BS 551 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 
 
 Chap. Copyright JSo. 
 
 ShelfjCG^ 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 

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Easy Steps in the 
 Bible Story 
 
 FROM THE CREATION TO SINAI 
 
 By 
 ADELAIDE BEE COOPER 
 
 WluattateD 
 
 REVIEW AND HERALD PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 Battle Creek, Michigan 
 1900 
 
 1 
 
72549 
 
 Utsmuy of ConrrT^sB 
 
 NOV 8 1900 
 
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 feet A*b. Uoo* 
 
 U- ^.Hf? fa 
 
 NOV 24 1« 
 
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 Copyrighted, 1900, 
 by 
 Adelaide Bee Cooper 
 
Tfl th* (KhilrirBti 
 
 This Book Is Lovingly Dedicated 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 The truth, simply told, always carries with it the 
 power of conviction. Embellishments do not belong 
 to God's word. God never makes any apology when 
 he speaks to man. It is, "Thus saith the L,ord," 
 or, "Thus saith the Holy Ghost;" then whatever 
 God has to say, he says it simply, directly, and right 
 to the point. 
 
 This little book does not claim to be original in 
 conception, nor to bring out startling truths or fan- 
 ciful ideas : it simply gives the truth, in language 
 adapted to the young. It takes the truths that lie 
 upon the very surface of revelation, and tells the 
 story simply, that others may be able to comprehend 
 its nature and see its beauty. 
 
 The lyord said to Israel: "Thou shalt remember all 
 the way which the L,ord thy God led thee these forty 
 years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove 
 thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou 
 wouldest keep his commandments, or no." Deut. 
 8:2. He would have people repeat over and over to 
 their children, and to their children's children, the 
 dealings of God with them. The facts were given in 
 the scrolls of the Hebrews, but the story was told in 
 the language of the mothers. So should it ever be. 
 
 God would have the story of creation ; of the flood ; 
 of his servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; of Joseph 
 
 9 
 
io Introduction 
 
 and Moses ; and of the deliverance of the children of 
 Israel from Egypt, — all his wonderful dealings with 
 mankind, — repeated in the language of the people. 
 This is what the present book does. It gives the 
 story of what God has said, and of what he has done 
 in his dealings with the children of men. 
 
 Daniel was preserved in the courts of Babylon 
 from the meat that came from the king's table, and 
 from the wine which the king drank, by the barrier 
 built around his soul by his mother's telling him the 
 story of Nadab and Abihu. This was the Hebrew 
 method of teaching the children ; and were this 
 method more fully adopted at the present time, it 
 would throw about our children a safeguard that 
 would keep them from the thousand evils that sur- 
 round them. 
 
 I^et all feel the power there is in the simple story 
 that God has given in his word, spoken in language 
 that the children and youth can comprehend. In the 
 perils before us, our youth will need a special protec- 
 tion from the I^ord. He is to draw over his people 
 the covering of the Holy Spirit ; but none can be cov- 
 ered unless their minds are directed to the history of 
 God's work, and impressions are made that will lead 
 them to trust in him who has ever wrought for his 
 people in the past. 
 
 S. N. HASKEIylv. 
 September, 1900. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I The Making of the World . . .13 
 
 II Man's Disobedience . . . . 21 
 
 III The Two Brothers, Cain and Abel 24 
 
 IV The Flood, the Ark, and the Bow 
 
 of Promise 29 
 
 V The Tower of Babel . . . .38 
 VI Abraham, ' ' The Friend of God " . 43 
 VII The Destruction of the Cities of 
 
 the Plain 53 
 
 VIII Jacob and Esau . .... 59 
 
 IX Joseph . . . , 75 
 
 X Moses 99 
 
 XI The Plagues of Egypt . . . .109 
 XII The Passover 127 
 
 XIII Crossing the Red Sea . . . .135 
 
 XIV The Miracle at Marah : The Giv- 
 
 ing of the Manna . . . .142 
 XV Water from the Rock : The Ama- 
 
 lekites : The Visit of Jethro . 148 
 XVI The Ten Commandments . . .152 
 
 n 
 
FULL - PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Ark at Rest {Frontispiece) .... 4 
 Bkasts and Birds Going into the Ark . 32 
 
 Noah's Thank-Offering 36 
 
 Eliezer Meets Rebecca 42 
 
 On the Way to Mount Moriah . . .51 
 Lot and His Daughters Leave Sodom . 57 
 Isaac Blessing His Son Jacob . . . .61 
 Jacob's Wonderful Dream .... 66 
 Rachel Drawing Water for Her Flock . 69 
 Joseph's Dream of the Sheaves ... 74 
 Joseph Sold by His Brothers . . . .79 
 Joseph Makes Himself Known to His 
 
 Brothers 92 
 
 Moses Hidden by His Mother .... 103 
 Moses Taken to the Princess . . . 105 
 
 Making Brick in Egypt no 
 
 Under the Taskmasters of Egypt . . 113 
 
 Sprinkling the Blood 126 
 
 In Every House There Was One Dead . 131 
 
 12 
 
* B W^ i ft £ ^ 
 The AV&king of the World 
 
 THE first two chapters of the Bible tell us 
 how the earth was made, and how man 
 was created to live in it, and rule over it. 
 
 At first the earth was a great shapeless 
 mass ; it had no form, and was covered with 
 a dense darkness, through which no ray of 
 light had ever shone. We have never seen, 
 nor can we imagine, a darkness so thick as 
 that. But God said, "Let there be light: and 
 there was light;" for when he speaks, his 
 word has power to make it so. 
 
 Without light everything that grows on 
 the earth would die; there would be no grass, ^W? 
 no flowers, no living, growing thing. Did 
 you ever see a plant that had been kept for 
 some time in a cellar or a darkened room, 
 and notice how pale and sickly it looked? 
 Perhaps you have seen it taken outdoors, 
 set in the ground, and shaded a few days 
 
 13 
 
4 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 from the sun's rays, till it grew stronger, 
 and its leaves became green and its stalk 
 firm. Without light it would have died. 
 
 After he had made light, God separated, 
 or parted, the light from the darkness; and 
 he " called the light Day, and the darkness he 
 called Night." Thus he gave us a time for 
 quiet rest, and a time for work and study and 
 play. This was done on the First Day of 
 Creation Week. 
 
 The Second Day the Lord made a covering 
 for the earth, which extends all around it, and 
 is many miles deep. This covering we call 
 "air." The region of the air is also called 
 the firmament, or sky. 
 
 We can not see the air, but we have all 
 seen what it can do. When it is in motion, 
 it moves the leaves of the trees, and sways the 
 flowers on their stems ; it waves the wide fields 
 of grain, ripples the surface of the waters, and 
 fills the sails of the great ships that float on 
 the rivers and oceans. Sometimes the motion 
 of the air is so rough that it tears up giant 
 trees by their roots, takes the roofs from 
 houses, and tosses the waters of the sea 
 about in angry waves. 
 
 Although air is very light, it upholds the 
 
 y\. 
 
The Making of the World 
 
 *5 
 
 beautiful clouds that float about in it — some- 
 times white and fluffy, and far, far above our 
 beads ; sometimes black and heavy, and hang- 
 ing low in the sky, with lightning in their 
 dark folds ; and sometimes rose-colored, and 
 purple, and red, and like shining gold. 
 
 While nothing could live long without light, 
 it is just as true that nothing could live long 
 without air. If the Lord were to take away 
 
 from the earth its covering of air, in a short 
 time there would be nothing left alive on it. 
 The earth was still covered with water. 
 Under the water it was not smooth, like an 
 apple, but rough, with hollows and hills ; and 
 in those deep hollows the Lord caused the 
 waters to settle, or " gather together," leaving 
 some places dry. "And God called the dry 
 land Earth ; and the gathering together of the 
 waters called he Seas." In speaking of this 
 
1 6 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 work in another part of his Word, he tells us 
 that he " placed the sand for the bound of the 
 sea by a perpetual decree, that it can not pass 
 it." This means that the seas can never 
 again spread out over the earth, and cover 
 it, as they did at the first. 
 
 Can you think how the earth looked when 
 the waters were first gathered into seas and 
 lakes and rivers? Perhaps you have seen 
 a bare, plowed field, with not a green sprig 
 on it anywhere, or some sandy, stony place 
 where nothing grew. For a short time the 
 dry land must all have looked like that. 
 
 But God did not leave it in this condition. 
 He spread over the earth a soft, thick carpet 
 of green, dotted with bright-colored, sweet- 
 smelling flowers; and covered the hills with 
 forests. Fruit trees, herbs, and all seed-bear- 
 ing plants were also made on the Third Day. 
 
 On the Fourth Day appeared the sun, to 
 light the day, and the moon and stars, to 
 light the night. These not only "divide the 
 day from the night," but they are u for signs, 
 and for seasons, and for days, and years." 
 The seasons — spring, summer, autumn, and 
 winter — are marked by the earth's journey 
 around the sun. 
 
The Making of the World 
 
 *7 
 
 Next were made the birds and the insects 
 and the fishes — everything that flies in the 
 air, or that swims in the sea. The birds flitted 
 busily about in the branches, choosing their 
 nesting-places; the insects flew from flower 
 to flower; and the waters were filled with 
 active, moving life. This was on the Fifth 
 Day. 
 
 On the Sixth Day were made all kinds of 
 fourfooted beasts — cattle and sheep, cats and 
 dogs, lions and bears, and many others. The 
 creeping things, also, such as snails, lizards, 
 and caterpillars, were made on this day. 
 
 But there was yet something to do. God 
 had separated the light from the darkness; he 
 had set the sun and moon in the heavens, and 
 studded the sky with countless shining stars; 
 he had gathered the waters together, and filled 
 with life the rivers and lakes and seas ; he had 
 covered the earth with grass and trees and 
 flowers, and had filled the air with the sweet 
 songs of birds. But he had made this beauti- - A 
 ful world for a purpose. It was to be the 
 home of man, made in God's own image. 
 
 When all was ready, God made man from 
 the dust of the ground, and breathed into his 
 nostrils the breath of life, so that he became 
 
1 8 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 a "living soul." He could think about the 
 wonderful things around him, and could 
 express his thoughts in words. He could 
 move about and do things; he could speak, 
 and sing, and pray. He was just and hon- 
 est; his body was perfectly sound and well, 
 and his heart was pure. 
 
 The Lord called the man Adam, and gave 
 him dominion, or power, over the fish of the 
 sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over 
 every living thing in all the earth. That 
 means that all the animals would obey Adam, 
 and that none of them would harm him in 
 any way, or try to. On his part, Adam would 
 do nothing to hurt or annoy these innocent, 
 trusting creatures. 
 
 Then God caused all the beasts to pass 
 before Adam; and " whatsoever Adam called 
 every living creature, that was the name 
 thereof;" for the Lord gave Adam wisdom 
 to name every living creature just right. 
 
 But among all these animals there was not 
 one with whom Adam could talk, and whom 
 he could love; so the Lord made a woman, 
 Eve, and gave her to be Adam's wife. Adam 
 and Eve were to be the first father and mother 
 of all who should live on the earth. 
 
 
The Making of the World 
 
 J 9 
 
 The whole earth was like a lovely garden. 
 It was much more beautiful than we ever see 
 it now, even in early summer, when the fields 
 are clothed with living green, the trees have 
 shaken out their tender leaves, and the air 
 is fragrant with the perfume of millions of 
 flowers. There was not a dead leaf or twig 
 to mar the beauty of the fresh young earth. 
 
 But the Lord chose one spot to be the 
 special home of man. Here he " planted a 
 garden," and in it he put every tree and plant 
 that was pleasant to the sight or good for food. 
 In the middle of the garden was the Tree of 
 Life — a wonderful tree, which, as we learn 
 from the Bible, is now in heaven. We are 
 told that this tree bears twelve kinds of fruit, 
 and that its leaves are for the " healing of the 
 nations." As long as Adam and Eve should 
 love and obey the One who had made them, 
 they were to be allowed to eat the fruit of 
 this tree. The tree of knowledge of good 
 and evil was also in the garden. 
 
 Adam and Eve were not to be idle in their 
 home ; they were to dress the garden, and to 
 keep it. As they worked, they would think 
 of the wonderful things the Lord had made, 
 — the plants and fruits and flowers, the 
 
20 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 beasts and birds, — and would speak together 
 of bis love and goodness. 
 
 The work of creation was finished in six 
 days ; and on the seventh day the Lord rested 
 from all his work. "And God blessed the 
 seventh day, and sanctified it : because that 
 in it he had rested from all his work which 
 God created and made." He did not rest 
 because he was tired, but to give an exam- 
 ple to man. The Sabbath is a memorial of 
 creation ; that is, it reminds us of that 
 wonderful event. If we keep it holy, we 
 shall think of God's work during Creation 
 Week, and of his rest when it was finished ; 
 we shall remember that the same power that 
 made the world upholds and keeps it every 
 moment, and that it keeps us, too, and will 
 protect us from evil and danger. 
 
 As the Lord looked at the earth, and at 
 the happy, loving pair in the garden, he 
 saw that all his work was " very good." He 
 rejoiced over it, and all the heavenly host re- 
 joiced with him. 
 
# 6 6 
 
 Disobedience 
 
 WHEN God placed Adam in the lovely 
 Garden of Eden, " to dress it, and to 
 keep it," he talked to him about the trees, 
 and told him that of every tree but one, 
 including the beautiful tree of life, he might 
 freely eat. For a wise reason, God saw that 
 it would not be best for man to eat of the 
 fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and 
 evil : so he told him plainly that he must 
 not eat of it, nor even touch it. 
 
 Just one evil thing entered the garden — 
 Satan, the enemy of God and man. The 
 sight of so much peace and happiness made 
 Satan envious and angry ; and he resolved to 
 tempt man to sin, and thus grieve the heart 
 of God. So Satan hid himself in the tree 
 of knowledge; and when Eve was walking 
 beneath it, he spoke to her, and asked her 
 if it was really true that God had said they 
 should not eat of the fruit of that tree. 
 
 21 
 
22 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 Eve knew perfectly well what God had 
 commanded. " We may eat of the frnit of 
 the trees of the garden," she answered, 
 " bnt of the fruit of the tree which is in 
 the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye 
 shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch 
 it, lest ye die." It would have been much 
 better for Eve if she had turned away then 
 from the scene of temptation ; but she lin- 
 gered, and listened to Satan's words ; and 
 finally, alas ! she ate of the fruit, and gave 
 some of it to Adam. 
 
 Then the halo of purity and holiness 
 with which God had clothed Adam and Eve 
 was taken away ; and when the Lord, whom 
 they had always been so glad to see, walked 
 in the garden " in the cool of the day," 
 they were afraid, and tried to hide them- 
 selves among the trees. But he called them 
 to him, and listened to their story. Then 
 he told them what the result of their dis- 
 obedience would be — how they must leave 
 the garden, and never enter it again ; how 
 the ground would bring forth thistles and 
 tares and weeds ; and how suffering and 
 death would enter the world. 
 
 By disobeying God, Adam and Eve had 
 
 
Man's Disobedience 
 
 23 
 
 sinned; and the "wages [or resnlt] of sin is 
 death." They must therefore die, with no 
 hope of ever again enjoying a life like the 
 one they had lost. 
 
 But God's great heart of love was filled 
 with compassion for his disobedient children ; 
 and he gave them the promise of the Seed, 
 — the Saviour, — who would come to the 
 world and die for them, and thus pay the 
 wages of sin, and make it possible for them 
 to enter heaven. No other life but that of 
 God's only Son, who had power to give life, 
 could pay this price. 
 
 Then God sent out of the garden the 
 man and the woman whom he had created ; 
 and he placed " at the east of the garden 
 of Eden cherubims, and a flaming sword 
 which turned every way, to keep the way 
 of the tree of life." 
 
 s.-fifj. 
 
-g^xife 
 
 in 
 
 The 
 
 Two Brothers 
 C&in And Abel 
 
 AFTER Adam and Eve were driven from 
 the garden, God still talked with them, 
 and told them of the promised Saviour. 
 Lest, as time should pass, their children 
 might forget that the Redeemer was coming 
 to die for man, God told Adam and Eve to 
 offer sacrifices to him at certain times. A 
 lamb was chosen for this offering, because 
 in its innocence it fitly represented the 
 character of the sinless Son of God. As 
 often as a lamb was killed, and burned be- 
 fore the Lord, men were led to think of the 
 cleansing blood of the Lamb of God, which 
 was to be shed for them. 
 
 Adam and Eve had two sons. Cain, the 
 elder, tilled the ground; but Abel was a 
 shepherd, and tended the flocks. When 
 these sons had grown to manhood, they each 
 made an offering to God. Abel followed the 
 Iw^^r^ Lord's plan, and brought a lamb from the 
 
 24 
 
 
Cain and Abel 
 
 25 
 
 fold ; but Cain thought his own way best, 
 and brought an offering of the fruits of the 
 field. 
 
