Project Gutenberg's Stories of the Bible, Volume 1, by Myles Endicott This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: Stories of the Bible, Volume 1 The People of the Chosen Land Author: Myles Endicott Release Date: August 26, 2020 [EBook #63047] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES OF THE BIBLE, VOLUME 1 *** Produced by Bryan Ness, Steve Read and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) STORIES OF THE BIBLE THE PEOPLE OF THE CHOSEN LAND BY MYLES ENDICOTT ILLUSTRATIONS FROM DORÉ AND OTHER EMINENT ARTISTS Volume I. EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY BOSTON New York Chicago San Francisco Copyrighted By EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 1897 CREATION OF LIGHT CREATION OF LIGHT CONTENTS THE CREATION THE GARDEN OF EDEN THE FLOOD THE TOWER OF BABEL ABRAHAM ABRAHAM'S VISIONS HAGAR ISAAC REBEKAH JACOB AND ESAU JOSEPH PHARAOH'S DREAM JOSEPH'S BROTHERS THE STORY OF MOSES MOSES' VISION THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT THE RED SEA MIRIAM'S SONG IN THE WILDERNESS THE TABERNACLE THE PROMISED LAND THE STORY OF JOSHUA THE GIBEONITES EHUD AND DEBORAH THE STORY OF GIDEON ABIMELECH THE STORY OF SAMSON THE STORY OF RUTH AND NAOMI THE STORY OF SAMUEL CREATION OF THE SUN AND MOON. CREATION OF THE SUN AND MOON. STORIES OF THE BIBLE. THE CREATION. Many, many years ago there was no earth. There were no plants, nor animals; no sun; no moon; neither were there any people. All was darkness. Then God looked into the darkness and said, "Let there be light." And light came. And out of the new light God created the blue sky, the deep sea, the beautiful grass-covered earth, the plants, the trees, and the many-colored flowers. THE CREATION OF ANIMALS. (Raphael.) THE CREATION OF ANIMALS. (Raphael.) And in the blue sky he placed the golden sun, the silver moon, and the stars that shine like jewels in the sky. Then, in the water he placed the fishes; on the earth, the animals; and in the tree tops the birds sang their praises. "This shall be for a home for man," the Creator said; and so, one morning, there woke to life in the Garden of Eden a man and woman—beautiful and good and pure. To the animals God had given strength and speed, and fur for protection from the wind and rain. To the birds he had given plumage, brilliant and warm. To the fishes, fins and scales. Then man came; and to him was given intelligence, and reason, and power to grow in wisdom; for by these was he to protect himself from the elements and gain dominion over all the earth,—the fishes, the birds, and the animals thereof. [7] [8] [9] Then God blessed everything he had made; for he loved what he had made, and surrounded it with all that was beautiful and good. "Of every tree in the garden ye may eat," He had said to Adam and Eve, "except the tree of Knowledge-of-Good-and- of-Evil. Of that eat not lest ye die." THE CREATION. The spacious firmament on high, With all the blue ethereal sky, And spangled Heavens, a shining frame, Their great Original proclaim. The unwearied sun, from day to day, Does his Creator's power display, And publishes to every land The work of an almighty hand. Soon as the evening shades prevail, The moon takes up the wondrous tale, And nightly to the listening earth Repeats the story of her birth; Whist all the stars around her burn, And all the planets, in their turn, Confirm the tidings as they roll, And spread the truth from pole to pole. What though in solemn silence all Move round this dark terrestrial ball! What though no real voice or sound Amidst their radiant orbs be found!— In reason's ear they all rejoice, And utter forth a glorious voice; Forever singing as they shine, "The hand that made us is Divine." —Joseph Addison. [10] [11] CREATION OF TERRA FIRMA. (Raphael.) CREATION OF TERRA FIRMA. (Raphael.) THE GARDEN OF EDEN. When Adam and Eve looked out upon the world round about them; when they saw the flowers and the grasses; when they heard the splashing of the sun-lit waters, and the rustling of the soft branches,—then their hearts were filled with love for each other, for their home, and for the Father who had made all this joy for them. For a long time they wandered up and down the Garden of Eden, singing songs, and ready always to hear the voice of God when he spoke to them in the soft