

BEZALEEL AND AHOLIAB

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The Ten Commandments

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

The Israelites journeyed onward and encamped before Mount Sinai. There God talked with Moses, and instructed him to remind the people of the great things He had done for them; and to say that if they obeyed Him, and kept His covenant, they should be a peculiar treasure to Him above all people, and a holy nation.

When the people heard God’s message, they answered, “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” How happy would they have been if they had always kept this promise! But, alas! they did not do so; and great punishments came upon them in consequence.

God also said that on the third day He would descend upon Mount Sinai; and commanded the people to prepare themselves for that great and solemn event. None were to approach the mount, for if they did so they would die. On the third day, according to the command, the people gathered before Mount Sinai. A thick cloud covered the mountain, which smoked and quaked, and there were thunders and lightnings; a trumpet also sounded exceeding loud, so that all the people trembled. Then God spake from the midst of the fire, and gave the people the Ten Commandments. These you will find in the twentieth chapter of Exodus; and little folks with sharp eyes can read them in our picture.

We are told that “all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking;” and when they saw it they were so much afraid that they stood afar off. How holy is God’s law, and how careful should we be to obey it!

The Ten Commandments
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Moses Striking the Rock

MOSES STRIKING THE ROCK

After the Israelites left Egypt they crossed the Red Sea, whose waters divided so that they passed through on dry land. Then they travelled through the wilderness toward Mount Sinai. Passing onward, they wanted water and food; and forgetting the great things God had already done for them, they began to murmur. At a place called Marah they found the water too bitter to drink; so they grumbled, saying to Moses, “What shall we drink?” He asked God; who showed him a tree, which, when cast into the water, made it sweet.

Next the people murmured for food, and God sent them manna, which they gathered every day except the Sabbath; but with all God’s care and kindness the Israelites continued to grumble whenever any difficulty arose. Journeying forward, they entered another wilderness, called the Desert of Sin, and came to a place named Rephidim, where they found no water. They were very thirsty, and came to Moses murmuring and saying, “Give us water that we may drink.” How could Moses do that? He was grieved with them, and said, “Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord?” But the people grew so angry that they were ready to stone him. Then Moses told God all the trouble, and God showed him what to do. He was to go before the people, taking the elders of Israel with him, and his rod, and God would stand before him on a rock among the mountains of Horeb. This rock he was to strike, when water would gush forth.

Moses did as God commanded. He went forward with the elders, struck the rock with his rod; and the pure, clear water gushed out, so that all the people were able to drink.

STRIKING THE ROCK
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The Flight From Egypt

THE FLIGHT FROM EGYPT

When Moses was forty years old he had to flee from Egypt. He went to Midian, where he dwelt for forty years; at the end of which time God appeared to him, and instructed him to return to Egypt; where he was appointed by God to lead the Israelites from bondage to the land of Canaan. Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and delivered to him God’s command to let the people of Israel go; telling him that if he disobeyed terrible plagues would come upon his land. Pharaoh hardened his heart against God, and refused to let the people go; so ten dreadful plagues were sent, the last of which was that the firstborn of every Egyptian should die, whether it were man or beast. But not a single Israelite was to suffer harm. This plague God said should come in the night; when an angel would pass through the land, destroying the Egyptians but sparing the Israelites.

Each family of the Israelites was commanded, on the evening that God had appointed, to kill a lamb, and to dip a bunch of hyssop in its blood, sprinkling this blood upon the top and side posts of the door. All the houses thus marked God said would be spared when the destroying angel passed through the land. In the night, while the Israelites were, according to God’s command, eating the lambs that had been slain, all ready to depart, a great cry arose among the Egyptians. In every house, from the palace downwards, the eldest child lay dead.

Then the Egyptians arose, and thrust the Israelites out; and they left Egypt, and journeyed towards the Red Sea.

MOTHER STORIES From the Old Testament

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