 In this very thing Cain showed that he 
 did not believe in the promised Saviour — 
 the Lamb who was to shed his blood for the 
 sins of men. If he had believed, he would 
 have understood that such an offering, no 
 matter how beautiful and precious, could 
 never be accepted in the place of that which 
 the Lord had appointed. It was unbelief 
 that led Cain to choose his own way, and 
 set aside as of no value the blood of the 
 loving Saviour ; and it was this that made 
 his offering hateful in the sight of the 
 Lord. 
 
 "And the Lord had respect unto Abel 
 and to his offering ; " but Cain's offering he 
 could not accept. 
 
 Then Cain's anger was kindled against 
 his brother; and one day when they were 
 in the field together, he killed him. Thus 
 one sin led to another, and still another; 
 first unbelief, then disobedience, envy, mur- 
 der, and falsehood. For when God spoke 
 to Cain, and asked, " Where is Abel thy 
 brother?" Cain answered, "I know not." 
 
26 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 The ground had already been cursed 
 once on account of sin; but now, because of 
 Cain's great sin, it was cursed again, and 
 he was told that henceforth he should be a 
 fugitive and a vagabond on the face of the 
 earth; that is, he should have no settled 
 home, but should wander from one place to 
 another. 
 
 What bitter sorrow must have filled the 
 hearts of Adam and Eve as they beheld in 
 these things the results of their own disobe- 
 dience ! Cain was an outcast, a fugitive, to 
 be shunned and feared; and Abel, their 
 gentle shepherd son, was dead. It is hard 
 for us even to imagine their grief. 
 
 But another son, Seth, was given to 
 them ; and he feared the Lord, and lived a 
 long time to comfort his parents. Other 
 sons and daughters were born to them, and 
 their children and grandchildren made a 
 large family. Some of them were good, 
 but very many of them were wicked. 
 
 Among those who feared and served the 
 Lord was Enoch, " the seventh from Adam." 
 We are not told much about the life of this 
 godly man ; but we know that he was a 
 prophet ; that is, one to whom God reveals 
 
Cain and Abel 
 
 27 
 
 what will come to pass, and through, whom 
 he speaks to the people. Only one of 
 Enoch's prophecies is preserved to us, and 
 that is recorded in the book of Jude. As 
 the glorious scenes of the second coming of 
 Christ to the world were presented before 
 him, he cried out, " Behold, the Lord com- 
 eth with ten thousands of his saints ! " 
 
 Enoch did not die. He lived a pure and 
 holy life ; and when he was three hundred 
 and sixty-five years old, he was taken to 
 heaven. We are told that before he was 
 translated, he had the testimony, or assur- 
 ance, that he pleased God. 
 
 What a wonderful and beautiful thing to 
 be on record concerning any one ! yet it is 
 within the reach of the humblest, weakest 
 person in the world. No matter how evil 
 our surroundings, we can live pure lives. 
 
 Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years 
 — nearly a thousand. He often gathered 
 his children and children's children around 
 him, and told them about the beautiful gar- 
 den of Eden, and how it was lost to them, 
 and entreated them to love and obey God; 
 but in spite of this, as more men lived on 
 the earth, wickedness increased. 
 
28 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 Think for a moment of the great ages of 
 the men who lived in those early days, 
 and of how interested the people must have 
 been to see the First Man. Seth, the third 
 son of Adam and Eve, lived to be nine 
 hundred and twelve years old ; and we learn 
 from the Bible that some of Adam's sons 
 and great-grandsons were still older. Enos 
 was nine hundred and five years old when 
 he died ; and Jared lived nine hundred and 
 sixty-two years — thirty-two years longer 
 than Adam himself. Methuselah, the oldest 
 man whose age we have on record, was nine 
 hundred and sixty-nine years old when he 
 died. Perhaps you have a dear grandfather, 
 whose hair is thin and white, and who sup- 
 ports his feeble steps with a cane. Ask 
 him how old he is, and then compare his 
 age with that of these men of whom we 
 read in the first chapters of the Bible. You 
 will see that they lived to be nine, ten, 
 even twelve times older than men live now. 
 God gave Adam and Eve and their children 
 strong, healthy bodies : it is sin that has 
 made men weak, and shortened their lives. 
 
IV 
 
 The Flood, the ArK,&nd the Bow 
 o| Promise 
 
 FOR about two thousand years men con- 
 tinued to increase on the earth ; but 
 they grew worse and worse, and departed 
 farther and farther from the Lord, until 
 the whole earth was " filled with violence." 
 What a terrible sight, to see the fair earth 
 so given over to sin that as its Creator 
 looked upon it, he should be "grieved at 
 his heart " ! 
 
 " And the Lord said, I will destroy man 
 whom I have created from the face of the 
 earth ; both man, and beast, and the creep- 
 ing thing, and the fowls of the air ; for it 
 repenteth me that I have made them." 
 
 Though the sons and daughters of Adam 
 had departed so far from their loving Heav- 
 enly Father, he would not destroy them 
 without giving each one an opportunity to 
 
 repent, and escape the evil that was coming. 
 
 29 
 
30 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 But who would give this warning? Ah, 
 " The Lord knoweth them that are his ; " 
 and as he looked upon the earth, he saw one 
 man whose heart was perfect toward him. 
 Noah was not led into the sins of that 
 wicked age; like Enoch, he "walked with 
 God " in purity of heart. Therefore he was 
 chosen to warn the world. 
 
 The Lord told Noah to make a great ark, 
 or boat, and gave him careful directions 
 concerning its building ; " and, behold, " he 
 said, "I, even I, do bring a flood of waters 
 upon the earth, to destroy all flesh." The 
 ark was made of a light but very strong 
 wood called gopher wood, and was covered 
 with pitch outside and in, to make it water- 
 tight. It was about five hundred and fifty 
 feet long, and three stories high, and had 
 a door in the side and a window in the top. 
 Within, it was divided into rooms for men 
 and animals, and for storing large quanti- 
 ties of food. 
 
 For one hundred and twenty years Noah 
 worked on the ark ; and as he worked, he 
 warned the people that a flood was coming, 
 which would destroy every living thing. 
 He not only worked and preached, but he 
 
The Ark 31 
 
 also invited all who would to enter the ark, 
 and be kept alive. No doubt the people 
 laughed at Noah, and thought him a fool- 
 ish old man ; for it had never rained, as we 
 see water come down from the clouds ; but 
 " there went up a mist from the earth," and 
 watered it. Because the people had never 
 seen rain fall, they did not believe such a 
 thing was possible, even when God said so. 
 Perhaps some believed for a time; but as 
 years passed, and things went along much 
 as before, they returned to their wicked 
 ways. But Noah was not turned aside from 
 his work ; he kept on building, and at last 
 the ark was finished, and the storerooms 
 were filled with food for man and beast. 
 Then the Lord told Noah to take his 
 wife and his three sons, Shem, Ham, and 
 Japheth, and their wives, and go into the 
 ark. He also gave him directions concern- 
 ing the beasts. Of the clean beasts and 
 birds, — those that ate only grains and 
 grass, and were offered in sacrifice, — seven 
 pairs of each kind were to be kept in the 
 ark. Those animals that kill other animals, 
 and eat their flesh, and those that have 
 other filthy habits, were called " unclean 
 
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The Ark 
 
 33 
 
 beasts." Of these only two of each kind 
 were to be kept alive. 
 
 Noah and his three sons could never have 
 collected all these beasts and birds; but 
 when the time came, and the boat was ready, 
 and the people had been warned, the Lord 
 caused the animals to come from forest and 
 field, and the birds from their hidden nests, 
 and quietly enter the ark. With them came 
 also the required number from meadow and 
 fold and yard — horses and cattle and sheep 
 and fowl. What a wonderful sight, to see 
 lions, bears, wolves, — all the fierce, raven- 
 ous beasts, — walking peacefully, with none 
 to guide them, into the great boat side by 
 side with the shy creatures of the woods 
 and the timid sheep ! 
 
 As the people saw these animals coming, 
 by twos and by sevens, and entering the 
 ark, it was a sign to them that the flood 
 they had heard of for so many years was 
 at last about to come. But they did not 
 wish to leave their beautiful homes, their 
 business, their pleasures ; so they would not 
 heed the sign, but turned away. 
 
 And when Noah and his family and all 
 the animals were in the ark, the Lord him- 
 self shut them in. 
 
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 y&z-±*$£$* 
 
34 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 Still for seven days it did not rain ; but 
 at the end of that time " the waters of the 
 flood were upon the earth." Not only did 
 torrents of water fall from the clouds ; but 
 the " fountains of the great deep were broken 
 up," and rivers of water burst out of the 
 ground. This lasted for forty days and forty 
 nights ; and by the end of that time there 
 was not a living thing left on the earth, 
 except the men and animals in the great 
 boat that rode so safely on the waves. 
 
 For five long months the ark moved to 
 and fro over the waters, and then it came 
 to rest on Mt. Ararat. " And God made a 
 wind to pass over the earth, and the waters 
 assuaged ; " that is, they became calm, and 
 began to sink away. 
 
 After forty days, Noah opened the window 
 of the ark, and sent forth a raven and a 
 dove, " to see if the waters were abated from 
 off the face of the ground." The raven did 
 not return, but flew to and fro until the 
 waters were dried up ; but the dove found 
 no place to rest, and at last, very weary, 
 it came back to the ark, and Noah "put 
 forth his hand, and took her, and pulled 
 her in unto him into the ark." 
 
The Bow of Promise 
 
 35 
 
 Seven days later Noah again sent out 
 the dove ; and at evening it returned with 
 an olive leaf in its mouth. Then all in 
 the ark rejoiced greatly ; for they knew 
 that the waters were dried up, and things 
 were beginning to grow. 
 
 After another week had passed, Noah 
 sent out the dove once more, and this time 
 it did not return. " And Noah looked, and, 
 behold, the face of the ground was dry." 
 Then the Lord spoke to Noah, and told 
 him to go forth out of the ark, with his 
 sons, and their wives, and all the beasts. 
 
 The first thing Noah did when he left 
 the ark, was to build an altar, and make 
 a thank-offering to God for his wonderful 
 deliverance. The Lord accepted Noah's of- 
 fering, and declared : "I will not again 
 curse the ground any more for man's 
 sake ; . . . neither will I again smite 
 any more everything living, as I have 
 done." 
 
 Then God made a covenant with 
 Noah, and with " every living crea- 
 ture," — the fowl, the cattle, and every 
 beast of the earth, — that he would not 
 again destroy the earth by a flood ; 
 

 NOAH'S THANK-OFFERING 
 
 3^ 
 
The Bow of Promise 
 
 37 
 
 and in token of this promise, he set the 
 rainbow in the clouds, and said : "I do set 
 my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a 
 token of a covenant between me and the 
 earth. And it shall come to pass, when I 
 bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow 
 shall be seen in the cloud : and I will re- 
 member my covenant, which is between me 
 and you and every living creature of all flesh ; 
 and the waters shall no more become a flood 
 to destroy all flesh." 
 
 Is it not a wonderful thought that when- 
 ever we see the beautiful shining bow in 
 the clouds, we may know that God sees it 
 too, and is remembering his promise to 
 Noah and to all his creatures? 
 
 \ 
 

 V 
 
 The Tower of Babel 
 
 BY the events of the flood, Noah became 
 the " second father of the race." He was 
 about six hundred years old when he went 
 into the ark, and he lived three hundred 
 and fifty years after he came out of it, thus 
 living to the great age of nine hundred and 
 fifty years. As new generations of men 
 were born and came to years of understand- 
 ing, he was able, as was Adam in his day, 
 to tell them of the promised Saviour, and 
 warn them against the results of disobe- 
 dience to God. 
 
 But sin was in men's hearts, just as it 
 was before the flood ; and the two classes — 
 the wicked and the righteous — still lived on 
 the earth. 
 
 As the people increased, they formed com- 
 panies, and moved into new places. Those 
 who loved their own ways naturally sought 
 one another's society; they wished to please 
 38 
 
The Tower of Babel 
 
 39 
 
 themselves, and they did not like to hear 
 about the Lord or his dealings with men. 
 
 Such a company found a beautiful, fertile 
 plain in a land called Shinar; and here they 
 decided to build a city, and establish them- 
 selves. "Let us make brick," they said, 
 " and build us a city and a tower, whose 
 top may reach unto heaven ; and let us 
 make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad 
 upon the face of the whole earth." 
 
 They also had another object in building 
 the tower: they could not forget the flood, 
 and the thought of it made them uncom- 
 fortable. They did not believe that the 
 Lord would not again destroy the earth by 
 a flood ; the bow of promise awakened no 
 gratitude in their hearts ; but they thought 
 that if another flood should come, they 
 could go into this great tower and be safe. 
 There is a Strong Tower, to which men 
 may run for safety in times of danger, but 
 it is not built by men's hands. 
 
 Many names are given in the Bible to 
 our Creator and Redeemer, and these names 
 all express something that he is to his peo- 
 ple. He is called Jesus, Saviour, because 
 he saves his people from their sins ; the 
 
. 4 
 
 40 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 Prince of Peace, because he will set up his 
 kingdom of peace in the heart of every one 
 who serves him ; Guide and Counselor, be- 
 cause he directs and gives wisdom to those 
 who go to him in times of danger and per- 
 plexity ; the Good Shepherd, because he 
 cares for his children as tenderly as a kind 
 shepherd cares for the sheep and lambs of 
 his flock. In olden times the people built 
 high walls around their villages and towns 
 and cities, to protect their homes and wives 
 and children from their enemies. In these 
 walls were strong towers, where men kept 
 watch to see when danger threatened, and 
 where the people might go in times of great 
 peril. Because to his people the Lord is a 
 Refuge safer than any tower that men can 
 build, he is called our High Tower, and in 
 another place our Strong Tower, where the 
 righteous may run and be safe. In this 
 High Tower these unbelieving men and 
 women might have found a safe refuge from 
 their fears. Alas that they did not put their 
 trust in him ! 
 
 Day after day the people toiled at their 
 work of making bricks and mixing mortar, 
 and carrying them up, up, up, to the work- 
 
The Tower of Babel 41 
 
 ers on the tower. "And the Lord came 
 down to see the city and the tower, which 
 the children of men builded." 
 
 " And the whole earth was of one lan- 
 guage, and of one speech." 
 
 Then the Lord confounded their speech, 
 so that one could not understand what an- 
 other said. It was impossible to work to- 
 gether in this way ; so the building of the 
 city and the tower was stopped, and the 
 people went away. The Bible says, " They 
 left off to build." 
 
 Thus their plans were defeated ; and by 
 the very means they had taken to make 
 themselves a fixed abode, they were scat- 
 tered abroad through the earth. 
 
ELIEZER MEETS REBECCA 
 
VI 
 
 Abraham 
 'The Friend of God 
 
 59 
 
 ABOUT two hundred and fifty years after 
 the confusion of tongues and the con- 
 sequent scattering abroad of the people, the 
 Lord chose Abram, the son of Terah, of the 
 line of Shem, to be the father of a nation 
 that should be in a special sense his people, 
 — a nation that should keep his command- 
 ments and honor him in all their ways, and 
 thus be a light to the heathen around them. 
 " Get thee out of thy country, and from thy 
 kindred, and from thy father's house," said 
 the Lord to his servant, " unto a land that 
 I will show thee." 
 
 Abram did not stop to ask why he should 
 leave his home and friends ; but he took his 
 wife, his aged father, and his nephew Lot, 
 with their servants and camels, flocks and 
 herds, and set out on his journey, content to 
 be led of the Lord. At Haran, one of their 
 camping-places, Abram's father died. 
 
 43 
 

 44 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 At last the company entered the land of 
 Canaan, and pitched their tents in the plain 
 of Moreh. A fierce and powerful people 
 was already living in the land ; but the Lord 
 appeared to Abram, and assured him that it 
 would certainly be given to his heirs. 
 BS1I -^y eas y stages Abram and his family 
 
 moved southward ; and finally, because of a 
 famine in Canaan, they went down to Egypt 
 for a number of years. Wherever they stopped 
 to pitch their tents, Abram built an altar, 
 and worshiped his heavenly Leader. 
 
 The Lord greatly blessed Abram and Lot 
 while they were in Egypt ; and when they 
 returned to Canaan, they were rich in cattle, 
 and had much silver and gold. There were 
 so many " flocks, and herds, and tents" 
 that " the land was not able to bear them ; " 
 and the men who kept Lot's cattle quarreled 
 with Abram 's herdsmen. 
 
 Then Abram called Lot to him, and touch- 
 ingly pleaded with him that there might be 
 no strife between them. Though he was 
 the elder, and the specially chosen instru- 
 ment of the Lord, Abram had a humble, 
 unselfish heart. Instead of telling Lot to 
 take his cattle to such and such a place, 
 
The Friend of God 45 
 
 he said, " Is not the whole land before 
 thee?" and offered him his choice of it all. 
 
 Lot was not slow to make a choice. The 
 fair plain of the Jordan, well watered, and 
 as " the garden of the Lord " for beauty, 
 attracted him ; and he chose that, notwith- 
 standing the dwellers in the plain were very 
 wicked. 
 
 So Lot took his wife and children and 
 servants, his sheep and camels and cattle, 
 and moved down to the plain, and pitched 
 his tents outside the city of Sodom. After 
 he had gone away, the Lord spoke to Abram 
 again, and renewed his promise concerning 
 the land, making it even stronger than 
 before. 
 