winds that played among the tree tops. Now, there was a wicked angel, named Satan. He had been cast out from heaven, down, down from the blue sky. And in his own unhappy home he dwelt now, alone, wretched and revengeful. And when he saw this happy man and woman, so good and pure, their hearts bounding with love to God and joy in right doing, his cruel face grew black. "Such happiness shall not last," he said. So he crept into the Garden, took on the form of a serpent and spoke to Eve. "Eat of the fruit of this tree," he said, "and give it to Adam that he may eat too." "But we are forbidden," Eve said. "The fruit is like no other. Eat! Ye shall not die," the serpent answered. THE EXPULSION OF ADAM AND EVE FROM THE GARDEN OF EDEN. (Dore.) Then Eve gathered the fruit and ate of it. It was sweet, even as the serpent had said. Then she gathered more, and [12] [13] Adam, too, ate of it. Then darkness fell upon the earth. A great wind arose, the thunder rolled, and God drove Adam and Eve out from the Garden of Eden; and at the entrance He placed cherubims and a flaming sword for no one who had sinned could dwell in a land so beautiful and free from sorrow. But God pitied these children of his; and, although they had sinned against him, he saw that, after long years of suffering, One should be born, who would bring back to earth the joy and peace and happiness that had once been theirs, and which would have been to all their children in all the time to come, had not these parents sinned. And so Adam and Eve went out into the world to work and struggle and build homes for themselves. ADAM AND EVE. (Raphael.) ADAM AND EVE. (Raphael.) By and by two baby boys were born to them,—Cain and Abel. Pure and kind and good these children should have been. But now they were born into a world of sin, and of the nature of sin they too partook. When these children were grown men, Cain hated his brother. He grew sullen and revengeful towards him. The serpent that had tempted Adam and Eve now tempted him. He listened; and one day, when they were at work together in the field, Cain slew Abel and hid him in the earth. Then a great storm gathered across the sky; and a voice said, "Cain, where is thy brother?" Cain trembled with fear; for he knew it was the voice of God. But he raised his wicked face towards the heavens and cried, "Why should I know? Am I my brother's keeper?" And the voice said, "Thou art thy brother's keeper." Then God put a brand upon the brow of Cain, and drove him forth into the wilderness, to be a fugitive and a vagabond. [16] [17] STATUE OF CAIN. (Giovanni Dupre.) STATUE OF CAIN. (Giovanni Dupre.) THE CURSE OF CAIN. O, the wrath of the Lord is a terrible thing!— Like the tempest that withers the blossoms of spring, Like the thunder that bursts on the summer's domain, It fell on the head of the homicide Cain. And, lo! like a deer in the fright of the chase, With a fire in his heart, and a brand on his face, He speeds him afar to the desert of Nod,— A vagabond, smote by the vengeance of God! All nature, to him, has been blasted and banned, And the blood of a brother yet reeks on his hand; And no vintage has grown, and no fountain has sprung, For cheering his heart, or for cooling his tongue. The groans of a father his slumber shall start, And the tears of a mother shall pierce to his heart, And the kiss of his children shall scorch him like flame, When he thinks of the curse that hangs over his name. —Knox. [19] THE DOVE SENT FORTH FROM THE ARK. THE DOVE SENT FORTH FROM THE ARK. THE FLOOD. Earth shall be ocean! and no breath, Save of the winds be on the unbounded wave! Angels shall tire their wings, but find no spot: Not even a rock from out the liquid grave Shall lift its point to save, Or show the place where strong despair hath died, After long looking o'er the ocean wide For the expected ebb which cometh not; All shall be void, destroyed. —Byron. It was many, many years after Adam and Eve were driven out from the Garden of Eden that the flood came. There were thousands of people in the world now, and they were scattered here and there through the fertile valleys and along the rivers of the country far and wide. There were rich farms everywhere, and shepherds watched their flocks on the hillsides. There were towns and cities; many of them where people dwelt