 Lot had not been in Sodom very long 
 before he got into trouble. Chedorlaomer 
 (Ked'-or-la-o'-mer), king of Elam, and four 
 other kings with him, made war on the 
 cities of the plain, and took away from 
 Sodom many idols, much food, and a long 
 train of captives, Lot and his family among 
 the number. When word was brought to 
 Abram of the matter, he armed the three 
 hundred and eighteen trained servants of 
 his household, and calling to his aid the 
 
46 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 help of three neighboring chiefs with whom 
 he was on friendly terms, he pursued the 
 victorious army. Coming upon them by 
 night, Abram divided his men into three 
 companies, "and smote them, and pursued 
 them." He not only rescued Lot, but he 
 also brought back many of the things that 
 the army had taken from the people of Sodom. 
 As Abram returned, the king of Sodom 
 came out to meet him, and offered to divide 
 with him the spoils of the battle. But 
 Abram had not gone out to enrich himself 
 in this way : his object had been simply to 
 rescue his nephew, and he would not take 
 so much as a shoelace from the spoils. 
 Melchisedec, also, " the priest of the Most 
 High God," met Abram in the way, and 
 
 ^ blessed him. And Abram "gave him tithes 
 /?fv\of all." Thus we see that in those early 
 ^ days the Lord's people paid tithes. 
 
 Three times the Lord had spoken plainly 
 to Abram, and promised to make of him a 
 $$& great nation, and to give the land of Ca- 
 naan to his heirs. And as yet Abram had 
 no child. After he had returned from help- 
 ing Lot, "the word of the Lord came unto 
 Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: 
 
The Friend of God 47 
 
 I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great 
 reward." As Abram thought of his child- 
 less home, and of the fierce, warlike tribes 
 living in the land that was promised to his 
 heirs, his faith grew weak, and he asked the 
 Lord concerning his promise. Then the 
 Lord told him that he should indeed have 
 a son, and that his descendants should be 
 as the stars in number. 
 
 And Abram " believed God, and it was 
 counted unto him for righteousness." 
 
 But though Abram believed, he asked for 
 a sign, or token, of God's covenant ; and 
 the Lord told him to bring an offering con- 
 sisting of a heifer, a she-goat, and a ram, 
 with a turtle dove and a young pigeon. 
 Abram brought the sacrifice, and himself 
 watched beside it " till the going down of 
 the sun." Then a deep sleep fell upon 
 him, and the Lord showed him that his 
 descendants would be in bondage for four 
 hundred years, but would finally be brought 
 back to their own land. 
 
 Sarai, Abram's wife, could not believe 
 that in her old age the Lord would give 
 her a son ; and she persuaded Abram to 
 follow the custom of those days, and take 
 
48 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 her maid for a wife. Abram listened to 
 Sarai; and a son, Ishmael, was born to him. 
 But though Abram loved Ishmael, and a 
 special blessing was pronounced upon him, 
 he was not the promised heir. 
 
 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, 
 the Lord talked with him once more, and 
 changed his name to Abraham, which 
 means " the father of a great multitude." 
 Sarai's name also was changed to Sarah, or 
 " the princess of the multitude." 
 
 Twenty-five years after Abraham and 
 Sarah first entered Canaan, the long-prom- 
 ised son was born, and was named Isaac, 
 as the Lord had directed. When the child 
 was weaned, his fond parents made a feast, 
 or party, for him, that all the servants and 
 other members of the large household might 
 recognize him as their master's heir. Ish- 
 mael, who was now a youth, had been 
 taught by his mother that this honor be- 
 
The Friend of God 
 
 49 
 
 longed to him ; and when he saw Isaac rec- 
 ognized as his father's successor, he mocked; 
 that is, he taunted and ridiculed the child. 
 
 For this, Sarah asked that Ishmael, with 
 Hagar his mother, be sent away; and 
 though Abraham loved his first-born son 
 dearly, and was pained at the thought of 
 his being driven from home, the Lord told 
 him to listen to Sarah, and do as she sug- 
 gested. So Ishmael was sent away, with 
 his mother. " And God was with the lad." 
 
 Abraham's faith had failed to stand the 
 test of waiting for the birth of Isaac ; so 
 when the young man was about twenty 
 years old, the Lord tried his servant again. 
 " Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, 
 whom thou lovest," he said, " and get thee 
 into the land of Moriah ; and offer him 
 there for a burnt-offering upon one of the 
 mountains which I will tell thee of." 
 
 Abraham had doubted God before ; but in 
 this supreme test, his faith did not fail. 
 With a heavy heart, he prepared the wood 
 and the fire, and with his son and two serv- 
 ants set out on the journey. After they 
 had traveled three days, the place came in 
 sight, " afar off." Then, bidding the serv- 
 
 4 
 
50 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 ants stay where they were till he should 
 return, Abraham went on alone with Isaac. 
 
 "Father," said Isaac, as they walked along 
 together, " behold the fire and the wood : 
 but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?" 
 Though this question filled Abraham's heart 
 with sorrow, he still trusted in God. " My 
 son," he answered, " God will provide him- 
 self a lamb." 
 
 And God honored his servant's faith. 
 When, with upraised knife, Abraham was 
 about to take the life of his beloved son, the 
 angel of the Lord called to him out of heaven, 
 and said: " Lay not thine hand upon the lad; 
 . . . for now I know that thou fearest God, 
 seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine 
 only son from me." 
 
 Then Abraham looked, " and behold be- 
 hind him a ram caught in a thicket by his 
 horns. And Abraham went and took the 
 ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering 
 in the stead of his son. " 
 
 When Isaac was forty years old, and his 
 
 mother was dead, Abraham sent his trusted 
 
 > servant, Eliezer (El-i-e-zer) , with servants, 
 
 camels, and gifts, to his old home to choose 
 
 a wife for his son. At Haran, in Mesopo- 
 
ON THE WAY TO MOUNT MORIAH 
 
 CT 
 
52 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 ap, tamia, Eliezer stopped near a well, where 
 at evening the daughters of the city came 
 to draw water. Not willing to trust his own 
 wisdom in a matter so important as choos- 
 ing a wife for his master's son, Eliezer 
 prayed for divine guidance ; and the Lord 
 directed him to Rebecca, a beautiful, kind- 
 hearted kinswoman of Abraham. That night 
 Eliezer stayed in her father's house ; and 
 the next day, attended by her nurse and 
 maidens, Rebecca went away with him to 
 become Isaac's wife. " And he loved her: 
 and Isaac was comforted after his mother's 
 death." 
 
 Abraham lived to be a hundred and 
 seventy-five years old. Then, full of years 
 and honors, he died ; and Isaac, assisted by 
 Ishmael, now a powerful desert chief, buried 
 him by the side of Sarah in the Cave of 
 Machpelah, in Mamre. 
 
->r 
 
 VII 
 
 The Destruction of the Cities of the Pl&in 
 
 ONE day as Abraham sat in his tent door, 
 he looked up, and saw three travelers 
 coming toward him. One of these he rec- 
 ognized as the Lord, who had talked with 
 him so often. He ran to meet the men, 
 and begged them to rest in the cool shade 
 of a tree, — for it was in "the heat of the 
 day/' — and to accept water to wash their 
 feet, according to the custom of that coun- 
 try and time, while he hastened to prepare 
 a simple meal for them. It is interesting 
 to know what composed this little feast, and 
 the Bible tells us all about it. While Sarah 
 made cakes of " fine meal," and baked them 
 on the hearth, Abraham brought a calf, 
 " tender and good," from the herd, and gave 
 it to one of his servants to dress and cook. 
 When all was ready, he took the meat and 
 the cakes, with "butter and milk," and set 
 
 53 
 
54 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 them before his guests in the pleasant 
 shade of the tree. What an honor was 
 Abraham's — to entertain and feed the Lord 
 of heaven and earth, with two of his angels ! 
 But this honor was not given to Abraham 
 alone; every one who loves the Lord can 
 minister to him. He has told us that what- 
 ever we do to the poorest and humblest of his 
 brethren, he accepts as if done to himself. 
 
 When the travelers started again on their 
 journey, Abraham went a little way with 
 them. Then the Lord said, " Shall I hide 
 from Abraham that thing which I do?" 
 Sending the two angels on toward Sodom, 
 he told his servant that because of the great 
 sin of the cities of the plain, which had 
 come up before him, he was going down to 
 visit them. Abraham understood that the 
 Lord would destroy those wicked cities, and 
 the thought of his nephew Lot and his 
 household filled him with alarm. With love 
 and longing he pleaded that the cities might 
 be spared ; and the Lord told Abraham that 
 if even so few as ten persons who feared and 
 served him could be found there, he would 
 not destroy the city. 
 
 While the Lord thus talked to Abraham, 
 
Destruction of the Cities of the Plain 55 
 
 the two men drew near Sodom. It was 
 evening when they entered the city ; and 
 Lot, who was sitting in the gate, saw them, 
 and urged them to go home with him. 
 
 As night drew on, the men of the city 
 surrounded Lot's house, and demanded that 
 he deliver up to them the strangers under 
 his roof. Lot went outside, closing the door 
 after him, and tried to 
 persuade the angry mob 
 to go away ; but the 
 more he talked, the more 
 angry they became. 
 They would have killed <- 
 Lot then, had not the 
 two men opened the door and drawn him in- 
 side. At the same time they smote the men 
 of Sodom with blindness, so they could not 
 fin 1 the door. 
 
 Then the angels told Lot that they had 
 come to destroy the city ; and urged him to 
 hasten and tell his sons and daughters, and 
 warn them to leave the place. Lot went 
 that very night to the homes of his sons-in- 
 law, and told them of the terrible destruc- 
 tion that would come on the city. But they 
 paid no heed to his words ; to their blindecl 
 
56 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 understanding, he seemed like one who 
 mocked — who did not know what he said. 
 
 In the morning, urged on by the angels, 
 Lot took his wife and two daughters, and 
 prepared to go away. But oh, it was hard 
 for him to leave his beautiful home — to 
 leave forever the precious things he had 
 spent so many years getting together ! As 
 he " lingered, the men laid hold upon his 
 hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and 
 upon the hand of his two daughters, " and 
 brought them forth out of the city, " the 
 Lord being merciful unto him." 
 
 When the angels had brought Lot and 
 his family outside the city, they told him 
 to hasten to the mountain. " Look not be- 
 hind thee/' they cried, "lest thou be con- 
 sumed. " But even then Lot stopped to 
 argue with the heavenly messengers. His 
 heart failed him, and he begged to be al- 
 lowed to find refuge in the little city of 
 Zoar, instead of the mountain. 
 
 As they fled, Lot's wife turned to look 
 once more at the home she had loved. Per- 
 haps she thought that, after all, the city 
 would not be destroyed, and she might go 
 back ; but as she looked, she was turned to 
 
kOT AND HIS DAUGHTERS I*EAVE SODOM 
 
 57 
 
58 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 a pillar of salt, and Lot and his daughters 
 were obliged to leave her there as they ran 
 for their lives. 
 
 "The sun was risen" when they entered 
 Zoar ; and it was about this time, though 
 still very " early in the morning," that 
 Abraham went with an anxious heart to 
 the place where he had talked with the 
 Lord the night before, and looked toward 
 Sodom. " And he looked toward Sodom and 
 Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the 
 plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the 
 country went up as the smoke of a fur- 
 nace." Then Abraham knew that not ten 
 persons were found in those five, cities to 
 heed the warning of the angels. 
 
 As we read the story of Lot and of the 
 destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, we are 
 led to wonder at the Lord's love and good- 
 ness to his weak, sinful children. How 
 much safer and happier are those who listen 
 to his counsel, and gladly obey when he 
 speaks ! 
 
J&cob 
 
 s&xi 
 
 ISAAC and Rebecca had two sons. Esan, 
 the elder, is described as a u hairy man," 
 a " cunning hunter," a " man of the field." 
 He had no settled home, but wandered from 
 one place to another. Jacob, his brother, 
 was a " plain man ; " he lived in tents, as 
 did his father and his grandfather Abraham, 
 and cared for the flocks and herds. 
 
 One day when Esau came in from the 
 field, where he had been hunting, he found 
 Jacob making pottage. Instead of setting 
 food before Esau, who was weary and faint, 
 Jacob offered to feed him in return for his 
 birthright, — a special blessing which be- 
 longed, according to the custom of those 
 days, to the eldest son. It included not 
 only the bulk of the father's inheritance, 
 but the one who received it also became the 
 head of the family, and his brothers were 
 
 59 
 
6o Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 to be subject to him. More than this, it 
 was through the line of the eldest sons 
 that the promised Saviour would come. 
 
 But Esau, like Cain, did not believe in 
 the One who was to come to earth to shed 
 his blood for men ; and this unbelief itself 
 made him unworthy the great honor of the 
 birthright blessing. Thus, though he was 
 not far from his father's tents, where there 
 was plenty of food, Esau listened to Jacob, 
 and for a dish of pottage sold what was 
 beyond price. In this matter both Jacob 
 and Esau did wrong — one in taking ad- 
 vantage of his brother's need ; the other in 
 treating with contempt the blessing of God. 
 
 Years afterward, when Isaac was old and 
 blind, he called Esau to him, and asked 
 him to prepare " savory meat," such as he 
 loved, that he might give him the birth- 
 right blessing before he died. Now though 
 Esau had sold his birthright, and therefore 
 it did not belong to him, he did not intend 
 to allow Jacob to have the blessing ; so he 
 said nothing about having sold his birth- 
 right, but went out to get venison to pre- 
 pare the savory meat for Isaac. 
 
 But Rebecca heard what Isaac said, and 
 
ISAAC BLESSING HIS SON JACOB 
 
62 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 she persuaded Jacob to deceive his father, 
 that he might receive the blessing. While 
 Esau was away hunting, Jacob killed two 
 kids, and his mother prepared savory meat. 
 Then she took the " goodly raiment " of 
 Esau, and put it on Jacob ; and bound the 
 skins of the kids on his hands and neck, 
 that when Isaac should feel them, he would 
 think that Esau was before him. 
 
 Jacob took the meat, and went in before 
 his father with a lie on his lips. "I am 
 Esau thy first-born," he said ; " I have done 
 according as thou badest me : arise, I pf%y 
 thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy 
 soul may bless me." 
 
 But Isaac was troubled. When he asked 
 how it was that the venison had been so 
 quickly found, Jacob replied that the Lord 
 had helped him. Still in doubt, the blind 
 father called Jacob to his side, and felt of 
 his hands. " The voice," he said, " is 
 Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands 
 of Esau." Then he ate, and drank, and 
 kissed Jacob, and blessed him. 
 
 A long time before this, the Lord had 
 told Rebecca that her elder son should 
 serve the younger ; and if she and Jacob 
 
Jacob and Esa 
 
 71 
 
 63 
 
 had been content to wait for him to bring 
 this abont in his own way, they would have 
 saved themselves much sorrow. But they 
 were not willing to trust him ; so he allowed 
 them to take their own way, and learn by 
 a hard experience the lesson of trust. 
 
 Isaac was no sooner through blessing 
 Jacob than Esau came in. And when he 
 learned what had been done, and what he 
 had lost, he was filled with anger and sor- 
 row, " and cried with a great and exceeding 
 bitter cry." He begged earnestly for " one 
 blessing;" so Isaac blessed him with "the fat- 
 ness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven," 
 but told him plainly that he should serve 
 his brother. Then Esau hated Jacob, and 
 determined to kill him. 
 
 Rebecca's love for her younger son made 
 her quick to see when danger threatened 
 him ; and she told him of Esau's plans, and 
 begged him to leave home for a while, until 
 Esau's anger should be turned away. She 
 thought that in a few weeks or months 
 Esau would forget his anger, and Jacob 
 might come home again. But Esau had not 
 learned the grace of forgiveness. In another 
 place in the Bible we are told that he "cast 
 
64 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 off all pity," and that lie " kept his anger 
 forever." So we see that in thns sending 
 Jacob from home until his brother's anger 
 should be turned away, Rebecca was send- 
 ing him from her forever. For although 
 he finally did return, it was after many long 
 years had passed, and he was himself the 
 head of a family. Never again did he take 
 
 up his duties as the trusted son in his 
 father's home. Saddest of all, his mother 
 died while he was away ; so he never saw 
 her again. When Isaac learned of Rebecca's 
 purpose, he called Jacob to him, blessed him 
 again, and told him to go to Laban, Rebec- 
 ca's brother, and stay a while with him. 
 
Jacob and Esau 
 
 65 
 
 Now Jacob had the blessing ; but he had 
 gained it by fraud, and was obliged to flee 
 for his life. He was learning 
 that no real good can ever be 
 gained by cheating. With a 
 heavy heart he bade farewell ,. * ^ to his 
 
 father and mother, and ^ - leaving 
 
 Beersheba, set out ., L *~ on the long, 
 
 lonely journey * - ~ to Haran. 
 
 While / - " the L o r d hated 
 
 Jacob's * - sins, he loved him, and 
 
 v -.'as ^ / :m with him all the way, to keep 
 
 +^f~* him from harm. At one place 
 
 where Jacob lay down on the ground 
 to sleep, with a stone for a pillow, he had a 
 wonderful dream. A ladder appeared resting 
 on the ground, with its top reaching to 
 heaven. Going up and down this ladder 
 was a host of shining angels, and at the 
 top was the Lord himself, who spoke to 
 Jacob, and renewed to him the promises so 
 often made to Abraham and Isaac concern- 
 ing the land of Canaan. After telling Jacob 
 that all this land should belong to his 
 children, the Lord spoke these gracious 
 words : " And, behold, I am with thee, and 
 will keep thee in all places whither thou 
 5 
 
 r *V - 
 
 V5 
 
66 
 
 JACOB'S WONDERFUL DREAM 
 
Jacob and Esau 67 
 
 goest, and will bring thee again into this 
 land ; for I will not leave thee, until I have 
 done that which I have spoken to thee of." 
 
 This promise is written for us, too. Jacob 
 was comforted by this dream ; and when he 
 awoke, he set up the stone he had used as 
 a pillow to mark the spot, and called the 
 name of the place " Bethel," which means 
 " the house of God." And Jacob promised 
 that of all the Lord should give him, he 
 would surely give the tenth to him. In 
 this we see that Jacob, like his grandfather 
 Abraham, paid to the Lord the tithe, which 
 he reserves for himself. The Lord does not 
 ask us to perform this duty because he needs 
 our pennies and dimes and dollars, but be- 
 cause he knows that the only way to live 
 is to give. Selfishness will very quickly 
 drive the Love -spirit out of the heart, but 
 the Giving- spirit will throw its doors wide 
 open to receive Heaven's richest blessings. 
 
 After many days Jacob came to Haran, 
 the city where his mother, Rebecca, spent 
 her girlhood, and to which Eliezer had come, 
 so many years before, with servants and 
 camels and costly presents, to take her to 
 be his father's wife. As he was resting 
 

 68 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 near a well, and doubtless thinking of all 
 these things, he asked some shepherds, who 
 had come to water their flocks, if they knew 
 Laban. They not only knew him, but said 
 that his daughter Rachel would soon come 
 to the well to water her flock. When she 
 came, Jacob watered the sheep for her, and 
 told her who he was, and she ran and told 
 her father. Then Laban came out to meet 
 Jacob, and took him to his house. 
 
 Jacob did not sit down in idleness at his 
 uncle's. Indeed, after he had been there a 
 month, Laban was so pleased with his serv- 
 ice that he offered him wages. Jacob asked 
 that he might be permitted to serve seven 
 years for Rachel, whom he loved. That is 
 a long time ; but the Bible tells us that 
 these years seemed but a few days to Jacob, 
 because of his love for Rachel. When they 
 were passed, Laban cheated him, and gave 
 him his elder daughter, Leah, instead of 
 Rachel, for a wife. Then Jacob worked 
 seven years longer for Rachel, and six other 
 years for cattle. And the Lord blessed him, 
 so that he became rich and prosperous. 
 
 Laban' s sons were envious when they 
 saw the prosperity of Jacob, and they ac- 
 
RACHEL DRAWING WATER FOR HER FLOCK 
 
 69 
 
jo Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 cused him of taking what did not belong to 
 him. Laban believed his sons, and Jacob 
 saw that he was no longer trusted. Then 
 the Lord spoke to him, and bade him return 
 to the land of his kindred, and promised to 
 be with him. So when Laban went away 
 to shear his sheep, Jacob gathered his flocks 
 and herds together, and with his wives and 
 little ones set out for the land of Canaan. 
 
 Now while Laban was always ready to 
 cheat Jacob, and not slow to accuse him of 
 dishonesty, he was shrewd enough to know 
 that Jacob had served him faithfully, and 
 he did not wish him to go away. As soon 
 as he heard that Jacob had gone, he took his 
 brethren and set out after him, intending to 
 make him return ; but the Lord spoke to 
 Laban by the way, and commanded him not 
 to harm Jacob in any way, nor try to get 
 him to go back. So the meeting ended 
 pleasantly, after all, Jacob and Laban cove- 
 nanting together not to pass a certain pillar 
 and heap of stones, to do each other harm. 
 Jacob offered sacrifices; they ate bread to- 
 gether ; and the next morning Laban kissed 
 his children, blessed them, and went away. 
 
 But Jacob's troubles were not yet over. 
 
Jacob and Esau 71 
 
 He soon learned that Esan was coming to 
 meet him, with four hundred armed men. 
 Jacob well knew that he could never repulse 
 this company if they were unfriendly, and in 
 his deep distress he called on the Lord to 
 help him. Then he sent rich presents of 
 cattle and sheep and camels to Esau, and 
 sent his family across the brook Jabbok, he 
 himself remaining behind to pray. " And 
 there wrestled a man with him until the break- 
 ing of the day." In spite of his efforts, 
 Jacob could not prevail against his unknown 
 antagonist, who, toward morning, touched 
 his thigh, and put it out of joint. Then 
 Jacob knew that he was wrestling with a 
 heavenly messenger ; and though weak, ex- 
 hausted, and suffering keenest pain, when 
 the Angel said, " Let me go, for the day 
 breaketh," he cried out, " I will not let thee 
 go, except thou bless me." Then the Angel 
 blessed Jacob, and told him that his name 
 should no more be called Jacob, but Israel, 
 or prince. Therefore his descendants were 
 called Israelites. 
 
 By this experience Jacob knew that the 
 Lord was indeed with him, and that he had 
 nothing to fear from his brother and his 
 
 0m 
 
 =^^> "" ? *rr-, _ 
 
72 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 armed guard ; so when Esau came in sight, 
 he went out to meet him. Esau ran toward 
 Jacob, " and embraced him, and kissed him." 
 Thus because of Jacob's faith the Lord 
 changed Esau's purpose to harm his brother. 
 After talking with Jacob in a friendly man- 
 ner, Esau took his soldiers and went away. 
 
 After living for a while at Succoth and at 
 Shalem, Jacob went to Bethel. It was here, 
 you remember, that the Lord appeared to 
 him in a dream, and promised to be with 
 him. How wonderfully had he fulfilled his 
 promise ! Then, Jacob was a fugitive, going 
 alone to seek a home among strangers in 
 a far country ; now, he was the head of a 
 large family, and rich in all that made up 
 wealth in those days. As Jacob thought 
 of these things, his heart was filled with 
 gratitude to the One who had watched over 
 him in all his journeyings. 
 
 Deborah, Rebecca's aged nurse, who had 
 gone with her young mistress when she 
 went with Eliezer to become the wife of 
 Isaac, died at Bethel, and was buried under 
 an oak. Not long afterward Rachel, the 
 dearly loved wife of Jacob, died also, and 
 was buried at Bethlehem, 
 
Jacob and Esau 73 
 
 At last " Jacob came unto Isaac his father 
 unto Mamre." It was thirty years since 
 the day when, in haste and fear, he had 
 fled from the wrath of Esau. How glad 
 the aged patriarch must have been to wel- 
 come his son home again, and to hear from 
 his own lips how the Lord had blessed him 
 during his long absence. No doubt Jacob 
 told his father of the beautiful dream at 
 Bethel, and the comforting promises that 
 the Lord made him there, as well as of 
 his long service in the house of Laban, 
 the blessing at the brook Jabbok, and the 
 peaceful meeting with Esau. But there was 
 one thing to make them sad — Rebecca was 
 dead. 
 
 " And the days of Isaac were an hundred 
 and fourscore years. And Isaac . . . died, 
 and was gathered unto his people, being 
 old and full of days : and his sons Esau 
 and Jacob buried him." 
 
 ^SQ^MM 
 
74 
 
 JOSEPH'S DREAM OF THE SHEAVES 
 
AFTER Isaac's death, Jacob and his sons 
 Ji\ still lived in the land of Canaan ; but 
 because, like Abraham and Lot many years 
 before, Jacob and Esau had more cattle and 
 sheep than could find food in one place, 
 Esau took his family and servants, his 
 flocks and herds, and all his substance, and 
 went to live in the land of Mount Sier, or 
 Edom, as it was afterward called. 
 
 Jacob had twelve sons, — Reuben, Simeon, 
 Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, 
 Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. 
 Most of them were men grown when Jacob 
 came again to his father's house ; but Joseph 
 and Benjamin, the sons of Rachel, were 
 still young in years. 
 
 " Now Israel loved Joseph more than all 
 his children;" and as a mark of special 
 favor he gave him a beautiful, bright-colored 
 coat. This kindled the anger of Joseph's 
 brothers ; " and they hated him, and could 
 not speak peaceably unto him." About this 
 
 75 
 
J& Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 and for his sake blessed the Egyptian's 
 house also. Potiphar was so pleased with 
 Joseph's service that he gave him entire 
 charge of his house and of everything that 
 he had. 
 
 For ten years Joseph lived in Potiphar's 
 home as his trusted and honored servant. 
 Then it came about that he had to choose 
 between two courses,- — whether he would do 
 wrong, and continue in favor in his master's 
 house, or do right in the sight of Heaven, 
 and be wrongfully accused, and perhaps 
 even lose his life. Joseph did not hesitate. 
 He chose to walk in the right path, with a 
 pure heart, even with the result that he 
 was bound in fetters, and cast into a dun- 
 geon. 
 
 But the same Friend who had been Jo- 
 seph's helper in the captain's house was 
 with him in prison, and " gave him favor 
 in the sight of the keeper," who soon gave 
 Joseph charge of his fellow prisoners. " The 
 Lord was with him, and that which he did, 
 the Lord made it to prosper." 
 
 And it came to pass that the King's 
 chief butler and chief baker were cast into 
 prison, and put under Joseph's charge. One 
 
Joseph 
 
 11 
 
 Reuben persuaded his brothers not to 
 kill Joseph, but to put him in an empty 
 pit ; and this they did, first stripping him 
 of the gay coat that had aroused their jeal- 
 ous anger. What an unkind reception was 
 this for the weary, footsore boy ! Reuben 
 hoped that he might be able to save Joseph, 
 and restore him again to his father ; but { 
 when, after feeding his sheep, he came back 
 to the pit, it was empty ! 
 
 A company of traders, or merchantmen, 
 from Mt. Gilead, going down to Egypt, had 
 passed by; and at Judah's suggestion, Joseph 
 was brought up, sold for a few pieces of 
 silver, and carried away to be sold as a 
 slave. Think of it ! a tenderly reared, 
 dearly loved son of a rich father, sold into 
 cruel bondage in a foreign land ! We can 
 not even imagine the grief and desolation 
 that filled Joseph's heart as he thought of 
 the cruelty of his brothers, the unknown 
 fate awaiting him, and the anguish of his 
 father when he should not return, — that 
 father who would so quickly come to his 
 rescue, did he only know his son's peril. 
 
 Though Reuben was grieved at the fate 
 of Joseph, he agreed with the others to de- 
 
78 Easy Steps in the Bible Study 
 
 ceive Jacob. They dipped the bright coat 
 in the blood of a kid, and brought it to 
 their father, and said : " This have we found: 
 know now whether it be thy son's coat or 
 no." Then Jacob said, "It is my son's 
 coat; an evil beast hath devoured him." 
 " And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sack- 
 cloth upon his loins, and mourned for his 
 
 lb- 
 
 son many days. And all his sons and all 
 his daughters rose up to comfort him ; but 
 he refused to be comforted." 
 
 JOSEPH IN THE LAND OF EGYPT 
 
 When the men who had bought Joseph 
 reached Egypt, they sold him to Potiphar, 
 the captain of the king's guard. Joseph was 
 only seventeen years old when he entered 
 the Egyptian's service ; but though he was 
 so youug, he was faithful in all that was 
 given him to do, and the Lord blessed him, 
 
JOSEPH SOLD BY HIS BROTHERS 
 
 79 
 
8o Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 time Joseph dreamed that as he and his 
 brothers were binding sheaves in a field, 
 their sheaves bowed down to his sheaf; and 
 again, that the snn, moon, and stars made 
 obeisance to him. These dreams his brothers 
 interpreted to mean that they would some- 
 time serve him ; and they were very angry 
 at the thought, and hated Joseph " yet the 
 more for his dreams." They had not 
 learned that those who would be truly great 
 must be willing to serve. 
 
 Not long after this they went to She- 
 chem, where Jacob had bought a field, to 
 feed the sheep ; and Jacob, wishing to learn 
 of their welfare, bade Joseph visit them, see 
 if all was well, and bring him word again. 
 With loving obedience, Joseph cheerfully 
 set out on his errand; but when he reached 
 Shechem, fifty miles from his father's tents, 
 it was only to learn that his brothers had 
 taken the flocks to Dothan, still farther 
 away. They saw him coming, and with the 
 Cain-spirit in their hearts, laid plans to kill 
 him. " Behold," they said to one another, 
 " this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, 
 and let us slay him, . . . and we shall 
 see what will become of his dreams." 
 
foseph 
 
 81 
 
 morning as he looked in at them, he noticed 
 that they were troubled, and asked the cause 
 of their sorrow. They replied that they 
 had each dreamed a strange dream, that 
 none could interpret. " Tell me them," said 
 Joseph; and when he had heard the dream 
 of the chief butler, he told him that in 
 three days the king would restore him to 
 favor, and that he would again go before 
 him as his cupbearer. " Think on me when 
 it shall be well with thee," entreated Joseph, 
 " and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, 
 and bring me out of this house : for indeed 
 I was stolen away out of the land of the 
 Hebrews : and here also have I done nothing 
 that they should put me into the dungeon." 
 
 When the chief baker heard the inter- 
 pretation of his companion's dream, he re- 
 peated his dream also ; and Joseph told him 
 that in three days the king would take his 
 life. 
 
 All this came to pass as Joseph had 
 said ; but when the royal butler was again 
 in the king's favor, he forgot Joseph, who 
 was left two " full years " longer in prison. 
 This life must have been especially hard for 
 him ; for he had spent all his youth in the 
 
 6 
 
82 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 open fields, under the wide blue skies. But 
 the Lord was teaching him during these 
 years, and was preparing the way for his 
 deliverance in his own time. 
 
 JOSEPH AS RULER OF EGYPT 
 
 The great king Pharaoh had two dreams 
 in one night, and none of his magicians or 
 wise men were able to tell him their mean- 
 ing. Then the chief butler remembered Jo- 
 seph, and told the king how a " young man, 
 a Hebrew," had interpreted his dream and 
 that of the chief baker. The king sent for 
 Joseph at once, and they brought him 
 " hastily " — " made him run " — out of the 
 prison. When the king asked him about 
 his ability to interpret dreams, Joseph gave 
 the praise to God. " It is not in me," he 
 modestly declared ; but added the cheering 
 assurance, " God shall give Pharaoh an an- 
 swer of peace." 
 
 Then the king told his dreams, — how 
 he stood on the bank of a stream, and saw 
 seven fat, well-favored cattle come up out 
 of the river, and feed in a meadow ; and 
 
Joseph 
 
 83 
 
 after them came up seven lean cattle, " poor 
 and very ill-favored, " such as had never 
 been seen " in all the land of Egypt for 
 badness ; " and they ate up the seven fat 
 cattle, and were still as lean as before. 
 Again, he dreamed that seven full ears of 
 corn came up on one stalk, followed by 
 seven withered ears, " blasted with an east 
 wind ; " and that the poor ears ate up 
 the good. 
 
 Joseph told the king that both these 
 dreams meant the same thing, — that there 
 would be seven years of plenty, followed by 
 seven years of dire famine. " Now there- 
 fore," added Joseph, " let Pharaoh look out 
 a man discreet and wise, and set him over 
 the land of Egypt." This man should 
 
 
 appoint others to work for him ; and during 
 the seven years of plenty, they should 
 store up food for the future years of famine. 
 We might think it strange that a 
 mighty kiug, the head of the greatest and 
 most learned nation in the world, should 
 
84 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 listen to the advice of a disgraced slave, — 
 a young man only thirty years old,- — but 
 the power with Joseph was the power of 
 God, and the king recognized the wisdom 
 of his words. 
 
 Pharaoh called his counselors together, 
 and laid the matter before them. " Can we 
 find such a one as this is, a man in whom 
 the Spirit of God is ? " he inquired. There 
 were many wise men, many who were dis- 
 creet, but only one who fully answered the 
 requirement of the king. 
 
 So Pharaoh made Joseph ruler over all 
 the land of Egypt; and he "took off his 
 ring from his hand, and put it upon Jo- 
 seph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of 
 
 
 
 r~ 
 
 fine linen, and put a gold chain about his 
 neck ; and he made him to ride in the second 
 chariot which he had ; and they cried before 
 him, Bow the knee." " Only in the throne," 
 said the king, " will I be greater than thou." 
 
Joseph 85 
 
 If Joseph had been puffed up by these 
 honors, his usefulness would shortly have 
 come to an end ; but he had learned the 
 lesson of trust and humility, and depended 
 on the Lord for wisdom. With the same 
 faithfulness and dispatch with which he 
 had managed Potiphar's affairs, he took up 
 the great work under his hand, and quickly 
 laid plans to prepare for the seven years 
 of famine. In every city and town in the f 
 kingdom he built storehouses, and appointed 
 men to fill them with grain. " And Joseph 
 gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very 
 much, until he left numbering ; for it was 
 without number." 
 