together and made their laws and appointed their law-givers. But in all these years the people had been growing more and more away from the simple, honest life that God had first shown Adam and Eve. They had grown selfish and greedy; they were cruel to each other; they cared nothing for the rights and comforts of the community; and more than all this, they had forsaken the simple faith of their fathers and become worshippers of idols. There was one good man dwelling among these people, many, many years before, whose name was Enoch. Now, it was not the will of God that Enoch should suffer for the sins of the people; and so, when the flood was about to come upon the earth to destroy them, God came and stood by Enoch and said, "Come with me." Now there was another good man upon the earth, a great grandson of Enoch's, and a man who had never forgotten God, and who had reared his children always in the simple faith which had been his own. Although God meant to send a flood that should destroy the cities, and separate the people so that the wickedness of the earth might be destroyed, still it was not his wish that the race should perish wholly. And so again God went down to the earth, and said to this good man, Noah, "Build thou an ark, and into it bring all thy family, and also two of every kind of bird and beast and animal. For a great flood shall come upon the earth, and those in the ark only shall be saved." Noah was a simple hearted man. It was a strange thing for him to be told to build an ark and place within its shelter his family and two of every living thing upon the face of the earth. NOAH BUILDING THE ARK. (Raphael.) NOAH BUILDING THE ARK. (Raphael.) [21] [22] [23] [24] He told the people what God had said to him; and he urged them to do likewise. But the people only laughed at him, and called him a fool. But Noah doubted not the word of God and set to work at once,—his three sons, Ham, Shem, and Japheth helping him to build an ark, and to gather together the birds and beasts and animals of the earth. Every morning the four men set out as soon as the sun had risen, and kept at their work until darkness fell at night. At last the ark was finished, and Noah, with his wife, his three sons and their wives, journeyed to the mountain side. The people in the valley laughed at them and threw stones at them, but the trustful little band kept on their way and entered the ark, taking with them, as they had been told, two of every kind of bird and beast. Then the clouds began to gather in the south,—great black rolls of cloud. The wind rose, the clouds scattered over the whole sky; and so black and thick were they that the light of the sun was shut out. It was like night. THE DELUGE. THE DELUGE. Then the rain fell. In great sheets, like rivers, it poured upon the valleys. The thunders rolled, the lightnings flashed, the rivers overflowed their banks. The winds howled, and great trees were torn up by the roots. For forty days this storm continued—forty days and forty nights. Every living thing left upon the face of the earth was drowned. But the ark, with its inmates, was borne up by the waters in safety. At last, one morning when Noah and his people awoke, they could see that the storm had ceased; the clouds were separating, and the sun was sending its rays down through the mist upon the flooded earth below. Then came the beautiful rainbow, spanning the heavens in the west, and reflecting its wonderful colors in the great sea below. [25] [26] [28] THE RAINBOW. Triumphal arch, that fill'st the sky When storms prepare to part, I ask not proud philosophy To teach me what thou art. Still seem as to my childhood's sight, A midway station given, For happy spirits to alight Betwixt the earth and heaven. How glorious is thy girdle cast O'er mountain, tower, and town, Or mirror'd in the ocean vast, A thousand fathoms down. As fresh in yon horizon dark, As young thy beauties seem, As when the eagle from the ark First sported in thy beam. For faithful to its sacred page, Heaven still rebuilds thy span, Nor lets the type grow pale with age, That first spoke peace to man. —T. Campbell. Never was rainbow so beautiful! Then the voice of God spoke from out the skies to Noah, "This shall be to you a bow of promise. Never again shall the earth and the people be destroyed by water." [30]