 When seven years were passed, the fam- 
 ine came, not only in Egypt, where the 
 people were prepared to meet it, but " over 
 all the earth." It was severely felt in 
 Canaan, the home of Jacob. " And all 
 countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to 
 buy corn." 
 
 JOSEPH'S BRETHREN COME TO BUY CORN 
 
 When Jacob's family was nearly out of 
 food, he sent his ten sons down to Egypt 
 to buy corn; only Benjamin, the youngest, 
 
86 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 he kept at home, not daring to send him 
 away, lest evil should befall him. At last, 
 with many other travelers who had gone 
 down to Egypt for food, Joseph's brethren 
 came before him. " And Joseph knew his 
 brethren, bnt they knew not him." 
 
 As Joseph remembered the evil ways of 
 these men and their cruelty toward him at 
 Dothan, and how they had mocked at his 
 dreams, he spoke harshly to them, and ac- 
 cused them of having come down to spy out 
 the leanness of the land. In the denials and 
 explanations that followed, Joseph learned 
 that his father and Benjamin were still alive. 
 " Thy servants are twelve brethren," they said, 
 " the sons of one man in the land of Canaan ; 
 and, behold, the youngest is this day with 
 our father, and one is not." 
 
 Now, said the ruler of Egypt, I will see 
 if you are telling the truth. One of you 
 shall return to your land, and bring your 
 younger brother before me. In this way 
 shall your words be proved, that I may 
 know whether there is any truth in you. 
 Then he put them in prison for three days. 
 At the end of that time he brought them 
 out, and told them that one of them should 
 
Joseph 
 
 87 
 
 remain bound in the prison, as a hostage; 
 but that the rest might return home with 
 food for their families, provided they would 
 bring their youngest brother down to him. 
 While they were in prison, uncertain what 
 was to happen to them, the sons of Jacob 
 had thought of their cruel course toward 
 Joseph; and now, in their perplexity, they 
 spoke among themselves, not knowing that 
 the governor could understand their words. 
 " We are verily guilty," they said, " con- 
 cerning our brother, in that we saw the 
 anguish of his soul, when he besought us, 
 and we would not hear; therefore is this 
 distress come upon us." 
 
 But Joseph understood their words ; and 
 as he listened, and the thought of that 
 dreadful time came back so plainly to his 
 mind, his grief was great, and he went 
 away and wept. Then he bound Simeon, 
 who had been one of the leaders in the 
 cruel treatment of Joseph when he was sold 
 into slavery, before the eyes of his brothers, 
 and, commanding that their sacks be filled 
 with corn, he sent them away. He told his 
 steward privately to put every man's money 
 in the sack with his corn ; and when his 
 
88 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 brothers found it, their hearts failed them. 
 There was no food to be had but in Egypt, 
 — and how would they dare return to that 
 land, to be charged with being thieves as 
 well as spies? 
 
 Jacob was told the whole story, — how 
 his sons were accused of coming to spy out 
 the land, were thrust into prison, and finally 
 released only on condition that they bring 
 Benjamin down to Egypt. The aged father's 
 sorrow was great at the thought of parting 
 with his youngest son, and he declared : 
 " My son shall not go down with you ; for 
 his brother is dead, and he is left alone : 
 if mischief befall him by the way in the 
 which ye go, then shall ye bring down my 
 gray hairs with sorrow to the grave." 
 
 THE SECOND JOURNEY 
 
 " And the famine was sore in the land." 
 Then Jacob spoke to his sons, and asked 
 them to go again to Egypt for food ; but 
 they told him it was of no use to go with- 
 out Benjamin. And at last, because their 
 need was great, Jacob gave his consent, 
 

 Joseph 89 
 
 Judah making a solemn pledge to restore 
 Benjamin to his father in safety. Taking 
 a present for the governor, double money in 
 their sacks, and their youngest brother with 
 them, the sons of Jacob set out again for 
 
 Egypt. 
 
 At Joseph's house they talked with the 
 steward, and told him they were not able ^ 
 to explain how the money came to be in 
 their sacks ; but that they had brought with /ipr> y*fi) 
 them double money this time, to pay both 
 for what they had at first and what they 
 now wished to buy. He spoke kindly to 
 them, and assured them that he had had 
 their money ; then he brought Simeon out 
 to them, and invited them into the house. 
 
 " And when Joseph came home, they 
 brought him the present which was in their 
 hand into the house, and bowed themselves 
 to him to the earth. And he asked them 
 of their welfare, and said, Is your father 
 well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is 
 he yet alive?" At the sight of Benjamin, 
 all the homesick love and longing of Jo- 
 seph's heart awoke, and he could only say, 
 " God be gracious unto thee, my son," and 
 turn hastily aside to his chamber to weep. 
 
90 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 "And lie washed his face, and went out, 
 and refrained himself, and said, Set on 
 bread." Arranging his brothers according 
 to their ages, at a table by themselves, he 
 sent them food from before him, giving five 
 times as much to Benjamin as to the others. 
 This he did to see if his brothers were 
 envious of Benjamin, as they had been of 
 him ; but they had had a bitter lesson, and 
 the sight of their father's continued mourn- 
 ing for Joseph led them to cherish Ben- 
 jamin as tenderly as Jacob himself could 
 desire. 
 
 Joseph again directed his steward to put 
 every man's money in his sack with his 
 grain, and further told him to put his own 
 silver cup in Benjamin's sack, and so sent 
 his brothers away. Glad indeed were they 
 to be gone ; for their minds had been 
 troubled and filled with forebodings. But 
 they had gone only a little way when the 
 steward came out hastily after them, and 
 asked why they had rewarded evil for 
 good, and stolen his lord's cup. So sure 
 were Jacob's sons of their innocence in this 
 matter, that they rashly declared that the 
 one with whom the cup was found should 
 
Joseph 
 
 9* 
 
 die, and the rest would become the gov- 
 ernor's slaves. They quickly took down 
 their sacks and opened them : and the 
 cup was found in Benjamin's sack. 
 
 With heavy hearts they all went back 
 to Joseph's house, and bowed before him on 
 the ground, thus fulfilling the dream he 
 had had so many years before. Joseph 
 listened to their words, and finally told 
 them to get up and go in peace to their 
 father — only Benjamin must stay with him. 
 
 Then Judah spoke to Joseph, and told 
 him of his aged father's love for this son ; 
 and how, at first, he had refused, even in 
 the face of famine, to let him go away. He 
 told Joseph that he had become surety for 
 the lad, and begged to be allowed to stay 
 in his place. "Now therefore," said he, 
 "when I come to thy servant my father, 
 and the lad be not 
 with us, ... he 
 will die : and thy 
 servants shall bring 
 down the gray hairs 
 of thy servant our 
 father with sorrow to 
 the grave." 
 
 £^ 
 
to 
 W 
 
 o 
 
 to 
 
 w 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 W 
 to 
 
 w 
 
 to 
 W 
 
 w 
 
 to 
 O 
 
 
Joseph 
 
 93 
 
 By this heart-touching appeal Joseph was 
 fully satisfied that his brothers loved Ben- 
 jamin and honored their father; and sending 
 out of the room all those that stood by, he 
 made himself known to them, saying, " I 
 am Joseph ; doth my father yet live ? " 
 Fear filled the hearts of Jacob's sons ; for 
 they thought Joseph would 
 surely kill them. But he 
 called them to him, and told 
 them not to be grieved nor 
 angry with themselves because 
 they had sold him as a slave. 
 " For God," he said, " did send 
 me before you to preserve j 
 life." And he fell on Ben- 
 jamin's neck, and wept, and kissed him ; 
 and " he kissed all his brethren, and wept 
 upon them." He cherished no feeling of 
 revenge in his heart, but forgave them 
 freely. 
 
 Then Joseph told his brothers to return 
 at once to their father, and tell him what 
 they had seen, and bring him and all his 
 house down to Egypt ; for there were still 
 five years of famine to come. He gave them 
 wagons to bring back their families, and 
 
94 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 sent rich presents of " the good things of 
 Egypt" to his father, with corn and bread 
 and meat. He also gave changes of rai- 
 ment to his brothers ; bnt to Benjamin he 
 gave more than to the others, and added to 
 the gift a hundred pieces of silver. And as 
 they went away, he gave them this wise 
 caution : " See that ye fall not out by the 
 way." 
 
 When Jacob's sons told him all that had 
 happened to them, and that Joseph, so long 
 mourned as dead, was alive, and the ruler 
 over all the land of Egypt, his " heart 
 fainted, for he believed them not : " but 
 when he saw the wagons and the gifts, 
 hope revived in his heart, and he said: "It 
 is enough ; Joseph my son is yet alive : I 
 will go and see him before I die." 
 
 JACOB IN EGYPT 
 
 Jacob therefore made ready for the jour- 
 ney, gathering together his goods and his 
 sons and daughters, with their little ones, 
 
Joseph 
 
 95 
 
 and set out for Egypt. At Beersheba he 
 offered sacrifices, and the Lord spoke to 
 him in a vision, promising to go with him, 
 to make of him a mighty nation in the 
 land, and surely to bring his descendants 
 up out of it again. 
 
 When Joseph learned that his father was 
 come to Goshen, he made ready his chariot 
 and went to meet him ; " and he fell on his 
 neck, and wept on his neck a good while." 
 
 The king told Joseph to give his father 
 and brothers the best of the land for a 
 dwelling-place; so Joseph gave them the 
 land of Goshen, which was suited to their $ 
 occupation as shepherds. Here they might 
 live by themselves, and become a mighty 
 nation, as the Lord had said. " And Israel 
 dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country 
 of Goshen ; and they had possessions therein, 
 and grew, and multiplied exceedingly." 
 
 Jacob was one hundred and thirty years 
 old when he went down to Joseph, and he 
 lived seventeen years in the land of Egypt. 
 When the time drew near that he should 
 die, he asked Joseph to promise that he 
 should not be buried in that land, but that 
 his body should be taken back to the land 
 
 S*s^ 
 
96 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 of his fathers. Not long after this, he 
 blessed Joseph and his two sons, Ephraim 
 and Manasseh, who, he declared, should be 
 as his own, and should be called by his 
 name. 
 
 " And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I 
 die: but God shall be with you, and bring 
 you again unto the land of your fathers." 
 
 The last act of Jacob's life was to call 
 all his sons to him, and tell them what 
 should happen to them in the last days. 
 
 Joseph's grief at the death of his father 
 was deep and sincere: and he fell upon "his 
 father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed 
 him." Then he called the physicians to 
 embalm Jacob ; and after the days of mourn- 
 ing were over, he went to bury him. "And 
 with him went up all the servants of Pha- 
 
Joseph 97 
 
 raoh, the elders of his house, and all the 
 elders of the land of Egypt, and all the 
 house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his 
 father's house. . . . And there went up 
 with him both chariots and horsemen, and it 
 was a very great company." 
 
 At last they reached the cave of Mach- 
 pelah, which Abraham had bought as a 
 burial-place for Sarah, and where he was 
 afterward buried by Isaac and Ishmael. Here, 
 too, Isaac and Rebecca were laid ; and here 
 Jacob had buried Leah. And now, with the 
 honors befitting the head of his tribe and 
 the father of Egypt's mighty ruler, the 
 aged patriarch was laid to rest with his 
 fathers . 
 
 THE LAST DAYS OF JOSEPH 
 
 When Joseph's brothers went back to 
 Egypt, they thought perhaps, now that 
 Jacob was dead, Joseph would avenge him- 
 self on them ; and they sent a messenger 
 to him, praying his forgiveness for their 
 cruelty to him, afterward coming themselves 
 and bowing down before him. It must have 
 pained Joseph to think they could thus dis- 
 trust him, when they had received only good 
 
 7 
 
98 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 from him ; but he did not reproach them. 
 He gave them a message of peace, and 
 comforted them. 
 
 Joseph lived fifty-four years after the 
 death of his father ; and before his death 
 he repeated to his people the dying words 
 of Jacob : " I die : and God will surely visit 
 you, and bring you out of this land unto 
 the land which he sware to Abraham, to 
 Isaac, and to Jacob." 
 
 Joseph also took an oath of the children 
 of Israel that when the time came for them 
 to return to their own land, they would 
 surely carry his bones up with them. "So 
 Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years 
 old : and they embalmed him, and he was 
 put in a coffin in Egypt." 
 
PERHAPS you remember how, many 
 years before ever Joseph played in his 
 father's tents, or was sold as a slave by his 
 brothers, the Lord appeared to his great- 
 grandfather Abraham, and told him what 
 should happen to his descendants. " Know 
 of a surety," said the Lord, " that thy seed 
 shall be a stranger in a land that is not 
 theirs, and shall serve them; . . . and af- 
 terward shall they come out with great sub- 
 stance." Then Isaac lived and grew rich in 
 Canaan ; and afterward Jacob came back to 
 that land with his wives, and children, and 
 servants, and many sheep and cattle. 
 
 Still the children of Jacob had no place 
 that was really their own ; the nations al- 
 ready living in Canaan were strong and 
 warlike, and Jacob's sons had to move about 
 from one place to another to find food for 
 their flocks. Then came the great famine, 
 
 99 
 
 L. of C. 
 
 &*m 
 
ioo Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 ~*> 
 
 about which we have already learned ; and 
 Jacob and all his family went down to live 
 in the land of Goshen, in Egypt, where 
 there was pasture for their cattle, and food 
 for their families. Here they increased in 
 numbers, and grew strong and powerful. 
 And this is how the children of Jacob, or 
 the " children of Israel," as they were called 
 after this, came to live in a land that was 
 not theirs. 
 
 As long as Joseph, the second ruler of 
 Egypt, was alive, and for many years after 
 his death, the Israelites lived in peace and 
 plenty in the land of Goshen, and the Lord 
 blessed them as he had said, and made of 
 them a mighty nation. But after Joseph 
 and his brothers died, with all who had 
 lived in that time, another king sat on the 
 throne, — a rich, powerful, and cruel mon- 
 arch, who neither knew nor cared anything 
 about Joseph, and how he had saved the 
 land in time of famine. 
 
 When this king saw how many of the 
 Israelites there were, and how strong they 
 had grown, he was afraid they would be- 
 come stronger than the people of Egypt, 
 and that in time of war, they would join 
 
Moses 
 
 101 
 
 the enemies of the Egyptians ; so he treated 
 them as slaves, and set men over them to 
 make them work harder. 
 
 The Egyptians made the lives of God's 
 people bitter with bondage. Day after day 
 they were driven to work at making bricks, 
 mixing mortar, and building cities for the 
 king ; but in spite of all this, they grew 
 more numerous, and increased in strength. 
 Finally the king gave an order that every 
 boy baby born among the children of Israel 
 should be killed. If there were no little 
 boys growing up, he thought, he could keep 
 the people as slaves, and they would not try 
 to go away, or to serve some other king. 
 
 There were many mothers whose little 
 children were taken from their loving arms, 
 and thrown into the great River Nile, which 
 the people of Egypt worshiped; but there 
 was at least one who was able to conceal her 
 beautiful baby for three months. After that, 
 since she could no longer keep him safe at 
 home, she made a little ark, or basket, and 
 covered it with pitch inside and out to keep 
 it from leaking. Laying the child in the 
 basket, she set it among the flags — a tall 
 plant, with long, sword-shaped leaves — grow- 
 
102 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 <ef 
 
 ing thickly by the river-bank, with a 
 prayer that God would watch over her little 
 son and keep him alive. Miriam, the babe's 
 sister, thoughtfully watched to see what 
 would happen to him. 
 
 By and by a lady, the daughter of the 
 king himself, came down to the river with 
 her maids to bathe. As she walked along 
 its banks, she saw the ark among the flags, 
 and sent one of her maids to bring it to 
 her. When the cover was lifted, and the 
 child saw only strange faces about him, he 
 cried, just as baby brother would be likely 
 to do to-day ; and the kind heart of the 
 princess was moved with pity. She knew 
 the child was one of the Hebrews' children ; 
 and she knew, too that there was just one 
 way to save his life. She would take him 
 for her son — there was no command that 
 the little princes of the royal line should 
 be thrown into the Nile. 
 
 Then wise little Miriam came up, and 
 asked if she should call a nurse ; and on 
 being told to do so, she ran quickly to her 
 mother, and brought her to the princess. 
 We can imagine how gladly the baby 
 stretched out his tiny hands to that kind 
 
o 
 
 m 
 W 
 xn 
 
 W 
 
 d 
 
 o 
 w 
 
 w 
 
 ^ I 
 
 I— I 
 
 o 
 
104 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 face, and with what happiness his loving 
 mother took the child in her arms. Then 
 the princess told the mother to take the 
 babe, and care for him, and she would pay 
 her wages. 
 
 When the little lad, whose life was so 
 wonderfully kept, was twelve years old, his 
 mother took him to the palace, and he be- 
 came the son of the princess. He was 
 called " Moses, " which means, " drawn out 
 of the water.' ' 
 
 The Lord had a special work for this 
 child to do, and gave him a special training 
 to prepare him for it. His early years were 
 spent with his mother, who taught him 
 about the creation, the flood, Abraham, and 
 Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph, and that the 
 time was coming when the Lord would de- 
 liver the children of Israel from Egypt, and 
 bring them into the land he had promised 
 to give them. 
 
 Moses lived in the palace of the king 
 until he was forty years old. During these 
 years he became " learned in all the wisdom 
 of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words 
 and in deeds." He was brave, daring, and 
 wise ; and his heart was filled with sorrow 
 
MOSES TAKEN TO THE PRINCESS 
 
 105 
 
io6 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 and anger when lie saw the bondage of his 
 brethren. Perhaps he thought the Lord 
 had raised hirn up to lead his people out of 
 that land ; but while he trusted in his own 
 strength and wisdom, the Lord could not 
 use him for this work. One day he killed 
 an Egyptian, who was beating a Hebrew ; 
 and when the matter was brought to the 
 ears of the king, Moses, even though he 
 was the adopted son of the princess, was 
 obliged to flee for his life. 
 
 He went into the land of Midian, where 
 he found a home with a priest called Jethro, 
 and married one of his daughters. Here he 
 stayed for forty years, living the life of 
 a humble shepherd. In these long, quiet 
 years, Moses came to know and trust the 
 Lord. Instead of being proud of his learn- 
 ing, he grew meek and teachable and hum- 
 ble. These forty years were an important 
 part of the fitting up of Moses for his later 
 
 X-v work. 
 
 >~N 
 
 M^ 
 
 One day when Moses had led his flock 
 
 ^%&tJ*& J out into the desert, he saw a strange 
 
 *^Mm'm? s ig n t> — a bush appearing to burn, and 
 
 %^^^^ yet not consumed. The flame did not 
 
 jjp^^ die down, and leave smoking ashes where 
 
Moses 107 
 
 the bush had stood. Moses wondered at the 
 sight; and as he went nearer to look at it, 
 the Lord told him to take off his shoes, for 
 he was standing on holy ground. 
 
 Then the Lord talked with Moses, and 
 told him that he had seen the bondage of 
 his people, and that he had remembered his 
 promise, and had " come down to deliver 
 them." He told Moses that he should lead 
 the children of Israel out of Egypt, and 
 that he must go before Pharaoh, the king, 
 with a message from the Lord. Then Moses 
 began to make excuses. He feared the 
 king; the elders of Israel would not believe 
 that the Lord had sent him ; he was not 
 eloquent, but " of a slow tongue." 
 
 The Lord was very patient with Moses. 
 He told him that all the men were dead 
 who sought his life, and added the comfort- 
 ing promise, " Certainly I will be with 
 thee." Lest the elders should not believe 
 Moses, the Lord gave him three signs to 
 convince them : first he cast his long shep- 
 herd's staff, or rod, on the ground, and it 
 became a serpent ; and when he took it by 
 the tail, it changed again to a rod : second, 
 he put his hand under the folds of his loose 
 
io8 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 dress, and drew it out white with leprosy, 
 — a terrible, incurable disease ; and when 
 he again put it in his bosom and drew it 
 out, it was sound like the other : third, he 
 was to take water from the river, and pour 
 it upon the land, and it would become 
 blood. When Moses still urged that he was 
 slow of speech, the Lord said: "Who hath 
 made man's mouth ? . . . have not I the 
 Lord ? Now therefore go, and I will be 
 with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou 
 shalt say." Even after this, Moses tried to 
 excuse himself ; and finally the Lord told 
 him that Aaron, his brother, should go with 
 him before the elders of Israel and before 
 the king, and speak for him. 
 
 Then Moses took his wife and his two 
 sons, and started back to Egypt. Aaron 
 came out to meet him in the wilderness ; 
 and Moses told him all that the Lord had 
 said, and showed him the signs that had 
 been given him. When they returned to 
 Goshen, the brothers called the elders of 
 the people together, and told them that the 
 time of their deliverance was near, and 
 showed the signs before them. 
 
XI 
 
 The Pl&gues of Egypt 
 
 A FTER telling the elders of Israel the 
 -ZjL good news that the time was near 
 when they should go back to their own 
 land, Moses and Aaron went to the king 
 with the message, " Thus saith the Lord 
 God of Israel, Let my people go, that they 
 may hold a feast unto me in the wilder- 
 
 ness. 
 
 >j 
 
 The proud king would not listen to this 
 request ; he declared that he did not know 
 the Lord, neither would he allow the Israel- 
 ites to go away to worship him. He also 
 accused Moses and Aaron of hindering the 
 people, and keeping them from their tasks. 
 That very day he laid plans to make the 
 poor Hebrews work harder and harder. Be- 
 fore this time, straw had been furnished to 
 
 mix with clay in making bricks ; but now 
 
 109 
 
MAKING BRICK IN EGYPT 
 
 no 
 
The Plagues of Egypt 1 1 1 
 
 the king ordered that no more straw be 
 given the Israelites. They must gather 
 stubble from the fields : but still they were 
 to make as many bricks as before. 
 
 The men worked very hard, and the 
 cruel taskmasters who were set over them 
 kept saying, " Fulfill your works, your daily 
 tasks, as when there was straw ; " but the 
 people could not make as many bricks as 
 when the straw was furnished. Then the 
 officers were beaten ; and when they com- 
 plained to the king, he mocked them, say- 
 ing : " Ye are idle, ye are idle : therefore ye 
 say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord. 
 Go therefore now, and work." 
 
 When the people heard this message, 
 they were sad : they could not see any 
 brightness beyond the dark cloud of their 
 present distress. Their faith in the Lord's 
 promise grew weak, and they blamed Moses 
 for all the trouble that had come upon them. 
 Moses was grieved, too, but instead of find- 
 ing fault with the people, he prayed ear- 
 nestly ; and the Lord told him again that 
 he would surely bring the people out from 
 bondage, and give them their own land of 
 Canaan, and that he would certainly be 
 
ii2 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 with them, and be their God. But the an- 
 guish of the people was so great, the cloud 
 was so heavy before their eyes, that they 
 would not listen to these cheering words. 
 The Lord also told Moses that he must go 
 again and again before the king, with mes- 
 sages that he would give him. Moses was 
 now eighty years old, and Aaron his brother 
 was three years older. 
 
 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, 
 and repeated their message ; " and Aaron 
 cast down his rod, . . . and it became a 
 serpent." Then the king called in his magi- 
 cians, and their rods appeared to become 
 serpents also ; but Aaron's rod swallowed 
 their rods. 
 
 Still Pharaoh would not let the people 
 . go. He " hardened his heart ; " that is, he 
 refused to listen to the still, small voice — 
 the voice of conscience — that was speaking 
 to him, and urging him to do as the Lord 
 commanded. This small, quiet voice is 
 given to every person who lives in all the 
 world ; but very often men and women — 
 yes, and little children — will not listen to 
 it. It may speak to them when they are 
 busy at work, and tell them to stop a mo- 
 
UNDER THE TASKMASTERS OF EGYPT 
 
 113 
 
ii4 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 nient for prayer ; it may urge them to give 
 up a pleasure to make some oue else happy ; 
 it may warn against sin : but whatever it 
 says, we shall do well to listen ; for by turn- 
 ing away, we shall do just what King Pha- 
 raoh did — harden our hearts. If this is 
 done again and again, the heart becomes so 
 hard that the little voice is scarcely heard 
 at all. This is the way it was with the 
 king. 
 
 THE RIVER NILE 
 
 Whenever (: The River" is spoken of in 
 connection with Egypt, every one knows 
 that the River Nile is meant, because there 
 is only one river in that country. But the 
 Nile is a large and very long stream, hav- 
 ing its source thousands of miles in the 
 interior of Africa. 
 
 Except along the sea-coast, it seldom 
 rains in Egypt, sometimes only two light 
 showers falling in a whole year in Middle 
 Egypt, where the Israelites dwelt. You can 
 
The Plagues of Egypt 115 
 
 see that if the vegetation depended on these 
 showers for moisture, it would soon dry up 
 and die under the burning sun of that 
 land ; and tne whole country would shortly 
 become a vast sandy desert, in which no 
 one could live. 
 
 But from the most ancient times " The 
 River " has overflowed at a certain season 
 of the year; and by a system of canals and 
 ditches its waters have moistened and en- 
 riched a wide strip of land on each side of 
 its banks. And wherever the water reaches x 
 the land is, for several months of the year, 
 like a beautiful garden. 
 
 Because, in a certain sense, their very 
 lives depended on the River Nile, the people 
 of Egypt came to look upon it as a god, 
 and to worship it instead of the One who 
 gave them every blessing. 
 
 THE WATERS TURNED TO BLOOD 
 
 After the king had twice heard the com- 
 mand to let the people go away, and had 
 refused to obey it, the Lord told Moses to 
 take his rod, and go out in the morning to 
 the banks of the river, where Pharaoh would 
 come down to worship. There he was to 
 
n6 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 repeat for the third time the Lord's mes- 
 sage ; and if the king should still refuse 
 to let the people, he was to stretch out his 
 rod over the river, and all the waters of 
 Egypt would be turned to blood. 
 
 Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had 
 said ; and Aaron lifted up his rod, and 
 smote the waters of the Nile in the sight of 
 the king and his servants ; and " all the 
 waters of Egypt " — the great river itself, 
 with all its channels and pools, as well as 
 the wells and all the water that was in 
 vessels in the Egyptians' houses — became 
 blood. All the fishes in the river died; and 
 added to the loathsome sight of the waters 
 of the sacred river turned to blood was the 
 dreadful stench from their decaying bodies. 
 But the magicians also appeared to turn 
 water to blood ; and Pharaoh turned from 
 the river, his heart untouched by this mir- 
 acle, and went into his house. The plague 
 lasted seven days. 
 
 THE PLAGUE OF FROGS 
 
 Again the brothers went to the palace, 
 with the same message they had given 
 before; and again the king refused to hear. 
 
The Plagues of Egypt 
 
 117 
 
 Then Aaron stretched out his rod over the 
 waters of Egypt, and great numbers of 
 frogs came up and covered the land. They 
 entered the houses and the sleeping-rooms ; 
 they hid themselves in the beds and the 
 ovens; even in the dishes where food was 
 prepared, they were found. The magicians 
 pretended to bring up frogs ; but when the 
 king asked them to remove the pests, they 
 could not. So at last he called for Moses, 
 and begged him to ask the Lord to remove 
 the frogs, promising to let the people go. 
 The next day, at an appointed time, Moses 
 prayed that the frogs be taken away. " And 
 the Lord did according to the word of 
 Moses." The frogs died, and were gathered 
 in great heaps outside the cities and vil- 
 lages ; but when Pharaoh saw that the frogs 
 were dead, he refused to keep his promise, 
 and would not let the people go. 
 
 THE PLAGUES OF LICE AND FLIES 
 
 Directed by the Lord, Aaron now stretched 
 out his rod over the dust of the land, and 
 the dust became lice. Look outdoors, and 
 try to think how it would be if all the tiny 
 dust-particles in street, road, and field were 
 
n8 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 *3fi 
 
 7^=> 
 
 little stinging insects. Then you can imag- 
 ine how they must have swarmed in that 
 dusty land. The magicians tried to bring 
 lice, too, but they could not. Thus far the 
 Lord had allowed them to imitate the won- 
 ders he was doing; but with this miracle 
 their power came to an end, and they 
 declared, " This is the finger of God." 
 
 But Pharaoh would not listen even to 
 the magicians ; so the Lord told Moses to 
 go again to the river-bank, and repeat the 
 command to let the children of Israel go 
 away to worship. When the king refused, 
 the Lord sent flies into the land ; they came 
 in clouds, and filled the houses, and vexed 
 the cattle, and darkened the very air, so 
 that " the land was corrupted by reason of 
 the swarm of flies." Only in the land of 
 Goshen, where the Hebrews lived, the flies 
 did not come. This was to be a sign to 
 the king and to the people of Egypt that 
 the God of Israel was working in behalf of 
 his chosen people. 
 
 The plagues were so bad that Pharaoh 
 again called Moses to the palace. This time 
 he did not say that the people might go to 
 worship if the plagues were taken away, 
 
The Plagues of Egypt 
 
 119 
 
 but he said they might offer sacrifices in 
 Egypt. Moses told the king that this would 
 not do. In their worship the Israelites 
 would offer in sacrifice many animals such 
 as the people of Egypt worshiped ; and 
 when the Egyptians should see this, they 
 would be angry, and would kill the Hebrews. 
 No, said Moses, we will go a three-days' 
 journey into the wilderness, as the Lord 
 has said. 
 
 Finally Pharaoh promised that if the 
 plagues were removed, he would let the 
 people go as they wished ; but when, in 
 answer to the prayer of Moses, the flies and 
 lice were taken away, so there was not one 
 left, " Pharaoh hardened his heart, . . . 
 neither would he let the people go." 
 
 THE MURRAIN PLAGUE, AND THE PLAGUE 
 OF BOILS 
 
 Once more the Lord sent Moses and 
 Aaron to the king. If he should still refuse 
 to let the people go, Aaron was to tell him 
 that on a set time the next day the Lord 
 would send a deadly disease called murrain 
 upon all the sheep and cattle and horses 
 and camels in Egypt: only those belonging 
 to the children of Israel should not be sick. 
 
120 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 The next day the plague came, and very 
 many of the cattle died. Pharaoh sent mes- 
 sengers to Goshen to see if it was true that 
 none of the Hebrews' cattle were dead ; and 
 though he saw that the plague had not 
 touched them, he hardened his heart, and 
 refused to let the people go. Then Moses 
 sprinkled ashes toward heaven in the sight 
 of the king ; and painful boils broke out on 
 man and beast. The magicians were afflicted 
 with the disease, and all their magic did 
 not avail to remove it. 
 
 THE GREAT HAIL-STORM 
 
 Yet again Moses went before the king, 
 with the request he had made before, and 
 told him that if he still refused to let the 
 people go, the Lord would send a " very 
 grievous" storm of hail upon Egypt, and 
 that nothing could stand before it. Some 
 of the Egyptians feared the Lord ; they had 
 seen the wonders he had already done, and 
 they believed what Moses said. These 
 brought in their cattle from the field, and 
 they themselves stayed in their houses. 
 
 The next day the fearful storm came 
 upon the land, — wind, and rain, and hail, 
 
 i 
 
The Plagues of Egypt 121 
 
 " and fire mingled with the hail," " and the 
 fire ran along npon the ground." 
 
 Perhaps you have seen a hail-storm, and 
 remember how the summer day darkened, 
 the heated air grew chill, the black clouds 
 rolled in from the northwest, and the great 
 trees rocked in the wind. A moment, and 
 the air was filled with blinding hail, that 
 beat against the house, and made the win- 
 dows rattle. Perhaps a few have seen a 
 hail-storm so severe that the glass was 
 broken out of the frames, the leaves were 
 stripped from the trees, and the fair 
 fields of grain were beaten into the 
 earth. But even at their worst, such 
 storms do not usually last long : their first 
 fury is soon spent, the rain passes, the wind 
 dies away, and the sun looks cheerfully out 
 on the drenched, hurt earth. 
 
 But the hail-storm of Egypt did not 
 pass : the wind blew, and the great hail- 
 stones mingled with fire fell, and the roar 
 of thunder rose above all other sounds. 
 The cattle left in the open fields were 
 killed, with the people who had not sought 
 shelter before the storm began. Only in 
 the land of Goshen was there no hail. 
 
122 Easy Steps in the Bible Story, 
 
 No such storm had ever been seen in 
 Egypt, and the people were filled with ter- 
 ror ; the wicked king himself was afraid. 
 In haste he sent for the men he had so 
 often scorned, " I have sinned this time," 
 he told them ; " the Lord is righteous, and 
 I and my people are wicked. Entreat the 
 Lord . . . that there be no more mighty 
 thunderings and hail ; and I will let you 
 
 go." 
 
 So Moses went out, not afraid in the 
 fearful storm, for the Lord protected him. 
 When he had gone outside the city, he 
 lifted up his hands and prayed, and the 
 storm ceased. " And when Pharaoh saw 
 that the rain and the hail and the thunders 
 were ceased, he sinned yet more, . . . 
 neither would he let the children of Israel 
 
 go. 
 
 PLAGUES OF LOCUSTS AND DARKNESS 
 
 Once more Moses and Aaron sought the 
 palace of the king, and repeated their re- 
 quest in the name of the God of the 
 Hebrews. " If thou refuse to let my people 
 go," said the Lord by his servants, "behold, 
 to-morrow will I bring the locusts into thy 
 
The Plagues of Egypt 123 
 
 coast." These locusts would be worse than 
 the frogs, and the flies, and the lice : they 
 would not only fill the houses of the Egyp- 
 tians, but they would also eat up every 
 green thing left from the hail in all the 
 land. When Aaron had spoken these words, 
 the brothers turned and went out. Then 
 the king's servants spoke to him, and ad- 
 vised him to listen to Moses and Aaron. 
 " Knowest thou not," they said, " that 
 Egypt is destroyed?" 
 
 These words impressed the king, and he 
 called Moses and Aaron, and told them to 
 take the people, and go and serve the Lord. 
 " But who," he asked, " are they that shall 
 go?" 
 
 When Aaron told him that they must 
 go with their aged fathers and mothers, with 
 their sons and their daughters, and with 
 their flocks and herds, the king was angry. 
 No, he said ; let the men go, but their 
 wives and children must stay behind. 
 
 So Moses stretched out his rod over the 
 land, and the Lord sent an east wind, that 
 brought the locusts. And the locusts " cov- 
 ered the face of the whole earth, so that 
 the land was darkened ; and they did eat 
 
 ^2 
 
124 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 every herb of the land, and all the fruit of 
 the trees which the hail had left : and there 
 remained not any green thing in the trees, 
 or in the herbs of the field, through all the 
 land of Egypt." 
 
 Then the king sent for Moses and Aaron 
 in haste, and begged forgiveness for his sin, 
 and that the locusts might be taken away ; 
 but when the Lord, in answer to the prayer 
 of Moses, sent a west wind and cast the 
 locusts into the sea, the king again refused 
 to let the people go. 
 
 After this the Lord sent darkness over 
 all Egypt for three days, — a darkness so 
 black and horrible that no one can describe 
 it. It was as if the land was again as the 
 whole earth was before the Lord said, u Let 
 there be light," on the first day of Creation 
 Week, — a darkness so thick that it could 
 be felt. Even to this day, when men wish 
 to speak of great darkness, they compare 
 it to the darkness that came upon the 
 land of Egypt. For three days the people 
 did not go outside their dwellings, neither 
 did they see one another, nor move about; 
 but the children of Israel had light in their 
 homes. 
 
The Plagues of Egypt 
 
 !25 
 
 Pharoah called again for Moses and 
 Aaron, and told them that now the people 
 might go with their wives and children: 
 only they should leave their flocks and 
 herds behind. But Moses told the king 
 that they must have their cattle and sheep 
 in order to offer sacrifices, and that there 
 should not be left so much as one hoof be- 
 hind. Then was the king very angry ; he 
 ordered Moses to go away, and never come 
 into his presence again. 
 
 Pharaoh had abundant opportunity to obey 
 the word of the Lord, and to acknowledge 
 him ; but he would not accept it, he would 
 not yield his will to that of the Lord, he 
 would not humble his proud heart. Now 
 the opportunity was gone forever. 
 
SPRINKLING THE BLOOD 
 
 126 
 
xn 
 The P&ssover 
 
 NINE dreadful plagues had been brought 
 upon the people and the land of Egypt, 
 
 — the blood for water, the frogs, the lice, 
 the flies, the murrain, the boils, the hail, 
 the locusts, and the darkness. The people 
 had suffered; many of their cattle had died; 
 the whole land lay waste and desolate. Now 
 the Lord told Moses that he would bring 
 one more plague — the most terrible of all 
 
 — upon the Egyptians ; and after that, Pha- 
 raoh would send the people away. 
 
 When Moses spoke to King Pharaoh this 
 time, he did not ask him to let the people 
 go. Instead, he told him that a dreadful 
 thing would happen that very night — " all 
 the firstborn in the land of Egypt " should 
 die. The " firstborn " is the eldest child in 
 a family. In those days and in that coun- 
 try the eldest child was regarded with spe- 
 
 127 
 
128 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 cial love and pride. If a son, he was the 
 heir, and wonld in his turn become the 
 head of his father's house. Yet now not 
 one was to be spared : all the firstborn, 
 from the eldest child of the king himself 
 to the eldest child of the poorest person in 
 his kingdom, should die. Even the first- 
 born of the beasts would not be saved. 
 Only the children of Israel would be kept 
 from this fearful thing, that the wicked 
 king and all his people might know that 
 the Lord " put a difference between the 
 Egyptians and Israel." 
 
 And so the very time had come when 
 the Lord would deliver his people — their 
 long bondage was even then over. Through 
 his servant, the Lord gave careful direc- 
 tions for the Hebrews to follow in the 
 short time before the hour when the first- 
 born should die. Every family was to kill 
 a lamb that evening, and sprinkle some of 
 its blood on the side-posts of the doorway 
 and above the door. A bunch of hyssop — 
 a short, bushy herb having a bitter taste — 
 was used for this purpose. When the de- 
 stroying angel should pass through the 
 land at midnight, he would spare the first- 
 
The Passover 
 
 129 
 
 born in the Homes where the blood was 
 over the door, showing that those within 
 feared the Lord, and were carefnl to obey 
 his word. 
 
 The lamb was to be roasted whole, and 
 eaten with bitter herbs and nnleavened 
 bread. " Thus shall ye eat it," said the 
 Lord, "with your loins girded, your shoes 
 on your feet, and your staff in your hand ; 
 and ye shall eat it in haste." If any 
 family was too small to eat all the lamb, their 
 nearest neighbor was to eat it with them. 
 None of it was to be left uneaten. 
 
 The people did as the Lord had said. 
 For every family a lamb was killed, pre- 
 pared with bitter herbs, and eaten as the 
 Lord had directed. On the doorposts and 
 lintel of every Hebrew home was the sprin- 
 kled blood. All were ready to start when 
 the signal should be given. The smallest 
 details were carried out just as the Lord 
 had said. Carelessness, forgetfulness, dis- 
 obedience, would surely mean the death of 
 the most tenderly cherished child; for if 
 a family had prepared the feast with the 
 greatest care, and still the blood had not 
 been applied, the angel would not have 
 9 
 
 .y&z-v&z- 
 
130 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 spared the house. " The blood shall be to 
 you for a token," the Lord had said, "upon 
 the houses where ye are : and when I see 
 the blood, I will pass over you, and the 
 plagues shall not be upon you to destroy 
 you, when I smite the land of Egypt." 
 
 And at midnight " there was a great cry 
 in Egypt ; " for the destroying angel passed 
 through the land, and " there was not a 
 house where there was not one dead," from 
 the crown prince in the palace to the eldest 
 child in the beggar's hut, with the firstborn 
 of all the cattle. That bitter, terrible cry 
 arose from every Egyptian home, and reached 
 the ears and the heart of the cruel king. 
 He sent in haste for Moses and Aaron that 
 very night ; and when they were come before 
 him, he said: " Rise up, and get you forth 
 from among my people, both ye and the 
 children of Israel ; and go, serve the Lord, 
 as ye have said. Also take your flocks and 
 your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; 
 and bless me also." 
 
 So great was the fear upon the Egyp- 
 tians, that they urged the Israelites to go 
 quickly; and they gave them jewels of gold 
 and of silver, with clothes and everything 
 
IN EVERY HOUSE THERE WAS ONE DEAD 
 
 131 
 
132 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 else that they needed. Anything the He- 
 brews asked was gladly given them, if only 
 they would go away. " And the Egyptians 
 were urgent upon the people, that they 
 might send them out of the land in haste ; 
 for they said, We be all dead men." 
 
 Though the Israelites left Egypt so hur- 
 riedly, and Moses had many things to 
 think of, he did not forget to take with 
 them the bones of Joseph, as he had re- 
 quested. When the children of Israel came 
 down to Goshen, so many years before, they 
 numbered only about seventy persons ; but 
 when they left Egypt, those that went out 
 were " about six hundred thousand on foot 
 that were men, beside children ; and a 
 mixed multitude went up also with them ; 
 and flocks, and herds, and very much 
 cattle." 
 
 Thus we see how the Lord fulfilled his 
 promise to make of the children of Jacob 
 a " great nation " in a land that was not 
 theirs, and finally to bring them safely out 
 of it. 
 
 In order that they might not forget how 
 he had delivered them from their enemies, 
 the Lord directed that his people should 
 
The Passover 133 
 
 keep a feast to him on that day every year, 
 called the Feast of the Passover. When 
 the children should see the blood on the 
 doorposts, and should eat the unleavened 
 bread, and the lamb roasted with bitter 
 herbs, their parents would tell them of 
 Israel's long slavery and heavy burdens in 
 Egypt ; how their little ones were taken 
 from them and killed ; and how at last the 
 Lord kept them safe on that dreadful night 
 when they ate the first Passover, and the 
 destroying angel " passed over" their homes, 
 and spared their firstborn. 
 
 The Passover Feast was to serve another 
 purpose also. It was not only to help the 
 people to remember their deliverance from 
 Egyptian bondage, and how their firstborn 
 were saved from death, but it was also to 
 direct their minds to the Lamb of God, who 
 would come to save them from the bondage 
 of sin, and to bring to them the gift of 
 eternal life. As the result of sin, death en- 
 tered the world. The flowers wither and 
 fade ; the grass turns brown and dry ; the 
 leaves fall from the trees ; and men and 
 women, and even little children, die. But 
 God loved his people — he "so > loved the 
 
134 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 world, that lie gave his only begotten Son, 
 that whosoever believeth in him should not 
 perish, but have everlasting life." This 
 means that though people may die, they 
 will some day live again. 
 
 Jesus is the true Passover Lamb, and his 
 blood will wash away the stains of sin, and 
 make our hearts pure and clean in God's 
 sight. But we must believe that it is able 
 to do this ; we must accept it, each for our- 
 selves, and then, with Jesus' help, keep his 
 commandments. It is not enough to say 
 we believe, when we do not obey, just as it 
 would not have saved the firstborn to eat 
 the feast without the blood being sprinkled 
 above the door. Shall we not both believe 
 and obey ? 
 
THE land of Canaan was sometimes called 
 the " land of promise," because the 
 Lord had promised it to the children of his 
 servant Abraham ; sometimes it was de- 
 scribed as a " land flowing with milk and 
 honey," because there were so many cows 
 in the green pastures, and so many bees 
 gathering honey from the flowers in the 
 valleys. There were two ways into this 
 pleasant land. One of these ways was 
 short ; but it passed through the country of 
 the Philistines, a fierce and warlike people, 
 who would have made trouble for the Israel- 
 ites : so the Lord directed Moses to lead 
 them into Canaan by a longer but safer 
 way. He himself " went before them by 
 day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them, 
 . . . and by night in a pillar of fire, to 
 give them light." 
 
 J 35 
 
T 
 
 136 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 For a few days the people marched fast, 
 with only short stops for rest; then the 
 Lord told Moses to have them camp in 
 a certain place by the Red Sea. He also 
 told his servant that the Egyptians were 
 coming, but that he would keep his people. 
 
 At first the Egyptians had been too sad 
 to care whether the Hebrews had gone or 
 not ; every family was mourning the loss 
 of some loved one : but when the dead were 
 buried, they began to miss the Israelites, 
 who had done so much work for them ; be- 
 sides, they began to wish they had again 
 the jewels and the clothing they had so 
 cheerfully given to the Hebrews on that 
 terrible night when the firstborn were slain. 
 
 Word came to the king that the people 
 had not stopped in the wilderness, but had 
 gone on to the Red Sea. When Pharaoh 
 heard this, he was very angry, and said, 
 " Why have we let Israel go from serving 
 us ? " He quickly gathered an army, and 
 went after them. The best soldiers in all 
 the land were in this company, — the king's 
 own royal guard, and " six hundred chosen 
 chariots, . . . and captains over every one 
 of them." 
 
Crossing the Red Sea 
 
 *37 
 
 You remember that there was a " mixed 
 multitude " who left Egypt with the chil- 
 dren of Israel. Some of these were honest, 
 and truly believed in the God of the 
 Hebrews ; but many were led by other mo- 
 tives. Some were afraid of the plagues, 
 and others were curious to see if any fur- 
 ther miracles would be wrought. These per- 
 sons often brought trouble into the camp 
 of Israel, and stirred up doubt, envy, and 
 unbelief among the people. Whenever they 
 came to a hard place, they immediately 
 began to wish they were back in Egypt ; 
 and their influence made it difficult for 
 Moses and those who were trying to help 
 him. 
 
 When the people saw the Egyptians 
 coming, the bright sunshine gleaming on 
 their chariots and weapons and armor, they 
 were afraid ; but instead of saying, " What 
 time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee," 
 and asking the Lord to deliver them, they 
 began to find fault with Moses. Were there 
 no graves in Egypt, they asked, that you 
 have brought us out here to die in this 
 wilderness? Before them was the sea, on 
 each side were mountains, and behind them 
 
138 Easy Steps in the Bihle Story 
 
 was Pharaoh's army. There seemed to be 
 no way for them to escape: they thought 
 they would surely be killed, and their wives 
 and children taken back to Egypt. Did we 
 not tell you, they said, while we were still 
 in Egypt, to let us alone, that we might 
 serve the Egyptians? 
 
 Moses might have reminded them of the 
 cruel treatment they had received in that 
 land, and how glad they were at the 
 thought of going away ; but he spoke kindly 
 to them, and told them not to fear; for the 
 Lord would fight for them. 
 
 Then a wonderful thing happened : The 
 pillar of cloud, which had been in front of 
 the camp, removed, and settled behind it, 
 : shutting the people off from the sight of 
 their enemies. To the Egyptians " it was a 
 cloud and darkness ; " but to the children of 
 Israel it gave light all that night, making 
 the darkness bright as day. 
 
 Then Moses went down to the sea, and 
 stretched out his rod over it; and the Lord 
 divided the waters, and made a path through 
 the sea, so his people could pass over to 
 the other side. On the right hand and on 
 the left, the waters of the sea were piled up 
 
Crossing the Red Sea 139 
 
 like a great wall, high above their heads, 
 with a wide, dry path between, over which 
 they could easily walk. It was a number 
 of miles across this path in the sea ; and 
 had it not been for the cloudy pillar, the 
 Egyptians would soon have overtaken the 
 Hebrews, laden as they were with their 
 little ones, their aged, and their sheep and 
 cattle. But the Lord helped them, and 
 kept them from becoming weary. " Ye 
 have seen," he afterward said to Moses, in 
 speaking of this very time, "how I bare 
 you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto 
 myself." This means that he gave them 
 strength for the long march, and helped 
 them to go quickly. 
 
 As the people of Israel moved along to- 
 ward the other shore, the cloud followed 
 them, and the Egyptians followed the cloud. 
 They knew the Hebrews were on the other 
 side, and they were determined they should 
 not get away. "And the Egyptians pursued, 
 and went in after them to the midst of the 
 sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, 
 and his horsemen." 
 
 Then the Lord troubled the Egyptians ; 
 the wheels came off their chariots ; and they 
 
140 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 began to be afraid, and to wish they had 
 not come. " Let us flee from the face of 
 Israel/' they said, u for the Lord fighteth 
 for them against the Egyptians." But it 
 was just as hard to go back as it was to 
 go on ; and while they were thus confused 
 and troubled, the last of the Hebrews 
 passed safely through, and up on the shore 
 beyond. Then the Lord told Moses to 
 stretch out his hand over the sea; and when 
 he did so, the " waters returned, and cov- 
 ered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all 
 the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea 
 after them; there remained not so much as 
 one of them." 
 
 The Lord sent this terrible punishment 
 upon the Egyptians because they had so 
 long refused to obey him ; it was also a sign 
 to his own unbelieving people that he was 
 surely with them. " And the people feared 
 the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his 
 servant Moses." 
 
 After the Israelites were all safe on the 
 other shore, and their enemies were dead, 
 Moses led them in a grand song of praise 
 to God for their wonderful deliverance ; and 
 his sister Miriam went out with a timbrel, 
 
Crossing the Red Sea 
 
 141 
 
 — an ancient musical instrument, — followed 
 by the women of Israel, all singing praises 
 to the Lord. 
 
 Afterward Moses wrote out the words of 
 this song, and we can read it all in the fif- 
 teenth chapter of Exodus. It is called "the 
 song of Moses," and is one of the songs 
 that will be sung by the people of God 
 when they are finally saved from all their 
 enemies, and stand before him on " the sea 
 of glass mingled with fire," that we read 
 about in Revelation. Would it not be well 
 to read that beautiful song often now, so as 
 to become familiar with its thoughts, even 
 if we do not remember all the words? 
 
 %/T 
 
 J 
 
 \ 
 
 /* 
 
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 <mm^- 
 
 THE MIRACLE AT MARAH 
 
 PPE GMHG Of THE MATO 
 
 3# 
 
 /iFTER the song of praise at the Red 
 A Sea, the people went into a desert place 
 called the Wilderness of Shur, where they 
 wandered about for three days trying to find 
 water. When at last they did find some, it 
 was bitter, and they could not drink it. 
 This was a great disappointment. They 
 were weary and very thirsty ; for the water 
 they had brought with them, in water-bot- 
 tles made of the skins of animals, was 
 all gone. Quickly forgetting how the Lord 
 had saved them at the Red Sea, they be- 
 gan to murmur again against Moses. . u And 
 he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord 
 showed him a tree, which when he had 
 cast into the waters, the waters were made 
 sweet;" and all the people drank, and were 
 refreshed. The Lord would have been just 
 as willing to hear his people, and answer 
 142 
 
The Miracle at Mar ah 143 
 
 their prayer, as he was to hear the prayer 
 of Moses; but they, instead of asking his 
 help, began to murmur and complain. 
 They did not trust their Leader; but Moses 
 believed him, and God honored his faith. 
 
 At this place the Lord made a covenant 
 with the children of Israel, saying that if 
 they would listen to his voice, and obey his 
 commands, he would not allow any of the 
 diseases of Egypt to come upon them. " I 
 am the Lord," he said, " that healeth thee." 
 Surely the people must have been glad to 
 hear these cheering words. 
 
 The place where the bitter waters were 
 made sweet was called Marah ; for Marah 
 means " bitter." The people next stopped 
 at Elim, — a pleasant place, where there 
 were twelve wells and seventy palm-trees. 
 But they did not stay there many days. A 
 long journey was before them, and no doubt 
 they were anxious to reach their own land. 
 Leaving Elim, they went into another des- 
 ert, called the Wilderness of Sin. There 
 their food gave out, and they began to be 
 hungry. It was now a month since they 
 had left Egypt, and the food they had 
 brought with them was all gone. There 
 
•fXtc 
 
 ^„>4fe^i44 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 s \ ,1 they were in the desert, — a great company, 
 
 .JqSSfif^ — with nothing to eat. Of course thev 
 
 i.s~PjM\i blamed Moses. We wish we had died in 
 
 jE? ill Egypt, they said, where we " sat by the 
 
 ! flfeJ flesh pots, and did eat bread to the full." 
 
 y^/M^^x Moses rebuked the people at this time, 
 
 ^ ~* I an d told them that their murmurings were 
 not against him, but against the Lord ; and 
 that when they found fault at every hard 
 place, they dishonored God. We can not 
 read the history of this people, in their 
 journey to Canaan, without often wondering 
 at the love and patience of our Heavenly 
 Father in his dealings with them. How 
 tenderly he led them and cared for them, 
 in spite of their unbelief and sin ! In later 
 years, King David wrote of this very mat- 
 ter, in these beautiful words: " How oft did 
 they provoke him in the wilderness, and 
 grieve him in the desert!" Yet he, "being 
 full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, 
 and destroyed them not." 
 
 Instead of leaving the people to care for 
 themselves, the Lord told Moses that he 
 would provide food for them — even " bread 
 from heaven." Then Aaron called the chil- 
 dren of Israel together ; and as he was 
 
 
The Giving of the Manna 
 
 *45 
 
 speaking, they looked toward the cloud, 
 which had become bright and terrible with 
 the glory of God. " And the Lord spake 
 unto Moses, saying, I have heard the mur- 
 murings of the children of Israel : speak 
 unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat 
 flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled 
 with bread." 
 
 That night great numbers of quails came 
 up around the camp, and thus the people 
 were provided with meat. In the morning 
 there was a heavy dew ; and when it dried 
 away, the people saw something on the 
 ground that they had never seen before 
 
 — "a small round thing," "like coriander 
 seed, white." 
 
 Moses told the people that this was the 
 bread the Lord had promised, and directed 
 them to gather a certain amount of it for 
 every person in the company. Each one 
 was to have an omer — about three quarts 
 
 — of the manna (for that was the name 
 the people gave to this wonderful food ) ; 
 and none were to gather more, thinking to 
 save something over for another day. But 
 some of the people paid no attention to 
 Moses' words, and saved some of the manna ^ 
 
 10 
 
146 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 till the next morning. " And it bred 
 worms, and stank : and Moses was wroth 
 with them." 
 
 Every morning the people went out to 
 gather the manna, and what was left on 
 the ground melted away as the sun grew 
 warm. They ground it into meal and made 
 cakes of it; "and the taste of it was like 
 wafers mixed with honey." 
 
 There is a lesson for us in the way the 
 Lord supplied his people with food. Do 
 you not think he could have sent the cakes 
 already baked — just as many as each one 
 needed — every night, so the people would 
 have had nothing to do but to eat them? 
 — Certainly he could ; but he knew that it 
 is always the best and happiest way for 
 people to work for what they have. When 
 he put Adam and Eve in the beautiful gar- 
 den, he gave them something to do ; and 
 that is his plan for all his people always. 
 Idleness is the very first step in sin ; for 
 when one is doing nothing that is useful 
 and helpful, he is sure soon to do some- 
 thing wicked. 
 
 But aside from the daily miracle, there 
 was another wonderful thing connected with 
 
The Giving of the Manna 147 
 
 the manna. It fell on only six days of 
 the week : and on the sixth day enough 
 was to be gathered so every person would 
 have a double measure — one for that day, 
 and one for the next day, the holy Sabbath. 
 When manna was saved over on any other 
 day, it spoiled; but that gathered on the 
 sixth day kept fresh and sweet over the 
 Sabbath. This was a sign to the people 
 that they should rest on the Sabbath : it 
 was also to be a test to them, whether they 
 would obey the Lord's words. The manna 
 was not found in one place alone ; but it 
 was gathered first in one place, then in 
 another, wherever in their long journey the 
 people went. 
 
 The Lord told Moses that an omer of 
 manna should be gathered and kept by the 
 Hebrew people forever, that those who 
 should live after them might see the bread 
 with which he fed them when he brought 
 them out of Egypt. So Aaron took a 
 golden vessel, and filled it with the manna, 
 and it remained fresh and good. By and 
 by you will learn where the golden pot of 
 manna was kept. 
 
FROM the Wilderness of Sin the people 
 journeyed to Rephidim ( Ref'-i-dim), 
 another place where there was no water. 
 Here again they became thirsty, and " mur- 
 mured against Moses, and said, Wherefore 
 is this that thou hast brought us up out 
 of Egypt, to kill us and our children and 
 our cattle with thirst?" 
 
 This was the third time they had ac- 
 cused Moses of bringing them out of Egypt 
 to kill them. The first time was by the 
 Red Sea; and the second, when they had no 
 food. Each time the Lord had saved them, 
 but still they did not trust him. They 
 grew so angry with Moses that they were 
 almost ready to stone him. Moses asked 
 the Lord what he should do ; and the Lord 
 told him to take the rod with which he 
 smote the sea, and go on before the people, 
 
 with the elders of Israel, to Horeb. " Be- 
 
 148 
 
The Amalekites 
 
 149 
 
 hold," he said, " I will stand before thee 
 there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou 
 shalt smite the rock, and there shall come 
 water out of it, that the people may drink." 
 
 And so again the thirsty people drank. 
 If they had learned, even then, the lesson 
 of trust and obedience, they would have 
 saved themselves much sorrow. 
 
 A wicked nation called the Amalekites 
 (Am'-a-lek-ites) lived in this part of the 
 country, and they came out to fight against 
 the children of Israel. Then Moses called 
 Joshua — a brave young man, who feared 
 the Lord — to choose out the strongest men 
 among the Israelites to fight with Amalek. 
 
 The next day the battle was fought. 
 Moses took his rod in his hand, and with 
 Aaron and Hur went to the top of a hill, 
 where he could see the battle. As long as 
 he held up his hands, the children of Is- 
 rael prevailed; but when he grew weary, 
 and let them fall to his side, the Amalek- 
 ites prevailed. Then Aaron and Hur made 
 Moses sit down; and they stood one on 
 each side, and held up his hands until sun- 
 set. Thus Israel gained the victory. 
 
 The Lord was displeased with the people 
 
150 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 of Amalek because they came out aud 
 troubled the children of Israel; and he told 
 Moses to write it in a book, that he would 
 " utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek 
 from under heaven." Moses built an altar 
 at that place, in memory of these words* 
 When the children of Israel were still 
 at Rephidim, Jethro, the aged priest of 
 Midian, with whom Moses had lived forty 
 years, came to visit him. With him came 
 
 Zipporah ( Zip - po - rah ) , 
 the wife of Moses, and 
 his two sons, whom he 
 had sent back to Jethro's 
 house before the people 
 left Egypt. 
 When Moses told Jethro all that the 
 Lord had done for Israel, — how he had de- 
 livered them from their enemies, and led 
 them through the sea, and given them food 
 to eat and water to drink, — Jethro ex- 
 claimed: " Blessed be the Lord, who hath 
 delivered you out of the hand of the 
 Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh. 
 . . . Now I know that the Lord is greater 
 than all gods." To show that he truly be- 
 lieved in him, Jethro offered sacrifices to God. 
 
The Visit of J e thro 151 
 
 Jethro loved Moses, and he gave him 
 some good advice about his work. When- 
 ever any one in the whole camp got into a 
 dispute with his neighbor, he came to Moses 
 to have it settled, so that " the people stood 
 by Moses from the morning unto the even- 
 ing." This work was too hard for Moses; 
 his days were so filled with small matters 
 that he did not have time for necessary rest 
 and study. 
 
 When Jethro saw how things were, he 
 advised Moses to appoint men who feared 
 the Lord to help him judge the people, and 
 thus bear the burden with him. Moses did 
 as Jethro suggested, choosing able men out 
 of all Israel, and making them rulers of 
 certain companies. " And they judged the 
 people at all seasons : the hard causes they 
 brought unto Moses, but every small matter 
 they judged themselves." 
 
 After this, Jethro went back to his 
 home in Midian. His visit was a help 
 and comfort to Moses in many ways. 
 No doubt this great leader of men of- 
 ten longed for the tender human love 
 and sympathy that his aged father- 
 in-law had for him. 
 
MMAMD 
 
 THREE months after setting out from 
 Egypt, the children of Israel entered 
 the Wilderness of Sinai, and pitched their 
 tents before the mountain of that name. 
 Here the Lord talked with Moses again, 
 and told him that if the people would obey 
 his voice, and keep his covenant, they should 
 be a " peculiar treasure " unto him. And 
 u all the people answered together, and said, 
 All that the Lord hath spoken we will do." 
 Then the Lord told Moses to have the 
 people cleanse the camp, and wash their 
 clothes, and sanctify, or purify, themselves; 
 for the third day the Lord himself would 
 come down upon Mount Sinai. They 
 were directed to place bounds about 
 the mount, so that no person or any 
 beast should go near the holy place; 
 and if any should disobey, and think 
 to draw near, he should die. 
 152 
 
The Ten Commandments 153 
 
 All this was done ; and on the morning 
 of the third day the Lord came down upon 
 the mountain. And " there were thunders 
 and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the 
 mount, and the voice of the trumpet ex- 
 ceeding loud; so that all the people that 
 was in the camp trembled." 
 
 Moses led the people out to the foot of 
 the mountain; and after charging them again 
 not to pass the barriers that had been placed 
 about it, God gave to Israel his holy law — 
 the ten commandments. This law was not 
 for the Hebrew people alone : it was for 
 every person who should live in all the 
 earth. And these are the words of that 
 law, as spoken by the Lord that day in the 
 hearing of all Israel : — 
 
 / am the Lord thy God, which have 
 brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out 
 of the house of bondage. 
 
 In these words the Lord revealed him- 
 self to his people as the one who had 
 delivered them from the bitter slavery of 
 Egypt — the one who had parted the waters 
 of the great sea, and led them through it 
 in safety; who had overthrown their ene- 
 
154 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 mies ; who Had given them food and water 
 in the wilderness ; and who was now leading 
 them to the land so often promised to the 
 descendants of Abraham for an inheritance. 
 In many ways we are like the children 
 of Israel at that time. Sin (Egypt) is 
 in the world; and all have done wrong — 
 all have come under the bondage of sin. 
 Those who are sorry, who ask to be for- 
 given, and who believe that God for the 
 sake of his dear Son does forgive and ac- 
 cept them, are delivered from this bondage; 
 and if they will follow him, the Lord will 
 lead them to the heavenly Canaan, the beau- 
 tiful land that will some day be the home 
 of all those who love and obey him. 
 
 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 
 
 This means that we are to love no per- 
 son, nor any thing, more than we love God. 
 He has given us life, and everything that 
 we have. How careful we should be not to 
 use his good gifts carelessly, and then forget 
 all about him, or give him the second place 
 in our thoughts ! 
 
The Ten Commandments 155 
 
 II 
 
 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 
 image, or any likeness of any thing that is 
 in heaven above, or that is in the earth 
 beneath, or that is in the water under the 
 earth : thou shalt not bow down thyself to 
 them, nor serve them : for I the Lord thy 
 God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity 
 of the fathers upon the children unto the third 
 and fourth generation of them that hate me ; 
 and showing mercy unto thousands of them 
 that love me, and keep my comma7tdments. 
 
 We are to come directly to the Lord 
 when we pray, and not bow down before 
 some picture or image, thinking that it rep- 
 resents him. This sin is forbidden again 
 and again in the Bible. By doing wrong, 
 and giving way to an evil temper, and 
 forming bad habits when they are young, 
 people make it easier for their children to 
 do wrong. Sometimes they bring diseases 
 upon themselves, which their children in- 
 herit. But that is no excuse for the chil- 
 dren to sin ; for the Lord can take away 
 the evil nature, and give in its place a 
 clean heart. 
 
156 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 III 
 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord 
 thy God in vain; for the Lord will not 
 hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 
 
 It is possible to take God's holy name 
 in vain in other ways besides swearing. It 
 may be spoken lightly and thoughtlessly — 
 " in vain " — when talking or reading. 
 We should be careful never to take that 
 sacred name upon our lips, even in song or 
 prayer, without remembering to whom it 
 belongs, and that the bright, sinless angels 
 themselves veil their faces before him. 
 
 IV 
 
 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it 
 holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all 
 thy work: but the seventh day is the Sab- 
 bath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt 
 not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy 
 daughter, thy man servant, nor thy maid 
 servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that 
 is within thy gates : for in six days the 
 Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and 
 all that in them is, and rested the seventh 
 day : wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath 
 day, and hallowed it. 
 
The Ten Commandments 
 
 J 57 
 
 This commandment not only tells ns 
 just what day is the Sabbath, but it also 
 tells us why we are to keep it. It is a 
 memorial — that is, something to help us 
 remember — of the work of Creation Week. 
 When he had made the earth in six days, 
 the Lord rested on the seventh day : so 
 he has given us six days in which to work, 
 and one day — the Sabbath — to rest, and 
 to think about his love and the beauti- 
 ful home he is making for us. If we re- 
 member the Sabbath, we shall think about 
 it during all the week, and shall prepare 
 for it by having all our work and play out 
 of the way before it begins. We must be 
 careful, too, not to think about these com- 
 mon things, but to keep the day holy with 
 our thoughts as well as with our acts. 
 
 V 
 
 Honor thy father and thy mother: that — 2T' 
 thy days may be long upon the land which 
 the Lord thy God giveth thee. 
 
 Respect, love, obedience, and honor are 
 due to our parents ; for there is no one on 
 earth who loves us as deeply and unselfishly 
 as do they. If we truly honor father and 
 
158 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 mother, we shall be just as careful to please 
 them in the smallest things when we are 
 away from them, as when we are where 
 they can see us. Sometimes children bring 
 dishonor upon their parents, by rude ways 
 and selfish or unkind acts, even when they 
 do not disobey them. The fifth command 
 is also called the " commandment with prom- 
 ise " — the promise of long life. That does 
 not mean long life in this world alone, but 
 eternal life in the beautiful home that will* 
 finally be given to all who love God. 
 
 VI 
 
 Thou shalt not kill. 
 
 This not only means that we are not to 
 take the life of another, but that we are 
 not to cherish dislike in the heart toward 
 any one. " He that hateth his brother is a 
 murderer; " for it is the feeling of hatred 
 that leads to the terrible sin against life. 
 A heart that is filled with love will have 
 no room for unkind, hateful thoughts. 
 
 VII 
 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 
 
 We should not only keep from wrong 
 actions, but we should not allow bad 
 
The Ten Commandments 159 
 
 thoughts in the mind. The thought always 
 goes before the act; and if the thoughts 
 are pure, the acts will be good. A precious 
 promise is given to the pure in heart, in 
 these words : " Blessed are the pure in 
 heart: for they shall see God." 
 
 VIII 
 Thou shalt not steal. 
 
 Nothing that belongs to another, no 
 matter how small it may be, no matter if 
 he does not really care for it himself, should 
 be taken without his knowledge and per- 
 mission ; neither should we try to get it 
 from him by making him think that it is 
 of no value. If we keep the spirit of this 
 command, we shall be as careful of what 
 belongs to others as of what belongs to us. 
 
 IX 
 
 Thou shalt not bear false witness against 
 thy neighbor. 
 
 This commandment forbids all lying and 
 deceit of every sort. Sometimes those who 
 would not think of stealing another's coat, 
 or book, or purse, will tell a falsehood about 
 him, and so steal away his good name. It 
 is possible to break this command, too, by 
 
160 Easy Steps in the Bible Story 
 
 keeping back part of the truth when it 
 should all be told. 
 
 X 
 
 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors 
 house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's 
 wife, nor his man servant, nor his maid 
 servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything 
 that is thy neighbor's. 
 
 The sin of covetousness, or wanting what 
 belongs to others, is especially hateful in 
 God's sight. It is the sin of selfishness; 
 and we know that this spirit can have no 
 place in heaven. 
 
 And these " Ten Words" are the "holy, 
 just, and good " law of our loving Heavenly 
 Father for all his children. If we truly 
 love him, we shall keep his commandments, 
 and his presence will be with us all the 
 time, to help us overcome every sinful 
 desire and resist every temptation. 
 
 "Blessed are iteg that tin ¥Li% rnmmaurlments, 
 that iter? map haixe tight in the tra nf lift, anil mag 
 znitx in through the gates into tire ritg." 
 
NOV 8 1900 
 
 
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